So HAPPY that it's all over!!

Good Day Sweet Lovelies;

Doesn't it feel great that the rush and the hustle and bustle of Christmas is over? I love the magical part but it feels like a "wedding" sometimes....all the preparation and excitement and its over and done with before you even realize it.

This year was a sad and special at the same time. It was the first Christmas without my mother-in-law (she passed away this summer) her birthday was Christmas Eve so I had mixed feelings about Christmas this year, I really missed her. And the good news was that my parents were down and actually stayed for Christmas which they don't usually do so it was a special one. It was especially good because there were no huge family wars or anything, everyone got along and we all enjoyed each others company.

As I promised I will put up all the ornaments that I made this year. I did very different stuff this year and tried some new techniques. On the mittens I did some collage, I glued some scrapbook paper on them and did my painting on top which was kinda cool and fun, they were for my daughters. On the cross I used acrylics and I dry-brushed the colors so they were really subtle and then I hand-wrote two prayers, one on each side. That was for my sister.
These ones are wooden snowman heads that I drew on and painted using acrylics. They turned out pretty good I think. I had fun doing it...just a teenie bit rushed. Next year I am going to start way sooner, like in September. This one was for my little nephew.



I really enjoyed making this little bell for my bestie. She really liked it. Again I used acrylics and sprayed sparkles all over it after I was done the painting so it had a shimmer to it. All of them have they year on the back and I signed them all.

And this last one was for my Mom and Dad. Same techniques for this one. They all seem to have their own personalities don't they?
I belong to a Mail Art Group and I got my first postcard just before Christmas. So I will post my progress with my postcard that I will be sending out to Lady L. It is all anonymously done which is pretty cool because you get to do art by intuition. You don't know the person so you don't know what they like or dislike. I love that. Wish me luck.

Well guys...enough for today. Until next week. Be safe, happy and artsy.

"If you want to be happy, don't compare yourself with others."

Merry Christmas

May you all have a wonderful Christmas and many blessings in the new year. 2010 has been a real challenge for me and I am looking forward to putting this year to rest, there were good times and hard times...but I guess that goes for all eh?

This year I have learned a lot about myself, about life and some things that only comes to you when you reach a certain age. A real "knowing" or an "understanding" that life is only as complicated as we make it. It truly can be easy if we let it.

Christmas for me this year has and still is hectic because people seem to be a little on edge and running amok ha ha, and as my Mom says "It is a real MESS". But as families come together you learn about each other all over again...some personalities clash and some just fit nicely together like you were never apart...but ohhh how we learn from both and where would we be without that balance???

I want to apologize for missing Tuesdays' Blog post...It just didn't work out, so I thought I would post now. I love you all and hope that this Christmas Season finds you healthy, happy and whole and that the miracle of Christmas lifts your heart and makes you joyful just for being....YOU are the gift of Christmas spread the love!!!

"Healing your own heart is the single most powerful thing you can do to change the world."
Deepak Chopra

Christmas Craze....

Good Day Lovelies,

Gone are the days of "boredom". Remember when we were young and bored? When we would lay around and try to think up things to do to keep ourselves busy? I can't even imagine the concept of "boredom" anymore at all. My daughters say "I'm bored" all the time and I can honestly say I don't remember the feeling of boredom.

There is a point to this story....

I am SO darn BUSY that I can't even finish a thought...let alone a whole list of "to do's". I want the feeling of "boredom" back. So I guess the only way to have it is to be reborn or abolish all responsibility and I am not willing to do either. There must be an in between and I am spending YEARS (literally) trying to find it.

I can honestly say that I am still not ready for Christmas...I feel like I have been crazy busy and accomplishing NOTHING. Why is that? I think I am still unsettled in this house so it feels like nothing is right.
I want to enjoy Christmas...not be so busy it just goes by and you wonder if you enjoyed it or not. These are some doodles I have been doing...notice the message.
I need to calm down and find my peaceful self. I need to let go of some of the things that are not allowing me to be peaceful. I need some quiet time and maybe a time-out, like I used to give my kids. Sit quietly and ponder what has brought me to this insanity, with a hot cocoa a candle burning and some nice Christmas music playing in the background. How does that sound? Want to join me?

