cats & peonies

Wednesday, June 26, 2013









omg ! handsome Oliver, be still my heart / Flo's pitcher, Blanche's desk (my other grandmother) & palest pink peony / Virgil giving me his love squint (avec catnip pillow) / deep pink magenta peony / 29 Serengeti Street - please excuse dirty windowsills - no housecleaners live here ;-( / a big rest after photoshoot with Megan / bouquet of peonies

I had an official artist portrait taken yesterday by Megan Lewis of Gallery 8. Wow!! & wait til you see the beautiful photo's she took of me in my studio space and in the chocolate brown room. Gorgeous ! so smart of me to hire a professional, no more of those hold your arm out straight, aim and hope for the best self portraits. You-know-who, Hamiver insisted on getting his portrait taken also, chirping and posing not to be ignored or missed by cat lover Megan + after all he is the Creative Empire Headquarters Boss Cat.

lilla rogers week 3

Sunday, June 23, 2013




Week 3 of Lilla Roger's Make Art That Sells super-fabulous e-course Children's Book Illustration 

Our task this week (3) to illustrate (in any way we wanted) either the cover or a spread from The Hans Christian Anderson dark fairytale The Snail and the Rose Tree. I submitted No 1 as my final.

I'm happy with the overall composition of No.2, a spread from the story but I just think my skill at rendering the concept sucks (or is certainly not anything earth-shatteringly interesting ... meh ! and No.3 was a composition/thumbnail and painting/collage style I wanted to experiment with. I am super pleased with No.1 as my goal was to try and make my design this week spare, clean and modern looking + the look on his (curmudgeonly) face kills me. The competition (not that it's a competition -wink, wink) or shall I say the level of incredible talent in this class is humbling to say the least. Each Tuesday following our Sunday deadline Lilla chooses 10-15 out nearly 400 to chat about, pieces that stood out to her in good ways. My plate from last week made the review (woo hoo !) which thrilled me beyond words - I don't expect my snail to make the cut this week but it was a tres fun & challenging exercise/project. I'm absolutely loving this course it has set my heart ablaze. Uh Huh !!!

shining bright

Thursday, June 20, 2013










oriental poppy front garden / Oliver x 2 upstairs bathroom / low tide walk this afternoon / buttercups / Missy D silhouetted in gorgeous light - this morning's early walk / Oliver contemplating being an outdoor cat perhaps from his office with a view / from the boat ramp / we hearts ships that come & go / afternoon meeting at the TTD* with the Boss Cat

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Marianne Williamson

A favourite quote of mine. I think of it all the time. Almost daily. I'm on fire lately. I'm shining bright. I'm on a roll, in a groove, got my mojo way on (thank you Lilla - this course has got me vibrating with excitement)... why does that feeling ... which should feel nothing short of spectacular ... feel so weird & uncomfortable ? why do we feel like we need to hide our light ?

Why is it that we're so afraid to shine bright ?

*TTD - teak topped desk

revised plate

Wednesday, June 19, 2013


my plate made Lilla's home decor crit (Shut Up !) her "change one thing" comment - remove that big darn leaf - & perfecto !

wild & tangled

Monday, June 17, 2013













lupins a nova scotia wildflower / my favourite view of 29 Black Street / wild yellow roses that smell like lemon - wow / Miss Betty a neighbourhood kitten that we've had spayed  - hooray / Miss Dee & me on the boardwalk this morning / Nelly Mosher clematis in our back garden / I live by the sea ! I live by the sea ! / buttercups on my second power walk (aver camera) / my elder poplar tree clan / 29 black it's a wild and tangled property but we LOVE it !


Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.

Mary Oliver


Gasp !  home reno genius & madman that Prince (of all Good Things) laundry room/pantry reno. I have dreamed of this exact corner pantry cabinet for 15-16 years maybe and suddenly Poof !  there it is. Gorgeous, perfect and just as I'd dreamed. Thank you Doug for making my dreams come true.


lilla rogers week 2

Saturday, June 15, 2013











































my week 2 final assignment - you can only upload one ... fingers (& paws of course) crossed that Lilla will like

As you become more aligned with the truth of who you are, 
the question of liking yourself goes away. It is a natural state of being.

Rachel Andrews


finishing up week 2 of Lilla Roger's fanatastic e-course Make Art That Sells - WOWEE ! sign up !

Oh my goodness. I went up and down and around that roller coaster of creativity for days,  should I do this ? and what if I did this ?& WOW ! her work is so cool maybe I should try that - yikes. I think I posted nearly a dozen attempts at this dinner plate design on our private class Facebook page, trying (as I should) to see a dinner plate, a decorative dinner plate (one maybe sold at ... Anthroplpogie for a perfect example) in as many ways as I could think of in the time allowed. I believe deeply in sketching, I believe the more you draw the better your ideas become. After years (and years) of  reluctance I now LOVE to sketch. This is a lesson which has been a difficult one to final grasp and to put into practice. But grasp it I have. Grasped & embraced it. But all the time I was trying these other ideas, styles & approaches I had in the back of mind, make sure you have time to do one bold, bright, floral, seed collage on a coffee stained page. Oh, and don't forget the neon paint - uh huh ! Because if all else fails Susan dear - just be yourself and see what happens. I'm thrilled with the outcome (and that is the most important thing !). Can a I have a hallelujah ;-0

Here are a couple more attempts at creating dinner plate designs in a way I thought maybe I should. Not to say that I'm not pleased with these ... I am. But I think I'm kinda thrilled with my final choice :-) go figure - it's JOY FULL !




me, my ego, a plate ...

Friday, June 14, 2013





4 of my botanical collages cropped to plate size, first colour sketches, 4 more line drawings & finally a sad attempt at painting

me, my ego, a decorative plate and a mighty large roller coaster of emotion

Lilla Roger's - fab ecourse Make Art That Sells Week 2 - home decor, specifically decorative plates such as the gorgeousity that you'd find (& covet) at Anthropologie, purveyors of all things cool & hippest. Like this beauty by Michelle Morin  her Etsy shop United Thread has been a favourite of mine for ages  - good for her WOW ! landing Anthropologie, everyone's dream customer... well they sure are one of mine anyway. Deadline for brand new (no I can't use older work) plate design Sunday 5pm EST. Phew !! The funny thing is that I do know without a doubt that I CAN do this, that I can create something that I will feel proud of, a plate design that I will feel I've given my absolute best effort to, with wild abandon & creativity, with an innovative colour palette, lots of interesting details & little extras but ... it hasn't happened yet ... so I'm riding the roller coaster that is creativity. Up, down, completely stopped (paralyzed) at the tippy top & most scariest place on that roller coaster, the place called indecision, plummeting down again sigh - 2 days left and I feel like I don't know what I'm doing. I remind myself that YES I do know know what I'm doing, I've felt this way a billion times before, everything's gonna be OK - just get crackin'

It's been fun posting my class progress here ... any ?? please leave them in the comments & stay tuned for the final plate ?!?

 ps - the motif for this project is seed heads/pods and/or succulents - yahuh & I love me some seed heads ;-)