colouring outside the lines

new blog location

2011-01-08T19:54:00.000-08:00

Colouring Outside the Lines has moved again and is now here.

hello goodbye

2010-07-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hello, hello I don't know why you say goodbyeI say helloThe last blog post was #800. Five years after starting this blog I'm saying goodbye. But I'm also saying hello. Please join me for more colouring fun at my new blog.

studio update

2010-06-27T11:00:00.000-07:00

Ah, summer. You are here and I am so ready. Now if only the weather knew it! This time last year I was harvesting cherries; this morning I was dodging raindrops while searching for good spots to photograph Greg running his latest half marathon. I'm ready, though, because yesterday we did a massive reorg of 'our' studio space. It's pathetic (and awfully small) when you compare it to a real

once more for the gulf

2010-06-24T20:03:00.000-07:00

Oceans SevenI realized that I had one unsold drawing left from the Oceans Ten series at about the same time I discovered this Etsy shop, set up to "help the gulf coast recover from the massive BP oil spill." So far $2500 has been raised for Oxfam America and $2000 has gone to the National Wildlife Federation ... and there are still over 400 items in the shop and more being added daily. It's

ripple

2010-06-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

It's almost Friday again and I haven't participated in Illustration Friday for many months, but was totally inspired by last Friday's theme/project. It only took me until Thursday to actually do it! :) Kelly Light decided to start a blog called Ripple as a vehicle for donating money to either The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies or The International Bird Rescue Research

cleaning up the streets

2010-06-15T17:10:00.000-07:00

A crow's version of 'saving the world one video at a time'.

saving the world one video at a time

2010-06-15T15:07:00.000-07:00

I was at a friend's birthday party in a restaurant on Saturday night when an acquaintance sat beside me. After a little inconsequential chitty chat, the topic of Facebook somehow came up and she said something along the lines of, "I don't understand how people can waste their time on that garbage. I think email and Facebook and so on is for lazy people who have no lives and nothing better to do."

because summer is here

2010-06-13T10:22:00.000-07:00

Winter Filigreemixed drawing media on archival black paper (Stonehenge)framed to 21.5" x 21.5"

adam's art

2010-06-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Adam has never really taken any art, though he draws some pretty imaginative stuff on a regular basis, so I'm tickled that he's decided to take an art class in school (grade 11) next year. Here's one of his pencil drawings, scanned and digitally coloured by his old mother.And here's Adam, performing his other art in Footloose.

I was made for eating you baby

2010-06-07T20:42:00.001-07:00

It's the last week of classes before exams and summer holidays so when I saw this I knew I had to surprise the boys with KISS sushi for lunch. When Adam texted me to say he didn't want to eat it I threatened him with grounding if he didn't finish his Gene Simmons. He made sure to take a photo of it first and post it as his Facebook profile picture.

mastery of medium

2010-06-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

I'm excited that I have almost finished this series of landscape drawings. By this time next week I hope to have packed up and shipped two finished commissions and at least started packing eight pieces for Effusion Gallery. Their busy summer season is fast approaching and since opening two years ago have sold something like thirty pieces of my work, so I don't want to miss out on this year's rich

work and love

2010-05-31T09:02:00.000-07:00

Work is love made visible. (Kahlil Gibran)Grandpa Walton once said something along the lines of, "The only important things in life are hard work and love." I think the old coot was onto something. Better yet, if you can find work you love you're very lucky indeed.Yesterday morning I was aware of a growing sense of unease and a feeling of being overwhelmed by all the things I had to do. Then I

wild creatures

2010-05-28T18:19:00.000-07:00

This weekend we get to see the start of the high school graduation shenanigans of this handsome young lad, but last weekend we escaped to the Okanagan for three days. I've only ever been there in hot, dry August (many, many Augusts actually) so seeing it in spring was a treat of the verdant, green variety. We were there to visit my cousin on her Paint horse breeding farm, so Greg could run the

up there

2010-05-20T20:25:00.000-07:00

A bunch of guys painting beer signs on the side of a building in New York City. It's not the sort of thing that you would expect to bring a lump to your throat, but it is so beautifully filmed and is such a silent and dying art that you'd be surprised. Check out the Ritual Project's Vimeo site to view this short documentary. (Thanks once again, Rudy.)

