more winnie dixon

last photo is Winnie soon after she came to live at 29 Black Street as a young dog & handsome red Jake in the background 

I once heard a woman who had lost her dog say that she felt as though a color were suddenly missing from her world: the dog had introduced to her field of vision some previously unavailable hue and without a dog, that color was gone. That seemed to capture the experience of loving a dog with eminent simplicity. I'd amend it only slightly and say that if we are open to what they have to give, dogs can introduce us to several colors with names like wildness, nurturance, trust and joy.

Caroline Knapp 
author of A Pack of Two: the Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs

being a photographer

a selection of portraits of my girl Winnie Dixon my constant, most excellent photographer's companion 

Always seeing something, 
never seeing nothing, 
being a photographer 

Walter De Mulder

It's 3pm and I have spent the day (since 9am lost in beautiful halls of my iphoto archives). I've been asked again this year to participate in a fundraising art book curated by Sara Harley called Paws for Charity (last year I missed the deadline and I was very determined to not miss it again this year - Feb 14th). But Oh my ! choosing just 5 photos (from all my adored pet images) nearly killed me, it actually made me feel sick. In the end I sent 8 but I could have easily sent 48. Thank goodness I have this blog, this place to document all my tons of visual love. Of course many of my favourites photos from les iphoto archives are of Miss D since she's with me ... always.

Winnie turned 14 in January and it feels like she has always been with me. What will I ever do without her ?
I love you madly Miss Dixon !

tres blue

this mornings tres blue walk in sunshine & long shadows along our frozen harbour with Miss Winnie Dixon - the winds were so fierce through our 2 day blizzard coming in from across the ice that the boardwalk was literally swept bare with huge drifts nearby. I trimmed Miss D's hair - ears, muzzle & eyebrows over the weekend - I think she looks fetching & much younger ;-)

Nothing in life is as important as you think it is
while you are thinking about it.

Sonja Lyubomirsky mentioned this quote from a fortune cookie in her new book The Myths of Happiness 
and it's a quote that would make a very good reminder tattoo for moi

layers & layers

working on two canvases at once layering, layering, layering - dripping, dragging, dabbing, drawing, dotting, swooshing, stamping - a silent whistle blows & I rotate my surface 90 degrees & begin again drip, swoosh, drag, draw, dot, dribble ... & being brave & unattached to each new layer trying, learning (I think) to let go of the expectation that my painting be something ;-) I am to add black & white & translucent liquid acrylics to each layer before Tuesday's class paint day at Flora Bowley's fantastic wild, intuitive painting e-course Bloom True. Having so much fun ... it's very hard to stop and work on anything else ...

There are two ways to be happy:
improve your reality,
or lower your expectations
Jodi Picoult

snow dogs

water street this early morning /  hark ! off in the snowy distance comes a Prince and a Samuel / water street looking the other direction / snow dogs / Sam / Winnie just inside the back door / blizzard

Yes it's full on blizzard weather here - up to 40cm of snow expected to fall with wild windy white out conditions. We're snug as bugs now, back inside after our let's take a wee spin around the village with the snow dogs ;-)

noticing

geraniums / Winnie the snow dog / poplar lichen / windowsill cats Virgil & Oliver / Flo's pitcher ? Samuel / early morning shadows / windowsill cats No.2 / paint brushes / geraniums at 5pm / windowsill cats No.3 / kitten grass

Everything has beauty, 
but not everyone sees it.
Confucius

If I look back into this blog's vast archives the thing I will always be most proud of, the thing that makes my heart ache in that really good way, are the photographs ... occasionally it's the words that go along with my visual documentation. Thoughts I've written, the record of my life, of who I was and how I felt, and what I hoped for. I've always had hope in spades. Hopes & dreams & plans sustained me. Hope I think eventually turns into belief, belief to truth, truth to gratitude ... and continued hope.

But I'm mostly proud of all the noticing I've done. No matter what, I managed to always look with hope. With wonder ...
I'm not sure why or how I did that over the years, but I am grateful, so grateful that I have this record of a life.

It's not what you look at that matters, 

it's what you see.

Henry David Thoreau

* todays's selection of images are all from my iphoto archives. Madam G-12 returned yesterday so we're back in business ;-)

ease full

ease - the state of being comfortable or relieved




freedom from pain, worry or agitation
freedom from constraint or embarrassment; naturalness
freedom from difficulty, hardship or effort
readiness or dexterity in performance; facility
freedom from financial difficulty;affluence
a state of rest, relaxation or leisure

eased, easing, eases

to slacken the strain, pressure or tension of

to give respite from

to lessen

to alleviate

to reduce the difficulty or trouble of
to move or maneuver slowly & carefully
to lessen, as in discomfort, pressure or stress

at ease

in a relaxed position

ease - my one little word for 2013.

