finding time and Milton Glaser

hello everyone!

Here we are, 8pm on a Sunday night -

and I am in weekend mode

as long as I can stretch it. :)

The weather was beautiful today...
sunny and about 18C (65F)
which is nicer than it's been in a while.
No more snow at least
and the days are getting longer & warmer.
I sat outside today
with a coffee and a good book
and stayed there till late afternoon.
I washed some clothes
and hung them outside -
something my grandmother loved to do,
and my mother loved to do,
and now I love to do.
Then I made spaghetti sauce
so i didn't spend the entire day
on my ass
but i could have, easily. :)

I've felt this strange distance
from drawing these days.
When I do draw, it's done quickly
and with less patience it seems.
I've been writing a bit more than drawing
but even that - I am finding little time for these days.

Whenever I start working again,
it always takes me a little while
to adjust & find my groove.
To feel like myself again.
I always feel lost in those
first few days/weeks.
I usually paint a lot less
and write a lot more.
Then I start squeezing in a sketch
here and there
and by the time week 4 or 5 rolls in,
i'm doing what makes me happy
at least some of the time
during the course of a day.

It is difficult for me

to be in a social setting all day,

where there is rarely a quiet hour

during the day.

Sometimes, I get home

and i feel exhausted.

Like I've physically worked hard all day.

Being around people who talk a lot

(and usually say little)

drains my energy.

So that's when things like

yoga

or books

or a hot bath

or mint tea

or a nice walk

or a good Netflix movie

come in handy.

All of these things

save my sanity

and honestly -

compared to last year at this time,

i am in good shape.

We're not always able
to find what fuels us
and some of us know what we need
but it's just not attainable
for whatever reason
when we most need it.
My heart goes out to those people.
Those who run on adrenaline.
Or on fumes.
Neither is good
and if you are one of those people,
know that there are better days ahead.
Mom came from a family
of 13 children.
There had to be many moments
in my grandmother's life
where she was in desperate need
of a hot bath
or a quiet cup of tea
or an afternoon nap -
and she instead
had to feed the children
or bake bread
or mend the torn 
and tattered clothing.
I am in awe of such women.

Me, mom, and my sick little brother Ricky.
I was about 5 or 6. 

On another note,
I picked up this cute little book
the other day at the 2nd hand book store.

I am a sucker for books with visuals. :)

 This little doodle/logo page

brought me back to my college days 
when i studied graphic design.
I am more grateful now than ever
that I chose this for my career.
We don't often think of it,
but we are surrounded with art & design.
Packaging.
Posters.
Billboards.
Book covers.
The newspaper.
Your furniture.
Your fridge.
Your car.
Your clothes.
A good designer knows
that it's not only about how it looks,
but it's about what it communicates
and how it makes you feel.
Here's little video (6 min)
on one of my favorite designers,
Milton Glaser -
about art
and design
and love of life.
Happy week everyone!
Thanks for being here.
xx

colouring books, little birds and big skies

Hello everyone!

I'm finally back!

I hesitate to say 

I have some wonderful news

because maybe it's just wonderful for ME,

but hell, 

i'm sure at least ONE of you

will benefit from this as well.

At least I hope so.

That's the whole point.

Some of you already know this,

but for those who don't,

I'm working on an adult colouring book!!

Along with 5 other fabulous artists,

the book, called COLOR FOR CLARITY,

should be out in the world this November!

You can click here

to find out more

and don't forget to sign up

so you can get updates on where 

and when the book will be available.

We all have different styles,

so it's gonna be a great variety.

Every page has a quote or a question,

to encourage self discovery

and hopefully help you realize

that you have the potential

within yourself

to become who you want.

We tend to forget this, don't we?

We rely too much on outsiders

to teach us about our own worthiness.

I certainly hope that those who buy the book

have as much fun colouring the drawings

as I had in making them.

Such a fun project to work on.

Basically, it all happened very fast,

but sometimes, 

those are the best kinds of projects.

The kind that are unplanned.

No time to worry.

Right after I said YES

I knew it was the right decision.

We all had to develop several drawings

in a short amount of time,

but it's all coming together

and the work is amazing.

I cannot wait to color in it myself.

The wonderful Kristal Norton

is driving the bus on this one.

You can find her here.

Thanks to her genius organizational skills,

we are working together on a common goal,

from different parts of the world,

and she makes it feel easy. 

So besides that,
I've been painting here & there
whenever I get the chance.

When we went to New York last year in September,
I took a quick pic of these beautiful orchids 
we had in our hotel room,
with a card that said WELCOME!

I was really having problems

with the leaves & the pot on this one...

so what do you do when

there's part of the painting

that just doesn't seem to be working?

You remove it!
:)
Some will say *that's cheating*!
But i don't listen to those people,
and you shouldn't either.
Do what you gotta do
to feel good about the painting.
Or at least not to hate it.
I hated it with the leaves & pot.

I don't hate it so much anymore,
although i don't know why i added the words...
looks like something you could buy
at Walmart. Not good. ;)

Far from my greatest work,
but hey - win some, lose some.
The colours are off in the 1st few pics,
but you can see the actual color here.
i'm liking the teal these days. :)  

I drew this the other day
when we lost power for a few hours...
with no lights, no TV, no computer...
What a better time
than to draw something
by the light of the window?

Coloured pencils on paper.

This little bird urn holds my mom's ashes...

She loved birds. :)

A quick painting (acrylic on paper)...

