[i] LoveLife

TipsyTipsy: wine.

What I am very guilty of not mentioning enough is that TipsyTipsy was a wine tasting. I know, I know - I get all hung up on the ART and forget to mention that there was another very important element to the evening. WINE. Randy Sawatzky of Tipsy Thief Imports had his awesome interntational portfolio of delicious wines + spirits available for sampling. Amazing, right? The crowd was so tight that night it was hard to get any photos... (unless you're the amazing C.D. Muckosky!). These are C.D's shots of Randy's wine. Gorgeous photos. Great wine.

(I'm getting to the SUPERWALL.)

A glimpse at TipsyTipsy.

[ First photo by Claudine Gervais. Second photo by Mike Saunders.]

TIPSYTIPSY. I have not been able to put my feelings about TipsyTipsy into words. But I can say that the wine + art event ended far beyond from where it was originally intended to go and I credit the Universe. She is certainly a gem sometimes. I came home from TipsyTipsy and wept a little. It might have been the combination of exhaustion + relief + joy + gratitude but whatever - I was brought to tears. Thank you GMB Chomichuk for being such an inspiring dude. There are a lot of special people to thank and I will get to that. For now - let's enjoy some great shots.

(NOTE: For maximum effect sip a glass of Ventisquero Grand Reserva Carmenere and listen to some radical tunes.)

[ TipsyTipsy early on. Photo by Mike Saunders.]

[ My friend Emma watches the Live Art demo. Photo by Claudine Gervais.]

[ A crazy cool panorama of the space. Photo by Tammy Mowat.]

[ Live art. Photo by Ian McCausland.]

[Live art. Photo by Jeope Wolfe.]

[ We shake on it. Photo by Mike Saunders.]

These are just a few of the photos. I'm working on finding the right words to use to properly express how I feel about TipsyTipsy and how it impacted me. IT'S HUGE. Especially the SUPER WALL. GMB Chomichuk. Brush Script. Live painting. But, I'll get to those points later. Just wanted to pop in to let you know I'm alive! (There are some samples of a few of my TipsyTipsy pieces on my Pinterest board if you're interested..)

Today: more on TipsyTipsy. (If you've got photos - I'd love to see 'em!)

GO!

TipsyTipsy

This is GMB Chomichuk and I getting ready to do some live painting in front of the SUPER WALL at the event we called TipsyTipsy. And by SUPER WALL I mean you had to see it to believe it. Because IT WAS SUPER.

More on this show tomorrow. PACKED HOUSE. (Thanks!)

GO!

Today is the day.

Hi Internet. I'm crazy busy today with an art show (hope to see you later!) and will check in first thing tomorrow am. (I'm posting sneak peeks via instagram + twitter today. Follow along!) GO!

Black, white + the winners.

It's the DAY BEFORE THE ART SHOW. Yikes. When you put it that way I HAVE A LOT LEFT TO DO. But, when I look at all of the stuff that's been put together and created - A LOT HAS BEEN DONE as well. The bulk of the prep work is done and I have pretty much drowned myself in some new + old. Some new styles and some older patterns. Some new techniques + some old favourites. ALL which are an evolution of who I am as an artist + designer.... (I am nervous.)

LOTS. This is a catalogue of some of the new script pieces that will be at the TipsyTipsy event tomorrow. A few have been seen on this blog, but over 125 of them are brand new. And priced to sell. The display of these pieces is exciting + terrifying me at the same time... I'll post photos after the show.

I haven't shared as much as I would have liked here on the blog of the days and work hours leading up to the show. It's been a bit of a juggling act, but definitely a labour of love... Like most of my shows before this one - they seem to take on a life and EVOLVE into an entity of their own. I just keep up as best I can. Oh man, I am lucky to have people like Dan, Tammy + Tamara in my corner to help me. (Thank you, thank you, thank you.) If you're around town - I'd love it if you would pop in to the Children's Museum tomorrow night to say hi. GMB Chomichuk and I will be painting on site and pooling our inspiration to come up with on-the-spot pieces to raise money for the Childrens Ophthalmology Department at Health Science Centre. How cool is that?

*******

Hey winners!! I read every single comment and I have to say that we are quite an evolved bunch. I love it. It's a warm-fuzzy to read how change has occured... it's a softening of sorts. If you're listed below - you are one of the random winners. (Email me with your details, please!) I said I'd pick 2 winners, but I can never keep it to just 2. The winners will receive a SCRIPTED mini print set.

THANK YOU for playing along + sharing yourself here. I really appreciate it.

Today: I am trying to stay on task so that I don't get overwhelmed. Because I am feeling a tad overwhelmed and don't want to forget anything. Or anyone.

GO!

Evolution + a giveaway.

[This photo is an Instagram beauty.]

I have too much on my mind - I almost forgot to post! Last night I was working on a project for the TipsyTipsy art + wine show and I grabbed my Pantone book. I started ripping pages out to use for something else. A small part of that act broke the heart of the collector in me because when I was 19 years old and I scraped up enough cash to buy that book - and I REALLY FELT LIKE I WAS IN THE BIG LEAGUES. Fifteen years later - it's still a very pretty swatchbook, but now it's more of a collection of all the reasons I truly LOVE graphic design + how it has become part of my soul. Past + present. The evolution of me. AND the book is not living out its full potential sitting on a shelf in my studio. So I reinvented it.