five years

2010-05-19T17:11:00.001-07:00

Five years ago today I wrote my first blog post and here I am, 788 posts later, still doing it. Who knew a whim would turn into an ~ahem~ 'institution'. It's not the same blog it was in its heydey, but since then both the interwebs and I have changed. I still love the format and the way it's connected me with so many amazing people. As long as I keep producing artwork and taking photos I suspect

sweet silence

2010-05-17T09:08:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty proud of the fact that I managed to finish this drawing. From a dog that got skunked on Friday and brought it inside (not to mention her resulting overnight bowel issues -- in the most difficult spots to clean! -- caused by ingesting that poison) to losing my studio entirely, to being so frustrated with the background that I was on the verge of tearing it into tiny pieces, this

art economics 101

2010-05-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know who the cartoonist is, but if I did I'd give him/her full credit as this is right on target. So much of the art I'm looking at these days is all about the artist. The market-savvy artist knows that artist-as-celebrity sells better than almost anything else in the current tabloid-mentality marketplace.I'm in a really foul mood about society's shortcomings and government

carlos

2010-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

I don't do portraits as part of my painting practice. Human portraiture requires a different kind of focus and doesn't really interest me as an artist, though I admire it when it's done really well. That said, I have done the occasional horse or dog portrait for special occasions/people. I even painted Zappa a couple of weeks after I lost him.This is Carlos. The painting (more an illustration

happy mother's day

2010-05-09T14:10:00.000-07:00

Life in the fast lane finally eased up yesterday after the band exchanges (Carl) and the school's annual theatre company production (Adam), which was Footloose this year, finished on Friday night. I slept for over 10 hours last night! This morning, Greg and I got up long before the boys (they're teenagers after all) and took the dog and canoe down to Deas Slough where we discovered this lovely

hidden gem

2010-05-01T17:59:00.000-07:00

12" x 9"coloured pencil on black archival paperI drew this from a photo I took when I visited Ruxton Island almost four years ago. There's something so dramatic about the colour and shape of the arbutus trees that are everywhere on Vancouver Island (and surrounding Gulf Islands) that always make me want to draw and paint them. I loved to peel the bark off the one in the garden where I grew up.

time and space

2010-04-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

This has been a weird year of hurry-up-and-wait for me. My kids are on the cusp of adulthood, and though I have regularly been shamed by my mother-hen routine (not to mention the Jewish grandmother in me that has to feed anything that's not nailed down) I'm itching for the transition to happen so I can pour the amount of energy into my painting and drawing that I need to. Never good with regular

taste

2010-04-23T08:56:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning to think that my approach to art has been all wrong. While I've been bogged down with the mundanities of personal vision, integrity, beauty vs. truth, and all the age-old questions artists ask, I've totally neglected attending to what really matters: fashion. I've also forgotten about the cult of personality. From watching attention-getting artists as diverse as Damien Hirst and

sunday afternoon at the art museum

2010-04-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

If, like me, one of your unfulfilled wishes is to visit New York City's Museum of Modern Art, then let's go this afternoon. This short video contains every painting on display in the painting galleries of the MoMA on April 10, 2010.

flight path

2010-04-17T12:57:00.001-07:00

Flight Path ~ oil on panel ~ 8" x 10"

top seed

2010-04-15T19:56:00.000-07:00

Top Seed ~ oil on panel ~ 8" x 8"OMG how I love to paint in oil on panel. I was completely divorced from reality while painting this crow today. During that time it clouded over, rained, and cleared up again. Or so rumour has it.I'm doing a set of four small 'study' panels using a combination of my hard edged acrylic style (but in oil) for the graphic stencilled part ... and my looser, blended

blue and pink

2010-04-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

Another house painting under my belt. I think I'm about done with these though Denise is clamouring for more and I've promised one after this. Then I'll be done. This one took way too long and I'm glad it's behind me.Blue and Pink ~ 24" x 12" ~ acrylic on canvas, image around sides

colouring inside the lines

2010-04-10T10:48:00.001-07:00

I'm a blogging fool these days. Of course it's easy when you have great resource people spoonfeeding you material. Then again, maybe I'm just a fool. This article in today's Winnipeg Free Press has unaccountably depressed me. I think it just drove home to me the fact that what the average art buyer purchases is not what I like (or like to produce). A disproportionate number of my own sales have

the art of reality tv

2010-04-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

It had to happen. Visual art being, ermmm, visual ... the creators of new ideas for reality TV were bound to slot it into primetime somehow. After all, a reality TV show pitting novelists against each other might lack a certain, shall we say, visual appeal. I'd like to see them try, though. (And I agree with Rudy; this just seems wrong somehow.)Last year Bravo Canada had a unique idea called Star

