AIRDRIE7

I had so much fun at our AIRDRIE7 show yesterday, my house is already back in order - except there are a lot of holes to fill ;) It's nice to spend time with my friends and to open my house to new ones. And it's fabulous to view such lovely art all day. I admire all these women and what they create. Now I'm off to spend a day with my lovely young daughter - she was such a great help and a better hostess than I am.

Christmas Show & Sale...

Please join us on Saturday,

November 7, 2009 10am - 4pm

44 Sprucegrove Crescent SE

Airdrie, AB

And the winner is...

JEB with Junky Trinkets! If you haven't visited his site yet, I highly recommend that you do - great mixed media, paintings, photos and food (yum). Jeb please check my etsy shop and select a piece and email me to let me know your address. I enjoy sharing my work so much that I think I'll do this again at 50 followers and include the first twenty-five again. Thanks to everyone who entered.

Vegreville Centennial Library

My youngest daughter and I spent 7 hours on the road this weekend on a return trip north to Vegreville to hang a dozen large paintings. She's such good company, the weather was fabulous, the roads were clear and we watched a coyote amble alongside the highway, hawks circle over the fields and crows settling into a rather large nest. I began to think about my past life in northern Manitoba, one I miss very much. Remembering the lakes and forests, spending time in canoes in silence and wishing that I could bring my children there...perhaps one day. And then, while I was listening to one of my favorite programs on CBC Radio, Stuart McLean's Vinyl Cafe, he read a letter written by a gentleman who lived 'North of 56'. The letter came from Lynn Lake, the community next to Leaf Rapids, and my eyes welled up with tears as he described the landscape and the people of the north. A few hours later, on my return home, I listened to an interview with a poet, who happened to be from Thompson, the closest city a couple of hours south of my home. The author, Rosanna Deerchild, wrote a book of poetry titled 'This is a Small Northern Town' about what it means to be from the north. As I heard some of the words of her poetry and also her description of how the north never leaves you regardless of where you live, I wanted to weep again. She captured how I feel.

Studio Sale

In conjunction with my annual studio sale and to celebrate my favorite time of the year, I have updated my etsy shop to include sale prices. Have a happy and extended autumn.

"Be Still"

"Be Still", a/c, 46x36

A Chinook is rolling in and I'm thankful to be looking forward to good weather for our drive to Vegreville tomorrow to hang my show. It will be a long day, 3 hours in each direction, but I'm actually looking forward to it. I've also been thinking about the H1N1 vaccination as I will probably join the masses next week with my family. Not looking forward to the wait but if I bring a book it should be just dandy. Vaccinations have always been a concern for me, as I worry about my children each time. But I know people who have contracted horrible diseases because they didn't have the opportunity to be vaccinated and I've been told that the experience was terrible and very, very sad. One survived polio without damage to his nervous system but he remembers the number of friends and family who died of the disease. Another is an uncle who contracted tuburculosis and died at a young age, too young. So I will continue to have faith that this is the right thing for us.

Alberta Magazine Publishers Association

photos by Don Molyneaux and Andrew Mah

These photos were taken during the Art Central event earlier this month. I'm glad the photographers caught me painting and not eating or drinking ;)

I've spent my day reading and though at times I feel guilty when that is most of what I do on a given day, I still do it. That's what I love about Sundays, always a great day of rest (reading). And I remembered telling my husband once that I wished I could make my income from reading - I'm a little obsessed with it. And I also remember a conversation in the movie Sabrina, the remake featuring Harrison Ford and Julia Ormond. She asks her father why he's a chaffeur and he replies that because he loves to read, the amount of time spent waiting in a vehicle afforded him so much opportunity to do so. And perhaps that is one reason that I accepted the part-time position at our local library, not that I'll have time to read there, but that I can see thousands of books as they travel through those doors. There is something so absolutely stimulating about books. I love it when I connect with a character, or when I read something that totally reflects how I feel. It's wonderful to see my own thoughts and feelings captured in words, especially when I have difficulty grasping them myself. My oldest daughter has been suggesting that I read some of her young adult fiction and I've been amazed by it. I think my favorite young adult author at this point is Sarah Dessen and I wish I would have had access to books like that when I was younger. One of her books titled "The Truth About Forever" features a young male sculptor whose work I can envision so clearly. There is one particular image of a heart and hand that I can't get from my mind and that I'm certain will end up in a painting. The images that come to mind as I read are also the reason that I tend to read a book rather than see a movie based on one - though there have been very successful adaptations such as "The English Patient", I thought both were brilliant. So, I think I will let this image of heart and hand stew in my mind while I await the package of papers from Paula Bogdan at Little Scraps of Magic through the paper swap started by Lawendula at Woven Letters.

