Back from Holidays.....Where do I start??!?

Whew!  We've arrived back home safe and sound.  Glad to be home and at the same time sad to have the adventure end.  Lots to share, especially on my experience at the Emma International Collaboration - more on that later.  But first, we spent 2 weeks at my folks cabin in Shell Lake, Saskatchewan.  Blissfully relaxing this time.  Which means I didn't really get much accomplished - which is what a holiday is supposed to be about anyway, but this is tricky for me.  Our family seems to be all about projects and getting them done.  I did manage to get my sketchbook out a few times which was nice.  We enjoyed the Hey Days Parade in town where I seated myself across the street from this little wishing well flower planter and later that day I was sitting at the beach enjoying the huge old tree that shelters us there:

One of our usual daily routines which is notorious for sending me home with a few extra pounds around my middle is happy hour before dinner.  I'm not sure why we think this should be a daily ritual, but it does stop us from our frenzied activity and gives us a chance so sit together and gab.  I've discovered that I like ciders over coolers because they are not so sweet, however this particular one wasn't a favorite....suitable only for drawing because of its pretty color.

Unfortunately when staying that long we can't avoid doing laundry, so on this particular day while waiting at the little laundromat I sat on the deck and drew my sandals.  I LOVE these Birkenstocks!  Well, I love any Birkenstock really.

 

While the community here is very tiny, they always have something wonderful going on - lots of cultural activities of every variety.  Wood turners, blacksmiths, sculptors, musicians all come to the gazebo in town to spend a day or a weekend enjoying each other and their craft and sharing that with the lucky folks who happen to be visiting the area at the time.  Accompanying these activities inevitably are cinnamon buns and coffee.  They have built a wood-fired bread oven that sits outdoors next to the tiny museum and all the town ladies make cinnamon buns the evening before, ready for baking in the morning.  Early in the day someone gets up and builds the wood fire which burns until the oven is sufficiently hot.  Then the buns arrive from various homes, and are cooked right on site.  You can't even imagine how wonderful they are - a true culinary delight!  This particular time we were entertained by a group playing bluegrass music - preparing for a festival to be held in a few weeks further north at Ness Creek.   I managed to capture two individuals who performed - a tricky endeavor to try and sketch a subject that doesn't stay still and within the limited time of their performance.  So, it's a little rough, but it was a good experience.  I really must practice drawing people more....

New Moleskin "Muddle"

I bought a new watercolor Moleskin a couple weekends ago while visiting a dear friend on Vancouver island.  My intent is to have a sketchbook for all my "quick and dirty" sketches - you know, something to drag around always to record just any ol' thing and keep me sketching regularly to hone my skills, and just for the joy of it.  And yet as I sat staring at the first blank page of this beautiful new little book, I hesitated, not wanting to "ruin it" with some crappy drawing.  Ah....there it is again - focus on outcome.  Even when I don't want to do that and I know how paralyzing that focus can be.  "Process, not outcome", I tell myself!  We artistic types do seem to be our own worst critics.  Take for instance my friend whom I was visiting....she is an extraordinary painter!! I have a few of her pieces gracing my walls and I LOVE them.  Here are a couple: (my photos don't do the colors justice at all)

 Sadly she hasn't painted in ages.  Mostly because she is legitimately very busy with other things, but even when she took time off to paint she had real difficulty allowing herself to do so.  All kinds of reasons surfaced: other pressing tasks, no passion for a subject, room not set up, no supportive community of artistic friends, etc, etc.  And, an overactive critical voice that did not support her to mess up a canvas - that's my opinion of course....we really haven't discussed it at length because I don't want to pester her.  But, I do know she can be a perfectionist.  I know this because I can be paralyzed by the same affliction - it's familiar to me.  I'm sure she will die should she see this posted here, but I love to show off her work - I know she won't.  And I do want to shout to her - PAINT, PAINT!!....just for the joy of it - without evaluation and judgment.  Instead I hold her in my heart silently praying for the day she will allow herself to be lost in process without care of outcome.

Hmmmm....what we hope for others is indeed what we most need to heed ourselves - at least it is for me in this case as I stare at the blank pages of a fresh little moleskin.  Can we/I listen to the same encouraging voice we/I offer to our/my friends?

