This is what the invite said “Panning for Art: Gabriel’s Gully 150th 2011. As part of the celebrations, the Tuapeka Goldfields Museum is sponsoring an art project which will be exhibited in Ross Place, the main street of Lawrence. The museum is offering 150 gold pans to 150 artists to decorate in any way they choose. The pans are totally authentic, and although made today, they replicate those used by the miners’ in 1861. All you need to do is wash off the protective layer of oil with household detergent.”
How could I resist the chance to paint a goldpan? I couldn’t, of course. The goldpan turned up and my brain went numb. It was just so totally not what I was expecting. I’m not sure what I *was* expecting; a glorified frying pan perhaps? So it sat under my desk, and sat, and sat. Time started to get a bit tight and I knew I had to get on with it. For Christmas I had done some mixed media works that involved a sea theme for two family members and suddenly I had the answer. A deep blue sea with real gold mica flecks and a jellyfish cruising round the edge of the bowl. Done! It’s hard to get the sparkle of the gold in a photograph but I’m happy with the final result. 
Cath Sheard 