Surviving The Flu and A New Look For Older Work

Well here it is Friday and I really feel I haven't accomplished a lot this week. Monday John was sick with the flu and Tuesday I came down with it. It was only the 24 hour variety but it still knocked me out for a few days after just trying to regain my strength. When I finally made it out of bed on Wednesday to get some juice, I walked into the kitchen and promptly walked back to bed pulling the covers over my head. Guess I was hoping beyond hope that when I got up again the kitchen would look decent instead of looking as if they had a dinner party for 25 but forgot to clean up afterwards. I knew there was trouble when John left for work that morning and said "sorry about the kitchen". That is a sure sign to not get out of bed at all. But I know they tried their best............she says with a concerned look ................ on the bright side they did take good care of me even though the girls wouldn't come in the bedroom. They just stood at the door with worried looks on their faces asking how I was feeling. No wonder they looked worried...when I got a glance at my face in the mirror that afternoon I was shocked. When did I start looking 103? It briefly crossed my mind that if there was a fire I would have to leave the house looking this way. Yikes!





Last week I brought out all of my work and set it up in my studio just to get a good look at what I had for the show in June. Although I loved the work I wasn't crazy about the matts and frames I had originally picked out. When the work was first completed I thought plain white matt and a plain wood frame was what I was looking for but now it just seemed to lack presence. Recently I had seen a style of framing I was interested in which took a smaller image and used a larger matt. I felt a lot of my more urban pieces were missing the punch I thought they deserved. I knew I wanted something that was a bit edgier and more dramatic. My favourite framing shop which luckily just happens to be up the road, The Village Gallery was having a huge sale so off I went to see Diane.

With framing you do have to be careful to not let the frame take over the work. It should compliment it but not overpower it. The last thing you want as an artist to to have the viewer see the frame first and the work after. There are many theories on framing .....I just read a blog in which the blogger talked about how framing seems useless as usually the person who decides to buy your work reframes it anyway. If someone buys a piece of my art and then decides to reframe it....so be it..... but I feel when the work is shown it is my job to have seen in the best possible light with my vision for it firmly in place.

Diane, Buffi and Lorraine at the Village Gallery are just about the "best". Diane and Buffi spent two hours with me going though various options for changing the work up a bit and creating a more edgier look and feel. This is one of the perks of living in a small village........walk up the street to your local framers who also happen to be your good friends. Everyone knows everyone here which depending on how you look at it could be a blessing or a curse.

We took "The Village" and removed the existing matt and frame and used a black extra wide matt and this gorgeous burnished frame........almost has a deep copper look to it. They raised the double matt which gives it a very three dimensional look and I absolutely love it. It totally changes the work and gives it a more intimate feeling..........don't know how to describe it any better than that. We decided to do "Early Morning" that way also as I have always felt they were a pair having both been inspired by the beautiful village of Sintra in Portugal. The colour from both of these pieces just pops against the darker matt. Yes, as you can tell I am very excited.

Well I am back in the studio today......seems spring has left as quickly as it arrived. They are even calling for wet snow the next few days. Good weekend to sip some tea and get out a good book. Wow, I really nattered on for quite a long time today. I must be feeling better.

Hope everyone is well and ..........healthy.

You Gotta Love A Daughter Who Can Make Sushi

Tonight my youngest daughter made sushi for dinner. I didn't have to participate in making it or help in cleaning up..........all I can say is "yeah". I'm not an all out sushi nut which means I won't eat eel or any other creepy fish whose name I don't recognize. I like smoked salmon, shrimp and tuna but that's about as far as I will go. She loves sushi, california rolls and sushimi and decided it was was what she wanted to do for dinner so I said "go for it". It was fabulous.........she even lit candles and put on "buddha bar".......I love buddha bar music.

This morning the light in my jeep was flashing "check engine" even I, who knows nothing about the care and maintenance of a vehicle knows that this is not a good sign. John and I both drove to town, I did groceries and he went to the dealership. $200.00 dollars later we returned home. My relationship with my jeep is definitely a love hate relationship. Wish we could get away with only having one car but not possible when you live in a rural village.

My girls are getting ready for their first dance of the year at high school tomorrow night. My oldest daughter is on the Student Activities Council and told me the dance is called "Shut Up and Dance" apparently there is a song by someone named Rhianna called "Shut Up and Drive".........I do not know this song and they have let me know that anyone who is anyone knows this song...........I do not which I am assuming means I am not anyone important. Teenagers are such a weird breed of people.........they roll their eyes a lot at their parents, think their friends have figured life out and eat all the time......my grocery bill is getting crazy. They still hug me everynight and tell me lots of stuff that goes on in their life and let me know they love me........... so as a mom I think I'm doing ok.

The above piece is once again from our trip this past spring to Portugal. Thanks and love to Kelly who left a great comment on the blog. She was on this trip with me and we did spend the day together in Cintra........which was a blast. Kelly is the best.............everyone should be fortunate enough to have a friend like her. Love to you Kel..........but you already know that.

The weather here today is stiffling hot which seems bizarre for September but global warming and all that stuff................

