Even though my daughter Katherine and I work in completely different ways and use completely different media, there is something amazing about working in an environment with another artist.  Working from our home, we have collaborated and asked for one another's opinions and feedback while we work.  It reminds me of being in art school.  I can certainly see the benefit of working in community art studios but this is even better because we can work in our jammies which is always a treat.  Our spaces are certainly different, reflecting not only our work but our interests and styles perfectly.  There are a few more changes I want to make to my space, but I am really loving the separate work stations.

I don’t like to discuss politics or religion because I really dislike heated discussions but recently my eldest daughter brought a podcast by Estee Lalonde to my attention.  As I listened, I was initially a little a little bothered by a conversation with Nina Donovan, the young woman who wrote the poem ‘Nasty Woman’ which was read by Ashley Judd at the Woman’s March, who suggested that we cannot be apathetic in difficult times.  With the political climate in North America right now, I know I can no longer be silent.  I am the mother of independent, strong young women and I cannot let them see me step aside from anything that might upset someone else, especially as I am privileged to belong to a large multi-cultural family and feel so strongly about equality and acceptance for everyone.  I kept thinking, ‘What can I do?’ and I don’t know why it took so long to suddenly dawn on me that art has been a catalyst of change for so long, such as Nina’s poem, and in this way, the best way I know how to use my voice, I hope to empower other women to show up and be brave in their lives.  So, as part of The 100 Day Project I have decided to step up and paint 100 women for 100 days on 8x10 gallery canvas to applaud and honour the nasty women in my life.  I'm starting with a self portrait followed by images of the beautiful women in my life who have stepped up to support this project.  The first painting will be posted on January 21 and each day following that for 100 days.  The project can be followed here on my website, on facebook and on instagram.  Thank you all for your support.!

NASTY WOMAN
written by Nina Donovan (as read by Ashley Judd)

“I am a nasty woman.

I’m not as nasty as a man who looks like he bathes in Cheeto dust. A man whose words are a distract to America; Electoral College-sanctioned hate speech contaminating this national anthem.

I am not as nasty as Confederate flags being tattooed across my city. Maybe the South actually is gonna rise again; maybe for some it never really fell. Blacks are still in shackles and graves just for being Black. Slavery has been reinterpreted as the prison system in front of people who see melanin as animal skin.

I am not as nasty as a Swastika painted on a pride flag. And I didn’t know devils could be resurrected, but I feel Hitler in these streets—a moustache traded for a toupee; Nazis renamed the cabinet; electro-conversion therapy the new gas chambers, shaming the gay out of America turning rainbows into suicide notes.

I am not as nasty as racism, fraud, conflict of interest, homophobia, sexual assault, transphobia, white supremacy, misogyny, ignorance, white privilege.

I’m not as nasty as using little girls like Pokémon before their bodies have even developed.
I am not as nasty as your own daughter being your favourite sex symbol—like your wet dreams infused with your own genes.

But yah, I am a nasty woman?!

A loud vulgar, proud woman.

I’m not nasty like the combo of Trump and Pence being served up to me in my voting booth.

I’m nasty like the battles my grandmothers fought to get me into that voting booth.

I’m nasty like the fight for wage equality. Scarlett Johansson: Why were the famous actors paid less than half of what the male actors earned last year?
See, even when we do go into higher paying jobs our wages are still cut with blades, sharpened by testosterone. Why is the work of a Black woman and a Hispanic woman worth only 63 and 54 cents of a white man’s privileged daughter?

This is not a feminist myth. This is inequality.

So we are not here to be debunked. We are here to be respected. We are here to be nasty.
I am nasty like the blood stains on my bed sheets. We don’t actually choose if and when to have our periods. Believe me, if we could, some of us would. We don’t like throwing away our favourite pairs of underpants. Tell me, why are tampons and pads still taxed when Viagra and Rogaine are not? Is your erection really more than protecting the sacred messy part of my womanhood? Is the blood stain on my jeans more embarrassing than the thinning of your hair?

I know it is hard to look at your own entitlement and privilege. You may be afraid of the truth. I am unafraid to be honest. It may sound petty bringing up a few extra cents. It adds up to the pile of change I have yet to see in my country.

I can’t see. My eyes are too busy praying to my feet hoping you don’t mistake eye contact for wanting physical contact. Half my life I have been zipping up my smile hoping you don’t think I wanna unzip your jeans.

I am unafraid to be nasty because I am nasty like Susan, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Amelia, Rosa, Gloria, Condoleezza, Sonia, Malala, Michelle, Hillary.

And our pussies ain’t for grabbin’. Therefore, reminding you that our balls are stronger than America’s ever will be. Our pussies are for our pleasure. They are for birthing new generations of filthy, vulgar, nasty, proud, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sheikh—you name it—for new generations of nasty women. So if you are a nasty woman or love one who is, let me hear you say, hell yeah!”

