Random Lustings Of A Creative Mind

Starting Over

2011-08-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

It's been months and months since I painted. I'm always too busy doing this and that for everyone else... I have a hard time saying no to people. So I sat for a long time with my canvas. He was covered in layers of paint. 2 Paintings have decorated his surface thus far. Non of which I've been overly content with. I always battle between fine art and illustration. The illustrator in me always sneaks up on my paintings and when I snap out of my painting comma sometimes I realize what I wanted to be fine art is far more like a whimsical illustration for a childrens book. And that's usually the point at which the canvas gets lost in my closet. This particular canvas has been hiding in my closet going on 2 years.

I looked at him, he stared back at me. We had a serious silent conversation and finally we came to an agreement. No pressure. No preconceived idea of what I'm going to create. Just pick up the brush and lets dance.

This is what has commenced thus far... I call it Starting Over.

What is art?

2011-08-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

What do you think? Is this art?

Things Of Beauty

2011-05-10T11:30:00.000-07:00

It excites me to see old ugly things taken and recycled into something pretty and new. It disturbs me when things end up in a land fill when there are so many useful and creative things they could be used for instead. Jane at All The Luck In The World is a woman after my own heart. She takes old found objects from thrift stores and turns them into things of beauty. Take a gander and create your own, then send me the pictures so I can post them here!

Palette Knife Play Date

2010-11-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

I bought a set of palette knives over a year ago. I keep promising them a play date and yet I've been less then punctual with my promise. So finally the other night I decided to sit down and get dirty with globs of colourful acrylic and 5 knives. Needless to say it isn't as easy to do as I had originally thought. It is WAY to easy to get carried aways and create a giant muddy mess. At one point my canvas resembled an evening I had once when I had the flue and my toilette and I had become better acquainted with each other while my stomach revolted against me. I think however I managed to recapture some beauty.

Feisty

2010-11-25T18:49:00.000-08:00

If you're anything like me then you are always searching for great music that is not over played but fantastic and unique to the ear. And if you have not had the extreme pleasure of familiarizing yourself with the sensational Leslie Feist how very sad your musical experience must be. I have a great love of many genres of music but Feist is by far the most talented, unique, rock out with your cock out, walking piece of fabulous you will ever come across. Ok, yes, that is completely based on my very biased opinion but regardless of that silly small fact, she's untouchable.

I had the honour of meeting Leslie at the premier showing of her documentary Look At What the Light Did now. I was SO inspired at one point that tears were streaming down my face. This woman makes me want to be better. No, better then better, amazing. She makes me believe that I can be a startlingly good artist. I love that someone can make me so sure of myself.

Obessed

2010-11-09T03:51:00.000-08:00

There are a million and one reasons why my mind implodes when I watch this video by Florence and the Machine. Put quite plainly it's sensational in every way I can imagine.

Lemon Drop Cupcakes and a Better Life.

2010-11-03T06:37:00.000-07:00

Want to know where I've been? Well, I wish I could tell you some wild story of how I up and decided on a whim that life would be far more splendid if I packed up the family and went to Bangladesh for a week to visit the queen for tea and cupcakes. Oh please! Use your imagination! Bangladesh has a queen in MY world and she LOVES lemon drop cupcakes and lavender tea. But alas that is not where I have been, but rather I have been focusing all of my energies on creating a better life for my son.

Oohhh but it is so much more exciting then how it sounds. You may recall a previous blog I wrote about a photographer by the name of Crystal Hahn. Well, Crystal, in all of her creative glory, along with her lovely sister Somer, have composed a company called A Million Little Details. I know of no better way to describe it other then a mecca for all things wedding. It will be a quaint little place in cyberspace to go when you need inspiration, locations, ideas, vendors, or just to dream. And I will have the extreme delight of being a major part of all of it! I'm calling my position at this point The End All and Be All of AMLD. Yes, it sounds grandiose but that is because it IS! I do a little bit of everything. Marketing, advertising, design, social networking... you name it I'll do it. It's true, I'm just that fantastic.

