the everyday atelier

Six Days of Love-Valentines DIY

2012-02-14T20:31:00.002-07:00

Six Days of Love, the box.

We're not extravagant spenders, don't have much budget and time is so precious these days, so for us going out this Feb 14 was, well, out. But I LOVE holidays. Love them. I love thinking of the perfect gift and imagining the person's face when they open it and I love to create, of course. So because D is in exams all week, I decided to make him Six days of Love. I knew I wouldn't get to see him until Friday (although I have already been lucky enough to see him twice this week and its only Tuesday--the best gift of all, really) and so I wanted him to have something to look forward to each day of this hard week. There can be so many variations on this, but the key is some really cheesy valentines puns, pocket change to buy dime store candy and toys and a fun vessel to store everything in. I used coffee bags inside a red gift box, but I think a weekly pill box would be fun or the plastic sleeves for photos or cloth drawstring bags or.... the ideas are endless. I so look forward to having kids so I can use their lunch kits for this!

"Heart Melting, Sweet Valentine" (chocolate foil heart and a roll of sweet tarts)

Every day this week D has had a little surprise to open. The bag has the date on it. I used letra-press letters I had kicking around in the studio. Remember those? Fun to scratch them on, one-by-one. The silly pun, hanging in the plastic window, hints at what is inside the bag. And because D is not the type to collect knick knacks or spend money on things that aren't purposeful, I tried to fill each bag with an item of use --all except the octopus, that is:

"You octupi my heart" (Realized later that for this pun I should've got more than one octopus...)

Oh and the sushi stickers in the centre photo? They say "you're the only fish in the sea for me" and, as it turns out, I get a Valentines Day date after all. Next week, we're having a sushi date! My favourite with my favourite person. So lucky. Happy Valentines to you and hope you spent it reminding someone just how much you love them.

Good Karma for Me: Happiness for Birds

2012-01-15T12:39:00.001-07:00

Beautiful green cones. What is this tree?

In June I got to visit some of my favourite people in one of my favourite places when I went to my cousin's wedding in Oakland, California. A friend and I did a wonderful, although unseasonably rainy, wine tour in Napa and Sonoma and on that journey I discovered this gorgeous tree. Although it is some type of conifer to be sure, I hadn't ever seen one like it and loved it's bright green cones. So I took one. From the ground. It was private property (Francis Ford Coppola's, actually) so that is OK right? It's not like it was a National Park or anything...Anyway, it dried out over time and today, I decided to reverse my bad karma by giving it back to the earth.

Tie some twine on top before covering in suet

Remember back in kindergarden making these? I actually used to teach kindergarden so the memory is fresher than ever. A little peanut butter, a little leftover bacon fat from D's breakfast and a roll in some bird seed. Voila! A suet bird feeder to hang in my tree. Natural, recycled, great for our poor feathered friends who have to navigate this January blizzard and most importantly, good karma. Thanks pinecone!

Hang in your tree and wait for hungry birds to arrive!

New Work: Pet Portraits

2011-12-16T13:08:00.003-07:00

A Christmas gift for a client's husband in memory of Margot the cocker spaniel

How do we, as a culture, capture our memories? Since the late 1800's it has been primarily through the snapshot, thanks to our good friends at Kodak who invented the hand held camera so many years ago. And despite the digital craze making film nearly extinct, or at least "retro", snapshots are still how we capture our memories and are still our go-to when we want to feel nostalgic. So, being a painter of memories, my true subject is sometimes more about the snapshot as an object and less about what the snapshot depicts. And this is why, on the few occasions I have gotten requests for pet portraits, I am able to reconcile myself with painting them. After all, pets are a huge part of our universal experience and pets mean an awful lot to the people that care for them. Truthfully, the idea of doing a pet portrait in the traditional sense doesn't really jazz me. But when the subject is the snapshot and the purpose is for nostalgia, all of a sudden the prospect of painting animals becomes a lot more appealing and the work can be quite interesting. A painting has a sense of substantial permanence that snapshots do not. A portrait has the amazing ability to capture and preserve the essence of someone (or some dog!) in a tangible, authentic way that a snapshot can lack.

