Surfboards at Sunrise

I finally got it together and painted again.  It's been close to 6 months since I've picked up a brush and I'm not entirely sure why.  The painting room was mess for a while and I didn't paint because I can't paint in chaos, but I still didn't paint once it was cleaned up.  Nothing really sparked my interest long enough for me to actually get set up & paint.

I took a trip to the Carolinas a few weeks ago and took some fun pictures. I was browsing through them last week and FINALLY one just screamed to be painted.  It took a while to get back into the groove of it so the painting's pretty rough. But I'm happy with it simply because it got me painting again.

Surfboards at Sunrise (12 X 24)

The playlist for this one had to have at least one song from Jason Mraz because he's the reason I went to North Carolina in the first place but I also wanted to include songs that are current faves. I stumbled upon the music of Kris Orlowski because he followed me on Twitter. Whatever it was that made him hit that follow button is my good fortune because I've been listening to Mountains on repeat for quite a while now.  Check him out if you like folk pop music!

1. Ho Hey - The Lumineers
2. Mountains - Kris Orlowski & Andrew Joslyn
3. The Ladder - Andrew Belle
4. White Fences - NEEDTOBREATHE
5. I Will Wait - Mumford & Sons
6. Six Weeks - Of Monsters and Men
7. I'm Coming Over - Jason Mraz
8. Keep Your Head Up - Andy Grammar
9. Only Love - Ben Howard
10. Sunburn - Ed Sheeran
11. Speak for Me - John Mayer
12. Promises Promises - Jon McLaughlin
13. My Oh My - Tristan Prettyman
14. Free - Steve Moakler
15. Where the West Wind Blows - Green River Ordinance

Nada

This post is for my friend Jen, who checks in every day to see if I've painted anything or at least posted something.  And I haven't.

The painting room is a disaster and I haven't had the energy or the desire to tackle cleaning & organizing it. So I obviously haven't painted anything.  In months! It feels weird.

I've taken plenty of photos lately, though, so here's one of my favorites from last weekend. Sunset overlooking the land my family has farmed for the last 100 years. I'll paint it, eventually.

Getting Closer!

Four done, two to go! I worked on day job stuff most of the night, but took a bit of time to put some finishing touches on painting #4 for the nephew's series of animals.  I should be able to finish the last two this weekend.

I don't know why I always forget how calming it is to paint.  You need to focus or it turns into crap. Which means there's no extra room for me to perseverate on stressful things. It's awesome.  I like empty brain.

Stress Relief

I've been feeling really frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted with stuff lately. Stupid stuff.  Stuff being people. Mostly.

So instead of crying (again) tonight and stuffing my face with chocolate and anything else I can find in my cupboards, I decided to do something productive. Though, to be completely honest, supper was a hot fudge sundae. Sometimes chocolate is the only answer. 

This time the answer was a combination of chocolate and painting.  And music. And Skyping with my brother. And seeing my niece practice walking. And a new episode of NCIS. Mark Harmon can put anyone in a good mood. 

Alright, I'll admit the world doesn't completely suck.  

Tonight I realized I haven't picked up a paintbrush since well before Christmas.  That's just heartbreaking. So.  I grabbed my paints & brushes and started working on the third painting in a series of six 12x12s for my newest nephew. Who will be 8 months old in a week. (Yikes! I need to get these done before he's one...). They're all replicas of paintings we found on Etsy, so I'm not going to post my copies. Just know they're adorable.

As for music, I've been listening to a lot of Dave Barnes lately. His newest album, Stories to Tell, was released last week and I'm loving it. 

Praha. Moje nejoblíbenější město na světě.

Translation: Prague. My favourite city in the world.

I so love this city. I first fell in love with it through a picture, found randomly on the internet. It was one overlooking the roofs and spires, so perfectly depicting Prague as the City of a Thousand Spires. I started trip planning almost immediately. By which, I mean reading travel books and doing internet searches. I didn't think I could afford it, nor did I think I had the guts to travel alone.

And then...

My 30th birthday was approaching and I wanted to celebrate with something memorable. A trip to Prague, perhaps? I found a tour company that offered 'relaxed' tours. They handled the mess of hotels and transport between cities and only provided a half day of actual group touring before you had the next 2 1/2 days on your own. It was perfect. The entire trip include Prague, Vienna, and Budapest and I loved it. I highly recommend visiting the other cities too, especially for you history lovers out there.

But Prague? It was magical. The buildings, the history, the people (who always forgave my horrendous attempts at the Czech language), and quite honestly, the air created such a wonderful experience that I knew I'd make it back one day.

Luckily for me, that day was an entire weekend. Last weekend. Events beyond my control cancelled a trip to Australia and left me with a flight credit. It wasn't difficult to decide to hop on a plane to go see LynnieC in London. It also wasn't difficult to convince her to spend the weekend in Prague. This time, I made sure to take more pictures with painting in mind. I even made it to Charles Bridge for sunrise. It's a good thing pretty things come from getting up that early. I hate early mornings.

