Surprise guest

 This is the Snow Queen. Don't ask me where she came from, because I haven't the slightest. I prepared a piece of watercolor paper Friday morning, using pink and turquoise Daler Rowney inks, planning to paint a picture of two little girls reading. But by the time I got back to the paper at 11:00 last night, a couple of things had happened: Our beloved Notorious RBG had died; Mitch McConnell couldn't even wait until she was in the grave before stating his intentions to replace her forthwith; and we had a highly unsettling earthquake.

So when I sat down to distract myself by doing some art before bed, I wasn't thinking any more about little girls reading. Instead, I looked at the shapes and outlines made by the ink and saw this haughty woman with a big upstanding fur collar and masses of curly hair, and before I knew it, there she was on the page.

I messed up her nose twice, and had to gesso the whole thing out; it took three coats, so I had to wait to do one of them this morning. (She is now wearing Nicole Kidman's nose.) Since I had to wait to finish the piece, I distracted myself by reading all the posts online, and ended up staying on the computer until 3:30 emailing all the Republican members of the Judiciary Committee to try to either inspire or shame them into holding off any Supreme Court appointment until after the election. Some may think it's a vain hope, but there are at least four members of that committee whose seats are in jeopardy, and I figure they will be listening more than they usually do (which is to say, not at all) to public opinion. I hope to Ruth that's true. In this time when we should be able to dwell on remembrance and mourning, instead we have to deal with these dickheads and their unstoppable need to desecrate everything we hold dear.

Sorry, I try not to go into too many political rants on what is supposed to be a blog for art, but honestly...I'm up to HERE.

Because of letting the paint stay where it lands, she looks a little like someone kissed her and thoroughly smeared her lipstick, so maybe I should call it "Snow Queen en déshabillé"?

Snow Queen: Pencil, Daler Rowney Turquoise, Fluorescent Rose, and Indigo, India ink, Uniball pen, white gouache, white gel pen, on 140-lb. Strathmore watercolor paper, approx. 7x10 inches.