Playing With Paint

Last Sunday, my friend Penn hosted a Gelli printing party. There were 10 of us playing with paint and munching snacks and having a really good time.

I bought a whole bunch of new stencils for my birthday, so I got to test drive them. I also shared them around so others could play with them. They are all nice and painty now.

These are a few of my prints. The wonky circle has become my new favourite. 

I've just set up my studio for the 6 week online painting class I am taking with Mati Rose. It begins on Saturday and was my birthday gift to myself. I can't wait! I just need to run out and get 6 canvasses, since we'll be painting one a week. 

I am excited about this class because while I've taken a few layering classes, I've never actually worked on a large canvas before. I have no idea if I'll even be good at this, but I'm excited to find out. Every time I do something outside of my comfort zone, I love the part where I get to uncover things I didn't know about myself-talents I didn't know I had, personal insights or fresh creative ideas that just pop into my head. That for me is the thrill of learning. My goal is to create at least one painting that I would like to hang in my home. I'll let you know how that goes!

In other news, I am preparing to speak at the Canadian Association of Neuroscience Nurses conference in a couple of weeks. I'll be sharing my experience of NMO. I am also working with my Health Mentor students to prepare for the symposium that happens at the end of the month. It's a busy time!

This morning I had a conversation with someone about a very cool opportunity they wanted to offer me. I've accepted and will share more about that soon.

Good Things!

I have been invited to speak to the BC Chapter of the Canadian Association of Neuroscience Nurses (CANN) at the end of April about my experience with Neuromyelitis Optica (NMO). I am really excited to have the opportunity to share my story with health care provides who are working in the neurosciences field and help raise awareness. I will be speaking for about half an hour and then there will be a Q&A afterwards. I look forward to the conversations that will happen there.

In other news, I also got word that a small piece I wrote about a piece of clothing that has deep sentimental value to me is going to be included in Vancouver Artist & writer, Leanne Prain's new book, Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles will be released this autumn by Arsenal Pulp Press.

What's it about? Here's the scoop:

"Strange Material: Storytelling Through Textiles will explore the relationships between handmade textiles and stories. Through the text, the act of weaving a tale or dropping a thread will take on new meaning for those who may have previously only seen textiles as functional objects. The book will encourage storytelling to leap off the page and into the mediums of batik, stitching, dyeing, fabric painting, knitting, crochet or weaving. The artists that will be featured in the book create narratives with a needle, instead of a pen, dye rather than ink, weave i place of paper. Themed chapters will include fiction, poetry, wearable stories, manifestos, memoir, pictorial stories and humour."

I wrote the small piece in response to Leanne's call back in the summer and then promptly forgot all about it! That's the fun of long lead times with books-you submit work months, if not years in advance and by the time you get the news that your work has made the cut, it feels like a surprise out of the blue. I love those kinds of surprises! Leanne said there will be a book launch party in the fall and to expect an invitation. I'm in-it should be lots of fun!

Speaking of surprises out of the blue, I also received a "you're invited" email from the local curling club that I volunteered with for the 2014 BC Wheelchair Curling Championships last month. They are hosting a thank you dinner this Friday for those of us who volunteered to help host the event. It's super nice of them and it will be fun to talk about the incredible Olympic curling that team Canada played!

2013: A Year in Review

Things I celebrated:

-Being awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal

-Indy turning 5

-Pete's birthday (Any birthday while you are battling cancer is a big deal.)

-Our 23rd wedding anniversary (Happily every after!)

Things I survived:

-Two NMO relapses. Treatment was pretty rough.

-Indy & Pete being attacked by a Pit bull and both badly injured. We were all traumatized.

-Pete had surgery to repair his injury which meant 3 months of recovery just as he was recovering from having his kidney removed for cancer. The day he went for surgery, the company he'd worked for for 23 years folded. It never rains, but it pours!

-Breaking my wrist for the 4th time, XC skiing. Took me 2 weeks to realize it was actually broken and not just a bad sprain. I spent 8 1/2 months in either a cast or a splint.

