In Memory

Kenneth George Chick
October 31, 1921-January 25, 2004

Today is a bittersweet day. It would have been my beloved Granddad's 85th birthday. How I wish he were here to celebrate it.

I made this collage last night while waiting for a show to come on. It reminds me of Gramps who was incredibly gifted and creative. He was a skilled carpenter and cabinet maker. He could look at something and then hold it in his mind's eye till he could go draw up the plans and make it himself.

Happy birthday Gramps. I miss you terribly.

Art Du Jour

So this is my page for a collaborative project I am participating in, hosted by Laura. She sent all of us photos and black photo album pages and it was up to us to create art using that phone (or not) and a back story on the person in the photo. I decided to use a photo I had on hand instead and to share a bit of Canadiana. In my case, I guess you could call my page "Fact or Fiction" because some of what is included is fact and some is fiction. It was just too tempting to mix the two.

In other news, I received my order from Paper Whimsy this morning and I am dying to play with the beautiful images. First though, I have be good and get some work done. Nothing like inspiration to get me motivated to clear my desk though! Being ill the last 3 weeks has put me behind and sometimes I feel like the faster I try and go, the behinder I get! Nothing to do except keep putting one foot in front of the other-eventually, I will get there!

It is cold, crisp and windy here on the west coast now-autumn is definitely upon us! I love watching the big winds come and swirl the leaves from the trees. Last night when I was driving home, I passed an area where there is a big rookery (a nesting place of crows) and the sky was completely black with crows on the wing. It sure was a sight to see. I wish I hadn't been zooming down the freeway, but stationed somewhere where I might have captured it on my camera instead. It would have made a fabulous picture-the sky at the half light of dusk and all those crows in flight. Beautiful!

In my heaven, it would be Autumn every day.

Art Angel

This journal I made this morning will be going off to live with Tina Catspaw on Monday morning. Tina was so sweet and helpful to me. Last week I had a package in my magic mail box- she sent me a whole stack of cabinet cards to use in the spring when I go to Artfest and take Nina Bagley's Parlour Book of Questions.

The image I used here was from one of the cards-I thought it would be fun to use one of the images she sent on her journal. (And isn't that background paper just delicious? It's from Cosmo Cricket, a new company that I just adore! I think I must have bought 10 sheets of this particular one!)

In addition to the cabinet cards, Tina also sent me 9 ATCs (one of which was a magnet) and these two 4 x 4 collages. This is just a fraction of what she sent, but her digital collages are fantastic! Be sure and visit Tina's Etsy Shop where you can purchase some of her magic for yourself!

THANK YOU Tina for all the goodies-you certainly brightened up my week and made my hunting and gathering for Arfest so much easier! You are an art angel!

Happy Anniversary Baby, Gotcha On My Mind!

Today my sweet husband and I are celebrating 16 years of marriage. I was looking at our photo album this morning and thought I would share this picture of Long Beach on Vancouver Island where we went to celebrate our 5th anniversary.

This picture is so typical west coast. What was not typical was the weather while we were there. It was 30C! We were walking the beach and getting sunburned at the tail end of October!! It was glorious and one of our favourite memories. Here we thought we would go to this remote location (Tofino) and have the pleasure of witnessing come spectacular storms-howling wind, waves crashing in the cove just beyond our room at the B&B we stayed in, but no. Instead we got to beachcomb to our heart's content and picnic in one of the most beautiful places in the Province while basking in the sun. Too funny!


I was 19 when we married but I knew he was "the one". Here's how I knew:

One day we were in downtown Vancouver, walking down Robson Street to meet a friend of mine for dinner. (Robson Street is this trendy, upscale shopping district in the heart of Vancouver.) Further up the street, coming towards us was this homeless man. He was drunk and weaving badly and accosting people for money. People were cutting a wide swath around him in an attempt to avoid him. We were talking and I kept on walking, nattering away.

