Back to School

Red Tree

Work in Paint & Thread

Sold

Wednesday we headed off for the (yikes) mall. As you can probably tell by the previous sentence, I'm not that into the "mall" thing but the girls did need a few back to school items so off we went. My saving grace was the fact that my friend Judy came along with her daughters so while they ran around looking for deals, Judy and I were able to sit and have a chai latte. I must admit I've never had a chai latte in my life but I will say it was delicious and I'm sure very calorie laden. Glad I do not live near a Starbucks.

We arrived at the mall around 9:30 and left around 3:00. I have no idea how they can spend that much time walking around looking at clothes. I was awe struck by the amount of teenagers that were carrying in one hand, shopping bags full of clothing from American Eagle, Aeropostal and Gap and in the other hand they were busy texting their friends. When I was a teenager (I swore I would never say "when I was a teenager" and now I'm saying it....how very sad) I got excited when my older cousins passed along their hand me downs. Times sure have changed!

Laundry Days

Yesterday I spent most of the day catching up on laundry as my family was up for the weekend. We had a great time and as you can see below I was quite the whiz at badminton. Yes, that is the birdie flying over my head. Don't you love my graceful stance?

My daughter is much more graceful than me and obviously gets her badminton skills from her father..........as he so kindly likes to point out.

Hope to be back in the studio this afternoon.

Just A Bunch of Random Stuff

Waterwings.......Work in Progress

Yesterday I spent most of the day in the studio playing around with paint and canvas sheets. I'm finding that I much prefer wood panels than canvas at this point but canvas was what I had on hand. I didn't feel like getting my sewing machine involved even though I should be as the Purple Hills Studio Tour kicks off September 28th. Lately I've been trying out Golden's new Open Paint and am quite liking it. So much so that I placed an order with Island Blue Art Supplies in Victoria for a few tubes (ok way too many tubes) and am anxious for them to arrive. Although they are acrylics they stay "open"(hence the name) for a much longer time then regular acrylics allowing you to blend for an extended period of time which I really like.

Just finished reading James Frey's "Bright Shiny Morning" which Kelly so generously lent to me. If you remember James Frey, he wrote "A Million Little Pieces" which was the book that Oprah chose for her book club. It was discovered his memoir wasn't totally accurate and the guy was lambasted in the media. You can read about it here in an excellent article that Vanity Fair did in May 2008. Regardless of how you feel about him and what he did (I personally don't care) there is no denying he is a great writer.

Next week I have to take the girls "Back To School" shopping. They both have their lists made which at some point today I will have to take a good long look at. Anything that mentions any type of electronics will be getting erased. I have asked them to look at what they already have and go from there. Not buying more jeans when there are a couple of pairs sitting in their closet. I think this whole line the advertising world has fed us is just another way in which to get our wallets opened so we can continue to be good little consumers. How much stuff do our kids really need and why do they have to go out and get it all before school starts? What about picking up a couple things now and then a couple things in October or November. Just my little rant for the day.

Hope your having a good one.............

A Father's Amazing Love

One of my favourite blogs is Zen Habits which I check out every morning for my dose of inspiration. If you have a moment today there is a post on the Five Most Inspirational Videos on YouTube. Watch "A Father's Amazing Love" I cried throughout the entire video and came away in awe of this man's love for his son. Even thinking of it now gives me goose bumps. As a parent the love we have for our children is equal to nothing else that I know of.

Back From The Islands

So here I sit at the keyboard of my computer sadly longly for the Grand Cayman Islands. Oh, did we have fun. First of all we stayed at the Ritz Carlton which was an experience in itself. Interesting to see how the other half lives. When I got home it was sad to think I had to actually start to make meals again and my bed. It was nothing short of beautiful and the people were amazing. I talked to Andrea from Romania, Wiyoung from Bali, Coutney from Jamaica, Tasmine from Cuba and the list goes on. Most of these young people joined the Ritz so they could see the world. Wiyoung told me he is headed home next month to Bali for two months to see his family but is hoping to get a contract in Vancouver so he can see what snow is like first hand. I told him I have seen it first hand and am not that excited but good for him.

(yes, I know this is a duplicate picture but I couldn't figure out how to erase it)

On our third night there a dinner on the beach had been arranged. No shoes allowed. They called this the "shoe valet".

The band, the sunset, the pina coladas...........what could be wrong with that?

We spent everyday at the beach but oh, was is hot! At least 40 degrees celcius. I spent most of my time in the shade as I am pasty white and the sun does not like me. But I was in the water at least three times a day with a 50 SPF on as it was so very warm. When it came to snorkeling I was definitely a chicken so my oldest daughter took my place but was a tad frightened when she came upon a barracuda. My youngest spent most of her time on the blue matt "trying to catch some rays".........her words not mine.

It was wonderful that the girls found other kids the same age to hang out with. They thought they were living quite the life until we returned home and there were rooms to be cleaned and chores to be done but until then...........................

The last night we were hosted at a dinner in which we sat with two other couples we had gotten to be quite good friends with. ...........ironically they were all from Canada. Mike and Julie and Adrian and Carol. Our kids had all hit it off from day one and so did we.

That's me on the far left.

So as all good things must come to an end..........so did our trip. I spent most of today doing laundry, cleaning the cat's litter box, pulling weeds from my garden and scrubbing the toilets but during that entire time I still had a smile on my face.

Back From The Islands

Got in this morning at 2 a.m. Still trying to find my bearings. Will post tomorrow with lots of new pics and info. Had an amazing time!

Hope everyone is well.

On Vacation...........again!

Feels like I just got home from New York and today we head off to the Grand Cayman Islands. Wow, sounds like I'm quite the world traveller doesn't it? Well, I'm really not. Just happens that this summer has been unbelievably busy for us which is unusual to say the least. Most summers we just head up to our little cottage on the shores of Superior and laze around. But John has a business/personal event scheduled in the Grand Caymans so off we go.

When I get home I really have to give some serious thought to how better to utilize the space in my studio. It is not a happy place at the moment. Some of my older work is just taking up too much room and may have to go. Where? Not sure. I may post it on this blog and see what happens or maybe Etsy. Actually I do have some new smaller matted pieces that I'm going to put up when I get back. Thanks Liane for your email asking about that. It doesn't help to have a blog that talks about Daily Paintings in Paint & Thread when you don't ever post any. Not enough time I guess.........that will be my excuse.

Hope your all well and enjoying what is officially the last month of summer for us here in Canada. Oh, it does pain me to say that............ See ya next week.