Art teaches nothing,

except the significance of life.

- Henry Miller

hello everyone!
it's so good to be back.
I am finally done my office job
and my days are open once again
to be filled with art
and quiet coffee
and good music
and space for breathing.

I have been reminded these past few months

of something rather important in my life:

I value freedom far more than i value money.

I value time far more than i value things.

I am not a material girl. 

I have little patience with routine and boredom.

I am willing to sacrifice new shoes

new clothes,

or dining out in restaurants

for more freedom in my day

to paint & play.

I crave creativity daily,

and when i don't get it,

life is no fun for me.

So these past weeks/months have been a whirlwind,
and working in an office was my choice (temporarily!)
but thankfully - it has all ended and i am gently falling back
into my comfort zone...
my natural strengths...
my happy place,
my heart of art.
Exactly where i belong.

I watch people go sometimes
and think to myself "surely - they have gone completely mad"...
running from work to running errands to going to the gym
to taking kids to endless practices and games
to rushing for groceries and appointments and shopping
and doing more and having more
and buying and buying and buying more.
it makes my own head spin.

It's so easy to get caught up in that race.
One really has to pull back now and then
and ask the question :
Is this what i want?
Is this MY race, or someone else's?

There is very little that is essential
for a good life, really. 
At least for me.
A hot bath.
An afternoon in a used book store.
An evening walk with a good friend.

An afternoon of painting.
$5 in my pocket for a good coffee.
Good music.
A soft place to fall.
Soft pyjamas.
or no pyjamas at all!
(giggle)...

 There is just so much in the world that is free
and beautiful
and at our fingertips
but we miss much of it
because we're cooped up in brick buildings
with fluorescent lighting and grey walls
exchanging time for money.

When we are old & grey,
i doubt that any of us will wish
we spent more time at work,
but i can almost guarantee
that most of us will wish
we had spent more time noticing the sunrise,
or the crickets,
or the moon & stars at night,
or spent more time with family and friends,
giving and getting more hugs
putting our toes in the sand...

(my family, a few years ago, when we were still all here...)
Making good memories...

And because it's mother's day tomorrow -

Mom, at her last Relay for Life,

smiling through it all,

with her matching pink & yellow flower hat. :-)

She taught me to live life to the fullest.

Thanks mom. xx

and this one,
because I adore it so much...
mom, family & friends, when she was a young girl.
Mom is in the front, with the white dress and crooked legs
and the tube around her neck! 
Classic mom!
I love the innocence in this photo
and the obvious great time, despite the poverty.

And since it's mother's day tomorrow...
this young man right here,
makes me who i am today.
My son - graduating from high school this year.

So proud of him...

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for being here with me.

xx

Europe... long ago and yesterday

Bear with me...
i'm all over the place today, looking at old journals,
so this post may not be the most coherent.

Years ago, i took a solo trip to Europe.

It was one of the most memorable times of my life,

partly because i was in Europe,

and partly because i was alone.

I was only there 3 weeks,

but in those few weeks,

my life changed.

Being alone forces one to be courageous,

consciously or unconsciously.

There were a few awakenings on that trip,

but there were also a few times

where i was frightened,

and wondered whether i had made the right decision

to go alone.

But i had always wanted to go to Europe

and none of my friends (at the time) wanted to join me.

So i went.

Now that i look back,

i think this is where my *illustrated journaling* was born.

i had been drawing and keeping journals for years separately,

but in Europe, 

being surrounded by such beautiful architecture,

i began combining both -

the sketching and the writing.

I bought myself a little sketchbook while i was there,

and began to sketch people

and markets

and cathedrals.

My senses were all at their peak -

the visual beauty & despair,

the taste of different foods,

the sounds,

the different scents in the air,

On my first night in Vienna,

from the open window

in my tiny hotel room on the 3rd floor,

i was soothed to sleep

by the sounds of someone playing the cello

in the building across the cobble stone street.

Heaven.

Whenever i look at my sketches,

i am transported back in time

as though i were still there.

some of it is good,
some of it is not.
Some is heaven, some is hell.

I don’t live in the past,

but once in a while,

i like going back there,

just to gain a new perspective

on where i am today.

Some may wonder what the point is,

but here’s the point for me:

it is my life

in little snippets

on paper.

It is a way for me to remember.

A way for me to be reminded

of where i’ve been

and why i’m going where i’m going.

When i returned back to Canada,

exhausted, sweltering in the summer heat,

and about 10lbs lighter from all the walking,

I sat on one of the chairs & waited for my ride home.

As i sat there,

i thought of what i had seen during the past weeks,

some of the people i had met,

some of the museums and art galleries i had visited,

the trains i had missed

the sanctuaries i had found,

and the experiences i could have done without.

…and i wondered,

had it all been worth it?

Out of nowhere,

an older woman with white hair sat next to me,

and asked me if i was arriving or leaving.

“i’m arriving - from Europe”, i said.

She smiled at me, and with a tinge of sadness in her eyes, she replied:

“oh, that’s wonderful. i’ve always wanted to go to Europe,

but i’ve never been, and at this age,

i doubt that i will ever make it there”.

And in an instant, 

i knew that it had been worth it.

All of it.

So if any of you out there

are doubting the value of keeping a sketchbook,

stop doubting

and start keeping one today.

It doesn't need to be a fancy one.

It just needs to belong to YOU.

winter to spring

Power trucks.

Is there a more welcome sight

when you've been without power for 4 days?

It all seems a distant memory now

but it was only a few weeks ago... in March.

everything was crystallized the next morning...

 ...and the poor trees.
They took a beating from the freezing rain & snow.
We had to cut a few branches,
but they've bounced back since then.

 aaaah.... 
now this feels better, doesn't it?

footprints in the sand...
sand that isn't completely frozen anymore!

 and the iced ocean slowly turning to water again...

This was taken at the Shediac wharf nearby...
a hotspot here during the summer months.

Ah, WATER.
water - not ice.
WA-TER.
Another welcome sight here come spring...

soon, this pier will be lined with fishermen & women...

and on those benches - hard core coffee drinkers. ;-)

And of course, there's always art.

a rough water-colour of a pinecone,

found in the back yard (after all the snow melted)

see the view outside?
very little snow left on the ground.
It's been a long fucking winter...

a few outlines with a brush marker 
and at first i thought i'd use the tiny dot technique to add shadow...

but then i added darker water-colour over the dots instead.
i seem to have less patience than i used to have
when i was younger. ;-)

a bit of writing, and a closeup

of this beautiful pinecone.

I'll be posting again later this weekend, probably Sunday.

There are things & ideas i wanna share with you

about Sketchbook Skool.

i am having so much fun so far,

although i knew i would before it even began.

It's basically all about making time to sketch, isn't it?

About recording a life.

Keeping little snippets of your life on paper...

about keeping an art journal

so that you remember this life later on.

At least for me, that's what it's about.

So i'll be back to this space

sometime during the weekend.

In the meantime,

be kind to one another.