Thank You!

What a weekend! This past three days at the Stop and Shop Show was an amazing experience. I had the privilege to meet hundreds of people and talk about my art, my journals and altered books, my workshops and of course my caricatures. I really enjoyed all the stories that were shared with me about other's joys and struggles with creativity, with time, with journaling, with motherhood and with their art. Thanks so much for stopping by my booth to take a look, for all your kind words and encouragement, and a big thanks for purchasing something if you did. I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed creating it.

Then, after a full day at the Show I had a very busy drawing gig at the Delta Inn South, for the University of Alberta, with the talented Rob Guthrie (thanks to my favourite Ohio agent ). It was my first time drawing adults at a long gig since getting back from the convention and I am loving how much my style has developed — feeling more confidence to "kindly" exaggerate and play with the drawings.

The strangest part was that when I heard Christmas music I thought "What are they playing that for?" Oh yeah, this IS a Christmas party. The season is upon us...

Have a great Sunday!

Stop and Shop!
If you are in the Edmonton area, you might want to check out the Stop and Shop show this weekend at the Transalta Bus Barns. 85 emerging designers all under one roof! A great place to find some unique gifts.
I will be there selling my prints, cards, and some original artwork. I will also have gift certificates for Caricatures for sale. Stop by and say hi!

Hope to see you there!

I live not in dreams but in contemplation of a reality that is perhaps the future.
~Rainer Maria Rilke (1875 - 1926),

So many layers...in my feelings, in my thoughts, in my paintings, in my drawings and in my life right now.
I am moving through the layers, moment to moment, darting in and out, avoiding anything extraneous on this path that I am stumbling down. My choices each day are random, rarely logical, and never overtly productive, but they consistently take me to wonderful and unforeseen places.

Two months ago when I registered for the National Caricature Network Convention that took place this past week in Raleigh, North Carolina, I didn't know why it was so important for me to go, but I knew that I needed to go. Of course, on an obvious level—I am a caricature artist and its a convention for caricature artists.

It turned out to be so much more. First of all, I learned more about caricatures and drawing than I really thought I needed to learn. (insert deflated ego picture here) Also, for someone who has been a professional caricature artist for 24 years you would think I'd have known more about the whole industry than I actually did. (insert light bulb image here) The icing on the cake though, was the amazing new friendships and fantastic memories that I am now enjoyably collaging into my life along with the thrill of being part of an international caricature community (albeit one that doesn't necessarily recognize me from day to day).

For me, the convention was also as much about "stepping away" from my life here as it was about "being there". How wonderful it felt to get up from my chair, walk away and have the chance to look at my life from a distance, just like I do numerous times with my paintings and drawings. Here at home, I have 3 young children and a studio in my house. My entire creative life exists simultaneously (yet not always cohesively) among the responsibilities, the demands, and the chaos. In Raleigh, my art was all I was required to think about for a week.

So now back in Edmonton, in the snow, with a bit of the post-convention blues, I really wish it could have gone on longer. However, as I get back to the gigs and the drawing board, I am relieved to see that my eye is sharper, my drawing is better and undoubtedly my life is richer. Just like a beautiful translucent glaze, my time at the convention has added a much needed layer to my career and brought some of my struggling creative elements together.

I really can't wait till next year...

A Great Week Away!
Just got home last night from the National Caricature Network convention in Raleigh, North Carolina. What an amazing, humbling, inspiring and exciting experience. So many talented artists under one roof; so many styles, so much creativity, so many new ideas, so much alcohol...
I really enjoyed the opportunity to try merging my mixed media with my caricatures...something very new for me. I can't wait to see where this path will take me. This is a photo of my first painting with the Okie artist.
This morning I had a gig (happy birthday Sidney) and was right back at it.
On the long flight home I had time to reflect and make some notes for next year's cnvention...

Trying out my new tablet...



Its so much fun! (but I need a bit of practice).

Artists can color the sky red because they know it's blue. Those of us who aren't artists must color things the way they really are or people might think we're stupid.
Jules Feiffer
US cartoonist & satirist (1929 - )

There will be Time...