And so....I have to credit the inspiration of Margaret Storer-Roche with her post "A Line".  She introduced me to the concept of "Zentangles".  It reminds me of the Doodleart posters I colored as a kid.  So..."doodling on steroids", or perhaps in this case more accurately "doodling on Valium."  I do enjoy anything that puts me in a meditative "flow" state.  And this definitely does it.  I can't get too hung up on outcome since the outcome creates itself spontaneously.  So, this seemed like just the thing to help me christen the new Moleskin without interference from my critical ego.  My first couple pages:

 

So now that my lovely Moleskin is broken in, I can get on with the business of actual sketching, and just in time....I'm off to my folks cabin in Northern Saskatchewan for a vacation with my family and lots of time to relax and indulge in creative things.  Happy July!

Rainbow Dots

I haven't put together any jewelry pieces for awhile, but I was playing around with a variety of colors and made a bunch of sample beads to see how they looked over black. They were sitting on my work bench crying out for a new life and so I strung them into this fun bracelet. I'm finding it actually goes with lots of my clothes. I just like that it has a happy feel with all these wonderful bright dots!

Le Cadeau Du Chaval - Final Painting

I finished my panel in the mural mosaic currently being assembled.  Can't say that I'm completely happy with it.  There are parts I really like and other parts I would absolutely do over if I had more time.  But, that's not the case so this will be the final version.  My "before" image is located a few posts ago.  Can't wait to see the final mural.  As always it is an amazing thing and I'm honored to be a part of this collaborative project.  See the assembly in real time here.

Sketchcrawl Airdrie - June 21/08

Well, we did it! And, it was a WE....not just me. A couple friends and I and our kids converged on Benjamin's Coffee House right on schedule and painted and drew our little hearts out! So, we've now joined the rest of the world in this regular event. And, by all accounts we will do this again. Everyone said how much they enjoyed the relaxing time we had.

Veronica with her itty-bitty paint box continued her "painting-a-day" process. You can see the paintings she did on our crawl here. (and her next two posts as well.)

Veronica and her daughter busy painting and drawing in Nose Creek Park, our second and final stop on the crawl.

Examining the pochade. The little thing really is an attention getter - so cute and compact.

Me...hard at work...if you can call it that! Just busy playing really.

My final sketch at the park.

Valkyries

My sister has a new football team they are naming The Valkyries. For those not familiar with Norse lore:

In Norse mythology the valkyries (Old Norse Valkyrja "Choosers of the Slain") are female deities, who served Odin. The valkyries' purpose was to choose the most heroic of those who had died in battle and to carry them off to Valhalla

I envisioned a warrior, goddess-type typically seen in comics complete with bustier armor. This is what I came up with:

Sketchcrawl Anyone?

I've been inspired by a number of things lately - Danny Gregory's blog and books, several books on art journals, working on doing regular mandalas with the help of a mentor, and blogs that have led me to discover something called a Sketchcrawl. Seems there is a worldwide "movement" if you will, bringing folks together across the globe on specific dates to sketch and share and discuss and inspire one another over coffee for the day. The idea was inspired by what most have experienced in some format - the pubcrawl. Except, this results in lovely artwork, perhaps new friends, and no hangover! What fun - community, art, coffee, friends - I can't think of a better way to spend an afternoon. The global group is now "officially" on event #19. So, with the growing community of artists here in Airdrie starting to gather and share through various events, I decided it might be fun to start a Sketchcrawl right here in our city. The good folks at Benjamin's Coffee House, who are always helping to promote the arts in our community, have accepted my request for the group to meet there on June 21st at 10am. So, those of you who see this who are in Airdrie or in the Calgary area and would like to join in a day of fun and creative sketching and general kibitzing, please just show up at Benjamin's on Saturday morning. 207, 304 Main Street Square, Airdrie, Alberta. No artistic experience of any kind is required!! Bring whatever material you like to play with: pencils, pens, watercolors, colored pencils, felt markers, a journal or other suitable paper, etc. For more information on how to participate and for clarity on what the whole thing is about see the Sketchcrawl website, blog and forums to see what the fuss is all about. Hope you will come!