news news, continuating changes and joy

soon to come!

peace.

... in the City...

... with a capital "C".

back in my hometown, my birthplace, my forever-home: Edmonton. land of the deep and woodsy river-valley, my favorite restaurants, an absolutely amazing and welcoming art community, good Guiness, dear friends, and so much more.

i've got myself a job with an art store/gallery that i've previously worked at, and in fact it was the best job i ever had. i'm privileged and thoroughly excited to be going back there and hopefully be able to use my artistic wisdom, material knowledge base, teaching skills, personable nature, and general funkiness to better both the business and my own being. so much potential, so much time!!

i'm also excited to paint my heart out! i'm sending the word out to a few galleries hoping to have my work represented by one- it's been a while, and i want to keep my semi-self employment as a working professional artist.

yay for me!

soulful need for re-evaluation of my life

pain, sadness, tears, freedom, possibilities, aching, inconvenience, loneliness, joy, selflove, independence, loss, sorrow, changes...

life never stays the same, and neither do people. some grow; desiring the pleasures in life, furthering their experience and becoming stronger and a more diverse individual, wanting love and life and awe. others turn inward, hiding themselves from feeling both good and bad, increasingly reverting into themselves and becoming a much different person that they once were. when two individuals in a relationship choose separate paths, one wanting to progress and one wanting to hide, eventually there's no choice but to hold your head up, take a deep breath, and keep on moving forward on the trail, alone.

i've no idea where my path will lead, but i do know that i'll continue to treasure the aspen and birch that line it, crouch to smell the wild roses along the edge, listen to the whispers and speak back to the forest, feel the mossy coolness on the bottoms of my feet... and love it.

and myself.

new addition to the flock

this lovely little fella is my newest pin. i was comissioned to create a great horned owl and i have to say, i'm very pleased with how he turned out. he's my 1st GHO, and it has been some time since i hooked & fulled any fine feathered friends. i see the enjoyment of making him being very contagious, so expect to see other feathered & furred creatures dot these pages over the next little while :)

blast from the past

the other day i received notification that the host where i held an old art website was shutting down, and i realized that i needed to pull off all the photos of works that sold ages ago, or lose them for eternity. going over some of the pieces, 'specially the clay pendants i made brought back a flood of nostalgia- and it hasn't even been that long! i though i'd share some of my faves with you :)

arggg, maytey! this lovely purr was a commission from someone who wanted a pirate mercat. i created a whole series of sea creatures- split-tailed mermaids, octopi, turtles, fish, seahorses, and mercats. i love him and really need to make one for myself.

my mom collects ladybugs, and this was a gift to her.

as a dryad myself, i made these gals just for the fun of it. the one on the left was my first, the one on the right a commission.

ah... my goddesses. i stumbled across the Venus of Willendorf, and was hooked forever. the ones above are the four elements, and the ones below are small jewels, each an individual. i still have about a dozen of these plump little beauties sitting unpainted in a box, and someday when i'm feeling particularly ripe and fertile, i'll pull them out and adorn them in colour. if you want one done up for you, let me know!

a week away...

i'm away from my forest of the boreal, to the forest of my upbringing.

currently i'm hanging out at my childhood home, sitting inside whilst it rains outside (sorely needed at this time) planning on my harvests of their virginia creeper and rhubarb leaves and other delectables for my dye pot.

this weekend we're heading to the beach at Sylvan Lake for a family reunion, where hopefully i'll soak up some rays and eat some mini-moo frozen creme delectable :)

i'm coming back to the parental abode for 2 weeks in august to do a bit of housesitting, bringing my dye pots and wool & felted tidbits to really get playful and creative. it's an interesting summer.

see you next week!!!

pheonix from the flames of my creative desire...

hmmm, i think i have finally decided on an idea of what i'm creating for the feltunited day, Oct 3, 2009.


the series of felted hides i'm designing seems to be taking on a life of it's own. focusing in on myths and archetypes, the themes and concepts are narrowing to a more feminine and personal view then originally intended. isn't that the way creating art normally goes?


my initial piece (seen in this post) was created out of whimsy, but now has a more definite concept in mind. it is transforming into "winter pelt of the Green Man", referencing the pagan nature spirit/fertility god classically known to decorate architecture. down the spine, i'll be embedding driftwood, cattail leaves, bones...embroidering and embellishing until he's done.

i have also started my second piece, "coyote woman", shown here in it's first stage- long & lean. i was given a batt of mixed wools called "old coyote"from Val at lifewithsheep, and this just got my feral spirit going! i need to make a tail, and i also have to think about what i want to add down the spine. i'd like to tell a story in pictures, maybe a journey of the coyote woman. i'll keep you posted...


oh, this was initially about my piece for the international felt installation. well, i'm going to do a Phoenix hide. from butter yellow through to blood red, shaped as a bird in flight, marked with a vibrant tiny cobalt heart. i dreamt of it last night, and see the basic shape and vibrancy already. i just have to dye some various wools and stretch out some silk cocoons i have, and go from there!!!

other pelts... spiderwoman, la loba, Morrighan (celtic crow goddess), sedna.