Monday, June 27, 2005

Lessons

I have been working and running around and whew! I am tired! Aside from an oddessy of a trip to Bellingham on Saturday (a 45 minute trip that morphed into a 3 hour trial of my patience) I also went to an art party birthday party on the weekend. It was a nice way to spend an afternoon and if you have a bunch of artsy friends and the space to work in, I highly recommend it. It's just nice to have an excuse to get out and commune with like minded girlfriends. It helps if you bring nibblies and some goodies to share. I think so much of what we do as artists is a solo venture. It's good to work in a group (even if it's on your own thing) just to have ideas thrown around, art supplies shared and information passed. It's inspiring.

Here's what I learned yesterday:

Several of the ladies made altered Board Books. NO THEME. They just plunked themselves down and started cutting and gluing whatever pleased them to their books. That was a reminder to me that you CAN just do that-everything does not have to have a theme. Sometimes you just need to not have a plan. At the end of it all, their books turned out lovely and now I want to do one like that!

Part of the day was supposed to be us teaching techniques to one another. I taught the group to fold papers into signatures with pockets big enough to hold ATCs. My friend Nadine, the bookbinding goddess then taught everyone how to make a cover complete with flap and sew those signatures in using a V stitch. I walked away with a very nice book indeed. I have already run down to the scrapbooking store to get more supplies. Guess what I am going to be doing?!?!

You never know what small thing you can share with friends. I love that Nadine wanted to know how to fold the pockets and then I wanted to know the stitching and together we managed to make a whole project to share with the group. The give and take of art is what keeps me wanting to do it.

What will you learn today?

Thursday, June 23, 2005

FYI!

For any of you living in the Lower Mainland, my friend Chris is retiring her business and this might be of interest to you:

Countdown to Store Closing Continues

Fabrics now $6.00 metre (1 metre minimum)
* Buy 4 metres, get 1 metre free!
Great time to stock up on threads - 50% off!
DMC threads - buy a baker's dozen (13 threads) for $4.85 (37 cents each!!)
All buttons, including Art to Heart buttons, are 60% off.
Fat quarters are $1.50; Fat eighth's are 75 cents (already cut - we're not cutting new ones - sorry)

Pat's will be open July 1, 2 and 4th (closed Sunday July 3rd for a memorial service).

July 5th - 10 opening is to be determined - we'll let you know if that'll happen.
Thank you so much.

9217 Glover Road
Fort Langley, BC
V1M 2S5
Phone: 604-882-9411
www.patsquiltingstore.com

Updates!

There's lots of new stuff to look at in Galleries 5 & 7. I've updated some design work I have been doing, as well as uploaded new garden photographs taken just last night.

Hope you are having a creative day. I am done for today and about to head off with my husband for have a nice quiet dinner for two. Our son is at an end-of-the-year dance, so we are seizing the opportunity to have a date! :)
What's in my art book library? Have a look!  Posted by Hello

Advice From A Master

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back
to your work your judgement will be surer; since to remain constantly at work will cause you to lose your power of judgement. Go some distance away because the work appears smaller and more of it can be taken in at a glance, and a lack
of harmony or proportion is more readily seen."
-- Leonardo Da Vinci
Good advice! You have to distance yourself from almost anything in life to gain perspective. As Kahlil Gibran put it "As the mountain to the climber is clearer from the plain."

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

Ideas!

I have been thinking for quite some time that I would like to make some of my favourite pieces of art into greeting cards. (I have often thought I should work for Hallmark and write the mushy/heartfelt cards.) Anyway, I have been scanning and saving images to my computer when I finish a piece of art just in case I want to use it later for this purpose. I am slowly but surely creating a collection. I guess at some point I will have to look into printing costs and see if it's worth it to do a limited run. I am still hesitant about the whole "selling my art" thing but it would be nice to have my own line of cards to send to friends when the spirits move me.

In the meantime, I have been working on desing team stuff again. I still have a few more projects to get finshed in the next few days. Where does the time go? June is almost gone!