Eventually, I realized he wasn't answering me and I stopped. I looked around and he was about 1/2 block behind me, talking to the homeless guy! I watched as he slapped him on the back and asked him how he was doing and then emptied his pockets and gave him all the money he had on him.

It turned out that this homeless guy, Randy, was an old schoolmate of my husband's. I was so impressed that he could show such compassion to Randy who was so down on his luck and treat him with dignity, instead of pretending he didn't know him. It would have been so easy for him to have just walked on by-Randy never would have known it was him, but he didn't. Instead he treated him exactly like he would have any other long-lost friend. I knew in that moment that he was "the one".

Randy died a few years ago-his life had not improved much from that moment when our paths had crossed. One day my husband serendipidously ran into Randy's brother on a job site. (It turns out one of his coworkers was related to Randy's family.) He told the brother the part Randy had played in our lives and we both hoped it helped him to know that even though Randy lead a tough life, he had touched ours in a really positive way. I refer to him as our raggedy angel.

My husband has a huge heart. I married one of the sweetest men ever and I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is a prince among men.

You Can't Keep An Artist Down!

Just a quick post to share with you Scolarly Mona. I am in the last few month of a calender RR that is being hosted by Kathy Wasilewski. The crow and eggs are from the Painted Ladies rubber sheet from Green Pepper Press. I bought this sheet because I am crazy about eggs and Michelle made a series that you can overstamp to make authentic looking bird's eggs.

Mona's cat glasses are a stamp from Tracy Roos which I covered with silver German Glass Glitter from Papier Valise. I painted the background with a coarse stainless steel paint from Golden so it has not only texture, but an iredescence to it. Nothing like mixing it up a little!

Anyway, if I am a little quiet these days, it's because I am decidedly not well. I have been working a little then climbing back into bed, then getting up and working a little more. I'm having issues with ear/sinus infections and really painful headaches, as a result. NOT FUN! So far it's been three weeks of this and it's wearing thin. I see more surgery in my future. *cringe* Oh the joys of being me! I am just grateful for hardcore antibiotics and universal health care. When I think about how alot of people in the world have to make do without access to either, I fully realize it could be alot worse. Perspective is everything.

Okay, off to make some tea!

*if you want to see what other people have done with Michelle's stamps, have a peek here.

Simply Charming

So this morning I had THREE (count 'em three!) packages in the magical mail box!

Package number one came from Ruth Rae. As you can see, she had the goodies inside beautifully wrapped. It was almost too pretty to open, but I knew what was waiting inside so I carefully undid the string.


Underneath the first layer of wrapping was a second layer! LOL! Nothing like prolonging the anticipation! Too funny!
I carefully unwrapped that layer too and inside were 25 beautiful handmade charms-one of mine plus 24 others from my art sisters.






I had already created this really cool necklace and so all that was left to do was to attach all the charms. No mean feat let me tell ya-balancing colour, size, shape and weight so the whole thing would be harmonious took a bit of doing. Fortunately, I had a new Bob Dylan cd to keep me company. (The Essential Bob Dylan, in case you're wondering.) It took me about an hour to get the whole thing together and here it is! (Oops! Just realized the charm at the center bottom got cut off in the pic!)

Thank you, thank you to my art sisters! I just love it! The fact that no two charms were alike is a testement to your amazing creativity and I am so blessed to have been able to share in this project with you. A BIG thank you to Ruth Rae for all her hard work in hosting this project. To see a close up of all the charms, click on the Simply Charming button on the sidebar on the right.

I am going out tonight with the family to celebrate my Father-in-law's birthday so I will get to show off my new treasure. I'll share my other goodies tomorrow-I have to run some errands now-off to the mall!

Treasure Hunt

So today I am heading off to Granville Island in search of treasures with my pal Sandy. (Sandy, by the way, has a new blog. You can check it out here.)

