Wednesday, April 29, 2009

wayward flight

another new print in my shop.  i get the sense my subconscious is focusing on a certain topic. running away seems so dramatic but FLYING away, now that has a more ethereal romantic quality.  don't you think?  

imagine flying away from all that is stale in your life, all that holds you down.  closing your eyes and picturing a neverland of sorts in the near reachable distance.  all you need to do is stand on your toes and blow a kiss to the sky with arms outstretched and you're off.  wandering the clouds heading to an imagined somewhere.  when you land no one will know you, you can start fresh and be who you were meant to be.  no judgements, no worries, no time limits.  everything flows to a natural breeze, nothing is forced or contrived.  your smile tastes like raspberries and your deepest breath feels like a warm hug made out of love.  

this is where the bird is soaring, that place in the imagination that can only be true if you believe it. 

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

no particular dream of light

2 new prints available in my shop. more sizes are on their way too! these are sections from one of my original paintings.
i've been in this toggle state of tired/awake/alive/asleep lately. i feel full of promise on weekends only to have that ripped away by the monotony of daily grind. i usually find myself painting in darker colours but lately i've forced myself to try lighter, brighter colours in hopes of a shift of some sort. like fighting my way out of a comfort zone.

i'm quite happy with the final piece these prints come out of. it's very dreamy and feels closer to me than my last few paintings that just seem like frustration splashed onto canvas. of course there's nothing wrong with letting frustration out, in fact it needs to get out somehow. i'm just happy to have stretched over to a lighter palette and hope to keep on this path in hopes of it opening me up more to my true self.

Saturday, April 25, 2009

love in fur coats

i know right, you're melting into a puddle of swoon? well you're not alone, I've been melting for a week and 3 days. on april 16th around 11:15pm the little stray cat Damian & i rescued from the cruel winterly outdoors started to go into labour. by 12:30am 2 little kittens were born (the little lady above was the first) and by 5:30am when our alarm went off (cruel hour, I know) 3 more had joined the litter. i didn't get much sleep that night, about 2 hours maybe. I kept waking up, worrying, hoping everything was going ok. everything was, everything was perfect in fact!

it must have been near the end of january when i first noticed a little head peeking out from underneath Damian's workshop. it was absolutely freezing out, minus 25 celsius some nights. i started putting little bowls of food out for the beastie and when we got home from work i would check on it. the bowl was licked clean. for a couple weeks i tried to gain the trust of the kitty but she would always run back under the workshop. i would peek out the window and see her eating snow to get water (heartbreaking). one saturday i bundled up and sat out there waiting for her to come to the bowl of food. she inched near it, saw me, but did not run. she let me sit there while she munched away, every so often sneaking a peek at me from the corner of her eye. i moved over to our porch and she slowly made her way over to me. i reached out so she could sniff my hand, she hesitantly stretched her little neck out and dabbed my fingertip with her cold nose. after the first scritch to her head she was a ball of malnurished purring. she rubbed up against my legs, ran between my feet, and jumped up for more petting.
it was a few days later when she was comfortable enough to come inside. our cats, Toulouse & Poe, weren't exactly fond of this new kitty but i think even she realized it was too cold for such a tiny body. she would sleep inside at night but go back outside during the day while we were at work. it was during this time that she went on a few dates with some local tom cats, got pink eye (which she spread to Toulouse & Poe), and appeared to be little bigger in the stomach region. at first we tried to convince ourselves that she was just eating too much because she wasn't used to such an abundance of food. our denial turned into acceptance after a little it of research online.

now, now Belle (seen above with her whimsical kill - and still preggers) has 5 gorgeous and adorable reminders of her one night stand. we'll be doing DNA tests on the neighbourhood cats to track this deadbeat dad down *wink*. she's such a good little mom, always keeping her eye on her babies, always an ear perked in the direction of their bed when she gets up for a stretch. i have to say that getting up in the morning to a box full of kittens on our bedroom floor certainly put s a smile on my weary face.

as of saturday there are a few eyes starting to open and some attempts at walking. our task now is to find good homes for these sweeties (though it will be impossibly hard for us to give them up). i wish i could do background checks on people, you know? i don't want them going to just any home, they have to go to a home that will spoil them rotten.

so we are officially crazy cat people now, 8 cats total in our house...yikes! despite the difficult task of finding good homes we are so happy to have rescued Belle and given her a safe place for her & her babes. if we hadn't taken her in those babies may not have survived, in fact she herself may not have survived. she was skinny and sick when we brought her in but now she's filled out, has bright green wide eyes, and a shiny coat of tortoise shell fur.

now i think there's a bunny living in her old house under the workshop. looks like we'll have to stock up on carrots.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Congratulations!

the winner of my first giveaway is Jennifer Mullin! A million congratulations to you Jen, I hope you like your little painting.

I had a lot of fun doing this, it was like Christmas day when you can't wait for someone to open the present you bought them. I was so excited to draw the winning name, to see where my little canvas would be traveling to! I will be doing another one very shortly to celebrate what my next post will be about (hint - it involves fur coats and swoony melting).

A very big thank you hug to everyone who entered the giveaway. I hope that you will return to read, play, hang out, and enter to win the many other treats I plan on offering up.

