It’s been a year and a half since my last Strada Daily Challenge. That was back in January of 2019. To be honest, I was a little apprehensive to start the challenge again. It’s a lot of work and a big commitment. But one doesn’t make progress if one doesn’t challenge oneself—so here I go again!

This time, the challenge is during a month when I can be outdoors without freezing—fingers crossed that I don’t eat my words. One never knows in Montana.

For Day 1 I decided to start with a still life of flowers in my studio as the wind is blowing fairly ferociously outside. These are geraniums from my outdoor collection of potted flowers. The coral colors are stunning and it’s a color I don’t often get to use so that was fun. I snipped a few blossoms and put the arrangement in a box to be able to control and direct how the light was hitting it.

Photo of painting setup of coral geraniums.

©Francesca Droll, Coral Geraniums (set up), 8×6, pastel painting