Showing posts with label color for clarity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label color for clarity. Show all posts

Friday, November 27, 2015

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!

Sunday, November 15, 2015

heavy hearts make art

On the hearts and minds of many these days...
As disheartening as this is
we can't lose sight
of all the LIGHT
that finds its way through the darkness.
Good people doing good things -
opening their hearts & homes to strangers.
Picking up the pieces.
Refusing to live in fear.
I have no answers.
I only know that it makes me sad
that so many people suffer at the hands of hate.
Nos coeurs sont avec vous, Paris. xx
This was a 'decluttering/organizing' kind of week for me.
I changed a few things in my blue room,
including my table/desk.
(I used to have the yellow one)
Love the black desk (bought used years ago).
It's not as wide but it's longer, 
so I have more space for my brushes & paints.
This beautiful print (below) by Mae Chevrette
is on my wall to the right.
If you don't know her work,
you can check it out here.
It's so important
to surround ourselves with inspiration.
Whatever speaks to you.
Another little corner in the room...
Because my table is more narrow
and I moved things around a bit
I now have more space for the easel.
(still not done the veteran painting.) :(
This little guy always makes me smile.
We played marbles a lot when i was younger.
Dad's dirt driveway was filled with mini pot holes. ;)
There are too many book shelves in this small room...
said no book lover EVER! ;) 
my little winter bird...
all dressed up & ready to go.
I went to Chapters (book store) last week 
and got this fabulous book.
It was in the "young readers" section.
I find a lot of great illustrated books there.
I loved the illustrations 
so of course i had to buy it.
The story is about a young Russian girl in the 1990s
who lives with her grandparents for a year
while her mom is in the USA,
getting an education and 
trying to make a better life
for herself (and eventually, her daughter)
 The illustrations are simple and beautiful...
and the story carries you through
as if you were there with her,
on this journey without her mom.
It's the kind of book that you finish
and want to buy the sequel right away,
to know "what happens next"?
I highly recommend it.
And speaking of books...
COLOR FOR CLARITY is now available on Amazon!!
Grab your copy HERE.  


Six different artists from around the globe
came together to fill this 50 page colouring book
with beautiful images that encourage
a calm and peaceful heart.
Colouring is meditative
and all around great for your health,
so if you're one of these people
who can't sit still on a cushion for a 15 minute meditation...
this is for you!
Every page has a thought or a question
to help you focus on the moment
rather than worry about tomorrow
or next week, or next month.
They are selling for $11.66 US on Amazon.com
- a bit higher if you order from Canada,
but still much cheaper & healthier than valium! ;)
A great Christmas gift idea
for yourself or a friend!
Get your copy at: http://amzn.to/1MQ49eQ
and prepare to feel
like you went on a mini vacation!
Feel free to share! #colorforclarity

Thanks for being here.
PEACE to all of you
wherever you are on this big, blue ball.
xx

Monday, October 26, 2015

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