I love Granville Island. It's this neat little shopping mecca undearneath the Granville St. bridge, on the Burrard Inlet. You can shop for all kinds of wonderful foodstuffs in the Public Market or you can wander around the little shops-there are tons of artisans there. I plan to go to the Net Loft and hit Paper Ya, Postcard Place, Kroma and Beadworks. (My favourite stores there.)

A couple years ago, another friend and I rented a kayak and paddled Burrard Inlet. It's a really interesting part of the city. There are little Aqua busses that cross the inlet, transporting commuters and tourists from one area of the city to another. There is a sea wall that wraps around the inlet that you can walk. There are some wonderful house boats moored there. We also toured around the marina in the kayak, looking at all the beautiful boats moored there.

Awhile back, there was some fuss on Granville Island over a beaver. The city had planted some little skinny trees. (The kind they prop up with poles till they take hold, so we're talking baby trees.) One night, some beaver swam in, climbed out of the inlet and wandered around Granville Island sawing the new trees as well as some older, larger trees down. People were really mad about it, but secretly I was cheering for this renegade beaver. It strikes me as odd that people would be so upset that wildlife was encroaching on an urban community and that the beaver was under fire for simply doing what beavers do! I love beavers. I think they are incredibly resourceful and beautiful animals. You would think the national animal of Canada, the one with whom we have so much history would garner just a little more respect. In any case, there is wildlife all in and around the Island so it's always an interesting place to visit.

50 Years Ago Today!

Happy birthday to my true love who turns the big 5-0 today! He likes to say he was born at recess because he came into the world at 10:30 a.m. and his mum was a teacher!

We did the lion's share of celebrating last night because his parents were in town briefly while on their way to the Island. We spoiled him rotten. He is now the proud owner of a shiney new blue Ipod, which was one of the things our son and I gave him. I am charging it and loading all his music into it this morning. (He's not techie at all-never touches my computer.)

The new Ipods are pretty! I see there is a special red one out that is part of Bono's campaign to raise money to fight AIDS. I would have snapped that one up in a minute if I had seen them available in Canada but I haven't seen any here yet.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY honey!! You make the world a better place, simply by being in it! xox

And HAPPY BIRTHDAY to beautiful artist soul NINA on this day as well! Nina, I hope that all the good you bring to the world comes back to you tenfold on this day. *hugs* and happiness always.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Oh this is too much fun! I love digital collage! I did this one this morning-when I saw this photo, I just had to use it-the guy is especially creepy, if you ask me. It took alot of fiddling to edit and clean the image up-it was pretty damaged from age, but I think I managed to repair it decently. So, Something Wicked This Way Comes!

For those of you who Photoshop, what are you printing your collages on? Photo paper, card stock or regular computer paper? I am curious. I know our dollar store has photo paper and I think while I am over at the mall running errands, I am going to pop in and buy some to experiment with. I also think I will likely create a gallery for my website just for the digital collages, since I seem to be making quite a few. Might as well have somewhere to house them!

AND at long last, my "painted ladies" rubber is here from Green Pepper Press! YAY! It's wonderful and I can't wait to have a chance to play with it!! Now I want to hurry and run my errands so I can play!

Yesterday I picked up Sally Jean's brand new book, Pretty Little Things. It's a beautiful book with tons of soldered (and some not!) projects and also offers a peek into Sally's studio. I always love to see what other artist's work space look like. You can learn alot about a person by their studio! It rates high on the eyecandy-o-meter for those of you who were wondering. I am pretty descerning about the books I buy and this one is definately worth it. I plan to go through it and tab the things I find interesting, as I do with all my books. Every time I look at it, I see something new-I love that!

Must run off to the mall (ICK!) now and mail off a birthday gift for my Gram and see if there are any new shoes that appeal to me. Yesterday I was outside ever so briefly while teaching my class (to use spray glue) and it was pouring. Even though I was under cover, by the time I came in, my right sock was wet and if you know me, one of the things that will make me instantly miserable is WET FEET!! Somehow I have holes in my shoes that have barely been worn!Needless to say, I have to somehow tear myself away from my artwork long enough to go shoe shopping. Might as well be today. Maybe I can sneak a chai latte in there while I am at it!

