First week in Toronto ...

(Shop on Ossington - window display)

I had wanted to see 'Friends with You' public installation 'Rainbow City' in Toronto, but the event was held in June. So come the end of July, I was really pleased to find some of their work still alive in Toronto. The following images were taken at Magic Pony Shop + Gallery on Queen Street West.

Baron Adolph de Meyer was a fashion photographer, most notably for Vogue magazine, but what I really admire are his still-life and floral photographs. His work is shown below ...

Finished my mother's portrait with her hands on the piano ...
She choose to play F, G sharp and B ...



Last post for awhile ... we're vacationing as a family for the first time!!! On our way through Saskatoon ... summers look much different than winters there ... so excited to be on the prairies for a week ...

(Saskatoon Winter, 2003)

Inspiration: my mother's piano ...

Just showing some of my work in progress ... these are the first scans I have done for my mom's portrait. I have scanned the entire piano and tomorrow I'll have her put her hands on her favourite keys/notes and scan this ... I'll add these to the scans I have already completed tonight ... so here is her piano sans hands and some of her things sitting beside the piano ...




These are my favourite portraits of Leo. I think it's the colours, textures and unusual camera angles that make them so wonderful for me ... and of course the subject - my little man. Blair Marie took the photographs.




Sharing a couple great artists and designers ...

yumiyumi makes these wonderful animal and floral prints ...


Kenyon Yeh : Product + furniture design - I especially like his furniture collection - homeless ... the idea behind it is genius!

Here is a great article IKEA Hacks: Designs by Kenyon Yeh

"I have assembled the pieces from a standard IKEA flat pack without following the instructions … Instead, I have simply composed the kits into customized furniture to suit my personal preference, adding some new details along the way."

(Behind the Scenes - UNIKEA)

(BRIA - UNIKEA)

Inspiration: Flowers, oh flowers galore!!!

I have known Elli since I was a kid, well over ten years now ... I have worked for her off and on throughout those years ... It was Elli who first really inspired me with flowers and who taught me how to be creative with flowers. When someone loves something so much, it catches ...

Lovely Elli owns a flower shop, a lovely shop, with lovely flowers ...

Here are Elli's portraits, just some of my favourites ...

p.s. we leave on vacation in a few days, through Saskatoon and then onto Toronto ... I am bringing my computer and scanner along for the ride, so any ladies wanting to have their portrait done, just let me know!!!

Inspiration: Simplistic design and gray, white and green ...
Here is the design I submitted for EVDS 2010/2011 Lecture Series poster and mail out competition ... I love this font, it is Gulim Che ... I especially like the spacing between the letters ...



David has been watching me piece together the vanitas portraits so far. Yesterday, his curiosity got the better of him and he asked me to scan his tattoos and his hand with Leo's hand ... I think the pictures turned out somewhat sweet ...


I found the bicycle of my dreams ... it is a wicked MADSEN and I love the colour ... I could haul stuff around, especially when Leo gets big enough, I'll throw him in the bucket ...

Yesterday afternoon I had a portrait session with Blair Marie ... Blair is a photographer ... so we looped film through her dark locks as she posed with some of her favourite cameras ... I love how you can see glimpses of her face, but it is her hair, hands and props that mostly make up the portraits ... Here are some of the ones I like most ...

I am far more self-conscious about writing than I am about showing my artwork, but here goes ... Here are three lyrical-type poems I've written over the years ... I know, I know, poetry, but really I see it as another way to make imagery, just in minds and not physically on paper or canvas ...




Mateus - Swedish design and genuine Portuguese craftsmanship. What I love is this company's gallery ... their images, their table designs and their botanical inspired tableware amaze me ... Here are some of my favourites from their collection ...

I woke up to this beautiful peony sitting on my bedside table and I wanted to remember it ... so I made multiple scans of this beautiful flower ...


and added the scans all together ...


and I came up with this ...


I love peonies ...