- The 1 yr. anniversary of Pete's cancer diagnosis

-In October, I spent 15 days sick in bed.  Caught what I refer to as "the plague" and couldn't shake it because I am on immunosupressants.

-Surgery on my wrist & arm almost 6 weeks ago. This has by far been the hardest thing I've had to go through medically (even worse than chemo) for a number of reasons. It can't heal fast enough.

Things I volunteered for:

-Universal Access-Ability Advisory Committee

-UBC Med Student Interviews

-MS Society's Peer Support Program

-Canadian MS Society someonelikeme.ca blogger/mentor (I wrote 10 posts this year.)

-Skiing is Believing program photographer

-A friend's political campaign

-Volunteered at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Conference

-First ever 5 km walk/run for NMO Guest speaker at opening ceremonies

-Health Mentors Program interviews

-The Terry Fox Run

-Health Mentor Program, 2012-2013 & 2013-2014 cohorts

-UBC Patient Panel guest speaker (NMO)

-UBC NMO Day guest speaker

-Organizing Committee for the BC Provincial Wheelchair Curling Championships

-UBC Faculty of Medicine Health Mentors' Advisory Committee

-Assisted with MS fundraiser at two Billy Talent Concerts

Things I did that were fun and/or cool:

-Shared my story on MV-1 Canada's Life Without Compromise website & e-book

-Filmed for 5 days for a tv show which still has not aired-it keeps getting delayed.

-Was invited as an honoured guest for the Ferry Ballet on Canada Day with False Creek Ferries (Your loss Rick Mercer!)

-Saw Melissa Etheridge in concert at the PNE

-Went to Cranberryfest

-Attended my friend Andrea's thesis defence at UBC. She is now a Doctor of Philosophy!

Things that happened in my artistic life:

-Got addicted to Gelli plate printing thanks to my friend Penn

-Was published in Uppercase Magazine (Subscriber profile)

-Had some work accepted for publication in a book due out in spring 2015

-Attended the Vancouver screening of Indie Kindred with my friend Carol (I think I would have had more fun had I not been 2 days post-op and loaded up on pain killers.)

-Had Skiing is Believing photos published in Ski Cross Country Magazine

-Hit the milestone of receiving my 100th Etsy order!

Things I won:

-A year's subscription to Uppercase Magazine

-Tickets for a horse drawn tour of Stanley Park (Which we did on Pete's birthday in October.)

-Tickets to see Shane Koyczan, spoken word poet at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival.

-A beautiful necklace from the Vintage Pearl & all kinds of paper goodies from Curly Girl. They also sent me $25 gift certificates for both companies, which I have yet to use.

-Tickets to the Knowledge Networks premier of Home. I submitted a self portrait and wrote about it to win.

-Tickets to the BC Sports Hall of Fame

-A Sochi 2014 Olympic pin

-A box of Purdy's Turona chocolates (Which should be in the mail tomorrow!)

-Ipad mini & keyboard-this was a gift from my husband's boss and his wife, but it felt like winning!

My word for the year was FOCUS. Clearly, this was a year where that was important, with so many things going on. One of the things I really wanted to focus on accomplishing this year was to do more public speaking about NMO. I was really happy to have the opportunity to be a guest speaker at three different events and I hope to continue to do this in 2014. 

Speaking of 2014, we've been through alot in the last year and a half and I think I am more than ready to have a really good year. I'm hoping 2014 is a kinder, gentler year. 

Good Things To Share

I have a couple pieces of exciting news to share:



The first is that I was asked to be one of three guest speakers at the Tri-Cities Celebration of Ability on December 3, 2010. I've been asked to speak about my experience as a Paralympic Torchbearer at the 2010 Games. If you are local and interested in attending, the event is FREE, but due to limited seating, you must register. (Click the link to get all the info and to register.)



The second lovely piece of news is that I received an email on Friday inviting me to participate in a new mixed media book that is in the works! It will hit the shelves some time in 2012. I've already begun working on my submissions.



I am very honoured to be asked to participate in these kinds of things. It never gets old and I enjoy the ways that things like this challenge me-I always learn something new.



Okay, that's it for the moment. I have a ton of work waiting for me in the studio!