YaaY!! Gold for Canada

But only after near heart failure!

Go Canadian Men's Hockey!

PLAY LIKE WOMEN!!

GOLD CANADA GOLD!!!!!

GO CANADIAN WOMEN'S HOCKEY!!

BRING HOME THE GOLD!!

Daphne just loved her new hat!

Green woven heart

Mountain Heart!

As I was sitting eating my oatmeal and watching the rosy light on Greenstone Mountain, a perfect little heart appeared. How cool is that?

Not Always happily ever after

Here is my advice. Don't get married on a holiday and especially not Valentine's Day. It will discolor that day for you, possibly forever.

I hated being single and I hated feeling like a failure. My thirties were grim. My life is much different now. Never, ever, ever give up!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Welcome to the year of the tiger.

For years, when I was single, I hated Valentine's Day. Mere mention of it could start me frothing at the mouth. The only thing that made me fell more like a loser at Valentine's Day was attending school functions as a single parent (especially christmas plays). Never mind that a lot of married women attend them on their own quite often, I was in a heightened and miserable state of singleness. My very dear and gentle friend tried to get me to refocus by celebrating the Chinese New Year. And I was very fortunate to live in Victoria where I got to see the dancing lions bring prosperity to the local businessmen. May dancing lions bring good luck and prosperity to you!

Olympic Ceremony Review and Rant

I couldn't stand it any longer after reading some of the comments on other sites. I enjoyed the opening ceremonies.

Always happy to see the RCMP in there scarlet tunics. It would have been cool if they could have been on horseback but nobody wants to walk through all of those road apples afterwards.

I thought the first nations welcome was beautiful, enjoyed the diversity of costume and dance and gave them credit for their stamina. You try dancing for over an hour. The tall lit up figures were based on native welcome figures and perfectly appropriate.

Loved the visuals as the orca and salmon swam across the ice. Was thrilled the great trees depicted paid homage to Emily Carr, our undersung great Canadian painter.

The lovely girl with the lovely voice sang the Canadian anthem but it was too slow to sing with! Which was probably just as well, I have lived in this country for 30 years and have yet to see Canadians really stand up and belt out their anthem. I have always been puzzled, disappointed and frustrated by this. I know the Canadians don't like the flag-waving patriotism of the Americans. When I have questioned them about their lack of response the answer I get most often is "I don't know the words" or "they changed the words". Come on...I'm an immigrant and I know the words!

The little flying boy over the wheatfields was ok but I found it a little long.

Things got stirred up with the fiddlers. There has been a lot of negative response about their punk/celtic outfits but I thought they were modern and interesting and want a cool garb of my own!

I thought it was great that they let the athletes march in and then enjoy the show.

Go Canadian Womens Hockey Go!

Happy Valentine's Day

A great big thank you goes out to Jill Pollsby for organizing a portrait tribute to Karin Jurick. And a big thanks to Karin for her site "Different Strokes from different Folks". Her blog challenges artists, and gives them exposure on the net. I have met some very cool painters through this site and some I truly consider friends. Happy Valentines Day to Patrice, Sheila and Annelein!

Happy Lincoln's Birthday

I know I'm a day late but I was under the weather yesterday. I am a "Land of Lincoln" girl. Dad took us to nearly all the Lincoln sites and monuments when I was a kid and I have read several biographies about the man. I have been to New Salem were Lincoln grew into a young man. In college, my buddy and I would bike out to Lincoln's father's farm. When I lived in Springfield, the gallery I worked at was part of the old Lincoln-Herndon law offices. It always felt like I could turn a corner in Springfield and walk right past Old Abe. I have always admired his ambition and appreciated his humanity.

Red Woven Heart

Waltz Melody

I made this little collage a couple of years ago but I still really like it.

"An artist feels vulnerable to begin with; and yet the only answer is to recklessly discard more armour." Eric Maisel

I love this quote. I remember when I first began showing my work. It felt like standing in the gallery naked. It is still scary sometimes... I have to let a lot of remarks roll off me (a lot of well meaning comments about not understanding why I don't paint more realistically or make my colors more "real". But, more and more, when I meet people, they recognize my name and say "you painted such-and such painting... I loved it. That makes me feel pretty high. That and being pleased with my own work. If I am happy with it and would hang it on my walls...I must be doing something right.

In memory

How could you not love that dimpled chin? He complained that it was hard to shave though.

My Best Valentine

My Baby is 25 years old today! This is an unfinished collage I made of her several years ago. I just stuck on the hearts so it would fit in for February. The wings were her Grandpa's air force wings. She used them as an inspiration for her tattoo, making it Canadian by replacing the eagle with a maple leaf.

Check it out...I have added Ann Holtby-Jones to my blog list. Ann is a great watercolorist of local landscapes and horses.

It's so nice to have a plumber in the family

OUr son Ben and grandson Nicholas are down for the Superbowl. While he is here, Ben is changing up all our toilets, a couple of sinks and hopefully fixing a couple of leaks that have stumped Bruce. Hooray!!

I had hoped to paint 28 different paintings but I am torn in other directions ( babysitting a tornado of a 2 1/2 year old being one of them) so I may have to resort to photoshopping a couple of images.

Melting the Ice Maiden's Frozen Heart

This is what my heart felt like at one time.

Yellow woven heart

A yellow heart!

New temptations

Yesterday, I discovered a whole genre of blogs dedicated to vintage fashion such as "It'll take the snap out of your garters" and "Jitterbug Doll". Dangerous stuff, I could spend hours looking and drooling at these clothes. And then I just want to sew vintage fashions that I would wear to....?? I admire the ladies that don their good stuff and wear it with pride, thumbing their noses at the establishment.

I spent the day working on a muslin for the glamour girl pattern I am working on. I use cheap material from the thrift store trying out the pattern first, before cutting into the good stuff (having learned the hard way). Today, sewing commences....Oh, and I need to get some painting done.

Happy Groundhog's Day

I am trying to make a heart series for February this year. This is "Blue Woven Heart". I am also making art cards from this series and flogging them at my local galleries. I hardly make any money on my cards but I consider them advertising as they have all my info on the back. And you never know where they will go. Twelve down, sixteen to go and I'm running short on time!

Candlemas or Imbolc

This is the dawn of the year. All the secret sleeping seeds down in the earth are starting to respond to the return of the light. Imbolc roughly translates from a gaelic word that means ewe's milk as this is the time that herd animals start to lactate and prepare for birth. The goddess of Imbolc is Brigid, a goddess of creativity and fertility. Candlemas honors St. Brigid.

I hope to have a bonfire (or at least candles) and plan what I want to accomplish or plant this year and ask for inspiration. This painting is "Motley Blue Hearts".