Christmas

I lost my camera over these past two weeks. Last night in the scurry of preparing for the last Christmas dinner I found it hidden among the legs of the fold away chairs. Today we leave for Falher, the land of disconnect. There is no internet where we will be staying so I decided to send out my blog a little early. How was your Christmas? I met a young man yesterday who said his was “tolerable”. My response was, “How sad.” He replied, “Tolerable is better than what I grew up with…” Sadder still. We bring so much garbage into relationship. Long ago my husband and I decided to keep what we liked and throw out the rest. Housecleaning is a lifetime process. Now that our family is including strangers with their own history it has become more challenging. As we get to know each other in the context of loving one another we begin to trust. With trust come vulnerability, acceptance and joy. We had a wonderful Christmas. It is not like what it used to be and largely we have let go of being “right” or insisting on things being a certain way. I enjoy the love and laughter. May your days during this special season be filled with the same. Merry Christmas.

P.S. I am part of the Deep Freeze Festival this year. My daughter is delivering my painting to the Carrot Cafe this afternoon and another painting will be in the Nina Haggerty Gallery on the 2nd of January. Life is good.

The Other Kind of Paint

Before

After

It seems December has plans for me outside of my studio on a regular basis. This year even the ordinary preparations to celebrate the season have been put on hold... for next year. I remember having time to write a letter last year. It did not get sent but it was at least written. And I even had time to cook a few specialties. This year things started to unravel at the end of October. There was a flood, some difficulty convincing the tenants to move even though there was no longer a functional bathroom, a belligerent condo board and a few discussions between insurance companies. Some of the long awaited major repairs and a new paint job loomed before us. The opportunity was there before the laminate was pulled and the tradesmen set to work. I had another chance to practice my dry walling skills, sculpting what looked like pristine windowsills and painting the perfect edges without the use of masking tape. There are still a few little finishing touches to do like caulking, door handles and cleaning corners. Yes, indeed. I have been up to my ears in paint in a different locale. In the meantime I have sent two paintings to Vancouver for the Member and Works on Paper exhibitions. I am in the Deep Freeze Festival both at the Carrot Café and in the Nina Haggerty Gallery during January. The VASA show continues to the end of January as well with new paintings from me as I pulled two to send to Vancouver…. Next year I will be better organized. Maybe. Life is good.   

Self

Having been asked to do a small self-portrait for a friend of ours I set about experimenting with the mirrors. The idea was to create a comfortable three-quarter pose without too much strain on my neck. The first thing I concluded was the mirrors needed cleaning. Seeing is a big part of being able to draw accurately. I cleaned the mirrors. I fiddled, balanced, rearranged and ended up with one instead of two. The pose was still three-quarter and not particularly comfortable. As the drawing proceeded I became increasingly distressed and it had nothing to do with the strain on my neck. Indeed, I had not noticed all the sags, bags and wrinkles in such detail before. Sigh. I need to release some weight too. Still I like the fine crosshatching and the lovely light across my cheek. The portrait is to go with one I did of my husband this summer. His features are much smaller. I may have to do another to smaller proportions so I do not look like I am too domineering. Or maybe that is another truth I am not willing to admit. Life is still good.

P.S. I was wondering where that box of Christmas decorations was... Now I know. Life is really good!

Restructuring

It looks like I am renovating in my studio. My working space is getting smaller and smaller…. Too much stuff. My daughters and I are sorting through family pictures with the view of scrapbooking our family history. Boxes and boxes of images I do not wish to embellish with paint. As I complete the under layers for my new series the time is coming when I will be pitching paint in all directions and thoroughly enjoying the adventure the chaos brings. With that in view I pulled out another working table and set up the smaller one in front of a drop sheet hanging off the garage door guide rails and my storage unit. The plastic allows the light to shine through and creates a new wall protecting all behind it. One of these days I will decide what to keep and what to throw out. There is so much I still want to do. So my small gallery is housing a few items I simply cannot accommodate at the moment. I will clear it before April, grand opening time… Life is so good.