Rodney 10x8 oil portrait Private Commission

It seems that I have entered the year of the Dog! Most Chinese Astrologers would disagree and state (probably loudly) that this is incorrect. It does not change the fact that for me there have been alot of dogs moving on and off my easel!

I think this fellow is great. He was a commission by a wife for her husband. It seems Rodney is one of the great loves of his life and I believe I can see why!

I was really lucky this time as I was given a phenomenal photo to work with.

That is not always the case.

I remember once being asked to paint a Guernsey cow who was quite old and frail. The owner had hoped that I could re create her in all her glory and return that youthful glow she had almost 2 decades prior.

I was provided with a stack of photos no less than 2 inches high and upon closer inspection it was soon revealed that every aunt, uncle, sister, daughter and mother of that cow was included. Everyone in that family was represented on colour film in various degrees of quality for me to peruse at my leisure and to extrapolate (my new fav word) my newest muse.

You see, the only photos I had of said bovine beauty were of her in her last stages of life, having just been through a difficult birth and being in , shall we say working clothes. All you ladies out there know that THE worst photo ever taken of you was when you lay back in the maternity bed joyfully holding your newborn child and looking like you were dragged across Canada by your hair behind an 18 wheeler. Vogue here we come....NOT!

This poor beast was covered in filth, so much so that I could not even hazard a guess on my best day as to where on her shrunken up frame her markings could be. Forget deciphering what colour she was. Hence the loads of family photos, none of which I am told even closely resemble her but she is "kinda in between the aunt , sister and daughter".

"You know what I mean right?"

I hate that question.

I know what I think...... it is politically incorrect and would make a sailor blush but how about we discuss it!

I don't know if it old age, experience or bad eye sight but now I have a tendency to run screaming in the other direction when folks present me with crummy photos. Call me a coward but one drink from the artistic fountain of youth was enough for me. I have decided I am NOT that creative. Ask me about the Atomic structure of minerals instead!

Peggy's Cove 20x10 oil

This last summer we traveled on a family trip down to Peggy's Cove so our kids to see what all the fuss was about. As Nova Scotians we have an appalling lack of awareness of our own province. I wanted to make sure my kids knew the attraction to our lovely province included more than fast food joints and malls.

It had been many years since I had been down and the kids and I were both surprised to see the minimising of tree height the closer to the shore that we got. The huge boulders and smooth rock faces the littered the landscapes made for an oddly beautifully if somewhat eerie surrounding.

Once at Peggy's Cove the multitude of buses and campers had us hard pressed to find parking. The throngs of people clamoring to the famous lighthouse had us a little taken aback. To estimate that there were hundreds bounding about the rock faces would be a conservative guess. People of all ages and ethnic backgrounds snapped photos to show family and friends back home and I found myself with a new appreciation for this place I call home.

If you have a chance to visit this Nova Scotia icon please do so , but make sure to include the many other facets of our province. We are more than a windswept rocky coastline!

Jessie 10x8 oil portrait Private Collection

The New Year is now firmly under way and this year I made a resolution to make no resolution. I figure if I want to change some aspect of my life then the day I think of it is a fine day to implement it!

This painting is of my sister in laws dog Jessie. This grand dame is 14 years old and this summer suffered severe liver failure and was not expected to survive. There was not much I could do except offer words of condolence and encourage Sara not to give up. That night I went rummaging through my photos (any beast that comes to my home eventually gets caught on film!) and found a few photos of Jessie that I felt really captured her kind loving soul.

I have to admit, I did not expect her to make it. The prognosis was poor when I started slathering paint around the canvas. I wanted Sara to have something to remember her loyal friend with.

This past weekend was a wonderful few days as my home was filled with family from all over. Lots of old friends gathered to drink fine ( and not so fine!) wine and kids generally had the run of the house. Food was plentiful and the conversation was great.

The best part was the presence of Jessie who perused the confines of the house in search of errant bits of food that racing children tend to lose. She looks thinner and a little less speedy ( although that was never a strong suit ....) but the old girl was present when Sara received her Christmas gift. I guess it was a bit of a two in one! What a great way to start the year!

Happy New Year !

Big Race Work in progress

Happy New Year!

It is hard to believe that it is now a New Year and that 2010 is behind us. I personally say good riddance and look forward to the joy that the next 362 days has to offer.