I ordered these prints from Vistaprint the other day.
They had a sale on posters.
Something like $30 for 10 posters (11 x 14 or 28 x 35.5cm)
Next time, I'll order thicker paper
but other than that, quality is good.

It's a water-colour i did of Steve Jobs a while back...

and i love his 'here's to the crazy ones' quote.

These will be for sale in my Etsy shop

within the next week or so.

The ring around the sun, a day before
the torrential downpour we had the other day.

And of course,
you know I can't end a post
without sharing a few pics
of the sand and the sea... :)

 seagulls in a row

 ...and a more daring seagull. 
Maybe he thought I had fries. :)

wide open space... and sky. 

Warmer than usual for this time of the year for us. 

(like 75 F)

And skies like this
always make me feel
like i'm part of something grand
and that the real miracle of life
is the fact that I am here AT ALL.
If it all ends when I die
I'm ok with this
because I get to see
skies like this while I am here.
xx

ocean waves of sorrow and joy

hello everyone!

I have so much to share,

i'm not sure where to begin...

Let's start with the fact that 

it's still summer here!

We broke a 100 year record yesterday for temperature.

I was 30C (86F).

Hot for us in September.

Normally, by this time of the year,

we're pulling out the thick sweaters

and looking for our socks.

But this year, we seem to be

about a month+ behind in the seasons.

It's a strange thing,

the reaction we have to weather.

September here usually brings with it

a burst of energy for me

and a cozy feeling of cocooning.

Kids are going back to school,

some to university,

moms are getting the house to themselves... ;)

new beginnings.

But this year feels different.

There's this churning of creativity inside me

but when I notice it's still summer out there,

I wanna be out walking or swimming or kayaking.

(and on a good day, I usually am)

Because I know what's coming.

W.I.N.T.E.R.

So I hate to admit it,

but I would welcome a rainy day.

And if the forecast is right,

we're getting one tomorrow. (Sunday)

There's a little story to this sunflower.

Earlier this year,

we decided to plant a few things.

(I don't have a green thumb).

So we planted a few flowers along the walkway...

but we didn't plant this sunflower!

Honest, we didn't.

When we noticed something growing,

we were curious to see what would pop up there.

At first, I thought it was just weed...

no, not the kind you smoke! ;)

but lo and behold - 

this beautiful sunflower pops up! 

The birds & the bees carried the seeds

exactly at the right spot. :)

So next year, I'm planting sunflowers.

This is Fluffy, my dad's dog,

and she loves to hide her treats in the carpet,

just in case someone is thinking

of taking them from her.

Cracks me up.

I did a quick little sketch of her

while she slept by my side on the grass.

This is part of my blue room...
I used to have my mac upstairs,
but finally brought it down here.
This room just feels right for writing.

I am sitting in the chair you see here right now...

I love this space...
You don't need a big, fancy shmancy studio
to make art.
It just has to feel right in your heart.
Some people use a shed,
the basement, the back porch,
a kitchen table,
Whatever works for you.

A few weeks ago,
we were awakened at 2am 
by the sound of helicopters just above our house.
By morning, we found out
they were looking for a missing man in the water.
A boating accident.
He and a friend were boating
when the boat capsized.
His friend searched for him in the water
for a half hour before making it to shore
to call 911.
They found the missing man days later - drowned,
only about 50 feet from the shore here.
42 years old.

Whenever something like this happens,
you always have the nitwits who want to give
their two cents worth about what happened.

"well, they had to be drinking!"

"who goes out boating after dark?"

"well, why weren't they wearing lifejackets?"

That's why it's called an ACCIDENT, you morons.
Cause it's not supposed to happen.
No one ever goes out on a boat thinking:

"I know! We'll put ourselves in danger
and then we'll drown!! It'll be fun!"

It angers me how quickly we are to judge
when something like this happens.
We all know what should have happened
to prevent this tragedy, 
but it didn't, and the man is dead.
Why bring any more suffering
to his poor family
and the friend who searched
for 30 minutes in the water for him?
They lost someone they loved
and this beautiful place
will forever haunt them.
Is that not enough?

I went for a walk there the other day
and saw this one lone flower...
and I thought of him.

 Then I picked up this book again...

and read this...

Funny how the same questions
have different meaning now...

I had ordered new cards from MOO
and they came in as the helicopters
searched overhead...
it made me sad
when i noticed my ocean paintings.
I can be overly sensitive about my surroundings,
so I usually try to paint or sketch something
as soon as i can,
to put the pain on paper
rather than keep it in my heart.

I started this painting thinking of water,
and ocean, and waves, and nighttime... 
(it's acrylic on paper)

Not sure where I was going with the pink,
but I just let it go where it wanted to go.

Added a bit of white...
still not sure if it's anything 
other than abstract.

Then I flipped it over
and saw a dragon and someone flying
and a moon and water and a heart...

These are closer to the real colours..

taken in daylight.

Looking at it this way just feels 

less scary to me.

Why a dragon would feel less scary,

I'm not sure.  ;)

I'm not sure if i mentioned anything in my last post,

but I'm working on a little something

with a few other artists

that we'll be sharing with you all soon.

I am thrilled to be contributing

to such a fun project

and I know that many of you

will be happy to

color along with me very soon!

(Yes, that's a little hint for you.)

As soon as I get the ok to share,

I will.

Hang tight.

In the meantime,

you might wanna

sharpen your color pencils!

xx

This is how excited I am: