A study in colored pencil from the life drawing studio on Friday.

But also, I really want to thank two lovely people for featuring my work :

Hazel Terry from The art room plant

and

Kate Singleton from Art Hound

Have a great week-

My Christmas painting-

It never really feels like a painting is finished.

But I comfort myself with the idea that if I stop one painting I can rework the same subject matter on another one. So you may see that I will paint a second or a third and fourth version of the same image, or just about. I reserve the right to do this.

Hugs-

Mom's delight!!

Some of us were having their grad photos taken tonight...

East Vancouver Culture Crawl

In the past year I have been very closely involved with the running of a life-drawing studio/gallery called Basic Inquiry. During the East Vancouver Culture Crawl our gallery hosted a group show of nine artists, in which I participated.

Rea came to see the show and cheer on!

A quiet moment was the perfect time to take a clear picture of 'my wall'...

Thank you to everyone who came by and was wonderfully supportive in many different ways.

Hugs-

Yesterday there was a handbag next to her but I painted over it- these are very small paintings and they are meant to force me to keep within visual economy-

That sounds like a university course:

Visual Economics-

or

International Visual Economics-

There-

Hugs-

my creative space

A series of small paintings in the making, some more finished than others- a Christmas (if I make it on time...) painting for my Christmas cards...(in the middle) Next to it, a self-portrait at the age of twelve when my life was lived in a big yellow dress and taking care of stray anything with four legs, or even two legs and wings! And others...- In the evening I curle up next to my husband and crochet while watching 'All creatures great and small', the BBC series based on the James Herrriot books-(as part of our evening -therapy-watching session...) Outside its windy and sormy and rainy....Inside its happy, happy-

Playing along with Kootoyoo- take a look!
Hugs!

Walking in the rain and the dark-

Hugs-

A drawing to share-

'She said nothing(didn't need to)'-

I have had this drawing on my desk for a while. It will (hopefully) become a painting. But I am rather fond of it just as it is too. So I thought I would share it.

Have a lovely week-

Hugs-

The purpose of quiet days-

A couple of quiet days.
Errands to do.
Not much painting.
A show coming up nevertheless.
Planning for birthdays, arrivals, joys.
A few quiet days to plan the arrival of joys- that's it!

Hugs to you-

My creative space

Well, you see I just had to...I had to get my hands on some crochet-something-or-other, because I couldn't take it anylonger, after watching all you being so crafty-creative! Because I am a beginner, I decided not to spend too much money buying yarn, until I know for sure I can do this, so I went to a church sale-unforunately, the nicest yard I could find in some numbers was white- fine, I like white. Then I thought I really don't know what I am doing , and I don't have the time to do anything elaborate, so I concluded that I should do a series of squares in 'found' -yarn and put an afgan together in the end. Well, we will see...But for the time being, I am loving it, only my fingers hurt...but that is my night-time activity!

In the day-time, I paint.

Wear very red-lipstick.

And have decided to put all my heart into the 'cheerfulness thing'...

There are many -many absolutely lovely creative spaces meeting at Kootoyoo, won't you play along?

Hugs-

Plants bathing and something about All That Katy Did'

The plants were in need of a good bath-

Lucy and I have taken up Susan Coolidges' All That Katy Did, as our bedtime reading.

" Well, there's the lesson of Patience. That's one of the hardest studies. You can't learn much of it at a time, but every bit you get by heart, makes the next bit easier. And there's the lesson of Cheerfulness. And the lesson of Making the Best of Things."

Sometimes I think that every generation keeps rephrasing things, maybe using a different vocabulary, but the essence remains always the same.
And in a sense it is only fair that it should be so , is it not?
I really thought that the book would be rather old-fashioned and difficult for Lucy to understand but I was wrong. She really is enjoying it. So am I.
Hugs.

Bittersweet- paintings

This one started in the spring. It has an unbelievable amount of layers of acrylic paint on it.
Thankfully it is a small painting ! The truth is I am absolutely enamoured with the thick layering and the resulting creamy texture. I missed that with all the years of paitning watercolors.

She is feeling a bit bittersweet, but I wouldn't worry about her. She has learned to get the most pleasure out of the smallest things in her life, so she will be fine afterall...

I took Lucy today to my dear friend Krystina who offered to teach her how to crochet. The result of this was that I can't keep my hands from my hook and yarn ,and Lucy was at it until after ten when her dad scolded her and turned off the light in her room.

This weekend we will be under the spell of yarn yum! yea..!!!

Before...

And then...it was zuchini bread (with parmesan...) Dimitri thinks we should add some feta cheese next time too. Its absolutely delicious and satisfying.
And then... there was a completed little painting. I have to say I am delighted!

So when is a painting resolved? I worked with this image fifteen years ago but then it was all wrong because I was trying to avoid the 'awkwardness' of it- but this is it- it's supposed to be 'awkward' . It could have been a little painting about shapes and colours, only I just can't do this because I like a good story and I get too emotionaly involved (daaahh!) But you know, in the end (and the beginning) I AM JUST LOVING IT!

Hugs!!

My creative space-

Something has happened and I am finding myself baking every morning before I go into the studio.

Its grounding in a funny way, I relax while I mix ( in this case, my banana bread) and enjoy the way the house smells , while the goodies are baking in the oven. It seems like a perfect way to start the day, and it puts me in the quiet and inward looking mood that is best suited to painting.

Then the studio welcomes me. I have a few small paintings on the go- this is to avoid the panic of having to start something completely new on a white board.

Yes, things have become resolved and now I am reworking about five older paintings. I am even reworking an image that I have had in my mind for the last fifteen years...Finally, it was all about clarifying my intentions. I am not fighting with the paints any longer.While I am holding my brushes (and preferably listening to Chopin, or Bach on the radio), I feel like I did when I was seven and my mom used to hold my hand and take me (by train) to the centre of Athens, shopping for fabrics for her dresses. She doesn't sew herself but she always had her dresses made, or 'altered'! And there I am, holding her hand and looking out at a world of wonders!

And, don't you know, Kootoyoo is hosting many wonderous and buzzing creative spaces. I am off to visit!

Hugs-

Resolution:to laugh more.

On Sunday we discovered an antique store turned coffee-shop. Great fun!

Look at this table!

Meanwhile, I am subjecting my husband to spending at least half-an-hour in the evening watching something that will put a smile on his face. World news have been banned from our home after six o'clock in the evening. Instead this week we are watching the British series Doc Martin. Last week we watched The Vicar of Dibley, and next week I plan to get the Get Smart series from the library. I loooove that library.

Three small paintings from last week.

I guess this is the best I can do in the space of five weekdays. Three paintings tops. They are small, painted with acrylics on board. I am quite happy with the way they turned out, more so because they resolved something that had been troubling me for the last six months. I started a small series os acrylic paintings in the spring but I just couldn't do what I wanted and I didn't even know why. Now it has all come together, and I have a clear idea what I am looking for.
Hugs.