Glad it Over!

It's New Years Eve.   Tonight, we will be spending the evening enjoying the company of  family, friends and neighbours.  Lots of great conversation and a feast of delicious Chinese food.  For the finale, a round of spectacular explosions as the fireworks are blasted off at midnight.  The kids love it almost as much as the guys who are setting them off!

The holidays are finally winding down to a close.  I love Christmas and New Years, but I can't say I am not glad to see them sneak out the door.  The excitement and hectic craziness of it all makes me long for normalcy.

The glow from the candles in the window, the glimmering Christmas tree and the soft shimmer of  the garland on the stairs.  These all made me smile the first night I had all the lights out but, in between rounds of gift wrapping, scrubbing walls and floors and running here there and everywhere!













And what a wonderful time we had!  We had a little party for the kids, and you'll never guess who stopped by for a visit!























My awesome cousin Ron was visiting from Houston with my aunt from New York!  We had a fabulous time.  Ron was hoping to get some skiing in.  That didn't quite work out, but instead, we managed to sneak in some sledding and the Two Rivers Wildlife Park.

I had barely enough time to paint some wine glasses which were to be gifts for some of my favorite people :)  I'll post a tutorial if there's interest....leave a comment!

For me, the real finale is not the fireworks but the calm that follows on New Years Day.  Ahhh....peace and quiet!

I will be enjoying it thoroughly, since it will after that that I plan on going full speed ahead with those New Year's Resolutions.  But that's another post!

Why Not Art?

If you are like me, you are always looking for something different and unique for Christmas and Holiday shopping.  Well, why not art?

I just relisted one of my giclee prints on Etsy.  This is one of the first crows I ever painted, and it's probably the most popular, too :) Sorry, but the original is already sold...it's happily residing in the home of a crow lover in beautiful British Columbia. But the print is still available, and now I am offering free shipping on it, too :)

It is printed on GORGEOUS heavy weight archival watercolor paper which is 8x10 inches.  The actual image size is 7 1/2x6 inches.


So, if you'd like to have free shipping on ANY item in my Etsy shop, all you have to do is enter the code HAPPY HOLIDAYS when you are checking out.

Don't leave it too long to order though, especially if you would like to receive your item by Christmas!  According to Canada Post's website, parcels to the United States need to be shipped by December 8th and items within Canada by December 12th.  (This is by regular post.  Sorry, but I can't extend the free shipping to Express Post, but if you do need your parcel in a hurry and it's past the deadline, just email me and we will work it out :)

Holiday Craziness and Work in Progress

The winter holidays are quickly closing in...are you ready?  It is only the first week of December, and already you can feel the rush and bustle in the air!

Things here at the house are getting pretty hectic, too...I have lists everywhere and calendars are filling up with schedules, activities for the kids and Christmas parties all over the place.  No wonder it's hard to keep up with it all :)  That's not to mention the cleaning and shopping.  I love cyber Monday :)

My youngest son, Ethan did his solo in his Christmas concert beautifully...we were all so proud!






They also enjoyed the Christmas parade :)







Facebook, Twitter, Blogs and Google Plus, Etsy, Fine Art America...Anybody else find it hard to keep up with it all?  As an artist, I think it's important to be on at least some of these social media sites.  It's a  way of getting your work out there and seen and also see and enjoy other artists's work.  I like to start my day by checking my email and putter around with all these different social media sites.

Here's my problem...I get on all these sites, and it's fun...meeting other artists and chatting and having a look at all the amazing artwork out there.  The next things you know, hours have gone by and I haven't painted a darn thing! Anybody else experience this?   I'd love to hear how other artists and bloggers balance it all. (Yes, I know I have been slow updating my blog here!)

So that being said, in spite of all the craziness going on around here, I have got a bit of painting in:) Here is a sneak peek of my latest work!  It's a work in progress, still a bit more work to be done.

