Artfest: Part 3

So I got a bit side tracked while posting all the Artfest pics, but this is the last bunch I have to share. There's a bit of everything here-the fort, the food, some of the work I did in class, (not my best work, but that wasn't the point-the point was to learn the techniques) and some of the birthday gifts friends made and gave to me. (I was spoiled rotten!)

I am busy finishing up an article and getting ready to write another. I've got several projects on the burner, which always makes me happy.

Speaking of articles, my latest one is coming out in the newest issue of Portals Zine. This issue is all about Home and I am sure it's going to be wonderful. This zine just keeps getting better and better. If you want to order a copy, now's the time to do so!

And one more important thing I want to share before I sign off. I am just a few posts away from my 1000th post! Yes, it's true! I will have to come up with something special to celebrate!

Okay, it's time for me to get back to work! Happy creating everyone!

Artfest 2009, Part 2

More Artfest goodness. This time the slides are from show and tell. I was going to go in chronological order and then thought "Who cares?!" and just uploaded what I felt like sharing today.

I have more pics from the Show & Tell that I will post later. I just thought I would get this up now, while I had a few minutes to spare.

I also wanted to share this photo with you. This is my friend &rew (Andrew) who grabbed me when he spotted me at Show & Tell and said "Come see my painting!!" as he pulled me along.

When I saw this was his, I was in awe. I told him that I had walked by that class several times throughout the day and saw people with their noses pressed right up against their canvasses dabbing ever-so-carefully with their brushes on some tiny detail. I told him there's no way I could have done that class-I would have gone blind.

He did such a beautiful job of it, it feels as if you can walk right through the canvass, into the scene. I am not a painter, but I can sure appreciate the time and talent it took to create this piece. And the grin of satisfaction on his face says it all! &rew, this is a gorgeous piece and you have every right to be proud. God, I feel like such a neophyte. Seriously, though, I bow to your greatness.

Okay, off to have a late dinner and enjoy my husband's company. More Pics tomorrow!

Artfest 2009, Part 1

I just pulled all the photos off the camera and uploaded and organized them on my hard drive. WHEW! I didn't realize how many I took until I did this!

So the first slide show is all the trades I received over 5 days, including some pics of the Inspiration Deck, which was a collaborative project with my housemates. The idea was to have art on one side, then some sort of inspiration to turn to on the other, for days when we're feeling stuck.

A few of the ladies had never done a collaborative like this before and were feeling anxious about whether or not they had done a good job, but once they saw how wonderfully all the contributions melded together, it was all good. The deck turn out amazing and I think it will be a nice keepsake of Artfest 2009.

When I was laying out all my trades so I could take photographs (quick ones, with everything just plunked on my bed!) I was amazed at how many there were and how different each one was for the next. The talent pool at Artfest runs deep!

This second slide show is of pieces from the Artfest gallery, based on the sea monster theme. There were several I just fell in love with. Who wouldn't want a velvet octopus in their studio? I don't remember who made it (alas!) but it was my favourite piece, along with the mermaid necklace Jacque my housemate and new found friend made. Just so you know, as the slide show plays, mouse over the pics to see the captions. That way you'll know what you're looking at.

One thing I really enjoy about being exposed to so much art is that I see things that I look at every day, but I see it being used slightly differently-different assemblage of materials, different colour pallets, and so on. It allows me to consider new possibilities about what I can do with the materials I have here in the studio. One thing I was blessed with was the ability to look at something and figure out (most of the time) how to do it myself. (Thanks to my Gramps-those genes came directly from him.) The trick is getting it down on paper before I lose the idea. You know how it goes-you get a flash a brilliance and then it's gone!

I am still tidying up the studio and putting things away. It's a challenge finding just the right spot for all my new treasures. I'll share some more Artfest goodness with you when I get another window of time to post. Until then, enjoy!

Settling Back In

Artfest Logo by Tracy Moore 2009

Home again, safe and sound, if not totally exhausted from the frenetic energy that is Artfest. I've spent today tending to pressing life matters and reconnecting with my guys and most adoringly, my puppy. THANK YOU to my best friend Lisa, for coming over to take care of Indy in my absence. Indy assures me he had the best time hanging out with his best friend too.

I am working on taking pics of all the wonderful trades I received. I always save them for when I get home, so I can savour them. I like to take time to marvel over the precious details of each one and to check out the websites of the generous artists who gave them to me.

I was stressing over not having made as many trades this year as in the past, but my worries were unfounded, as I had more than enough to share and folks also just gave me stuff for the sake of giving. It's this aspect of Artfest that I enjoy the most-the generosity of spirit. It's an important reminder that art is for sharing and I thank each and every one of you who shared your gifts with me.

