september sunday

fall lavender asters / early morning crows & rooftops / front garden hydrangea / wild flowers & clouds & a blue, blue sky / window box lobelia & hot pink impatience / the crescent beach / bark & lichen & a favourite colour palette / our harbour / a perfect perch/ more lobelia & impatience

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage   Anaïs Nin

Hey you Passionate Observers !! -I Haven't forgotten about you, look for a new post by Wed Sept, 19

beach time with Bee

yesterday afternoon's 2 hour crescent beach adventure - beach combing with Bee - it's a very good thing

I had a lovely 2 hours with my 7 1/2 year old friend hunting on the beach for treasure yesterday the perfect balm for sadness, cruelty & ignorance though we could clearly still hear the desperate & mournful barking all the way at the beach - 4 or 5 blocks from his sad home.

The neglected & mistreated barking dog situation continues to be terrible. Thank you all for leaving such supportive comments it makes me feel terrific & empowered to know that I am not some crazy woman, that I am someone who cares and is not afraid of confrontation if it means I might be able to help, to save or to rescue.

Rachel in particular summed up sadly exactly what is the truth of the matter here in my little village.

Good luck with this. I don't feel hopeful, though. If you don't understand that a barking dog needs something or that your new neighbours are going to be upset by it all, you are too thick-headed to understand much at all, kindness and friendliness, gifts or apologies. But you have to try, don't you. I was very relieved to move away from the little dog up the road from me; I was tired of harbouring illicit thoughts of stealing and rehoming him!

I am doing everything I can, believe me. Honey I'm afraid doesn't mean a thing, or the kind of honey I might have on offer, we are speaking two completely different languages - these people & I. It is such an incredibly sad thing & from my open office windows I hear the dog barking, barking, barking - all day, all morning, all afternoon, all evening. Thankfully they do allow him the kindness of sleeping inside and the barking does stop at 9pm only to begin again around 8am. I am very surprised that he can bark at all anymore - that he hasn't permanently hurt his vocal cords. Rescue is on the way, I am sure of it - it just may take a few days. Hang tight sweet dog ...hang tight.

I won't tell you what I really wish. What I would do if I were Queen of the world ... but I know many of you could guess. I'll keep you posted. Fingers crossed & prayers said please.

CE* ramblings

Haven No.2 - 9x12 collage drawing - paper & ink 400gm hot press watercolour paper - Susan Black

I'm getting ready for a BIG, lots o' new things, etsy shop update - around the end of  September.

I'm currently working on a brand new calendars for 2013 - a new Lil' Owl Calendar, a type collage calendar & a larger size (Cavallini-ish) botanical collage calendar. I hope to have all three available in the shop by the end of October, in lots of time for Christmas shopping. I'm thinking of opening a separate Big Cartel shop to sell only my originals & am considering selling those originals matted & framed - a little more in shipping costs but so much simpler for the buyer especially if the item is a gift.

I have 2 exciting licensing projects that I'll finally be able to tell/show you about plus let you know where you can purchase these new products with Susan Black (of 29 Black Street) designs - oh Boy !!

I am struggling trying to learn both Photoshop & Illustrator both programs essential for my Surface Design aspirations as well as my my future growth as an artist/illustrator Thankfully I've just signed up for Adobe's Creative Cloud (current Adobe customer's got a special 29.95 per month rate for the first year) giving me unlimited access to all current Adobe programs, updates & tutorials. Here's hoping that I can finally get those two essential programs under my belt.

Workshops coming up - a mixed media (paint, paper, ink) workshop here in Pugwash at the ChatterBox Café Sunday Sept 30th at 1pm. Next up I'm part of Deanne Fitzpatrick's 3 day workshop Big Lessons on a Small Canvas running from Oct 10th-12th. I'll be talking about & exploring the many ways to approach design And finally Andrea R. & I are hosting a type collage workshop at her fantastic Halifax shop Inkwell Modern Handmade - Sunday Oct, 21 - 1pm

So lots o' stuff  happenin' here at the teak topped desk

CE* Creative Empire

with honey

 Oliver & Sam - dontcha love Sam's little front teeth showing

 you'll catch more flies with honey - uh huh !

or Barking Dog Plan E/F les sugar coated one - after a night of feeling sad & tres indignant (which is such a dreadful & pointless emotion which historically gets me nowhere - fast) and in the spirit of my new attempted life philosophy of be brave, be kind, believe, be love I will approach this barking dog situation in a brand new way today. I will arrive bearing gifts from our garden - cucumbers, tomatoes, beets & green beans with a note expressing my apologies if we've gotten off on the wrong paw I mean foot, a note with my phone number saying if I can help in any way with the dog to please call me.

