weather working against me!

ok… so I’ve had 4 days off in a row this week so far and every freaking day it has been so windy that it’s impossible to spray paint! Grrr and Argh!

I’ve been look forward to painting all week and other than working on backgrounds for my Stencilry class, I can’t really get anything started in the spraying category. Frustration is and understatement! So… in the meantime, I’ll share another stencil with the gang in the Stencilry class and of course, you regular blog readers.

damask

Damask pattern from fabric

Damask is one of my favorite pattern formations and I do truly love the way it looks both in the positive and negative image form. So, here you go… a lovely damask adapted from a vintage fabric in my stash of stuff. Click on the image and it will open in a new, larger window. Enjoy!

No Comments

Stencilry class contributions…

So yesterday, I had plans to do some household chores and pick up my spray painting stuff for the Stencilry class I’m taking… I did say ‘plans’ right? Well, things did go slightly awry and it’s not all my fault LOL!

I went into Vancouver to get my hair highlighted for my ’summer-look’ and now I’m a strawberry blonde/light red haired chick. Looks fab and I’m totally happy with the results! Then the plan was for me to hit a few local stores and pick-up my gear for the class. Well, the weather turned sour and windy/wet, I couldn’t get parking on Granville Island [where Opus - my art supply store of choice resides], had to run a few more errands than anticipated and generally ran outta time.

House of Flying Daggers

House of Flying Daggers

I got home to a hubby who was still in his pjs and watching martial arts dvds, with our two kitties in his lap and beside his legs on the couch. You go honey! You deserve a break and you’ve been working really hard. Seeing him like that, I threw out all ideas of chores and flopped on the other couch since obviously the weather wasn’t going to let me spray outside. We settled in and watched the visual feast that is “The House of Flying Daggers”.

Good Lord! These modern Asian martial arts movies are so gorgeous and full of colourful goodness. The colour combos by the artistic directors of these epic movies are truly breathless… The scenery and the costumes are lush and vibrant and so inspiring when it comes to developing a colour palette for new artwork! Pure eyecandy. The subtitles I could live without… but the soft sh-sh-sh sounds of the Mandarin language are lovely to listen to and let’s face it, I don’t understand Mandarin so subtitles are kinda necessary LOL.  I really have started enjoy watching this new genre of martial arts movie… I don’t need to understand all the details in the flick and if I miss a few substitles whilst starting at an exceptionally beautiful scene it doesn’t bother me a bit. I’m just happy to enjoy the visual feast.

House of Flying Daggers

A few favorites if you are into visually stimulating and creative movies in this martial arts genre are:

The House of Flying Daggers | Curse of the Golden Flower | Hero | Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon | The Promise  and of course the non-martial arts beauty: Memoirs of a Geisha

I digress… On to the topic at hand. Stencilry!

I had posted to our Yahoo Stencilry group that I was going to share some of my favorite, self-designed stencils that I’ve used in both designing our paperWERX lines of paper and in my own personal artwork. I have often created stencils that I can use in the design/carving of LARGE rubberstamp slabs. I’m talking HUGE. like 12×12 stamps or bigger! The designs can be either very simple, repeated patterns or complex, interlocking motifs of botanical image and damask patterns, etc. Below are two examples of stencil/carving designs I created for a specific project and they have come to be two of my favorite patterns.

You are free to download and use these patterns in your PERSONAL artwork only. These designs are unique and created by me, and therefore are copyrighted and are not allowed for usage in commercial art or design without my permission.

stampblock stampblock2

To download the 8×8″ PDF version of the pattens, please click on the links below:

stampblockstampblock2

Happy stencil cutting and enjoy!

No Comments

i think that i may be OCD…

well, that’s what a few people I know are thinking right about now.  I’m pretty sure they are convinced that I’m OCD and I think I’m beginning to believe it myself… I’m obsessed with two things at the moment [well, 3 if you count counting ounces of veggies and proteins an obsession!] - shoes and spray paint.

Obsession No. 1 - Sugar for Shoes

I have posted in the past about my obsession with shoes. “I gave up Sugar for Shoes” is my new mantra and motto.  Since my Dr. B diet began, I have been severely sugar deprived. Absolutely NOTHING white in my diet is allowed except cauliflower. Woo hoo exciting… NOT! So, I blame my sugar for shoes conversion purely on the lack of sugar in my blood stream and my inability to completely shake free of it’s deliciously sweet, tasty, fattening grip.  If I had a personal logo hanging about my head/neck, it would contain the tagline below.

