merry christmas everyone...

Maybe Christmas, the Grinch thought,
doesn't come from a store.
- Dr. Seuss

Well, the season is upon us once again...

Here in eastern Canada,
it is snow...

 snow...

 snow...

 and even fake snow! :)

I'm in a dry spell (creatively)
so kinda looking forward to down time
between Christmas and New Year.
Always a favorite time for me.

Feeling a little more disorganized this holiday season...
cards are on the stairs instead of hanging on the wall,
some gifts still unwrapped...

opted for the more simple decorations this year...

the ones with more meaning.

the ones that make me smile...

and after another storm,

it's clean up time on the back porch.

Welcome to winter in the Maritimes.

A mixture of snow, beauty, freezing temperatures

and people complaining about the weather. ;-)

With all the comings & goings of the holiday season,

i doubt that i'll have time to blog again before the new year,

so i want to wish you ALL

a wonderful, healthy, happy Christmas!

thanks for being here with me during the past year.

I hope we all get to share together again in the year ahead!

Here's to an incredible 2014!!

xox

jitter free coffee please...

It always seems impossible

until it's done.

- Nelson Mandela

i'm flying by the seat of my pants today
but i'm posting anyway.

i have no one thing in particular to share

but several things,

in no particular order,

so strap yourselves in folks...

here we go!

Books, books, and more books.
Some women can't have enough shoes,
for me, it's books.
There's a second hand place near my home
where you can get great books at great prices.

The Anne Frank book was $2.00
My kinda shopping...

i bought these books on Amazon.
Merry Early Christmas to me. ;-)

and when i read these words in the Seth Godin book,
my heart felt at home.
i love breaking rules,
so this fits right into my master plan. ;-)

a little bit of art. 
very little.
i alternate between painting and writing
only these days,
i seem to be reading more than anything.

Course, there's Christmas too.
i never get stressed out about that,
but i have started preparing, here and there.
Some women have everything done like in October.
i say women, because most men are never that anal.
At least not the men i know.
i wait till the first sign of a snowflake
before i even think of Christmas.
If ever i live in the South,
where there is no snow at all,
i'll be screwed.

 the mess on my table in the studio this morning...

another mess, on another table...

i ordered this book. Love Austin Kleon

and i loved his book STEAL LIKE AN ARTIST.

If you're not familiar with him,

check him out.

some of his blackout poetry
which i love as well.

and of course, this was written JUST for me. 
(i'm writing it, i'm writing it!) ;-)

love this (by Caroline Paul)

Reading some of Susan Sontag's journals as well...

Love her writing....

and her art...

i try to fill my time with things that fill me.
i avoid energy drainers
like facebook or Pinterest
or too much TV (especially the news)
or toxic people
or blogs that are just too shiny & sparkly
and make me feel
like my life is crap
whenever i visit them.

i need to be reminded now and then
that we're all tainted.
We're all broken
in one way or another,
no matter how hard some people
try to pretend that they're not.

What are your energy drainers?
Can you identify some of them?
With the new year around the corner,
maybe it's a good time
to think about getting rid of some of them...
even if only slowly at first.
Better slow than not at all.
Susannah Conway has a free workbook called
unravelling the year ahead 2014

You might want to check it out

and brace yourself for a good year.

Love & lollipops!

xox

small art is still better than no art

i read this quote in my SOUL PANCAKE book.

Savage and beautiful life...

yes, that's exactly what it is.

It is both,

and anytime we expect it to be ALL beautiful -

we get derailed, don't we?

(pencil on paper)

It is not all beautiful,

but nor is it all savage.

Living my life in a way that i see both

really matters to me.

I don't want to stay stuck in happiness

anymore than i want to stay stuck in pain

because neither would be an honest life.

So as hard as it is sometimes

to understand why some lives are cut so short,

like the four young men near here a few days ago...

that's all part of the mystery, isn't it?

My mother would say

some things just happen

and aren't meant to be understood.

(watercolor on paper)

Whenever my heart feels heavy,
i usually end up making small art.

it's like i don't want to commit to anything too big,
just in case i throw in the towel halfway through.
i guess maybe that explains
why i'm not married either. ;-)

i have some old business cards

that i no longer use

so i use the back of the cards for doodling.

I started this one with a scribble in red marker
and then added color & detail
when i thought a saw a woman...
ok, she's a Picasso-like woman,
but still - a woman. (wink wink)

thanks for being here.
Here's a video of one of my favorite songs of the season,
by the beautiful Sarah McLaughlin...
another proud Canadian girl. I hope you like it.
xox