 Just finished this bright little numbers. I have strayed too far from my abstract love. These are both yet to be titled but they remind me of summer and a splash of Caribbean adventure. I will have them both with me this Saturday at Art in the Park. |  |
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 I struggle with the concept of consistency constantly. I can a great chunk of world can relate to this. Life is complicated and full of the ever growing "to do" list. There are just not enough hours in the day to get it all done. I, personally, hold a full time day job, have a house to maintain (seriously who has time to keep it in show-home-clean state that I used to expect of myself?), friends, family that lives far away to keep in touch with, my wonderful boyfriend who works out of town, and then there is my art and promoting of my work. So many things and so little time and somewhere in there i need to sleep and throw in a shower. When did it all get so busy? I have learned that sometimes the house cleaning will just have to wait. It will be there to do tomorrow. I have to remind myself of one of my favorite "lessons" you can often here me recite to friends. "You will never be on your death bed and say 'Damn. I wish I would have WORKED and/or CLEANED more!'". How true is that?!?!??? Slotting in time to rejuvenate ones self and time to do things we love is crucial to maintaining our selves. I have learned I need to paint, not only because I want to promote and share my art but because I LOVE IT! The real reason I picked up painting and have continued to do it is because it's good for my soul. It makes me feel complete. It allows me to express and release something visceral that negates away daily anxieties or stress. What do you love to do? What do you do that you get absolutely lost in? Ask yourself: If money were not a factor, what would you do with your time?  Sometimes the reality is that we all don't get to do what we absolutely love to do to earn our living and some simply choose not to. I see a great benefit to having my day job. It allows me to do both right now, to have the day job to take care of my life responsibilities and allows me to devote my downtime to my art work without any extra cloud of pressure that if I don't sell I don't make my mortgage. For right now that works best for me. It provides me the privilege to paint for absolute unfiltered joy and it gives you, the viewer, the best version of my work. On the flip side of that there is still another side of me whom hates to have to stop painting because I have to go to bed due to work in the early morning. But I digress....... " Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls." I filled out a form a while ago (for lack of a better term). It was a start of year plan of sorts that asked you a bunch of questions about personal growth and what a person saw as goals for the year and the first question was something along the lines of (I paraphrase):
If you could think of a word to represent the year a head, what would it be? I will be honest, it was the first question and I was stumped. I never fully completed the form but this question stuck with me. Three months into 2014 and my word has come to me. CONSISTENT I want this year to be the year I breath a little easier and settle into a little more of a routine between all the balls I try to juggle. I want to find a little more central balance. What would your word be? I started a new series!!!. The first was a tester to see how I felt about it but I loved it so here we go. Nudes! I've always wanted to dabble in them but have never gotten around to trying until now. Tell me what you think :)  48"x36" Title: TBA Price: $975.00  This one is still in progress but you get the idea :) These will both be at my show coming up next weekend with Night of Artists at the Enjoy Centre in St.Albert. March 7-9  This upcoming weekend some of work will be displayed for sale at: The Boyle Street Makers Fair Boyle Street Plaza 9538 103 A Avenue Feb 8 & 9, 2014 from 10am - 4pm daily I will have 6 of my pieces up for grabs. Sabrina & Robin will be there promoting the art for the day. Take some time to support the Boyle Street area and local art! FREE ADMISSION!  As 2013 quickly comes to an end I take a cumulative look at my year, what I have created and lessons learned, looking forward the the year to come. I wish all my supporters, near and far, a warm holiday season and a happy new year. May 2014 be filled with memories to be made and endless possibilities. "For last year's words belong to last year's language
  Last week I read an blog post by David duChemin(a photography I adore) about being a "chronic starter". Oh did this ever ring true for me. I am GUILTY of this! I spoke about this a few posts prior to this and I say guilty with no negative context. I start lots and do eventually get to them. I decided to take a tally of all of the projects I have started right now ...... 16 TOTAL! I've got my work a head of me. I completed the owl I've been working on forever. What do you think?  Title: I spy Size: 16" x 20" Medium: Acrylic on Canvas  I was featured on the Timeraiser blog this past week with a little tidbit about what inspires me (CLICK HERE).
The event is this coming weekend. If you are looking for a cozy event to attend to share a glass of wine, mingle amongst some great folks, and find a fantastic way to give back to your community buy your tickets here.  This is my painting that will be up for auction this year. Title: Where does the time go? Size: 20" x 30" Medium: Acrylic on canvas I have been chosen as one of the participating artists in the upcoming Timeraiser event on November 9, 2013 in Edmonton. I was part of this event last year and what a wonderful organization. The basic premise is they purchase art from local artists (they hold these events all over Canada) and they auction off the items in exchange for volunteer hours with local organizations that also take part in the event. It is part volunteer fair, part silent art auction and part night on the town organized by Framework. It’s a wonderful way to give back to your community (while enjoying a alcoholic beverage if you so choose) but you get a beautiful piece of art at the end of your hours.
Check out more about Timeraiser here Check out the local organizations you could volunteer for here Check out the line up of artists for 2013 here Tickets can be purchased on the sight here  This year for Thanksgiving I got something a little different than traditional meal with family…… a visit from my grandmother. A full 2 days of just me and her (and to be selfish ….. no sharing her attention with anyone else)! It was nothing less than awesome. We did a little shopping for her, ran a few errands but mostly just hung out and spent some time together. She is such a sweet soul. In the midst of our visit we had a little painting lesson. She has wanted to paint for some time and has been making progress but wanted a few pointers from how I approach a project. We set up….. aprons and painting attire on……. we paint.  2 sessions in one day and she did an amazing job. A few months shy of 80 and she is full of life! It was so nice to have her here with me. Thanks for the visit, Nanny.