"A Special Gift"

"A Special Gift", a/c, 24x30

This piece was a commission from a woman whom I admire greatly. That's the beauty of this art life, the connections I have had the honour of making over the years. And I'm a very happy person today as I've found out that I will be hanging work in the new year at both the Globe Cinema in Calgary and the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton. I love hanging my work in public spaces - they seem to work well as the work tends to be both large and simple, which are viewed well as a grouping and in larger spaces. I love sharing my work with other people and love hearing how others connect to it.

I'm also happy (though a little sad to be finished - I did try to slow myself down but it was impossible) as I've just finished reading "The Valley" by Gayle Friesen. It's a story that takes place in a Mennonite community (my background) and is really about understanding and forgiveness. My favorite type of story. I really connected with the main character as I've often been told that I think too much though I don't think that's remotely possible ;) It turns out that a hobby of mine is reflection. I never seem to have enough time for it.

So, it is good to have more shows scheduled, on the weekend I will head to Vegreville to hang my work in the Centennial Library, in November a group show in my home and then these other two shows for the new year. It's great for motivation.

"Gladness"

"Gladness", a/c, 28"x28"

I've painted hundreds of interiors, so there are times that an image escapes me when someone mentions it...but there are other times that I see a word which has become a title of a piece and I instantly know the image, regardless of how many years ago I painted it. This is one of them. Perhaps it is because of the feelings generated by the piece, it's certainly not that I considered it one of my best or anything, but I sometimes wonder if it is because of what was happening in my life at the time. At this point I had a new baby who was happy and content and slept really well (always a bonus). It was autumn, my favorite season, and I felt a sense of peace in this world.

I've also been thinking of my Artist Statement. Every time I read suggestions on how to write them, include influences, process and education, I try to re-write mine. But then I return to my original which I prefer as it discusses my inspiration:

Veronica Funk
simple pleasures
　
　
"Hold every moment sacred. Give each clarity and meaning,

each the weight of thine awareness, each it’s true and due fulfillment."

- Thomas Mann

My paintings are my attempt to connect to the heart and to the mind.

In my interiors, I want to go beyond the physical and convey

the inspiration and serenity I experience in my surroundings.

I am drawn to the everyday.

My goal is to create a sanctuary, a quiet place of contemplation.

To share a tranquil spot with the viewer

and offer an inviting place to "sit down" and rest,

to create something beautiful out of the ordinary.

There is beauty in every thing and I choose to translate

this beauty to my painting by combining simplicity, light and vibrant colour

through the use of opaque and transparent acrylic glazes.

I draw with my brush, manipulating the subject

to share the beauty of imperfection,

creating soft, sculptural form.

The foremost emotion I am attempting to convey is joy:

it is all around us in forms we may not see or appreciate.

A warm bed to crawl into, a comfortable chair to sit in,

and a book that will take one to places never imagined.

These are my simple pleasures.
　

Christmas...

I'm almost done my Christmas shopping...I enjoy doing it before everything gets crazy, while I can browse and enjoy my green tea latte and take my time to think about the perfect gift. I prefer to make or purchase hand-made items as often as possible and this gift above I made for my nephew. The bears are three inches tall and both my daughters fell in love with them. To me they were filled with so much character that I had to write a little story to go with them. I hope he likes it.

I'm also currently reading a book passed on to me by our lead pastor titled "The Culturally Savvy Christian" by Dick Staub. And though I'm usually hesitant to read anything labelled 'Christian' (I would be considered one but really, really hate labels and the connotation of this particular one - often considered legalistic and judgemental) I am enjoying this book. He talks about faith and art, about how spirituality should permeate a work and that people shouldn't segregate themselves from the world. I have often found that my creativity has no place in a church and that my painting life tends to be considered 'secular' even though I feel called to it and cannot stop creating without damage to my soul. Staub refers to C.S. Lewis ("The Chronicles of Narna") and J.R.R. Tolkein ("The Hobbit") and I remember reading that both were considered 'blasphemous' in their time by the church. How often have I heard art and artists being lambasted by the very institution that encouraged and supported art initially? I think we're on the verge of a cultural shift in this world, I hope so anyway. One that embraces all, that loves, that accepts and nurtures.