books, art and ocean make my heart happy

hello everyone!

Last weekend,
i did what any crazed, middle aged,
menopausal woman would do
to keep herself from killing someone
or landing in an asylum.
i ran away from home!

So much fun.

I highly recommend it. :)

I didn't run very far,
but it's not the distance that counts -
it's being away from everything!
Halifax (Nova Scotia) is about 2 hours from here
and this, my friends, 
is the beautiful new Halifax Central Library.

Isn't it gorgeous?
The building was designed to look
like books stacked one over the other.
Genius.

 ...and this is what you see when you first come in.
A wall filled with mini rectangle paintings!
What's not to love?

 Beautiful angles & natural light inside...

and a loooooooong way down from the top.

Halifax is filled with funky little shops like this one...

and this one...

and warnings like these,

for those who dare try to steal candy. :)

A lovely walk on the snowy boardwalk

 pigeons enjoying the sun

and a pirate ship,
waiting for warmer days. :)

And of course,
no visit to Halifax is complete
without Theodore the Tugboat!

This bright yellow face floating on the blue water

was all I needed to make my heart happy again!

Thanks for hanging out with me here.
Wishing you all green lights & good coffee.
xx

lost and found in a snowstorm

Yup.

It's official!

I am at that age where everyone

and everything

is getting on my nerves.

Menopause.

Or as i refer to it:

Mentalpause.

;)

And if this damn snow continues
i swear, I'm gonna blow a fucking fuse. 
Yes, it's storming again today.
Winter began here later than usual (late December)
but it seems like we've had one storm after another.
Everyone's grumpy, (or maybe it's just me...)
everyone has cabin fever,
half our roads are still not plowed,
tonight, they predict -30C...
and the wind out there sounds like it's gonna
rip the roof right off the house.

So instead of painting pretty flowers

and rainbows and turquoise oceans...

what do I paint?

Snow.

The storm.

Cause it's all I know these days.

It's all i feel.

On a good note,
I am reading this lovely book.

Part of the inside flap reads:
Millie Bird, seven years old and
ever hopeful,
always wears red gumboots
to match her curly hair.
Her struggling mother,
grieving the death of Millie's father,
leaver her in the big ladies'
underwear department of a local store
and never returns.

 it's funny, it's sad
...and today, i read this passage (below)
and it made me cry.
Books don't often do that to me
but when one does...
wow.
Ranks right up there
with newborn babies
and sunsets
and music born out of pain.

xx

remembering the good and the bad

In 2010, a good friend of mine

was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

She was 50.

She was a good mother.

She was a professional photographer,

a nature lover,

a woman filled with wisdom

and hilarious as hell.

The illustration below

is from one of her self portraits.

When my own mother was diagnosed
with the same cancer in 2011,
Liz would send me words of wisdom
to share with mom
about what she could expect from chemotherapy.
It feels like being hit
by a fucking freight train!
she would say.
And then she would add:
but tell your mom things get better!
For a week after chemo,
she's gonna feel pretty useless...
drained of all energy -
but then after that, 
every day is gonna feel
like a gift from the gods!

Liz died on March 16, 2011
Mom died on Nov 17, 2012

This little piece of writing
was inspired by Liz.

I had a friend who had beautiful feet.
She didn’t think they were beautiful
because her mother told her they were ugly.
Told her she was ugly and stupid
and that she would never amount to anything.
She believed her mom for too long
and set her expectations lower and lower
until they were not far off the ground.
My friend died and left two boys.
She told her boys every day
that they could do anything in life
and that they had
the most beautiful feet
in the world.

Is winter really that bad? ok, never mind.

hi everyone!

Can you feel the coldness in these photos?

This is the frozen ocean -
and those little dots you see in the distance
are fishing huts.

The wind was fierce out by the open ocean,
so i escaped to these little paths again...
a bit more sheltered by the trees,
even though the branches are bare. :)

I thought this was beautiful
the way that little bit of sunlight
shone through the trees in the distance.
We're all pretty tired of winter at this point
but whenever I go out walking in the paths,
with the sound of crunching snow beneath my boots,
I'm kinda happy it's still winter.
Kinda.
Just a little.
A wee little... ;)

 When i got home, i started this...
(acrylic on paper)

 Markings and a mess...

You'd think I was on acid sometimes.
I'm not.
It's all music & mood, baby! ;)

And speaking of mood,

i bought myself this nail color.

I can't remember the last time i wore nail polish.

But i like this baby blue color so much

I had to buy it.

(water-colour + color pencils on paper)

And of course, i can't say baby blue

without posting this video

and i can't hear this song ever again

without thinking of Walter White

and Breaking Bad.

:)

Wishing you all a baby blue sky

with tiny cracks of sunlight everywhere.

No more faces & Christine Mason Miller

Hello dear ones!

 Day 27.....aaaaaaand.....

 DAY 28!

It's been so much fun to participate
in the 29 faces of February.
Thank you for all your comments.
Thank you to Martha,
for hosting and making it such a safe place
for all artists.
Proof again, that there is room for everyone.
I loved it.
Not only did it push me to the art table
on nights where i otherwise would not have made art,
it taught me things about myself too.
Mostly, that I feel very different about myself
and the world around me
from one day to the next.
In some of my selfies
I saw confidence
and happiness
and peace...
and in others,
i saw fear
and anger
and unhappiness.
Such is life.
I never trust anyone who's happy all the time,
so i guess it's a good thing
that i look like grumpy cat in some of these. ;)
I am posting this,
and then i'm off to visit some of your blogs.
I won't get to everyone tonight,
but I'll get to everyone eventually. :)
Thank you all for such wonderful comments
and for hanging out here with me.
To my dear friend Lucille
who left such a lovely comment on my last post:
it is I who is privileged that our paths crossed
so many year ago,
and that we became such good friends.
You make the world a better place
and you always make my heart feel at home.
MERCI. MERCI.
And on that note,
in case any of you out there are interested
in an e-course about writing books,
check this out.
It begins on March 9th.
I am doing it, and already excited. :)
xx

http://christinemasonmiller.com/the-conscious-booksmith/