We're Back!

Hi friends, I hope everyone is healthy and happy:)

Well, it was a whirlwind trip, but we made it! The baby and I left with my dad and drove from the West Coast to Northern Ontario. We stopped for a night in Golden, then spent two more in Lethbridge, Alberta before driving through to Ontario. Rowan and I met my eldest sibling, my sister Dawn and her family along the way. The visit was long overdue and quite wonderful. We saw loads of other relatives (Aunties, Uncles and cousins) in Ontario and had a great visit. There were lots of great chats and stories told and I even had a chance to catch a few Walleye at my Aunt Bette and Uncle Cal's place. We flew back two weeks after the adventure started, and regardless of the fun we had I was super glad to be home and to see my handsome husband... and have a chance to catch up on some sleep:) I took photos with my husband's old camera as well as my iPhone, but I'll just share a few from the latter for now.

Rowan was such a great traveller, though he quickly figured out how to move the shade on his chair - it became an endlessly funny game of sun/no sun.

We ended up sleeping together in the same bed for most of the trip, something we've never done before. Can you tell how much we enjoyed it?

We watched the types of mountains change again and again as we drove along. These were in Alberta.

It was eventually time to say good-bye to my dad...

...and hello to his dad.

My dad and I have driven across this beautiful country together a number of times, but this would be the last. Dad has retired from the long drive and will fly from now on. It was an honor and delight to be able to share this last special drive with such great company. I will definitely enjoy retelling Rowan all about it as he grows up.

Take care friends. Talk again soon:)

A Quick Peek

Hi friends:) How is everyone? We are well and having a nice visit with my dad, who drove here last weekend from Ontario. We've made the crazy decision to drive back with him, stay for a visit with family and fly back in two weeks time. Rowan and I will miss Bri like crazy, but as far as I can tell, now is the time to make this kind of trip. I'll do my best to make record of the trip here. For now I just wanted to leave you with some pictures from my last week and a half.

I was in Homesense looking around for random items and these rabbits caught my eye. I have absolutely no use for them, but they reminded me of Watership Down, an old favourite book/movie of mine. The following two photos are of pieces I'd love to incorporate into my eventual Japanese-like garden.

These grey tree vases were so nice and could fit in just about anywhere in my house, yet I hesitated to purchase. I'm in the middle of purging useless household items and just couldn't bring myself to add more stuff till I've got the place better sorted.

My sweet boy and wonderful husband took me out for a lovely Mamas Day dinner with some friends. I should have taken a shot of my delicious meal - Sockeye salmon with salsa verde on a bed of veg (potatoes, asparagus, beets)... and a scrumptious cab sauv. So good! Instead I have a pic of my delicious boy. Yum!!

Wish us luck on our road trip. I'll check in again soon.

Take care, talk to you again soon:)

From Germs to Graffiti and Back

Hello friends, so nice to see you again:)

We have been sick! My poor little boy caught a cold (first one ever) at a friends birthday party, and it promptly raged through our family like wildfire. We're on the mend now, but it totally sucked. Worst part was watching my baby suffer and not being able to do much to help. I guess the upside is that he's added another block to his wall of immunity. We don't want to see another one of those for as long as possible, but as everyone knows, children are germ factories, so I'm sure this was just the first of many.

We finally made it out of the house for fresh air and we ran into these interesting images on the underside of a local train bridge. I couldn't get as close as possible to the top piece of graffiti - I had the baby on my back and there was a river between us and the wall - so the photo definitely does not show the amazing amount of detail included by the artist. The first piece is of the front end of an old car (reminded me of my family's boxy old Bonneville) under the word "Freedom," whose 'F' is overlaid with a 'D.' The second is of a large head (side profile) with an angel figure at the back of the head and a devil in front of the face. The second image had a note next to it stating "Portrait of the artist having a think. n.f.s." Very interesting and involved art. I think the same artist must have been responsible for both of the above pics, as they seem to have been done in the same style.

I love good graffiti... and am amused by bad graffiti. The wall across from the second image had a very quick and childlike "BC Bud Rules" scrawled along it.

Skip to the next day and I had forgotten about the graffiti we had encountered on our walk. I was thinking about the gnarly nature of germs and thought I'd look for some images online. Interestingly, I repeatedly came across a cool LA artist named Jamie "Germs" Zacarias. His work is surreal, involving numerous multi-tentacled characters, many of which wearing traditional Mexican wrestling masks. Through further digging I found this video (via YouTube) of an LA graffiti tour including the artwork of Zacarias, amongst others... which reminded me of the train bridge graffiti... and the circle was complete.

