It’s funny, I can always tell when I’m off centre with myself. I spend loads more time worrying about what people think of me and my health starts to nose dive because I stretch myself too thin. I send my energies too far into the world and the next thing you know, I’m sleeping 10 [...]
Again and again, I need to be reminded of who I’m painting for. It’s so easy to start painting to impress someone else – critics, gallery owners, even fans of my work. You start to listen to too many outside opinions and you forget to listen to your own. Robert Genn says artists need to [...]
Monday was a long weekend here in Canada, and it was a beautiful one – warm, sunny, and smelling of spring. A friend called me up and armed with camera and sketchbook, we walked down to Victoria Park, a public park that runs along the edge of the harbour. It’s pretty big, so you can [...]
So I thought that I was officially over the whole gallery fiasco. But then yesterday I woke up feeling thoroughly discouraged and crappy all over again. I’d been trying to get back on the creativity horse and doing little drawings. I had all these plans about drawing from life every day and painting from life [...]
I’m dancing again. Very few people know that when I was younger, I used to dance all the time – I was a classically trained ballet dancer and I loved it. But then I got sick, and I had to let that passion go. I thought that door had closed forever. If someone had told [...]
I think this morning I’ve finally made peace with what happened at the gallery. It’s taken me 5 days of processing and meeting myself where I am – even if that means I’m cranky as hell. Or hiding under my sheets. But I tried to meet it all with mindful awareness, and just let myself [...]
Today is International ME/CFS Awareness Day. It’s a timely reminder of why I’m an artist, and why I do what I do. I don’t really know why other people choose art. I didn’t choose it because I wanted to say something, or had some vision to express (although those things are still true for me). [...]
I just want to thank everyone for the support and the comments yesterday. It was really, truly helpful. I also think I figured out what was going on internally and why this was bothering me so much. Because as so many people have said, it’s just one person. One. Person. So it didn’t even make [...]
I went to talk to the gallery today about the pieces I’d dropped off on Monday (the gallery owner had been sick all week.) Of the 6 pieces, I left with her, she sent 4 home with me, saying they were “no good”. Too dark, too grim, not colourful enough. People don’t want art like [...]
Some days, it can feel like you’re toiling along, working your butt off and mostly just talking to yourself (which has it’s merits, don’t get me wrong.) But every now and again, someone points and says “Hey! Good job, you!” and it feels really nice. This month, Bill Weaver is featuring me and my art [...]