I have been very busy with a variety of smaller commissions and since I have a strict policy of not posting them until the customer receives them I have been hard pressed to post new work. That is until 1:32 am last night. After working on and finishing several smaller pieces with time deadlines on them I glanced at this large piece (24"x36") and got inspired. This piece has sat sketched out and propped up against the wall for months now. I normally avoid large pieces like the plague but after several weeks of fine detail work getting the big brushes out and swooshing paint around the canvas was an absolute joy!

This is another of that series of paintings I am doing based on the local racetrack here in Truro.

I like the way this painting is coming along. Much like this New Year. Lets hope they are both spectacular!!

Morning Lamb
Photo finalist in the Canadian Federation of Agriculture's 75th Anniversary Photo Contest

I hope all of you have had a fantastic Christmas and are preparing for the New Year with great anticipation and joy.

We had a great Christmas here and as usual I have a story to tell about it.

As the family grows larger (in physical size...I could never do the baby thing again!!LOL) and everyone has demands that must be met. One scare commodity is the computer. Apparently my family has decided that my time on this wretched machine far exceeds the families approved time lines and so for a present this year my family bought me my very own lap top.

Nothing fancy, just a basic piece of equipment that I can gleefully fill with my photos and paintings and write my stories on. Something I can take on my travels through out the house and beyond on my whim.

My whim apparently is very irritating to family members so with great joy to the receiver and from the givers my new lap top began the lengthy process of rebuilding. For those of you who know me or have read this blog you will all note that I am not the most computer literate person on the planet and my husband is quite adept at it. Most of the time.

He likes to install new hard drives and usually this results in lengthy durations where I have no contact with the outside world. A horrible fate for someone who has a set routine and can not fulfil it. In that way I am very much like The Big Bangs Sheldon. The world is not quite right if my routine is disrupted.

And so I puttered around the house Christmas morn as Dave installed program after program.

We had Christmas dinner complete with all the trimmings and had scented candles placed upon the table to add a festive air to the event. I went to the studio to work on several new commissions and several hours later returned to the kitchen to note an odd glow from my new laptop. Wondering what program could ever do that I sidestepped David as he raced to my side babbling about "the candles, the damn candles"

My screen had an odd configuration on it slightly resembling a lighted skull with rays coming from it. When I ventured to looked at the back I nearly suffered a stroke. The illumination on the screen was caused by a huge hole about 3 inches by 2 inches in my lap tops cover! David had left the never been touched by me laptop too near the candle and after several hours of inattendence it melted a gaping hole in it!! My new baby was now horribly mangled!!!

My children in the past , who have sat at the computer thoroughly focused on the screen totally oblivious to the outside world have missed the fire departments arrival at our home. I always wondered how a person could so totally tune out the world around them and I always wonder, always suspected which side of the gene pool THAT darling trait came from. It would appear it comes from the male side. As David had sat at the computer, as it melted away without once realizing this event was literally occurring under his nose!

And men wonder why women call men "Dumb asses!"

I will be the only person on the planet (including the Pope) who has an actual HOLY computer!

Happy Holidays Folks

Blue Bird of Happiness- Needle felted

Chickadees Hat and Mittens- Needle felted

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except.. for the parents"

We are trying to finalize the great mans arrival and as par for the course, we are once again on a frantic search for "the" gift that was purchased with glee and hidden with hopes that it would not be found by the multiple little fingers that are linked to a curious mind.

I had hoped that we could avoid a repeat of past Christmas' that had a habit of continuous giving. You know what I am talking about, where you find gifts squirreled away only to be located during the summer months. Doesn't bode well for food stuffs or sledding equipment and trust me when I say there is no disappointment quite like that of a child who receives the ammo for his "special" Nerf gun but doesn't actually get the gun until August of the following year!

This year I made a pact with myself not to lose a single gift. I hid everything in plain sight with the knowledge that they would be easily accessible for prying minds but also easily found for aging ones as well! I also cut down on the amount of gifts and put a Nix on anything that required "assembly" or "batteries not included" gifts.

The plan was to remove those confused looks that pass between parents during the mornings festivities where each of you tries in vain to send mental images and discussion topics while looking like you planned the Barbie clothes to arrive without the Barbie! Searching through cluttered garages and crawling over rabbit hutches in a futile attempt to find the module that goes with that new xBox gets mighty embarrassing when you have an anxious audience.

