As I was working on this encaustic collage painting - I envisioned a nurturing type of saintly Lady protecting all the Foest animals.
I kept adding animals as I worked, I think I ended up with thirteen!

Encaustic - the process of painting with molten wax (mostly beeswax), and pigments that are fused and fixed to a support with heat.
This achieves a lustrous enamel appearance.
Encaustic paint presents a permanent finish. It is a particularly durable paint, because wax is waterproof and over time can retain all the freshness of a newly finished work.
The collaged pieces were painted onto specialty Encaustic paper ( similar to photo paper) and affixed to a 24 x 36 Ampersand cradled Gessoboard.
The spaces between the collage pieces were painted directly onto the board with an encaustic iron.