Crystal Driedger

Owl Belly Cast Finished

2012-03-13T21:32:00.001-07:00

The painted owl belly cast is finished! I sculpted the flower from scratch (it's not a flower dipped in plaster) and am quite happy about how sturdy it feels, never having done sculpture before. The belly looks so beautiful, so amazing! The even more amazing part is when my doula, Suzanne Moquin (of Gentle Touch Birth Services), came for a visit today to help present it to the new mom, touched the cast and could feel how the baby had been positioned inside her body- where the bum and where the head was. So ridiculously amazing. What a way to capture your pregnancy, hey? Can hardly wait to get these casts professionally photographed!

Easter Colouring Page - free

2012-03-08T12:31:00.001-08:00

Here's a free Easter colouring page, done today for the upcoming April Issue of my little local newsletter. Feel free to print and share. Larger version available here.

Update on the Owl Belly Cast / Pregnancy Sculpture

2012-02-28T19:29:00.001-08:00

Sketch is on the cast, ready to be painted. I've found it a tad challenging (in a good way), to move from sketch on paper to a belly cast because of all the curves, so I'm doing more of the true sketch work on the actual cast, which is very different for me.

Another Pregnancy Captured - the Owl Belly Cast

2012-02-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

Here's what's in the studio this week - another beautiful belly sculpture (belly cast). Such a different form, and so beautiful, each one. I'm already starting to get booked to do casts, and to "upgrade" home-kits done locally. It's so exciting. Every day I can hardly wait to head down to the studio, which is so wonderful to experience again. Maybe I'll have to start thinking about redecorating the studio, now that it's not just me down here anymore. ;)

So far, I'm referring to this cast as the "Owl belly" because the mom was drawn to owls during her pregnancy. Next step will be to finalize the sketch on the sculpture/bellycast and then paint it.

Here it was in the "raw" - an untouched cast, not reinforced, no hanger, not trimmed, no flower.

Belly Casting

2012-02-15T13:54:00.002-08:00

For those of you who know me, you'll know that birth and pregnancy have quickly grown to become passions of mine that could easily rival my painting and sketching habit. There's something so fleeting and beautiful about a pregnancy, especially once you've come through the other side and there's this desire... or perhaps need to document it, to feel beautiful despite the changes that are happening to your body. To not forget what made it beautiful, that it seems impossible for a belly to grow that big and to fit a person inside of it... And so, here begins my journey. I've started belly casting in Edmonton, and for a little while, I'm having introductory pricing. Starting at $200 for a smoothed belly cast and individual quotes from there for painted designs (original designs only) for a limited time only. Here's the casting process:

I will drive to the comforts of your home (around 32-38 weeks of pregnancy, depending on if this is your first or subsequent pregnancy) and do the belly cast or come to my studio and have it done here (for now, it's just my little art studio in my basement). We will discuss style options, ideas for the finished cast, what type of hanger you would like, etc. The process will take approx 1.5 hrs (with clean-up, set-up and discussion of cast over tea), depending on how complex the cast is. It's completely safe for pregnant women, being of medical grade plaster and is not unpleasant. I then take the cast home and...

Make it very smooth...

Do a sketch (in my sketchbook, scan it and get you to approve the sketch you like based on our previously discussed ideas), put sketch on the cast...

Then paint it, varnish it to seal it and put a hanger on it (hanger not in photo)

To get a finished cast like this it will require 4-6 weeks until pick-up.

With the hanger... next the the cast I'm working on currently.

Colouring Page

2012-01-24T17:45:00.000-08:00

Here's a sample of one of my colouring pages completed by my son (2 year old) today! Feel free to print, colour and share with me and I'll post it on my blog for the world to see.

Here's the plain version if you want to print it out!

A birth story

2011-11-17T14:27:00.001-08:00

At my 36 week midwife appointment, in a pregnancy that had gone quite smoothly and seemed rather regular and boring, the midwife discovered that our little baby was in a breech position. My heart fluttered and I cried a little on the way home from the appointment because I knew that even though I was still almost four weeks from my due date, I had a feeling that this baby was going to come even earlier than my first and I was going to have to try to convince this baby to turn if I wanted to have my planned home birth. An ultrasound very early the next morning confirmed that the round bump under my ribs was indeed a head and not a bum, which is the preferred direction to give birth. I tried every method I could research to turn the baby (taking pulsitilla, moxibustion - where a smelly stick is burnt close to your toe, the chiropractors websters technique, standing on my head in a pool, the breech tilt - VERY uncomfortable.... etc). It was exhausting and most methods were very uncomfortable or were expensive. Our last resort was an External Cephalic Version, done by a doctor, where there is an attempt to manually reposition the baby by manipulating the uterus - from the outside - to be done later in the week after meeting our mystery doctor.

