No painting today!

No painting today!

It has been another long day though of stretching canvases for shows and galleries.

The shadowboxes have become my signature go to for several years now.

Originally a canvas available at a big box store, they were discontinued just as I fell in love with them.

I found them after I had looked lovingly at them all summer, but they were expensive.

I couldn't keep my pricing reasonable paying almost $70 for one canvas.

Then, on a bright fall afternoon after the National Shrimp Festival, 

I went to the store to buy some small canvases.

The shadowboxes were on clearance!

$8.99, $9.99, $10.99 I grabbed carts and bought all 22 they had on hand.

I took them home and painted them over the course of three weeks.

We took them to Peter Anderson and sold half of them that weekend!

I scoured the internet, not finding anyone else carrying them.

Not to be undaunted, my husband Chris asked "Can you get any more of these?"

"I said no, discontinued."

"I think I can make the frames." he said.

"Good, because I think I can stretch them!"

And so it began......

Then there was today.

I already had a pile of the frames awaiting canvas.

"Hey, I think I have enough wood to make some 24x24's"

(A lot of this is the wood we rescued from the dumpsters around town.)

10 new 24 x 24's arrived in the studio this afternoon.

6 offset and 4 centered.

I had already been stretching the afternoon away getting done with the first batch.

6~12x36, 8~16x16, 8~12x24.

10 more......

5 made before riding the rottens.

I pushed to get the rest of the batch done this evening after cooking dinner.

Thank God for the air compressor, and staple gun!

I know I went through 5,000 staples or more between yesterday and today.

But I'm done!

32 shadowbox canvases in two days!

Wait....

I have to paint them all white now before I can start creating on them.

That's another two days of work probably.

They're going to have to wait until I can get more white paint.

Fortunately, that is arriving Monday from Alabama Art Supply in Birmingham.

It's a never ending cycle of creating, building, painting, and finishing pieces.

Don't even get me started on the price of lumber these days.

I bought the lumber today for the custom trailer we will be pulling behind the camper for shows.

Oh my goodness!

The guy at the box store tried to charge me for thicker wood, but I quickly corrected him.

Then I corrected him again.

Then a third time.

At least it went from $480 to $360 finally.

Hmmmm, maybe he shouldn't be on a register?

Check your totals folks, before you pay!

Another long, productive, crazy day at the Raccoon Retreat Studio here in Fairhope, Alabama!

No painting today!,

Day 40 of the 100 days~100 paintings 2021