# 96548

The digital exploration continues. I spent this afternoon playing with Photoshop. You know, it's interesting that I have often heard people say they don't consider digital collage art. I can't say I agree with them. It takes me far longer to put a digital collage together than it does a paper one. Part of the reason is because I am still learning (and learning solely by trial and error) but also because I am exceptionally careful when altering an image to use. I don't want there to be any stray pixels showing so I work and work at it. (It's my Aries side coming out-I am relentless till I am satisfied I did the best job I possibly could.)

Anyway, this was one of the pieces I created this afternoon. It's kinda sad. As I was working on it, I realized this little girl reminded me of pictures of I have seen in books about WWII and it just kind of went from there. It created itsself-it wasn't a conscious thing at all. Imagine a child being considered just a number and not a human being. I can't even wrap my brain around it. Anyway, sometimes art is sad and thought provoking.

I think it is safe to say I am addicted to digital collage now. I haven't given up on paper collage, but I am really enjoying having my music on and just fiddling with the mouse. It might interest you to know that I mouse left handed. Most people are surprised to know that and any time someone comes over and wants to do something on my computer, it always catches them off guard. The funny thing is, I am ambidexterious and I actually write with my right hand. I can't mouse competantly with my right hand though so all my digital collages are left hand creations- strange, but true!

Just Simply Charming!

So this is the charm I made for a charm swap with 24 other friends. I wanted to do something that reflects what I love and this is what I came up with. Among my favourite things are sewing related ephemera and notions. I made my charm from a vintage articulated ruler I had. A friend's husband helped me by cutting it into 1 inch increments. (No mean feat-it was tricky finding the right tool for the job-electric saws were overkill and just cracked and split the wood. It ended up that a dremel with a round disc bit did the trick.)

Anyway, I know lots of people are planning on making charms for Artfest 2007 as their swaps and I am sure having a peek at all the wonderful charms everyone from this swap made will be great inspiration. If you want to go check them out, I have added a button to the sidebar on the right for Just Simply Charming, the blog that has been created to showcase our work. Some of us chose to have our charms made into bracelets created by the very talented Ruth Rae. (Who hosted.) Some of us (myself included) have decided to either make our own bracelets or do something else with them. I am going to have mine strung on a special necklace I made. Once I get it finished, I will post pics, promise!

This N' That

So the good news this week is that my laptop is capable of running my Photoshop program. My regular computer was not-I need more rams or memory or something and I am just not in the mood to go fooling around with that right now. So, Lappy it is! This is a little collage I made, just fooling around. I was playing some more yesterday and I would like to make some of these into postcards when I have time. It would be so nice to be able to mail out something I made on a whim whenever I wanted to.

I have been pretty unproductive this week, what with the Thanksgiving holiday, followed by a wickedly long day on Tuesday. I was up at 4:45 a.m. to drive my son to swim practice and then he called me about an hour later to tell me the swim meet he was told was on Wednesday was actually Tuesday. That meant running back to the highschool to get him at 2:15 p.m. and taking him down to the main pool for the meet which ran till 7 p.m. He swam in 4 races, numbers 6. 10, 19 and 40, which meant alot of sitting around and waiting in the noise and chaos of about 400 kids and parents. Not my idea of fun!

After the meet, the three of us went out for dinner. It was pretty funny because we were all starving and exhausted and none of us could wait to get home and go to bed. Aren't we an exciting bunch? Yesterday was recovery day for me and then again this morning, up at o'dark thirty to drive my son back to the pool! Good thing swim season only runs till the end of November. Then it's rugby, which means trips to the ER instead of the pool! LOL!