night crawling

2010-04-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

It was a filthy night last night: torrential downpours and wild wind. Perfect for prowling the streets and alleys on the edge of Gastown with my camera, where Carl's band, Vena, played their first gig at a hole-in-the-wall nightclub. Here are a couple of my artsied-up shots:And here's the band:

vote for jesse

2010-04-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Though it's not, technically, my best photo of Jesse, it is my favourite ... so I thought I'd enter it in Diane Schuller's contest. If you don't vote for Jesse I won't hold it against you -- if you vote for #5 that is!Vote here.

art apprenticeship

2010-04-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Back in the day (as in wayyyy back in the day) developing artists apprenticed to masters. This involved a lot of copying. I see some wisdom in this, except the part where I, being a woman, would never have even had the opportunity. Then there's the part where I have a hard time taking direction. And the arbitrariness/jealousy/exploitation of a lousy master. Oh what the hell, I would have hated it

the view is good from my cell

2010-04-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

My last post will be coming down in a few days, plus my entire Small Art blog, so if there's anything left over there that interests you please let me know soon. Though it's been successful, this whole garage sale business has made me feel kind of unclean and is unlikely to happen again. I think most artists understand what I mean. Making ends meet can make you do weird things. The best part

garage sale

2010-04-01T21:31:00.000-07:00

post deleted

sea change

2010-03-31T15:58:00.000-07:00

There's been a new series germinating in my brain since last summer and though I haven't yet reached any firm conclusions, yesterday I did make some decisions. Today was like sealing the deal; after spending over three hours at the Federation Gallery jurying three different shows I knew I was doing the right thing. Shoot me for saying it so plainly, but there's an awful lot of junk out there and

amazing

2010-03-30T12:30:00.000-07:00

Some amazing stuff from Rudy:Spring is sprung but does your garden grow flowers like the ones blooming in Japanese artist Macato Murayama's imagination?And since we're discussing growth, you would've been the star of the class if you'd grown something like this in Biology 11. No hallucinogenics were abused in the making of Klari Reis' petri dish art.Then there's this amazing new Photoshop tool

the northern flicker shop

2010-03-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

Call me crazy but I have just been goofing around at Cafe Press, setting up a shop entitely devoted to my noisy but charming little friend, the Northern Flicker. (We get the red-shafted variety here.) It's really just a fun project, but bird nerds, if you have the chance please spread the word! And for my next act I will open a restaurant that only serves carrot sticks.

alien vs pooh

2010-03-25T07:45:00.000-07:00

"Oh, bother!"This is awesome. At moments like this, when my Need-to-share Disorder surfaces, I question my Facebook withdrawal.

brilliance beyond

2010-03-23T13:34:00.000-07:00

mixed drawing media on black archival paper11" x 14" (image: 7.5" x 10")So much work to do and so little time away from my laptop. Solution? Chase Ellen and Donn and, like a lemming, drop off the edge into the abyss that is life without Facebook. But only for a week. I'm not crazy after all!PS Check out the Owl Box.

contrasts

2010-03-22T09:07:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of days I have read two vastly different takes on the art world. The first is this article, concerning power struggles in the overinflated world of high-end art branding. The other is the blog of artist and friend Paula, who is simply struggling to exist. Both are fascinating reading.As an artist who uses photography as both a tool and for its own rewards, I have two

pear picture for peras

2010-03-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

mixed media on panel 6" x 6"

the creative personality

2010-03-17T21:47:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across this 1996 article by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi based on a study of the creative personality. I love those rare moments when I can really recognize myself (or others, as the case may be) in a study like this. The first phrase to grab me was the following: When we're creative, we feel we are living more fully than during the rest of life. After that I was hooked! The crux of

signs of spring

2010-03-09T17:23:00.001-08:00

Spring seemed to start here in January -- somewhat ironic for the place that held the "winter" Olympics, but I'm not complaining! On February 20th I took these photos:The following week I was doing the breakfast-and-lunch-making short-order routine and what should appear on the morning news but footage of my childhood home burning down (see video clip). A couple in their eighties died in the

a type of art

2010-03-08T16:50:00.000-08:00

I love art that recycles. The days of typing your deepest, darkest whatsits on your own letterhead may be long gone, but who says the typewriters themselves have to go into the landfill and the paper into the recycle bin? It's a shame that the vintage letterhead isn't on acid-free paper. For more on the typewriter sculpture, check out Delilah.

