Done and dusted...

I can finally say it's finished.  After fifteen months, I've got it all together (the book, that is). Actually, it should technically be called 'Gellitude', since so many of the backgrounds are Gelli-printed. However, it's a visual journal of gratitude from an artist's viewpoint, now heading towards a show at Sunny Raven Gallery in Canmore, AB, along with Not So Mellow.

'A for Alphabet'

'B for Books'

'C for colour, circles, crystalline paper'

'D for dryer sheets, drywall compound, doodling'

'E for the Earth'

'F for flowers (and a sneaky foto-bombing fly'

'G for Gelli prints'

'H for heart(s)'

'I for ideas'

'J for jazz'

'K for keys'

'L for line, life, lace'

'M for music, Mozart, munchies'

'N for numbers'

'O for orange, ovals, oranges'

'P for patterns, prints, precision'

'Q for quatrefoil, quartered'

'R for Red'

'S for stamps, shapes, stencils, stars, spades'

'T for texture'

'U for umbrellas'

'V for vegetation'

'W for Words'

'X for xylophone, and X marks the spot'

'Y for yellow'

'Z for Zentangle ®'

Back Cover

I think 'M' should also be for miracles, since I consider it one to have this completed in time for the show.  It's thirty paintings, each 9" x 6", covers and table of contents.  Three inches in depth, it is a visual record of what makes me tick as an artist,  and an alphabetical testimony to my love of colour and appreciation for artistic play.  My lack of experience with bindings led to some laughable moments, and the rule of 'measure once, cut twice' rule meant the binding is not the one initially planned (luckily, I like this one better).

And I'm oh so grateful to call it done.

Yikes...

it's been over two weeks since I've posted here - where did the time go, and what the heck have I been up to?

In that time, I've said goodbye to daughter Rochelle as she moved back to Vermilion for year two of her Animal Health Technologist training.  The house seems very quiet without her and her two vociferous pooches.

We've dismantled the library show,

 and filled the home gallery again.

The produce from the garden, always lush and plentiful, has been appearing magically in the kitchen.

Fortunately, John is as adept as I at taking care of what the garden elves bring in, and so far we're managing to keep up with it.

In the studio, I'm in assembly mode, as I push myself to get a second book ready for the show at Sunny Raven in Canmore, happening on September 20 and 21 - just a couple of weeks away - yikes again.  

I've been stringing, 

glueing,

and playing assembly-line Nellie until the cows come home, and we don't even have any!

I hope your summer has been just as chock full - I know I'm grateful for the bountiful life I lead here in Creston.

Started, nearly done...

and done.  In the studio, things are always in a constant state of flux.

From a Gelli prints piece that is finished

Stitching it Together  10 x 8 mixed media on panel  © Win Dinn

 to another that is nearly done,

 and one that that is 'almost nearly' done (I think it needs some Pebeo liner to funky it up),

to a stencil work that impresses me not at all after seeing my daughter use it as a springboard (see her result with this technique here)

and a piece that wonders where the heck it's going,

it's a kaleidoscope of colour no matter where I look.  Is it any wonder that my studio is a constant call, no matter the weather?

Sharing the studio...

...with friends and family is always such fun.  Rochelle (daughter) and her boyfriend Dylan had a play session on Sunday evening, and then Rochelle and I spent the day in the studio yesterday after Dylan headed back to Alberta.

Rochelle had a blast with the stencils,

Gelli plate,

mediums

 and paint.

Dylan enjoyed using the paint brush alone, and I found this starry night on my easel Monday morning.

All of Rochelle's pieces show a love of complex texture,

 and the inherited passion for colour, both strong

and muted.

 I'd say if she weren't such a passionate animal lover/healer, she'd have a great future as an artist.

Here she is at play - she got that hairy eyeball look from yours truly.  

I'm hoping your studio is filled with family and friends this summer, too - it adds such fun to the space.