The colors of summer and now even those of fall are quickly fading. What we once enjoyed seeing in our yards now need to be removed and discarded. My wife and I were out in our yard a week or so ago doing just this. Several weeks earlier, for some reason, I had been thinking how many people keep some of summer by canning their fruits and vegetables. Of course, I knew that you can't actually successfully preserve flowers by canning, but this concept led me to setting up a still life scene. The photograph of this scene was the basis for this colored pencil painting entitled "Preserving Summer". This piece is done on museum quality Grafix drafting film using Farber-Castell Polychromos and Dick Blick pencils. The size of the artwork is 11 X 14 inches. Unlike the actual marigolds, this version will last well beyond the summer months.