” She gave up Sugar for Shoes”

Nine West ICEAGE Shootie

Nine West ICEAGE 'Shootie'

This is sad. and yes, I know it. But come on, its shoes not heroin! And ladies, you KNOW how you feel when you see a lovely pair of heels just daring you to walk away from them [or in my case, click away] and leave them on the shelf/auction. Unbought and unloved… I’m doing them a favor buying them LOL! Yes, yes… I know I’m delusional <sigh> but what can I say, I’m sugar deprived and need to fill that tasty void in my diet with tasty shoes for my feet =)

Here is my latest obsession target, spotted last night at the mall while out with my hubby.  The Nine West ICEAGE bootie. Are these not the hottest, coolest looking boot/shoes [aka 'shooties'] you’ve seen? LOVE THEM. I must have them. They must come home with me. But I’m NOT paying $225 for them. Nope… I will be patient. I will bide my time and will wait until some seller on eBay lists them, in a size 6.5 or 7 if you please, in gray and at a reasonable $100-125. Here is a pic of them. Aren’t they fun?

BONUS: The will make me 5′5″ with the platform sole and heel combined! Yay… a few extra inches never hurt anyone, especially a shorty like me!

Obsession No. 2 -  Spray art/graffiti/stencilling

Kylon H20 spray paint

Kylon H20 spray paint

Yep… The class I signed up for has started [today is Week 1] and I’m pretty much focussed on what spray inks/paints I’m buying this weekend, setting up a ’spray table’ outside so I don’t pollute my house [and bodies of those I'm living with] with fumes and toxic-junk, picking up cool found ’stencils’ and building a Art Journal/Spray Journal portfolio. I’ve stencilled and created abstract backgrounds for years… but the addition of spraypaint is new and has hugely exciting possibilities.

  • I plan on taking the weekend OFF the computer and abandoning eBay for a few days.
  • I plan on incorporating the graffiti/spray art in my canvas giclees and in my mixed media collages.
  • I plan on creating funky backgrounds and sprayed textures that could be used as digital/hybrid media in scrapbooking, paper arts and collage. More on that later…
  • I plan on spending tomorrow cleaning my house and doing all the usual domestic weekend chores so that I can spend the following 4 DAYS I have off work playing with spray paint, acrylic paint and paper in my backyard!
  • Then… I plan on scanning a bunch of my experiments with spray paint and sharing them with you. Here. Sometime next week.

Well, that is my plan. Let’s just see if my obsessive personality had handle a few days NOT shoe bargin-hunting on eBay and if I can just feed one obsession at a time LOL! I am a pretty damn proficient multi-tasker so doing both are definitely within the realm of possibility, but a few days not shopping and swapping sugar for shoes is probably a good thing. Maybe I can swap sugar for spray[paint]? I think that is an excellent compromise. Yay me! and boo sugar!

No Comments

final whistler post…

I know I know… I’m FINALLY getting to the last day in Whistler with the girls. I’m really drawing this series of posts out I know, but you know what? It’s my blog and I can blog slowly if I want to LOL!

Anyways… Janice [my favorite slug - she calls herself a slug LOL!] has finally uploaded some of her pics fromFriday, Saturday and Sunday too so I’m posting a few of those here, as well as my own.

To start off this final chapter, I’ve added a few fun ones from Saturday night dinner, before I plunge into the Sunday Peak to Peak Gondola and the mountain top day. Janice remembered to bring her camera to dinner… All I could think about was the food and I left mine in the hotel room! Good thinking girlfriend, otherise how would we have been able to capture these gems of night at the Mountain Club? And these are gems… truly. I mean, just look at me… FORCING myself to eat a burger and truffle-oil french fries. But mmmm… it was so good!!

Anways, on to the final chapter!

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

new ICONOGRAPHY book available…

Iconography [Cover]

Iconography 2

I’ve completed a new Collector’s Edition book of my artwork and it is now available for purchase at blurb.com.

Book details:

This new book features all my artworks from late Winter 2007 up to Spring 2009 with pieces that are unique and distinctive, as I stay true to my roots as a mixed media artist and graphic designer.