BUT my point of this entire rant is that my soul goal is to make sure this wedding mecca takes off and explodes all over the Internet, allowing me to stay home with my little buddy and raise him good and strong the way only a mother can. *wink, wink* His day care provider Val is a goddess and I adore her truly of course but it's always been my goal to raise my kids rather then someone else. That way if they grow up screwy I only have myself to blame. Hahahaha... yikes. Don't quote me on that.

SO my lovelies, on top of my art, and my love for design I shall be pimping out the wide world of weddings. I'd love for you to come by and visit from time to time when we are up and running. But of course you can always find me here!

A Million Little Details.

What Was Old Is New Again

2010-10-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Picture it, a big old barn, slate floors, rafter ceilings, a wood fire place, harvest tables, a freshly fallen bed of snow on the ground and a million candle light mason jars hanging from silver wire hung from wooden ceiling beams mixed with a scattering of crystal chandeliers. Draped on the walls; soft hued vintage inspired bunting. This is my dream wedding. If it were any more perfect it would be in the middle of a forest rather then inside a barn, but then my heals would get stuck in the dirt. I love that all that is old is once again becoming new. And if I could I would have bunting strung about every room in my house just because it's just so lovely and sweet. There would also be jars of lolly pops and jelly beans on every surface but of course that would be a cavity waiting to happen. If you are a vintage junkie like myself you might want to gander at the following etsy sellers and look at their handy works of tastiness. Knotted Nest, Sweet Vintage, & Princess Allure

Door Knob Bling

2010-10-12T20:36:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be completely honest here and say: I don't have a heck of a lot to say today. So this blog is a bit of a cop out HOWEVER, I do have something spectacular to share with you regardless of the lack of content spilling from the verbal part of my mind. I found bling for your door. Literally. This is the kind of jewel you buy for your door when you really, really want to say something special. These door knobs are quite literally a work of art. Created by artist Tracy Glover they are just a small statement piece from her collection of blown glass creations. It's expensive but worth saving up for. Get down on one knee and tell your door just how much you love it.

Ear Therapy For a Good Cause

2010-10-06T21:29:00.000-07:00

I was pregnant once. It seems like forever ago. Does a year qualify as forever?

SO, while I was pregnant and insane I bonded to a particular blog called Pacing the Panic Room. This illustrious blog is chock full of great reading material, amazing photos, heartfelt stories and major artistic inspiration. It's a deeper look into one special little family and their journey through life.

Written from the perspective of a man known only to me as Ryan. Ryan is an artist himself. A photographer to be more specific, and an amazing one at that. But this isn't a blog about Ryan, or his blog. No, rather this blog is about an album. Yup, an album. A children's album to be more specific, called Do Fun Stuff. I know, I know, the two are not adding up but today I was updating myself at Pacing the Panic Room when I found out about Do Fun Stuff. And now I have to tell everyone about it. Let's be honest, there is a LOT of crappy kids music out there. I mean, pull your hair out, scream into your turtle neck, grind your teeth, stab your ear drums if you have to hear Old MacDonald one more time kind of crappy music. So when I fell onto Ryan's post about Do Fun Stuff I had to check it out and now I am inclined to force you to do so as well. It's cute and bouncy and it doesn't make me want to shove my head into the dirty dish water in a desperate attempt to spare my ears from the agony of irritating children's music.

There is an even more important message here though. Yes it's great music, but more importantly it's an album created to help raise funds for further research into a syndrome known as SMS or Smiths-Magenis Syndrome. This is the very same syndrome that Ryan of Pacing the Panic Room's step son suffers from. I urge you to purchase this funtastic album and if your looking for something a little more special Ryan's talented wife Cole is creating amazing album cover artwork for anyone who is interested.

I'm thinking of getting one of these for each of my little people friends this Christmas... annnnd... one for me. I can't resist. I love kitchy cute hand made goodness. Not to mention the proceeds are going towards something great.

Well I hope I have aided some of you in some ear therapy with this blog. Until next time I bit thee adieu.

Let's Eat Cake

2010-09-29T06:05:00.001-07:00

I just found the coolest cookbook EVER! I doubt I would cook from it though. I think, rather, I would tear the pictures out and frame them on my kitchen wall. Ikea teamed up with photographer Carl Kleiner and just released this uber amazing, super designy styled ingredients cookbook, Hembakat ar Bast, which translates to Homemade is Best. From what I gather it is free in Ikea Sweden! What about us!? Canadians have taste too! I WANT ONE! If anyone knows a relative in Sweden and can get their fingers on a copy of this book I'd give my left pinkie toe for it.