more art and photography

2010-03-03T19:22:00.000-08:00

I'm painting again and taking lots of photos so the creative juices are coming unstuck (and the metaphors they are a-mixin'). Yesterday I took the following photos of my son (the redhead) and his bandmates in the little graveyard around the corner. I just want a small mention when they make it big ("Photography by Carl's mom").More art: Joanne Mattera wrote a very interesting blog post about the

small house movement

2010-02-26T13:24:00.001-08:00

I know. I know. Art isn't happening in my studio and since this is supposed to be an art blog, nothing much is happening here either. So here's a short video about one of my latest obsessions (thanks, Sonya). In the interest of sustainable living and simplifying, I want a small house. OK, I want TWO small houses: one to live in and one for the art studio, and on a HUGE piece of land. And maybe

olympic-sized rant ... sort of

2010-02-22T08:57:00.000-08:00

You never know what's going to set you off. I read this link from Donn on Facebook this morning after reading another "I hate the Olympics" status update from someone else and it triggered the following response from me:You know what? I'm crumbling. The novelty has worn off and my usual pleasure in watching the ultimate "... series of races between a bunch of people with unusually low body fat"

texting art

2010-02-17T19:10:00.001-08:00

Vuk Vidor's art history poster

olympic recess

2010-02-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

The Olympics have become my full-time job. Considering the negative aspects of its social and economic impact it's a bit of a guilty pleasure, but that doesn't stop me from totally enjoying it. The fact that it's here in Vancouver means I occasionally get to do that face-to-face. (That's good news for my kids because it means I'm away from our only TV more and they have more access to the XBox!)

rockett pad

2010-02-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

I think I'm finished. This painting is 12" x 12" x 1.5" (painted around the sides) and the bright underpainting is actually much less obtrusive in real life. Now that I'm done I'll have to think about blogging actual WORDS again. Time to start a new painting in that case! :)

rockett pad 3

2010-02-05T16:28:00.000-08:00

Though it doesn't look like it yet, I'm in the home stretch. After I finish the house it's just large blocks of background colour. Any suggestions? Blue sky? Grey Seattle day? Stormy weather?

rockett pad 2

2010-02-04T17:01:00.001-08:00

Things aren't moving along as fast as I'd hoped but we're getting there! Today I gessoed the back of the canvas as the clear gesso is allowing too much light to pass through the finer/lighter weave of linen. I've only painted on linen once and I'm liking it a lot.

art on the move

2010-02-02T09:45:00.000-08:00

Robin, artist and art consultant extraordinaire, sent me this photo of my work hanging at the new JW Marriott Hill Country Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas. Check this place out! I suddenly feel the overwhelming need for a vacation... The paintings are hanging in the restaurant in the spa. I stalled on my house portrait commission but will return to it today. Meantime, I did this little

rockett pad 1

2010-01-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

Uh-oh ... I've been dropping the blog ball again. With the new year comes not much blogging inspiration (damn you Facebook!) so I'll go with plan B: the work in progress! Blogging a painting's progress takes little effort but results in multiple posts (sweet).I'm back to using acrylic paint to do a house portrait to commemorate Angela and Wade's 15th anniversary and first house! It's 12" x 12"

further adventures in oil painting

2010-01-20T13:30:00.000-08:00

Bringing Home the Bacon, oil on panel, 8" x 10"It was my birthday last week and one of my best presents came by post. Michelle is one of my oldest and closest friends and we talk several times a week, even though we live over 1000 km apart. (She has a great phone plan.) She knew I was itching to try M Graham paints but my art supply store doesn't carry them. Her boyfriend's store does, though!

playing it safe

2010-01-09T11:39:00.000-08:00

Traffic Cop, oil on canvas, 16" x 20"My first foray into experimenting with oil paint is complete! I played it safe with this smallish painting, but I'm not beating myself up about it. There's plenty of room for self-flagellation with future paintings! I took the photo at my kids' school on a foggy day in November and didn't stray from the original subject matter or play with style as I wanted to

jesse update

2010-01-07T15:34:00.000-08:00

Those of you who know me or who have read this blog for awhile will remember Jesse, the funny, enthusiastic service-dog trainee we puppy-raised for Pacific Assistance Dogs. As dogs with character go, he has more than a heaping helping, but along with clowns come sad faces ... or so they say. Just before Christmas we discovered that Jesse had flunked out of the service dog training program,

new year's resolution

2010-01-06T14:01:00.001-08:00

Don't just stand there...The top photo is me at about 8 years old. The other is Hugh MacLeod.

