Friday Evening Vernissage

I recently started showing my jewelry at a wonderful little gallery here in Hudson called Mouche! The last Friday of every month they hold a vernissage. That's my idea of a great way to spend a Friday evening, in the company of other artists and those who
come out to see what's new, have a glass of wine, a few nibblies and inspired conversations. I've just added Kate Strickland's Blog address to my list. Kate has paper castings in the gallery and also has her own studio here in Hudson where she offers workshops in mixed media such as journalling and assemblage.

Rome Revisited

Well since my last post (which is already more than a month ago!) I had a great vacation. Went to Rome, took a train through
the Tuscan countryside (I have to say I'm impressed with travelling through Italy. Both the hotel bookings and train travel
were easy to organize) stayed in Cortona (where Under the Tuscan Sun was filmed) and continued on to Florence. Now I know why people who have been there told me I just had to visit there. Inspiration e v e r y w h e r e. I'll post pics here but I also have them in my Flickr account.
I no sooner got back and had to prepare for a vernissage four days later at a great little gallery here in Hudson, called Mouche! I am one of several artists represented there....and for those who knew I am a painter I should mention that it is only my jewelry that is in this gallery. It's kind of fun to have this separate identity as a jewelry artist.

...a new Mural

A new mural on a 6' high by 6' wide wall that continues on three sides for a total of 14'. I enjoyed painting this scene so much I've
thought about painting an adirondack chair on canvas in a garden setting much like this one. It's such a transformation, painting a scene where only a blank wall existed before. The wall opposite this one has a door under a trellis inbetween two stone walls and a white garden bench on a flagstone patio. Delphiniums, Irises, hollyhocks and daisies grow in the garden and petunias
tumble out of pots. A garden as lush as I want it to be.....

Hello to Tia

Hello to Tia (a 5 month old miniature Teckel) who I met at a café in Hudson this morning while her "people" were shopping.
Here is a pic of my own miniature Teckel having a bath and wondering what she did wrong to deserve this........

Coming to Life...

Marionettes are such an interesting mix of sculpture, fibre, jewelry techniques and the magic of movement to name just a few.
I made three of these marionettes for a call for entries for the Somerset publication "Art Dolls" and it was published in the
premiere edition of this magazine a few years ago. It was a sort of "one of" project but again, I'm drawn to my creative
impulses and am thinking of doing more with improved techniques learned since then. Especially since I tried this little
video and I see them come to life.....

I'm particularly pleased with the modeling of the hands as they are so expressive although with the camera in one hand unsteadied and my right hand manipulating the marionette, this is not so evident here.

Creative Impulses...

I can't help but let other influences sneak into my repertoire. Long ago, B.C. (before children) I was heavily into quilting and textiles. Along came children and I wasn't about to give up what I loved to do but did try and focus. Painting was that focus and still is but along the way I discovered I had to make room for jewelry design. These two pursuits are here to stay and are the very "fibre" (pun intended) of my being. And now, for better or worse, past pursuits are re-surfacing and I am giving them room to grow. Fibre art is an amalgamation of my painting with textiles and that is how I justify it! Texture was becoming more and more
important in my paintings and that would often mean the addition of layers of canvas in collage fashion. It was only natural to add fabric to those layers whether on paper or canvas and before I knew it they had morphed....! So now I let my creative impulses guide me. Here's a little "Fibre Art Quilt" I recently completed using hand painted fabrics and digital prints along with
fused embellishments. The best part is that I have wonderful references in the photos of still life groupings that I intended for painting that translate well into these art quilts so it was really meant to be!

SPRING!!....Blossoms

I've worked on several variations on these blossoms from photos taken last year from these wonderful little trees just outside my favorite local café. Working on them kept me in "flowers" over a very long winter.....and as I put my brushes down to take a break after completing this one today, I stepped outside into 30 degree temperatures!


I thought I'd experiment and see if I could upload my own little videos taken on my Sony Cybershot digital camera....and it works!
This video was taken last summer and features my two little doxies (Maggie and Penny) hanging out at their favorite pond (right outside our back door). Absolutely enthralled with the gold fish that seem to be attracted to Maggie's ears floating on the surface, the fish flock to her which keeps her entertained. I worried about her falling in and drowning only to find out she can
quite comfortably stand on her hind legs so I made some underwater steps to facilitate her walking out on her own.

Hudson Scenes

This used to be one of my favorite little shops on the Main Road in Hudson. Now occupied by offices, it lives on in my
memory with this little painting.

It's Spring Somewhere.....

