The paint out morning was beautiful. I got my canvas stamped, selected what I thought was a prize position and started painting. Pretty soon, the wind came up and it began to blow and rain a little. A few bugs made their way onto my canvas as well as cotton from the surrounding trees. I ran out of time, thought hard about giving up, ran out of painting water and finished this painting with my watered down Dr. Pepper. My persistence or stupidity paid off. I won a ribbon and prize money. But the best thing of all was I got to meet Al Rounds and Glen Edwards (they were the judges for the contest). I even got a critique of my artwork by Al Rounds. He is the nicest guy, offered great advice and I got to meet two amazing painters. I guess it was worth all the troubles.