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I was in Ojai and gave Bert a call to say “hi” and see if she was at home. I was planning to drop by.
She picked up and told me there was a class, but I should drop by just the same. So I did. When i arrived I found her holding court from her gallery turned studio. A half dozen tables were arranged in two rows and artists were positioned around the room.  But these were not students -NO! These were some of the finest pastel artists in the area - Lynn Byrne Simon, Donna Vis, Emily Cunningham, Jannene Behl, …. were just a few of those present. All around me were canvasses filled with master works in-progress, and it was so overwhelming to watch each beautiful piece come alive in front of me.  It was a dream.  I walked around the room to meet the artists for the first time (in person), but in fact, i already knew nearly all of them.  I could recognize their “hand” from paintings I'd collected. So when the first artist sitting at a table closest to where i stood looked up and said,

“Hi! I'm Donna.”

I replied, “Donna Vis?”

She was taken aback. Curious! So i added, “I recognize your style.”

Then the next desktop. I didn't have to study the work long. I knew immediately- “Lynn Byrne Simon, i presume!”

The group had ordered from Papa Lennon's and were starting break for lunch when Bert turned to face me.  It was already shaping up to be an incredible day, but then Bert ‘got me!'

“Are you going to paint?”

Well. . . I'd never done pastels.  So I hesitated.
“Take a seat,” commanded Bert!

Well,  I'm no pastel artist, but that's how it started
That's the origin of this piece, a handful of small-ish equine works, and of the “My Farm, Red Barn” Series, and “Molly's World” and about a half dozen or so other smaller works.