Anyway, I am hoping to have some art time tomorrow. It's always a balancing act to get everything done that I need to get done in a day. Sometimes I manage, sometimes not. Time management is always an issue with artists-finding time to make art, finding time for yourself, trying to balance art with family, balancing personal art with work art and then the big one: not taking on too many projects! There's an art to just managing all that!

With a Thankful Heart

This weekend, Canadians are celebrating Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving in Canada is a celebration of the harvest, which comes earlier in Canada than in the US because we are farther North.

I wanted to share this beautiful harvest sermon, from the 17th century. I think the message is as relevent today as it was all those years ago. It's the kind of values I was raised with, growing up on the Canadian prairies where people knew their neighbours and everyone relied on one another. These are the roots that serve me well.

"Please be gentle with yourself and others.
We are all children of chance
And none can say why some fields blossom
While others lay brown beneath the harvest sun.
Take hope that your season will come.
Share the joy of those whose season is at hand.
Care for those around you.
Look past your differences.
Their dreams are no less than yours,
Their choices in life no more easily made.
And give.
Give in any way you can.
Give in every way you can.
Give whatever you possess.
Give from your heart.
To give is to love.
To withhold is to wither.
Care less for the size of your harvest
than for how it is shared,
And your life will have meaning
And your heart will have peace."

Words to live by. I am deeply thankful for my life, for my freedom, for my friends and family. As I sit down to the table to break bread tomorrow evening with family and friends, I will be thinking of all the men and women serving our country and away from their own families at this special time of year. May they be kept from harm and we all have peace.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Alyce Unveiled

So there's good news for all of you who either commented or emailed me to say you were dying to see the rest of Alyce's Diary. Karenann has graciously agreed that I could share all the wonderful bits inside. So if you are hungry for some delicious eyecandy, you may click here to view.

I have to say, every time I look through it, I find some new little detail that I didn't notice before. It truely is a treasure.

Happy oogling!

Reason #28393 Why I Love My Job

Last night I taught an evening class and I have to say, I came away feeling really, really good. I have decided that I have one of the best jobs in the world. Not only do I get to make a living, but I have the pleasure of seeing people come into class unsure of what they can do or what they are going to learn and by the end of the class, they are smiling and feeling confident in their own artistic abilities.

One of my favourite things is when I ask my students to share a bit about where they are with art making and most of them downplay their abilities. Sometimes they say "Oh I am not artistic at all!" or "I am not very good, I don't know what I am doing." That just fires me up because I think people always underestimate themselves. I love to see as the class progresses how their attitude changes. It really is magical and it inspires me as a teacher. It's so important to me not to ask someone to copy what I've done, but to take what I give them and then parlay that into their own unique style. All I am doing is giving them the tools and they are providing the magic.

It's hard work preparing a class-hours go into writing it so I can offer the best instruction possible and use the time the most effectively, but when I see that work result in success for my students, it makes it all worth while.

I am sure you are wondering why I posted a pic of a bag of chips. Well, after such a great class last night, I was hungry and dying of thirst. It's a bit of a drive home from the city, so I stopped at this gas station I usually get a slurpee at and I wanted some chips. My all time favourite are these Munchos. They remind me of chips I loved when I lived in Barcelona and this gas station is one of the few places I can find them. Of course once I got there, I discovered they were out! Not a single bag to be had and I was terribly disappointed. I mean if you are going to eat chips at 10:30 at night, it had better be good chips! So I "made do" with some inferior chips and called it a night. But...I want a bag of those Munchos and I want it bad. I just have to figure out where I can find them close to home! LOL!

Yeah, I know, I'm nuts. But I am not a sweet tooth. I am a chip fan.

Preparing for Artfest

So in the confirmation package that Teesha sent each person signed up for Artfest, was a small coil book, along with several post cards featuring her art. The whole thing was packaged in the clear cello bag, with some really colourful comic book stamps. When I opened it up and saw what was in it, I instantly thought that if I pulled the coil out and added some extra pages and odds and ends I like to it, I could alter it into a workable journal to use for Artfest. I made the cover from two of the postcards and added letterbeads to spell out my name on the coil. I also found two shades of funky green ribbon that matched the green of the cover perfectly. I added a special elastic to the back cover that wraps around the entire book to help keep it together for when it gets full.