looking back ten years

2010-01-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

I'm enjoying reading the year-in-review posts by my favourite bloggers. As for me, I'm more apt to measure time by the places I've lived. Today I suddenly realized that the so-called dawn of the new millennium was already a decade ago (!) and that we have lived in this house for almost twelve years. In the nineteen years previous to moving here I actually moved twenty times and lived in five

wants and needs

2009-12-27T15:48:00.000-08:00

There's almost nothing I like better than a good idea, especially if it involves art-making. At this time of year, when consumerism blurs the lines between 'want' and 'need', it's refreshing to see a couple of artists who've put it all into perspective ~ and I'm not talking about anything to do with vanishing points and straight lines.Wants for Sale is a way for Christine and Justin to help

christmas pictures

2009-12-23T13:04:00.001-08:00

Just a quick seasonal check-in to wish everyone a peaceful and fun-filled holiday. Painting suddenly stalled in the very early stages of this first oil painting. It wants to be monochromatic so, as you can see, I have a lot to do...after Christmas.Among the seasonal activities was Carl's (and therefore our) last Christmas band concert, since he graduates this year. It's the end of an era though,

more real than real

2009-12-16T14:25:00.000-08:00

Take this, Madame Tussaud: These sculptures are almost more realistic than people, so why not take Picasso's famous flattened space and make it 'more realistic', too:

art as a social activity

2009-12-15T14:04:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years I've idly wondered why three-quarters of the people in art workshops, on arts councils, who teach art, etc., are women, whereas three-quarters of artists represented in galleries are men. I lamely concluded that changes in gender politics on an economic/business level were simply lagging behind what was happening socially. The glass ceiling and all that. That may be true,

december views

2009-12-12T09:04:00.001-08:00

I took these photos last weekend and am posting them after reading this idea, which I love. (Thanks, Albina.)

the self-taught artist

2009-12-10T15:46:00.000-08:00

Interwebs recess over! It was a sad excuse for a break, actually; I did a lot of lurking. In any case, I did start Christmas shopping and going to the gym again and did everything on my To Do list except finish my book. The best thing was finally, with some trepidation, uncapping my new tubes of oil paint last week. Oil paints are a very yin-yang thing. They are very sensuous to use and I was

fog

2009-11-27T17:38:00.000-08:00

Technology is so much fun but we can drown in our technology. The fog of information can drive out knowledge. ~ Daniel J. Boorstin I think this is a perfect quote with which to launch a short break from the interwebs. I'm going to read this and work on the photo project for family Christmas presents and clean up the garden and finally finally dip my toe in the oil paints, so to speak. Be good

objectified

2009-11-25T13:58:00.000-08:00

After checking out the website and watching some of the clips, I am dying to see Objectified now:OBJECTIFIED, by filmmaker Gary Hustwit, is the second installment in his trilogy on design (his first was Helvetica). OBJECTIFIED encourages us to stop and notice our surroundings and to think critically about creativity and consumption. Who makes all these objects, and why do they look and feel the

the easy life

2009-11-25T11:39:00.000-08:00

I want to be just like Hugh MacLeod when I grow up. Instead I'm like me. These days being like me means injuring your fingers three times in one week, the last being the worst. I slammed my finger into my minivan's sliding door last night and followed that up with the doctor actually burning a hole in my fingernail to relieve blood/pressure. X-ray results not back yet. Like the cartoon above

a beautiful day in the neighbourhood

2009-11-18T14:34:00.000-08:00

OK, it's actually cold and starting to rain again with another storm on the way -- but my back is better and I had a good workday! Just before heading out this morning I got a call from Mila, the gallery manager at the Federation Gallery on Granville Island. I entered one of my mini drawings in the annual Small Painting Salon (it's a holiday tradition for me now) and won first prize! (AKA The

the evolution of blogging

2009-11-16T19:38:00.000-08:00

Bloggers new and old, but especially old, read this about how blogging has changed in the past half dozen years, and why. I certainly know that Facebook now fills the void that was once filled by what I considered my particular blogging community. As far as my own responsibility as a blogger goes, I can tick almost all the boxes in the article, especially the ones about laziness, burnout and

