Snow walker

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There was something magical about yesterday’s snowy weather. I felt like a kid again as I walked up my street to catch a bus to work. I was warm, cozy, and happy all bundled up in my many layers and I wasn’t bothered at all about having to slog through the wet snow. It reminded me of winters in Ontario, of those days when the snow is thick on the ground but the texture is dry and fluffy, the sky is clear and the temperature is surprisingly warm. I walked outside a lot yesterday, part of the way to work and all the way home later in the evening. There were a lot of other people doing the same but maybe not for the pleasure of it like I was.

Good Things from Yesterday:
– Getting fresh air and exercise
– Helping put together an excellent Christmas luncheon for Hop Studios
– Goofing around outside helping to clean off Travis and Susie’s car
– Feeling over-sugared from eating Susie’s excellent homemade caramel (it’s so good, yet so bad for you.)

Little Birds in the Snow

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Little bird in the snow

Before I had a bird of my own I had no interest at all in winged creatures. I may have even thought they were boring. Then my sister brought home a breeding pair of lovebirds, and soon I had a cheeky little bird of my own, one I’d raised from an egg. Many years and one lovebird later, I am fascinated by birds of all kinds and am capable of watching them for hours on end (dorky, but true).

My apartment is a great spot for watching small birds like sparrows, chickadees, and dark-eyed Junco, and I’m amazed how these tiny things can survive just fine in cold weather. I think they look warmer out there than I do in my many layers… I’m a bit worried about them not finding enough food with all this snow so I decided to purchase seed for them and put it along my window sills. They are very entertaining as they help themselves to food and bob up and down to keep an eye on me through the window.

The Field Guide: Birds of British Columbia group on flickr for plenty more bird photos.

Testing to Create

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One of the things I made today

I love this piece. It actually started out as a test to see how a particular Japanese paper (I don’t know the name of) looked layered over the gel medium transfer I’d done of one of my tree photos on wood. I did a test of each colour of paper – green, blue, and an off-white – and suddenly it was becoming a composition rather than just a “test piece” for collaging techniques. The leaf skeleton, splashes of watercolour, bird stamp, and coating of gel medium were further additions to make it complete.

On another note, I’ve been having doubts about making Christmas presents versus buying them. My thoughts are whether handmade presents are less valuable, or maybe less valued, than something store bought, and is it cheaping out to do things myself. I know this isn’t true, and I love it when friends gift me items made with their own hands, but not everyone appreciates a handmade item. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

Christmas baking and a Few Good Things

The window at Brioche

It is Sunday afternoon and I’ve decided to take a break from the frenzy of Christmas baking I’ve been up to for the last few hours. I haven’t done baking for Christmas in a few years and I am trying all new recipes. I started with a batch of candied orange peels, then onto chocolate almond bark, with a finale of chocolate truffles. I am waiting for each batch of yummies to cool and set, but otherwise I am done. Overall these were really easy things to make though the citrus peels were the most labour intensive, requiring multiple reboils in hot water to soften and remove the pith. I may do a second batch of these and do a better job with pith removal because they make the taste more sour than sweet.

Good Things from the Weekend:
1. Getting set up with a new cell phone (and plan) that is about one thousand times more advanced than the one I’ve had for almost five years.
2. Baking chocolate chip banana bread
3. Making and sharing Saturday brunch with friends
4. Having a recovered Boris back to the land of the living
5. Getting out for a walk on a rainy but lovely Friday night

100 Things I Love

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Week 33 - Pattern & Colour

This list is inspired by Degan’s, which was in turn inspired by Hula Seventy’s.

