I was inspired to do something with the bright orangey colors of our garden cantaloupes. We picked about six of them and I cut them into wedges before cutting them into chunks for breakfast. I wanted to do something fun and whimsical and thought about the praying mantis we had on our back steps a couple years ago. It was a giant mantis, and I took several photos of it from every angle. After sketching the melon wedges, I played around with where to add this insect into the composition. He ended up in the top right-hand corner — dancing on top of the wedges.

The bottom foreground was another inspirational addition of grays and blues to set off the melons. Then I had another idea about adding the magenta to the top section, which really adds a lot of color vibration. The other challenge was working in a square format and the first time I am trying the Ampersand panels. I am not sure I like working on a hard surface; all my previous collages are done on a 300# watercolor paper.  I have added the collage papers on the sides of this panel, which is 1½”.