Heat Index is a mixed media encaustic built on a grid of oranges, yellows, and reds, which is a generous way to describe a painting that argued back from start to finish. Orange is a diva. It reads bold and self-assured from across the room, then muddies the second you look at her wrong. Holding it clean takes more patience than the color has any right to ask for.

The layers were worked with heat, then scored and marked until that frustration manifested into fine lines and flecks of black breaking across the grid like coals holding onto their last few embers. The cool white ground keeps the whole thing honest. Honest, but stubborn. It is the most ornery color on the table, and this is what emerged once everyone had time to cool off.

Forty-eight color pairings, each one minding its own business, but somehow the whole thing reads like the best dinner party you were never invited to. Each block is made of two colors, making every tile a tiny negotiation. And like any good dinner party, some pairs are the obvious crowd-favorites while others brought that plus-one we all politely tolerate until the alcohol starts kicking in.

The black speckles drifting across the white field aren’t an accident and aren’t a mess. They’re the reminder that order this clean never comes without a little chaos sneaking in around the edges, and after that second drink.

It’s a painting about good company in the literal sense. Nobody here is alone, nobody clashes for long, and the grid keeps everyone politely in their lane while letting them be loud about it.