Dreams of A Landscape

6"x6"

Mixed Media on Canvas

I've heard it's supposed to rain today and yes, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  It has been swelteringly (is that a word?)  hot for the past week or so and the garden is in dire need of the wet stuff.  Not that I know much about gardening but John did plant tomatoes and some other plants whose names seem to escape me at the moment.   I made fantastic cranberry scones on the weekend and even though it was messy process what with all the dough sticking to everything, it was well worth it as they were super delicious.  

So now that you know my life has been boring as of late.... only talk of the weather, plants and scones....guess I'll sign off and hope to have something more interesting to report next time.

Movie Thursday

On The Art Front:  Busy working away for Images as well the Thunder Beach First Annual Art Exhibition which opens Sunday July 18th 1-5.  For more info check out Carol Currie's blog.
It looks to be a wonderful show although I unfortunately won't be in attendance.  Carol has so graciously offered to take some of my work up there as I'll be in San Francisco.  I am also meeting with The Matilda Swanson Gallery in June so if things go as planned I'll have representation in Blue Mountain.  Next week I'm headed up to The Silverbridge Gallery with new work and to meet the new owners.  So lots going on!

On The Movie Front:  Saw a preview of this new documentary called Joan River: A Piece of Work and now I feel like seeing it.  Not that I am or ever have been a Joan Rivers fan but I just love documentaries and hey, you gotta admire someone whose 76 years old and still doin it ..........

Cheers,

Lost

Emergence

Mixed Media on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

6"x6"

Sunday night was all about Lost for me....nothing else mattered, well, except for that entire bag of potato chips I inhaled along with that nice cold beer.  Regardless, it was non stop Lost for four hours.  After it was all said and done I went and read some of the blogs as well as discussions on the website and wow, it seemed as if you really liked it or you hated it.  I happen to be in the liked it camp.  I think most people were looking for a nice tidy ending that explained what the hell had been going on for those last six years but not me.......I so enjoyed having it left to individual interpretation.  Great show, great ending, great journey and I'll miss it.

On the art front not a whole lot to report.  Today I'm prepping canvases and starting a new 18"x36".  

Gorgeous morning!  In studio listening to Led Zeppelin as it never fails to kick start my day.

New movie coming out that I'd love to see called Nowhere Boy about the early years of John Lennon.

It's A Start.........

I began working on this piece yesterday morning and am still at it..... I'll take it down from the easel and put it back up again at least 25 times before I'm satisfied that it's done.    It's a 20"x20" which seems to be a size I'm gravitating toward lately as I'm loving the square format.   When I was at Curry's last week I also picked up a 24"x24" which will be next.  I'm feeling just a touch under the gun this week as I need to ramp things up to have enough new work to spread around but I think I'll be o.k.  The brochure for
The Images Studio Tour is almost wrapped up and it looks beautiful.  Derek Wicks did a bang up job.

This morning while I was in the studio working on this piece, which has yet to be named, I was listening to Rush on my ipod....Tom Sawyer was the song.  Just as I was about to sit down and write this post I came across a new documentary that pays tribute to the iconic Canadian band......Rush  Beyond The Lighted Stage.  For any die hard Rush fan it's a going to be a MUST...

To Seek & To Find

Mixed Media on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

6"x6"

Happy Monday! 

Today I've decided I'm spending all day in the studio regardless of whatever else gets in the way.

I haven't had a chance to work since last week and I'm starting to suffer painting withdrawl.  Busy weekend between my oldest daughter's prom, an art workshop I attended on Saturday and working in the office on Sunday.  Thankfully this week looks like a pretty smooth one.

There have also been a bunch of emails bouncing back and forth between myself and The Matilda Swanson Gallery in Blue Mountain.  We've been trying to set up a time to visit the gallery but so far my schedule has gotten in the way.  I'm really hoping to head up there within the next few weeks with some new work.  There are also new owners at The Silverbridge Gallery in Muskoka.  I've yet to meet Jake and Jodi Good but hope to within the next few weeks.

Here's a clip of an interesting new movie directed by J.J. Abrams of Star Trek fame and produced by Steven Speilberg coming out this summer called Super 8.........



I've got a 20"x20" and a 24"x24" sitting in my studio just waiting so ...............

Collected Truths

8"x10" 

Mixed Media on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Busy week....lots to say come next week.  Have a great weekend....

A Short Guide To A Happy Life

Hope Floats

12"x36"

Mixed Media on Gallery Wrapped Canvas

In Progress..........

This morning as I was listening to The Sunday Edition with Michael Enright on CBC,  I was surprised to learn one of my favourite authors was about to be interviewed. .....  I love Anna Quindlen.  I've always enjoyed her books, her sense of humor and her uncanny ability to write characters that you feel you may in some way or another,  know.  Her books make me think about them long after I've turned the last page.

About six years ago around Christmas time I was in a Chapters,  just wandering around looking at books and I eventually came across "A Short Guide to A Happy Life".  It is a small book laced with words strung together so beautifully you can't help but stand there and read the entire thing...which is exactly what I did.
That day I bought seven copies and gave them to my closest friends as Christmas gifts...I kept one for myself and after hearing Anna Quindlen speak today I went looking for it.  I imagine to say I sent looking for it was an understatement as I actually turned the house upside down trying to remember where I put it.

At some point I gave up and decided it wasn't meant to be found yet.

This June my oldest daughter graduates high school and in September leaves for university.  I wish I were as great a writer as Anna Quindlen so I could have written this to her before she leaves.

Anna Quindlen's commencement addresss to Villanova University.......

Clouds

Seeing as the weather has been so amazingly beautiful lately,  I've taken advantage of that and have been out either walking or riding my bike.  Sometimes I actually have to push myself  as I get so wrapped up in the studio or with other household "stuff" that just seems to need to be done.....one of the big disadvantages of working at home.  This week I've made it a point to just get out with my camera and enjoy the sun on my face and wind in my very short hair...just got it cut.

Clouds have always been one of my most favourite things in nature alongside of trees.  I'm endlessly fascinated by their shapes, formations and colours and simply how they make me feel when I look at them. A lot of people have flying dreams but I have cloud dreams....laying on clouds looking down, sleeping on clouds on just sitting on them being softly and silently blown around.  Clouds make me feel something so it would only seem natural I would want to incorporate that into my work which if you've been following my blog lately, you can see I have.

In Progress

In Progress

In Progress

My next step is to get to work on another 20"x20" that has been sitting around the studio as well as a 18"x36". These examples are small and will be shown at Images this year.  

So once again I've been rather neglectful of my poor old blog but you can't hold that against me as I just haven't had all that much to say.  I've been in the studio working, the bathroom reno is still ongoing, the weather has been so gorgeous that in some ways it's rather hard to stay inside.  There are weeds that definitely need pulling in my yard but I've been pretending they are not there as gardening is unfortunately not my "thing".   So that's pretty well it in a nutshell and now you know why I haven't been blogging as of late.

Oh, but one thing I will leave you with is a great quote I came across by Albert Einstein which just may well be my new mantra...."Life is like riding a bicycle.  To keep your balance you must keep moving".