I think when you try this process of choosing a word, just one word, to help be your guide or mantra for the year you likely will try a lot of different words on for size. Read Ali Edwards thoughts here both on choosing your word and what that word can mean to you / for you in the upcoming year. I began thinking about what my 2013 word might be late in 2012. Humming & hawing, pondering & wondering - the wheels of choice beginning to grind. My word for last year was can & that word can turned out to be quite a guiding force, in hindsight, in an attitude in me which created much success in 2012.

a few of the words I considered along the way were - brave, focus, discipline, lessen, stretch, trim, grow, develop, bold, imagine & dream. The trail of breadcrumbs that eventually lead me to find this, my word, went as follows - a current favourite blog of mine is Susannah Conway (I read her blog faithfully) she recently had a post about life coach Rachel W. Cole so of course I hopped over to Rachel's blog where she offers an online e-course called Ease-Hunting (if I wasn't so busy with other e-courses I would definitely consider adding this one to my current curriculum). I clicked again on the course details and began instantly really thinking about the word ease ... and truthfully I could not stop thinking about it. It felt like a big ol' tap, tap, tap on the shoulder from Madam Universe.

I'm someone who suffers (and I do mean suffer) from much dis-ease in my day to day life - anxiety, worry, fret, insecurity, more worry and so often all that dis-ease feels somewhat debilitatingly. As someone who's often wound as tight as a top, as someone who has a somewhat ingrained philosophy that if there's no struggle how can there be gain ? (I did seriously consider the word discipline for this year - wtf ?). 2013 is the most perfect time for me to learn to embrace ease.

ease - I love you already you sweet, simple lil' word

what's your one word for 2013 ? if you've mentioned it before mention it here again & again ... & again xos

atelier 29

my first 2 layers on my first 2 paintings, the first week's assignment Flora Bowley's Bloom True e-course

Madam G-12 has been returned to the Canon shop for some wee repairs (but that's another story). I miss her. Being camera-less was surprisingly liberating in the beginning, freeing - you have no idea what an obsession taking photos is for me (actually maybe you do.) She's been away now for weeks and after the initial week of dozens of times a day trying to grab her/find her to take a picture of something, someone, some cat, some dog or some light I felt a kind of relief, the pressure's off - I can't take photos without a camera - it was kind of relaxing, gone was that constant worry of missing a great shot. I'm over that now - I'm ready for her to come home.

Her absence is the reason I didn't take photos of these 2 paintings with just their first layer of paint - a warm/hot colour palette with the emphasis on covering the surface as spontaneously and freely as possible. We let that surface dry completely then cracked out the cool colours with an emphasis this time also on getting lots of paint coverage but with the extra emphasis on mark making.

Mark making (sung by that same chorus of angels). How fun is mark making ? Way fun ! How much do I enjoy mark making ? Who knew ? It's so much fun trying out different brushes, rollers, materials to stamp, dot, dab, swoosh, drag - lots of using just your hands & fingers. I LOVE this course. If any of you have been wavering, pondering and/or thinking you might like to take Flora's Bloom True e-course (it's next offered in May) - do it ! it is fantastic. And it's not just about painting. It's about getting to know yourself and learning to trust and accept who you are. It's about intuition and freeing yourself from control & expectation. Hello ! What's not to love about all of that.

We'll learn to build up many, many layers of paint, mark making & drawing & rotating our canvases as we go. It's crazy, it's wild  - it's jst what I need. Watch Flora paint a complete painting here to get a sense of the incredible layering & mark making.

Oliver, always the critic, is not sure about the neon. He's not a fan of neon. He's also not fussy about abstract expressionism and much prefers art which has a representational depiction - preferably of rodentia. Plus apparently he's very concerned that the new Atelier 29 (the big black table opposite the TTD) is also his lunch room (uh-hhem) + his shipping and receiving department. Mr Bossy Pants wants to know - So ... What's Up With That ?

I'm sure some of my mark making will include kitten paw prints ;-)

ps - I brought Madam Olympus out of retirement for these few painting photos - yes she's still kickin'.

*TTD - teak topped desk

this & that

Fantastic creative business flow chart by illustration hero of mine Lisa Congdon (+ Nate & Matte too !)

Lisa has a fantastic feature here with Grace at Design Sponge - about the life and the business of being an illustrator - with loads of great advice // More great info about the business of creativity over at Lisa's blog in her Frequently Asked Questions section // Nate Williams wrote an excellent article on having a career in illustration (with tips & techniques !) I heart N8 // & a great interview with my another of my illustration heros - Matte Stephens

You have to leave the city of your comfort 
and go into the wilderness of your intuition. 
What you’ll discover will be wonderful. 
What you’ll discover is yourself.
Alan Alda

I guess at this point in life (& career) I am mostly calling myself an Illustrator. Actually my full title would be Illustrator/Designer/Artist/Scaredy Cat ... (it's true you know, the scaredy cat part I just hide it really well ;-)

