It's been a week...

...and with not much creativity to show for it.

I definitely want you to see this gorgeous heart from Deann over at The Stardust Factory .  Not only has she created a stunning heart, but she's given me the most appropriate name for the series (Bright Heart) that I showed you last week.  

And if that isn't a great start to your day, I can't imagine what would be.  I love the floral motif, and the puzzle border just makes me so happy.  For love most certainly is a puzzle, isn't it? It's a constant learning process that starts at birth and continues throughout one's life.

If you've been following  this blog for a while, you'll know this is not the first time I've entered the Hall of Hearts.  Here are some more:

And they are no means the last of them at all.  You may find a few more in next week's post as well. 😉  Happy week to you all, and may you find more love than you expect in it!

Is your heart screaming?

Mine certainly feels that way some days.  We live in a time that is beyond challenging, and I suspect that some of you are as emotionally drained as I've been.  From climate change, wars, political unrest, madmen, to drug cartels and so much more, the chaos and horror is unprecedented.

Last week's paint-throwing session has morphed into a series of 'Screaming Hearts' and I'm having trouble stopping.  I came across a quote by Roma Downey  that says it all:

"When hate is loud, love must be louder".  

I'd say these hearts are pretty darn loud.  The high-key, high-contrast colour speaks to me of the polarity that seems rampant these days.  While that may be one way to boost the volume of love, I'll bet there are dozens more that you, as artists, could create - think rough texture, hard and jagged lines, discordant themes and more.  The challenge is on!

I'd be delighted to share your version of a Screaming Heart...feel free to post a link in a comment below.  And if you have a favourite quote about love, I'd happily see that as well.    

And I'll leave you with another quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. that really resonates with me: 

 'I have decided to stick with love...

hate is too great a burden to bear.'  

May your week be filled with love, light and the certain knowledge that eventually we will all remember that we are all one.  

There are times when....

...I get creatively jammed.  When that happens, I make a point of unstucking (a Win Word of the Day) myself by literally throwing paint.  

Usually, that leads to more controlled experiments,

and oftentimes to something completely unexpected.

If you're wondering where this will all take me, you're not the only one.  I'm supposed to be working on a couple of projects (a mini book and my life story - AKA Family Feud).  Here's hoping the play is a step or two in the right direction.  🤔😉

Is it really that close to Valentine's Day?

And how did it get here so fast?  I've been working on a set of  Thank you/Valentines cards for the last couple of weeks in appreciation for all the work that the care givers in the Adult Day Services do at Swan Valley Lodge.

The group is so vibrant and deeply caring for all their clients I felt it would be fun to acknowledge that with a large card for the group, and individual ones they could take home.

There may also be a good-sized box of chocolates  in the finished package; goodness knows they are on the run so much they won't have any difficulty burning off the calories.

It's next to impossible to express how much the staff is appreciated there.

Oh, and I haven't forgotten John on Valentine's Day either; he's getting a new bookmark, and there may be chocolate involved there as well.  😉

May your Valentine's Day be massively colourful and filled with all your favourite things.  

Winter studio play...

...seems to come with a lot of snowflakes in this house.

I'm currently working on a card that features snowflakes, and have finished one as well.

This was for John's 81st birthday this past week.

I added another layer to the experimental canvas - only dozens more to go, I expect.  🤣

I also started some cards, knowing I go through several dozen a year, and my starts were getting pretty low.

I took some photos of some of the hand-crafted papers, given they were one of a kind.

And if that's not a colour-full week, I don't know what might be.  Hope your week was the same as we head into the second month of the new year!  

Grandkids are the best, aren't they?

I especially like the bit where they're learning to talk, and one of my favourite word scrambles came from Owen when he was around two years old as he attempted 'camoflage' for the first time.  It's been niggling at me ever since -  this study for a possible future painting arose from his spoonerism.

Study for Ineffective Camelflage  2025  5.5" x 7"

Starting with an alcohol ink background (second photo below), I added some mark-making with Sharpie paint pens and then masked the camel off.

The finished study was a good reminder that alcohol ink backgrounds bleed, although if that's the effect you're looking for, it might not be such a bad thing.  😉

I also started some mark-making on the canvas 'palette paper' I used last week, and have some thoughts about where this might go as well.

And I just have to show you the sunshine we've had this week.  It's most unusual for this valley in the winter, and a delightful treat!!

May your week be filled with sunshine and colour (bleedable or not  😄).

While this post is...

...short on artwork photos, it's not because the week has been lax in any manner.

The big news, for me, is that I've finished my tenure as President on our condo association .  The last months have truly felt like years, and I'm doing so much happy dancing and singing I'm sure you could hear it all from where you are.  This means I will actually have some time to spend in the studio and I fully intend to get crazy experimental with it,

starting with some abstract colour play in the mini journal, and using a piece of canvas as a palette.

I've been ironing snowflakes (every time I use that phrase, I think how crazy it sounds), and may eventually get to the card/painting I have in mind.

A major project I've been working on this week has been my life story, and a paragraph from it had me wondering whether this particular event was the cement to my snowflake obsession:

'My sister and I lived with six other young women in an old and ramshackle house on 6^th avenue just off 10 St. in Calgary.  At 17 years of age, I have a memory of being woken from a dead sleep-walking exploit, wearing nothing but a shortie nightgown and cropped jacket in -40 degree weather about half a block from home.  Barefooted, my housemate (who had followed me) and I struggled back to the house in a raging blizzard.  Goodness knows what I was dreaming about, but it certainly turned into a cold, albeit a stunningly beautiful, adventure.  It was just one incident in a lifelong fascination with snowflakes.'

I've also made a couple of birthday cards for condo residents who are celebrating this week - one for a full 80 years and the other for 82.  

And I took a few moments for some household signage that will help John with his memory.  

These aids continue to grow in number and I hope will continue to help for some time yet.

I hope that you had something fabulous to celebrate this week - do let me know in the comments, if so!

It's a quick and lackadaisical post...

 ...today, given that not too much has been happening in the studio this week.  I've been lounging like a swooning 1920's flapper on a fainting couch, due to a oh-so-severe cold.  

I have been cutting snowflakes this week, just for the fun of it, and hopefully they will make their way onto a card or painting in the next week or two.  

I did get a feeble start  on filling another mini journal;  this one will be all about colour and texture, although it's hard to tell from this photo.

The remainder of the week has been mostly R & R as I beat this bug into submission.  I'll be back next week with something more exciting to display, with luck.  Send those healing vibes to me in the meantime, will you?  Many thanks!! 

Am I tidy?

Not in the studio, I'd say.  I did, however, spending some time sorting and doing some finishing details on projects completed last year.  I actually labelled the mini collage book, as well as the quote book, so they're presentable and identifiable.

^ That collage book looks as though it's choking it's stuffed so full!

The quote book books like a party with all those ribbons and beads pouring out from the envelopes.

 

Here are some more quote photos in case you're not yet overwhelmed with my faves.

And of course, I'm doing some experimentation as I search for a winter alternative to creating papers with alcohol inks.  The top one is ink, and the bottom Golden High Flow acrylics.  I'm still preferring the alcohol inks for their intensity, and look forward to warmer weather where I won't freeze my fingers off when I play.

Was your week just as full and fun?  I sure hope so.  I'm going to wander over to your pages and check it out!!