Stickin' Ideas Together

OK so this blog is off topic. It's not about art. Well perhaps about the Art of Living or even the Art of Living Sanely. My daughter is 2 1/2 years old. Of course she's lovely & the most beautiful, talented, cutest etc. ever! However, did I mention she's 2 1/2 years old? What an age. Curious, expressive, busy, demanding, bossy, defiant. Yes I am digressing here. I'm exhausted. Apparently from the age of about 2 until maybe 25 we know EVERYTHING. I vaguely remember my own mother complaining about my attitude. OK so I'm saying it, she was right. I was a royal pain. And now I get another 20+ years of payback. Sorry my dear daughter that I'm complaining about you online. However, maybe the Art of Living Sanely is partially accomplished or reached through such expression -- an "installation" that expels stress through the act of typing out one's frustrations. Perhaps it could be interpreted as public journalling. Whatever. All I know is that I

From Canada to the States, print is alive & well. Currently I'm crazy about these two mags. Uppercase  is published from Calgary. Yes, I too was surprised that Cowtown could be so design-stylish & typographically sensitive. But that shows how ignorant/prejudice I can be. The mag features designers and artists from across the globe. Additionally interviews include folks that run their own business in a creative manner, such as the British family whose business is to refurbish retro trailers and caravans and rents them out for personal & business use. The mag is delightfully detailed with illustrations and graphics that support each story. The stock is hefty and over-all a joy to soak up. Where Women Create is fully American. But don't let that leave you feeling excluded. The stories are warm, inspiring, & drenched with rich, detailed photography. Each page I turn leaves me enthralled. I envision myself in each studio (and secretly, being featured in the

I am absolutely crazy about retro illustrations. Specifically late 1950s through 1960s. I love the colour-ways, the loose illustrative approach and equally loose print registration. I recently tripped across this site, Uptown Avenue , that showcases a few samples. Great, eh? Admittedly I have confiscated a few books that friends have given our 2 year old that have super illustrations in them. I'm not proud of that. And I do periodically take them out to read to her. Don't judge me : ) Anyway, this is just a quick note to introduce you to these works in case you hadn't noticed them before. Enjoy!

Does this name sound like a rock star's? In the art world of "live painting" Jesse Reno is exactly that. Jesse paints with his hands, with crayons, pastels, kid-quality paint & brushes. He paints on canvas, cupboards, wood panels - anything he can get his hands on. In addition, Jesse has painted many murals, done live shows (both public and private commissions), publishes his own books of his art as well as a line of running shoes! His work is primal, soul-filled, naive & honest. He is a music-loving, tattooed-frenzied artist. And he's driven to succeed as a self-supporting artist. And successful he is. Last summer I had the pleasure of attending one of Jesse's workshops. It was liberating, inspiring and frustrating. Jesse's approach is to demonstrate his techniques, provide gentle guidance and offer a class crit at the end. The liberation I felt was attributed to the techniques he employs: mixing paint right on the painting surface and often wit

Art cards are a wonderful, affordable way to share artwork; they are a gift and greeting in one. What I love most about printing my own cards is having multiple images of my work. Since I create original artwork for sale, the concept of "more than one" is novel. And once they are printed palm-size, the images appear extremely tight and crisp and brand new all over again. Cathy Church at Tartooful and I are currently investigating the possibilities of broadening the sale of my cards beyond her gallery boutique and my close circle of supporters. I hope you'll check back soon for an update of where you may be able to purchase your own palm-size collection of art cards.

The title of this blog is the title of a book I'm currently reading. No, I'm not experiencing any particular health issues. I picked up this familiar-sounding book after my yoga teacher mentioned it to me. Turns out when it was published in 2004 the author, Gabor Maté, was interviewed by The Georgia Straight. And, as it turns out, I was fascinated by some of his insights and kept the article - which I have since found. This book is about "the link between emotions and disease". Repressed emotions build up a lifetime of stress. Not surprisingly, to me at least, there is a vast link between the two but many medical professionals and disease-affected people don't acknowledge it. One of the most basic stressors is our lack of personal boundaries -- our inability to say NO. Another interesting cause of disease is stress from childhood events: "Physiological stress, then, is the link between personality traits and disease. Certain traits--otherwise known as coping

Last night I was fortunate to attend the Museum of Vancouver's opening of Fox, Fluevog & Friends . It's a retrospective of Vancouver's own Fluevog phenomenon. However, I'd like to talk about not what I saw at the exhibit, but rather what I felt: I felt energized. To me, the exhibit celebrates Creativity Expressed. Creating from that deep place of need. Expressing that need like two new lovers in lust - exploding and spilling over with raw, unbridled energy. To me, that is LIVING. Experiences like that reenergize my own creativity. I came home jazzed up with new ideas as well as a "solution" to a block I was having with a painting. I couldn't wait to get into my own stuff. Cheers to both the MOV and those who inspired the exhibit. I encourage you to check it out and celebrate these locals who daily strut their creativity.

Recently I received an email from a high school gal, Heather, who lives in South Florida. She plans to study photography after high school so is wisely taking her photo class seriously. Her assignment involved an assemblage project and her research lead her to my site. She inquired after some of the techniques I use in order to apply to her project. Heather's Creative Brief The project I'm working on is an assemblage sort of like Joseph Cornell.... My meaning for the box is for the viewer to see all sides of the box because everyone has a need to know everything they can about an item and/or person, like Pandora's box. It started as just the box being the center of interest but I started adding a story to it. See my model has a possessiveness of the box so I photographed her with the box in different locations and I'm planning on transferring them into the box in a montage like your work or Robert Rauchenberg then inside I want to assemble it somehow like Cornell to sh

Amazingly we're a good 1/3 way through 2010 already! My seeming disinterest in blogging (last entry Oct. 09) is actually a somewhat recent realization that I didn't have a link from my site to my blog so no one knew it existed. Don't bother asking why it's taken so long to correct the issue; the answer is lame. So I made my way through the entire Style Statement book which, by the way, I bought. I hadn't realized at first that it's really a work-book. And since I'm one-of-those who actually writes in books, I figured I'd best own it. Besides, I am also one-of-those who actually enjoys the whole self-help-like solitary, self-evaluation experience. It's thought provoking and reflective. And quite frankly that stimulates the artist in me. In case you don't know what the statement is all about, I'll give you the brief low-down: it's 2 words that sum up "who I am". The first word is intended to represent 80% of "who I am".