Aretha

If the notes I just made on the back of an envelope are accurate, I have 30 paintings to add to my Etsy store.  Sugar balls, that will take ages.  Some of them have been finished for quite a while but needed hanging hardware, which I finally ordered last week.  And some of them are so fresh the varnish hasn't fully cured, like the last of my Aretha series.  There are seven total:

I love them all.  Aretha shall forever be relevant.

You win some, you lose some

First, this:

That's my girl.

Second, I have a story to tell you.  Once upon a time in the not too distant past, like a few weeks ago, I found a beautiful leaf in my yard and although it was almost identical to about ten thousand other leaves in my yard, something about this one struck me.

Those colors together are fabulous and I wanted to paint something with that exact combo.  I did a little custom mixing hoping for the best and, to be honest, I totally nailed it.

SO awesome.  It's called Autumn Vortex.  If you follow me on Instagram you've already seen this, but you don't know the end of the story.  The good part.  Well, the curious part.  The infuriating part.  When I paint something with my banding wheel the set up is on the floor inside a giant box that contains paint splatters.  I leave it there overnight during the initial drying stages because I know the surface is level.  The next morning I usually move the painting (still on the banding wheel) to my library gym where I take a picture right by the window in good light, then put it back inside the box.  After work, if the paint is mostly dry, I move it onto a shelf that's about four feet off the ground.  Air flow is better out of the box so the rest of the paint dries faster.  At some point during this part of the adventure - I think it was during day two while I was at work - a wee creature with mad acrobatic skills SOMEHOW managed to leave a trail of destruction across the face of the painting.  GAH!!!!!  There are no discernible footprints so maybe it was a flying creature.  Whoever it was, they are on my shit list.  I'm still going to varnish the painting and list it on Etsy; I should charge extra for the backstory.

In other news, I dropped off two paintings for the member show at the Helen Day Art Center in Stowe - my fave "Letting Go" that's in the September 30 post and "Under the Canopy."  Here's a terrible picture of that one:

I forgot to photograph it before taking it to work, where it was living pre-show because that's the only place I've got wall space for a 24" x 30" canvas.  Maybe it's bigger than that - I can't remember.

In additional other news, I FINALLY ordered hanging hardware so there will be a massive update to my Etsy store later this week.  The five moon flower paintings will be the first to be listed:

Also this little "Mountain Moon."  Everything with "moon" in the title, basically.

In my last other news for the day, here are the official family Autumn 2018 portraits.  I can't believe Rabbit sat still long enough for me to take a picture:

Just a couple of goobers wearing sweaters.