"I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he/she handles these three things: A rainy day, Lost luggage, and tangled Christmas Tree Lights." Maya Angelou

18 More Sleeps...

Good day lovely peeps. We saw "The Vinyl Cafe Christmas Show" at the Royal Jubilee in Calgary. (I map-quested...thank goodness) small town girl driving in the B-I-G city gives me a migrane.
The set was gorgeous...I have a picture of it but I didn't bring my tri-pod so it is a little shaky sorry about that.
Don't you love how I captured that guys head. I amaze myself with my camera taking capabilities.
Stuart was the most amazing story-teller I have ever heard...and believe me I have listened to my fair share of audio books. His heartfelt stories make you feel like you know "Dave, Morley, their children and neighbors" and the fact that no matter what, we all have and know a Dave, a Morley and our neighbors are just as nuts as the next guys. Listening to his stories really makes me feel connected to family, friends and even strangers.
The audience was mixed. I would have thought there would be just old people there...boy was I wrong...there were children as young as 5 to a women who was 95. We were sitting next to a bunch of teenage boys if you can believe that.
His show wasn't just all stories either there were 2 entertainers. A young Jazz/Blues singer "Matt Anderson" and "M. Jackson" and they sang Christmas songs...it was truly beautiful. It was a full house at the jubilee (thousands of people) and even with all the children that were there, it was completely silent when Stuart was telling his stories. He held the attention of all for 2.5 hours. I would love to see him every year, Jackie and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
This is us, just after the show. The Jubilee was so beautiful and there were decorated Christmas Trees on every floor.

This has been an extremely productive week for me. I had 4 much needed days off work and was able to do some shopping, paid bills, got some of our christmas decorations up and was painting my ornaments like a mad-woman.
We live in a Senior neighborhood and senior's (I must admit) are all over the christmas decorating thing...they have all their lights up by the end of Nov. and their trees are decorated and their baking is all done and in the deep freeze and cards are addressed and mailed out...and then there is us...the darkest house on the block, not a treat not a card no sign of life except for the poodle, lol. Where we used to live we were the seniors in our neighborhood we were one of the first to decorate...and everyone sort of followed suite...except for the goths next door (but that is another story). So this year..we were the last, but we did it, the lights are on, our tree is upright and in place and we have a few decorations up.

Like this manger I painted many years ago. I used to teach painting classes and this one was one of the most popular classes. We painted it in sections, about 3 figures a year. They were alot of work because they are painted all the way around but I enjoy looking at them every year.
Christmas is all about those traditions that we do. Think about your traditions in your family...what traditions do you do that is unique to your own family or ones that you have started yourself and continue to do. Writing them down and telling the story is a great way to pass it down to future generations. I lost someone this year...and with that loss, alot of the traditions went too. So it is important to document and keep doing them no matter how hard it is.

I am proud to say that I have completed 3 out of the 9 hand-painted ornaments that I make every year. I want to post them but as you know, I can't, because they are for Christmas. I will post them after Christmas.

Well my little lovelies...until next week. Stay warm and safe.

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big thngs." Robert Brault

OMG 2 more sleeps until we go and see....Stuart Mclean!!!