Speaking of sharing, I have lots I want to write about Artfest here, but it's going to take me a few days to get it all posted as I am also working on getting my son off on an important, life-changing trip in 2 days. It never fails that in my life, everything always has to happen at once. People wonder why I am so good at organization and time management-it's purely a survival skill, I assure you!

So keep your eyes open for lots of Artfest content over the next few days. I will do my best to get it posted in a timely manner so you can share in the wonder of it all. Back in a jiff!

Artfest Bound!

I have the best friends ever. I say that alot and it's because I know it to be true. Like yesterday, for example, one of my thoughtful and generous friends, Dawn emailed to say she is bringing me some birthday cuppy cakes. And yes, I know they're cupcakes but because of this little ditty, I've always thought of them as cuppy cakes.




In any case, it's a lovely gesture on her part, especially with all the insanity already associated with packing and getting ourselves and all our stuff to Artfest. It makes me feel very special that she's taking the time to bake me birthday treats- it's love with icing on top!



Also today the magic mailbox held a birthday gift that came all the way from England from my sweet friend Liz. (Liz what happened to your link?!?) It had the prettiest journal and notebook. The graphics are so cool-the notebook has a bird and flowers and vines in my favourite folk art colours and the journal has stylized dandelion fluffs in greys, black and whites. This one in fact. Both are by Angie Lewin. Instant fan here!



Liz also sent me a set of watercolour pencil crayons. I don't have any so it will be fun experimenting with them. I popped them into my pencil case to take with me to Artfest. THANK YOU LIZ!! As usual, you know me so well. xox



Speaking of Artfest, the adventure begins first thing tomorrow morning. I had better finish packing my clothes. (Of course I packed my art supplies first-I know what's really important!!) To all of you reading this who are headed for Port Townsend, travel safely and see you there! To everyone else, catcha on the flip side! *waves*

March's List

Reading: The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama by Pico Iyer. This was a birthday gift from my best friend Lisa. She always gives me such wonderful books to read about the people I admire. Last year she gave me The Science of Leonardo.

Watching: Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel. Deb and her son watch this one. They mentioned it to be awhile back, but it just started airing in Canada. It's really interesting and it's filmed in northern Canada-out of Yellow Knife, NWT.

Essentially what it's about is the roads built across the waterways of the north in the winter season. This allows trucks to deliver essential supplies and equipment to the diamond mines. It's an extremely dangerous job. If you like Deadliest Catch, you'd probably enjoy Ice Road Truckers.

Listening: Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (deluxe Edition) by the Indigo Girls. This album was just released on Tuesday and I think I've already listened to it 20 times. I love the Indigo Girls. They have such wonderful harmonies and they know how to write lyrics. They write the kind of music I like to listen to while I work in the studio. It's just easy and relaxing.

Drinking: My in-laws always send me a cheque for my birthday and this year I spent it on the Zarafina Tea Maker Suite. I saw it in a flyer before my birthday on sale for $30 (I see on the website it's $99!) and just happened to some across one the other day so I snapped it up. I love it. I can have tea steeped exactly how I like it. It makes both bagged and loose tea and is it ever fast! I can put it on and my tea is ready in less than 5 minutes!

Copyright Pilar Pollock 2009

Copyright Pilar Pollock 2009

Anticipating: Pressies in the mail! Today these goodies arrived from Pilar. She made me this gorgeous hand-dyed shawl in my favourite colour and this great heart ornie that says "tattered but whole". They are wonderful. THANK YOU so much Pip!!You spoil me!

There's a few more packages on their way, so I am keep an eye out. There's nothing better than artsy goodies in the magic mailbox!

Doing: Packing madly for Artfest! It always takes me about a month to get everything organized. I pre-packed my bag for the first day's class so I won't have to worry about it on Thursday morning. I am working on filling a bag with goodies for my roomie Tina and looking forward to time spent with the rest of my house mates.

I've also been playing "dress up" this morning-going through my closets to see what fits as I've been dropping weight like crazy. My favourite clothing store (which shall remain nameless) closed and I haven't found another store to replace it, so I haven't bought anything in my new size yet. I guess when I get home, I should go through my closet and take whatever's too big to a consignment shop-half of it has hardly been worn, if at all. I am nothing, if not careful with my clothes.

So...that's all the news I have for now. Off to make some lunch!

Happy Birthday to ME!

It was my birthday today and I wanted to say THANK YOU to all my friends who sent birthday greetings by email, ecard, in the form of funny videos, music videos or by snail mail.

It's become a running joke in my family that my birthday takes on a life of its own and morphs into a month-long celebration. Apparently this holds true again this year as festivities started on March 14th with a dinner out, followed by several lunch dates and more face time with my local peeps this coming week. There are also pressies winging their way from far and wide to the magic mailbox, so I think I can probably bask in the glow of birthday goodness for at least a couple more weeks! Honestly, my near and dear ones know how to make a girl feel loved.

