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

fall colors and edith piaf

hello peeps.

Sunday night already... 

where did the weekend go?

 a few pics from my morning walk at the beach

Sometimes i think i live in the most beautiful part of the world
and other times, i'd do anything to leave, just for a bit.

I suspect most everyone feels like this now & then,
when things just feel heavy.

Whenever i start to feel the weight of the world
on my shoulders, i come to the ocean.
This is Parlee Beach.
It's about a 10 minute drive from where i live
and at this time of the year,
there's hardly ever anybody there.

 the sand finds its way to the grass...

...a calm and cloudy morning

so nice & quiet here

the tide coming up 

 tiny waves... ;-)

 another tiny wave...

i love this one... 
it looked like it was gonna rain.
I was walking in the opposite direction
when i turned around to look at the view
and saw this blue piece of sky...

seaweed, sand, ocean, tire tracks...
(one of these things is not like the other) ;-)
This is a provincial park,
so they drive around the beach to keep it clean
and to keep the sand level
at the beginning and the end of the summer.

A little watercolor i did this morning,
as the rest of the house slept
and i enjoyed a good cup of coffee.

 this is the view i see from the window in my blue room.

i love these calm mornings
when the bay looks like a mirror
and each cottage/house is reflected in the water.

it was very windy this weekend,
so the fall colors are slowly disappearing.

still pretty though...
i love the fall.
Still my favorite season.
Something about the cool, crisp air
and changing colors
makes me feel more creative.
Wishing you all a good week ahead!
xox

and for all Edith Piaf fans out there...
la vie en rose :-)

always toward the light

hey people!

i had so much fun doing this collage earlier today.

Sometimes i think art is an escape from reality,
and other times, i think of it as moving towards
something bigger than me
rather than away from reality.

I guess it means different things to different people

but don't you love it when things just come together

and it all feels right?

god knows it doesn't always feel right.

but today was a good day.

i even decided she would wear cowboy boots with tiny spurs.

You can't see them much, but they're there.

it's all in the details... (giggle)

and then a few little words.

I read somewhere that all living beings

gravitate toward the light...

Well - except mushrooms i guess...

and the grumpy old guy downtown. :-)

Just a quick note to all of you...

I've had to limit commenting on blogs lately,

only because i was spending more time on-line

than actually creating something.

Making art.

This damn social media can quickly eat up 

a lot of hours in the day

and I don't want to become a zombie

in order to be social

with the whole fucking world.

Besides - i don't want to be social with everyone.

Only with those of you who are here with me. :-)

So i just wanted you all to know that even if

i comment a little less on your posts lately,

i'm still reading them.

I'm still laughing

and sighing

and admiring

and oooo-ing and aaaaah-ing

So keep creating and posting, ok?

xox

Linking this to Illustration Friday! 

put a little love in your heart...

Yup. It's a big black square.

I used a piece of cardboard from a pizza box

and covered it with black acrylic paint.

Chose a few colours, and started with this...

added a few pencil marks...

covered a few things here and there with white...

flipped it around,

circles, bubbles, dots... ;-)

i was using an older brush when i made these little red marks.
i did them really quickly and once they were done,
i noticed some of them looked like little hearts.

That made me smile. :-)

i actually kinda like it. 
i love the look of layers, one on top of the other.

And this, an inspiring little tip, from Viktor Frankl.

His book, Man's Search for Meaning
is still one of my favourites
even if it's sometimes hard to read.

I have such admiration for people like him,
who not only survive such ordeals,
but who are able to love again
rather than hate,
and spend the rest of their lives
inspiring others to do the same.

Have a happy mid-week everyone.
Thanks for being here...
xox