scanning vs. photographing artwork

2009-11-12T14:26:00.000-08:00

While looking for images that combine steampunk with Bob Ross (a mighty challenge) for my last post I happened across this image of a steampunk guitar. (There are a few out there. Here's another one I like.) Then yesterday I took Coco out for a little Remembrance Day run and had the stupidity to try and keep running after I felt twinges in my lower back. Needless to say, I'm grounded today -- and

steampunk bob ross

2009-11-10T14:07:00.000-08:00

This is for Ellen (and Google).Bob Ross paints Slayer

r.b. pratt, man with right conception of things

2009-11-07T18:01:00.000-08:00

A couple of days ago I got a new document from Ralph Pratt, my dad's cousin, who lives in Winnipeg. He is the family go-to guy about our one relative of public achievement (and the man he is named after), my great grandfather, Ralph B. Pratt. Back when I first started blogging I posted some photos of train stations he designed, then later on a church. Ralph keeps me topped up with what he

website revamp

2009-11-04T12:08:00.000-08:00

It was actually fun redoing my website, even if it took three days. I added the slideshow feature that I've admired on other art websites, tried really hard to edit myself (only partially successfully) and keep it simple and professional looking. I'm thinking it's pretty good for a hack like me who uses online tools, knows very little HTML and hasn't taken a single instruction in web design. But

balls

2009-10-29T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'm ashamed to admit that this blog has become far more about pictures than words. It's my answer to keeping it going when I have too many balls in the air and need to prioritize. I suspect that, once I get back to serious painting, I will become nauseatingly chatty again.Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I have been working myself into a knot over painting these glass tree ornaments to donate to a

halloween art

2009-10-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Now this is Halloween art. I discovered it over at Neatorama.

tree drawings

2009-10-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

And it's a wrap! The final drawing in the set of four is over here. Next, I need to paint two Christmas ornaments to donate to a fundraiser for a children's centre. Then, and only then, can I start playing with my oil paints (yay!). That doesn't stop me from playing with Flickr Toys, though:

sweet and slow

2009-10-24T14:05:00.001-07:00

Three down, one to go!

christopher reiger

2009-10-22T16:22:00.000-07:00

I love it when I discover an artist whose art and practice ring all my buzzers. I discovered Christopher Reiger's work a few days ago over at Chris Rywalt's blog, NYC Art. (Oh, Angela -- will you take me to New York with you in your carry-on luggage?) The natural themes of his work, presented in a unique, thoughtful, and visually skillful way, are like candy to me. While sifting through his

help wanted

2009-10-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

I did it! For years now I've been promising myself that I'll invest in oil paints. I loved using them at university, but when I started painting again in 2001 (after a way-too-long-to-mention break) I hemmed and hawed for a bit, then decided on acrylics for ease/economy/ low toxicity. I liked them immediately though I'd never used them before. They suit my graphic/layered style very nicely though

fools rush in

2009-10-18T14:09:00.000-07:00

The great pleasure of a dog is that you may make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, but he will make a fool of himself too.~ Samuel Butler, Notebooks, 1912

promised land

2009-10-16T15:23:00.001-07:00

solar cycle

2009-10-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

2010 olympic medals unveiled

2009-10-15T08:48:00.000-07:00

So ... what do you think? The 2010 Winter Olympic medals were unveiled in Vancouver this morning and there's bound to be controversy over their dramatically different design and shape. I would love to hear your opinion, so please leave a comment.For more, go here or here.Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee has unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals for the 2010 Games. The medals were

happy

2009-10-12T16:53:00.000-07:00

My favourite weekend of the year is almost over. There's just something about Thanksgiving weekend. It's all about autumn colours, family, food and hiking. There isn't a single commercial element to it, which may be part of the attraction. American Thanksgiving's proximity to Christmas and the fact that it's already winter here in Canada at the end of November (which means endless gloom and rain

yes/no

2009-10-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

Because I'm a fan of her writing and her art, check out this offer from Hazel Dooney. More importantly, though, I think artists need to keep tabs on her pioneering efforts at changing the way we market our work.