Felicia for a friend who missed her terribly once she was gone

For a client who's cat still wreaks havoc on her morning routine

A little portrait of my departed Eleanor that hangs in my bedroom

Pumpkin Pie in Print

2011-12-12T11:10:00.005-07:00


Page 31 and 32 on http://www.welikewelove.com/

Kait, my friend, colleague and fellow blogger at Yuppie Love, and I worked together on an article for the amazing girls behind We Like We Love. It was fun to make variations on pumpkin pie, including a dairy-free version, and document the process. I then made some little watercolor drawings of the results and Voila! We are published! How fun!

The Comfort in Comfort Food

2011-12-11T17:58:00.001-07:00

Here's the thing I love about new relationships: you get to re-discover parts of yourself that somehow went missing. I have always loved to cook and have often fed my creative process by being in the kitchen. New restaurants were an exciting adventure and farmer's markets were gorgeous inspirations. I even went through a period (which hasn't quite ended) of painting food.

But then, my long-term relationship had a crash and burn ending that wilted me. That same year, my two beloved grandmothers passed away within months of each other and two friends, a gorgeous and happy couple, were killed in a mountain car crash. My creativity went with them and I felt numb. Too emotionally exhausted to do anything except worry about putting on socks and making it to work and back everyday; I ate popcorn for dinner too often. But here I am. Out of the darkness. As one of my yoga teachers says : "The pain is there, but the suffering is optional."

I have met someone who has unexpectedly turned out to be this healing force in my life. And he loves to cook! He makes me these incredible meals that nourish my heart and my belly and in return, I cook for him too. And we share time together in the kitchen. He honours my dietary challenges (vegetarian, gluten adverse) and I honour his (lactose intolerant) These days there are more happy hours than sad ones and I am back in the studio creating and remembering what it is like to be myself again.

And so in honour of the comfort in food, behold some of our culinary adventures over the past seven months....

Sun tea on my porch

We picked raspberries at his mom's

Second or third date he makes me this: Rhubarb crisp. swoon.

Fish tacos and yam fries

I made a dairy and gluten free pie and we took it home to my parents for Thanksgiving

We climbed Castle mountain for the Huckleberry festival.
He made beer. I made pie.

Finally had dinner with the friend who introduced us and we made his wife gluten-free dumplings.
She almost cried.

In honour of my grandma, the new neighbours benefited from her famous gingersnap recipe. Yes, I am that girl on the street. The one with the basket of cookies and advice for where to go for coffee.

One of my best days recently was a sleepover with a friend and her family, where I learned all about making "Toad in the Hole" aka: their version of french toast. Then I came home and made my version-- with hearts. Awwwwwwwwww!!

New Work: Summer Vacation Winner Number Four

2011-11-27T22:21:00.001-07:00

This image fit the bill perfectly when it came my way for the Summer Vacation contest. I love the retro outfits, the high contrast sunny day, the beach and that 'awkward sister and brother love each other but don't want to show it ' pose. Big thanks to Nyla Free Designs for submitting this great image of her husband and his big sis. A fun piece to paint as the snow begins to blow outside!

Gnome Sweet Gnome

2011-11-23T14:11:00.001-07:00

D's best friend went away over Thanksgiving and asked him to house sit. He and I went to water the plants and lo and behold, 3 little gnomes in the front garden called out to me. Despite D's protests of wanting nothing to do with it, I, of course, stole them. I am certainly not the first to free a gnome and not the first to feel the sense of injustice over their garden enslavement, but if you have never done it, I totally recommend it. It was a blast and the gnomes certainly enjoyed their six weeks of freedom, travelling all over North America with my colleagues!

