i've moved!

Many things have changed since my last post, now a shamefully long time ago! I've started fresh with a brand new blog. You can now find me over here at Sugar Mama. Hope to see you there!

illustration friday - skyline

This became my 'signature painting' for a long while after I finished it... I imagined a dreamy, sleepy winter village, with storefronts lit up and people all warm and cozy inside their houses, maybe drinking hot chocolate or reading a good book. This is what came out! I didn't offer it up for sale for a couple of years, but last summer I sold it at Art in the Park. I had mixed feelings about selling it, largely because of the couple who bought it. I genuinely liked the wife, and she really wanted the painting. But... her husband, to be frank, seemed like a bit of a tool. He also tried to barter with me in a not-so-friendly way. If she wasn't standing behind him looking hopeful, I would have snatched it back and said thanks, but no thanks. Anyway, I hope it's appreciated and happy now!

illustration friday - rain

an appropriate theme in Toronto today...


on rainy days I like to:
* curl up under a blanket and watch a movie
* put on comfy track pants, a.k.a. fuzzy pants
* devour a good book
* devour good chocolate and big mug of tea
* and, I wish I could be like this little girl who likes to put on her rubber boots and stamp in puddles

hazy, lazy days of summer...

Holy cow it's been a long time since my last post... how unblogger-like. All is well, though after the long weekend I spent two weeks sick. First, a bad cold, then strep throat - yuck. Since then we've had lots of fun weekend plans and other things going on, and I've let blogging - and being on our home computer after work in general - slide into a hazy warm weather oblivion!

There's much to catch up on, here and over at other blogs I've been neglecting, but not now... for now I need to focus my energies and time on the upcoming Art in the Park show. As of tomorrow I only have a month left and oodles of painting to do - and a trip to Vegas in between!

I've barely done any painting in the past few weeks, and I don't know why this is. I love to paint, I whine daily about not doing it enough. This may be the last summer of shows I do for a while. So why am I procrastinating instead of burning the midnight oil? Am I just too tired/busy? Am I afraid of being unhappy with new work? Who knows, but it's starting to make me nuts! I need a plan and some motivation. I swore I would paint tonight, and even if it's only for a half hour before bed, dammit I will!

Will try to post pics of new work soon.

p.s. Gill if you stop by, thanks so much for the Project Spectrum ~green~ postcard! Great job with Photoshop, and love the story that came with it!

hangin' out

These are two little 10" x 10" canvases I'm working on for the Art in the Park show, I'm calling them 'hangin' out'. Unfortunately you can't see the detail very well in these pics. I'm doing a bunch of these with different things painted in the middle. Silly me thought I'd be able to whip them off, thereby avoiding pre-show panic attacks and late night painting sessions, but so far I've finished.... 3. Um... yeah. Weekends have been busy, and during the week I've just been bagged at night after freakishly long commutes lately. So, maybe next week!

The next few days have lots of goodness in store... Tomorrow night I'm going to see Depeche Mode - sexyDave!! We'll be screaming, silly, singing, sweaty girls and I can't wait. Then on Friday we're heading north to a cottage for the annual first Canadian long weekend of the summer... yay Queen Victoria's birthday! About 15 of us will be up there. Usually there's only our usual crew of 8, so it will be cozy but fun!

show and tell

As much as I would like to start off the week with a cheery, inspired post, I've got to be honest... I'm just not feeling it! I'm bummed because it's been a beautiful, sunny, warm day and I've felt totally lousy. Exhausted, no appetite until dinner, achy, mildly lightheaded, just crap... All the things you're supposed to feel when the day is gray, cold and windy. Now get this -- I haven't had a full blown cold or flu in almost two years, which until now was totally unlike me. Every once and a while I feel like this and think 'oh man... here it comes, now I'm gonna pay for past 2 years!', and then, miraculously, it just goes away. I'm like the girl who cried flu. So, who knows what's up in my body this time. I've also got that 'I'm totally overwhelmed by a lot of things and want to hide in my bed for two weeks' feeling. Anyway, I felt a bit better when I got home so here I am...

Instead of more complaining, I'll do a little show and tell of my recent knitting project. This bag was crafted over several nerd Friday evenings when Stewdawg was working and I didn't feel like going out. I saw it over on Mag Knits, and used Irish worsted weight 100% wool. The pattern called for 40cm circulars, but the nice knitting ladies at my wool shop wisely recommended 60cm ones, saving me much cursing. This was my first foray into felting and it was really fun. Here's the pre-felting shot...



And here's the after. A VHS tape was the perfect size to stick at in the bottom while it dried, to help shape it. The brooch pinned to the front is a 1920s find from an antique mall ($3.50!) that just seemed meant for this purse.

illustration friday - fat

This week's theme for illustration friday is 'fat'... I may be biased, but what is cuter than a fat, fluffy sheep? This is Emily, she is painted in acrylic on canvas, 11"x14" (click for a larger image.) When not posing for portraits, she enjoys leisurely walks with friends, reading, and eating chips.