can you make the world a better place?

Of all the paths you take in life,

make sure a few of them are dirt.

- John Muir

Hello folks!
Here's a little glimpse of my world
during the past few weeks...

Today is Black Friday
and I'll be as far away from the stores & malls
as I can possibly get.
A frenzy of crazy, desperate shoppers...
One of my worst nightmares. ;)

I'll be going for a walk here instead

later this afternoon.

A much more centered, sane place for me.

And alas,

COLOR FOR CLARITY has arrived!

November 17th was the date of mom's passing -

3 years now -

and this was what it looked like outside.

It'll always be a sad day to me.

My mind naturally goes back

to that time,

to that room,

to those last moments.

I don't spend the whole day crying,

but I just wake up with a heavy heart

and I'm always relieved when nighttime falls.

But this year was different.

There was glimpse of happiness

in this dark, snowy day

when I received the box from Amazon

filled with our lovely books!

It's a strange thing

how "living in the moment"

takes so much effort sometimes.

The whole process of collaborating

on this colouring book

was great.

Choosing our words,

doing the illustrations,

sending them off,

dreaming of holding

COLOR FOR CLARITY in our hands.

And then we get them,

and of course it's exciting,

but within the first few minutes,

I was already thinking,

"What can I do next?!"

I literally had to stop myself,

sit myself down with the book,

smell it (like I do with most books) ;)

and slowly go through it page by page,

and only then,

i began to feel gratitude.

There's always a time and a place
to consider our next dream...

but it's important to appreciate
the moment of THIS dream
while it's here.

So fall is here
and winter is just around the corner
and although last winter was long
and cold
and snowy
and fucking depressing at times...
there's still a part of me
that loves the cocooning of this cold season.

I tend to write more, paint more,

and feel more grounded, for some reason.

With everything happening in the world,

it's more important than ever

for each of us to find our own

quiet, peaceful place.

To do what we can for others,

without losing ourselves.

Everyone has an opinion about everything.

The yahoos think they can solve world problems

when they can't even find their own socks.

I've come to realize this:
I.
can't.
save.
the.
world.

I can't solve world hunger.

I can't bring peace to everyone on earth.

It's too heavy a burden for me.

All I can do is make my own little corner

as peaceful as possible.

All I can do is my own little part,

here in this corner of the globe,

and hope that others do the same

in different little corners everywhere.

And sometimes,
that little part for me
means nothing more
than smiling at someone.

Sometimes it means giving a few dollars,
or food,
or sending a card
or clothes.
Sometimes it means 
putting myself in someone else's shoes
if only for a moment
and trying to understand their fears
and their crushed hopes
and their sense of desperation.

We live in a first world country
with first world problems
so most of us have no idea
what it's like to worry about your next meal.
Or about the safety of your children.
Or about making it through another day
alive.

So I've been playing in this little book
on and off since June.

As you can see,
some of my drawings & doodles
are far less serious than others. ;)

Books like this are designed
to encourage bad drawings...
which are as important as good drawings.
I am nowhere near perfect
so why should my drawings be?

I hate even the word "perfection".
Or anyone who strives for perfection.
Perfection is not truth.
If anything,
it's farthest from the truth.
Which is probably why i dislike social media so much...
because we see a LOT of "untruths".
A lot of "pretend perfect lives".
The happy faces.
The happy wheels.
The happy meals. ;)

And on that note,
THANK YOU to everyone who bought
a COLOR FOR CLARITY colouring book
and those who helped encourage and inspire me
along the way.
It may be a small, dinky dream to some,
but small dreams are still sweet. :)
oh, and newsflash...
I'll be doing a giveaway of Color for Clarity
right HERE in the next week or so!!
Come back for a visit soon
if you want your name to be entered in the draw!
hugs to all of you.
xx

ps: Visit Amazon.com if you want to buy your own copy of Color for Clarity today!

sketching, organizing and a lesson on Acadians

hi everyone!

I'm posting a little sooner than I expected I would.

When inspired to post - post!

I got this little book for my birthday a month ago.

I'm carrying it around with me as much as I can

and sketching little things here & there.

Sometimes, all you need is a few minutes.

I love contour drawing or "blind" drawing.

That's when you draw something

without looking at the page.

In this case (below), I drew a plant.

Years ago, I taught a few classes at Community College

and whenever I did this exercise with the students,

they would immediately tense up,

as if I had asked them to fly a spaceship.

We have this fear with art about doing it wrong

when in reality,

there IS no wrong in art.

This fear that it might be ugly,

or not as good as the others.

As you can see from the drawing above,

"looking pretty" is not the objective.

The objective, I believe,

is getting over the fear.

And getting over fear of anything

creates confidence.

I have a fear of cleaning.
(giggle...)
This table is in my studio space
and it seems to be piling up with more junk every day.

This is the space I use right now for working.
When I first set up this upstairs loft,
my intention was to use it for painting
but that just never happened.
Not sure why.
The space just didn't feel right
and I always ended up painting in my
small, cozy, blue room on the main floor.
So the loft became a space for my computer and junk.
Lots of junk.
Binders that I've kept for years.
Old magazines & books.
Paper, paper & more paper.
So I decided to sort some things out,
while I have some time to myself this summer.

And of course, what better excuse than to buy another book!

There are some great tips in here,

some of which I have already done,

but most of which I will never do. ;)

With all due respect Marie Kondo,

I won't be de-cluttering my house

while wearing a skirt & blazer,

and I won't be talking to my socks

anytime soon. :)

To each his own.

I totally agree that many of us

have an excessive amount of 'stuff' around the house

and it's important to weed it out now & then.

This book is not only about getting rid of stuff,

but it's about respecting the stuff you have

and keeping ONLY what brings you joy.

Oh my.

How many of the things you own

bring you joy?

How many of those things could you NOT part with?

How many of the clothes you wear

make you happy?

Should it matter?

When your cupboards start to look like this,

yes, it matters.

At least to me it does.

It's only two cupboards,

but this is what i'm tackling next.

When I start feeling like there's too much stuff around me,

i hyperventilate.

I don't watch those hoarder shows on TV

because I feel like I can't breathe.

A few of the books I'm reading lately.

I am loving this one, by Steve Martin.

(yes, the comedian).

And this one...

which I was inspired to read

while painting mom's portrait.

Ironically, I am reading this in English.

(I am Acadian, my mother tongue is french but i read mostly in english)

The Acadians have a rich history.

Long story short, in the 1600's,

the french established a settlement

in the eastern provinces of Canada,

on what is now Nova Scotia & New Brunswick.

By 1755, after more than a century of living

in peace with the Mi'kmaq natives,

over 10,000 Acadians were deported by British soldiers

(with the assistance of Massachusetts)

to different parts of the world,

including the English colonies,

France, Louisiana, the Caribbean, etc.

Thousands died along the voyage,

and thousands more spent years

hiding in the woods,

in hopes of returning to their beloved land someday.

Happily, for hundreds of years after,

carrying on to this day,

Acadians from all around the world

have found their way home again

and the Acadian World Congress,

Le Congrès Mondial Acadien

was established to let the world know

we're still here. :)

It's so important not to hate people

let alone hating them based on

language, race, culture, or religion.

If interested, you can read more about the Acadians here.

And here's a sneak peek at mom's portrait...

almost done.

thanks for hanging out & reading my rants.

Wishing you all a great week.

xx