a little bit of art and lots of everything else

hello friends...

I hope you've all been well

and adjusting to whatever season it is

in your corner of the world. 

It's fall here, so the colours are beautiful,

although it's been windy lately

and the leaves are quickly

falling from the trees. 

I did this pastel years ago... of my son, Alexandre,
sitting in a big pile of leaves in our yard.
He was much smaller then, compared to now. :)
He'll be 20 in February.
I've been feeling stuck in a rut lately,
so I've been looking through some of my old art.

I'm doing a few little things
here and there...

I was sketching this the other night
when my son came in and said
it reminded him of one of the men
in the movie CAPTAIN PHILLIPS,
about the 2009 hijacking of a US ship
by Somali pirates.

I wasn't thinking of that while I was doing it.
Just in the mood to sketch something quirky
and not too serious.

Went to the bookstore the other day
and found these 2 gems.
I guess I may have been feeling a little blue. :)
The Joan Didion book was $2...
and the other one, $6.99.
Yes, thank you.
I've always wanted to learn more
about the history of the color Indigo.
Now I'll know (hopefully)
after reading this. 
I absolutely love the cover
of the Indigo book.

And I recently got this on Amazon.
A visual feast of a book,
filled with wonderful treasures like this

 ...and this.

So much truth here.

Why do so many of us

still think that creativity

is only reserved for children?

We are ALL creative

in our own personal

magical

individual ways.

And this one (below)...

my favorite in the book.

So many of us live our lives

focused on attaining these things

when in the end,

they matter very little (if at all).

What matters in the end

is LOVE.

Knowing that you gave love

and received it

as much as you could,

the best way you knew how,

with the time you were given.

Our colouring book project is almost done!

The cover is being finalized

and I'm told that the inside pages

are beautiful.

As soon as I have the link

where you can purchase

COLOR FOR CLARITY

I'll share it with all of you here.

In the meantime,

hang tight!

I've been watching some good documentaries lately.

Here are a few of the trailers,

for anyone who likes watching them. :)

I watched this one last night

called HAPPY.

(all of these were on Netflix).

A wonderful documentary

about the misconceptions we have

about money

and how it actually takes very little

to be happy in life.

A good art documentary I recently watched,

AI WEIWEI - NEVER SORRY.

A reminder that there are still

too many places in this world

where 'freedom' is nothing but a word.

I admire anyone who is courageous enough

to stand up and say 'this is wrong'.

Especially those who stand alone.

I watched this one lately - and loved it.

Lots of wisdom hiding behind

the dreadlocks & skull rings & smoke. ;) 

Plus, the guy is like 130 years old...

how can you NOT be impressed?

KEITH RICHARDS - Under the influence

Another art documentary

I found on Netflix.

This couple just made me smile.

Heartwarming, adorable,

profoundly sad and happy all rolled into one.

CUTIE AND THE BOXER.

This  music documentary that brought back

many fond memories for me.

Funny how hearing a certain song

brings me right back to where I was at the time,

doing whatever I was doing.

(usually up to no good - which basically means,

having fun). ;)

HISTORY OF THE EAGLES

A movie about loss,

and courage,

and conquering fears

and facing your demons

and redemption

and finding your way through the darkness.

WILD.

Along the same lines as one of my favorite movies,

Into the Wild,

only with a lighter ending. :)

And last but not least -

a documentary about the author,

SALINGER.

Like millions of others,

when I was in high school,

I read Catcher in the Rye

and my friends and I talked about it

for months after.

So yeah, there's lots of mystery

around J.D.Salinger

and what happened to him

after Catcher in the Rye...

Thanks for stopping by.

xox

how rhythm makes everything good again...

In the beginning was noise.

And noise begat rhythm.

And rhythm begat everything else.

- Mickey Hart

I went for a nice walk this morning in the crisp fall air.

Sometimes, i lose my own rhythm

and before i know it,

a week has passed without morning walks

and i feel totally out of synch with everything.

Life takes over sometimes

and then it's up to each one of us

to find our own happy place again.

Nature is one of my happy places.

 Art in my blue room is another... :-)

I'm working on illustrations for a little book about Valentines.

A very young and creative relative of mine wrote a cute little story

and I'm putting together a little book for her.

(If any of my relatives are reading this,

PLEASE don't say a word. It's a surprise for her...)

I had fun doing these...
good and bad cupid. 
I'll post the little book once it's done.

forgive me if i've posted this before,
but i just love these illustrations by David Shannon.
From this book...
(its original title is probably "No David!")

i love how the illustrations tell the story.

you just know by seeing this

that it's about a little boy who gets into mischief...

this one always cracks me up...
When i grow up,
i wanna do these kinds of illustrations.
 

or this kind...

is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Check out the slippers...and the mouse pillow!

Such imagination.

and just by looking at this,
can't you tell she might be bossy?!
The best part of doing illustrations for a book (to me)
is reading the story the first time
and sketching out the images
that first come to mind.
Of course, rendering the illustrations is fun too...

So while i'm busy doing things for others,

and living my life,

I'm also trying to carve little bits of time

for my own book.

It's overwhelming - but exciting.

Nigel had great advice for me on one of his comments...

"stop thinking about it and just do it".

Yes Nigel. Thank you.

I can think things to death.

(have you noticed?)

I'm comforted when i see things like this.

I hardly ever feel in complete control.

(it's a good thing, right?)

Wishing you all a great weekend.

And to those who celebrate...

Happy Thanksgiving!

xox

EMERGE and white wings...

Well, here it is. Done.

At least i think it's done.

I sometimes have to sit with it 

for a few days before i decide.

Not sure about the title...

EMERGE keeps coming to mind.

I just looked up a definition that reads:

Sea mammals must emerge periodically to breathe.

Yeah, sounds about right these days.

My apologies for the crappy photos.

Last night's painting is basically a "paint over".

(what you see here is already painted over)

I had done a painting a few years back

and hated it.

Every time i saw the painting in my studio,

i wanted to paint over it.

So i finally did,

and this one sits with me

far more comfortably than the other one did.

a few earthy, neutral colors...

and this little being was born.

I think this is the first time i've ever painted

in such neutral colors.

At least on canvas.

Maybe i just felt totally colored out

after EMERGE

and needed to get back to basics...

back to a more pure nakedness.

xoxo