By summer’s end, the flowers and foliage are heavy and ready to bend down and let go.

This painting is done with pastel on a dark, sanded pastel paper with a card backing. I wanted to figure out how to mount and protect it without hiding it behind glass, so I decided to glue it to a raised cradleboard.

First I sprayed it many times with a pastel fixative until the pastel was sealed. This was tricky as each spraying rendered the painting darker. I compensated by applying a heavier line with the lighter pastels and went back and forth with spraying and applying more colour until I was satisfied with the results.

After gluing it to the board and trimming the excess paper, I painted the edges with 2 coats of acrylic. Then I waxed the top with 2 coats of cold wax medium which gave it a soft satin finish.

I’m excited to think that it is possible to finish a soft pastel painting/drawing this way as I love the medium.

No sooner had I posted this painting on my Artwork Archive site, then it was purchased by a collector in Bedford, NS. With very special thanks to her.