Jake Kennedy
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Sep 13/02) - When Diane Boudreau painted a large dragonfly for a local houseboater, she expected to see the painting adorning the back of the boat.

"The dragonfly, I guess it flew away," she said after her painting disappeared from the wharf where the houseboater was to pick it up.

The four-foot by three-foot painting disappeared Tuesday afternoon after Boudreau left it unattended on the Coast Guard wharf to be picked up by the owner of the Empress of Yellowknife houseboat.

"I saw it in the morning, but by the afternoon it disappeared," Boudreau said.

The owner of the houseboat, who commissioned Boudreau to create the painting but did not want to be identified, said he is offering a reward for the safe return of the large insect.

Boudreau, a Yellowknife artist for the past two years, is known for her insect sculptures made of rock.

She said the dragonfly painting took her about 6 hours to complete.

"It's the best one I've done of this size," she said.

"The wings were so nice, and the legs so nice."

To add to Boudreau's disappointment, the dragonfly painting was one of the few pieces of her art that she forgot to photograph.

For now, Boudreau is hoping the dragonfly lands back on the wharf.