*Happy Birthday to Tracy Roos, who is also celebrating today. I hope you had a wonderful day Tracy, filled with lots of laughter and love. I was thinking about you today!

I wanted to give you the head's up that Portals Zine, issue #7 is now available for pre-sale. I am especially excited about this one because it's a theme that I tend to explore alot: HOME. I can't wait to see all the artwork for this one!

I've written an article on the subject and shared some of my house-themed art which has become a bit of an obsession. I keep re-working this theme over and over and it pleases me no end that every time it comes out so different than the last time. I talked a bit about what houses mean to me in this post awhile back about personal imagery. This article is in many ways, an expansion of those thoughts and sharing how I've explored the house theme so far.

I seem to be in a fairly reflective state of mind lately and I am looking forward to Artfest which is in a mere NINE days. It's going to be so good to fill up my creative well again. I am excited about feeding my spirit and taking in all the creative energy that is Artfest. I always come home exhausted, but deeply satisfied. I can't wait!

And So It Goes...

Copyright Pilar Pollock 2009

So the magic mail box is filling up with birthday cards the last couple of days. This one is the work of my friend Pilar and as you can see, it's a riot of red. I just LOVE it. What made me laugh though was that when I opened it, it had "Happy Birthday Rockstar!" printed inside. That cracked me up. (It's a bit of an inside joke, but my girlfriends call me that.) I'm going to frame it and hang it in my studio-I know it's going to make me laugh every time I look at it.

I am madly preparing for AF, still. It's only 12 days away and I still have a ton of photocopying to do and I need to scare up some fabric. I am also finishing up a project I hosted for my Housemates. It's almost finished and I'll post about it when I get back from Artfest.

I gave the studio a good purging and it's much neater now. I have two boxes of goodies to share with my housemates. There's no Art Asylum happening this year at AF, so we decided we'd just have our own little one in our house and bring stuff to share. At first it was only one box, but then it morphed into two, which tells you how much cleaning and sorting I did.

I don't know why, but cleaning and organizing is hugely satisfying to me. I bought myself a book called "The Organized Life" by Stephanie Denton and I've found it had a ton of helpful ideas. I liked it so much I tabbed and made notes on post-it notes throughout the book. I am working my way through, room by room.

Speaking of cleaning up and simplifying, my friend Lisa got me turned on to Google Reader. It's the best little blog reading program ever! You just add the URLs of the blogs you like to read and then set Google Reader to be your browser's home page and every time you open your browser, you will see the latest blog update right there! You can even "star" posts you like and want to refer back to later and it will save them for you.

It's super simple to use and no more wasting time going from blog to blog seeing if there's been updates. As soon as you open your browser, the reader has them all right there for you! You can also customize your page to show things you will use and make it pretty. I love it and I wish I'd know about it sooner.

As for "being the leaf", I've had days where it's been easier than others to just relax and let life unfold, but I am committed to doing my best. If one day doesn't go as planned and I don't so so well with being Zen, then tomorrow is always another day. Each day is a clean slate. So far though, opportunities have come knocking and there will be more writing in my future. I am excited and happy about that.

I had a unique opportunity to do something altruistic the other day and help someone develop their empathy and compassion skills, as part of their education. It felt really good to be able to share my knowledge and experience and to know that in some small way I have influenced how this person will treat the people he encounters in his professional life. It reminded me that everything we do makes a difference. Even if we don't get to see the results, our interactions with other people affect how the world is. Our words and actions matter, sometimes more than we will ever know.

Artfest Preparations

So at long last, some art for all my faithful readers. I have been chipping away at preparations for Artfest. It always amazes me that it takes me about a month to hunt down and gather everything I need for the classes I am taking and get it all organized and packed. I know some folks pack the night before and that leaves me dumbfounded. How do they do that?!?

As it is, I have already had a couple nightmares that I've gone to Artfest and arrived with no supplies. How crazy is that!? The other morning, my son woke me up just as I was dreaming that I was in a class and we were about to learn how to make a book with a wooden spoon as the binding mechanism. I was so annoyed that I didn't get to finish that dream!

Anyway, pictured above are some luggage tags I made for my trades. I did similar collages for the Artfest ATC book. I like the image of the girls that I used. I chose it because I think the curly headed girl looks kind of like me.

For those of you not in the know, this year's theme is "sea monsters". I'm not much of a sea monster girl, so I went with more of an oceanic theme. Living on the west coast, I have a deep appreciation for the ocean. I spend alot of time walking along the sea wall in my beloved Stanley Park and beach combing whenever I get the chance. It's a favourite pastime.

I also made some magnets from some of the ATCs I've made over the years. I didn't make as many trades this year as I have in the past. I've just been too busy.

