Thank you so much, Mr. O'Hanlon, for clarifying the toxicity issue for the previous reader. Hopefully this will ease the anxiety of the use of beautiful Egyptian Blue pigment. Margret Short

Well, Alyson, you have certainly hit a note with me. As you know I have been deeply involved in a new pigment project called, "Lessons from the Pharaoh's Tomb." After a trip to Egypt last December I launched a new idea to study the pigments used in tombs and temples from antiquity and paint a body of work based on those colors, all the while writing and blogging about my process including historical events and figures. I have come to realize Egyptian history is so vast and complex it would take several lifetimes to grasp it all. Many hours have been spent scouring the Internet for useful information. These splendid searches give insight to remarkable stories and one story leads to another and another until hours go by with no actual painting taking place. Books from the library do the same. After making the wise decision to narrow 5000 years of amazing history down to just several events and a few gods or goddesses, I started making headway. Painting #8 is now finished with 4 to go to meet my commitment of 12 for the September exhibit. Thanks for more tips on keeping that momentum going. Margret

Thank you so much, Sue, for this invaluable photoshop tip. I was unaware these hot spots could be eliminated at all, much less so easily. Jandi's tip using the black foamcore is splendid too. I am going to try this next time I have to photograph my paintings. Margret