yesterday and today

2009-10-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and today have been two pretty great days. Maybe it's the sale of four drawings all at once, maybe it's hearing from an old and dear friend, maybe it's meeting Tippi, Ellen's new puppy, maybe it's finally getting the all-clear at the x-ray/ mammography clinic or maybe it's even taking my dad boonie bashing in his wheelchair and not losing him down the riverbank! Whatever it is, "Hey,

thinking outside the frame

2009-10-04T12:47:00.000-07:00

In February I started painting a 20" x 24" landscape of a winter scene, but got bogged down and couldn't figure out how to finish it. I have been staring at it, then hiding it, then staring at it again for over seven months now. Last week, during my purge/reorg, I pulled it out again and resolved to resolve it. First I threw out two small landscapes that I painted at the same time and hated even

2010 tree calendar

2009-10-03T20:05:00.000-07:00

So much for good intentions. While setting out to avoid distractions I got distracted, and had hours of fun (OK, hour of fun -- maybe two) putting together a 2010 calendar using Lulu. I already had the raw material -- the Celtic Tree Calendar series I made last year -- so just experimented until I got what I wanted. I decided to go with the less expensive version and only take a wee profit so

cancel that

2009-10-01T19:06:00.001-07:00

What was I thinking? In an effort at owning up to my forays into self-abasement, I won't delete the last post, but the draw is now a race: first person to comment over at my Small Art blog gets the prints then that post gets deleted. Time to quit seeking distractions and make art instead. My new guide to art and ethics is not WWJD but WWDD? (What Would Dooney Do?) Today, anyway. Tomorrow will

draw

2009-10-01T13:38:00.000-07:00

I'm knee deep in administrivia. While purging obsolete files, reorganizing digital folders and sorting through old work I came across three prints I made about two years ago when I first experimented with the digital colouring of pen-and-ink drawings. They're quirky bird cartoons with text that I then used for my experiments in mounting prints on cradled wood panels. It was technically successful

hill country life

2009-09-29T12:14:00.000-07:00

This is the final painting in the Texas Hill Country trio. They are each 25.25" x 37.25" in acrylic on 300gsm Arches Cover cut to 30" x 40". These are the preliminary sketches and here's a slideshow where you can watch this final painting come to life. It was a fun challenge to create these specifically for a designer's site specifications (size, colour palette, imagery), yet based on earlier

art without the artist

2009-09-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

Remember the '60s notion of the two-hour workday and the mechanization of all mundane tasks? As an art-making hausfrau, I'm liking the idea of doing the vacuuming while making art at home ... when I'm actually down at the local Starbucks with my latte and Sudoku!Or maybe I could get the local paintball addicts to do it for me?And if you think a bunch of guys with paintball guns re-creating

pattern

2009-09-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

I use pattern in my artwork a lot. As a matter of fact, just choosing from all the patterns in my paintings and drawings to make this digital mosaic was too hard, so I chose ones with the same approximate shape: raindrops, deer hoofprints and stylized seashells. More over at Illustration Friday.

piano bar at frogstone grill

2009-09-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

roots in hill country

2009-09-17T11:58:00.000-07:00

It's been one of those weeks ~ stressful yet productive. I hung the show at the Frogstone Grill on Monday, spent all day Tuesday at an excellent ADHD workshop at Children's Hospital, then finished this large painting yesterday. I am having to stop myself from further tweaking -- so tempting to just keep working on it! -- but as I am under a deadline I need to be as smart as possible with my time

labouring day

2009-09-13T19:35:00.000-07:00

Putting in a 12-hour workday on a warm, beautiful Sunday is just plain wrong, but the Texas paintings are coming along and I did this little bitty drawing (4" x 4"), and framed it, as well. Tomorrow I will hang a solo show in the piano lounge of The Frogstone Grill ("Live Music and Artists") in Coquitlam. More on that tomorrow.

art's dinosaur

2009-09-11T08:25:00.000-07:00

Drying Dishes, pencil drawingHazel Dooney has written an excellent piece on the decline and fall of the gallery system and why it doesn't work any more. As an artist whose experiences have caused me to become increasingly frustrated with commercial galleries, I really needed to read this. But, rather than dilute it with my own feedback, just go read it.

oceans revisited

2009-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Just a quick and shameless plug before I immerse myself in paint. There are still two drawings (two of my favourites actually) left over from this series and I have just posted them for sale here.

commitment

2009-09-04T16:39:00.000-07:00

Drift, gouache on illustration board, 16" x 20" A couple of days ago, Greg, Coco and I went for a hike (Coco actually flushed out an owl) and finished up at the nearest Starbucks. On my coffee cup was the following quote: