So… last night I got a job at a cafe/antique furniture/old book shop in Greenland in the most vivid and surreal dream my brain could conjure. I was commuting from Ontario every day which was surprisingly only about 45 minutes by boat. *I looked it up for reference and it’s a 15-30 day trip one way

I’m planning to listen to an audiobook while painting tonight. This and the other paintings in the series have some small details left before they’re done.

There is, in fact, nobody needy in this picture. 😂

I’ve often wished I could be the kind of artist who can complete a painting quickly but I guess for me it’s something like a meticulous excavation. I keep thinking I’m one layer away from being done and five layers later I still tell myself “just one more layer”.

The difference between a sweet, well behaved Fable and party parrot mode is approximately 0.3 seconds. 😅🦜 Here’s one of the other paintings I’m working on. Early stage.

I’m trying to process the grief of losing my father through my art. I finished the first painting in the series today and I call it “The Colour of Absence”. Does it ever get any easier?

While working on a painting of a bluejay this morning I saw one fly by my studio window twice. They live here so it’s not that strange but it still felt as if I was being cheered on by the “model” itself. This is close to done, or it could be, as long as the rest goes the way I hope it will.

It’s not officially launched yet & there are only three prints listed but I’m so thankful to my brother for the time & effort he has spent on helping me build my website. It’s more special because of his involvement. Looking at it & the newsletter I designed brings all of my past together. 1/

I’ve been working on art related stuff, rebranding everything from scratch & I feel invisible. Yesterday on my “day off” I did graphic design & wrote for 10 hours until my elbow was locking up. I get comments as if I only teach online part time, which is five hours per day in total. 1/

When my father passed away, I wanted to paint to sort out my emotions but it was too heavy. At the time I wanted to paint his portrait but I couldn’t break out of the suffocating mind prison of focusing on everything my family and I had lost when he left us. So I couldn’t. 1/…

It’s not that I don’t appreciate the help. It’s more like, I don’t know how this is possibly helpful. 😅 Anyway, I better get back to painting before the brush dries up. At least I have company.

Art isn’t about the painting, music or writing. It took me half a lifetime to realize it was always about saying something we struggle to grasp. We can spend decades figuring out what we have to say & how to express it the clearest. Maybe most artists knew from the start. Maybe I’m just dense. 😂

My wild horse series continues; “Enchanted Cradle of Living Lace”

I saw this on Etsy. What do land taxes run for on one of these 90’s Victorian builds? I could get used to that blue roof if it fits in my budget.

My perspective: bird poop in my hair once ➡️ bought a hat. Freya‘s perspective: Peekaboo! 🤣 

I’m starting to feel slightly organized & grown up at the tender age of 45. 😅 I’ve been working on a catalog of my equine original paintings the last few days. My aim is to finish it tonight after teaching my lessons. Next I’ll either make a catalog of bird paintings or my prints. What do you think?

Meet Freya! We adopted a new friend to keep Fable company. Even though I spend 75% of my time with him he kept guarding the door, not wanting us to leave. He kept looking behind the tv when there were nature sounds in a show, as if he was looking for the source of the bird song. I hope they bond!

My little music lover is trying to nap but he can’t help singing along. 😂 I made Fable that bamboo perch btw because he insisted to perch on top of the tv no matter what. It’s his favourite place in the entire house.

Doodling in progress… this isn’t it yet though. To make something new you have to do something new… I’m trying to figure out what that is in this case. Once I have the background I want I’ll move on.

Waiting for my son to have surgery & trying not to let him see that I’m nervous for his anaesthesia. This painting suits my mood & I want to think about something else for a minute. “Vortex of Alchemy” is acrylic on canvas with 24k gold & glass “foam”. I hope you like it. Have a great weekend! ❤️

I got a hold of Cheo’s booking department to confirm kiddos surgery. I put the phone on speaker mode to jot the details when this guy came over and nonchalantly hung up the phone mid conversation. 😒 We didn’t teach him this trick. He started doing it during calls with my mother in law.

I’m reaching past realism towards imagination and narrative art. What does this make you think of? It was inspired by instincts and cues from nature for self preservation. My wild horse series, painting nr3. “Ripple of Echos”, acrylic paint on 11”x14” canvas with 24k gold & glass “foam”.

The moment before he lunged for my glasses. It feels like walking on deck of a ship at sea. It’s crazy how clearly I can see with them. A new dimension unlocked. I wonder how long my sight has been bad. Between the rolling sensation & my tiny parrot, I feel like a pirate sans ocean air. 🏴‍☠️🦜

Please help settle this debate. My husband came home with two small coffees from Tim Hortons. Both were 1 cream, 1 sugar. He took a sip and grimaced because it was more bitter than he expected. Mine was the same. Then he had an idea. He said, “I know what we’ll do…. 1/

I painted a collection of art of the Assateague wild horses and this is the first one I’m sharing. I call it “Stewards of the Tide” and it’s a part of the first series I’ve added 24k gold to. Wild horses fascinate me and I hope they remain wild forever. Their resilience is amazing to me.

A peanut heist under way in ballpoint pen in my sketchbook. Have a wonderful weekend. I hope you like it. 🥰🥜🐿️🚗 *vroom vroom* 🏎️ 💨

A friend who has been very enthusiastic about my recent ballpoint renderings challenged me to draw a “raccoon getting up to something”. I’m not sure if this is what she had in mind but it felt right to me. Ballpoint with some acrylic highlights in my sketchbook. Have a fantastic weekend!

I broke my ankle yesterday & needed a distraction while I was waiting in the ER. I had my sketchbook & a ballpoint pen so I decided to embrace the beginning of the year of the fire horse in the Chinese calendar. I picked a heated scene to represent fire & a circular motion as a nod to yin & yang

Before

My art studio is mostly done. I made faux rock walls from scratch. This is now. I’ll put the before pictures in the comments. The furniture is from years of thrifting so the main expense was on paint & compound mix. I feel so cozy & organized in there now. I can find my art supplies! 🥰