This painting will be up for auction in support of the Airdrie Foodbank
​at the annual Shamrock Shimmy :)

When I kept noticing artists posting their collage for 'Art vs Artist' on Instagram I kept thinking of what I would choose as my images and this is what I've decided.  I knew I had to include my 100 Days Nasty Women project (top right) which was a bit of an offshoot of the 52 WEEKS::Heroes (top left).  The bees have been important to me to draw attention to their plight and their importance to us, plus I love watching them in my garden. Canoes represent my childhood and the initial huge shift in my artwork and the fashion plate is a part of my current body of work.  The hearts represent Valentines and the nest as the most abstract of my work and another current project and the landscape comes from the small plein air paintings I've been playing with the past couple of years.  It was difficult to narrow it down to these because there are also the flowers, tipis, animals, cabins, altered books and carvings but I think these are the ones that have helped me grow the most creatively and are kind of where my head is at the moment.  It will be interesting to see where the year ahead leads.

These are the newest pieces I delivered to Bluerock Gallery in Black Diamond after I returned from teaching in the Okanagan.  It's funny, when the pieces are in my studio sometimes I think they seem so muted, but once I get them to the gallery I realize how vibrant they are.  The elephant was painted a couple of years ago but hasn't been shown before so it was nice to bring him out for a visit.  It seems appropriate that I've been painting flowers, bees and hearts...there's just something so happy about all three.  

I've been working on a new commission which is really exciting.  This was the 'before' but the 'after' won't be for awhile.  I love beginnings, especially new ones where I can utilize my creative vision.  Whenever I'm given too many parameters for a commission I don't enjoy the process so much.  With these frigid arctic temperatures these days I haven't wanted to leave our home or to do anything else but paint, so the timing is absolutely great!  I'll share more once the piece is delivered later this month.

Last week my daughter, Katherine, was one of the fashion designers at the MS Winter Gala.  She decided to share a couple of her hand-stamped vintage inspired dresses.  These are projects that I absolutely love as we get to collaborate - she shares her vision, I draw a couple of ideas and once she's chosen one, I get to carve it.  I really do enjoy working on projects with my daughters and love carving prints though I don't use them often myself.  It's such a great partnership.  The photograph of her moth dress on the right was taken by Zev Vitaly Abosh.  To see more of her designs, visit her website here.

I'm so thrilled to be included in the latest issue of "In My Studio" magazine.  When I was asked about my space, I thought about what happens in the studio and why.  Many years ago a mentor had suggested that I surround myself with work in progress as well as completed, not as a matter of vanity but rather as part of the creative process.  This was meant to remind me of what I needed to do as well as what I had already accomplished.  It was the best advice I've been given as an artist.

Yesterday would have been my dad's birthday.  I miss our conversations.  He felt that photographs were extremely important, to capture moments in time or to create something beautiful and was the person who taught me to use a camera, something I still love.  He taught me about composition and had me take his photograph for the first time in the Rocky Mountains when I was only 5 years old.  These days if I'm not documenting my work and process, I'm documenting my daughter's, which has been so much fun.  She has the greatest creative vision and then I get to play with it.  I absolutely love these collaborations.  On a cold, very windy January day we found a great building  to take Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom' inspired photographs and though this is one of the outtakes I still love it.  To see more photos, you can visit her website here.

It is with a heavy heart that I say good-bye to Inglewood Fine Arts gallery after being represented by them for ten years, I am happy for Michel and his wife as they look forward to their retirement in Montreal.  As a grand finale, there will be an exhibition reception on February 16, 2-5pm title Au Revoir for the roster of artists who have exhibited with the gallery.  The exhibit runs until February 23 and everyone is welcome to join us.