Scenes From the Weekend

On Sunday, we got up early to take Indy to check out a new (to us) park along the Fraser River. He loves anywhere where he has the opportunity to swim. 

This particular park is across the water from YVR (Vancouver International Airport) so we got to watch lots of planes coming in, which I enjoyed. I even spotted a seal swimming along.

I kind of love this silhouette shot of Indy playing in the waves.

The nosy nose that knows.

Plus a quick selfie, just for good measure. It feels good to be shooting with my Rebel again. I've been neglecting it of late, in favour of getting familiar with my iPhone camera and a bunch of photography apps. It's good fun, but really, my DSLR is my first love. There's just no comparison.

In case you're wondering, the apps I am enjoying are:

Over 

A Beautiful Mess 

Afterlight

Kaleido Lens

Typic Pro

 They are all good, but Typic Pro is my personal favourite of the bunch!

If you have some photography apps you love, please comment & let me know what they are!

Dog Days of Summer

Summer has finally arrived on the west coast of Canada. Truth be told, I'm not a fan of the heat and this past week has been pretty hot! Indy's taken to lazing in the back yard any time the back door is open to help cool the house. (We get a nice breeze coming up off the river.)

Last night I was running in and out of the house, keeping an eye on our dinner on the BBQ and Indy was rolling around in the grass being his adorable, so I grabbed my camera. I like taking candid shots of him just being himself.

 Here he's gazing up at the crows in our cherry tree. If they are on the ground when I let him out, he leaps off the back porch, missing all 5 stairs to charge at them. Being a bird dog, he wants to catch them. It's a good thing they can fly because he's fast! It's funny that he has such a hate on for crows and yet when we're at Granville Island having lunch, a bird (usually a sparrow, pigeon, seagull or starling) can come within mere inches of his nose and he'll ignore it. I don't even have to say "Leave it." He has the best manners.

Goofing around in the grass with his favourite ball. He chews it like it's gum. It whistles when you throw it and he'll retrieve it until you think your arm is going to fall off.

 He looks like such a grown up dog here. He's gotten really good about his Mumaratzi shoving a camera in his face. He still thinks it will steal his soul, but if I set the shutter speed to the sports setting and move quickly, I can get shots like this.

I took this one on Sunday, when we were out at Davison's Pool. Indy had just come up out of the river after a good swim. It's an odd shot, but I like it.

The dog days of summer are here!

Declaration

I have officially declared this my "Summer of Freedom". What exactly does that mean? Well it means I am taking time this summer to experiment and learn new things and explore my own creativity.

To that end, I have been stocking up on art supplies, buying books for instruction and inspiration and I have even signed up for an online journalling class, which is now into week #3.

This morning I was thrilled to find my Amazon book order had arrived. Here's what was in it:

One of my housemates from Artfest 2006, Karen Nutter had this card and journal set and she brought it with her to Artfest. I had the chance to take a peek at it and I found it interesting. I love inspirational card sets-I own several, though this is the first mixed media themed one.

My friend Karenann Young owns this and I have heard good things about it. I am not much of a paper journaller-I prefer to blog, because it's faster and easier for me. I am however, an absolute paper junkie so I am trying to change my habits a bit. Not that I don't want to continue blogging, but I would also like to have something in a hard copy, just for myself. I have a stack of journals (it's sick really) that are just begging to be filled.

And then, of course, this book, just for eyecandy! How could I resist? For some reason, I thought it was a softcover, but it's actually hardcover. As soon as I finish this post, I am going to go read it. I love going over the minute details of things in Lynne's books.

So this summer might yield alot of new art or it might not. It will be about learning new techniques and playing and having fun. I may spend time with a journal or two at a local coffee shop. It's something I never do. (It seems hard to "make art" when I am not in my studio with everything I need close at hand, but perhaps that is the point-to get out of my comfort zone.) I want to broaden my horizons, have adventures and see what comes of it.

That experience begins today! I'll be posting updates on my summer of freedom, sharing what I discover along the way. Maybe you will do some exploring too and share with me what you learn-that's the beauty part of blogs and the Internet-it makes it possible to have a free exchange of ideas between artists, which makes our lives that much richer.

Preparing for Summer!

Sorry-no pictures today! I did want to post though to say that the closet reno is almost done. With the help of my friend Lance, (do-it-yourself-er extraordinaire!) we managed to get 10 shelves installed and we only have the two long upper shelves left to complete. We'll be putting those in on the weekend.

I went to Ikea and bought some more boxes to hold all the bits and I am labelling them as I go. It's amazing how much room that's created and it feels so much better to know that soon everything will have a place and if I need something I can put my hand on it instantly! It's making me excited about summer and having time to do some art for me!

In other news, I am launching a new project with friends, a collaborative book. It's been awhile since I hosted one and I wanted to do something fun and interactive over the summer. I am looking forward to that too.

I've ordered a bunch of books:

1.Wide Open: Creativity Notebook & Card Set: Inspiration & Techniques for Art Journaling on the Edge by Randi Feuerhelm-Watts

2. Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith

3. Art Making, Collections, and Obsessions: An Intimate Exploration of the Mixed-Media Work and Collections of 35 Artists by Lynne Perrella

4. Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings by Kelly Rae Roberts

5. Pasticcio QuARTz by Angela Cartwright & Sarah Fishburn

And some goodies from Papier Valise. I am getting stocked up for summer inspiration! I am not good with heat so I tend to hibernate during the summer and what better way to keep cool than to spend time in my studio playing? The new digital tower fan I bought is wonderful and it makes it so nice in here. I want to learn and grow over the summer. I want to experiment and see where my creativity takes me!

So what about you? What are YOUR artistic plan for the summer going to be? I'd love to hear!