A beautiful, hardcover artbook makes a great gift for anyone who collects artwork, my artwork or just wants a great coffee table book for display. To purchase one, please visit my Blurb store and place your order today! All books ship within 5 business days and you can expect a lovely book filled with artwork in your mailbox within 10 days of ordering.

Thanks for looking…

No Comments

now this is stencilling!

I’m signed up for an online class about spray art/stencilling and looking forward to getting some of my creative mojo amped up for the summer.

On the class blog there was a post about an amazing stencil and mixed media artist named Shepard Fairey. HOLY CRAP! Now THIS is stencilling as an artform! It totally gets my creative juices ramped up and I think I might need some serious studio time in the next few weeks! enjoy and I dare you NOT to get excited about stencilling after watching this video =)

Shepard Fairey from Arkitip on Vimeo.

1 Comment

so where did I leave off…

ah yes! After the spa treatments, a yummy lunch at Caramba! and a wander through the village to purchase our Peak to Peak lift tickets, we headed back to the hotel.

Both Janice and I were the ‘camera’ people for the weekend [Janice your's is infinitely MORE portable than mine LOL!] so while walking, we snapped away taking random shots throughout the village. Like Sue’s arse and her lovely, sparkly, shiny new wedding/engagement ring/band combo. I also have shots of places like the ‘Hot Buns Bakery’ where a yummy oat/apple muffin saved me from a low-blood-sugar moment and passing out in the middle of the Village stroll. That would have been so embarassing!

Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

whistler recap…

Ok, so I’m almost a week late - but at least I’m doing it. Finally. =)

Background information: 5  friends and I are all celebrating ‘big’ birthdays this year. The big 4-0! We’ve all known each other either from elementary [Grade 1 - 35yrs!] or highschool, so we all have a lot of history together… My friend Joyce’s hubby called me and asked if I thought it would be a good idea to treat J to a weekend in Whistler BC and he’d pay for a room for all 5-6 of us for Saturday night. GREAT idea I said and helped him with hotel options, he booked and the Saturday night was set.
My hubby and I were chatting about the trip a few weeks before and he asked why we didn’t go up the night before on Friday? Wouldn’t it be better to have ALL day Saturday up there instead of driving up one day and driving back the next? Good idea babe! I talked to the other girls and it was a done deal… Friday night, Saturday and home late Sunday afternoon. Perfecto!

So last Friday rolled around and by 7:15pm we were sitting in front of Joyce’s house. I picked up Sue first, then Janice, last was Joyce. Eliza one of our other friends couldn’t make it at the last minute due to an interview in Santa Rosa, CA [they were flying her down from Seattle for the weekend]. We officially hit the road/highway at about 7:30ish and were on our way to Whistler. Read the rest of this entry »

No Comments

more Whistler…

Whistler 2009

1. Whistler 2009, 2. Whistler 2009, 3. Whistler 2009, 4. Whistler 2009, 5. Whistler 2009, 6. Whistler 2009, 7. Whistler 2009, 8. Whistler 2009, 9. Whistler 2009, 10. Whistler 2009, 11. Whistler 2009, 12. Whistler 2009, 13. Whistler 2009, 14. Whistler 2009, 15. Whistler 2009, 16. Whistler 2009, 17. Whistler 2009, 18. Whistler 2009, 19. Whistler 2009, 20. Whistler 2009, 21. Whistler 2009, 22. Whistler 2009, 23. Whistler 2009, 24. Whistler 2009, 25. Whistler 2009, 26. Whistler 2009, 27. Whistler 2009, 28. Whistler 2009, 29. Whistler 2009, 30. Whistler 2009, 31. Whistler 2009, 32. Whistler 2009

A detailed accounting of the weekends events will happen in chunks this week… I’m super busy this week and need to catch up on 2 days away. Will fill in the stories for the photos soon!

No Comments

the girls

What did I do this weekend?  Hmm, maybe this will help…

whistler-2009

Three of my oldest and dearest friends and I had a ‘girls’ weekend. We celebrated our collective 40th birthdays this year in Whistler BC. I’ll have a complete recap of the weekend tomorrow… but right now, I gotta sleep. I’m a tired girl!

Catch you on the flip side with lots of pics, a story or two and a recipe for an amazing martini!

No Comments