Another school shooting? Yes. Another.

We are all in the gutter,

but some of us are looking at the stars.

- Oscar Wilde

Over this past week, it's been difficult

to keep looking at the stars, hasn't it?

On Valentine's day,

17 children in the US (Parkland, Florida) were murdered. 

Gunned down by another young, crazed, angry, white man.

It makes me sick to my stomach.

An 18 year old in the US can buy an AR-15 assault rifle,

but he can't buy a beer.

Some teenagers started eating Tide Pods (don't ask me why!)

and now, Tide Pods in grocery stores are practically kept

under lock & key, so as to avoid another incident.

In most pharmacies, certain medication

is kept safely stored behind the counter.

The guns - oh, those are ok.

You can buy them at Walmart,

along with 1000 of rounds of ammunition.

Not a problem at all.

IT.

IS.

INSANE.

It breaks my heart to know that these children

went through such hell.

I have faith that many of these young ones

are going to channel their anger and fear

into something grand and powerful.

Lord knows the old, white, wealthy politicians

are too busy counting their money to care at all.

So over the past week or so,

I've been busy cleaning & organizing!

It's not something I do often, trust me -

but lately, I've felt the need to get rid of some stuff,

externally and internally. ;)

The photo above is "before"

and the photo below here is "after".

It may not look that clean to some,

but it's more than fine for me.

I bought this fabulous book last weekend.
An illustrated book on how we are all
connected to the universe.

Science and art, rolled into one.
Hardcover, and it was something like $18 (CAN).

I love the book.

Anything that encourages
learning and thinking
is a good thing.

Too many of us have lost the ability (or the desire?)
to spend any time thinking on things.
We keep ourselves so busy,
that we barely allow ourselves time
to think of what to make for supper.

And with cell phones now,
we are almost constantly distracted 
from our own thoughts.

Sometimes, when things get heavy out there,

or when things just don't make any sense to me -

it feels good to be reminded that we are ALL part

of a huge universe,

more connected than not,

and that even in nature, 

there is suffering.

So I didn't just clean my desk,

I cleaned the whole room,

and man, did it feel good once it was done.

And the best part?

I got rid of a LOT of books.

Like between 75 or 100.

That's huge for me.

I'm kind of a nerd when it comes 

to getting rid of books.

They just feel much more a "part of me"

than clothes or shoes or furniture. 

But I let them go with good intentions,

hoping that whoever reads them,

gets as much out of them as I did.

Besides, there's a time for everything, right?

Some of the books I purged had me thinking:

"why the hell did I want to read THIS?!?" :)

Ta Daaaaaa!

Both book shelves - done.

I like organizing my books by color,

but I haven't tackled that since the cleanup.

I'm visual so whenever I'm looking for a certain book,

I can always remember the color,

and I usually find it quickly.

Plus, it looks cool when it's color coded. ;)

So I did this (below) on the evening of Feb 14th...
I was (and am still) so angry about it all.

And I did this one (below) the day after...
still processing the anger and sadness.

Some people can talk about it for an hour,
and then they're fine.
They move on to something else.

Not me.

I need to sit with the stories
and the questions, 
and the words -
sometimes for days.
None of it makes any sense,
but I'm at least able
to turn the anger & sadness
into art that becomes somewhat healing for me.

I can only hope the families of those murdered
can find their own path
to healing somehow...

Thanks for being here!
I'll keep you posted here on my new website 
as soon as it's live!
Wishing you all a happy week!
xo

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