Some time spent with Chester

Golfing in Palm Springs

NYC subway

California desert highway

Halloween

Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland

Each photo was printed and sent in a brown envelope with a typed address label from my office. Alas, after two months or so, my plan was foiled by our helpful receptionist who instinctively puts return address stickers on all the mail she sees. She was in on the scheme, as was my whole office, but in the Christmas mail rush, she simply forgot. The gnomes then declared that they weren't returning to that garden without proper outerwear. Garden gnomes in Canada have different requirements than those from warmer climates, obviously. We bartered and negotiated and the gnomes were returned, wrapped up in a Christmas box, with three, tiny new improvements:

Scarves!

New Work: Second & Third Summer Vacation Winner

2011-11-06T21:57:00.003-07:00

I worked on these pieces together because the palette was similar and so was the sentiment. When my friend submitted this amazing photo of her smartly dressed family in the seventies (prior to her birth even!) I was attracted to the way that they were so similar in stance and mannerisms and so obviously a tight knit family. Then while working on the piece, I found out that my friend's father passed away and now the painting is even more meaningful in memorandum. What a great dad he must've been--and dapper too!

The second piece is from our family album, also in memorandum--- to my grandma. My Dad's mom, who I remember just like that in her striped camping tank top, stepping out of their motorhome with a freezie for one of us grandkids. She wasn't as adventurous as her husband and preferred the safety of her kitchen but I think the motorhome was a happy medium for them both. It wasn't quite as comfy as their house, but, anywhere grandma was felt like home to me.

So in honour of Mr Heinrichs and my grandma...these are the second and third Summer Vacation contest winners.

The True Self in Portraits: David Hockney on Lucien Freud

2011-11-03T11:17:00.003-06:00

Two of my favorite artists in one video. I was so saddened to hear that Freud had passed away. I mean, he was old; it's bound to happen. But I guess I always hoped I could meet him. There is something wonderful about the figurative artists that have come out of Britain. I love their impressionistic approach. I love their unapologetic rendering of the not-so-pretty side of people and how portraits can make the ordinary seem beautiful; extraordinary.

Unflinching: Juncture by Jenny Saville. © Jenny Saville, courtesy Gagosian Gallery

Self Portrait with Badges by Peter Blake, 1961

Mum by David Hockney, 1988-89

Freud could capture his sitter's essence so that even if the actual image wasn't exact, the proportions were off or the hair style wasn't quite right, the portrait was always true. Truer than life almost. Hockney learnt this from him, I am sure. I think this is why Freud's portrait of the Queen was such a scandal. She is presented as her true self: old, a little frustrated, stoic, patient. In both Freud and Hockney's portraits you see more of who the sitter actually is than meeting them in person might ever show. It is a wonderful thing how an artist can expose the truth of a subject.

Queen Elizabeth 11 by Lucian Freud, 2001

Hockney and Freud with Freud's portrait of Hockney

We hide ourselves from people. All the parts we perceive to be negative; the parts we don't want to admit to ourselves. We don't want to acknowledge our negative aspects, never mind admit them to others! I think it must be impossible to hide this secret self when we sit for hours in front of an artist. The truth has got to come out on the canvas somehow. I have never sat for a painted portrait. Have you? How did you feel? Did you forget about the artist's gaze after a while? Did you see your true self in the portrait; the parts you had hoped to conceal? Having painted a few self-portraits, I can see how this exposure of self could happen. Although, in the self-portraits I have done of myself, I feel that the end results shows perhaps, not the self I portray to others, but the way I view myself instead.


Self Portrait with Bicycle by Kate Schutz, 2010

"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken." ~ Oscar Wilde

Landscape Love: A True Story of Water Damage & Paving Stones

2011-11-01T21:46:00.000-06:00

This reno happened so quickly this summer that I just didn't have a chance to blog about it. I did, however, capture some pictures. My house doesn't have an alley. Instead I back onto a neighbour's lot and am bordered on both sides by neighbours also. I happen to be at the bottom of a hill which was never an issue until the neighbour behind me decided to tear his house down and build a fourplex. He changed the grade. Basically spring arrived and turned my backyard into a scene only Noah could navigate. It was a big surprise to everyone when during the spring thaw, the water didn't drain and just pooled higher and higher until I couldn't open my shed door and the first step of my deck was covered. Eventually the ground thawed enough to absorb the deluge, but it freaked me out enough to call a landscaper.
Found a great local guy on Kijiji and the rest is photographic history....