But, on an evening early in November, as I was putting my son to bed and giving him a bath, contractions started to come a regularly and frequently enough for me to track down my ipod and use a contraction timer. Even though they were over a minute long and came every five minutes, I was in denial that I was in actual labour. They were easy to manage and I thought they'd probably just go away once I'd put my son to bed and could relax. Just to make sure, however, I heeded my doula's advice: to get in a warm bath. If the contractions sped up, I was in labour and if they slowed down, I probably wasn't. Of course, this was advice she had told me years ago with my first and I hadn't bothered to call her or my midwife to let them know I might be in labour. I was deep in denial, because even though I'd had a feeling that this baby was coming both early and was going to come breech, I still had to make that doctors appointment the next morning at 10:30 am in order to not go under the knife and have a c-section. While breech deliveries are certainly, in many cases, just another version of normal, most doctors are no longer trained in how to deliver them and prefer to do a c-section. All based on a flawed study done years ago that determined vaginal breech's to be unsafe for the mother and baby. I was scared that if I went into labour early I'd show up at the hospital and be forced to have surgery because no one was willing to let me attempt this naturally.

Still timing contractions in the tub, I decided to call my husband, who was at my in-laws working on his vintage Vespa Scooter rebuild. After talking to him a little, I had a contraction that I couldn't talk through and he headed home immediately. He had decided that I was in labour, even if I was still unsure. Contractions were still very manageable. If there's one thing I'm very good at, it's relaxing into labour and accepting the surges as something my body needs to go through. With no fear, there is no pain, only intensity and peace.

When my husband arrived home, I had gotten out of the tub and decided to finish packing the hospital bag. I was no longer in denial, but I wished sorely that I could have had my home birth and could have stayed in that tub. It's a beautiful, amazing thing to be surrounded by water while in labour. It's the perfect environment. My husband started to make all the calls, and would later admit that my midwife completely freaked him out by asking if we needed to call the ambulance. We'd have to wait another twenty minutes until my mom arrived to look after our oldest child, who by this point had woken up asking what all the funny noises were! I managed to kiss him and we told him that the baby would arrive soon then we were out the door in a flash and drove to the hospital that we had researched our mystery doctor would be on-call at. I had my fingers crossed the entire trip and prayed that he would deliver our baby even though we hadn't officially become his patient yet. I transitioned in the car (for those of you not up on labour terms, this is the period of time just before the "pushing" phase of labour) and started to doubt myself and doubt the situation and fear started to get the better of me. Not the hospital again! Not today! ...

We made it to the hospital, did paperwork and got to go directly up to the maternity ward (that's right, no fetal monitors this time!!!). I met our mystery doctor who was indeed going to help me deliver this breech baby and received interested smiles from nurses who were eager to see the birth. I was so relieved to see him. I even signed a "vaginal breech delivery" waiver form, allowed someone to put a needle in my arm in case I might warrant an IV, got weighed three times and allowed the doctor to check how far dialated I was (9.6cm). Still bright and cheery in-between contractions, and not having allowed anyone to tell me how "far along" I was, I found myself repeating, "Why on earth hasn't my water broke yet?". I gave an experimental push on an urge, my water broke, everyone jumped backward in sync to avoid getting messy (luckily, no one did!) and I flipped over, looked the doctor in the eye and said, "Okay, is this a good position for you? Because it's going to happen soon". One push and the atmosphere in the room changed immediately. Instead of the planned "frank" birth (bum first) a little foot emerged and our breech became a footling breech. One more push, and with a little "help" from the doctor, (to get all of his little legs and arms out the "right way") our baby was born into this world, just as perfect as can be. Six pounds, eight ounces and almost 3 weeks early.

We're at home and our little boy is two weeks old today. What was once three is now a family of four.

And so the answer is yes, the studio will be closed up for a few months! Happily, might I add.

October Free Coloring Page

2011-10-06T22:05:00.001-07:00

Here's the free monthly colouring page. Download a larger version here.

Strawberries

2011-10-06T20:26:00.001-07:00

Finishing up the strawberries for the dessert show. Can't wait to meet up with the ladies over cake this month. The count-down is on for baby #2 - just over one month to go! I've also started teaching again at MacEwan University and the class this year is fabulous (talented, a pure pleasure to instruct and full of dedication - what a pure relief).

Another In-progress shot.This is the stage just after finishing sculpting, adding some molding paste and an acrylic polymer layer to protect the paint (the white stuff is the gesso layer).

