Wednesday, September 25, 2013

My ideas usually come not at my desk writing
but in the midst of living.
- Anais Nin

A few sample pages from my book.
Writing and art - my two loves.
My true stories -
and stories of people
who have crossed my path
and touched me one way or another.





i'm still struggling with putting it all together,
with adding pages,
still tweaking the text,
still deciding how to treat the whole thing -
whether i should even combine the words with art
or have the words alone.

It's never the writing that paralyzes me,
nor the artwork,
nor the book layout...
It's
the
AFTER
part.

Putting it together is a lot of work
but it's something i love doing.

The after part
still scares me half to death.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

blood red...

hi everyone...
last night's playtime...
acrylic on paper...

before i added the black, i flipped over the paper...
just because. :-)
(notice the blue markings on the top right corner above...)

they are now at the bottom left here...(above)
 added a bit of white, and some circles here & there...
at this point, i saw a man, with a bow,
surrounded by animals and spirits.
Some of you may see a person with a surfboard,
or a woman holding leaves...
but i saw a man with a bow.
The hunter.
That's what i decided it would be called.
Just because. ;-)


I don't particularly like the color red
and i use it very rarely.

Some artists use it brilliantly,
but i'm not one of them.
I still find it so aggressive.

Some artists use red in a way
that feels more passionate than angry.
But I still struggle to find that balance
between red and other colors,
so it doesn't feel like the red
is taking over the whole damn room,
let alone the painting. :-)

Yesterday, I was angry about a few things,
so it felt right when i used it -
maybe the anger is slowly finding its way
out of my heart and onto the page.

notice the limited color red in these pieces?
Maybe it means i'm not often angry.
Or that i lack passion in my life. ;-)
oh, i added a few curls to the blue boy painting!
I also made his eyes more intense.
I like it now. Much more.
Blue Boy.
And a little video for you, my friends...
How can one not love such a setting
filled with so many instruments,
talented musicians
and an angelic voice,
all at the same time?!

I saw Loreena in concert a few years ago.
Best concert EVER.
Maybe because there was more blue on the stage than red.
(giggle)...


Monday, September 23, 2013

the good, the bad, and the ugly dust bunnies...

hello everyone...
Hope your weekend was good.
I've had better - but that's life,
isn't it?

The good, the bad, and the ugly. ;-)
i wanna share this with all of you,
to remind us ALL that we need to look deeper sometimes
than just what we see on the surface.

Recently, a local man who is married with children
and respected by the community
did something a little funky.
He stopped paying his bills, including his mortgage.
While he was doing this,
he was posting on facebook
about how to be successful
and how to market yourself as a leader.
He usually dressed in a suit.

He was creating his self image
as an intelligent leader,
when he was anything but.

Long story short, they almost lost the house
and he and his wife are separating.
While i don't know the whole story,
i know enough to know 
that he was living two lives
for whatever reason.

He obviously wanted something different
than what he was living,
or he was projecting something different
than who he really was.

It got me thinking about how many more out there
are projecting something
or someone, they are not?


Healers who claim to have the "gift" to heal others
when their own lives
are in shambles -
when their own hearts
need tending
before they can help anyone else.

A woman who projects the image of being a good mother
drowns her own children in a bathtub
and the neighbours almost always say
"she seemed very nice…always smiling & playing with the kids."

There is a catholic priest in a nearby community
who has several allegations against him of sexual abuse.
When the story came out in the local paper,
several more men came forward to admit that 
they had also been abused by this priest when they were young.

This same priest walks into a local business a few weeks ago
head held high,
proud as a peacock.
Invincible.
No guilt.
No shame.

His victims carry more shame than he does.
They shouldn't - but they do.

It got me thinking about how many people are out there,
projecting an image that is very different
from who they really are.
I am always very skeptical whenever i see someone
that looks (or sounds) too sparkly.
Too perfect.
Perfection = distrust (for me).

I want the messed up hair once in a while.
i want the untied shoe,
the bad day,
the dirty car,
the dirty dishes,
and the dust bunnies on the floor.

Lately, i've been seeing a lot of perfection on-line.
e-courses, workshops, seminars, e-books…
put on by people who seem to have perfect lives,
and who look like they could be
on the cover of GLAMOUR magazine.

But is this what success really is?

Does this mean they've made it, and we haven't?

Does LOOKING good actually mean BEING good?

Let's not forget that sometimes,
a pretty package is just that -
a pretty package.

And sometimes,
what people project to society
is far from who they really are
on the inside.
wishing you all a great week
filled with imperfection
and sincerity.
xox