In my next newsletter I will be giving away a 60g tin of ArtGraf water soluble graphite from The Paint Spot in Edmonton. I've been experimenting with a smaller tin (so I can pop it into my pocket with a water brush) and I'm really enjoying it...even more than the liquid charcoal I had picked up. I also have two of my favourite sketchbooks and a few tubes of Daniel Smith watercolours to share. If you're interested in joining in, you can sign up for the newsletters is on my 'Contact' page here. 

As I've been adding information about the women I have been researching for the 'Women of the West' project, I've been adding a mini portrait to my notebook alongside my notes. These are quite, maximum 10 minute, portraits that I wait to colour when I'm away from archives (I can't bring in water and paint). I'm so grateful that I get to take photographs of the letters and items I am shown and that the Archivists email more information. I hope to travel around the province a bit this summer in order to gather more info. There is nothing more exciting to me than to see their handwriting and to hold the items that were important to them. 

I keep plugging away at the 'Women of the West' series...as I learn more about each amazing woman, I paint her portrait. This project has been slow but, oh so rewarding. As a female artist in Alberta, it is so wonderful to learn about those women who were breaking barriers in the early 1900s...in the beginning. Very inspiring!

I've been keeping up with my weekly visual journal. It's been a fun way to try out different media along with different subject matter and to add as much or as little writing as I'd like. This is a small 3.5x5.5 inch HandBook Journal which fits quite nicely in my little purse, so I can add to it when we drive places...that's definitely a bonus. I can see myself adding more grey toned imagery as I only need to bring along this small tin of ArtGraf and a water brush...I also add a little colour when I get home from our little jaunts. When I started this early in the year, I wasn't sure how I would feel about it, but it has turned into a nice little, non-demanding 'hobby'.

When I was in college, I loved working with charcoal. With my studio located in our home, it is just too dusty so I was excited when I saw liquid charcoal liquid was available. The only thing is that when it dries it is a little gritty but you can get really dark darks with it. I squeezed it into a small mint tin so that I can use it like watercolour pan paint.

Schmincke Kohle Liquid charcoals in 35 ml tube – a clean, dust-free way of painting, charcoal drawing and underpainting with charcoal. The three pigments of natural origin used for this (PBK 8, pit black) are created by charring fruit seeds from the EU area and result in the following unique coal nuances:

• a neutral peach stone black – 18 757
• a warm, brownish cherry pit black – 18 756
• a cool, bluish grape seed black – 18 755

Due to the larger quantity of available paint, liquid charcoal can be used to quickly cover large areas. The liquid charcoal contains the high-quality binder gum arabic like traditional artists’ watercolours, has a gouache-like consistency and can be diluted with water, so that different shades, structures and layer thicknesses can be achieved by different application. Depending on the substrate and the thickness of the layer, it can be wiped off by hand and removed with water. Used as thin underpainting (e.g. in oil painting), subsequent paints do not become dirty or become less dirty than with conventional charcoal underpainting due to the higher adhesion of the bound carbon pigments to the substrate.
Of course, the liquid charcoal can be combined with drawing charcoal. The blurring and removability of these paints depends on the substrate’s surface. The more even and firm the surface is, the easier to change the charcoal’s application. We recommend testing before use.
All three colours are available in 35 ml tubes, as well as a limited edition set of three small tubes.

Recently Lauren Kannwischer from the Calgary Guardian reached out for a little interview & it's now available online at ​www.calgaryguardian.com. I am so very grateful for the support I receive as a female artist in Alberta.

I recently received an Olive Passport Traveler's Notebook and brass fountain pen and have been intrigued as I have wanted to simplify my travel supplies even more than they have been. I've also been thinking about reducing my cell phone use & would like to incorporate many things into one:

1. An annual calendar & TO DO list (I still prefer handwritten to technology...I remember better)
2. My journal
3. A watercolour sketchbook
4. A small, but comfortable fountain pen
5. My Art Toolkit Pocket Palette
6. A wallet & my passport when I travel

So far, this fits the bill as I only have to clip the pen & the palette (a metal business card holder) to the cover (I tuck the palette inside as it's so thin) and tuck a Pentel mini waterbrush into the pen hold. I've been reducing the items in my wallet to only necessities so I am currently looking for a canvas zipper insert (ie. wallet) for this cover (right now I'm using a cardboard folder). Traveler's Company makes a nice thin one which is currently unavailable in Canada so I will have to be patient...or make something. I really love how flexible this system is as I can make adjustments as I go & can try out different types of Midori paper. The pen is weighted so beautifully and writes very nicely...both the brass and the leather cover will patina with age, which works well for me as I love things that are rustic. The company also offers a kraft coloured binder to store notebooks...the cover can be decorated as well. Minimalism and creativity at its best!

On Friday, I attended the Amazing Airdrie Women's Awards for which I had created another award for a local female-run business...this time it was Ambition Performing Arts. This one was so fun to paint. I wanted an image that represented Ambition Performing Arts' slogan, "This is where you belong" and the first line that I read online, "Imagine your child walking into a room filled with smiling faces," while also incorporating the colour red from their website (red symbolizes love, energy & good fortune). I also included purple to represent my friend Sherry, who owns AirdrieLIFE magazine and puts on this wonderful event every year.

I've painted Mount Rundle a number of times, but typically in a square format. This time, I decided to create a more vertical orientation and now I'm trying to decide a few things....

1. Do I like the shapes and colours that I have incorporated into the mountain?
2. Do I want to incorporate embroidery? If so, do I want to add recognizable shapes (ie. embroidered trees at the bottom) or quilting-like patterns?

I know I want to push the contrast a bit further, maybe by incorporating more of that vibrant pink in the sky and also in the mountain forms. Other than that, I think I might live with this for a bit and see how I feel. 

It is always such a privilege for me to paint several members of a family...and this one is pretty special as they are good friends and have been collectors of my work for many years. It's been a special privilege to paint several generations of women from this wonderful family. Now, I think, all of my commissions are complete and I can focus on the 'Women of the West' once again...especially as I only have one exam to write and no more coursework until May. Then it's only 6 more university classes until I've completed my English degree - the end is in sight.