1. Spirals
2. Yuuki tail feathers
3. The colour red
4. Hugs
5. Black tea with milk and honey
6. Japanese paper
7. Yoga
8. Candied ginger
9. Lemon verbena soap from Trader Joes
10. Roadtrips
11. Writing letters
12. Stationery
13. Snuggling with B
14. Watching the snow fall
15. Listening to rain outside my window
16. Chocolate chip banana bread
17. Anne’s German apple cake
18. Chips
19. Bowen Island
20. Walking around Kilarney Lake
21. The P-Sharan pinhole camera
22. Sour key candy
23. Grapefruit
24. Bacon
25. German egg pancakes made by Boris
26. Handmade knitted/crocheted things from friends
27. Taking photos (Duh!)
28. Cuddling Maggie
29. Laughing until I cry
30. Soaking in the bathtub
31. Hot chocolate with whipped cream
32. Art supplies
33. Watching birds
34. Crows
35. Afternoon naps when it’s sunny
36. Crunching through fallen leaves on the sidewalk
37. Dancing
38. Singing
39. Making and sharing food with friends
40. Textiles from India
41. Strawberry rhubarb pie
42. Reading comics
43. Forest walks
44. Postcards in the mail
45. Packages from my family
46. Feeling inspired
47. Talking about art and creativity
48. Contax cameras
49. Toy cameras
50. Blank notebooks.
51. Cilantro
52. Scarves
53. Arm/wrist warmers
54. Lemon tarts
55. Laughing at farts
56. Picnics at the beach
57. Community gardens
58. Looking for Graffiti in back alleys
59. Snow covered North Shore mountains revealed after days of cloud
60. Walking along the water between Kits beach and Jericho
61. Riding my bike with a large group of people
62. Mango ginger stilton cheese
63. Fireweed honey
64. Teapots
65. Poofy duvets
66. Used bookstores
67. Knee socks
68. Weekend brunch
69. Taking art workshops
70. Fish shaped waffles filled with red bean paste
71. Photobooth pictures
72. Art night
73. The silver bird ring from my sister
74. Hand thrown pottery mugs
75. Yuuki chattering quietly to himself
76. Chasing Bogey
77. Artist studio tours
78. Buttons
79. Expired slide film
80. The sweet text messages from B I have kept on my phone for months
81. Writing lists
82. Flip flops in summer
83. Warm slippers in winter
84. Watching herons fishing at dusk
85. Looking through a fresh batch of photo prints
86. Letter press drawers as nik nak shelves
87. Tiny things
88. Poppies
89. The farmers market
90. Dahlias
91. Experimenting
92. Feathers
93. Smooching
95. Drift glass
96. Japanese maples
97. Cherry blossoms in spring
98. Watching eagles soar
99. Letting silence be
100. Patterned and colourful clothing

(It’s harder than you think to write one hundred things you love.)

Inspiration enters at the border between hard work and laziness

From Free Will Astrology:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “It’s better to be clumsy than clever,” says an ancient Chinese book called *Poets’ Jade Splinters,* “better plain than affected, better crude than weak, better eccentric than vulgar.” That’s a good prescription for you to use in the way you live your life in the coming days, Leo. Here’s another observation from the same text that should also be helpful: “Inspiration enters at the border between hard work and laziness.” That suggests you’ve got to work hard and discipline yourself in order to earn the right to inspiration, but often the inspiration flows in when you’re goofing off or giving yourself some slack.

Wholeness

Wholeness

Traveling to Bowen Island just got a whole lot faster, easier, and fun with the introduction of the Granville Island Water Taxi service. Boris and I took it over to Bowen on friday evening, and came back on it Sunday night. It costs more than the regular bus and ferry combo, but getting home in an hour makes it all worth it. I’m looking forward to making the trip during daylight hours sometime and enjoying the view of Vancouver from the perspective of the water.

Good things from the weekend:
– Long naps on both Saturday and Sunday
– Adventures around Bowen with Boris and Kirsti that included a stop for hot chocolate
– Finding interesting objects for future art projects at the wild and crazy community garage sale
– Walking through the rainy darkness to and from the ferry
– Eating German apple cake and many other delicious things

The Holga Show 2008 – Saans Downtown Gallery

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saans_invite

I was thrilled to learn one of my shots was accepted into the juried holga show at Saans Downtown Gallery in Salt Lake City, Utah. There is also a limited edition book published along with the show. Opening night is tomorrow, November 21st, and the show continues until January 5th, 2009. If you live in the Salt Lake City area please check it out.

The Holga Show 2008
Saans Downtown Gallery
173 East Broadway
Salt Lake City, Utah

Weekly Moleskin Collage – Airships

Weekly moleskin collage - airships
A weekly collage from a few weeks ago.

A Few Good Things:
– Watching the little yellow goofball play around on my mug as he tries unsuccessfully to drink from it
– Enjoying a very relaxing and lovely Remembrance Day
– Working on my “Scenes from a Movie” shot for most of the day, and reminding myself I have excellent photoshop skillz
– Getting into the routine of writing two pages in my journal every morning
– Having my work accepted into two Holga/Toy Camera shows at the same time