Spinning Gold With a Camera

2010-09-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

I love photography. I especially love fashion photography and secondly after that is photographs of home fashion, but only because it combines a few of my great loves, interior decorating and photos. My love affair with photography became solidified when I took a photography course in college. Being in a dark room, just you and your art, a giant magnifier, chemicals and film, holds something so romantic and deep that I can't even put a finger on it to describe it to you. All I can say is that it's magical. Naturally in the future I plan to make my hobby of photography a profession but until then there is a woman I met 3 years ago who has an inexplicable talent of capturing a moment in time and spinning it into gold with her camera. Her name is Crystal Hahn of Crystal Clear Imagery and if ever you need someone who is fresh, vibrant, and new enough at the game that she's not tainted by the money or allows her talent to swell her head, you will be wise to give her a look see.

Obey the Awesomness

2010-09-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

From time to time I fall upon something that blows my mind in such a way that it influences my life from the moment of discovery and on. Even more rarely is when I stumble upon an artist who is capable of altering my view of art and what I create as art. Shepherd Fairey is just such an artist. I don't know how many of you are familiar with his work, but in my opinion, if you haven't had a Shepherd Fairey experience then you are truly missing out on something amazing.

Shepherd is a so called "Street Artist", known for his "Obey" Sticker campaign back in the late '80's, which was a "gorilla style" campaign using the image of Andre the Giant created to stir and provoke people's senses causing them to question both the sticker itself and the environment in which surrounds them.

Shepherd has recently been better known for his Obama poster entitled HOPE during the 2008 presidential campaign, which is precisely when I was fortunate enough to have discovered him. His art work is thought provoking, stimulating, stunning to the eye and quite humorous and touching at the same time. If I were you, and I'm not, but if I were... I would take a very long gander at his creations and then I'd tell some friends. His message is worthy of all eyes.

xxo

The Sun is Shining

2010-09-14T21:49:00.000-07:00

It's way past my bed time but I just had to show you my latest accomplishment. Being in the Wedding Bash competition quite literally sucked every ounce of creative energy from my very core, which is difficult to accomplish seeing as 89% of me is pure creative fiber. Normally when I've left a painting unfinished for more then a period of 2 days, it becomes that painting's fate to remain incomplete, however this particular painting was lucky enough to have a buyer. A very patient buyer might I add. So I force fed my brain with acrylic tubes of paint and somehow, somewhere this occurred. I am pleased.

Nighty night.

Destined to Lose

2010-09-08T11:20:00.000-07:00

WELL! Long time no write! I know, I constantly abuse you with my neglectfulness, but hey! i had to try and win myself a free $100,000. wedding and yes, it was a long shot but in the end we only lost by 1%! That's pretty friggin awesome in my books. So now it's back to the 'ol bump and grind, and thank God really. I missed this! and I miss painting. Looks like we'll have to plan our own wedding now. And so far it's looking like it's going to be a destination wedding for us. And if a destination wedding it shall be then I think I know what the wedding invitations are going to look like! I found some help with inspiration at Bride.ca's post on Creative & Destination Wedding Invitation ideas. Do any of you have any destination suggestions on where to tie the knot?

Help me WIN! Pretty please.

2010-07-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

This is of course is completely unrelated to anything artistic. I'd like to think that my wedding would be very artistic and full of fun DIY projects and maybe it will be BUT if I manage to pull off this off I won't have to lift a finger. Which isn't necessarily a good thing... I'm torn. What the heck am I talking about you ask? I suppose you're right, I should tell you about my little adventure before I start yakking away.

I've entered Kevin and I into the Carlsberg Big Wedding Bash contest! The lucky couple who wins gets a $100,000. wedding created, planned and paid for in Toronto at the Capitol Event Theater on October 1st.

I'll be exploiting ourselves here if you care to follow along. Maybe you'll be so kind as to help us along and vote! Wish us luck!

