Summer Grin
This is a new ACEO I did today. Even in this heat I managed to get a little bit of work done.
I love this cheeky grin. This summer, I feel like I have watched baby Scarlett turn into little girl Scarlett.
The Pear Tree
We have the most amazing pear tree growing in our back yard. I get real pleasure looking at this tree that we planted, only three years ago, in a yard that had nothing (and I mean NOTHING) in it. Not only has this tree tripled in size but it has fruit for the first time! This in EDMONTON! Truly amazing. This painting pays homage to our pear tree. The fruit hasn’t really made it to this size but one can dream.
Winter Birch
I did this original mixed media ACEO on 100% rag today. I just love this vintage coat. It reminds me of a movie I saw set during world war ll. The boy in the movie was running through a forest of birch trees, there was snow on the ground and of course, the movie was black and white. Don’t ask me where all that came from. The picture looks nothing like it but it must have been the feeling it evoked in me. Anyway, I did a large version of this one a little while back and have wanted to paint it again ever since.
Every Girl Needs A Big Hat
This is Scarlett looking less like a baby and more like a girl with attitude!
This is an original mixed media ACEO on 100% rag paper.
The Water Lilies Keep Me Cool
The water lilies keep me cool
They bob around my floating head
My hair mimicking pond weeds
I feel the little fish bump up against my legs
A dragonfly lands on me
Perhaps he thinks that I am a log or even a flower
I am so still
Maybe he is kissing me
So very gently
As I lay here
Drifting
Victoria Rain
This is an original 2.5″x3.5″ mixed media piece on 100% rag paper.
I guess Victoria was on my mind today. I miss it, what can I say …
rain and all.
The Orange Peeler 2
This is an original mixed media piece on 100% rag paper.
I had this little painting taped down for ages. I needed the the drawing board so I decided to finish it and I am glad I did. Poor little neglected painting.
This painting is of Scarlett peeling oranges. I have done several versions of this subject and am working on a large canvas of 5 Scarletts peeling oranges in a row. I call it The Orange Peelers or The Orange Peeler Factory. It all started when I discovered that by giving Scarlett a bowl of tiny oranges to peel I could buy myself at least 20 – 30 minutes of free time. This was an event to remember and to even document! HA!
Watching The High Wire Act
Poor Circus Girl. Watching the high wire act still makes her nervous.
Another Circus Girl study. This is a 2.5″x3.5″ mixed media painting on 100% rag paper.
Wishful
This is a 2.5″x3.5″ original mixed media painting on 100% rag paper.
We had to make a hard choice today. We’ve decided to not go to Victoria for Christmas. I know it is the smart choice but it makes me a little sad. This painting is of Imogen who is already thinking about what she wants for Christmas and even warned Scarlett (the two year old) about Santa’s ever watchful gaze during a melt down she had today about getting dressed!
What is Imogen she wishing for? A basket for the front of her bike. Decorative and practical.
It is only mid summer so I am sure there will be plenty more wishes by December. Geesh.
New Mini Canvas of Circus Girl
This is an original 2.5″x2.5″ mixed media painting of Circus Girl ( I think she is going to have an actual name very soon!) I am working on this character for a children’s book. Every now and then, I just have to paint her to get myself all inspired about this story again. She really is beautiful and I love painting her. After the disaster painting day yesterday I thought I should ease myself into painting by doing something that I know I love. The story is slowly coming together. I am trying not to rush it but maybe it is time for a little more of a tough love approach. My husband thinks so. I don’t know.
Girl With Fox
This is a 11.5″ x15.5″ mixed media painting done on 100% rag paper.
This painting kind of strays a little from what I usually paint or at least the way I paint. I used a historical photograph I found on the web as inspiration. I usually take all my own reference photographs, but I just found this photograph so intriguing. Who is this girl holding a fox? It just looks like something from an old fairy tale. I had it pinned on my wall for the longest time and just had to paint it.
Another Still Moment
I did this ACEO today of Scarlett. It is another study of a moment when my two year old was unusually still and contemplative. A moment to celebrate.
PRETEND- Illustration Friday -Looking For Fairies Amongst The Flowers
I was looking for fairies in the Garden
I left a little cottage teapot for them
So that they could set up house
Perhaps they would prefer to sleep within the flowers
If I were a fairy I’d live amongst the poppies
Their big papery petals would be my walls
and close by I would have lupins and foxgloves and hollyhocks too
Their lovely fragrance would surround me as I
drift
off
to
sleep
Life’s First Breath
This is a 8″x 8″ profile canvas that I painted for 8 minutes of Peace. http://www.8minutesofpeace.com/
My first daughter was born at eight minutes to eight in the morning. It was the most profound, awesome and blessed moment of my whole life. To know that she was finally in this world and that she was healthy and safe was the greatest peace I had ever felt. Life is just too precious. We are all someone’s babe. All of us.
The Pink Tutu
This is a drawing of Imogen in her Tutu from my sketchbook.
When we were in Victoria we bought a fairy dress and a tutu for the girls and the night before we flew home we put some music on and let the kids dance around. I was laughing so hard at them all and the way Scarlett (2) was moving to the music. Then, if that wasn’t enough, my Mum put the Tutu on Matthew (2.5). It was so hilarious I was crying! He is such a boy and to see him dancing around in this delicate pink Tutu when he is anything BUT pink and delicate was so cute, but really funny as well.
Poor Matthew, I photographed and video taped the whole thing.
Oh well, when he gets older he can just blame us crazy women for making him wear it…
… BUT I’ll let you in on a little secret: he was just dying to put that pink Tutu on!