Lots of love to my cousin Leslie also.............your emails about my blog keep me inspired girl

Kids Back To School, I'm Back to Work

I realized today as my alarm went off at 6:00 am that my vacation is now over. I was trying as hard as I could to drag it out but the cold reality is that..........it is over. From the comfort of my bed I could hear my two teenage daughters fighting over who was going to take the last muffin in their lunch. For a brieft second I did pull the covers over my head and pretend I could hear the waves of the lake lapping up over the shore but when the yelling reached a fever pitch I knew I had to get up. My oldest is up at 5:30am for a shower and to "get ready". What getting ready entails is shower, blow dryer, hair straightener a touch of mascara and throwing together a lunch. When I was her age "getting ready" for me was just dragging myself out of bed. When I tell them this they say "well, that was in the olden days" Yikes...... Unfortunately the bus picks them up at 7:00 am which seems obscene to me but that is the price you pay to live in the country.
It rained all day today which made me feel a touch blue. I know the rain is necessary but the dreariness of it all just makes me realize summer is over and fall is on it's way.
I writing this at about 9:30pm and I am tired. I worked off and on from the minute the kids got on the bus until just a few minutes ago. I say "on and off" because there is always laundry to do, dishes to wash, carpets to vaccum etc..........you get the picture. Tonight is our "no" TV night which I think is great but unfortunately I do tend to work more than I should especially when I'm getting ready for a show. It was good to look out the window and see the kids playing badminton together instead of sitting in front of the television.
The piece I'm posting is from the trip John and I took with his company this past spring to Portugal. We spent a fabulous day with friends in the lovely village of Sintra. Yes, Kelly was there. I'm really proud of this one as I love the contrast between the acrylic paint and the thread work. Tomorrow it will head off to the framers and will be a part of the Images Artist Studio Tour in October. Hope your all rested and looking forward to the cooler weather ahead.

Portugal, Motion Sickness and New Friends

Sometimes it seems life offers you great gifts which are disguised in crappy wrapping paper. Such was my experience on my first night in Portugal. Our entire group (350 people) was scheduled to board buses to visit an old winery for a dinner to celebrate our first night in Sintra ...."yeah, I love wine".

No one told us the drive was up a mountain with no sections of the road that were straight. It was like being on a roller coaster that didn't end for 40 minutes. It was all I could do to not, well, no polite way of putting it......throw up.

After what seemed like three hours (of course it wasn't), we arrived. There were Portugese singers, lots of munchies and my head, feeling like the game show "Wheel of Misfountune". My doctor told me that motion sickness can become more exaggerated as you get older.......thanks, just what I wanted to hear.

When we finally sat down, John chose a table for us near the door just in case I had to....you know... Needless to say, we ended up sitting with a group of people neither of us knew. It just happened that Jamie and Nick were seated at our table also. John started up a conversation with Nick while I continued trying to drink water and stuff bread into my mouth (the tour guide said it would help settle my stomach). After some time I did feel slightly better. At least well enough to join in the conversation and talk to Jamie. I found out we had a lot in common, we are both around the same age, teenage kids (she must have had them at 15, because she looks fabulous), etc. etc. But those things were just similarities....I just liked her right from the start...you know that connection you make with someone else???? That spark that leads you to believe that a good friendship is possible. I felt such kindness in her and that always resonates with me.

At this point the tour guide informs me that another woman also has really bad motion sickness and they are arranging a car back to the hotel for her....would I also like a ride?? I was so happy I didn't have to get on that bus again. I was also lecturing myself on the virtues of Gravol.

So dinner is over, the car is waiting and I am comforted in knowing that I am not the only one who fell ill on this "ride up the Magic Mountain". Waiting by the car was the "amazing Liz". The minute she sees me I get a huge hug, she grabs my hand and tells me how happy she is that she was not the "only one". I connect with her immediately....there is a warmth about her that is inescapable. It feels like we are in some sort of "sisterhood".... bound together by both not having any gravol... but it was much more than that. No doubt about it, I felt a bond with her on the spot. The ride back was uneventful...no, you know what...for either of us. The hotel staff had gravol for us when we arrived...how kind.

So I guess the moral of my story is this, just because something terrible may happen to you passing through the front door, doesn't mean you won't be leaving through the back door with two unexpected gifts.....new friendships

Thanks Liz and Jamie

Be Well,

Views from Portugal

We arrived home from Portugal a few days ago but haven't had a chance to post until now. Unfortunately I have come down with the world's worst cold and stayed in bed all day yesterday. Not feeling too sorry for myself though, as I did return home with a smile on my face, an truly inspired heart and feeling quite blessed to have been able to experience the beauty of Portugal.

My husband had won the trip through a sales incentive plan for his job and I felt so very lucky to be along for the ride.

We flew into Lisbon and immediately boarded a bus for Sintra which is where we would be staying. Sintra is approximately 40 mins. outside of Lisbon and is everything you would expect from a quaint European town. It was like magically stepping back in time. Outdoor cafes, narrow cobblestone paths leading up to shops filled with leather goods, ceramics and a variety of textiles (yeah!). I was on cloud nine drifting in and out of all these fascinating shops. I came across a tiny establishment in which the owner had created all of the ceramics in the store. He spoke to me of how much his work meant to him and how his new ideas came from dreams he had everynight, dreams filled with colour and shape. There was such incredible beauty in his face when he spoke of his passion that I was quite moved. I then thought of my friend, the fabulous artist Cynthia Guajardo and knew she too, would be so very inspired by all the work here and how it was so lovingly created.

I felt so priviledged to be able to take in all the various forms of art around me. Being an artist myself, I have the greatest respect for all others who work from the creativity of their souls and produce work that speaks of their life experiences........that speaks of the very essence of who they are.

My next few blogs will focus on some of the sights and sounds of Portugal

Be well,