Complex Simplicity = Jim Houser

2010-07-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight I'm lacking inspiration. Here I sit, at my cluttered desk, dinning on lemon gelato thinking... damn I wish I had something to paint. The truth is I have plenty to paint. I just don't want to paint them. I'm fairly certain I would be the worst commission artist ever. Or maybe not. If I were commissioned I'd have money as a motivation wouldn't I? If I'm painting for free I may as well paint what I want to paint... right?

Getting to my point, I went surfing for some visual stimuli and I found Jim Houser. Normally if I were to look at Jim's work on an individual basis my immediate response to it would be, nice use of colour, great composition, belongs in a child's bedroom, would never buy it. However what Jim's paintings lack in complexity he makes up for in presentation. The trick to his art work is owning 5 or more pieces and displaying them exactly how Jim intended them on being displayed.

I would pay a lot of money to see a gallery set up by Mr. Houser. His compositions are nothing short of genius. As he states himself "It's not just a place to come see a bunch of little objects. It's a place to come see one big object" Well said. His gallery is composed of a million little simple images that create a giant work of art. Watch the video and see what I mean. Stimulation accomplished.

Cool Threads

2010-06-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

I'm a dress up in your frilly summer frock, cutesy sandals, dangley Chandler earrings, and over sized sun glasses, to cut the lawn kinda gal. I thoroughly enjoy looking my best at everything I do. When I look good I feel good. When I feel good I do a better job and it doesn't hurt either that I'm enjoying cutting the lawn simply because I look good. Make fun of me, go a ahead but it works for me.

Despite all that I have to admit that there is a certain comfort that comes with slipping on my favourite pair of worn in patchy jeans and a comfy t-shirt. Who doesn't love a great t-shirt? I love them even more when that certain t-shirt was designed by an every day average artist who just happened to submit a drawing into an online website, which just happened to win the votes of a million viewers, which turned into a t-shirt sold on that website and was bought be me, myself and I. What is more awesome then wearing someones art on your chest!? A raspberry mohito on a sandy beach in the south of France, but now I'm just getting off topic...

Check out Threadless.com if you haven't all ready. Threadless is an online clothing company that accepts on average 1,500 drawings a week! The designs are submitted to a public vote and a handful get put to print and sold on the online store. Each winner receives $2,000 in cash, a $500 gift certificate (which can be traded in for $200 in cash), as well as an additional $500 for every reprint. So not only are you wearing a work of art, you are also supporting artists from all over the world and even more importantly you'll look damn cool.

Art Gossip

2010-06-27T18:48:00.000-07:00

I've never been one to fancy the history of art much. I enjoy looking at the art, fantasizing over it, analyzing it, and finding inspiration in it but knowing why it was painted and the life of the person whom created it was never of great importance to me. All that mattered to me was that I enjoyed looking at it, why should it matter to me if it was painted by a crazy man who ate his paint, slept with too many women and contracted syphilis and inevitably went coo coo?

It's only recently that I realized that the history is what created the art. If not for the conditions surrounding it, economically, socially and geographically that art would have turned out very differently. Maybe my art history teacher was too bland of a story teller. Had she taken a different spin on the history of it, and turned it into art gossip I may have been able to gather up a tid bit of interest.

I recently purchased a book called The Secret Lives of Great Artists. It's a trash mag of a book dedicated to the telling of famous artists and their sometimes overly dramatic life styles.

Did you know that Picasso was a disgusting slob of a man whom his friends described as "living among towering piles of papers, receipts, canvases, empty bottles, and crusts of bread through which tiny paths gave access to the bathroom and easel"? He also kept a menagerie of dogs, cats, mice, and a small ape!

Hmmmm... I wonder if he ever let the ape paint? I know if I had an ape hanging out on my pile of canvases and eating my bread crusts, I would most certainly put it to work.

Illustration: Mario Zucca

Inspired

2010-06-22T18:51:00.000-07:00

Tell me this isn't beautiful and I'll tell you that you to give your head a shake. I adore this painting! I want 10 more at least. What makes it even more impressive is that it's completely painted in baby cereal. That's right, fruity flavoured baby cereal, by a little boy named Jackson who is only 7 months old. Now tell me again it's not beautiful.