Hope you are bitten by the creativity bug today! I'm off to to get some more work done! *waves*

Sunday, June 19, 2005

Abecedarium

Today was the unveiling for the local girls of the Abecedarium* collaborative book. While I don't want to say too much yet since there are some ladies yet to receive theirs by mail, I will say that it is beautiful and wonderfully creative. I have emailed all the participants to ask permission to post their work in it on my webpage just as soon as everyone has received their copy. I want everyone to be able to enjoy the delightful surprise I had as I opened mine.

Keep your eyes peeled for an update announcing the posting of the pages. They should be up in about a week or two, depending on the speed of Canada Post!

*An abecedarium is an inscription consisting of the letters of the alphabet in order.

Friday, June 17, 2005

In A Moment of Clarity

*Warning: Deep thoughts!*

I had the most interesting experience last night at this party I went to. First of all, it was a dinner for a friend who is retiring her business so it was a send off thing for her, which in and of itself was very nice.There were alot of women there from varous aspects of her life and I knew about 3/4's of them.

I arrived fairly early so I plunked myself in a seat and three women came to join me. One I have known for a long time, one I know through another friend and one I didn't know at all. (Lovely woman all.) We all got chatting and playing catch up. Before long we were talking about Jan's books, my trip to NYC, my teaching, my website and so on. So I am sitting there, filling people in on what I have been up to and it starts to feel like an out of body experience. I hear myself reviewing my life in the last couple of years and I have the revelation that I lead a pretty magical life. Here I am working at something I love and making good money, having pretty much had things fall into my lap. (Although my friend Penn insists I work hard for it, I just think the universe keeps plunking it down and going "Here!") Success is happening and the most important part (for me anyway) is the fact that I have these really deep and meaningful relationships with people. It's the connections with the people who mean the most in my life that I feel most satisfied about. It's that feeling of knowing I am making a meaningful contribution to the world with the gifts I have that makes me happiest.

When the Dalai Lama came here last year and I went to hear him speak, one thing he said is that the main job we have as human and spiritual beings is to use our time here on earth to help move mankind foreward. By foreward he meant to do the work you are destined to do in your life time-to find what that is and work to improve the human condition however you can.I think last night I got a taste of what that looks like for me by experiencing my life as if I too was listening to myself tell it. My experience has always been this feeling of serendipidy-of being exactly where I was meant to be in exactly the right moment. It's about opening the doors of my soul wide and allowing things to unfold as they were meant to. It's about being aware in a way that goes beyond my 5 senses, which I have always had and been conscious of, but sort of took for granted.

I have often thought of my life as this grand adventure and while alot of people have a clear plan of what they want to do, I have just never been able to formulate one. I can't see what it is I want to do for any great length of time. I used to be a bit freaked out about it because other people I know settle on something and that's it. I have come to the realization that I am a dreamer and a creator and that's a fluid thing which is why I can't formulate a life plan in terms of doing something forever.

So I have been living my life as if I am travelling without a map and enjoying the scenery and experiences along the way. I think that's just my way of being present in the moment. It's really about my journey not the destination. I have finally figured out that that's what I am doing and it feels really good to finally have an understanding of myself in this way. It's not about lacking goals or focus. Anyone who knows me personally will tell you I am a doer and will move mountains once I get an idea in my head.

Lacking-that's an icky word. I think that is part of why I was freaked out. The world tells you you have to fit into a nice neat box and be just like everyone else. Not so. A cut and dried life plan is not for everyone. Maybe that is why I chose the blog template "The Crazy Ones" for my blog this week. Serendipidy. It's exactly what I figured out last night.

I was also reminded that I am surrounded by the most amazing group of friends, whom I love with all my heart. They enrich, inspire and bless my life everyday precisely because of who they are as unique and precious individuals. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Blog

If you see changes to my Blog over the next little while, it's because I am trying out some new templates. The last one I liked, but it had bugs. This one is fun-I LOVE the little movie-it's so true! I will probably leave it on for a bit so people can enjoy it. In the meantime, I will be looking for another template to upload. I just want a change from the brown one, which although nice, I am tired of.

