Next Stop:  OLDS! was created for the Olds Library annual fundraiser, “Pillage the Village”, that features a Medieval theme.  Twelve of the shields were cut and sanded, to be painted by volunteer artists from the community, then auctioned off by silent bid the evening of the Feast, the 23 rd of May, 2015.  It seemed innocuous enough, so I signed up to paint a shield.  HA !! Then the fun began.  I first expected to use traditional heraldic layouts and emblems.  Research was not terribly satisfactory.  Olds does turn out to have a “logo”, but it is thoroughly modern and just not the flavour with eagles and dragons and such that I was hoping for.  The next idea, of putting a different local symbol in each quadrant became entirely too cluttered.  Ye gads, what was  going to do with this chunk of plywood ?  Finally, a week or two after this  major set-back, I began to envision a painting that told something of the story of Olds itself.  Many sketches and a deadline looming (why, oh why, do I work best under pressure ??) had me slathering the board with gesso, and the painting had no more excuses to use.  I rather bravely began at the top–with those Alberta Wild Roses, after underpainting the entire board with diluted burnt sienna as a delaying tactic, and found myself repainting the roses four times and the sky beneath them at least three times.  (The right shade of blue IS critical, you know.)  The mountains were not expected to be a problem–anyone who lives near the Rockies can surely paint a mountain–but they did go from classic purple to a bluish green, shrank a bit, became several layers, not just one, and finally decided that a change in the sky colour would do the trick.