I love Christmas!

A good story now. A true story.

I was at the bus station yesterday to mail of one last painting and as I stood in line awaiting my turn I watched the exchange between the clerk and the bus driver who was trying to explain why she was on the phone and not behind the wheel of her bus and travelling down the highway. I was listening half heartedly as my focus was drawn to the parked bus as a timid elderly woman slowly exited the vehicle. She looked confused and uncertain and lost.

"You'll wait? Great, I'm leaving right now."

The driver explained to her coworkers and the rest of us that an elderly passenger did not get off the bus in Antigonish (about 90 minutes away from us and the opposite direction she needed to be going in!) and was now in danger of missing any buses to get her to her final destination of Sydney. This woman bus driver was taking her over to New Glasgow to be able to catch a bus that would be waiting, courtesy of another kind person, so that she could make home before nightfall.

One last look at the frail older woman had me sending a silent prayer to God thanking him for the bus driver and her kindness. The cynical part of me that I do try to remove from my character wondered what would have become of this poor woman if the driver had of been callus and cold. Would she have been able to find lodging for the evening in a strange town as everyone bustled past her without regard for her plight?

This kind act had me becoming more aware of those around me. I smiled a bit brighter and wished the clerks through out the day a Merry Christmas not just because it was polite conversation but because I actually wished them good tidings. The response was wonderful.

And so I extend my warmest regards and hopes that you enjoy the Holiday season and all it has to offer. Perhaps the feeling of good will toward all men will stay with us all a Little bit longer than these few days in December. Maybe it won't get lost like my Christmas gifts.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year one and all!

Crystal Butterfly
(which promptly fell off the railing 1 second after this photo was taken thus proving that crystal butterflies can not fly and will become mangled when they hit the ground 15 feet below them!)

Crystal Angel

Crystal Christmas Ornaments

We are now beginning to feel the effects of a brutal Nor'easter here. The sheep and the horse are all hiding out in their sheds and Rex the rooster is learning that crowing in a wind storm leads to instant flight!

Poor Rex, being the rooster that he is in all his glory has become airborne several times already and being a typical stubborn males has decided that he can not take refuge in the shed until his quota of crowing has been filled. I am quite certain one of my neighbors will become the new owners of an aged Ameracauna Rooster! I imagine the scene will resemble that one in Twister where Helen Hunt sees a cow fly by their truck, only in our case it will be the truck driving school down the road witnessing Rex's first long haul flight!!

I am hoping the storm will be gentle on us. I love my concrete house. The only thing I usually hear in a storm like this is the sound of slapping shingles. It is a very horrid sound. There is no rhythm and it I swear it sounds like money. Money leaving my bank account as each and everyone hurtles to the ground in an effort to dent one of my vehicles! I have found the use of ear plugs to be very comforting in a case such as this.

I suppose we should be glad it is not 10 feet of snow!

The pictures today are of a recent project the kids and I have under taken. It has been great fun to create sculptures out of pipe cleaners and then let them soak in a solution of Borax and water where crystal form and the end result is fantastic. It is easy and your imagination is the only limiting factor.

Imagination is a great thing...unless you are the mother of an imaginative 11 year daughter. I was out one evening and when I returned a few hours later I was stunned to find my beautiful kitchen in complete disarray. I have a large kitchen. There are 40+ feet of counter space and each and every inch of it was covered in "stuff". Anna was bounding around like a kid on a sugar high busily writing out orders and placards informing people not to touch her experiments. :(

It seems she decided the Internet was a wondrous fount of information and one the should be utilized to its maximum. Not content with our earlier Borax creations she decided to see what else she could create crystals out of. It seems that all food stuffs are fair game. Sugar, salt and spices were all combined in various concoctions with food colouring and vinegar. The next day involved a long expensive visit to the grocery store.

Being 11 also means that clean up is NOT one of your required priorities. Creating a vast mess and coating every inch of Moms huge counter top ...do-able and DONE!

I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. So in true MOM fashion I lectured as I cleaned and taught Anna a new skill... multitasking. She can now clean and apologize at the same time!!

Merry Christmas Folks.