Front Before: Note the step up to the porch and the downward grade of the front yard.
Also the dead patch of grass on the right, under the spruce tree where never a plant shall grow.

Before Side of the House: between my neighbour and I.
I never did have a sidewalk (the things you discover when you buy a house in the winter!)
Instead, every summer I just grew a weed garden--my lucky neighbour!

This is the backyard in the spring. Up to my knees in water...

Before Backyard: After the deluge, the Garden of Weedin' grew in it's place.

So since Brett, the landscaper, was already re-grading my backyard to "raise the water table", why not get something pretty out of the deal? I decided to also re-grade the downward slope of my front yard which would ultimately require a new sidewalk and flower beds... so... out came VISA.

First, a tree was removed because it posed a serious hazard among my power lines ...

Spindly and scarily close to an electrical fire. 1912 wood houses probably go up quick!

Because the front grade was raised so high, the step up to the porch could then be removed and one down to the side of the house was created. In came a beautiful paving stone walkway in a herringbone pattern to compliment the traditional look of my little bungalow. It now goes all the way down the side and into the backyard right up to the shed. I also added a bed for hydrangeas and dogwood under the windows. The landscaper had the great idea to use the river rocks I had collected (that are original to the property from when the area was ranch land and a creek bed) as a border for the front flower bed.

I cannot believe how this has improved the curb appeal on my place and I just love knowing that all the work inside won't be compromised by a flood in the future. Would love to know what you have done for curb appeal and calgary gardners: any tips for flowering perennials that thrive under pine trees?

(Oh, and the neighbour who changed the grade and unknowingly caused the deluge? He hired me to consult on the interior design of his project, so I forgave him! ha ha!)

Cute New Look & Name on Etsy

2011-10-28T13:54:00.001-06:00

Etsy just gets better and better. Check out my Etsy shop and how cute it is now that we are allowed to re-brand and change our shop names! Think I will do all my Christmas shopping on Etsy this year and support handmade and vintage! Yay!

Only in Paris...

2011-10-19T20:53:00.001-06:00

Source: www.thesartorialist.com

Only in Paris could someone make this outfit look good. I'm serious. If I wore that here, my friends might think I'd had a house fire, lost my entire wardrobe and was forced to wear donated clothes that the firefighters cobbled together from the lost and found bin at the station. Seriously. Only in Paris. Ugh.

Old-Fashioned, Vintage Friendships

2011-10-17T10:54:00.000-06:00

My blog is back with a brand new look and name! Hope you like it! Extra special thanks to Kait Honey over at Yuppie Love who made it so beautiful. Kait and I are co-hosting one of her Will You Be My Pal parties at my house this Friday. Designed to get creative types together around a common theme, my kitchen is going to be the setting for a bunch of ladies who have never met to celebrate all things vintage! Will You Be My Pal was just featured in an article in Unlimited magazine and the term "slow networking" was coined. Love it! Yeah, it is nice to "meet" like-minded "friends" through Facebook and Twitter, but real friendships develop over real time in real life. Looking forward to this Friday and spending some face time with some old friends and some soon-to-be friends.

On that note, I think I will make a retro recipe from my grandma's cookbooks. Maybe these....

And, if you love vintage clothes like I do, you might be interested in my clothes for sale in my Etsy Shop. I am doing some fall cleaning of my closet in an attempt to pay off the kitchen renos...My loss is your gain!

Excuse the Mess...

2011-09-28T11:06:00.004-06:00

...and the spelling errors and the bad fonts! A new and beautiful blog is coming soon!

New Work: First Summer Vacation Contest Winner!

2011-09-15T07:51:00.003-06:00

Brent Make Art Go

2011-07-14T20:55:00.003-06:00

I have a friend, Brent. He makes comics. I think the whole fact of making comics is incredible. Never mind funny ones. Never mind interesting ones. Never mind ones that haven't already been done before. He thinks he can't draw. I think his drawings are what makes his comics so great. Check out his blog, folks!