I've also been working on a housemates exchange that I host every year for the ladies I room with at Artfest. This year we're doing something really cool. I will post it after I get back-I don't want to spoil the surprise.

This is the journal I made for my trip. I whipped it up today and it's Moleskine size. I like the smaller format, as I tend to like to glue things in that I collect in my travels and make brief notes about what I learn in class. I'm not heavily into writing longhand in my journals. I find that my problem has always been that my hand can't keep up with my thought process, which is why I prefer to blog. Anyway, this little book should do the trick. The Octo on the front is something I drew (be kind-I am not that kind of artist!) for an article I wrote for my friend Tina's zine. She creates zines as her AF trade and they are wonderful.


Lastly, this is a journal I made for a friend who is undergoing treatment for breast cancer. I have a thing for vintage medicine labels (I own about 300 of them!) and I thought she might enjoy having a place to record/reflect/vent about the experience.

I mailed it to her and she got it late last week and said she really likes it. I hope it will help her cope with her treatments. There's nothing worse than getting news like that. She's being a really good spot about it, but still, it's not the kind of thing anyone ever wants to go through. I hope this will bring her some comfort.

This weekend, Indy, my sweet, sweet boy is celebrating his first birthday on the Ides of March. (The 15th.) He's grown so quickly, though he's not as big as some breeds of Labs are. He weighs in at a respectable 60 lbs. so far. I don't think he's going to grow much bigger, but he'll likely fill out a little. He's solid muscle as we exercise him alot-lots of walks, lots of time playing at the dog park. It sneauxed here this morning and so we took him out in the yard to roll around in it. He loves the white stuff-he should have been a rescue dog.

My best friend loves Indy so much that she and her husband are getting a puppy from the same breeder. Indy's mum was bred this weekend to the same dad as Indy had so soon they will have one of Indy's siblings for their very own. I am excited because it means I can enjoy another Lab puppy without all the work! The puppies are due in late May. I can't wait to see them!

Okay, time for me to sign off. I am so tired I think my eyes are going to fall out of my head. Off to dream about Artfest some more!

Of Art & Books

I am mighty! I managed to complete 32 ATCs for a project I am doing in just a few days and well ahead of schedule! I've been in the groove lately and getting alot done. I'm pretty pleased with myself.

These are the fronts....

And then all the contact info on the back. I thought this pic of these girls in their bathing suits was amusing. The one on the right looks like me-same hair and face shape so I had to use it!

When I am not busy creating, I am reveling in the marvel of What It Is by Lynda Barry which was recommended to me by my pal Penn. I took one look at her copy and had to run out and buy one for myself. Luckily, there was a comic book store down the street that just happened to have them in stock. Lucky me!! Instant gratification!

It's so full of interesting little details and just looking at it is inspiring. It makes me want to sit down and just throw random pages together. When you click the link, be sure to click the "search inside this book" feature to get a peek inside. Skip past the first few pages it shows you till you get to the more collage themed ones, which is what the book is chock full of.

I am also reading and absorbing Taking Flight by Kelly Rae Roberts. It requires that you go slowly and thoughtfully, as she provides alot of good insight, in addition to a variety of techniques.



I pre-ordered my copy directly from Kelly and it arrived signed and with a lovely print tucked inside the cover. I'd forgotten it would be signed, so that was a nice surprise when I opened it. I plan to write a review for Amazon once I've finished it.



Oh and before I sign off for today, I want to wish everyone a HAPPY FIRST DAY OF AUTUMN!! I am so thrilled Autumn is finally here. It's my favourite season. I've already had the pleasure of kicking up leaves when I walk. That is sheer bliss!

Charms for Charity

So about a week ago I mentioned that there was this project to raise money for ovarian cancer, Project Ties That Bind. The idea is that it's a collaborative doll, created around a wire dress form. The skirt will be made from neckties and the charms will be attached to the torso and then there will be a head and arms and all that good stuff.

I made two charms. The first is called "Love Lifted Me". I had the best time pounding the wire on my bench block and twisting and manipulating it. I love how folky it came out.

The second charm is "Angel of Courage". It's sort of a loose ode to Gilda Radner, who gift of laughter to the world was cut short by this disease. The hair is kind of Roseanne Roseannadanna-ish. I always loved Gilda. She was sweet and funny.

To see more charms for the project, please visit the Project Ties That Bind blog.

I've been busy making art this week for the collaborative I'm hosting, but I can't share my pages yet. It's going to be a great book and I am really excited about it.

The summer seems to be whipping by so quickly and I have really enjoyed having time off this year. Sometimes you need to shake things up and do something different. I had no idea we would have a puppy before the summer was over and I have to say, that has been one of the best thing about this summer! Another great thing is that the Artfest class list is up! It's that time of year again! YAY!

I hope you are enjoying the dog days of summer!