My superpower - bold, persistent experimentation or if at first you don't succeed ...

true visual confessions - voila the book & magazine pit beside my bed - hidden usually by intentional idyllic composing ;-)

a wish, a rant

my first basic colour repeat pattern - oh boy - learning both Illustrator & Photoshop - finally

I wish ... I could rescue every poor, neglected dog that lives it's life on a rusty 10 ft chain - a rant

Every dog who strains, choking at a collar that's far too tight, a collar so tight it makes the dog gasp for a breath. I wish I could rescue all the dogs who stand in yards attached to these rusted chains and bark endlessly, hopelessly, pleadingly ... please pay some attention to me ... please.

dogs are pack animals - they want to be in the den with the pack

We have a new family in town (they moved in about 3 weeks ago) 2 streets over, they're renting a house that is for sale. I've spoken to them once about their frantically barking dog, I've called their landlord pleading with him to say something ... anything - to remind these people that they have moved to a village where we treat our dogs really well. In this village we don't leave our family pets outside barking pitifully for hours on end, day in day out. In darkness, in cold & in pouring rain. We don't let our dogs bark, bark, bark endlessly hoping that they might join their pack inside. What is wrong with people ? How can they listen to that pleading sound and ignore it ? I believe this young dog may have separation anxiety (sure makes sense), he or she doesn't want to be outside alone. Why do people like this have dogs ?? I don't know what to do ... it's making me crazy.

bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?
bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?
bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?
bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?
bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?
bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?
bark, bark, bark ... please let me in ... I am your friend ...bark, bark, bark... someone please ?  is anyone there ?

all day / all night / every day / every night / no matter how awful the weather - it's very sad

I kiss Sam & Winnie and I say a little prayer for all these miserable, unlucky dogs.

Here at 29 Black Street we have a 1 bark signal system. One bark means I need to go out or Hey ! you guys let me in please.

8:30 pm update - I'm just back from walking over to visit with the new people again the poor dog has barked intensely all day long & appears to be completely ignored - the good news is the dog was let inside because of my visit and over 1 hour later still no barking. Fingers crossed & a thank you God ! the bad news is yikes ! - I came home in tears after a lengthy pitiful attempt at quiet, civil conversation I realize it's far worse than I initially thought. Plan B, C & D are on deck for the morning. Calls into the landlord again, SPCA, RCMP & another visit by me if need be. At this point I think I will try to get them to give us the dog so that the dog can go to our shelter and find a fantastic forever home. Such SadNess -  the realization that the world is filled with people just like that.

growth & expectations

inspired by Queen Anne's Lace - a prolific wild flower in these parts - drawing with ink & Chinese Sumi* brushes


All growth is a leap in the dark, a spontaneous, 
unpremeditated act without benefit of experience.
Henry Miller

Thank you all for the lovely & tres supportive comments from yesterday's post.

I'm sure it is my own confused (& historic) attachments, expectations and opinions of this place, this blog of mine that's causing me such disconcerting thoughts. Words will not, cannot, ever explain what it is 29 Black Street has meant to me over the 5+ years I've been posting here & most often daily posting. In many ways it feels like it is me. This place, these words and images that live here in the archives mean so much to me I'm afraid to let go of them. And by letting go I mean acknowledging that I am not that same person any more. I've changed and grown in leaps and bounds. Much is the same in my tiny life and my world but now it's all bigger, better, sounder, healthier, saner, happier ... and keeping this daily journal for all those years definitely brought me here to this new place. My attachment to what this blog is and has been over the years is enormous. It's like saying goodbye to a best friend. It's not unlike when I said goodbye to Sadness & Ache - even though they weighed me down, they comforted me also - I wondered who I could possibly without them - and we know the answer to that one ... don't we ?