My Cats Go Digital

2011-07-04T19:03:00.001-06:00

A while back I entered a little sketchbook into the Sketchbook Project from the Art House Co-Op at the Brookyln Art library and it has been digitized for all the world to see! I admit I didn't have a lot of time for the project, but it was a fun chance to start thinking about my children's book. Check out all the other digital submissions which are simply amazing.

Stylish, Masculine and A Dad

2011-06-18T10:59:00.002-06:00

Source: The Sartorialist

A painting from the Quasiar, BC series I did in 2000. This is my Dad when he worked in the mines up there.

Tomorrow is Father's Day and two of my most favorite fashion sources, The Sartorialist and The Globe and Mail Style Section are honouring fatherhood with some gorgeous photos of real life dads and their kids. Kudos to the dads out there who, like my own Dad, are doing it right. Happy Fathers Day!

Source: Globe and Mail

Dad at the opening I had for my Birthday Party series

Happy Birthday Etsy!

2011-06-17T12:46:00.001-06:00

Etsy, you're so good to me! Thanks to iPhotography for including my painting, Sister's Birthday, in her treasury in honor of Etsy's 6th Birthday.

Daily Art Fixx

2011-06-17T10:37:00.001-06:00

Check out this accesible visual arts resource: Daily Art Fixx If you are interested in knowing more about historical and contemporary art and want an easy, fast, not-stuffy access point, this cool site is for you!

Is It Still A Koons if His Assistant Painted It?

2011-06-03T11:14:00.003-06:00

What an interesting article from The Wall Street Journal, "The Art Assembly Line", on the increased use of assistants in the studios of contemporary artists. The article mentions that the use of assistants has been a very common practice in visual arts since the Renaissance. Apprenticing to your master was a way to develop skills and the master artist would employ assistants to do the time consuming things (ie: prepping a ground or painting the under painting) coming in later on the more important elements. It was an extremely common practice used by Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rembrandt etc.. and did not de-value the work of the artist or his reputation in any way. In fact, it had the double benefit of elevating the status of the apprentice while helping the studio churn out the maximum amount of work to appease the patron. Assistants might also be used as technical adviser's in areas where the artist may not have as much experience, such as plaster casting. During Impressionism and beyond, the artist's hand became this sacred and valuable thing and all of a sudden Manet's grocery list is fished out of his garbage and sold for millions (not an actual fact, but not far off!). Now, contemporary artists like Jeff Koons and Alexander Gorlizki have returned to using assistants all the time for the same reason as the Renaissance Masters; little time to meet much demand. Look at Warhol and his Factory! Say what you will, but what makes Warhol a modern master is his intelligent play on the myth of the Artist as God or as Genius or as Icon. Does it make the work any less valuable? I would say not. If I could afford an assistant, I would certainly use one! I hate prepping canvasses. And if I could afford a Warhol, I would certainly buy one whether or not he actually touched the canvas!

Tintoretto's Studio, Woodcut. Source: Peek Inside A Renaissance Art Studio

Now in the case of assistants creating artwork in the name of the artist after they've died...something about that seems immoral. I suppose Sarah Burton makes dresses under the McQueen label, but fashion houses are different and it is still Sarah Burton for McQueen. Her dresses are still her own vision--yes, obviously inspired by and influenced by her experiences with Alexander-- but her own regardless. And this is the nature of what happens. Assistants become Masters in their own right. (Consider the career of Jean-Michel Basquiat and his working relationship with Warhol) The cycle continues as they end up taking on their own assistants to meet the demands of their popularity. As much as people would like the art world and the artistic process to be this sacred,ethical thing, most of the time it is just not. It is a business and a political game and it always has been.

Does the assistant concept work the same way in music or dance or theatre? One could argue, no. Unlike a canvas or sculpture, the musician or dancer is "the product" and no one can really take the place of that individual and do the work in the same way. Hence the Milli Vanilli lip-synch scandal or how people get so uptight about the use of body doubles in film. Julia Robert's body shots in Pretty Woman? Not her. Oddly though, no one seemed to mind as much about that as they do in the visual arts world. An interesting discussion. Thanks Wall Street Journal. What do you think?