Chocolate covered strawberries

2011-09-16T20:04:00.001-07:00

Being pregnant and working on an art show involving desserts could not possibly be a better combination (hoping to come to fruition on or around Valentines Day of next year). I'm always hungry these days so looking at pictures of food can't be that dangerous, right?

Tonight, instead of working on the princess image (which I SHOULD finish, soon... but can't seem to get around to), I am carving chocolate covered strawberries.
Droooool.

2 months to go

2011-09-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

I'll be 30 weeks along tomorrow in my second pregnancy. There's so many things to do (illustration-wise), before baby comes. I have all my class-prep work ready to go for the illustration techniques section I'm teaching in October (on acrylics) for MacEwan college, but there's quite a bit of artwork to finish... and... ahem... most of that should happen before baby arrives. Feeling the crunch of deadlines, but I'm also feeling this incredible nesting urge. Instead of painting during the doodlebugs naps, I've been cleaning closets. Go figure!

Today, instead of working on the princess licensing image I should be working on, I put some paint on one of my plywood sketches. I've been wishing to find a way to keep my pencil lines under visible and dark under paint and this technique seems promising. (Liquitex glazes and acrylic wash with pencil).

Oh, and ps: Here's the princess image thus far. Still have so much farther to go and I'm painting like a turtle.

Kaleido Arts Festival Gala

2011-09-07T09:22:00.000-07:00

Please join me in the gala opening (casual) of the Kaleido Arts Festival this Friday. It's from 7 - 10 pm on the arts district of 118th ave. There are four different shows opening and I have four pieces in the Festival.

Here are the listed galleries (not sure which one mine will be in yet, I'll edit this post when I know more)

Nina Haggerty Centre for the Arts (9225 – 118 Ave)
St. Faith’s Anglican Church (11725 – 93 Street)
Avenue Theatre Lobby (9030 – 118 Ave)
The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse (9351 – 118 Ave)

The festival runs from September 9 - 11 and you can visit their website for more information. Thank you for voting on the different art pieces I wished to submit! The Ghana piece looks gorgeous in it's frame, I'm so pleased with my framer (Birks on 118th & 124 st).

Wedding Thank You Cards

2011-09-06T13:19:00.000-07:00

I'm delighted to be able to share the finished designs of my cousin's thank-you cards. The groom is a pilot, who before the wedding had a rather fabulous beard (I was shocked to see he had shaved it for the wedding). This is the second stamp design I've done for a wedding (something very economical for the bride and groom, as they can choose the paper stock and ink colour themselves and have the option to use the stamp for other purposes later on, such as a scrapbook). The first was an invitation for my brother & sister-in-law last year. I love the look that the stamps provide and how different the applications can be.

Some of the other sketch designs:

Leanin' Tree Samples

2011-09-04T13:08:00.001-07:00

Boy do I ever appreciate my agent! I got a stack of leanin' tree card samples in the mail this week, which was tremendous fun to open. The icing on the cake was my son exclaiming, "They're Beauuuutiful!". Can't beat a genuine compliment from a toddler, because they're quite honest creatures.

September Colouring Page

2011-08-30T15:55:00.001-07:00

Here's the free monthly colouring page. Download a larger version here. As always, I'd love to post some coloured versions of the pages, if you can get your kid to sit down and colour while it's still nice outside!

Kaleido Arts Festival 2011

2011-08-22T16:07:00.000-07:00

I've been going through my work trying to pick 3-4 images to submit to the Kaleido Arts Festival Art Show. I'd love to know your opinion on some of the pieces I'm considering, including a couple of sketches that I would get framed. To see any of these images in a larger format, please just poke through my website in the paintings, sketch or illustration section.

Here's my post about last year's festival.

August Free Colouring Page

2011-08-08T15:40:00.001-07:00

Here's the free August Colouring page. Download a larger version here. Each month I draw up a new colouring page. Feel free to ask to have this page added (for free) to your community newsletter, your school or library collection or have it delivered via email to your inbox each month. Simply email me to be added.

I'd love to post coloured versions of any of my free pages. Scan and email me a copy and I promise to post it (regardless of your age).

Sneak Peak

2011-08-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

What's cooking in the studio these days? A piece for the 2012 Grassroots Press Catalog. I shall not and cannot post this piece in it's entirety, but will give you a small close-up for now! Enjoy. Or don't. It's up to you.

