I’m working on a large painting based on the owl study above and I delayed this post in hopes that it would be done in time to write about it. But it’s still not finished and I’ve surrendered to being late on top of not having it to show you. It’s four times the size of the canvases I normally work on so I’m not beating myself up about how long it’s taking. Especially since I sold the owl study to a friend of mine, and another piece sold at the gallery yesterday. There’s nothing like two sales in a week to cheer a penny-pinching girl up as we head into the craft fair season. The owl sale means I can order two new editions of giclees and I’ve already received and packed this year’s cardinal cards. Twenty of those have also sold so I should probably order more as well. This is that artist life situation again - when you’re flush you buy things you had put on a list when you were broke, and when you are broke you write lists and make art. I have been through it often enough to know something always sells just as I start to panic. And since this time last year I thought I would have moved to the UK by now, I let my craft fair inventory run out and I need to replace it. It’s good to know people are still spending money on art as the madness in DC keeps ramping up daily, if not hourly. As an Army brat who spent her childhood on military bases, I watched my dad look for Sputnik with a backyard telescope and burn official documents on a hibachi after he had memorized the content. I know what a political crisis feels like. It feels like this. But I keep reminding myself that I live in the bluest town in the bluest state where town hall just banned Flock cameras so I feel relatively safe. I also remind myself I have running water, electricity, WIFI and cell service as well as a cozy apartment with a studio and plenty of art supplies. Plus I get to see Paul online everyday and visit him in the flesh from time to time when I have the money. This is not Ukraine, there aren’t bombs going off outside or riots in the streets. If I continue to remain grateful for what I have and stay in the moment, everything else is gravy. Fingers crossed that sanity rules the midterms and there isn’t a big bloodbath afterwards. Is that asking too much? In a sensible world, probably not, but here, in these scary days, maybe. OK, enough of all that, on with the day. Namaste.