This is a painting that I did about 6 years ago with the wonderful poem "There will be Time" written by the Mothering Magazine editor and author Peggy O'Mara. I used to think that people like her were "out of my communication league, or impossible to actually write to" so I never bothered to try writing her to see if she was ok with me making prints of the painting. On Sunday I changed my mind and found her email on the Mothering website— Yesterday after a full day of drawing I arrived home to her lovely response. Below are the emails...

Dear Peggy,
I stumbled upon Mothering Magazine 11 years ago and it was and is such a wonderful resource for me as I struggled to come to grips with my new life as a mother and an artist. Your poem "There will be time” was a part of my daily mantra at that time. Years ago, I did a mixed media collage painting using your poem and it has hung in my home for me to read whenever I needed support and reassurance. Now three kids later (with my youngest already 4), the free time margin is slowly getting wider again and I feel myself breathe deeper again.

I have had a number of requests from people for prints of the painting but because it is as much your art as mine I have declined to copy it. I always assumed it would be impossible to contact you and see if I could get your permission to use the poem (or what it would require/cost for that) Recently though I have realized how small the world has come with the internet as I wrote to another writer and then actually received a response from her. So it has just occurred to me that possibly if I wrote to you and sent you an image of the painting then you would consider this.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this, when you have the time.

Best Regards,
Cathy McMillan


Dear Cathy,
It's raining today and I'm sitting by the fire answering emails before going into the office. Your email is a gift. How beautifully and powerfully you have visually represented my poem. It takes me back to the years when I wrote it, to those early days with my babies. So lovely. And, in fact, there is so much time now.
You have my permission to make prints of this painting with my poem. You have credited me well on the piece. If you ever make A LOT of money from the prints, you can send me some. :)
Love,
Peggy

Her email was a gift to me as well.

Faces

I have never been aware before how many faces there are. There are quantities of human beings, but there are many more faces, for each person has several.
~Rainer Maria Rilke

Pedicures and Caricatures
This afternoon I had four lovely women come to my studio to be drawn. They had just spent the morning having pedicures done and as a surprise to the bride, the maid of honour had arranged for me to draw them all on their Spa day outing.
A whole different kind of Stagette!...(although I was reassured that they were all heading out for a night on the town tonight with their freshly painted toes.

The sound of my footsteps...


I spent the last 4 days on the west coast visiting a very good friend—first on Gabriola Island and then in Vancouver. Apart from the great time we had catching each other up on the news in our lives, the thing that was the most amazing for me was the silence on the island. As I walked around her yard and then down on the beach I could so clearly hear my own feet walking through the rocks and crunching leaves. (It was as if the volume had been turned up to 11). It was just the most amazing feeling.

I thought how wonderful it would be if that were how loud the voice inside us sounded all the time, letting us know exactly what we wanted, needed, felt and thought.

Perhaps it really is that loud but like with the footsteps on the island, we have to get away from the distraction and chaos of our lives to hear it that clearly.

A fun Office Party that I was invited to...

Authentic Moments

This weekend I was thrilled to be asked to draw at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Another caricature artist, Mark Cromwell (from Calgary) and I were to draw the top three winners in each age and race category of the 5 Peaks Race. What a great reason to whisk my family off for a weekend in the mountains!

As I was blasting this song while driving through the beautiful rocky mountains on my way to the drawing gig, I felt that huge sense of aliveness that comes when where you are and what you are doing in life feels 100% right.

Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
—Harold Thurman Whitman

The end of summer...

The Fringe went really well this year- lots of REALLY warm weather, many people wanting their pictures drawn and for the first time I had prints available. Thanks to everyone who bought my cards and prints, got their pics drawn or who just stopped by to say hi.
In the next week (or so) I will have prints and cards available on line. Also if you are interested in getting your face drawn and supporting a good cause at the same time- this weekend I will be drawing at the Marketplace at Collingwood on Saturday from noon to 5 pm. All the money collected will go to support the Firefighters burn unit.