 This is such a loaded question! As unique as every artist is this question will always have many different answers. I can only speak for myself and my answer is ……. sometimes I don’t know and sometimes I do. I struggled with this when I first started painting. I would force the work, feeling like I could only have one painting in progress and had to work on it from beginning until end and carried some imaginary schedule in my head that stated a set amount of time it was suitable to be working on one item. I needed to let that go. I quickly learned in the process that it is just that….. a process! Each person is different and there are no rules. Painting is the one part of my life where I hold the control! I was putting unrealistic expectations on myself for what? To add another restriction or schedule to my already busy life? Through the last few years and several “stern” discussions with myself I have learned to break this bad habit. It is very true when people say we are our own worst critics because I know I certainly am. I always feel I can add to a painting. I can feel completely done and if I stare at it long enough I will find some little thing that could have been altered just slightly or added or “it needs extra varnish” or “if only I made this just slightly sharper” or “if only I thought of this (insert some random idea)”. BLAH BLAH BLAH! It’s nothing but noise and not what I need to be feeding my creative brain with. I would notice myself leading my conversations with people about my art with these comments. Awful! I had to stop clouding my brain or the admirer/potential buyers brain with this self doubt or uncertainty. Let people look at your work and enjoy it how they see it! Don’t get me wrong I still have these type conversations with myself because I need to work through it to actually figure out if I am actually done but I have a better handle on when to stop. I now have no issue with walking away from a painting for a while or even a year if needed. I have dozens of works on the go at the same time. I sometimes take months to finish and other times can be done a piece in a few hours. Sometimes I need to take a step back and sometimes I can just feel it’s done. I often times will be working on a piece for hours/months and will just suddenly coat it with gesso and start from scratch. And all of that is okay. There are no mistakes or “mess ups” because I make the rules. When I sit, talk less and just do that work I am done when I am done and there is no question about it. I have no fears about making changes, destroying the image, etc., because the painting has a life of its own. I try to let it come through. It is only when I lose contact with the painting that the result is a mess. 
24" x 72" is the size of this piece. Now hung safe in it's new home of Fort McMurray. Custom color matched and size chosen for the space in the new home of one of my dearest friends. It took me long enough to complete for them (which is mostly due to my few minor panic attacks that they may not like the end result) but I am certainly happy with the finished product (as are the new owners). P.S. The added bonus to delivery was I also got to me Baby R for the first time :) I'm in love!  Is he not the sweetest?
Just got home from setting up 22 of my works at Remedy Cafe on 109th Street. The late night set up was a heck of a lot smoother (and way quicker) with the help of a great friend.
Remedy has a fantastic reputation for chai (which is not my flavor but for those of you whom love it you should give theirs a try) and they have AMAZING baklava!
4 days Beautiful venue Great fellow artists Amazing turnout All around awesome experience
Please with hold your grumbles that we just finished that time of year. It's not that kind of list! The Straight from the Art event opens on this Thursday night. I'm steadily preparing.... finishing touches on new pieces..... varnishing.....signing......taking pictures...... choosing which to display at the show. Here are 6 new numbers barely dry off the easel/floor! Hope to see a great turn out for the event. Details are HERE! First painting session in the new studio space! Early stages but feels good to be painting canvas instead of walls.    Some of my work is being featured at The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse for the month of March. The Carrot is located on 118 Ave and is a amazing support to local artists and actively involved in the revitalization of 118 Ave. This month is in support of the SkirtsAfire Festival. The SkirtsAfire is a festival that empowers, celebrates, develops, supports and showcases women in theatre and other art forms. Thank you to the venue for choosing me to be a part of this line up. Big shout out to Heather, whom I have been dealing with first hand in getting my items coordinated and hung. It's been a pleasure!  If you are in the neighborhood stop in for a delicious hot beverage and a look at the art!
The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse Located at: 9351-118 ave  From March 14-17, 2013 I will be displaying with a wonderful group of artists at the St. Albert Enjoy Centre. The event is called Straight from the ART. It will span over 4 days and will be jam packed full of art, fundraising, music, fashion and all in a breath taking venue. To read more about the Night of Artists please visit the website. The schedule for the event goes as follows: Thurs, March 14th @ 6:30pm Festival Gala Opening Silent Art Auction Art Show and Sale (THAT'S ME with 30 other artists) Lewis Lavoie Live Art Music by "Pulse" **** I have tickets available for this event. Please contact me! Friday, March 15th 11:00am-4pm Entry by Donation to Art Exhibit 6:00pm-10pm Pecha Kucha $12 admission Saturday, March 16th 11:00am-4:00pm $5 admission Art Exhibition Live Music 6:30pm-10:00pm Evening Gala Art Exhibition Live Music by Pulse Fashion Show by Laura Dreger **** I have tickets available for this event. Please contact me! Sunday, March 17th 11:00-4:00pm FAMILY DAY Art Exhibition Entry by Donation Family photo sittings Face Painting Temporary Tattoos I will be there throughout the event with my display. If you need tickets or want further information please do not hesitate to contact me and if you happen to be at the event PLEASE stop by to say hi! I'd love to see you.
 Two pieces being wrapped and readied for their new "forever" home. They will be delivered to G this week to join the decor of her first home. My painting chosen for the upcoming Timeraiser event on Oct 13th is highlighted in City and Dale this week. The event is fast approaching and I'm excited to see how well it is going to do. Thanks to Kendall for the mention!   What are you doing on Saturday? I will be HERE!!!!!
http://www.strathearncommunityleague.org/home/?p=1199 Come celebrate local art! |
BlogThanks for visiting my blog. Welcome to my creative journey. 
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