Surprise packages

It's funny how you forget about whole sections of your
life when you don't do an activity for awhile. I was
going through my files and found this little journal
that I did on watercolour paper for a workshop I
designed and taught a couple of years ago
called Art Bypass: how to get creating again
when you've stopped.

The Workshop journal
Watercolour paper bound in red
satin ribbon

I also teach journal writing in my English classes,
and a course called Writing to Vision for artists.
But Art Bypass combines everything from all my
other courses with the simple idea of having fun,
and starting small when you haven't done
any art over a period of months and years for
whatever reason.

Close up of the journal cover
Watercolour base,
black and white xeroxes painted
cut out images
watercolour crayons
gold sign maker's plastic (one of
my all time favorite things)

It's so easy to get into the Michelangelo, Bernini,
trap -- look at their work, and decide "there's no
hope for me." I'm not really a collage artist, but
I thought it would be a fun way to combine
journal writing and art. So I painted pages of
watercolour paper on both sides, xeroxed some
family photos, cut images out of the newspaper
and started my little journal. It's a terribly
time consuming job -- collaging, so I didn't get
far -- but I like how far I did get, and I thought
you deserved some colour.

Inside the theme continues
collage of a mix of images
coloured stars
sign maker's plastic gold
watercolour crayon

The total queen of this art is Teesha Moore.
http://www.teeshamoore.com/teeshasjournalpgs.html
Her attention to detail, humour and playfulness are
a great cure for a case of art depression.

How it all begins:
watercolour pages folded and held together with
ribbon,
small photo collaged on of my niece, Quincy

Meanwhile I hope you never suffer that disease.
I have been talking to students all day today,
and it's time for bed.

Have a wow-look-what-I-did-I'm-great! day

Those run around days

Tomorrow we are expecting ice, and snow. Knowing I'd be
out in that I was desperate to get snow tires today. I've never
put them on before, but every winter when I drive to class
it's a nail biting, hair raising experience in bad weather.
So I did it.

I also took back the beautiful art book Steven gave me for
my birthday, which is so heavy I actually hurt my arm
carrying it. It's a book about Canadian women artists
who are certainly not given enough space, either in
Canadian art books, or art galleries. But I've told you
that before. Independent Spirit is a huge book filled with
gorgeous work by Canadian women artists, and I was determined
to get an excellent copy. Steven was not well at the time
of my birthday, and didn't notice that the book was
damaged all the way through. I felt great about
getting a perfect copy because it was such a deeply
thoughtful gift.

I know I am so lucky to have a partner who respects my
work, and helps and encourages me any way he
can.

Quick sketch of my son Christopher
trying for minimal line
marker on bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

I've been reading essays for school -- so many essays
and as I was getting them by email, I printed them
off before I read them -- and I also ran out of ink
today, so had to go out and buy cartridges. Not the
most riveting news -- but vital to my life all the same.

Mary Talking
more detailed sketch
in black and orange marker on Bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

All in all it has been a productive day.
I'm including a very quick sketch tonight, and
another more in-depth drawing.
I did the sketch of Christopher talking to him on
Skype, and started the sketch of Mary while talking to
her on Skype. I like the way she looks mid-conversation.
I couldn't see her husband Peter very well, so he's far
less defined. Mary is the friend I've known longest in
the world. I love her, and miss her. She lives in
Vancouver, at the other side of the country. Whenever
we get together it feels like there's just been a short
break in the conversation.

Have a keeping-your-mind-joyous day!

Joyous News!

We are over the moon excited here by the news
that my son is back in Korea, safe after his
vacation in Thailand. And most wonderful
of all he proposed to his girlfriend on a beach
under the stars and they are now engaged.

Christopher and Megan

I've been working on a bunch of drawings today.
If I get them finished in time I'll show them to
you. Meanwhile, I wish Christopher and Megan
were home so that we could toast them with a
glass of Veuve Cliquot and have a special
meal together. We could not be happier.
Megan is just a fantastic person and the two
have been in love for years.

A Visual Celebration for the happy pair

My son decided to propose at least a month before
they left for Korea in June, so he has kept his
plans a secret for a long time. That must have been
very hard for a completely direct person like him.
Their homecoming sometime in the late summer will
be cause for a party for sure! So that's my news.

Have a falling-in-love day!

The long drive out of the holiday

Some of my friends have already written about how
much they love their children, and how the time
spent with them on holiday means so much. Sam
has been home from school since December 20, and
we've had a lot of fun together. The nice thing about
a long visit, is that you get to just hang out
together. We had so much fun one afternoon just watching
Robin Williams videos on You Tube. My family
loves funny above all, and Robin Williams is extremely
funny.

Today we spent 10 hours driving Sam back to
university, which ended our very happy holiday
with him. It was a beautiful drive. Cramped up
in the city, I forget how inspiring the countryside
is all the way along the route. We listened to a
long and complicated novel on CD, The Painted
Drum by Louise Erdrich. And though I fell
asleep a few times on the long drive home,
I can't wait to hear the rest of the story.

Sam and Steven in front of Sam's university residence in October

In Windsor we had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant.
The food was excellent and I wished I had my
sketchbook because the place was jumping. The
music was amazing, children of all ages ran and
danced, and slept in their parents arms. And I
saw something I've only seen in paintings before,
people gathered around tables smoking a herbal
mix through hookahs. (No not what you're
thinking -- something like cigar tobacco, but
milder). The meal was an exotic
break between the two long drives.