A Very Busy Time... a big thank you to everyone who stopped by my Art Walk Booth —to have their faces drawn, look at my paintings or browse through my journals. It was wonderful to talk to everyone and thank you so much for all the wonderful comments about my work. It was a fantastic sunny weekend! I hope you all enjoy your drawings and paintings a lot. I will have more available at my Fringe booth Aug. 14-24 right in front of the Walterdale Theatre.
















Here's a peek at a few of my paintings that were sold...and more presents for teachers... The shoe card I made was inspired by the "Red Shoe Reader" altered book by Gaza Bowen that I had the opportunity to see in the Bruce Peel special collections of the Rutherford Library at the University of Alberta. I created the acordian pocket book so that my son's kindergarten class could all write on tags to their teacher and they would just slide right in as a special souvineer of a great year.






The tags books were for the three wonderful assistant teachers that helped make the year run smooth.

This summer so far I have been all over the province drawing— in Bonnyville for Canada Day, in Calgary for a Stampede Event, in Wainwright for their Centennial Celebration as well as a very fun staff party for IKEA. Life is BUSY!

Goodbye to a wonderful playschool teacher...

Good luck Patty with your new adventures...

"Mom, you have to come see... there are DAISIES in the tree!"




Its good that I have someone to pull me out of my studio once in awhile...

If you don't have plans for the long weekend and want a cartoon portrait drawn...Check out "Movies on the Square" this weekend. I will be drawing in Churchill Square for free from 8-10 pm as pre- movie entertainment (compliments of the City of Edmonton).

Date Night
Friday, May 16 Hitch (PG 13)
Starring Will Smith, Kevin James, and Eva Mendes
Language and some strong sexual references.
118 minutes

Family Night
Saturday, May 17 Alvin and the Chipmunks (PG)
Starring the voices of Jason Lee, David Cross, and Justin Long
Some mild rude humor.
92 minutes

Action Packed Night
Sunday, May 18 The Karate Kid (PG)
Starring Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki 'Pat' Morita, and Elisabeth Shue
Some violence and language.
126 minutes

See you there!

Sit with me
I wish I had the time to sit still right now. Really still. At a "drop in" meditation class yesterday, my mind fidgeted the entire time, tapping its foot impatiently, wanting to get on with things. This life I live is such a busy, busy, busy life — a challenging path for a person who needs to have a really wide margin to her day. That wide margin now only exists in fleeting and usually unpredictable moments.

So, where I have been drawing recently?...at a spectacular Gala (with fireworks), an afternoon corporate party and a wonderfully happy 10 year old's birthday party...

Messy Hands, Big Smiles and Creative Play.
I absolutely love teaching mixed media! I gave an inservice on Friday afternoon for 28 teachers at Satoo School. I thought of an analogy last night —of myself as a lifeguard standing on the edge a "creativity" pool. When I teach mixed media and creative journaling its about jumping into the pool and playing, enjoying the refreshing, rejuevinating feeling of the water. I'm not there to teach them to draw or to convince them that anyone can actually learn to draw (which is true, but that's another post). It's not about swimming a hundred metres or holding our breath underwater. We're not trying to improve our stroke or race laps or competitively dive. We're just wading into the pool of creativity and opening ourselves up to something that's already inside. We just do whatever we each feel like doing there. I bring the toys to play with and the instruction (when needed) and what people do is up to them. Remarkably they also all produce some amazing pieces— surprising even themselves. (See the photos of some of their work at the end) For some people its been a long time since they swam there (or even put on a bathing suit), so its great to see the sparkle in their eyes when they realize how much fun they are having. All those admissions and confessions of "I'm not really artistic" to me at the beginning of the class seem to fall by the wayside as they see the difference between being artistic and just enjoying creativity for its own sake.

I believe everyone is inheritably creative, its just that sometimes people have shut that door (and locked it). Creativity is an important tool in life no matter where your talents lie— in art, drama, cooking, sewing, gardening, accounting, organization, athletics, music, biology etc. Every direction in life can benefit from a little bit (or a lot) of creative play.
...and I'm here to make sure that no one drowns.

A Caricature for The Press Gallery