[i] LoveLife

Apples everyday.

While I'm on the subject of apples here's a peek into the progression of a Honeycrisp apple painting that I did yesterday.  I never remember to get progress shots and then sometimes when I do - I regret it because I've overworked a painting and I can't go backward to the most recent  progress shot. Like Control Z. MOSTLY - I like to take in-progress shots for my own satisfaction because it makes me feel good to see that I can do something.

Side story: Once upon a time I watched a guy rig up a wind surfer and I was SO IMPRESSED. I was impressed by his familiarity with the pieces and strings. He started with a handful of abstract items and in a matter of seconds - he had created a windsurfer. I loved the process. I was completely enamoured by his knowledge. It had nothing to do with him. Or windsurfing... I just wanted to be that familiar with something.

I'm working randomly and sort of frantically lately. I have some bigger pieces that I want to work up to before mid October and the very, very best way to do that is to PAINT-AS-MUCH-AS-I-CAN. I'm trying to channel a certain energy and feeling for this show... I turn on furious music and let that be my momentum for the day. AND AS MUCH AS I LOVE the Mumford & Sons new album after a while it makes me want to sit in the corner and sob. So I am focusing my days with mind-numbing things like Skrillex.

Today: I should be taking half of the day to do errands. I am so tired of the endless errands. If things work out my way - I will just be hiding in my studio all day long. And it will be awesome. If you've got questions about my process - I'm happy to share... September - your sun is setting.

GO!

Them apples.

Fall means apples to me. Especially meaningful for me this year because gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free can be boring and annoying and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of Honeycrisp apples. I promised myself that THIS YEAR I wasn't going to be crazy and run all around town when people emailed me about seeing the apples at random spots. (And when I say THE apples I mean HONEYCRISP apples.) I promised myself that THIS YEAR I was just going to be patient and let myself run into their awesomeness by accident and have life be that much sweeter...

But when I caught wind that they might be a Safeway I made a very speedy + roundabout route to scout them out. THERE WEREN'T ANY. And it was SO DISAPPOINTING. Seriously. Like a heaviness in my chest kind of let down. Which is absurd for applies. WHICH IS TOTALLY WHY I PROMISED MYSELF THAT I WOULDN'T BE ALL CRAZY LIKE THAT. I understand that they are just apples. (And truthfully, I'm partial to the East Coast Honeycrisps over the West Coast Honeycrisps... ) Oy.

Don't email me about the apples. Don't tell me that you had them and they are so radical. And I say that BECAUSE I cannot run around town trying to find them. AND because I happen to suspect that there is a small package of freshly-picked, straight-from-the-orchard award-winning Canadian East Coast Honeycrisp apples headed my way. Special delivery. (I love you Paulette!!) And if this is true - I WILL BE IN HEAVEN. Even if there is just one little apple - this gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free high maintenance diet girl will probably shed a few tears. Sweet Honeycrisp heaven.

Oh yeah - and that apple painting in the top photo is a little something I painted on Tuesday to spruce up our kitchen because apples represent a lot of things to me - love is one of them. It's 36x36 inches on gallery canvas.

Today: painting.

GO!

The antler transformation.

Back in the day - I fell in love with antlers. When I was given my very first set (they were deer antlers) it was a bit mind boggling. Sure they were pretty. Smooth and almost waxy. Intricate and simple at the same time. AND they are quite HEAVY. My brain cannot compute just how a living creature walks around with something like this on their head. Oh and the living creature part.... The antlers were still attached to the skull (to maintain the set). And the skull still had hair*. Suddenly it was painfully obvious that I was holding the top portion of the skull of a once-living creature.

Not a trendy design element.

That realization was heavy.

*I wanted to point out that the hunters I got my racks from are wonderful and caring people that use every inch (including the hides). They eat the meat all winter and the utmost care is taken in preserving and utilizing the animal. This is not a post about hunting or hunters.

