treasures

I love maps and globes and am wanting a globe with black oceans to add to my wee collection

the bookcase at the top of the stairs, home of some of my collected treasures

a few of my many large jars of sea glass, pottery shards and smooth shiny stones
a basket full of shells collected from beaches far + wide
pale, smooth, handpicked sticks once thrown into the ocean for a big red dog
a few piles from my extreme magazine hoarding addiction
a lime green pitcher that I love bought at a village yard sale
a print of a man in stripes I bought when I was 20
two photographs of my paternal grandmother Flo ... she saved me

now that I've found love ...

winter has arrived ... gradually, softly, gently

At this point in my life
I'd like to live as if only love mattered
As if redemption was in sight
As if the search to live honestly
Is all that anyone needs
No matter if you find it

Tracy Chapman

now that I've found love ... safety + security
aside from wishing for fame + fortune, or at least a self sustaining creative business
the next big thing on my list of desires is balance

balance, at this point in my life ... I'm not sure I even know what that would look like
but I do know it's worth investigating








the song I'm singin' this early morning

spontaneously

geranium x 15

my favourite colours are red, bright pink, orange + coral, they're all found here

I did not tidy and reorganize the headquarters of les Creative Empire yesterday
spontaneously (ha) ... instead I puttered

I made dog cookies
I made chicken chili which I turned into baked enchiladas which were yummy
I washed bedding and hung it outside on the line
I swept and vacuumed - trust me, a very rare event
I changed the sheets on the bed with the help of Oliver + Virgil
I bundled up in down + fleece and walked the village streets with my pack
I listened to the sound of a table saw and a man whistling while he works
I pondered friendship
I drank a delicious mug of hot mulled cider
and I read my book

today I'm hittin' the hq hard - I promise (myself)

hq

scenes from les hub - production, warehouse, shipping & receiving + boardroom avec CEO

that would be - cehq - les Creative Empire Head Quarters

And yes, that is the break room (dish) where our worker bees (cats) stop for their scheduled 15 mins 8 x daily, uh Huh ;-( paid break time to snack (and fortify) on their fav - stuffed morsels.

The big black table which sits directly opposite the teak topped desk (home of product development, administration & feline resources) serves both as our production facility as well as our shipping & receiving department. The big, bright, sunshiny (and warm) second floor hallway just outside the main offices is our ink drying/warehouse facility.

Yesterday I shipped out my first real wholesale order - 10 Hey Normal Day poster calendars + 10 Good Things Come poster calendars - to a great artist/handmade lovin' boutique in the city, our city, the one and only - Halifax. I sent my package off to Chara @ Love, Me Boutique - if you're in Halifax stop in and say hello and check out out all the great artist - designer - craftsperson hand made stuff she has for sale in this fantastic little shop on Birmingham.

Today it's a big clean and purge and re-organisation of les hq. If I begin a task like this early enough in the day I'm good to go and can really get into it. Here's Hopin' + Happy Saturday !

les Gang

Winnie, Oliver, Bleet + Mr. Sam (please do not lick or chew your sutures)

Missing photo Virgil ( of course ) - he refuses to sign the model release form

Virgil the missing team member 9 times out of 10 could and would usually be found skulking around the basement on rodent patrol or perhaps taking a power nap in the warmth found in his cozy little atelier atop our recently re-furbished Saturn boiler. Virg (the cat formerly known as Gus) is aloof, anti-social, we suspect part feral and tres handsome. The other 4 members of les Gang can almost always be found hanging around with me, helping, here at les bustling 29 Black Street - Creative Empire HeadQuarters located on the second floor of this old brick house.

give away peace

peace - original gouache painting on heavy, bright white, arches water colour paper 8.5 x 9

signed, sealed (in biodegradable cellophane) and delivered ... anywhere in this world

Leave a comment here - today through end of Wednesday December 1 for a chance to win
You know who will draw a name ;-)

a second name will be drawn for a packet of 6 peace notecards with hot coloured envelopes !!


Last night's movie presentation (borrowed from our fabulous library) was - the Lovely Bones.
I read the book a few years back and I was prepared to not like the movie turns out I was very pleasantly surprised, in fact I thought the movie much better captured the essence of this difficult & painful story. In 1973, the year the movie begins, I was 14, the same age as the main character Susie, and so much of the movie reminded me of my own teen years ...

peace out

peace illustration avec hot psychedelic colours

A little later on today, this new illustration, will magically turn into a package of six, square, blank on the inside note cards (4.75 x 4.75) sealed up in cellophane with six 5 x 5 hot coloured envelopes (lilac, lime green, hot pink, tangerine, lemon yellow & robin's blue) available for sale in my shop. A perfect alternative take on les Holiday card - peace on earth - or as an everyday all occasion note card ! It will also be available as a giclee print very soon.

Stay tuned also for a big give away tomorrow. Fussy Mussies that we are (me and the team), the first version of this illustration, although practically identical, did not pass the eagle eye creative quality control. So ... an original gouache painting almost identical to the above illustration (aprox) 7 x 7 on heavy, smooth, hot press watercolour paper, will be given away !!

of course the colours in these photos are not exact but fear not - they are vivid !!

pinch me again

beautiful exposed layers of past lives in the sunny stairwell - I must rescue them

before, during and les plan

A few before and during shots of the fabulous built in home entertainment centre. Ya know the one that runs the length of one whole wall and will hold everything ! all tucked away behind drawers and doors and cabinets. The man, that man - my Prince of All Things Good is a maniac. Work, work, work ... he loves it so. Meanwhile me and the Associates* are happily ensconced on the second level (at Creative Empire Building Central) doin' the same - work, work, work and lovin' it also. Sigh. What a perfect pair we are. Pinch me again please.

Here's a photo of les Plan and Hey ! + Hooray ! it's clementine season again.

* that would be all 4 of the Susan Black Design Associates - Oliver (head cat & Creative Director), BleetNess (the brains of this organization), Miss D (my partner in crime) and Samuel (our new & terrific studio mascot). Virgil, our semi feral boy and always AWOL, is likely sleeping down in the basement high atop the Saturn boiler keeping a lookout for les mice.