Went to pick up my award on the eve of 4th July. Very exciting! Interestingly, in both the Professional and Non-Professional "Art under Glass" classes at the Art Show, both the first prizes went to pastel paintings, even though there was some stiff competition from very good watercolors. Pastels are often regarded as the poor relation in terms of acceptance, so this was an encouraging sign.

Yesterday we went to a 4th July party at a house on a lake and I took a lot of photographs hoping that I will have captured something that will make a good subject for a painting.