This particular painting was a gift to his father for father's day. I'm hooked. I want more. Not only am I smitten with this work of art I'm totally inspired by it's simplicity. It was created in a matter of 15 minutes. It would have taken me hours to come up with the same composition. I'm taking artistic advice from an infant. Let loose, have fun, and lighten up, but most importantly... get messy.

Sketchy

2010-06-16T19:07:00.000-07:00

Have you ever rummaged through someone else's sketchbook? No?, well you really should. There is something so intimate and cool about looking through a scruffed up, doggy eared book full of someones imagination, thoughts and oddities. I, myself find it exhilarating, almost stimulating. My creative juices get tweaked and I instantly want to run off to the nearest book store to buy myself a tiny hard covered book containing nothing more then a million blank pages for me to beautify and tarnish with graphite and ink. Someone out there must have the same reaction I do to viewing someone else's doodles because they so brilliantly came up with the single most amazing idea I've heard in a very long time. It's called The Sketchbook Project.

It' s described as a concert tour with sketchbooks. Bloody brilliant if you ask me. Here's the basic idea. Like to doodle? Artistically talented or just a mom looking to start a fun project with your piglets? Go to the Sketchbook Project web site, pick a theme, a sketchbook will be mailed to you, fill it up, send it back. Your sketchbook, along with hundreds of others then go on a 6 city tour around the U.S. People will be invited to museums and galleries to come and view the sketchbooks and thumb through them. If they like your sketchbook they can buy it off of you should you chose to sell it from anywhere to $5 - a million bucks. The idea is to get the community and artists together in a giant community art project. J'adore! It's a blissfully creative idea. I only wish I lived any where near the areas the exhibit will be showcasing. Alas i shall not see it. But I may just have to create me self a sketchbook to send off. Now to choose a theme. It's a toss up between: Things found on restaurant napkins, It will be fun, I swear, It's raining dogs and cats. Decisions decisions...

Michelle Ramin

2010-06-15T06:04:00.000-07:00

There are a very minute amount of people I will willingly cyberstalk. Mostly because it requires so much use of my valuable time. But I will proudly admit with my head held high and nose pointed skyward that Michelle Ramin is cyberstalk worthy. Her artwork has recently taken a more funky turn toward creative, which normally any sort of change in the things I like sends me screaming to my bathtub where I wash away the ugliness growing within. But Michelle has me pink with excitement over what she's creating. Of course it's her original paintings of Portland, her home town, that still make the sun shine within for me. I adore how she takes the industrial landscape and the tiny homes there and creates a colourful, blissful, depiction of what otherwise would go unnoticed by the average eye. If you are craving something new, creative and jubilant to the soul you should most definitely check out Michelle's work and let me know what you think. Unless you don't like it, then I don't want to hear about it. I kid, I'm always interested in others artistic perspectives.

Adieu my loves,

Throw Me a Bone

2010-06-13T19:53:00.000-07:00

All I can say at this present moment is "what the CRAP?" Somebody please explain Reddit to me! I haven't a friggin clue as to what I am doing. Not even a smidgen of an incling of a thought. A friend told me that in order to gain more of a following and popularity in regards to my art work that I should look into Reddit, digg, and... fark? Digg is pretty much self explanatory but Reddit has me seeing double. I like to consider myself down with the current trends and I'm not a complete loser when it comes to social networking... or so I thought. Until just now. I registered a reddit account and honestly... what IS it?! What have I just signed up for? What do I do with it? I'm scared! I need a crash course NOW! Before someone starts sending me harsh and harassing messages relating to how redumtarded I am.

A Place For Your Sparklies to Sit

2010-06-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

What is this you ask? I'll tell you what it is... why it's just the COOLEST j ewelry stand in the universe! I neeeeeeeed it! Only I don't want to spend $68 plus shipping and handling. So be a lovely and buy it for me?

Where DId You Come From?