There's always a clutch in my throat and the threat
of tears, even some actual tears when I say goodbye
to one of my children. The truth is I just love being with
them. But our lives are so busy, I know that work
and friends will fold around the space Sam leaves
until he comes home again.

Have a wow-what-a-great-day! day.

Managing time for art

I listened to the Art Biz podcast
http://www.artbizblog.com/2008/12/podcast-blast-off-in-the-new-year.html
on thinking about what to improve on for the
new year, and I thought I have to figure out a way
to spend more time on my art. I don't want to achieve
this by losing any other part of my life. I just want
analyze what I do each day, and carve out half an hour here,
and 20 minutes there to spend more time painting.

Man talking
marker on bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

I'm not alone in thinking this way today. Apparently
January 3rd is the day when everyone starts to regret not
living up to their New Year's resolutions. I
actually don't make them. But I like the idea of
thinking about goals for the year.

It's been a whirlwind year in my art life in the
past year, and I realize that in some ways I'm
just on the very edge of that whirlwind now.
This year -- all I can say is watch out!!! I have
plans. As Mike Dooley of tut.com says -- "Are
you thinking big -- I mean really big!!! Good
because that's exactly how much of it you're
going to get." http://www.tut.com/
Well I'm thinking big. Big
paintings, big sales, big joy, big satisfaction,
and big help to anyone I can help along the
way. Plus I wish you big plans, big success,
big love, big joy too. Really, really big.

Once again I do say thank you to everyone who's
been a great help to me this year, to all my
clients, to all my friends, and family. I don't
think I can say thank you enough.

Man in sunlight
marker on bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

I've been working on thinking about line for
the past few days. So today's offerings are a
couple of drawings I've done of my brother
from images in very different light. He is
certainly one of my favorite people, and
drawing him makes me feel like I'm in a
conversation -- even when he's not in it.
These were started when I was talking to him
on Skype.

Have a thinking really big day!

Keeping it simple

I did get out the paints today, to paint my date book cover red.
But more on that another day. I also painted a canvas red
as an underpainting and may start a little portrait tomorrow.

Today I drew. Working on David Lobenberg's idea of less
is more, http://davidlobenberg.blogspot.com/
I worked on simple ink sketches done with a brush
marker for the most part. The drawings are all done on white
paper, with black ink, but I'm having a hard time getting
the camera to see that reality.

A fast sketch of my friend Lyn
marker on bond paper
81/2 x 11 inches

I went to a great movie, which I highly recommend yesterday --
Slumdog Millionaire. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/
Steven and I and Sam sat riveted at the
story of a young uneducated Indian man winning at the Who
Wants to be a Millionaire game. It was terrifying, funny,
moving -- the whole gamut of emotions and sensations.
But watching it clarifies how far we have to go to make the
world equal for all -- to give every child a chance. That's
also true right here in Toronto. It's estimated that one child
in 6 in Canada lives in poverty. My students write about this
every year, and are shocked at the facts they uncover.

Back to drawing. This couple of weeks of drawing
instead of painting has been good for me. For one thing
the discipline of drawing is always important to a painter
trying to capture something like an accurate image.
Skip Lawrence is right when he says -- "it's not what
you see, it's what you make". http://www.skiplawrence.com/
But what you see determines what you make in a portrait.

My brother Andrew
marker on bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

I know I went a bit overboard with the line on the dog, but I still
like this sketch of my brother's dog Tao. He is without a doubt
one of the cutest dogs I've ever met. I'm not taking anything away
from Zoey when I say this, she knows Tao is cute, and would
agree with me 100%.

Tao
marker on bond paper
8 1/2 x 11 inches

I hope you've had a happy day, and are back to the drawing
board or easel and liking the results.

Have a -what-do-you-know-it's-the-weekend-again! day.

I wish you the happiest of years

For the last couple of years I've asked our friends to write their
wishes for the coming year on pieces of paper that we
put up on a ribbon strung across the dining room. At the
height of the festivities they are funny and interesting,
but today they set the ideal tone for the year to come.
One friend asked for an end to greed, and an
end to war. She also asked for prosperity for all -- a
concept that would be a great driving purpose for this
year.

I certainly wish you all prosperity. To me that means
something that a few of us asked for -- good health.
With health you have the energy to make the rest
of your dreams happen. Without it, the going gets
tough. Another friend asked for satisfaction -- saying
that that summed it up nicely. And I think she's right
too. I wish you satisfaction in all that you do.
Satisfaction denotes purpose, and everyone who
paints certainly has that. Satisfaction implies that
your purpose is fulfilled -- our wish in everything we
do. $10 million dollars would make one of my friends
happy, and I hope she gets it. That would be wonderful. She
would definitely use that money well.

The middle of the night crew
with me in the picture on the left where I belong

So Happy New Year. It's been a slow day, recovering
from last night's late finish -- a complete joy as usual.
We took the pictures a bit late, long after the midnight
toast. We distributed those glow in the dark rings
at midnight, and they make everyone look like they're
wearing psychedelic halos or neon art.

Our friends with Steven (wearing the neck sculpture)

Have a quietly glowing day.