Saturday, December 26, 2009

Our Christmas Day walk...
Walking Home from Oak-Head

There is something
about the snow-laden sky
in winter
in the late afternoon

that brings to the heart elation
and the lovely meaninglessness
of time.
Whenever I get home - whenever -

somebody loves me there.
Meanwhile
I stand in the same dark peace
as any pine tree,

or wander on slowly
like the still unhurried wind,
waiting,
as for a gift,

for the snow to begin
which it does
at first casually,
then, irrepressibly.

Wherever else I live -
in music, in words,
in the fires of the heart,
I abide just as deeply

in this nameless, indivisible place,
this world,
which is falling apart now,
which is white and wild,

which is faithful beyond all our expressions of faith,
our deepest prayers.
Don't worry, sooner or later I'll be home.
Red-cheeked from the roused wind,

I'll stand in the doorway
stamping my boots and slapping my hands,
my shoulders
covered with stars.

~ Mary Oliver ~

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

to my Kieran...photo by Mark Dobbelsteyn

having you in my life makes me the luckiest mom in the world.
Happy 8th birthday my sweet boy.
I love you all the way to Pluto...
(and back).
~Mom

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Some more of my favourite live drawings from one of my gigs...




Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I wish you sunshine on your path
and storms to season your journey.
I wish you peace in the world in which you live...
More I cannot wish you except perhaps love to make all the rest worthwhile.

~Robert A. Ward
Painting drip people has been consuming a lot of my energy lately
...on altered books, birch panels and clipboards.

Tonight, sitting here,
I realized how much those random splotches
(where the paint used to be)
are like our lives....
in that the defining shape and length of our life
happens totally at random,
without our choice or control.

I guess all we can do is colour in
the space and time that we are given,
as individually and courageously
as we can.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

More live drawing
Thanks to Jan Barton for being my wonderful assistant, driving companion
and photographer last night in Redwater...








Wednesday, December 09, 2009

There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle
or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton (1862 - 1937)

Once again I drew at the magnificent La Chance Party at "100" on Sunday
and enjoyed every minute...









Monday, December 07, 2009

Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.
Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900 - 1944)

My perfect space...



I have been working in my studio for about 5 months now and I LOVE it. Right across the street is the school that my children attend—out my front window you can see the school, the park, the playground and our community hall. My kids come for lunch at the studio and sit at the front counter, watching the world of our neighborhood go by. We play their favourite hip hop music, eat lunch, talk about the morning at school and watch for the kids who stay for lunch, to come out to the playground to play. Now that we have snow (TONS of snow), we have been tobogganing at the hill on the playground and soon will be skating at the community hall and then rushing back to the studio for hot chocolate.

When I tell people who come for classes at my studio about how I only live a block and a half away from the studio and that my kids go to school across the street, they inevitably say "Wow that is so perfect"....and you know what...it really is!

Having the studio has allowed my "roles" in life, as a mother and an artist, to finally begin to compliment instead of struggle against each other.

Wednesday, December 02, 2009

Timeless As we look deeply within,
we understand our perfect balance.
There is no fear of the cycle of birth, life and death.
For when you stand in the present moment,
you are timeless.
~Rodney Yee

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

That is what marriage really means:
helping one another to reach the full status of being persons,
responsible and autonomous beings who
do not run away from life.

~Paul Tournier
Happy Anniversary Mark!

Of all the great things in my life
(and there are many)

meeting you 18 years ago today,
and then marrying you 16 years ago today,
tops the list.


You are the most amazing man I have ever known.
and I love you deeply.