Good day lovely people. I am going to see "The Vinyl Cafes Christmas Show" in Calgary on Thursday. I am so excited...if you aren`t sure what it`s all about have a listen to the show. I put up a link. Stuart is a true Canadian and travels around our beautiful country and helps us to remember why we are proud Canadians. He writes the ongoing stories with Dave and Morley and their two children Stephanie and Sam. He is a master story teller and has brought me to tears on more occasions than I care to say. They are heartfelt family stories that only he can tell. He is a gifted writer and storyteller and as you can see I can`t seem to stop singing his praises. Listen and tell me what you think... Christmas is like ....25 days away, my goodness when it comes it certainly comes fast. Why am I never ready? I really try hard to be. I shop all year instead of the week before, I usually make most of my gifts and even that takes time and time is going so fast that I can hardly keep up. I'm thinking its because I am aging. I just realized that half my life is over..or that I have lived half of my life. I suddenly got scared and had to sit down and take a deep breath. I am 44 years old...I can't believe I just wrote that horrendous number, I really am shocked because in my mind I don't see myself as that old so it is really hard to accept. It doesn't help that I work with a bunch of young people, so it is a constant reminder of how old I really am. They are beginning their lives of bright futures with marriage and children etc. and I am on the other side of the cycle of life...the "in-between", no man's land, not young and not old. Mid.....Life. I guess that's what it's all about figuring out your place when there doesn't seem to be one anymore. Youth = Opportunity. Middle Age = ______? Help me fill in the blank. Would love to hear your comments.

So now that I have depressed myself...this week I have been busily trying to paint ornaments for my family for Christmas. I usually make about 9 hand painted ornaments and I haven't even completed one yet. Here are some that I have done in previous years.
They are so fun to do. These were done on thin metal discs given to me by a friend. I used acrylics on them and sprayed them with Krylon when I was finished.
These ones are painted on 1/4 wood cut out by my bestie. She was a master scroll saw cutter. Now she quit and the saw is tossed in the heap. Well it was good while it lasted.
Again I used acrylics and sprayed them with matte krylon. This year I am trying to do mixed media ornaments and they are going to go on wood as well.


Here are a few sketches of upcoming ornaments. I don't always use all my sketches, I do a bunch of drawings and I pick my favorites. Color choices are always challenging for me. I try and pick the colors that the person likes and go with that theme. Right now my fifteen year old loves yellow and black, can you believe it? I told her that it is wasp colors...how fitting ha ha.

These three are 3 dimensional wooden ornaments that I bought for 75 cents each at Michaels, good deal eh? Right now I am playing with faces and personality. I kinda like them.

Well that's all folks. Have a good week and I will tell you all about my wonderful Vinyl Cafe Concert next week. Be safe dearies :)

"Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. You must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want." Margaret Young

Lets batten down the hatches....

It is sooooooo COLD!!!! Today was -40 with the wind chill. I don't know if I have mentioned this to you before....but I H A T E winter and cold. If I could be a hermit and live in a cave and not come out till spring, I would not hesitate. I would make a great bear in my next life, because hibernating for the winter sounds so perfect and right to me. Every year I say the same thing....why do I live in Canada? Why don't I know how to build an igloo? These temperatures are unheard of...who chooses to live in these un-natural conditions? I am a very strong willed individual and there are only 2 things that bring me down....mosquitoes and cold.
We have had allot of snow in the last week as well, so it does look very wintery and Christmasy out there. This week-end was a stay indoors and paint all week-end, it was way too cold to do anything else. We tried taking the dog for a walk but she was too cold and we had to put her in her insulated back-pack...she wouldn't walk anymore...poor thing. I need to buy her some boots, I miss summer.

This was Week 3-Part 1 in Willowings' Art, Heart and Healing Class. As I mentioned last week, we were to think of a childhood trauma and draw whimsy characters turning the trauma around to something positive. What a fantastic healing exercise. The one I chose to do was that our family moved every year as I was growing up, we moved so much that I had troubles making friends and always experienced loss, like leaving grandparents and cousins and family connections to new places and new homes and new schools. As I got older I realize that it was a good thing and that I wouldn't be who I am today without those experiences, but I think it is good to acknowledge the fact that it was devastating to a young person and to heal the little girl inside will in turn help me. So I drew 4 characters, 2 on each page, 1 of which is me as a young girl and on the other page one represents me as a youth. It shows me growing up in the same house during my youth and having a stable childhood.