That sadness makes the antlers that much more incredible to me. And now that people know I love them - I get gifted a lot. I have about 5 sets of deer antlers, maybe 3 deer sheds ( the single antlers that fall off naturally), a set of caribou a sheds, a moose rack, and recently the beauties in the top photo that were dropped off by my friend Murray from Saskatchewan. Those one (if you can see in the picture) have a weathered patina from being outside. Much like an old bone texture. So different from some of the ones that have been kept indoors that are very solid, darker-coloured, smooth and waxy to touch. Oh the powerful sun.

So I have been cracked in two - the aesthetic appreciator and the spirit's appreciator. i feel truly in awe of the creature and lucky to be able to honour them somehow... (That probably sounds so strange.) I think the antlers are beautiful. And weighted with a story. True art.

Today: just painting. I have a complicated set of pieces that I want to tackle. I was bummed because my favourite paint colour was discontinued. It was a mixing mystery to me until I spent an hour yesterday to figure it out. It's green. Not blue. With unbleached titanium in equal parts to white. Mystery solved and palette disaster avoided. Coffee please!

GO!

Tough + berserk.

I cannot believe that it's the end of September already. I'm buckling in because the last three months of the year tend to just go berserk on me. (I love the word berserk!) Actually - this fall is guaranteed to go berserk because it's filled to the nuts with interesting, exciting and unexpected things. Yikes. WOW. The winter is crazy for us with a slew of birthdays and celebration among the regular celebrating and concerts. I'm taking a moment now to centre and align myself so that everything stays on track.

The quote above - it just hits me in the right place. Life is about adapting + reinvention. Right?

THANK YOU for the tip on the Staz-on ink. Whew. It takes forever to dry but I like it.

Today: I'm speaking this morning at a breakfast gig and then squeezing in mega-maximum painting time because this is one of my last full weeks of working until November. Wow. Holy crap. It's time to get down to business.

GO!

More about the ARTshop

I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for checking out my ARTshop. And thank you for being patient with me this year. Thank you for popping in to see what I have been working on. And thank you for everything from your kind emails to your comments on Pinterest about who the artist is of the work you recognize as mine. So much gratitude.

I have made the changes you see in the shop to make it easier to see the stuff I've been working on. And by easier I mean I wanted a chance for the paintings to look their best - to speak for themselves. To have a safe place - instead of being loose on the internet. And to be easier to add to. And basically, I've just tried to simplify my world and take out every complicated part that takes time away from the things that makes me feel the happiest.

A long time ago I was asked what I would want on my tombstone - and the answer to that will never ever be "she filled her life with so many complicated bits she never got to cherish her loves".

Oh, that ARTshop. It was a much bigger job than I imagined. There were 80 new products added, a bunch of things taken out and my goal is to add a collection of new originals every three months-ish. Or sooner if that's how it works out. I am going to be focussing on cutting down the number of prints I offer. Which makes my accountant cringe. But also makes the beast I call shipping-with-CanadaPost less stressful and ugly. STREAMLINE. SIMPLIFY. SLOW DOWN. I also think (okay HOPE) that my new ARTshop is going to help me make more time for painting. Which is exactly what I need to do to keep my ARTshop full and interesting. (BUS ROLLS will be discontinued at the end of SEPTEMBER.)

Sigh.

I can tell you a little bit more about the paintings (if you want) and if you watch my Instagram feed you will see a collection of (dark) new work come together for a very exciting upcoming artshow (okay and maybe a few peeks into our life around these parts, too). OH, AND I'M GOING ON AN ADVENTURE OF A LIFE TIME that I can't talk about here - so you should watch my Instagram feed for that near the end of October.

Today: I am picking up seven 4x6 foot canvasses to get started on new work for my upcoming show. And ordering paint on the internet (I've never done that before!). I'm also looking for an stamp pad with ink that will STAY ON whatever type materials I stamp (any suggestions???). I love Mondays SO MUCH!

GO!

Open for business.

