the winner of 'Tarot'

the fabulous winner of 'Tarot' is Maria-Therese!  I'll be sending off your art shortly.

Thanks to everyone who entered, there were some great costumes in there (Sigmund Freud with a peach cigar?  too wicked, love it!).  i should be doing another giveaway soon so be sure to stop by and watch for it.

i'm also working on new pieces for my (currently sad and lacking) shop and will post when they are available.  christmas is coming so i gotta stock up!  *can't wait for snow*

next post = johnny depp.  mmm, delish.   ;)

terrain

every year in October we have a United Way week at my work. there are events and bake sales and a drinks cart that goes around every afternoon plying us all with alcohol. all of the money raised from these events goes to the United Way. tonight is the big night, the main event, an auction at our local pub. we get all sorts of item donations from clients etc. for people to bid on (while drinking yet MORE booze) and i was asked if i would like to donate a painting. this was very flattering and for a good cause so of course i said yes. the piece above, 'Terrain', is what i created.

it's sort of strange too because i don't normally paint landscapes, this just happened. i spent an entire day in my studio working on it, i just couldn't stop, like i was in a trance of sorts. by 9:00pm i was starving but i was also done.

so fingers crossed it sells ;)

it feels a bit strange to have my co-workers seeing my art, i can't explain why. it's a very personal thing, art, so to have a hundred or so people i see every day looking at it and seeing a piece of me they've never seen feels sort of like...nudity? oh my god i'm naked at work! it's like those nightmares you have where you go to school or work and realize to your ultimate horror that you've forgotten to put clothes on.

anyways, off i pop. before we all head out to the auction there's a Rock Band competition....and drinks. it's all about the drinks here!

p.s. the draw for FREE ART is tomorrow night! enter to win baby, after tonight's nakedness i could be famous! ;)

For Strange Women

i finally purchased something from a shop i've been admiring for a while (i was in need of a treat for me). it was hard to decide what i was going to spoil myself with but i finally decided on her Astral Projection perfume/meditation oil. i love the idea of reaching the astral plane through my dreams, the more vivid and real my dreams are the better.

it smells incredible! so earthy and natural, so spicy yet soft. damian said i smell like christmas (must be the cloves). i'm waiting until the weekend to meditate on it as i fall asleep, i don't want to be startled out of my unconscious travels by a pesky alarm clock jolting me back to reality. yuck, reality.

look at how beautifully it was packaged, definitely a sign that she loves and puts care into what she does. everything is natural and from the earth (even part of the packaging! look at that wonderful moss bed... i've since put the moss into a little glass jar to house faeries or whatever else chooses to hibernate there for the winter) and i adore that! no mystery junk that helps keep the product "alive" and on a shelf for ages, just bits and pieces of what occurs naturally.

if you're looking for a unique gift for someone or for yourself, you've got to check her out!

For Strange Women

p.s. don't forget about the art giveaway... i will be drawing a name this friday night! great way to start your christmas "shopping"!

art give!

aww, teeny canvas. imagine an entire wall decorated with little canvas? i might have to make that a project in my studio.

so here we go, it's giveaway time! this is an original mixed media piece entitled 'Tarot' and it measures an adorable 2 3/4" x 2 3/4". just in time for halloween with its witchy purples and magic stars.

the piece is signed on the front and titled, dated, numbered (1/1) on the back. sides are painted so it's all ready for hanging!

entering is super easy. all you have to do is:

* leave a comment in this post telling me what your favourite halloween costume is. be it a past costume from when you were a kid, a costume you'll be wearing this year (you're never too old, seriously, never), or your dream costume if you could be anything/anyone you wanted.

* make sure there is a way for me to contact you if you are the winner. so if you don't have a website, blog, etsy shop, etc. please leave your email in the comment as well.

* one entry per person OR

* get your name entered twice by promoting the giveaway on YOUR blog! just leave a link to the post in your comment here.


i will draw a name next friday night, Oct. 23rd, and announce the winner here (as well as email you).

i'm making room in my shop for new pieces which are coming soon. this means the other pieces similar to this one, 'Caravan' and 'Ringmaster' might just be up for giveaway soon as well. we shall see and time will tell.

spread the word... art should be accessible to everyone and i like to do my part no matter how small (no pun intended) ;)

'ween

i madly adore halloween.  this is a sneak peek at what i'll be wearing this year to my sister-in-law's party (click image for bigger view. excuse the pixels in the right side image, not sure what happened there but it drives me nuts).  this costume is brilliant, hand made by my mum for me. she really should be making costumes for movies/theatre.  she's genius.  