Oh and if you are looking for the archives, they are at the bottom of the window-just scroll down. :)

Update!

Just for a change, I actually got my ATCs for Sunday's swap finished early! I was playing with a box of brand new watercolour paints I bought myself over the weekend and decided to paint some ATCs to test the colours out. When I was done, I had all kinds of pretty colour combinations. Tracy sent me several of her stamps from her collection for my birthday and there are a few I haven't tried yet. I pulled one out and stamped on top of the watercolours. I like how they came out. Voila! My ATCs are ready to go!

If you want to see them, they are uploaded to Gallery 3.

*The watercolours I bought are made by Pental and they came in these teeny little tubes. They come 18 in a box for $8 CDN and since they are watercolours, you only need the scantest bit of paint on the pallet to work with. They will last forever!

Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Happy News!!

I just got word that my friend Karenann Young has been featured on Art-e-zine. For those of you not familiar with her work, she is an amazing artist and has had her work featured in a number of art magazines. She is also the artist behind "January" on the ArtPlay calendar for 2005! Karenann is a lovely person and has talent just oozing out her ears so please click this link and check out her postcard art. On her feature page you will also find a link to her picture trail so you can see more of her work.

Congratulations Karenann, your work is a beautiful reflection of your creativity and uniqueness and you deserve the recognition!! Bravo!

Monday, June 13, 2005

Home again, Home again!

HI Everyone! I am back from the Sunshine Coast. What a great weekend! Here's the scoop:

Friday morning I caught the 9:20 a.m. ferry. I had brekki while we sailed over and finished just in time to take some very bad photos. (The ferry has plastic windows and even with jamming the lense up against the plastic, I still got reflection happening.) It was a plesant drive to Half Moon Bay to Nadine's studio and home. I had to laugh-I was waiting to turn at a light in Sechelt and glanced at this professionally made sign at the Esso I was beside. It said it was open "23 1/2 hours a day" (what goes on in that half hour they haven't accounted for?!?!) AND you can "eat here and get gas". Now if that isn't truth in advertising, I don't know what is!! Only in a small town folks, only in a small town.

Anyway, I arrived at about 11 a.m. and Nadine and I putzed around for the day. Dinner was steller-BBQ shishkabob, roasted potatoes, Greek salad, warm fresh baked bread and a dessert I have never had before. I can't remember the name of it, but it was really good. Later we attempted to watch "What the Bleep Do We Know" with her husband in the evening. It's some quantum physics thingy-not anything two tired artists could wrap their brains around. Hats off to her husband though who tried patiently explaining it to us the next day. LOL!

Saturday I taught my condesed AB class to a group of 11 very enthusiastic and lovely ladies. It was pretty rockus-everyone seemed to be having a good time altering and socializing. It was wonderful to teach a group that were so excited and creative. It made my job pretty easy and I had fun too. Lunch was a brown bag affair with Nadine supplying fruity punch and the best carrot cake I have ever tasted. (Did I mention she is a phoenominal cook?!?) She made yummy turkey sandwiches for her and I and everyone sat around chatting while they ate. The energy of this group was very friendly and I felt right at home.

Saturday night we had cabbage rolls and pickled beets which I had promised to bring for dinner and we added a salad, bread and BBQ smokies to the feast. We ended the evening with another movie-this one was more girly and easier to follow along with huge bowls of popcorn. (She knows how to keep me happy!)

Sunday morning I was up early to pack my car and get to the ferry on time since I had another class to teach in Vancouver at 1 p.m. I took the scenic route and stopped to buy this delicious granola Nadine had from a local shop and snap some pictures on the beach. It was grey out, but not raining and the trip was pleasant. Except for the fact that I wanted to call home to touch base with my husband and discovered that my cell does not work from outside the Vancouver area. That settles it-I am getting a new cell ASAP. My old one worked all the way to Alberta and since I travel alot, I need one that works at least that far away.

I taught my last class of my 6 session AB and came home to crash and burn-so here I am! It was a great weekend and I was so glad I had the opportunity to teach at Art Escape. Nadine is so great and we had so much fun just hanging out. I cannot wait to go back in the fall!