From a series of paintings that I did in the naive/primitive style. This scene is just the color/subject matter I need right
now to focus on anything but the winter weather we're still having. I will have this image available as greeting cards within
the week. Just email me if you're interested....

Silver and Pearls

Funny how I've returned to a wintry palette so soon. This is one of my favorite designs - sterling silver forged into lengths
of ribbon looking bands connected by some sensuous chainmaille and sprinkled with pearls. It feels great too as the bands
of silver rest on the wrist with the chainmaille creating enough drape and the four clusters of pearls as accents around the wrist.

Barbados Inspired

The blue/green theme was definitely inspired by the shades of cool blue/green water stretching to the blue horizon.
The cluster of pearls in the first photo reminds me of the frothy surf.

Where to Start?!

Well! ... since my last entry, I've enjoyed creating in the quiet depths of winter - venturing out only when I have to. This is the first full day of Spring and the sun is shining (which I'm grateful that I can see considering my ground floor windows are half obscured by snow).

A short trip to Barbados (left in the middle of a snowstorm!) to clear the mind, top up on inspiration and feel what it's like to be
warm again..... a walk on the beach and I found this little art installation someone put together of these little
colorful barrettes decorating this tree. I love the little blackbirds that hover around the terrace. I'm sure the staff are amused by how amused we are as they swoop around the tables. And we won't even talk about how beautiful the sand and surf was....

Something New

I've done several designs over the past year that I'd like to expand on especially for weddings. Look for new "sets" of jewelry specifically for weddings that I'll be working on. I tend to follow my creative muse but will be doing more collections for the bride as well as the bridal party......here is just a sample......

Wow! Two weeks into a New Year....

...and I'm only posting now. Two weeks of taking it slow(er) - looking through new books, collecting inspiration, finishing the chocolate.....but seriously, it is time to get busy(er). Last weekend I put the decorations away (and I'm always a little reluctant to do so). The holidays go so fast and I enjoy everything about them. I didn't quite get all the baking out of my system (literally and figuratively) and baked these Hazelnut shortbread cookies dipped in chocolate with a cup of coffee to ease the transition.
They were delicious and I'll be adding these to my Christmas baking for next year...Anyone interested in the recipe and I'll gladly email it to you. Then I took pictures of the house and the way I decorated it this year so I can remember from year to year.
Something I had always forgotten to do in the past. Anyway, onward and upward. It is January now and more than a little grey outside but always colorful here in my studio.....

Lucky Me!

Just had to show you what my daughter surprised me with this Christmas. I was blown away by her inventiveness. She's 19 and an aspiring photographer. She often uses her friends as models and secretly took their pics wearing jewelry that I made this year and then had it bound as a hard cover book. I was so excited that I wanted to share this with you. I'm now thinking that I will do another book with a compilation of my YOJ (Year of Jewelry) submissions and then maybe my paintings!
The model (Lindsay) is a friend of my daughter's.

Studio Cleanup

I've been taking it sooo slow in this week between Christmas and New Year's but thought it was time to start sorting through
my studio and decided to list this painting on my Etsy shop. See the very first link at the right to get there and view the description and purchase details. It was a fun little painting meant to explore the capabilities of a texture medium and how to
use it.
I'll post a few more small scale paintings in the near future.....

My favorite Christmas Carol

My Christmas Card to all of you who stop by for a visit......

Painting up a Storm....

Keeping up with commissioned works. The bike painting (measuring 30" x 40") with a basket of field flowers will be in a sunny bathroom painted pale yellow. The second image is another image meant for a main floor bathroom of a mediterranean terrace filled with flowers and distant hills in the background...I'll post more pictures in the New Year..... and finally the third image (again in a main floor bathroom) is a faux window scene to be placed where a real window was removed due to a room added on just beyond. The shutters were too nice to not use and the idea of a faux scene was just what was needed.
These are in three different homes......

Mid December!!!!!

I've been so busy I haven't blogged for over a month! I had to put something Christmasy up today so I've used an image I took
two years ago and used as my Christmas card in 2005. All my family members are pictured within this image......I'm taking a break from painting, baking, cleaning, baking, wrapping, baking........and I promise to be back a little more often......

Calendar Image

A nice surprise a short while ago when I received a cheque for the use of one of my paintings from the Galerie Jeannine Blais in the Eastern Townships. The pharmacy chain "Proxim" used one of my paintings in their calendar for 2008. Today I received my copies of the calendar and they were beautifully done; nice format and quality of paper. Exciting news for me!