If you want to see more of Zacarias' intricate and highly amusing art check out his site at:

http://www.germs4u.com/

or a YouTube video tour of one of his solo shows:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qb0ZrX3Z8c

Take care. Talk to you again soon:)

Think Global, Art Local

Sledding by Ted Harrison

Golden Spruce Three by Dana Irving

Howe Sound by Dana Irving

Hi friends. I hope you are all well:)

In my wanderings around the internet this past week I have found a few samples of artwork that I must share with you. Growing up in Labrador, I felt very isolated from the rest of the world. We had no internet, and books and tv (with only french and english CBC) were my main connection to the rest of the world. The world I witnessed through these mediums was mostly very unfamiliar to me; places and people that could easily have existed on another planet; certainly not places I could or would ever manage to reach; certainly not places or people I could really relate to. The first time I saw Ted Harrison's artwork I was mesmerized. Not only were his paintings full of beautiful colours that defied the 'rules of nature,' they were of images that I could recognize, relate to and understand. The first painting above, Sledding, reminds me of the endless days my friends and I spent sledding on Johnny Hill, a favourite spot not far from my childhood home.

The following paintings are Golden Spruce Three and Howe Sound, respectively, by Dana Irving. The beautiful colour schemes, use of light and shadow and stylized images make Irving's work dazzling to me. Having moved to the West Coast, these are now the images I can recognize, relate to and understand. I am amazed by this artist!

I have been working away on a painting over the last couple of weeks, finding an hour here and there, mostly after Rowan has gone to bed. It has been a lot of fun, but as things have progressed from my original idea it seems that this canvas and I have found ourselves in an unplanned place. This is certainly not the first time a painting has led me into the unexpected; in fact, I find myself in this situation fairly often. I have come to believe that, at least in my case, the more I try to control every aspect of a painting the more likely I am to find myself in the middle of a difficult and disappointing mess. Kind of like my relationship with my hair most of my life. I have arrived at the conclusion that my ideas are just seeds that require effort, imagination, experimentation and flexibility in order to become complete.

I was wondering about this approach and whether or not I have just found a way to excuse myself from being more disciplined. I don't know the answer. I have read that Ted Harrison works in much the same way, allowing his creations to unveil themselves as he goes along. In any case, I think that if I give myself the chance I could find countless ways to undermine my creativity... so I accept my approach and continue on.

I will post pics of the latest painting soon, when it is complete. In the meantime, if you want to check out the stunning works of these amazing Canadian artists please go to the following sites:

http://www.tedharrison.ca/

http://www.danairving.com/index.html

Take care. Talk to you again soon.

Our Day, In Pictures

Hello friends, I hope you are all well.

I thought I'd keep it simple today and just post a few pictures from our quiet but lovely Tuesday. How was your day? Pics are from my iPhone, but not too bad. Light conditions make all the difference.

Beautiful blossoms lining our quiet street.

An empty lot on our street... hope they never fill it.

Asparagus, salmon and scalloped potatoes and turnip au gratin for dinner.

My handsome boys.

Things were quiet, but boy am I tired. Better catch up on some beauty rest tonight... after the game:)

Take care, talk again soon:)

Spring Showers Bring...

Hello friends, happy early Spring days!

We've had a very mild winter and the cherry blossoms have been in bloom for weeks now, but it seems that the Spring rebirth, renewal and reorganizing bug has really took hold in the last week. Friends, family and neighbours are working on home and garden projects and I'm excited to join the movement.

We got a lot of work done around the home last year... well, my husband did. Bri built a great deck extending from the dining area through the back yard; he also installed a new tub and vanity in the upstairs bathroom and tiled the bathroom surround and floor (with in floor heating). He did an amazing job. I was too preggo to help Bri much, so I took on decorating the baby's room. While I did manage to paint Rowan's room (wearing a mask of course), the bathroom reno happened later in the fall so we decided not to paint as we couldn't really air the fumes out of the house due to weather. In fact, Bri and the electrician were working on the floor while I was well into labour - I tried to have most of those contractions in the downstairs bathroom to keep from freaking the electrician out! Anyway, my point is we have bits and pieces to finish on those projects (a hand railing on the deck; paint and decoration in the bathroom) which I'm really looking forward to. I completely forgot to take before and after pics of these projects, but I will still post pics of them when they are finally complete.