I'll be sad to head home, but I'll be painting for a long time to come. These are only a few of my favourites. Stay tuned for some actual paintings!

If you rub the plaque of John Nepomuk falling into the Vltava on his statue on Charles Bridge, it means you'll return to Prague one day. I'm not the superstitious sort, but every bit of luck and chance and what-have-you will help to make sure I come back.

London Travels

I've been in London a few days now and already have some fun pictures planned for painting! There's an abundance of historical sites to photograph and wandering the museums just makes me want to grab a brush and start painting.  My favourite so far has been the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House (even the small sketches are amazing!) but I haven't hit the National Gallery. Yet. I'm hoping to snag a ticket to the da Vinci exhibit that is focused solely on his paintings.

Here's a sample of a couple photos that I plan to paint at some point. 

The first in St. James's Park just outside Buckingham Palace. The second is looking out my friend's kitchen window.

2011 Resolution. Fail.

Okay so I didn't quite make my goal of finishing a painting a month for my 2011 New Years Resolution.  But when I think about everything that happened throughout the year, 8 paintings isn't bad. Plus, Fall Leaves should count for at least 3, don't you think?

I also haven't painted since September.  How in the world did 3 whole MONTHS pass without me picking up a brush?! No wonder I was a massive grouch for most of November...

So, 2012's Resolution is a modification of 2011's. The goal is to complete 12 real (no practice!) paintings throughout the year. Obviously one a month isn't reasonable but a total across the year is doable.  If nothing else, the regular painting will help me keep my sanity and save my family, friends, and co-workers from experiencing another November with me.  Hopefully.

Sad, Lonely Canvas

I haven't painted in what feels like forever.  Again, the day job has made me super busy-crazy, as it always does this time of year and I've just contented myself with hanging with family & friends and catching up on all the new TV shows when I have a free minute.


But every now and then my eye catches a blank canvas and I feel all this guilt for not making something out of it.  It's like it's all sad just sitting there blank and lonely. Like that lamp in the Ikea commercial.


Happily, I just found this quote from Joe Brooks and I'm totally inspired.  Not only do I get to see him open for Tyrone Wells in San Diego in a couple of weeks, he's made me want to go pick up a paint brush RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, it's almost midnight and I have an early morning tomorrow. Sigh.


Sunday, though, will be a painting day.  Guaranteed.


The world is a blank canvas, life is a painting.
I don't want a pencil to rehearse,
I don't want an apron to wear.
I want a star shaped stencil
and a palatte of the brightest colours you can find.

                                                                       - Joe Brooks

Delivery

Fall Leaves is dry enough to take to my sister!!! Which is extraordinary timing because they're listing the house this week. I always do better with a tight deadline. Just ask my boss.

I delivered it tonight after work and helped get the house ready for listing pictures and fun staging. All personal photos are down and my generic pictures and paintings are up. It looks spacious and ready to sell. Fingers crossed for a quick sale!

Here are a couple pics of the painting on the awesome orange wall. I'm so glad nothing in the painting clashes with the wall.

Fall Leaves

This is one mother of a painting. It was an ambitious undertaking to say the least. It's 36x48. Let me clarify. That's three (3) by four (4) FEET. It's practically a toddler bed.

I don't often paint big paintings and now I remember why. It's hard to keep perspective, the canvas doesn't fit on my easel very well, and it takes a shwack load of paint.

It took forever to do - mostly because I did a bunch of other paintings in the middle and every time I looked at the size of the canvas and what I had left, I got a little overwhelmed. I had to use a grid on this one so I didn't lose my place and it felt like I'd work forever, think I'd put a pretty big dent in it, and then realize I maybe did 1 1/2 grids.

But finally, after months of going cross-eyed, it's done! It's going to look so good in my sister & brother-in-law's orange kitchen/dining room. Just in time for them to sell their house and move to the fabulous new place. I'll see if I can get a picture of it on the wall as soon as it's dry enough to take to them.

Fall Leaves (36 x 48)

Fall Leaves playlist is 25 songs instead of the usual 15 because I needed a little more variety to keep me going. It has lots of songs that are favorites of the kids' (Stuck Like Glue), some for my sister (Sweet and Low), some for my brother-in-law (Typical), some that just make me think of them as a family (Livin' the Life) and some just for me (Let's Get Lost).

