The Story Behind Majestic Rain

This is one of my all-time favorites.

Every now and then, an older piece of art resurfaces and reminds you exactly why you fell in love with creating in the first place. Majestic Rain is one of those pieces for me. It has always been one of my all-time favorites—yet somehow, I let it drift to the back of my memory.

For years, it hung in the studio of Kim Pogue at First Edition Prints. Kim creates all my reproduction prints, carefully color-correcting every digital file to perfectly match each original painting. She loved Majestic Rain so much that I left it with her, where it quietly lived on her wall.

Recently, I picked it up for an exhibition… and wow. Seeing it again was like being reintroduced to a part of myself I had forgotten.

This image actually began with a pair of boots—my friend Juliann’s boots, to be exact. We had met for dinner, and I instantly fell in love with them. I had never worked with a model before, and she had never modeled, but I knew I wanted to create an image around those boots.

We headed to the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where reflective metal panels line part of the building. We played, experimented, and simply had fun—long before I knew where my encaustic journey would take me. That playful session sparked the image that eventually became Majestic Rain: Juliann reflected in the metallic surface, her boots anchoring the composition.

When I finally brought the painting home from Kim’s studio, I sat down and really studied it. And the background—soft, atmospheric, textural—stopped me in my tracks.

I realized that over time, I had drifted away from the quiet simplicity of black-and-white backgrounds. So many people encourage me to “add more color,” and I experimented with that for a while. But seeing Majestic Rain again reminded me where my true artistic heart lives.

Black. White. Texture. Mood. Stillness.

That’s the work that feels like me.

There is now a print of Majestic Rain hanging in my studio, where I see it every day. It grounds me. It reminds me of where I started and where my vision feels most authentic.

Sometimes, the best way forward is to circle back to the art that once lit the spark.

Would love to hear what your thoughts in the comments below.

Be well….be creative,