2010-06-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Currently, I am in the middle of a painting that is truly testing my creative eye as well as my patients. I don't know what it is about this painting but despite how I try it just will not cooperate with me! I had a perfect image in my head as to how it was to be created and completed, only this specific painting had other plans for itself. Every time I have placed my brush on the canvas with one thing in mind, it goes and performs and entirely different task. Despite my efforts to paint the image in my head I can not for the life of me bring it to fruition. It is almost as though my hand has a mind of it's own. I have NEVER painted anything like this. Not these colours, not this style, and not this complex. Where this painting has come from is remaining to be a mystery for me. And the more I fight it the worse it gets so I'm just going to have to go with it and see how it ends up. However I must be honest with you, I do not like it. I'm hoping now that I am not fighting it that I will wined up loving the end result. I'm yet to be convinced. In the mean time if anyone else sees something I do not and would like to tell me what I need to do to better it feel free to leave a comment.

Anyone Care For Some Oatmeal?

2010-05-28T18:13:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across this comic called Oatmeal today and I must say not only is it pleasant on the eyes it's darn tootin laugh worthy, not to mention completely on the money. I for one can not fathom the enormity of people who can not grammatize properly! Spell check can NOT save you all the time! Some times you need to use the giant muscle enclosed in your skull otherwise known as your brain. I implore you to read the rest, it really is worth it.

Butchart Gardens

2010-05-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

Can't talk. Too tired. Must sleep. But looky! I finished a painting. It took a whole week but I did it. Babies take up so much painting time! Sweet dreams to ya'll.

Inner Child

2010-05-25T06:02:00.000-07:00

I've always been a little obsessed with children's toys, especially the old fashioned retro styled ones. I have to admit that one of the major things I was looking forward to having children for was to play with their toys. There is a twisted little part of me that is certain I will enjoy them far more then my children ever will. My little mushroom is now 7 months old and my extreme desire for pretty toys has already gotten the better of me. I found a shop called Citizen Kid who deviantly nurtures my toy obsession and that is where I discovered Vilac. If you don't already know of Vilac, it is a super fantastic toy maker from France who meticulously fashions all of their toys out of wood and lacquer. Not only are they of the finest quality but they are bright, beautiful, safe and lets not forget funtastic! I fore see a whole lot of cash disappearing in the near future and a lot of sunshiney toys appearing in it's place. My current "need to have" is a dearling little bear. He's all fuzzy and patchworky, sitting down catching fish with a stick. At the end of his stick is a little fishy who you are supposed to pull. Once you pull it the fishy slowly travels up the string to the stick while pretty lullaby's play softly. He's supposed to be a teething toy for your little ones but I want him so I can watch him fish, while sitting pretty on my shelf. My poor son. He's going to have to sneak into my room at night and steel back all of his toys while I lay sleeping.

Dust off The Bunnies

2010-05-19T15:55:00.000-07:00

I'm not all together sure how typical of an artist this is but I like to think that all artists work this way... If I start a painting, I can't stop it until I'm done. No, it's not what you think. It's not because I'm SO in the zone that I just can't tear myself away, but rather, if I don't finish it on the first run... well, I never will. I will always have intentions on getting back to it. I'll even talk to it from time to time. I'll reassure the painting that I have not forgotten it and that no, I don't prefer my new paining over it. It's just that I have an image in my head that is screaming at me to put it paint and I can't very tell it "no". So my unfortunate little painting will sit there sadly, and patiently for me to return but I never do. I know what you are thinking; how cruel. Take heart in the fact that it is not alone though. There are plenty of unfinished paintings for it to play with. Except today! Today there is one last painting to play count the dust bunnies with. Her name is Autumn Wind. Please welcome her to the world of the artisticly complete. Where paintings hang on walls, tucked in under a sheet of glass, surrounded by a bed of wood to hold it comfortably in place. Or, at least that is, if someone buys it and frames it.

Time To Push Back

2010-05-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

A Childhood dream can only come true when you decide it is no longer a dream but a goal. I have been discouraged from pursuing a career in art since childhood. It is just too difficult to find success in such a profession. "Artists only make money when they are dead" I've been told.

Sadly I bought into this negative notion, creating paintings only for my enjoyment until now. Recently I became the mother of a brilliant little boy. And now, more then ever, I have a burning urge to prove everyone who doubts in my abilities wrong. How can I nurture his dreams if I allowed others to crush my own?

My childhood dream to be a successful artist is tangible. I will succeed. And my son will grow up knowing that if he has a dream he also has the ability to make it a reality.