Calgary's Creative Chicks: Nicoleirene

2011-05-22T17:27:00.000-06:00

Nicoleirene, Calgary-based photographer and photojournalist with a really cool website, Words Are Cameras. The list of all the cool people she has worked with and projects that she has worked on is too long to get into--Check it out! What I especially love about her is that even though Nicoleirene is obviously very talented, her images aren't pretentious. She isn't above say, a baby portrait or a wedding, and I think that is important. After all, those events are the average person's access point to a professional photographer and I love that she makes herself available so the non-fashion industry types among us can also get interesting and beautiful images from an artistic and creative photographer. And like all the girls featured on this blog, she is super-cute too!

Only Two Weeks Left to Enter My Summer Vacation: The Contest

2011-05-16T18:54:00.001-06:00

Source: Myrtle and Me

There is still time to enter my contest and have your vintage summer memories painted by yours truly! Remember, I don't care about quality (in fact I prefer blurry and faded) and you or your family don't have to be in it: the only requirement is that it be your summer memories...

Just to inspire you, here are some of the awesome entries so far:

Source: Colleen Leonard

Source: Nyla Free

Source: K. Oviatt

Source: J. Heinrichs

Looking forward to seeing what you post to my Facebook page. Deadline is May 31!

Kate and Wills and One Dreamy Royal Wedding

2011-04-30T12:15:00.004-06:00

Sickeningly cute--but I love it!

I have a few American friends and since all the hub-bub of the Royal Wedding began they have been asking me--what's the big deal?! Living in a Commonwealth country like Canada, having a grandmother who was very Anglican and a fan of the Royals and growing up during the 1980's Princess Diana-mania makes me a reluctant fan. The Royals are like a car accident : I want to turn away, but just can't. So I was one of those three billion people worldwide who watched yesterday's wedding and here are my thoughts:

Gram

1. All those hats and headpieces! I have always loved hats but have a giant head and tonnes of hair so they rarely fit. I buy them anyway from vintage stores. I especially love the fascinators... I hope formal fashion makes a comeback. I am so sick of seeing people in jeans at the theatre!

2. Alexander McQueen!!!!!!!! Three cheers for Sarah Burton. Love the lace sleeves and loved Pipa's dress. I don't think she up-staged anyone at all and I have always loved an all white wedding. I think it's classic. And a cowl neck on a bridesmaid dress with cap sleeves? Love! Love! Sarah Burton can do no wrong in my eyes. My friend from the Southern United States thinks the white maid-of-honour dress is a huge faux pas. She is totally appalled and opposed. We've decided to agree to disagree.

3. Becks and James Middleton---swoon! Becks' hair was exactly what man hair at formal occasions should be. No wonder he didn't put that ridiculous top hat on! That hair was too amazing to mess with. And James looked classy and classic.

Perfect man hair. And, despite what the press says about her hat, Posh is a Goddess.

They say he is gay...either way, most eligible bachelor in Britain. Sorry Harry!

4. The carriage ride and the balcony kiss--mixed feelings about this one. It was pretty Disney-esque and the kiss was so lack luster and quick that it was disappointing (plus, having to do it with your whole family looking over your shoulder on that tiny balcony....), but there was something so Princess of the bride about it that I loved. Not for my own wedding, but for a Royal Wedding, don't we all expect horse drawn carriages and balconies?

Back to the Future: Photgrapher Irina Werning

2011-04-26T15:41:00.001-06:00

Oh, Wow! Wow! This is such a great retro photo idea. So funny and awkward and, in a way, sad. She takes old childhood photos and has the person in them re-enact the photo as an adult. Not the newest concept, but through the wonders of Photoshop (I assume) she is able to make the before and the after almost indistinguishable. Almost...

TOMMY IN 1977 & 2010, Buenos Aires
Source: http://www.irinawerning.com/back-to-the-fut/back-to-the-future/