Sweet teeth and fish heads

A couple of weeks ago I really was craving sweets -- to eat and to paint.



I made three pastry pie like things; an apple pie with sweet and beautiful organic pink lady apples, a mini blueberry pie, and some apricot tarts baked in my new-to-me cast iron pan (from the Jimmy Coole Hurray for Relay garage sale). Then I had a craving for those chocolate cookies with white chocolate chips. You know, the ones with a pound of butter and two cups of sugar!?!



If that weren't enough I decided (or Jodie Anne did actually) that there should be a chocolate cake painting, which of course would need a few pieces missing! So we took some time in our busy studio night to have a tea party with dessert and once we were sufficiently full we set up to work. Is there anything prettier than cakes?



Needless to say, I am now sweeted out.



Yesterday in the studio, as a way to negate the saccharine sweetness of late, I painted a disgustingly pretty frozen fish head. Look at this detail --- yummy yuck.



Jodie Anne is giving it her all too, and even though she seems to have moments where she feels she has nothing, the pictures tell another story.






She also came up with the name for our upcoming exhibit : Landlives and Stillscapes. Perfect.

So Sorry

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting lately. Things have been a bit crazy the last month or so. I have accepted an invitation to show at the Nina Haggerty Centre, with the only draw back being that it is opening at the beginning of July. Thanks to Jodie Anne to agreeing to show with me.



So the studio is where I've been lately. And also the garden a little bit. And maybe some vacation planning. And possibly some garage sale-ing. And spring cleaning. And pie baking. I will post pictures soon.

Oh, and did I mention my marvelous free Internet finally disappeared? I guess nothing lasts forever.

She's baaaccck!

Last year, three days after my 33rd birthday I adopted a three-legged dog. Three weeks later she surprised us all by giving birth to three boys and three girls.



Having never had a dog before I was launched into the thick of full dogdom and my life has never been the same since.



There was a puppy that I particularly loved, I mean I loved them all - they were so cute, but there was one that was really special. Leesa.





There was talk of adopting her, but in the end a tired and sick mother dog was our priority and Leesa went off to her new home. Over this past year I have wondered how she is doing, what she looks like, how big she is. Well.....



She's back.

Her previous owners very sadly and reluctantly surrendered her back to SCARS due to the development of allergies in both of their children. Now she is here visiting with her mom for awhile. And it's so nice to have her-- even though spring is a terrible time to have a dog, not to mention two huge and wild beasts (which they seem to become in each others presence!). She is still a puppy but her size is monstrous, which of course she is completely unaware. She constantly wants to climb on your lap for a cuddle as if she were 6 pounds instead of 65!



Thanks for coming back for a visit sweet little one.

Wedding Update (with pictures)

Cindy found Hale Mala OmaOmO and emailed me about the wedding post.

She says they loved their purses and that she's claimed the bamboo handled one!

She also sent me this totally cute picture of her and Megan. Sweet!

Thanks Cindy.

Wedding(s) Update

I never did let you all know how the wedding in Saskatoon was. Maybe that's because I thought it would be better to post about the wedding I went to last weekend as well.



The wedding in Saskatoon was great. It was over the top, just the way it should have been. The ceremony even had a slight feeling of the carnival- what with the (real)bunny, (human)pony, and (human)kitty! The reception continued the fun and madness with a pinata, karaoke, the cutting of the many beautifully decorated cakes, and finally dancing into the wee hours of the morning.



The brides made their own beautiful flower bouquets. Cindy's even had a secret zipper where she stashed tissues used during the ceremony! What a great idea. They had the most fantastic cakes - all made by friends - that were so wonderfully decorated that I took about 20 pictures of them! They tasted delicious too!

This past weekend was the wedding of some close and dear friends of mine. More traditional- the bride wore white, the groom looked handsome, there were champagne toasts, and (of course) dancing into the wee hours of the morning.



The weather co-operated, the sun was shining, and we all had a great time. Now the lovely couple and most of their guests are cruising the Mediterranean.

Maybe there is something in the air? Possibly Wedding Fever?

(Con)temporary Spaces

Left: Ryan McCourt's flat artworks Right: Allen Ball's painting on far wall and on the side wall, Mitch Smith's

Last night was the first opening in the Alberta Gallery of Art's temporary space. Most exciting in this new space was the Flat show: an exhibition of nine Edmonton artists, and Unflat: David Cantine.


David Cantine's Unflat

The Flat show runs until May 27th, and the Unflat show runs until June 10th.

The gallery's new location is Enterprise Square, 100-10230 Jasper Ave. (Entrance on 102 street)

Wedding presents and WIP's

Jodie Anne and I are travelling to Saskatoon this Easter long weekend to attend the wedding of an old BFA school-mate from our university days. I am excited to go away (!) to a wedding(!!) of a great old friend (!!!). The bridal couple, both being artists, requested hand-made gifts for wedding presents. So we decided to make coordinating hers and hers handbags. Here's how they're looking so far.

I've also been sewing a couple of things for spring. Inspired by NotaMermaid's recent post on Sew Retro, I am attempting a dirndl skirt in green plaid seersucker. I'm not sure yet how this is going to work out. Maybe it's the plaid or maybe it's the seersucker, but it somehow seems apron-y. I think I'll have to wait until it's finished to really decide. I've also started this vintage inspired Vogue jacket in grass green linen. The fabric is really beautiful and almost negates all the surprise snow we got today.

My work in the studio went really well on Saturday too, so I'll try to post pictures of my progress in there as well.