Here is Jackie's pictures, she thought she couldn't draw little whimsies. Very cute.  She worked very hard on these and what an amazing transformation.  Next week we get to do the cover of our books.  Can't wait. I am having alot of trouble with Blogger today, it took me most of the night just trying to get these pictures on.  Anyways...hopefully they will have the problem fixed by next week.  Cross your fingers.

"For any artist to persevere, they must have an enthusiastic audience of at least one."   Stuart Davis

Artful Sunday....

I love the times that you don't plan and just do...

   Sunday was one of those days.  It was my only day off and my oldest was home for the weekend from college, my bestie had the day off too and we sat down to do a little "art".  
   
   As you know, I am in Tam's "Art, Heart and Healing Class" and the project that I am on is week 2-part 1.  We had to get a picture of ourselves when we were about 3 years old and photocopy it on transparency paper and transfer it into a page in a board book.  We had to imagine ourselves at that age and what we would wish for that child to have in their life.  It seemed hard to do...until...I started and I couldn't stop.  Tam said that even if what we wished for didn't happen that its ok.  This project was so healing and fun to do.  

    It is tricky doing a transfer...but it is like magic.  We used "Golden's Gel Medium (Gloss)" and put a thick layer on the gessoed page and put the transparency (rough side down) and rubbed it with our hands and a credit card and peeled it off gently, the scratch marks are from me pushing to hard on the credit card and probably not being patient enough and peeling it off prematurely, but I lucked out.  It worked.  It doesn't always work out that well.  I ran out of ink on my printer when I printed Jackie's picture and she wasn't happy with her transfer, I think it turned out good, here is her first attempt....

 Watching her do her process was fun, she has such a neat style.  Very bold and daring, just like in life.  Lol.

   This is my daughters art.  She didn't do the board book thing, but after watching us she now wants to do it but that will be another day.  Here is what she was working on....

    She loves bright colors reminds me of her personality.  She never seems happy about her art but it always turns out beautifully.  I am very proud of her.  Here is her almost finished piece... 

   This is my second or adjacent page.  I used my Neocolors; salmon, pink, light ochre and light teal.  Then I brayered on white acrylic paint to tone it down.  I printed out my "wishes" and cut them out and glued them on to the page and outlined them with my graphite pencil and did some swirlies to match up with the other page.

    And here is Jackie's finished page....she was much happier with her second attempt.  I like both but I do think having full ink in your printer is the key.  Sorry Jac.

      
   Now for the second part of the class we are drawing whimsical people.  We have to think back to a childhood trauma and draw what we would have liked to happen.  Jackie and I have ours figured out but I am happy to say that my daughter said to me "Mom what should I draw...I don't have any childhood trauma?"  That made my day... wow.  Of course I told her she has childhood trauma...we all do.  Tune in next week for the rest of the story.

"Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual."   Arthur Koestler

Busy, busy, busy.....

   As some of you already know, I work in a retail store.  I haven't been in this line of work in a long time and you know when you are out of the fast lane, things stand out to you that you didn't realize before.  
   Is it me or is everyone running at high speed, on a caffine high and no one has patience for each other anymore?  What happened to people being nice to each other...people (adults) actually "push" each other in line and butte in front of seniors, who don't move very fast.  We are only in our 2nd week of November and people are .... I have to say it....NUTS!  This is a wake up call to everyone....BE NICE!!  If you have a shopping bin full of stuff and you notice someone behind you has like 2 things...let them go ahead.  Pushing people around doesn't get you there any faster....and if it does...something else will slow you down....like "the punishment lights" you know the ones, you sit there for at least 10 minutes waiting at a red light for no one in particular.  Karma.  If we don't slow down and be more "present" in our surroundings and in our life, life will make us.  

