Blog

Equality

6/18/2018

I've often thought about what equality means to me...even as a young child. My brother is younger than I am and we were always very close but things were different not only because of our age and gender but also because of our vastly different personalities.

We grew up in the same house with the same parents but with a totally different experience from one another. The gifts we received from our parents were different not only because of our gender but also our interests. And our relationships with our parents were different because of our personalities and possibly because of our birth order.

I don't think that doing the exact same thing for two different people is equal as both my daughters are different and need different things from me. To me, treating them equally means loving them and allowing them to be who they are.

Creating Backgrounds & Making Your Mark

6/17/2018

Introducing Veronica Funk who creates such beautiful bright, bold and soulful expressions in her ever so prolific art practice inspired by life steeped in place and the roots and memories they hold. I’m delighted she’ll be sharing with us for the Creative Retreat this year.

Veronica was born and raised in northern Manitoba. She studied Art & Design at Red Deer College and her work has been exhibited and collected across North America. Her goal is to create a visual story in an endeavor to capture the essence of her surroundings.

She’ll be offering two lessons for us:

Creating Backgrounds - Facing a blank canvas can be intimidating. Using acrylic paints and stencils we will have fun creating an interesting surface that can be displayed as is or, as in my next workshop, layered with imagery to create a finished painting.

Making your Mark - Inspired by graffiti, we will begin by utilizing acrylic paint, stencils, stamps or other mark-making tools to create a vibrant background. While working intuitively we will explore colour theory, contrast, and the value of mark-making. We will complete our paintings by including a combination of symbols and images to create a visual story inspired by personal memories.

For more information or to register please visit here.

Nasty Women, Too: Jessica Danbrook

6/16/2018

I am still learning.

~ Michelangelo

Loosen up!

6/15/2018

I'm so happy to be included in artist and teacher Tara Leaver's recent blog post about loosening up as an artist. Looking for quick and easy ideas to loosen up your art? Read more here!

With her course titled Loosen Up currently open for registration, this whole idea of shaking up our art and moving away from tight habits has been on my mind a lot lately. So she decided to ask some artist friends for their tips and advice.

From scribbling on your work to using a timer, there are plenty of very easy-to-do ideas here – take your pick and get painting!

Dad

6/14/2018

Grief is an unusual thing...it crashes over me in waves and leaves me physically and emotionally exhausted over and over and over again. I have never really lost someone who I have been extremely close to before so losing this handsome man unexpectedly this week has been hard.

My Dad immigrated to Canada from South America as a young man and though he grew up in a poor family he never let anything stop him. He was brilliant and determined and taught my brother and I that we were fortunate to live in a country where we had the opprtunity to do anything we dreamed of if we worked at it. He taught me the importance of independence, showing me how to maintain my vehicle and complete my tax returns. He calmly and quietly reminded me of the good in people when I stopped seeing it. He helped me to be strong and to believe in myself, even when it felt as though no one else did. He gave me his wiry blonde hair, his square chin, the 'ball' at the end of my nose and his quirky sense of humour.

The world has lost some of its colour in his loss. You will be missed...I love you Dad. xo

Nasty Women, Too: Aisling Kiernan

6/8/2018

Your time is limited so don't waste it living someone else's life...have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.

~ Steve Jobs

Nasty Woman, Too: Tisha Carter

6/7/2018

If you have never been called a defiant, incorrigible, impossible woman, have faith. There is yet time.

~ Clarissa Pinkola Estes

Nasty Women, Too: Dani Groeneveld

6/6/2018

The flower doesn't dream of the bee.
It blossoms and the bee comes.

~ Mark Nepo

Nasty Women, Too

6/5/2018

So, as I suspected, I cannot give up on this project just yet as there were so many more women who had come stepped up to be included. There is something empowering for me in painting these portraits of women so I have gone through and tried to find all of the other women who had put their names forward to be included and have begun to cobble together a bit of a list. Please let me know if you want to be added, or if you want to be removed. And thank you so very much!

Aisling Kiernan / Alana Cyron / Anne Mulders / April Harris / Barbara Amos / Belinda Fireman / Betti Dooley / Chantale Ling / Cheryl Matson Quist / Cheyenne Ferran / Cindy Benko / Dani Groeneveld / Deborah Catton / Denise Kehler / Diane Templeton / Doro Saharita Becker / Elizabeth Campbell / Elke Goebel / Erika Rozema / Gail Hanrahan / Gloria Gelo / Heather Cowie / Heather Dakota Jansen / Jennifer Rowland / Jessica Danbrook / Joan Traub / Kasmira Demyan / Kate Nicholls / Kate Robertson / Kati Barrett / Kelly Thiel / Kim Fisher-Cottrell / Kim Nelson / Kimberly Heil / Lacey Woida / Livia Farkas / Lora Peterson / Marissa Greentree / Mary Borkowski / Mia Fletcher / Nadine Johnson / Norma Slater / Paula Timm / Rachael Shores / Rachelle Reed / Robbie Zopf / Rochelle Dial / Ronda Conley / Pauline Saade / Sandy Kaye Moss / Sara Riley / Shelley Newton / Sheree Keys / Sherry VanWellengham Voss / Tisha Carter / Twozdai Hulse

Nasty Women, Too: Lisa Kundert

6/4/2018

One of the biggest mistakes we make as humans is to believe that our pain is exclusive and our beauty is ordinary.

~ J.M. Storm