Shared items, the old fashioned way.

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Balloons!

My mom has always been one of those people who clips things out of the newspaper to either keep (like recipes) or share with my sister and me. It’s a habit we find both endearing and irritating because sometimes there are a LOT of clippings awaiting our inspection, and we aren’t necessarily interested in the same things she is. Despite the fact that I now live on the other side of the country my mom still saves and sends large collections of newspaper clippings whenever a package or letter is headed my way.

When I showed the latest bunch to Boris he said they are her, “Google Reader shared items.” I thought this was a pretty accurate (and funny) way to describe them and it also gave me the idea to further share the articles she’d sent me. For your reading pleasure, here are links to a few of the clippings from my mom:

Hershey the Mystery Duck
Warm Fuzzy Tale of a Good Swimaritan
How to Make Room on your cellphone

(It was too tedious to locate online all of the articles she sent, and the Toronto Star archives is apparently very limited.)

Lawstravaganza: Selling my art on the lawn

Weekly moleskin collage - Birds & music

Hey remember waaaay back at the beginning of July when I wrote about getting a career boost and my vow to work on the business of art? Well I’ve been keeping this vow and despite the summer distractions and unbearable heat of the last week I’ve actually managed to cross a few things off my art to do list. (The non-art to do list is another matter…)

One of these crossed off items was for me to create a series of postcards based on collages from my moleskin sketchbooks. I’ve been wanting to create postcards of some sort for YEARS, and now I have. I saw the final proof from the printer today and they should be done by the end of the week. Just in time for my art sale.

Weekly moleskine collage

Coming this Sunday August 9th I’ll be selling my mixed media collages, metal prints, and postcard sets on the streets of Vancouver. Our friends Ross and Kay are hosting the Lawnstravaganza on the front lawn of their building and I decided to join in the fun and take advantage of a free venue conveniently located near my house. It’s my “think outside the venue” or perhaps “DIY venue” way of getting my stuff out there. Come on by the stoop if you just happen to be in the South Granville neighbourhood. I hear there will be monkeys for sale, and hotdogs too.

Lawstravaganza
1325 West 10th Avenue
noon to 5pm
(Facebook event info)

A myriad of subtle ways

Huckleberries

My horoscope from Free Will Astrology is pretty kick ass this week:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you really knew how much you were loved, you would never cry again. A sublime relaxation would flood your nervous system, freeing you to see the beautiful secrets that your chronic fear has hidden from you. If you knew how much the world longs for your genius to bloom in its full glory, the peace that filled you would ensure you could not fail. You’d face every trial with eager equanimity. You would always know exactly what to do because your intuition would tell you in a myriad of subtle ways. And get this: A glimpse of this glory will soon be available to you.

My weekend also falls under a similar category of awesomeness as the above words, and so I give you Five Good Things from the weekend:
1. Swimming in the ocean every day. It was just enough to get me over some of the discomfort I feel when in the ocean. (What lurks below me in the water?!?)
2. So much delicious food to eat, from Dungeness crab, to fresh cherries and apricots, to fresh from the oven cakes. Yum.
3. Daily naps to catch up on all the sleep I lost to the previous weeks heat.
4. Watching Vancouver recede as we sped away at dusk on the Granville Island water taxi to Bowen Island, and the moon and the city lights danced upon the waves.
5. Getting away from the city and spending time with good friends.

Getting an Arts Career Boost with Chris Tyrell

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Week 39 - To Do List

It’s funny how the things you want most out of life, the dreams you dreamed as a child, are often the very things that escape you as an adult. Maybe it’s because life is busier and more complicated as you grow up, and some childhood dreams don’t seem to align with the need to make money.

I’ve often felt this way about my desire to become an artist, and so I’ve always left it sitting somewhere on the backburner, somewhat neglected and playing second fiddle to all the other things in my life. I’ve never actually trusted my artistic talents enough to provide me with a source of income, and so I make money some other way.

I’m not sure what I’m trying to say with all this, except maybe to express how much I’ve struggled over the years with wanting to be a real live artist who also makes money doing what I love.

If you are an artist with similar struggles, I highly recommend taking a workshop with Chris Tyrell as well as buying his book, “Artist Survival Skills”. I recently completed his excellent four-session workshop, Professional Visual Arts Career Management, at the Alliance for Arts & Culture. (Download the PDF with a detailed course description.) It is just the thing every artist needs to clarify goals, define a personal idea of success, market your work, and all sorts of tidbits on how to develop your arts practice as a business. These are areas I’ve always been lacking because the business of art doesn’t come as naturally as the creation of art.

The photo I’ve included at the top of this entry is called “To Do List” and is part of my self portrait series “52 Weeks“. I created the shot at a time when my to do list was feeling particularly long, just as it is now. I’m putting the business of art back on my to do list and hope to write more about the steps I take next. If you have any tips or suggestions please leave a comment. I’d love to hear from people about what has worked for them.

The Meaning of Poppies

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Poppies

Little did you realize that each and every flower has a symbolic meaning. I rediscovered this recently via Conscientious and a link to an extensive list of the symbolic meaning of flowers. I recall as a teen that roses had different meanings depending on the colour, and girls always wanted red ones because they represented love, while yellow represented friendship.

Poppies

I’ve always been more of a tulip loving girl, with a passion for dahlias and for poppies when they’re in season. At the moment the poppies are out in full force and I’ve been celebrating their yearly appearance by taking a million photos.

Pink poppies

And what you might ask, is the symbolic meaning of poppies? Imagination, dreaminess, and eternal sleep.