Princess Artwork Update

2011-07-28T14:34:00.001-07:00

Still working on creating a princess piece for my licensing portfolio (to follow - a pirate piece and dinosaur piece of the same style/feel, as often licensing work is done in sets). Here is the first sketch (a flying unicorn) and the follow-up sketch based on feedback from my amazing agent, Elaine.

Feedback that was given: turn the flying unicorn into a unicorn on the ground, add critters (a suggestion I fully embraced). I did forget to make the castle larger, but that is something I can change easily in photoshop before transferring to canvas. I'm still finding it an odd transition to create artwork that is not strictly meant for one particular client, but the process intrigues me and I'm hopeful that as I create work in this new field that my artwork will be picked up.

Life is changing...

2011-07-18T13:48:00.001-07:00

Life is changing and so is my studio. I'm back in the basement (with I hope more improvements to come, like paint on the ugly faux wood-panel walls and rearranging of paintings and boards). Things are a bit squishier now, as the room doubles as my spare room. Still, I'm happy down here because it's really nice and cool.

It's just occurred to me that I don't think I've made the official announcement that I'm expecting my second child this November (hence the reason for the studio move from the sunny little space upstairs). I'm over the half-way point in my pregnancy which means I'm in the glorious 2nd trimester, where my nausea only comes and goes when I'm really hungry or tired and my bump isn't big enough to get me stuck in-between narrow doorways. I hope to one day pursue the noble art of doula work, on top of my illustration work, when my kids have grown up a little (a doula is someone who supports a woman during pregnancy and more importantly, labour). I'd also like to offer belly casting and of course, painting of said belly cast after it sets. I'm so fascinated by birth, pregnancy and general immediate post-partum that I feel this will eventually be a great thing for me. Just not now.

Pictured below is my current studio, with the "doodle-bugs" easel in the corner and a very cluttered work space. I think I may have to get rid of the inspiration board, it's a horrible mess... but I do like having pictures up that chance on a sometimes weekly basis while I work. So, who knows. The spare bed is right behind my computer, so if I really wanted, I suppose I could "draw"... or snooze a little until I find good ideas. ha ha! Leppard, my sweet mixed mutt, is finally brave enough to join me downstairs. The first few years we had her she wouldn't go down stairs even if there was a fully roasted chicken two steps down with her name on it. I suspect some sort of trauma involving stairs happened to her when before we adopted her.

Here is the doodle-bug, listening to the baby. He also took the time to drive little cars on the belly.

What I'm currently working on:

Princess artwork for a potential client via my lovely agent, Elaine at Cypress Fine Art Licensing. Hopefully this will eventually become a die-cut puzzle. More to come as I get feedback from Elaine, and I think I'd like to try something with a castle in the background too.

The Future (is here)

2011-07-13T13:59:00.001-07:00

Amazing. I'm so glad my husband teaches 3D animation... this great attribute might come in handy later in my life (for things other than plain bragging rights of course).

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore iPad App Trailer from Moonbot Studios on Vimeo.

Beautiful escape

2011-07-11T13:41:00.000-07:00

Holidays put into perspective how many amazing things are within driving distance of my home. On Canada Day (July 1), I walked amongst scorching hot hoo-doos then later sat silently in the shadow of the worlds largest dinosaur as fireworks crackled over it's head. We drove from Drumheller to Kananaskis where we climbed a mountain, ankles deep in snow and the roar of a glacial waterfall bouncing off the cliffs. There were morale mushrooms to fry and a surprise encounter with a geo-cache at Marl Lake where I left behind the only thing in my pocket - a red ruby sucker - in exchange for a lovely Caribbean 25cent coin. In Banff we rode a gondola in time for a snowstorm to allow me to break out my new baby-wearing coat and later took in the romance of my cousin's beautiful wedding.

I am glad to be home, but I miss the new adventure that hiking and new places provided. My pants have muddy knees and my ankles are speckled with mosquito bites but I suppose one has to return home at some point to weed the garden!

Puzzle designs

2011-06-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

Recently finished two paintings for a puzzle company. Thought I'd share them with you.

So simple to do, can't wait to see the printed pieces.

June Free Colouring Page

2011-06-06T16:26:00.001-07:00

Here's the June Colouring page. Download a larger version here. Each month I draw up a new colouring page. Feel free to ask to have this page added (for free) to your community newsletter, your school or library collection or have it delivered via email to your inbox each month. Simply email me to be added.

Have fun colouring! This page was inspired by my son, who loves helping me in the garden. He does not own a hat like that, but I think I need to get him one...

Dexter's Digger Dog

2011-05-22T15:10:00.000-07:00

Finished the painting just in time! Dexter's second birthday party is tomorrow.
See the sketch here.