1. Audience - Cold War Kids
2. Dear Avery - The Decemberists
3. Only the Good Die Young - Glee
4. Smile - Lily Allen
5. Stuck Like Glue - Sugarland
6. Livin' the Life - Martin Sexton
7. I Will Follow You Into The Dark - Death Cab for Cutie
8. Tighten Up - The Black Keys
9. Sunshine Song - Jason Mraz
10. Sleeping Sickness - City & Colour
11. Typical - Mute Math
12. Sweet Pea - Amos Lee
13. Modern Love - Matt Nathanson
14. Worried About Ray - The Hoosiers
15. Sweet and Low - Augustana
16. OK, It's Alright With Me - Erik Hutchinson
17. Let's Get Lost - Two Spot Gobi
18. Marchin On - OneRepublic
19. This Is Your Life - The Killers
20. If It Was Up To Me - Stabilo
21.  Rock and Roll Radio - Waxpoets
22. She's So Lovely - Scouting For Girls
23. New Shoes - Paolo Nutini
24. New Amsterdam - Travis
25. Sins of My Youth - Neon Trees

Summer Lull

I've been painting, I promise! I just don't have a finished product to share yet. Fall Leaves has been taking forever, I started a few smaller ones, and I've been putting the finishing touches on some other ones. Also, it's summer and I don't want to spend all my time cooped up in my sauna of an apartment, AND I have a new nephew and would rather spend time getting cuddles.

In other news, I finally delivered Sprocket to my friend; she took her to Pat yesterday and reported everything was a hit!

Phew!


I have a week off from the day job and plan to spent quite a bit of time painting. On tap:
  • Fall Leaves
  • More Fall Leaves
  • Even more Fall Leaves

and, if there's any time left:
  • Jungle Babies (new nephew present)
  • Happy Colors
  • mom present, yet to be named

City Stroll

This is my first painting that ended up as a gift. About 7 years ago, I decided to teach myself to paint with oils. I bought a bunch of 'how to' books, followed the instructions, and this is what came out. Gotta love how much you can learn from books!

I still love it and it still hangs in my sister's house.

City Stroll (16x20)

Sunny Sunday

I had a wonderful week of holidays that was filled with art. Two paintings completed, Etsy set up, art chats with Erika, and yesterday, a day of music courtesy of the Youth Singers of Calgary, especially Kidazzle (with my friend's daughter) and OnCue (my friend's group).

All the groups are amazing and put on wonderful shows. OnCue even sang some Mraz, making it all the better for me.

And to top it all off, today is a gorgeous sunny day begging me to be outside. Nothing like a big glass of iced tea, a good book, the smell of flowers, and a little sunshine.

Happy Sunny Sunday!

Summer Reading

A friend from work moved back to Ontario about a month ago. It's been strange not having her as part of my morning 'check-in' routine or a friendly ear for when I need a movement break but I'm sure she'll be much more productive at her new job without me interrupting her and hovering in her office doorway!

Before she left, we had a team retreat at my place and she fell in love with Connemara Berries. Sadly (for her), I had already promised it to someone else. And so, I decided to paint her something as a going away gift. She chose this one from a photo by my friend Ky.

A little note about the lovely Ky. She's the most wonderful photographer. She has this uncanny ability to take something common and make it extraordinary. Things like a single rose, berries, leaves, a dew drop, a rusty fence, or a book. Makes for an abundance of options for painting!



Summer Reading (9x12)


Since my friend and I share a love of singer/songwriters & CBC Radio2 tunes, I HAD to make a playlist of my current favorites.

1. Early April Morning - Brendan James
2. Dreamcatcher - Elizabeth & The Catapult
3. Victoria - John Mayer
4. Tightrope - Green River Ordinance
5. When You Find Me - Joshua Radin
6. Awake My Soul - Mumford & Sons
7. Come Home - OneRepublic & Sara Bareilles
8. Forever & Always - Parachute
9. Winter Birds - Ray LaMontagne
10. Set the Fire to the Third Bar - Snow Patrol & Martha Wainwright
11. Perfect Heaven Space - Travis
12. Drifting - Tyrone Wells
13. Can't Go Back Now - The Weepies
14. Distance - Christina Perri
15. This = Love - The Script

ETSY!!!

I opened an Etsy shop! It's still 'under construction' but I'm super excited for it to be up and going.

Today, I visited with my friend Erika and we talked about our respective Etsy shops (among other things). We discussed banners, avatars, names of the shops, all the extra work involved (payments, return policies, how to list, what to list) and how to make our shops stand out against all the other art shops. So much to think about!

The plan, once I'm done all the promised paintings to friends and family (which are the next 5 or so), is to paint some small ones to sell and to use any money I make to travel. And then take pictures while
I travel to all those exotic places, paint them, list on Etsy, lather, rinse, repeat.

Erika's shop, The Passionate Pencil, is going to be awesome. She's an absolutely amazing artist and she'll have some fantastic art for sale soon. Go check it out!

Sprocket

Oh my goodness!! It's been almost 2 months since I posted anything and longer than that since I've finished a painting. Which also means I broke my New Year resolution 4 months in.

Fail. Major fail.