I plan on adding some collage elements to it.  It's based on a photo of my grandfather when he first came to Canada from Poland.  I collaged in some letters from his mother in Poland, some pay stubs and some receipts of money he sent back to the mother country.  A lot of these got painted over, so I will print these off on rice paper and collage them back in, distress it a bit, too.  Any thoughts?

Thanks for stopping by!

Pics Pics Pics

Another busy week down and it's finally Friday...Yay!  I have been working all week and finally (ahem) got my camera back.

So, I would love to share with you all some pics from the last couple of weeks.  Remember Stacy from Magic Love Crow?  Here's the awesome painting I won from her blog giveaway a few weeks back.  I am a bit late posting this, Stacy...So Sorry!  But here it is and I hope you enjoy.  I have it in my front entranceway with my other 2 favorite pictures.

I also received in the mail a gorgeous poster that I will have to frame!  I participated in a fundraiser by doing a painting a on  6x6 inch tile for the Mosaic for Mental Health.  It was hard to get a really good picture so I took several.

Every little square is a different painting from a different artist.

Aren't these fabulous?  I love how there is so much color!

So much great art here.

If you look closely you can see my grapes in the middle of this one :)

There is everything here from abstract to realistic, anime to impressionist style.

Incredible.

   There is so much amazing work here.  I would have loved to have been there.  Maybe next year :)

Every year at my workplace, we raise funds to "adopt" a less fortunate family for Christmas.  This year we are selling tickets on a huge basket of goodies.  Everyone was asked to bring something in for the basket, so I hand painted  some wine glasses... I tried to make them funky and fun.  

I hope everyone has a great week! Next I'll be posting a pic of my work in progress...It is still a work in progress but slowly coming along :)

Excuses and I'm Lost Without My Camera!

Did everyone turn their clocks back?  I don't think Daylight Savings time is buying me any time...It's been quite a while since I posted!  I am, in fact, shocked at how fast the time has been passing, even with our clocks turned back :)  Seems there is always something crazy going on these days.  

So what's been going on that's been keeping me so busy?

First, I have to tell you about this wonderful little item I received in the mail....I can't even tell you how thrilled I was to open up  this happy painting by Stacy at Magic Love Crow.  Stacy is always so upbeat and her blog always has something fun and new going on.  She also has the best giveaways, too!

So before Halloween, Stacy had a giveaway for Magaly's All Hallows Grim Party, and guess who won...I did!

This happy little 6x6 inch painting is going right in my hallway so everyone can see it.  Isn't it adorable?

I should have a photo of it on my wall but...Part of the reason why I haven't posted lately is because my camera is on the missing list.  Well not really missing, I just left it in my locker at work.  

Last week was "Take your Kid to Work Day".  All the kids in Grade 9 get to go to work with their parents.  I took my son, Andrew and his friend Michael.   Since I work part time, I was off that day.  I took my camera to get some shots and left it there!  I am really missing my camera!   I think the boys  really enjoyed their day, though.  They thought it was cool that they got to wear lab coats...said it made them look smart LOL.  They got a great tour of blood collections and all the areas of the lab and the X-ray department.

Halloween was a blast for the kids.  We took them on haunted trail tours the weekend before, carved pumpkins, got costumes ready and Halloween night we had somewhere in the neighbourhood of 130-140 ghosts and goblins at our door...pretty good crowd!  We topped the night of with fireworks and sparklers with all the neighbors.  It was great fun...I'd share pics but I left my camera at work :) No tricks except for the after hours pumpkin stomping goblin.

I've been working on a painting.  I was planning on doing a step by step of the painting process, but *sigh* my camera is at work.  Yeah, I know I already said that, right?  Okay, I can't post the work in progress, but I will show you the original photo that I'm working from...

Is that an incredible photo, or what?  My grandfather came from Poland around 1910.  He worked at the steel plant for most of his life.  Before you could get on in the plant, you had to "earn your dues" in the rail yard...here is my Papa earning his dues.  He is sitting in the front row, furthest to the right.  He is looking down.  They look like such hard workers, don't they?  But check out that guy in the middle...it looks like he has a shovel in his hand and he's about to bop the guy in front!