The original cover was this page that said "Artfest 2007" which I used as a sectional divider for all the info regarding the retreat. I added a library pocket to the inside of the front cover to hold odds and ends. I also put one inside the back cover so I can store my recipts to show at the border when I go home.


I put the original back cover inside the cello bag the whole thing came in and carefully punched it so I could include it in my journal. The comic book stamps were just too cute not to keep! (I punched extra holes just to add some interest.)






I added metal tabs to each of the postcard sectional dividers so I can have a place to record different things and still be able to find everything. In my class section, I have included my supply lists and grid paper so I have a place to sketch ideas while in class. I found this very helpful last time I went.

My journal from this year's Artfest and Artfibrefest are jam packed with momentos and notes and addresses and art made by friends and they have become treasured keepsakes of my trips. I can't wait to have friends add stuff to this one! I showed this to Teesha and she emailed back saying I should share my 2007 journal with you, so here it is!

Tuesday Morning at Casa Del Chaos

Just finished up the last of my samples for tomorrow night's class. It's been a busy time the last little while. I can scarcely see the top of my diningroom table for all the paint and paper spewed there. After tomorrow, I am going to have to excavate-we are having company for dinner this weekend to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. I know there's a table under there somewhere!

Lots of friends have taken off to Portland, Oregon for the week to attend Art & Soul. I wish I was going, but with it being Thanksgiving, I couldn't very well bail on my family, now could I? I think that might have been pushing my luck! So, I will just sit here and have retreat envy and remind myself my time will come in 176 days when I go to Artfest! One thing I am glad about is that I can just drive, instead of having the stress of trying to pack to fly. I can't imagine having to limit what I can take with me. Anyway, for those of you going, have a grand time and give me the full report when you get back!

I have done some updating to my website. I realized the other day that it had been awhile and I should really take a crack at it. I managed to get most of it done. Just a few minor things to add shortly.

Well, as much as I would like to sit here and chat, I need to get back to work! Time to organize the kits for tomorrow night's class. Have a great day everyone!

Beautiful Things Come in Small Packages

The contents of my magical mailbox made me cry this morning. It held a box marked with a return address belonging to Karenann Young.

Karenann is one of the sweetest people I have ever known. Though we have never met in person, she has been immensely kind to me and is a huge inspiration to me artistically. I consider her to be my art faerie godmother. This morning when I opened this unexpected package from her, I found Alyce's Diary inside. I don't know that I can tell you just how beautiful and intricate the work inside it is. Layer upon layer of papers and paints and images. It's a feast for the eyes and I just kept flipping the pages in sheer wonderment.

Months ago, at the beginning of the year, Karenann and I had both bought a copy of Alphabetica. Both of us were so taken with what we saw there, we decided to do a collaborative book project together, just the two of us using alphabets and numbers. Unfortunately, before we could get started, our plans were derailed by some personal life happenings and we never got started. (Or so I thought!) Little did I know that Karenann had already started working on pages for me. Alyce's Diary are those pages she had created and she wanted me to have them.

Karenann, you have no idea how sweet and precious this gift is. It comes at a time when I really needed a lift-October has become such a hard month for me, even though it is my favourite time of year. I truely appreciate our friendship and I thank you from the bottom of my grateful heart for this gift. It goes far beyond paper and paint. I will treasure it always.

My second package was a box of water soluble oil pastels I had ordered. They arrived in perfect time-I plan to do some hardcore painting tomorrow! Now I have 24 colours to play with instead of just 12. Sometimes more is MORE!! I have had a hard time finding a source for these in Canada (I got my pack of 12 in the US) but funnily enough managed source them out at Quietfire Designs, which is based just over on the island! Lucky me! I can't wait to play with them!