In The Wings
Yesterday was Imogen’s novice ballet recital. She did a great job. Some of the older girls were so beautiful dancing their solos. I got all weepy about it all and then right in the middle of the show, everything was stopped and a teacher came out carrying a sobbing little girl. Her parents were called and when she saw her Daddy approach the stage her little body shook and she sobbed even harder with relief. That was just too much for me. Tears were streaming down my face. It would have been very embarrassing if it hadn’t been so dark in the theatre.
This multi media piece is called “Waiting”. I did it a little while ago. This is what I wrote about it at the time:
How much time does a dancer wait in the wings? Certainly more time than actually dancing. I am sure it is true of a lot of things but I am so intrigued by the world of dancing right now that I couldn’t help but paint this.
Matthew- Two
I did this ACEO of my nephew Matthew. He is the cutest. Two and a half and so smart. He can count to 20 in english and to 10 in french. He really is adorable. The way he looks at you. He really looks at you. It is kind of unnerving, like he can see right into your soul.
I must add that although his cuteness is undeniable, he truely is a two year old in every way. Not unlike my two year old, Scarlett.
I remember when Imogen,my five year old was two, I was amazed at the blossoming of her personality. I just found it so amazing and as exasperating as she could be, I was so taken with getting to know her that I can honestly say it was my favorite age.
Two year olds are just so cute and it is a good thing because when they kick you, hit you or bite you it makes it easier to keep your cool. I guess there is a reason for everything.
Nanny Makes It All Better
I did this mixed media ACEO today. It is of my daughter Imogen having dirt brushed away from her face. I just love this image. It really illustrates the love between a child and a caring adult. We don’t get to see Nanny as often as we would like but when we do, she really can make it all better. ( That goes for me too!)
A Still Moment
This is a painting that I just completed of Scarlett sitting at the dining room table. She is so still and at peace, not at all like her normal two year old self. There was just a beautiful stillness at that moment that I wanted to try to capture.
Wishing
There is nothing wrong with a little wish now and then. There is the star wish, the fountain wish, the birthday wish and of course, we can’t forget the wishbone wish. I’ve wished for plenty of things in my life. The only problem with wishing is that we are always to the future, which kind of implies that we aren’t enjoying the right now. I think that my next wish will be that I don’t wish anymore because I am just enjoying right now too much to even care.
Singing The Blue Pencil Blues
OK, I admit it. My attachment to my blue pencil is a bit on the fanatical side. It could be even considered a crutch that I should just let go of. Perhaps, but I want to let go of it at my own pace, not be forced into it. OK, OK, I have had this pencil for several years… OK, more than several, probably about twenty. Did I hear a gasp? Yes, I have had this pencil for over twenty years, but let me explain.
When I was about twenty I found this amazing set of coloured indelible pencils, in the box at a second hand store. They were so beautiful! They were old when I bought them. I’d say from the 50’s. I used them a little then. Once in awhile. I was in college and University during this time and was more into ink, conte and charcoal for my drawing class and acrylics for painting, so they just sat in my old tin box of art stuff. Over the years I did occasionally use the light blue for preliminary sketches but the rest just sat untouched for the last twenty years.
Flash forward twenty years and I’ve been doing this mixed media stuff like crazy and using this blue pencil in every single piece. A couple of weeks ago I was sharpening it and I forced myself to face the fact that I was going to need to find a replacement pencil, knowing full well that it was going to be pretty much impossible.
Did I tell you about the colour blue that this pencil is? The most beautiful peacock blue you have ever seen. When I was sixteen I had a friend that dyed her hair this colour. Amazing while it lasted. (Not unlike my pencil). When I wet it, it becomes the perfect shadow on skin. I looks so beautiful as a line drawing. It doesn’t even need anything else. It is perfect in the nude. And Because it is indelible it comes through when you paint over it. It is Perfect. It is perfection. Why, oh why do they not make it anymore?
I did look on the web and I found these vintage pencils for sale at $2.50 each (not including shipping). ACT NOW! LIMITED STOCK! So, of course I bought 12! I know. Freak. I couldn’t draw every day for the rest of my life and use up all 12 of these pencils. What was I thinking? They came the other day and they are not the same blue. Not even close. I am so sad. I guess I better suck it up and figure out some new technique to try to get the effect that I like but I don’t think I will be able to walk into another second hand store or pass a garage sale sign without my heart fluttering with the hope of finding replacement for my beloved blue pencil.
The Other Visual Artist That Lives In My House
So, lately I’ve been trying to paint any chance I get and sometimes, actually most of the time, that is when Scarlett is asleep and Imogen is not. This is not good for Imogen. I try to create interesting games or better yet, give her fun crafts to do while I am painting but the other day she told me I was really boring and all I did was paint. OUCH. This is not what mummy wants to hear. Especially, when mummy thought she was doing such a great job at playing along with her make believe games. This days game involved me being the Evil Queen that poisons her with the flowers we got from the dollar store and, I just need to remind you, this is while I am actually trying to paint. So, I was a little sad and I’ll admit, worried, that my painting days were numbered.
Then, something happened: she started to paint from the same reference photos that I use. I guess she figured: ‘if you can’t beat’em, join’em’
So, here is Imogen’s version of ‘Wooly Hat’ . I think that it is pretty amazing. I know I am slightly biased, and I will admit my ulterior motive is that maybe, just maybe, if she sees her art posted it will buy me more painting time. I know, not exactly Mother of the Year, but what can I say? I want to paint.
The Orange Peeler
My orange peeler.
One day I handed Scarlett a bowl of tiny oranges and was surprised to see how long it kept her busy. As I watched her I had this weird vision in my head of rows of toddlers peeling oranges. An orange peeling factory. I am still working on a large 2’x5′ canvas of six Scarletts, all peeling away. Meanwhile, I have painted two other versions of just a single Scarlett.
Anyway, all that aside, this is a great way to keep a two year old busy when you are working in the kitchen.