Featured Artist! Yay!

I was in a rush and a flurry all day.  From my son's doctor's appointment in the morning to a highly important run to walmart with my oldest son for hair product, supper ready, piano lessons, then off to French class.  Phew!  I came home checked my email and guess what?  I'm featured in the Top Artist Directory...how cool is that? 

So, what is the Top Artist Directory, you ask?  

The Top Artists Directory is a list compiled by Kim Barker, aka laketrees and is compiled from the Top 101 Artist's Blogs List at laketrees.  Kim features an artist from the Directory every Friday.  I feel honored to be this weeks pick...Thanks so much, Kim!

By the way, speaking of featured artist, and though I hate to blow my own horn, I am excited to share this with you!   I have also been given the great honor of being chosen as featured artist for Pierscape this spring 2012.

Pierscape was started to highlight local talent and has grown into an annual weeklong festival celebrating Sydney's Whitney Pier.  Pierscape continues to grow every year.  Paintings by local artists are exhibited for the entire week with activities going on every day.  There is Ukrainian egg decorating workshops, painting workshops, food festivals, poetry and prose reading as well as music.  

My grandfather came to Whitney Pier from Poland in the early 1900s.  He worked at the steel plant  until he retired.  Here is some information I took from www.whitneypier.org's website.

Whitney Pier is a working class area of Sydney that was settled at the turn of the 20th century by peoples from all over the world who came to work in the steel and coal industries. Presently, the ethnic groups represented in the "Pier" include Jewish, Celtic, Newfoundland, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian and Black (both Nova Scotian and West Indian), as well as a small number of First Nation families.  Whitney Pier is considered to be one of the most ethnically diverse areas in Eastern Canada. Community institutions, represented by "ethnic" halls places of worship and, reflect this diversity.

The development of Whitney Pier has been going on for more than 100 years.  Since it began as a working class community (steel and coal transportation) at the turn of the 20th century, this multicultural community has always retained a strong and proud sense of itself, and it is that pride which continues to make Whitney Pier an ideal place in which to live and to work.

The activities of the Whitney Pier Festival of Visual Arts (PierScape'98 Sept. 14-20, 1998) will coincide with and enhance recent and positive changes in the community.  Several new businesses have started in the "Pier".  Park areas have been revitalized, the Boys and Girls Club has initiated a beautification program, and there is considerable interest in the summer walking tours.  Furthermore, the Whitney Pier Resource Centre has become a focus for community development. These developments all indicate a new ambience of optimism in this community which has been hard hit by the down-turn of the coal and steel industries in Cape Breton.  In the midst of these initiatives, the strong voluntarism within the community has guaranteed the strength of its ethnic groups and its historical society as the basis for continued cultural development.

So my plan is to do some paintings that celebrate the origins of Whitney Pier from my grandfather's perspective.  Stay tuned and thanks for dropping by :)

Some Vitamin C...

There's some nasty colds going around these days with the change in weather.  How about some Vitamin C for the soul?  Here are two paintings I did in the spring and I finally just got around to listing them in my Etsy shop today.  These were both done from life in my kitchen.  Hope you enjoy!

Both this painting and the next one are painted on watercolor paper, 140 lb using transparent watercolors.  Both are 5x7 inches.  You can click on either image to go to my Etsy shop where they are for sale.

This next one is a painting of pear.  I find pears to be very zen like, don't you?  I added some collage and stamping to this one with the words, "live simply".

Here's some great news...A while back I did a post on the Canadian Mental Health Association's Mosaic for Mental Health.  Here's the link here if you'd like check it out.  The association invited artists to create paintings on 6x6 inch tiles.  The put the tiles together to create the Mosaic for Mental Health.  Here are the paintings I did on the tiles:

The opening was last night.  And both of these paintings sold!  Yay!  It feels great knowing these small paintings are helping people in a huge way.  

They have the posters of the mosaic made and hopefully mine will be here soon.  As soon as I get a pic of the poster, I will post it here!

Thanks for stopping by :)