H-Frame

Blog, meet easel. Easel, meet blog.
I told you I ordered paper. It arrived and I was stunned by its quality and beauty and awesomeness (yes...it's just paper). Only there was one problem: I ordered 20 sheets. There was ONE in my box. This confused me for quite some time. I read and reread the listing, the order description, everything. Finally, I wrote the company and explained my confusion. To my relief, they wrote back and said that they had accidentally labeled the paper wrong and what I thought I had paid for 20 sheets was actually the cost of ONE sheet. ZOMG. They were very kind and GAVE me the sheet and refunded my money, apologizing for the confusion and mix up and told me to enjoy using it. I hope to do business with them again because service like that is rare. So...long story short, I used the paper. At first, I wasn't sure what to think. It's a kind my teacher told me about that's almost sandpaper. In fact, it is sandpaper, just very, very fine. The more I worked on it, the more I loved it. And the piece turned out beautifully. The only reason I haven't posted it is because it's a nude...and I'm just not there yet. I probably will...maybe by the end of this post...we shall see.
Ever since using that paper, I've been drooling over paper online. I even filled my cart with paper a few times and let it sit for awhile before telling myself I didn't need it right NOW. One day, I was going through paper and art supplies and an H-frame easel online, drooling away, when John asked if I wanted to get them since he knew I'd been looking at them. Side note on the H-frame. I have a T-frame (I think that's what it's called?? It's definitely not an A-frame.) and it has had a nice long 6 years of life but it has become rickety (cricket!) and I'm ready to move up. So...long story short, I am now the owner of a beautiful H-frame easel and more beautiful paper...and a 96 pack of Nupastels...DROOL!!! But here's the thing...I had ANOTHER art order hiccup. My paper arrived damaged. Not all of it but a lot. At first, I wasn't going to say anything...but then I thought hard about it and decided that this is an art company that provides professional art supplies. Real artists simply cannot accept damaged paper because they can't sell work on damaged paper, however small the damage. It's that simple. I got things straightened out and am waiting to hear back on whether they want me to ship the paper back or not. It's weird...I have this strange feeling they will just let me keep it. And if that's the case, I feel like God just said with this and the last order, "Here, have some really expensive drawing paper. FREE." I feel like every excuse I make to stop doing this, God shows me 5 reasons to get over myself and do it. It's still terrifying...which I think few people will ever understand. I think part of it is my desire to control the situation I'm in...and this is not a field where control is a strong suit. Not that any truly is. So...that's where I'm at right now. And pictured is my current work-in-progress that was sneering at me from the corner a few days ago. I finally punched it in the nuts (er...not sure where that came from but I'll go with it) and got working on it and it's going very well. I'm happy. :) Okay now on to other stuff.