 Over the next four months I have decided to post a GIVEAWAY a month and since I've been enjoying my latest tarot deck titled Sacred Vessel Tarot which focuses on my 52 WEEKS::Wildflowers series I wanted to begin by sharing a deck. Unlike the True North Tarot deck, I haven't included any description on the cards so that they are much more intuitive though the card meanings are the same as a traditional tarot deck. To enter the draw, sign up for the eNewsletter and leave a comment here, on Instagram, or email. The draw and the next Giveaway will be shared on the July newsletter. Good luck!
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 I'm very excited to have completed another body of work and to begin preparing for another upcoming series. Besides being rather long, I enjoyed my previous 100 Day Project (Nasty Women) so much last year that I have decided to create another project, though reduced to 30 days. I think this one may be a little easier on me...we'll see.
wunderland (German): won·der·land | \ ˈwən-dər-ˌland , -lənd\ 1 : an imaginary place of delicate beauty or magical charm 2 : a place that excites admiration or wonder; a scenic wonderland As long as I can remember I have been drawn to interesting, independent female characters in film. I love movies and television, and the quirkier the character and the storyline, the better. There is something so special about stepping away from reality for a little while and being lost in a visual wonderland. In this series of 30 portraits painted over 30 days my focus is on the unapologetic females that help me to appreciate the unique qualities that make me who I am. There were so many to choose from but I have decided to narrow it down to these thirty as there was just something special about the storyline or the roles that drew my attention. I have specifically chosen 30 days in June to celebrate the end of a previous body of work, the beginning of summer, and the month of my birth. If you want to follow along, I will be posting it here, online in my portfolio and on Instagram/veronicafunk/  About a year ago I began incorporating Artist's Loft Acrylics into my work since their price point is much lower than Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylics so I thought I'd share an update about my experience with them. They are definitely thinner than the Liquitex, which is okay, and some of the colours are similar, which is also okay, but the transparent colours become a little muddy when thinned unlike the Liquitex which is is one of the reasons I love using the Liquitex acrylics. Also, some of the Artist's Loft colours have a more gel-like and a bit of a sticky consistency rather than buttery (like the lime green), which I'm not a fan of, and the opaque colours aren't as opaque, which I don't care for either. I think the paints can be good for the bottom or base layers in my work but not so good for completing my work. I think I will probably tend to stick to Liquitex but it has been a fun experiment.
 In 2015 I created a banner to celebrate my annual Word-of-the-Year (you can see my process here) which was based on Tibetan prayer flags. In spite of the weather over the past few years (rain, hail, snow, sun, and Chinook winds), the banner has held up very well on our back deck so I decided to take it down, replace ribbons that were badly frayed and prepare another chunk of canvas to add my words from the past three years. This time I also added additional pieces so that I can continue to add the guiding word I select for the next three years. It's been really great to see how well canvas and acrylic paint stands up to all kinds of weather conditions...it's durable and the colours still look vibrant. Most of the materials were inexpensive - canvas floor cloth that I had used, dollar store acrylic paints in addition to the Liquitex heavy body acrylics and ribbons that I had at home. And I have enjoyed being able to look at it through the French doors outside my kitchen all year long.   The Fashion Plates series is now complete! Twenty-two paintings that have been a pleasure to create and have given me a lot to think about regarding what we wear and why. The entire series along with the statement about the body of work can be seen in my portfolio here.
  Besides being a very a very creative elementary school teacher, my daughter Alex is also an artist. Her favourite medium is printmaking, which she does using carved rubber for cardmaking. but she also carves wood-block prints which she sells. Last weekend I had the privilege of sitting at the Hawk & Harvest market at the Galt Museum in Lethbridge and it was such a pleasure to watch her work and also interact with people. She's an excellent teacher so I'm not surprised that she enjoys others so much. Anyway, her work can be viewed on Instagram at @thefunkystudio.
 My daughter needed a pair of steampunk goggles for a costume and I was excited to try something new. I took a look around the house & garage and these are the supplies I used:
*milk jug (for lenses) *two mason jar lids *brass belt buckle *copper plumbing strap *scraps of leather *black gesso *liquitex ink (red & blue) *metallic craft paint (copper) *varnish *shoe goo (heavy duty glue) *needle & thread *scissors *awl *ruler/self healing mat I cut two circles out of a clean milk jug and painted them roughly with liquitex ink. The mason jar lids and copper plumbing strap were given a coat of black gesso, followed by rough layers of metallic craft paint. Everything was left to dry well over several days then given a couple of coats of spray varnish. Once dry, I bent the ends of the plumbing strap and used shoe goo to glue it to the mason jar lids as well as adhering the milk jug lenses to the lids. I cut out a couple of pieces of leather to fit the lids, wider on the outsides and narrower towards the nose piece and also glued them into the lids. After drying for three days, I finally cut out two straps which I sewed to the sides of the leather on the goggles and sewed on the buckle as well as punching holes into the opposite strap using the awl. It was a time-consuming project in that there was a lot of waiting and drying time for paint, varnish & glue but the process itself was very simple...and fun! Can't wait for the photo shoot with my daughter.  My current email address has been glitching, which unfortunately means that I'm not receiving or able to access all of my emails so if you need to get in touch, please do so here. Thank you!
Why is 21 SECRETS retiring? After 11 years of being online as Dirty Footprints Studio, this June 21st host Connie will be launching a brand-new website and business. During this transition she has decided to scale down many of the 21 SECRETS editions that are currently for sale to make space for new work and projects to unfold. So this May 8-11 there is a 50% off retirement sale on all of the following editions: 21 SECRETS Best of 2014 & 2015 21 SECRETS Tell Your Story 21 SECRETS emBODY 21 SECRETS Color, Color, Color 21 SECRETS Tools & Techniques Once Sunday, May 12th arrives these editions will no longer be for sale on DirtyFootprints-Studio.com. Though all owners of these editions will still have unlimited access to the content and videos. SAVE 50% with coupon code: RETIREMENT. My workshops are included in Best of 2014 & 2014 as well as Tell Your Story: 21 SECRETS The Best Of - 21 SECRETS is an online course where a variety of artists combine mixed media and art journalling for creative expression. Each teacher uses art to explore many vital topics that impact their life and creativity, all while sharing a potent peek into their approach and mechanics behind their own creative process and perspective. My contributions focuses on Connecting With Your Wild Spirit through painting your own totem animal. Click here for more information. 21 SECRETS Tell Your Story - In this session of 21 SECRETS you will find a talented team of teachers who are excited to share with you the powerful way their art, writing and personal experiences connect. We will be combining mixed media and art journalling to express what it’s really like to Tell Your Story. Each teacher will use art to explore many vital topics that have impacted their life and creativity, all while sharing a potent peek into their approach and mechanics behind their own creative process and perspective. For more information, please visit here.  In the past few days I've received several tidbits of wonderful news. I met with the Director of Calgary Reads and had a lovely tour of the Children's Reading Place in Inglewood...what a magical place! They make sure that every child leaves with a book - it would have been lovely to have a place like this for my girls when they were little. I'm looking forward to future collaborations with them along with exhibiting artwork and altered books. There is also planning in place to exhibit my Fashion Plates series which makes me very glad as I was certain where it would head. I love it when these opportunities present themselves in these ways. I feel so blessed.
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Honouring Ancestors
AIRdirondack Art Project
Placemaking
Counting Crows
Artists' Alley
Art-in-Motion
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