pink & red

a page from la sketch book dated 2004

Bleet's up on my desk, he's just come in from his 15 min early morning adventure out side and he's here, demanding some lovin'. Our every morning mad pats & deep purrs session. Stretchy, pulling pats on his head, face and ears, (his favourite) and he looks like a little black velvet ewok as I'm doing it and he purrs loudly, drools a bit and chirps at me if I slow down or stop.

I'm about to begin a new project (specifics of course are top secret) but the theme of the project is Valentine's, and the colours are pink and red, it's all about using contrasting patterns which I get to create (smile) and it's completely up my alley ... it's a Susan B kinda project. I dug out this page from my sketchbook for inspiration.

Pink & red, a favourite colour combination of mine. This particular sketchbook page is from back in the day when I was in the midst of a 4 year stint as a freelance designer for Brighton. An amazing Cinderella story design ride, where I could draw whatever my heart desired (within the product line of course), I could draw as much as I wanted, with no restrictions and when I'd invoice them they'd Fed Ex my cheques - unheard of (sigh). I also had two fabulous trips to Los Angeles and a Fairy Tale week long adventure in China & Taiwan (3 nights in Hong Kong holed up in a 5 star hotel, and days exploring that amazing tropical city and island - smile). I still pinch myself when I think of that trip. We were there to tour the various production facilities and traveled into mainland China to Guangdzou. When you look at the giant map of China, we traveled only a tiny distance into the countryside, but just that little taste was spectacularly beautiful, so lush and green and the culture so different from ours. It was a trip of a lifetime.

I will be forever grateful to Jerry, the president and owner of Brighton, who hired me very early on in my self employment venture and gave me such confidence in my abilities as a designer ... and not to mention Perk after Perk after Perk. I think he always believed that I'd eventually want to move to LA, he could never understand why I would want to live way up here in Nova Scotia, up in some Northern barren, pas de Fabulous hinterland (in his head anyway... as he is LA born and raised). Eventually we parted ways, mostly I think, because I wanted to stay put. I did give moving there serious consideration but ... I hate to drive - I'd never survive living in LA.

Today the only thing I have on my to do list is to work outside in the garden. I will happily push the loud sputtering red beast around, and I will pull up the zillion little tree sprouts that are coming up in very inappropriate places, I will add manure and compost to existing beds, I will plant some seeds and I'll get really dirty, I'll be achy and sore, happy and satisfied ... and tonight the rain begins.