*There were more pictures than would fit on what appears on this page so look at the "Recent Posts" on the left to see more.

P.S. If you are wondering what happened to the new journal style, it had some bugs in it so I had to revert to the old one. *sigh* The best laid plans...
Isn't this cool? I love it! Nadine has a beautiful studio! Posted by Hello
A shot of the majority of the studio. Posted by Hello
All of the handmade books on display. I had a great time looking at them all. Posted by Hello
Workspace. Posted by Hello
The back wall of the studio. Posted by Hello
The view from the front of the house-gorgeous! Posted by Hello
Eagle in the snag in front of the house. Posted by Hello
Gotta love nature! Posted by Hello
There are such lovely interesting things to look on the edge of the ocean. Posted by Hello
The seawall along the beach near Sechelt. Posted by Hello
The beach near Sechelt. Posted by Hello

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Packing My Bags

I am off to the Sunshine Coast for a couple of days. I am looking foreward to seeing some new things and meeting some new people. My digi cam is ready to go! All the scoop when I return. Hope everyone has a creative weekend!

Wednesday, June 08, 2005

Revamp!

HA! So you thought you were going to see the same old, same old blog, didn't you?!? Nope! I got tired of the old one so I spent the afternoon revamping. Now that I know what I am doing, I might just do a revamp here more often. I love to switch things up once in awhile.

Anyway, that's my bit of artistry for today, such as it is. Enjoy!

Monday, June 06, 2005

Cool Link du Jour

Okay so check this out fellow ATC fans! When you get to the page, look at the top right hand side and you will see a brown button that says "Watch". Click on that and enjoy!
P.S. The dark haired woman from Vancouver says she swaps at the Grind. I personally have never seen here there. None of my art pals know her either. I am not sure how long ago this feature was made though, so perhaps she did attend at one time. It's just funny hearing her say she swaps with us and she's a total mystery!

*Edit: Turns out that feature was shot in 2003, so that explaines the mystery woman-she must not swap anymore. (At least locally.)

On a Motherly Note

Happy Birthday to my son who turns 14 today!!
(OMG I feel old!)

His dad and I contemplated waking him at 2:52 a.m. to give him his birthday greetings, but decided that would just make for a grumpy teenager in the morning. That saying about dogs should really be changed to "Let sleeping teens lie." A teen's more likely to bite you than a dog! LOL!

**MUSHY ALERT**

Some things I love about my son:

1. He has the most compassionate heart. He will play with the kid no one pays attention to and protect the kid who gets picked on. He is kind to old folks and people with disabilities and makes them feel no different than anyone else.

2. He hugs and kisses me when I drop him off at school or whenever I leave the house, even though it's probably wayyyyyyy uncool.

3. He adores animals and is incredibly gentle with them. (He is especially amazing with horses and an wonderful rider.)

4. He loves going to see horror movies with me.

5. He understands the importance of sharing.

6. He is incredibly helpful.

*sniff*
Anyway happy birthday to my kiddo!! You are the sunshine of my life.
xoxox your mum

New Gallery!!

At long last, Gallery 7 has arrived! It's a photography gallery and I will be adding new pics to it as I take them. (Only my most favourite shots, mind you!)I will be travelling this weekend to the beautiful Sunshine Coast and I am sure I will have new images to add shortly.

Seven galleries! WOO! Go check it out!

Sunday, June 05, 2005

Updates!

Hello Folks! Just a quick note on the fly. I wanted to let you know I had a few minutes this morning so I have updated Gallery 6. WHEW! It's alot of work keeping everything up to date. I have a few more updates to get to, probably tomorrow, so keep checking back. I am hoping to add a new gallery shortly-that would make SEVEN! WOW! Good thing I have an excellent server with lots of room!

Okay must run-I have a class to teach this afternoon! *waves*

Free ATC to Print!!

Gillian of Art-e-zine made this ATC for people to print off and distribute to promote her e-zine. You can get it by going here. Let's all make some and share them around-her site is one of the best destinations on the web!! Posted by Hello