What a colour-full week this has been!

I received a fabulous package in the mail from my dear friend Meg Nicks in Canmore, filled with a plethora of mouth-watering hearts and a gorgeous card, as well as a poster of Canadian birds for John.  What a wonderful lift it was!

There are dozens of magical abstracts in these hearts, aren't there?

I've been adding bits and pieces to my recently-constructed books this week, from securing them to decorating which added some more colour.

As always, the feast goes on and on, and I consider myself fortunate indeed.  How about you - where did you find your fortune this week?

I've been participating...

...in a Facebook round robin in support of women artists for the last week.  It involved sharing one's artwork, one piece a day, and passing the baton to a different female artist daily.  Somehow, my shared artwork morphed into a series of seven different heart/love-themed works.

I believe this was all brought on due to the visit last week with my new granddaughter.  Just in case you didn't see last week's post, here's a photo of my son with his new cherub.  I think he's smitten (and likely exhausted as well)!

Because love is in the air, I thought I'd share some of my heart-themed pieces here as well.  Over the years I seem to have created dozens of them.

Somehow the repeated heart theme in my journals, cards and paintings reminds me of  the truth about humanity.  I suspect they will be making regular appearances for quite some time.

I'd be delighted to hear what your recurring creative themes are - circles, flowers, hearts, geometric shapes?  Do tell in the comments below, and feel free to share some urls!

You could be forgiven...

...for thinking, after viewing this post, that Valentine's day is fast approaching.  Given the heat and fiery skies, that's definitely not the case.

We will make love an art and we will love like artists.  Marianne Williamson

It's my meditations that are taking on the heat, so I've been playing with hearts and love for the past week.  I tore a mask or two,

and burnt a stencil,

and before I could stop myself, there were hearts and love everywhere.

Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing.  Marc Chagall

The art of love is who you share it with.  Neil Diamond

The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing
more artistic than to love others.  Vincent van Gogh

Art is where work meets love.  workisnotajob

People discuss my art and pretend to understand as if it were necessary
 to understand, when it's simply necessary to love.      Claude Monet

In art, as in love, instinct is enough.  Anatole France  

Some are in my journal, some are on the wall, and there are many more in the works. As I find more fabulous quotes (all, so far by artists of one type or another), I'll add to the pile.

So here's your quest for the week - do you have favourite quote about love and art?  I'd love to know about it.  I think having a half-day playshop ready here for locals to create their own heart-centered artwork would be a great idea, especially if it were ready for January and armed with quote ammunition.  

Send me your quote(s) in the comments below, or to the email top right.  I'll pick a name from a hat on September 15 and gift the winner one of these heart pieces or a spot in the class just for fun.

I'm really going to make it...

this time.  WOYWW #296 is actually the first time for me, and given that it's based in Britain (seven, possibly a gazillion hours ahead of Creston, BC, Canada), that's darn near a miracle.

Here's What's On my Workdesk for Wednesday, February 4, 2015.

Stage two of a CJS 2015 project, with stages 3, 4, 5 and possibly six to come, along with a gessoed CD at bottom (one of 7 in progress)

Gessoed and painted dryer sheets (bottom left and left) on which I plan to print photos, a wine glass stuffed with fabric, and a book page to use as a collage layer.

Some 21 paintings in progress 

A pair of dancing shoes?

Three of the seven journals in progress

Some hearts - I've heard that Valentine's Day is imminent

A broader view.

I look forward to checking out the other WOYWW posts here.  How about you?