Thank you for stopping by and being a part of my dream turned goal. The success of this endeavour depends greatly on word of mouth and dedicated fans. Without doubt your support is priceless.

XO

Kim

MIA

2010-05-13T13:06:00.000-07:00

I realize that I have been very neglectful of this blog and thus have lost the interest of many visitors. In my defence I have a small bundle of joy, poop, and spit who has very large blue eyes that demands my constant attention and detracts from my computer usage. However I have recently introduced the Jolly Jumper to my beloved bundle thus allowing me to attempt to regain you affections. I'll do my best to stop in and play on a regular basis. Of course I'm also trying to juggle creating paintings in order to satisfy my creative juices so time is in extreme shortage. Until next time my dearlings, I bid thee adiue.

xox

K

Now THAT'S a Mobile!

2009-09-03T09:48:00.001-07:00

Is it just me or are baby mobiles overly priced for such a boring scattering of content? Really, all you are getting are 5 odd objects hanging from a piece of string that may or may not twirl around in a loop to entertain a child who can't see anything clearly unless it's within inches of it's face. And I'm supposed to pay $50 plus for this not so fascinating contraption?

You'll be happy to know, I had a brain storm. What if the objects that hung from the ordinary pieces of string were 5x the size? And what if they were vibrantly contrasting colours? What if they were not silly characatures of animals but giant shapes of colour and texture? Wouldn't that be easier to see? not to mention more fascinating to watch? And then I saw it... the mobile I'm going to make for my nursery. But how will I make it?! Crap. There is always some obstacle to weather. Martha the Magnificent will know. Martha always knows. And with a little bit of heavy duty searching, Martha came through once again. Giant tissue flowers and lanterns with lovely bits of garland will be strung from my ceiling above my babies crib to dazzle and delight and I'll have created all by myself. SQUEEEEE I'm so delighted I could twirl if I wasn't so unbalanced and clumsy.

Lock and Key Hooks

2009-08-31T13:13:00.000-07:00

I'm obsessing right now about all the unique things I'm going to buy for my baby room. I'm not going for the typical look of a baby room mind you. I have very little interest in adorning my walls with cutsie jungle creatures and vibrant colours. Not just yet anyway. Nope, I'm more interested in a room that will invoke peace and tranquility, rather then a room that will make me want to pull my hair out from the root every time I enter it at 4:15 in the morning to calm a screaming child. I want to walk into a white washed room with soft cushy fabrics and organic smooth lines. So check out what I found when I was looking for hooks to hang the babies stuff up with. I was surfing around Urban Outfitters the other night and did you know that they sell household decorative products!? I was not aware! But I'm hooked now!

It Finally Rained

2009-08-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

It's been a rather dry couple of months for me and my paint brush. We haven't bonded much her and I. Ever since I became pregnant we just haven't seen eye to eye on things. However after a 28 week dry spell last night I finally finished a painting! Well finished is a loosely knit term. I'm never truly finished. Even as I write this I'm thinking of adding some purple tones to the sky. I like it today... I'll hate it tomorrow, and love it in a year. That's just the natural flow my art takes. Constant turmoil. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Project Backsplash

2009-07-27T08:43:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while attempting to waist valuable time I happened upon a fun website called Apartment Therapy, where I found a posting for a woman named Zazazu who is relying on the world to complete the backsplash in her newly revamped kitchen. This ambitious idea comes with a plea to anyone who has an extra tile or two to send it to Zazazu and once she has accumulated enough to cover the empty space between her counter top and upper cabinets Project Backsplash will be installed.

SO do it! and do it now! Because I am eager to see the end result of this project! I'm a little emotionally torn with this DIY. It could go either way. Hopefully for Zazazu the end result is a beautiful mish mash of creativity donated from all over the world but there is an obscenely good chance that this eclectic backsplash could go horribly wrong and look nothing short of vomitous. There is a very dark part of me that is hoping for the later of the two choices. I secretly do love a complete design catastrophe.

Have a tile?