And when I say goodbye I don't even really mean goodbye ... because 29 Black Street isn't going anywhere. I'm saying goodbye to the attachment and to the expectation of who & what this place is and has been. I'm truly astounded daily how rapidly and thoroughly life and my part(s) in it is constantly evolving, growing & changing. It's kind of crazy to have any expectations at all because just when you become certain about something ... life changes again.

The secret really is - showing up as big & bold & brave as can be each day moment and accepting with love what shows up. Thank you for reminding me of that with your comments ;-)

*A note on Sumi brushes - an amazing tool to force you to loosen up and be free with your drawing

strange change

Sweet-as-can-be my Miss Winnie Dee with dandelions in the golden light this early morning

Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.
Rainer Maria Rilke

questions, concerns, a few worries & some strange change here at Black Street

I haven't felt much like blogging lately, at least not the 29 Black Street kind of blogging. You know the kind where I hang my heart out on my sleeve in words & thoughts. Where I post a whole bunch of beauty captured as I roam around my simple little life with my best gal pal Missy D. A billion zillion photos of nothing & of everything ... to me. I haven't felt like taking photos (gasp!) I do still carry my camera with me when Winn & I are out and about on our early morning strolls, hoping that my passionate observer might return at any moment. It feels like I've taken pictures, already, of everything I see in my travels and in a milion different ways (which actually is somewhat true) although I would tsk ! tsk ! at anyone who loved photography as much as I do for thinking or saying such a thing, knowing in my heart that nothing ever stays the same.

I'm bored, restless and on the cusp I think of a big strange change ... I'm considering leaving this place behind ... this blog. I'm thinking of me & my branding & my creative empire - however tiny it may be. I'm thinking of consolidating, my work/portfolio blog & my life blog. Because they have in reality become one. My work is my life, my life my work ... it's my love and I feel I need to put my online focus there. It's nearly time. By the end of this year

I need one place ...  something like this or this  

29 Black Street will always be here, forever I hope.

dots + drawing

brown dot No.1 - susan black

I like numbering the things I create 'cause ya never know just how many brown dot patterns I might make - I love the idea of exploring one simple idea many ways. I'm so enjoying the freedom of just making marks & drawing ... it's very relaxing + listening to an audio CD of the Hunger Games

happy weekend to all

marks

a page from yesterday's mark making sketchbook - Surface Pattern Design

I am absolutely loving my Surface Design course - me & pattern were meant to be - with black gesso & black ink I've been drawing, doodling, scribbling, stamping, sewing - making marks & the looser, the bolder, the better.

rain, rain

geraniums - chocolate brown bedroom - from earlier this week

It's raining, it's pouring actually. Soaking everything. We've had an incredibly hot, dry summer so the rain is good & I love rain - it makes me feel motivated. It makes me feel cozy & content in my newly cleaned office/studio space, desk lights on because it's a dim grey day. Oliver sound asleep on his pillow topped window sill, Miss D snoring in her bed at my feet. Both big windows wide open and fresh cool air fills the room and the sound of dripping, streaming, poring rain.

I'm having a relaxing Sept. so far - throwing myself into Module 1 of The Art & Business of Surface Design (with Rachel Taylor + Beth Nicolls) which is all about drawing, mark making and finding your groove ... finding your voice & style and I'm loving it ! this cousre & me were meant to BE ;-)

I'm hosting another collage/mixed media workshop here in my lil' village at the ChatterBox Cafe. Sunday Sept. 30th from 1-4pm - if you live nearby we'd love to have you join us - email me for details. I have a workshop coming up in October at coolest shop of design goodness Inkwell In Halifax (date still to come and I will be participating in Deanne Fitzpatrick's Big Lesson's on a Small Canvas as part of the Nova Scotia Fibre Arts Festival workshop.

& I have a new "happy fall" card I designed for American Greetings check it out here

nasturtiums x 7

nasturtiums, so pretty, so easy to grow & their scent reminds me of childhood + tres handsome photo assistant extraordinaire

queen anne

queen anne's lace - botanical collage drawing - Susan Black / 2ftx3ft posters available here

so inspired

I am so very inspired by flowers & their bold colour in this case cosmos & nasturtiums