This Sunday here at 29 Black Street we have a blizzard/snow fall warning in effect - we're all tucked in, fires burning, cats a roaming, Doug's been working on the incredible reno of the downstairs bathroom (powder room) which involved taking down a wall and moving the door, sink and then building a new wall where the old door was - tres exciting and gorgeous. I do promise a post devoted just to this amazing bathroom transformation. I've been finishing up my first week's painting assignments from Flora Bowley's amazing Bloom True painting e-course. Wild & crazy, loose & intuitive, big & bold, free & easy, paint smearing mark making, drawing with paint - stamping, etching, scraping, dabbing - I love it !! a year ago, though, I could not have handled such wackiness, such spontaneity & unplannedness - it would've killed me. The concept did not make sense to me, I just didn't get it - at all. But I sure do now ! I'm ready ... I am so ready.

& omg ! I picked my one little word for 2013 finally ... or maybe I should say it picked me 'cause that's kinda how it happened & it's a such a perfect word for me. Hey 2013, Welcome ! happy to meet ya and we sure off to a great start. OLW* post coming up this week and I will reveal my new word in all it's glory (sung by the chorus of angels). Happy Sunday ! xos

* + les fantastic list of "one little words" here

we ♡ books

we ♡ books here at Black Street ! remember this little illustration ? discovered again during the big clean out of last weekend

Books are the plane, and the train, and the road. 
They are the destination, and the journey.They are home.

Anna Quindlen - How Reading Changed My Life

I love books, I have since I was a young girl. My parents, especially my mother was/is a crazed reader. I grew up in a house with bookshelves everywehere. Books were to be kept, saved, shelved for a next time - you never knew you might want to read that book again. I was exposed to the library also as a young child. Oh my, I remember the library and the librarian vividly from my childhood a big rectangular room with very high ceilings in our town hall. But most of all I remember the books, at that time and my age they were mostly picture books, with glossy plastic protective sleeves and they had a scent. That wonderful and distinct, slightly musty smell of a library book. It's always smelled like comfort to me. When I was a little older I devoured the animal character chapter books by Thornton W. Burgess. They were small hard covered books, each one a different colour and I remember their spines lined up on my bookcase - of course I was trying to gather and read the whole collection. Later still I thrilled along with Nancy Drew and her gang, on the edge of my comfy chair, biting my nails, heart thudding a little (it's funny how reading those books as an adult they sadly don't carry the same zing). We were always given a bit of money when the (monthly I think) Scholastic book catalogue came out at school. From these catalogue ordered books I was hooked on another mystery series Encyclopedia Brown a young boy and his dog who solved the perplexing puzzles around his neighbourhood and small town. Around that same time I discovered non-fiction and began reading biographies - of Madam Curie, Jacques Cousteau & Christiaan Barnard and for awhile (6th or 7th grade) I was convinced I would have a career in science - an oceanographer perhaps or  maybe I'd become an open heart surgeon. Books were an education, an escape & an assistant of my dreams.

At this point in my life I read for most of the same reasons. I continue to love non-fiction. I love to learn about nature or science or the mind. I devour books that would be classified as self-help, books about why we worry, about our imaginations, creativity or a favourite study topic of mine - anxiety. I love to experience the thrills of mountain climbing, wilderness hiking or solo sailing in the wild southern seas all while safe, snug & tucked into my nest of down & flannel in the chocolate brown bedroom. And I love fiction, especially at bedtime (almost my only reading time). I try to pull myself away from the TTD* by 8:30pm which is hard these days as I have such wonderfully fun & challenging work projects that I love to be working on. You could call me a workaholic or you could call me someone extremely passionate about what I do. The fact that love, passion & salary live happily in the same sentence in my life is something I am eternally grateful for ... but by 8:30 each evening I'm often kind of wound up, head spinning, too much going on in my mind.

For that reason I especially love reading fiction at night because it calms me, opening the pages to my bookmarked spot is like taking a little tranquilizer or a big slug of something hard, it shoos the monkey mind away as begin to read and drift gradually into the lives, the dramas and cares of other people in other places. I swear this reading habit of mine is one of the most important habits/rituals I have in keeping my sanity. Reading is a gift I give myself. I love books. I love reading & I love the library.

I'm currently reading Bill Gaston's The World - it's wonderful, quirky & perfect. A book I picked up on the new book shelf at the library Thursday, I'd never hear of Bill or this book. A lovely fluke.

In books I have traveled, not only to other worlds, but into my own. 

Anna Quindlen - How Reading Changed My 


 I can't mention books or reading without mentioning the FaceBook for book lovers. Goodreads.com it's a fantastic community, a place to keep track of all the books you've read & want to read and I try to bully all most of my friends into friending me there rather than over at FB. I asked someone the other day what they meant by FB (that's how outta touch I am with FB) but GR - please friend me there ;-)

and yes, that's Oliver on the stack of books he's wearing his office duds.

* TTD my beautiful big teak topped desk home of creative empire building headquarters