   Here are some de-stressers that work well for me at this time of year, you can do these anywhere;

1. Accept the fact that you will be late...look around at the scenery.  Art is all around you to enjoy no matter where you are.  I wait for trains alot and the graffiti on them is truly remarkable.
2. Sing or hum.  To yourself or out loud whichever way makes you feel better.  Music is very calming and meditative.
3. Smile.  No matter how mad or tense you are, when you are smiling it is hard to stay stressed.
4. Deep belly breaths.  At least three deep breaths.  When we are tense we clench and take shallow breaths.  Deep breaths gives your brain the needed oxygen and makes you feel calmer.
5. Change your thoughts.  It can be done.  Its hard but very possible.  Not everyone is out to get us and doing horrible things to us.  It may seem that way but its not always the way we think it is.
6. I have 2 teen girls...and I'll tell you...if I didn't do art everyday, I would not be a very sane person.  Doing something, anything creative grounds you.  I don't just mean "art" but writing, acting, singing, reading, dancing...creativity of any kind is a natural de-stresser.

     It was my best friends birthday on the 8th.  Happy Birthday Bestie!  I decorated her envelope with stamps and watercolors.  It took all of 10 minutes...very calming and I must say....fun.  When was the last time that you colored or doodled.  Try it for 10 minutes.  Don't think just doodle. 

"If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always got."                                                  Anonymous

Halloween can still be fun....

   I do miss the days of making outfits and doing faces and the sheer excitement of "Trick or Treating" with my littles.  But those days are gone...my youngest wanted to squeeze in one last year of possibly getting some free treats.  (She is 15)  But she didn't need me to decorate her face or make her a costume and didn't pull on my hand...saying "can we pleeeeeez go now??!!"  Nope.  She got ready on her own and met up with a group of girls and went out on the town. Soooo....my bestie and I took an alternative route.....

   Don't feel bad for her....after about half an hour....she really became at one with her "Bee" self.  We walked around for about 2 hours and watched all the kids run around.  Our weather was +5...it was a perfect Halloween evening.   I guess if you are stricken with a poodle and your kids are grown and there are so many cute outfits...you might as well make the best of it. 

   Here is my finished page for week 1 of Willowings; Art, Heart and Healing class...

 I did this first class with Tam's colors and Tam's style of drawing.  And now that I learned her techniques I will draw a more true but stylized self-portrait using my own colors...so we will see how this one turns out.  Here is the drawing so far....

 And now with the evil voice in my head.  My lovely inner critic who is always supportive and kind...ummm....not!

And now covering over all the words with gesso and meditating, turning the negative comments around and trying to understand what my inner critic is trying to protect me from.

    Hopefully I will be near done this page and I will post it next week along with a progress report of my poor studio.

   Amazon came through and I received my books this week.  A belated birthday present from my bestie...thanx Jackie :)  I got this one...

                                                      and this one....

    I am expecting one more book to come.  "Creative is a Verb" by Patti Digh.  One of the best books I ever read was her first book, "Life is a Verb" so I can't wait for the second one to come.  
   
   
 Art Heart and Healing Week 2
   I am looking forward to doing Willowing's-2nd week.  I enlarged the only picture I have of myself as a 3 year old and played a bit in photo shop and printed it on acetate paper so that I can do a transfer into a board book.  I haven't done image transfers before so wish me luck :)  Jackie is going to do this healing exercise with me it will be so fun.  Doing art with artsy friends is awesome isn't it??  And we had to write what we wish for our 3 year old selves, very healing and emotional I might add.

  

"To create something like the Mona Lisa from little blobs of colored oil...now that is real power"

I Am Consumed.....

   Hi Everyone....this week flew...and I really mean it.  Wow!  I have been so busy working on Willowing's course, I almost forgot that I was a mother. Wow.  
   Art, Heart and Healing has been-just that....healing.  We started out writing all our negative feelings and thoughts that our inner critic says about us (I had a whole page...and I could have kept going. Sad!) and gessoed over them and then we made our page "beautiful".  Tam is a miracle worker, I must say.  It felt good going over all of my crap with gesso...and then thinking about it and trying to turn around my negative statements into something positive.  I find that I think badly about myself unconsciously...but now that I am aware of it I am going to try and turn it around before I let it in.  
   How do you handle the mean voices in your head?  We all have them you know....