Another very exciting prospect is the transformation I am hoping to bring about in the front and back yards. I may be biting off more than I can chew, considering I will have Rowan by my side, but I really want to bring some aesthetic order to these spaces this Spring and Summer. I've been thinking a lot about Japanese gardens. The clean, simple and flowing concepts are inspiring... as are the cherry blossoms everywhere right now. I would like to incorporate the use of pebbles, rocks, shade loving greenery, pathways and slight ornamentation. I will definitely take before and after pics and share them here... should these projects actually happen.

I've located a few sites you might want to check out if you're interested in creating a Japanese garden:

http://www.hgtv.ca/gardening/articledetails.aspx?ContentId=796&cat=2&by=

http://www.aboutjapanesegardens.org/index.htm

... and if you're interested in visiting a highly regarded Japanese garden in the Vancouver area:

http://www.nitobe.org/

The picture above was taken by my brother Leslie Norman, on his most recent trip to Japan. Isn't it just beautiful?

Take care and enjoy the inspiration of Spring!

Talk again soon:)

Peace Ninja

Hello friends. I thought I'd check in with a couple of updates today.

I recently decided to incorporate some themes into my paintings in order to come up with a series that I can hopefully convince someone to display. I have inevitably arrived at themes in the past - I've always been interested in biology and space/star systems - but wanted to do something more deliberate. I was goofing around a few weeks ago and thought 'ninjas.' Very shortly after I decided to go for it, along with the idea of employing textured backgrounds and silhouettes. I have sketched out a number of paintings, have finished the first and am working on the second. I thought I'd share a few pics from the stages of the first - 'Peace Ninja.' Please excuse the low quality of the pics - they're taken in low light with my iPhone.

Very primary sketch of Peace Ninja.

Applied textured background with five pointed stars.

Added five petaled 'peace' flower with ninja star inside. I later outlined the flower in grey.

Completed 'Peace Ninja' painting.

I'm definitely having fun with this series so far, and the next paintings are just tumbling out right now... so I'll keep you tuned in as things progress.

On another sweet note, my boy turned four months a few days ago! I cannot believe how fast the time is flying by. He got his immunization shots two days ago and was weighed and measured at the same time. He weighed 19 lbs, 12 oz, and was 27 inches long. He's a big boy - measuring above the 95 percentile. I love every pinchable inch of him! I'll post pictures of our first swimming excursion soon.

Take care. Talk to you again soon:)

Wheat Queens

Hi there, happy Wednesday and happy St. Patrick's Day. I was just winding down this exciting evening with some laptop house cleaning while sipping on a green pint (well, a glass of red wine actually, but with lots of Irish spirit). While deleting unnecessary junk, I flipped through a few photo files and I found a pic that I wanted to share with you. My dear friend and creative partner Lise Hamilton and I have been designing and creating sets for Between Shifts Theatre for a number of years now. I am especially happy with the way this one worked out. This award winning set, for the play Unity 1918, was based on a very simple design, painted on a giant canvas (18 x 34 feet) and suspended from a variety of theatre ceilings. The smaller strips of material in front (with wheat painted on them) were held loosely in place by hidden wooden frames and made to move to the breeze of fans hidden in the theatre wings. We whipped this up over a handful of evenings and a weekend. So much fun:)

I have recently taken a break from set production in order to care for my (now almost 4 month old!!) son. While it is super hard for me to actually achieve, a break is necessary to avoid burnout (definitely not the desired effect) and a great way to allow other creative juices to flow. I've been enjoying this break by working on a new series of paintings that I hope to share with you soon. Until then, think 'ninjas.'

Take care. Talk to you again soon.

(Photo by my fantastic and talented photographer husband, Brian Thompson)

Have You Seen Alice?

It’s been a bit busy around my corner of the world and as a result, just over a week since my last post. My intention is to check in here at least once a week, so it looks like I might need to loosely schedule some time to do that. In my world, a loose schedule is akin to a general direction, both of which work for me as they keep me working towards a goal, but with realistic flexibility and without any major sense of disappointment when things go askew… as they sometimes do.