Except this is painting #6 since January, so if we average it out, I'm ahead of the game. Yeah. Let's do that.

Anyway. I finally finished Sprocket, the surprise dog painting I was commissioned to do. It really took forever to complete. Not because I didn't want to work on it, but because I was so absolutely exhausted from the rest of my life that I couldn't bring myself to work on it.

My friend took a picture of the almost finished product to reveal the surprise last weekend. It was hard for me to give her a picture when I wasn't done yet and couldn't stop myself from telling her to make sure Pat (the birthday girl) knew what I still needed to fix. My stomach was in knots and what little fingernails I had are now gone. And it was all for naught.

I just heard the surprise was a big hit and that there were happy tears & major excitement - especially because Pat just painted her basement and Sprocket matches perfectly. Big sigh of relief from over here.

Sprocket (20x24)

Now Sprocket strikes me as a Joss Stone & Amy Winehouse kind of girl, so I listened to Introducing Joss Stone, Mind, Body, & Soul, Color Me Free, and Back to Black while I painted. Lovely tunes

Work with No Results...

I painted and sketched practically all weekend and haven't finished a thing, so no pictures to post yet. I've got 4 different paintings on the go at the moment - the most I've tried to juggle so far. I don't think it's working. I have a hard time figuring out which one to work on when. The one I should be trying to finish first isn't the one I want to work on and so on and so forth.

I worked on the dog painting the most. It took forever to sketch out because she kept ending up looking like a hyena instead of a dog. I really need to vacuum up all the eraser bits all over my floor, but she looks like she's supposed to. I hope.

Fingers crossed I finish at least one this week!

Days Off

The best part of having a day off work is the hours and hours of uninterrupted (provided the on-call phone doesn't ring) time to whatever I want, whenever I want, for however long I want.

Today, I want to paint. I also want to read, watch movies, sleep, and ignore all housekeeping/errands that need to get done. Which is exactly what I'm going to do.

I've been missing my free time lately, since weekdays were full of over-time and weekends were more of the same. I may still have to be on-call this weekend, but the bright side of that is being required to stay within city limits. A reason to decline plans and stay home to paint some more. It's nicer than saying I'd rather be alone.

I've done a lot already today. Painted the outer border of Baby Clothes, Freud, and Connemara Berries (1/2 of it anyway), worked on Fall Leaves (that one is going to take FOREVER), and sketched out a couple new ones.

I'm sure there will be more to post soon!

Connemara Berries

My day job has been killing me lately. Research proposals, weekend workshops, meetings upon meetings upon meetings, plus the regular stuff. Stress x social anxiety = nutcase me.
Relaxing activities, as minimal as they've been lately, did inspire some painting. The weekend workshop was in Banff and our afternoons were free, so I had oodles of time for exploring and picture taking. Which, of course, didn't happen but I at least got a couple pictures when I wasn't networking. Ugh. I hate networking.

My one reprieve was Sunday night. An evening out with like-minded friends to see Joshua Radin with Laura Jansen and Cary Brothers. Such fantastic singer/songwriters! As my friend Jen said, it was the best $25 I've ever spent. It was the perfect wrap to a busy weekend.

Happily, painting just seemed to flow from there. This is another one of Chris & Kelly's from Connemara, Ireland.

Connemara Berries (9x12)

A few weeks ago, I noticed the list of J names on my iPod is quite a bit longer than any other. And they're all fantastic! Does anyone else have this? Maybe it's because my tastes run one direction and that's what they all sing? Anyway, the discovery just screamed for a playlist for painting.

1. Jack Johnson - Dreams Be Dreams
2. James Blunt - Into the Dark
3. Joshua Radin - Sundrenched World
4. Josh Kelley - Opposite of Me
5. Joss Stone - Free Me
6. Jose Vanders - Blue Notes
7. Jim Bryson - Freeways In the Frontyard
8. Joel Willoughby - Museums and Churches
9. Jeremy Fisher - Goodbye Blue Monday
10 Jamie Cullum - London Skies
11. James Morrison - Broken Strings
12. Jon McLaughlin - Beautiful Disaster
13. Jim Cuddy - Pull Me Through
14. Jason Mraz - Conversation With Myself
15. John Mayer - Perfectly Lonely

A Piece of The Puzzle

This has nothing to do with painting or music (though Cara loves both) but it's important to share.

My friend Cara and her husband are in the process of adopting a baby from the Democratic Republic of Congo and after months and months of working and waiting, they just found out they're #2 on the waitlist. Yay!!!

It's unbelievably expensive to adopt a baby from the DRC so they've set up a few fundraisers to help bring their baby home.

Right now, they're selling puzzle pieces of this 1000 piece puzzle and they plan to hang the completed puzzle in their baby's room. Makes me all weepy thinking about it.

Please take a minute to check out their site, A Piece of The Puzzle, and donate if you can.