And I will add these words to the picture...

 This is my positive statement to myself.  What is your affirming statement for "yourself"?

   I am totally looking forward to week 2...we will be painting a board book.  How exciting!!! I can't wait  :) 

"If only we'd stop trying to be happy...we'd have a pretty good time."  Edith Wharton

Inspiring Walk...

Have you ever taken your "camera" for a walk?  

   On Sunday, that's exactly what we did.  I was extremely inspired by; http://www.createsticksandstones.com/ and we decided ("we"- as in my best friend, the poodle and I)  to go on our own nature hunt for very cool letters around our town and on our bike trails. Here are a few that we found...

So what do you think?  We realized that there are a whole lot of "O's" and "L's" and "I's" and finding "g's, q's, b's and w's" are going to be a challenge.  We got so carried away that we spent 4 hours doing this and poor Muffin (who usually enjoys her walks) was lagging behind us instead of pulling me around...we actually wore her out the poor thing.

   When we got home I made a journal page...using basic supplies... like; gesso, neocolors II, collage, stamps, bubble wrap, white gel pen and of course my trusty copic multiliner.

Sunday Night Journal Page

   Yesterday was Willowing's Week 1- Free Online course.  Check out the button on the side bar of this blog.  I have just downloaded the first two videos...but I am sooooo excited that I can hardly contain myself, her art work is amazing...she is so amazing, and to offer this for "free" is so incredibly kind and giving of her.  Check out her site...it's not too late to join.

   

Something to ponder...

"Change doesn't just happen.  What you do now affects what becomes of you in the future.  Make sure you always look after your future self."

Very first blog post...finally...

   After much procrastination ( I mean months)....here I am...actually "blogging".  I must say...this frightens me, I am learning that I must be insecure if I am this nervous...right?           
   What do I expect...that someone will actually read this?  Or that my words will reach the masses? Ya...sure.  That's probably what is stopping me dead in my tracks.  I will pretend that I am just talking to myself (which isn't too far off anyways) and then maybe I will be able to do this.
   I have to hand it to all of you "experienced bloggers" ...I tip my hat to you.  There is alot of work to this..I mean...just learning how to work "blogger" is a challenge, ha ha.  But I figure if I am nice and supportive to myself, it will all work out.  


   Not to have a pity party or anything but since last summer;

1. My oldest daughter graduated high school.
2. My Mother-In-Law passed away.
3. We inherited a toy poodle, named "Muffin" (that is pretty much self explanatory).
4. We left our home of 10 years and moved across town in less than a month.
5. My oldest moved out...(I am still in shock).
6. I started a new job.
7. My youngest turned 15...need I say more.

So I am adjusting or maybe still running in "survival mode" who knows.  But I have let my art dwindle and my studio is in shambles, I will show you and maybe the pure embarrassment will prompt me to not get overwhelmed and actually start unpacking and organizing.

 

   EeeK!  Isn't it awful?  It has been two months since we moved in.  I packed a "survival art kit" because I knew I wouldn't be able to find my stuff for a long time...and now I am missing my stuff so much.  I am tired of the basic art supplies in my kit.  But...I have learned to use basics for art which, for me is a good thing.  A person can get overwhelmed with "too" much, you know.  So I have learned alot from all my supplies being packed.  I haven't bought anything...which is good because I am a recovering art-supply junkie...ha ha.   
   So I will post my progress as I tackle this room.  This should get me moving lol.

   Next post I will put up some pictures of some of my art using my basic art kit.  Have a great day folks.

Successful people replace the words "wish", "should" and "try" with...."I Will."