Speaking of askew, have you seen Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland? I’d been anticipating this movie since seeing trailors for it last fall. I’ve been a big fan of Johnny Depp since his days on 21 Jump Street, and I (like many) consider Tim Burton to be a mad genius. Helena Bonham Carter has also been on my radar for years, especially since her heart wrenching lead role in Margaret’s Museum - a beautiful and tragic movie based on a story written by Sheldon Currie, an old English professor of mine at St Francis Xavier University. With so many brilliant people involved Alice could only be great right? Right. Thank goodness.

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland is a delight for many reasons. The story has been slightly altered from the original by Lewis Carroll, enough to keep the audience interested and anticipating while in the comfort of a familiar fantasy; Burton has (as expected) created a breathtaking and darkly whimsical visual framework within which the story takes place; Carter, Depp and Crispin Glover bring a perfect mixture of quirkiness and flippancy to their dark and fanciful characters (i.e. Depp regularly switches between a number of different accents within a breath of each other); Wasikowska’s portrayal of a grown up Alice, both self assured and vulnerable, is compelling and very likable.

What really captured my attention though, was the amazing costuming throughout this movie. I loved every outfit Alice found herself wearing, as well as those worn by the Red Queen and the Mad Hatter. Alice’s costume designer, Colleen Atwood, did an amazing job of creating intriguing pieces, both oddball and beautiful. I found myself wanting to touch and own all of Alice’s dresses and the Hatter’s hats… even though I can’t think of a place to wear them.

Check out Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland while it’s still in theatres. You won’t be disappointed.

Check out IMDB for more info on and pictures from Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/ or Colleen Atwood and her fantastic designs: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0041181/ or Tim Burton’s official website for more of his brilliant work: http://www.timburton.com/

Talk to you again soon. J

I Wanna Live in a Tree... or a Hole in the Ground.

Do you remember the Barbapapa books, by Annette Tison and Talus Taylor? Of all the books I read when I was small, the illustrations from these books imprinted themselves deeply into and took up residence in the recesses of my imagination. I loved the circular, flowing rooms of their homes, dug into the ground, cuddled by earth.

I also quite enjoyed the television show Fraggle Rock, for much the same reason. I spent my very young years growing up in Labrador, where my siblings and I would have to find ways to amuse ourselves outdoors on (endless) cold winter days. One of my favourite ways to play was by digging tunnels through the huge mountain of snow the plow left in our backyard after clearing our driveway. We called our snow tunnel mountain Fraggle Rock. We also built plenty of igloos and snow forts – very stereotypically Canadian behaviour.

I have always enjoyed odd and interesting homes and hope the future is filled with unique and clever structures that are more organic and connected to the earth. These are a couple of designs I find really interesting both aesthetically and functionally:

Nautilus House, designed by architect Javier Senosiain of Arquitectura Organica, is both intriguing to look at as well as earthquake proof. You can find Nautilus House and more amazing designs by this firm at: http://www.arquitecturaorganica.com/

FAB TREE HAB: Living Graft Prefab Structure; designed by Mitchell Joachim, Lara Greden and Javier Arbona of Terreform 1: Nonprofit Organization for Philanthropic Architecture, Urban + Ecological Design.

The FAB TREE HAB is meant to be created from trees grown and grafted into shape. The home is designed to source power, water and food supplies from the structure itself as it interacts with nature. This innovative design firm has come up with some of the quirkiest and most forward thinking concepts for private residences, urban environments and transportation. Check out the FAB TREE HAB and other brilliant designs at : http://www.terreform.org/projects.html

Don't forget to check out the Barbapapa Official Web Site at: http://www.barbapapa.fr/ and Fraggle Rock at: http://www.henson.com/family.php

Take care. Talk to you again soonJ

First Things First

Hello my friends, and welcome to the beginning of my newest creative adventure.

My good friend Jen spent an evening selling me on the idea of blogging as an excellent creative outlet and exciting mode of communication. Take my word for it, Jen is a great salesperson and as proof of that point, here I am!

I thought I'd make my son the subject of my first post as he is the newest, most exciting and all around best thing in my life. Rowan was born at the end of November, four days past due. The labour was long (50 hours!) and difficult (he weighed 10lb, 2.5 oz) but I'd do it all over again to get him here. Wait, let me rephrase. I hope I never, NEVER, have to go through anything like that ever again, but without a doubt having him finally make his way into our family was worth the pain and effort. I could never have anticipated that I'd love being a mama so much.

This picture (taken by my husband Brian) is of Rowan at two months old. Isn't he sweet!

Talk to you again soon:)