Here we go! The ARTshop is officially open for business. Oh, I'm sure there are still a couple of things I missed, but it should be working alright. THIS. IS. A. DOOZY. It started as a little shop update and ended up a pretty massive overhaul. The ARTshop is now better optimized. It's easier to shop from your phone or tablet. It's got a jazzy preview that will hopefully cut down on the image theft and all that jazz. The photos are better - which makes it easier to show scale and depth.

And most of all - it's FULL. FULL of the stuff I was working on this year. Which is probably why it took me so much longer than I thought - because this has been a hard year. I'm not entirely sure I'm ready to part with these things... They hold so much weight emotionally for me that whole idea was making me overwhelmed and nervous.

Anyways. I'd love it if you'd stop by. Use the category side menu because otherwise there is SO MUCH STUFF you'll miss something. There's 80 new things. OH. And use the discount code: GOODNESS for $25 off if you spend $100 or more.

Today: I am going to go have a nap. Whew.

Update

My ARTshop will open later today. Likely around supper time because I'm still sorting (and panicking a little). I'll give a shout out and that will be that. A new chapter.

See you soon.

So close.

I'm getting ready to re-open my ARTshop and make changes around here. The ARTshop will open some time tomorrow morning whether I am ready or not and all of the little tiny things I have been stressing over will become specks of fairy dust. Poof. Hopefully, it will be smooth and I will get to go back to my happy place. Painting. Which I have never been more sure of in my entire life.

Today: I will be stressing + obsessing - checking things off my gazillion lists. I'll be beating myself up for not starting sooner and not being able to accomplish all that I wanted to. And I will try very hard not to think of the beautiful calf I met yesterday that I want to drop everything and paint. And then I will go out for dinner with some special friends who will bring me back to the real world and make me laugh.

GO!

The art of less.

For the first time in 36 years I will be carrying out the act of 'streamlining'. I have always been self-employed and when living a self-employed lifestyle it's easy to take on much too much. Because more must be better than less, right? This year has been unusual for me because I was forced to take on less.

Which lo and behold ended up making me become so much more.

Life is funny that way, I guess. And I am listening.

*

The art shop is starting to look very serene. It is being pared down. Many things that have been available for long periods of time - are gone. Instead of offering so many different prints and causing myself shipping headaches I will be offering fewer prints in smaller runs and changing them more often. My hope is that letting go of the idea of more-more-more I will create space + time to make art. Because that's what I truly love to do.

Today: Still working on the shop renovation! And drinking mugs of tea. I'll be plugging away at that until Tuesday SEPT18 when I need to turn my attention to creating a mysterious new collection for an awesome art event in November. I can't wait. Fall is here. The paintings are planned in my head and I just need to let them out. Happy weekending.

GO!

Mysterious ways of the world.

Oh, yesterday was not as smooth as I was hoping and yet so many good things came of the chaos. First, I smashed Poet's crib trying to get it out of her room. If we are being totally honest smash is the only word to describe it. It wouldn't fit through the door so I loosen the screws thinking I could jimmy it out. But, that only managed to get it super jammed in the doorway and after three heated minutes of being kind + gentle I decided to battleram my way through. Result? Poet's crib side is broken to bits. Good news? Poet is now in a big girl bed! Go Poet! Secondly, I managed to photograph 74 potential pieces of art for my ARTshop reopening. And that was a much bigger job than I was anticipating. Good news? The photos are pretty good and I am forever indebted to my rad, rad, super-rad friend Rachael for help with a camera and lens (I love you Rachael). Thirdly, my ARTshop is starting to put itself together as we speak. The coding is being done for me AND THAT IS SO FANTASTIC because I believe we flourish when we do what we're best at and pay people to do the rest.

Clearly, my forte is making art. Not photographing it. Or styling it. Or coding it. (Or moving furniture.)

So I will stick to what I'm good at and hope that everything is ready for SEPT18 when I am ready to reopen my ARTshop. (Whew!)

Today: files, files and more files.

GO!