So, as you know, I have been struggling with this year's 52 WEEKS project.  Last year was tough and I'm just not getting into it this year at all...maybe five years was my limit.  I tried a few more pieces in this media (water miscible oils and Gamblin cold was medium) and though I am loving the texture, I'm just not connecting with it.  And then, another project idea was brought to my attention and I became so excited - I haven't felt this way since my 52 WEEKS::Heroes project.  It's a little scary, first to give up on this year's 52 WEEKS, and daunting to begin a project that is even more personal to me.  I'll share more information about it tomorrow.  Fingers crossed!

There have been so many instances where I've totally lucked out on commission work and this past year has been amazing.  It's great to continue this tradition and begin the new year in this same vein.  Lucky me.  My favorite part of creating these is incorporating symbols and colours that are important to the person as the meaning behind things is very important to me.  I guess it brings me back to my English courses and the deeper meaning in everything...in words, in colour, in scents and sounds.  So here's a new year which promises to be a great one!

I love getting little peaks into artists' studios so I thought I would share my set-up for this year's 52 WEEKS project.  One of my absolute favorite items in my studio is one that doesn't always stay in the studio, but is rather a bit of a studio-in-a-box...my Judsons Art Outfitters pochade.  They make them a little differently than they did years ago which means less storage but also means that the boxes are lighter and easier for travel.  This box has travelled far and wide through the mountains and across the prairies and it's kind of interesting that after all these years I am finally embracing 6x8 inch panels that store perfectly in this box (it can hold four wet panels at one time).  It's so great to set onto a table, in my lap, hold in my hand (there is a thumb hole) or attach to a tripod.  Along with the pochade, I am using Winsor & Newton water miscible oils along with Gamblin Cold Wax Medium in order to create that luscious texture.  This year's project is all about working alla prima, which means that I need to finish each piece in one sitting so that I work wet-on-wet, not allowing the paint to dry between stages.  I always find this method of working fascinating and very fun, especially since I plan to complete some of the works this year en plein air (painting outdoors).  With the cold snap we've experienced this past month, though, these days I am extremely happy to work from my photos in the studio.  If there are any questions, please feel free to email or leave a comment!

It’s that time of year again, the time to select my guiding word for the year.  This year, with both of my daughters’ graduations and no longer being the mother of children but rather women, this year has been one of change for me.  I chose to add the image of leaves symbolizing growth and turning over a new leaf.

Previous words have been:

1. FEARLESS:  My 2010 word as I found I was getting caught up in the fear of how I was perceived by others and the fear of failure.  Whenever I noticed fear in myself, I would focus on my word and it helped me to overcome challenges, it actually helped me to be brave in so many little ways.
2. SURRENDER: I decided that 2011 would be a year of letting go of my history of control…of self and others…and allowing things to happen.  And, boy, did things happen.  Yes, both good and bad, but always in the end for the better.
3. STILL:  For 2012 I wanted to grow both as an artist and human being, and remembered the verse in Psalm 46:10 ‘Be still’.  I tend to feel like I have to do everything, you know, that sense of obligation.  Not only because I feel I should but because I worry that I don’t do enough.  I actually went through a physical injury that forced stillness, and it seemed that everything that needed doing got done.  And I felt so much more peace in my life by allowing it.
4. WISDOM:  In 2013 I wanted to further my education as well as seeking knowledge and understanding of others and myself.  Wisdom is considered a cardinal virtue, though because of my passionate artist’s nature I struggle with stepping back and attempting to control my reactions…still a work in progress.
5. GRACE:  My word for 2014.  To me practicing grace is similar to gaining wisdom in my hope to extend grace to myself and others.  Theologically divine grace inspires virtuous impulses and imparts strength to endure trials.  I believe it is about compassion and understanding and also about acceptance.
6. RESERVOIR:  If you are wise, you will show yourself rather as a reservoir than as a canal.  A canal spreads abroad water as it receives it, but a reservoir waits until it is filled before overflowing, and thus without loss to itself shares its super abundant water. ~ Bernard of Clairvaux, Celtic Monk      
7. BRAVE:  You have to be brave with your life so that others can be brave with theirs. ~ Katherine Center...I just need to remember that being brave doesn't necessarily mean anything big, but rather taking small steps that lead to bigger things.
   
8. QUERENCIA:  a place from which one’s strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are most your authentic self.  My hope is to remind myself that I don't need to make any decisions in haste, or at all, and that I need to come back to my center, to my core, and make decisions based on the things that fill rather than deplete me.
   

So, here we are...another year and another 52 WEEKS project.  First of all, I am loving the juicy textures created by mixing Gamblin Cold Wax Medium with Winsor & Newton oils, and working with a palette knife is definitely a new experience for me.  As for the titles of this year's project, I am following the book titled '50 Truths Worth Knowing' and will complete the last two with truths picked up along the way.  This is quite a year for me as I will be celebrating my 52nd birthday so I am extremely glad that I have chosen to continue this 52 WEEKS project for a sixth year.  

The title of this piece is especially poignant as my husband and I will also be celebrating our 30th Anniversary this year and our courtship began, not across continents but across the prairies and endured through a couple of occasions where we were separated by many, many miles.  Through the hard times I have learned that love and the feeling of togetherness can continues to exist and grow through times of separation with dedication and commitment to one another.