More Mixed Media Collage on Etsy

Here’s a few more of my recent mixed media collage pieces that I’ve listed for sale on Etsy.

Mixed Media Collage - On wings we fly
On Wings we Fly, 10″ x 10″
Mixed Media Collage: gel medium transfer, inkjet print, rubber stamp, acrylic paint, and watercolour

This work is listed for sale on Etsy with further detail photos.

Mixed Media Collage - Octopus
Octopus, 10″ x 10″
Mixed Media Collage: gel medium, inkjet print, paper, rubber stamp, book pages, acrylic paint, ink, and watercolour

This work is listed for sale on Etsy with further detail photos.

Mixed Media Collage - Ginko Leaves
Ginko Leaves, 10″ x 10″
Mixed Media Collage: gel medium, paper, Japanese paper, rubber stamp, book pages, ginko leaves, acrylic paint, ink, and watercolour.

This work is listed for sale on Etsy with further detail photos.

Mixed Media Collage on Etsy

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As mentioned many times on the blog, I’ve been exploring mixed media collage techniques with the goal of creating one piece a week in a moleskin sketchbook. I managed to keep this up for about a year and a half and learned a lot in the process. Earlier this spring I decided the sketchbook format was too limited so I switched to using cradle frames (wooden panels) as the base for my collage work. These are some of the pieces I have finished so far.

Mixed Media collage - Little Birds
Little Birds, 10″ x 10″
Mixed media collage, using Japanese paper, sheet music, book pages, rubber stamps, watercolours, gel medium, and a magnolia leaf skeleton.

This work is listed on Etsy with further detail photos.

Mixed Media collage - Black Birds
Black Birds, 8″ x 8″
Mixed media collage, using Japanese paper, paper, book pages, gel medium transfer, acrylic paint, and rubber stamps.

This work is listed on Etsy with further detail photos.

With this new work I decided to implement a new pricing system based on price per square inch. My pricing technique in the past has been random and often resulted in under selling. Going forward t will be nice to have a proper system as reference. This simple idea was inspired by information I’ve been learning in the Professional Visual Arts Career Management workshop I’ve been taking the last two weeks with Chris Tyrell. It’s been the right kick in the pants I’ve needed for awhile to get on track with taking my art career seriously.

Gathering only the influences you want, and shedding the rest.

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Yellow shoes. Red tights.

I love the horoscope from Free Will Astrology this week:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Dear Rob Brezsny: I really didn’t like a recent horoscope you wrote for me. I’m a Leo, and although your oracle was sort of true, I didn’t want it to be true, and furthermore I didn’t want to lend my belief energy to help make it true. So I went hunting among the other signs, hoping to find a different horoscope that appealed more to the healthiest aspect of my fantasy life. I settled on the ‘scope for Cancer, as it piqued my interest with just the right hopeful twist, and provided a highly motivating kick in the butt. Thanks! – Picky Choosy.” Dear Picky Choosy: I approve of your efforts. These days I would love all of my Leo readers to be as imperious as you’ve been in gathering only the influences you want, and shedding the rest.

On that note, I’d say the horoscope for Cancer also applies:

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The joke goes like this: “Why is a math book so sad? Because it has so many problems.” But of course that’s a distortion of the truth. In fact, the math book loves its problems. Its problems are its reason for being. Besides that, all of its problems are interesting challenges, not frustrating curses. Best of all, every problem has a definite answer, and all the answers are provided in the back of the book. Now here’s the most excellent news of all, Cancerian: I think you’ll be like a math book in the coming weeks.

10 Good Things from the Weekend

Magnolias

It’s Wednesday, the day of the week that rests exactly at the point between the previous weekend and the one to come. I’ve been having a series of awesome weekends and I wanted to write up a “Good Things” list before the next one happened. Here goes:

1. Hanging out with Boris enjoying some excellent quality time and adventures. I couldn’t ask for a more fun person to spend time with.
2. Taking myself on a movie date to see the documentary Earth. The cinematography is stunning and spectacular, and showcases scenery and animals all over the world. I left the theatre feeling uplifted and inspired.
3. Making plans with a friend to get back on track with a long neglected photo project.
4. Taking a day trip to Stevenston where we spent a few hours wandering around enjoying the fantastic weather.
5. A bit of unexpected retail therapy at the Orb & Arson warehouse sale, which was located where we changed buses between Vancouver and Steveston. I picked up some great bargains.
6. Lunch on the Wharf in Steveston at Pajos. Yum. Good.
7. Sitting in the grass relaxing and watching people fly kites.
8. Taking an afternoon nap on Saturday.
9. Making dessert from sad fruits wizened with age and neglect, and turning them into a delicious apple, pear and rhubarb crisp.
10. Talking to my mom and sister at the same time through the magical powers of three-way calling.

(Pola) ‘roid Week 2009, Part 2

These are the concluding shots to my week of shooting polaroid. I took eleven shots over the course of the week, using up the last shot in one pack of film and going through a second full pack. I now have four left out the ten my sister Kathryn sent me as a belated birthday present last August.

'roid week 2009: A gathering of tulips
Friday: A Gathering of Tulips

'roid week 2009: Maggie keeps an eye on the neighbourhood
Friday: Maggie Keeps an Eye on the Neighbourhood

'roid week 2009: As the sky bursts into flower
Thursday: As the Sky Burst into Flower

I really enjoyed shooting with the polaroid this week because despite shooting mostly digital lately I’m still a film camera girl at heart.