Day 19 - Baba Yaga's House

Until a couple of years ago, I had never heard of Baba Yaga, and that is a shame.  Baba Yaga is a figure from Slavic folklore who bears some resemblance to the witch in Hansel and Gretel, in that she lives deep in the forest and doesn't mind eating stray children who happen past (ideally, after making them do a bit of gardening).  Sometimes, wicked stepmothers even send their unwanted stepchildren to Baba Yaga as a means of getting rid of them - permanently.  Baba Yaga, however, is neither all nor always bad.  Sometimes, she can even be helpful.  I still wouldn't ask her to babysit, though.  I'm not sure she has passed First Aid.

Unlike some of her Western counterparts, Baba Yaga travels through the forest in a mortar (yes, that kind of mortar) with a pestle (yes, that kind of pestle).  She lives in a "chicken house," which is to say, a hut that stands on either one or two chicken legs, depending on whom you ask, and she has a fence made of bones, with after-dark lighting provided by various skull-lanterns.  When she sleeps, she stretches all the way from one end of the hut to the other.  Some say her nose touches the ceiling, but I don't know.  I don't think it's a good idea to sneak in and find out.

For this canvas, I wanted to paint Baba Yaga's house, which I find to be a charming visual, but I knew that meant painting lots of the surrounding forest, so I decided to start there.

Hey, maybe I'll do some kind of 50s mod trees!

Oh, maybe I won't because I don't want to do a 50s mod house

This will be included in the auction that starts February 1 to raise money for the Innocence Project and the Chicago Bond Fund!  YaY!