(If you want to know what I ended up doing with these swatches - I guess you've got to come to Tipsy-Tipsy on SEPT27...)

Leave me a comment with something in your life that has evolved for you over time. I used to think of coffee as an 'old lady drink' and now it's the crutch that gives me life (some days anyways). I used to take health for granted and now my aching hip reminds me all too often that it's a gift. I used to think you had to work in a stuffy office to be successful... How have YOU evolved? I'll pick two winners and post them on Monday. The winners will each get a SCRIPTED mini print set (above). They are so pretty. I don't have many sets left and after the TipsyTipsy show they will not be available so make sure to leave a comment. Or tweet about it. And be at Tipsy-Tipsy.

Today: Nose to grindstone. I will be chugging copious amounts of coffee to keep me alert and hoppin' as I compile and organize the info (and finish a spontaneous canvas) for the show. 5 days til show time.

GO!

Calm on the outside STORM on the inside.

I feel strangely calm on the outside... and like a vicious tropical storm on the inside. The ideas are firing. The adrenaline is sweet like a pinot noir and I'm drinking it in. Guzzling it actually. Because this is what I love - the intensity + fire of a deadline that makes art pour out of me like singing.

Today: I'm completely submerged in the print + writing deadlines that I need to hit out of the park so that I can get back to riding creative waves like the art version of Kelly Slater. I'll post some random goodness and tomorrow there's a giveaway!

GO!

Beauty + art.

The HEART is a triumph of BEAUTY. This one is for friends - close, far, from long ago and from the magic of the internet. To those who are wading their hearts through the tough things. The heartbreaking things. The life making things. The thinning of things. The breaking of things. The stuff that defines and changes your path... is so hard. I am sending hugs and thoughts and prayers and whatever it is that I can send that might make the hearts lighter. Can you do the same?

The heart is a triumph of beauty.

I am overly grateful for the ones I cherish.
I am being conscious + moving slower.
I am showing love + appreciation.

ARTSHOW: I really, really want to start showing sneak peeks of the pieces ready for the art show, but I am going to make sure that the folks who are going to be there will be the first to see them. IT'S SO HARD NOT TO SHARE RIGHT NOW. OY! Yesterday, I was gathering supplies for our LIVE ART demonstrations, visiting the site for some inspiration and spreading the word. The RSVP list is filling up crazy FAST. Wow!

SCRIPTschool: is available for a whole year. If you're worried that you missed the deadline - WORRY NO MORE. You can register at anytime and go at your own pace. It's been getting rave reviews and I've been seeing SCRIPTschool inspired pieces all over the place. So cool!

Today: two out of three small people and I are off to do art show errands in the rain. Which will most likely end with Penn getting a big treat for being a good sport. We have sweet visitors in the afternoon. And Awesome Aunty Tamara tonight. And all the while I will have a notebook at my side so that I can stay on the ball and stay focussed for the art show on Tuesday. LISTMANIA I TELL YA. And there's a NEW IDEA on this blog towards the end of next week. Too awesome.

GO!

Uncle.

PHOTOBOOTH. My brother is in town for a quick work trip and the girls are OVER THE MOON to have more Uncle Kam time. If I have learned anything - it is that life moves fast and photos help us remember. This is from the photobooth at the airport. If nothing else, it was really funny to see him try to juggle three small people behind a curtain. The photos are especially funny, too. Can you find Poet? Oh, that's funny to me. Good times, little brother. Good times.

GREAT day yesterday because:

• I tackled a large painting, loved it AND remembered the progress shots. The painting is 2x5 feet and the only thing that's disappointing me at the moment is that I didn't have a bigger canvas. It's one of those painting that sort of mulls for months and then blows in on a breeze AND DEMANDS TO BE PAINTED. Yup, I have a lot of other things to do to get ready for the art show - but, this breeze was hard to ignore. AND I KNOW NOW THAT IGNORING THE URGE TO CREATE is a fast track to unhappiness. This painting will make her first public appearance at TipsyTipsy (SEPT27). WHICH BY THE WAY - is filling up. GMB Chomichuk and I are going to be doing LIVE ART to raise money for the Ophthalmology Clinic at the Children's Hospital. That's CRAZY COOL. You want to be there for that. (Get on the list).
• My new business cards arrived. That's good. I ordered a bunch of new designs to test out a change of design. Oooooh, Fall makes me want to shuffle.
• Frank is cool. He seems to have hit a magic formula and committed to loving us. Until now he's been a bit hesitant + unsure. I figured it was just his character, but over the weekend we spent a ton of time as a family and that was the ticket. He's leaping + bounding + fully engaging with us. No more hesitation. That warms my heart.
• Poet said her first word: MAMA. The other two girls said DADA as their first word... so hearing the MAMA part first was pretty touching.

Today: I have a check list, a painting, a series of script work, printed materials, a gouache run, some invites to hand deliver, and a lot of coffee to take care of. It's busy, but I work well under pressure. And loud music. Fingers crossed that it all goes well. On your marks...

GO!

Right now.

It's a party in my studio BUT I woke up with this rush to paint a canvas. Unrelated to the show. NOT GREAT TIMING. But, eff it. That's what I say! Inspiration comes when it comes and IT HAS COME.

RIGHT NOW - I paint.