Thank you lovelies!!!!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

FREE ART!

it's about time i had a giveaway.  it's about time this little painting went to a good home to dress a naked wall or spice up a bored table/desk/what have you.  let's celebrate the fact that Toronto (and surrounding area including my northern home) is reaching 20 degrees (celsius) tomorrow.  trust me, if you're Canadian you'll understand.  we had a snowstorm last Monday, this 20 degrees in April is huge for us!  ;)

this one of a kind (no prints will be made), original painting on stretched canvas is entitled 'Absinthe' and measures 2 3/4" x 2 3/4".  as a bonus it comes with the cutest mini easel that makes me melt in a puddle of "awww" whenever i look at it.

all you have to do to win is visit my shop then come back here to leave a comment letting me know which piece is your favourite.  i will put all of your lovely comments into a hat/basket/jar/or other magical receptacle and randomly pick a name.  Only 1 entry per person please.

~ Contest will close Monday April 20th at 9:00pm (eastern time) ~

the fine print *
..............................
i will notify the winner via email so please make sure your email address is accessible (either in your comment or on your own blog).  if you do not reply to my email by the evening of Wednesday April 22nd (eastern time) i will draw another winner. 
...............................   

good luck my darlings, i very much look forward to decorating your package and sending it off to your gorgeous self!

p.s. my husbands sexy model hand not included  ;)

Monday, April 13, 2009

bunnies in the hole

i just had to share my sisters creation while i break from overhauling my studio (it's taking longer than i thought, i'm being more thorough than intended... which will be better in the end i suppose).

we went to my parents house on saturday for a turkey dinner, dessert was Kate's volunteered mission.  everyone knew what she was making except for me, it was a surprise (i do love surprises).  i was ordered out of the dining room while she assembled and set up.  my mum said i would probably want my camera when i came in.  was she ever right!  look at these beauties!!! i love love love cupcakes and Kate made these from scratch.  the icing was so buttery and gorgeous and we all know it's ALL about the icing.  they're called Bunnies in the Hole and i think they're brilliant!  she did such a fantabulous job at them. i have 1 left downstairs in the kitchen and every so often i swear i hear it calling my name *that little flirt*.  i had one last night in bed while drinking a cuppa and watching Arrested Development, it was decadent.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

jolis oeufs

it's a lovely fantastic 4 day weekend filled with sunshine and chocolate.  yesterday Damian & i took full advantage of having a friday off, we painted easter eggs!  it was a lot of fun turning our dining room (which we never use) into a "den of craft".  the table was covered in paint tubes, ribbon, lace, sparkles, glue, markers, sequins and more.  of course in my usual style of crafting with other people i took forever to get my eggs decorated.  i always come up with what i think is going to be a great idea but once i put that idea to work it, more often than not, turns out to be a lot more intricate than imagined.  we both had 4 eggs each (though i was tempted to get more prepped) and in the time it took me to make my first one, Damian was on his third.  i ended up donating one of mine to him.

allow me to introduce you to our gang of egg art.  above is Clara-Belle, 1920's bride.

here we have Fee Fee Knickerbottom, the sought after burlesque dancer.  fabulous elfin bunny face created by the lovely & talented Vanessa Valencia who, very generously, created 4 wraps for people to use in their decorating.  i altered mine a bit  ;)

this is the Story Egg where the faeries gather around the mushroom to hear tales of fancy flight and distant wanderings.

the rest of the eggs are Damian's wondrous creations.  he spent all of his creative energy on the decorating process so had nothing left when i asked if we should name them.  so, above you see Sir Guy Wearing Lederhosen.

This is the aptly named, Spider.

Here we have, Sun.

Moon, naturally.

and the swiftly named, Faery Face.  another of Vanessa's gorgeous creations.  and that's that, now it's time to head to my mum & dad's for a turkey dinner (and some heavenly vegetarian dish for Kate & I), wine, and treats.  Kate is making dessert which is a surprise for me, i love that.  what a great sister, i adore surprises!  she's a yummy baker too so i know it's going to be magically fantabulous!

oh yeah - when you were a kid did you ever eat the eggs after they were decorated?  i remember peeling the pretty off and the egg was no longer white, it had take on the colour of the shell.  I probably shouldn't have done that, i mean it was sitting out for days.  I have a feeling my mum didn't know i ate it, hard to believe she would let me chow down on a green egg that was sitting on the counter for a week.  

Monday, April 6, 2009

a letter scribbled in desperation

Dear Mother Nature,

I think there has been some sort of mistake.  Six days ago it became April but I awoke this morning to find my windows painted white.  Now I'm not really one to complain about snow, i do find it pretty but, I was kind of looking for some pretty in a different colour.  We've had twinkling white decorating our lawns since October, that's 6 months now Mother Nature.  I think deep down in your heart you know it's about time for green to make a more prominent appearance.  You know that the little winks of purple and yellow peeking out of gardens deserve to burst open with a giant sigh.  Why are you being so cruel to colour?  I thought you loved colour.  I think you're having a bad day, is that it?  Are you sitting in your treetop oasis wearing a vintage dress with the freshest of flowers pinned to it, laughing as you watch us run around with our shoulders up to our ears?  Are you stringing daffodils around your neck while our chins avoid the wet part of our scarves?  Are you barefoot, dipping your toes into a babbling stream while we lace up waterproof boots over our pants?  You're most definitely not stuck behind a team of snowplows flashing their blue lights at your growing state of agitation are you?

What gives Mum, where's the love?  Please do us a favour and lift this heavy blanket off, we're suffocating in the grey.  Please see it in your apple blossom heart to sprinkle some seeds of spring onto us.  We're desperate for more than one day of sunshine, we want to ride our bikes, we want to swing on swings, we want to plant our gardens, we want to twirl around on cool grass.  I'm not beyond begging at this point.  Please please please, prettiest of pleases with violets on top, allow us to dance. 

Forever Yours in colour,
Amanda