i like going all out for halloween.  i'm not one of those girls that uses the "holiday" as a reason to let my inner tart out.  i like going crazy with make up and fabric, i like to use the day as a reason to let my inner magic out.  for me it's about being an elaborate with cloth not a minimalist.  

i'm so excited that i actually have a reason to play dress up this year.  the past few years i haven't had a party to go to.

on that note it's about time for a giveaway.  i haven't done one in ages and that's just horrible.  free art is awesome and i intend to deliver!  watch out for the next post for it will contain.....well.... free art!

p.s. super major kick ass awesome congratulations go out to the ever fabulous Maria-Therese for making her debut as a poet!  it's a nerve wracking experience to get up and speak in front of a crowd of people but to be up there spilling out your inner most thoughts and feelings takes a lot of guts.  you did it Maria-Therese and you are ever more magic for doing so!  *hugs*

p.s. (part 2) believe it or not i feel yet another layout change coming.  i can't help it.  i like change.

celtic autumn

one of the things i adore about autumn is the stormy skies. how various shades of indigo and grey hang in cumulus clouds providing the perfect backdrop for the many colours on display. colours that cling to umber skeletons who sway graciously in the crisp winds.

there is no choreography more beautiful than that of natures falling leaves. they release their grip with an unselfish abandon, knowing it's their time. they fall to their death, their final resting place in a slow graceful motion. twisting on a breeze until they finally land softly on the ground where they will become a part of a whole new cycle of change, of life.

since i'm sort of on the topic of the beauty in death i just have to say that last night, last night i found the song i want played at my funeral. actually it's another song i want played, the other being 'The Trapeze Swinger' by Iron & Wine. this is morbid perhaps but it tends to happen to everyone unless you're a vampire. it's all about vampires these days so i had to get my reference in there.

damian, our friend rob, and i went into town (quite literally, we live in a village so 15 minutes away from us is "the big smoke", a town! cities are a whole other story) to see a celtic guitarist, tony mcmanus, damian just discovered. we were listening to a celtic radio station a few weeks ago and one of his songs came on. damian instantly got one of his albums. a few days later while driving through alliston (the aforementioned town) he saw a sign outside of a cafe declaring the performance of one tony mcmanus. how could we pass it up, it seemed serendipitous in a way.

so last night we made our way into town under the cover of a blackberry coloured sky and full moon. now usually we don't go out on weekends because there's nothing to do in a village of 1300 people. so last night felt really good to get out. upon arrival our night turned out to be pretty entertaining as we tried to find the oddly elusive door to get into the venue with tony mcmanus himself. a row of doors all looking the same yet with no discernible opening stood in front of the four of us. it's as if we were in a wonderland, i looked around for a potion of sorts that would shrink us into the secret entrance. eventually damian and tony (we're all bff's now so i can refer to him by first name only) found the right door and we were in.

there's something about celtic music that hits home with me and i would love to do a bit of genealogy on my families history to find out why. i just feel such a draw to roots when i hear it, it's not something that's forced it's something that churns in my gut and eventually travels upward towards my heart and quite often finds it's release trough my tear ducts. i can't explain it and find myself confused as to why i would be spilling little tears. they aren't tears of sadness, far from it, they're more like tears of happiness. maybe i sound crazy, i'm not sure if i can fully explain the feelings and that's probably the way it should be.

the song i mentioned earlier, my funeral song, was one that pulled tears. we were told the story behind it's beginning, written by a friend who had just won a piping contest and subsequently spent the winnings on whiskey (you've gotta love the Scots!). he awoke face down on the table of a pub with two things, a hangover and this song, as the story goes, written while unconscious. it's haunting, beautiful, and hopeful. if i were to hear this at a funeral i would lose it instantly and would chase every box of kleenex in the vicinity. my crying would be for loss but also for life, for the fact that there is so much overwhelming beauty around us. it would make me think that everything would be ok, that whomever left was leaving a message that they were in a better place, free from the strangleholds of life.

i know you may not get what i do from this piece of music and i have to admit i am one of those people that cry/get emotional at things i find beautiful. i remember being at the philadelphia museum of art and seeing my first original toulouse lautrec painting. my eyes welled up beyond my control. anyways, everything is relative and unfortunately the song, "the sleeping tune" has yet to be recorded by tony (he told me it would be on his next album). written for the pipes, he did it full justice on the guitar. i did however "film" his playing of it last night and by film i mean i kept the camera on my lap, focused on the darkness under my chair so not to disturb anyone with the glow of the screen. i will be posting a "weekly loop" video of it soon so you can hear it, along with photos of my trip to Scotland in July.

*sigh* how i wish i were back in Scotland.