Send it to Zazau @
Zazazu – Project Backsplash
P.O. Box 373
Corinth, MS 38834

Deceivingly Innocent

2009-07-20T12:30:00.000-07:00

For anyone of you whom may have been here before, it's obviously no secret that I love to shop on etsy.com. There are just so many fantastically wonderful things hiding away, waiting for my lustful eyes to find them and take them home with me. I recently found a shop called La Drama Queen of which I have not been able to stop obsessing over since. If I were not very pregnant at this exact moment there would be next to nothing holding me back from buying everything that Tanie Marie, the designer, has to offer. At present my most lusted after design is the Absinthe one piece bathing suit. Quite simply put it's pure sex in an deceivingly innocent package. I must have it.

Cardboard - The new wood

2009-06-24T09:20:00.000-07:00

When my mother told me that I should check out the new cardboard furniture designs I decided to humor her and pretend to be interested. How could card board furniture be anything but run of the mill, low cost student type furniture that you could dump your beer on and not worry about the stain after ward, because you were only going to toss it to the end of the curb for the garbage man to pick up at the end of the year?

Well I was so very wrong. Not only are some of the designs fantastic but you can't scoff at the price either. There is far less impact on the environment in comparison to buying the same type of furniture composed of wood, it's biodegradable and extremely sturdy.

So far from what I've seen my favourite designs come from the Hungarian carpenter and artist duo, Edith Szilvasy and Andras Balogh. Over the past 3 years they have managed to take cardboard building to the next level by inventing a system of constructing furniture that uses only cardboard and ordinary paper clips. But by the looks of it those 3 years were time well spent. Andras developed a method of folding and clipping the cardboard so that their finished products are as strong as wood and as light as paper as well as simple to assemble. I'm in love with the above menagerie design.

You can find their work at Karton Art Design.

Amy Butler the Pattern Queen

2009-05-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard of the fantasticly talented Amy Butler as of yet then you my friends have been missing out! I absolutely adore pattern of all kinds on all things and Amy is the epitome of pattern. She is the pattern Queen. But not only does she create beautifully designed patterns she applies them to the most amazing things. Material, wall paper, stationery, table wear, blankets and even gift wrap. Her colours and use of various shapes always put me in such a summery mood. My recent "I have to have" of Amy's are these sweet paper plate designs! They make me want to throw a summer back yard party with paper lanterns, margaritas, and a steel drum band.

Amy Butler can be found and enjoyed here.

Secret Message Ring

2009-05-20T13:47:00.001-07:00

Check it out! I totally love this idea! It's a ring that leaves an imprint on your finger that says "Will you marry me?" It's adorable! Of course you would have to put the ring onto the finger of your significant other if you don't want them to read the message embossed onto the underside of the ring. But what ever! That's a small task.

Design by Yoon Jung Yun

The Fungus Among Us

2009-04-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is but this dude rocks. I love his paintings! They not only appeal to my childish nature but they excite the inner painter dwelling beneath my flesh and bone. Plus it kinda cracks me up. I have no idea who these noble gentlemen are but I'd let them grace my walls, even invite them for tea. Check out more of Justin Richel's work here.

Flowers of Darfur

2009-04-09T08:51:00.001-07:00

I love to paint. I can't paint for any old reason though. I wish I could but my mind doesn't seem to work that way. I need to Chanel creative energy in order create anything that I can stand to look at for any period of time. So you can imagine that I don't get a whole lot of painting done. There are ways to stimulate my painting bone though. There are the definite things that create a spark, all I need do is harness those things, compile them in front of me and breath deeply. This time I gathered colour, pattern, women, and fabric and the spark ignited into a flame. The flame fueled into a fire and the fire rushed into an explosion. Looky what exploded all over my paper. These are the women of Darfur. Beautiful aren't they?

Crankbunny Magic

2009-03-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

I love to create and craft things together. I often find myself admiring something while out shopping that strikes my fancy but rather then buy it for myself I say "I could make that". Of course I never do end up making it and ultimately should have bought it for myself to admire. But I have such a hard time paying money for something that I could, with time and money, create myself. But from time to time a day passes me by when I find something that blows my mind and I can't help but think... How the HELL did they make that!?

Well today is just such a day. I have admired this persons work from afar for some time now. I know her only as Crankbunny. To be honest I don't even know if her is really even a her. I just have a hunch. The wonderfully, delicious Crankbunny is an animation director by day and a paper magician puppeteer by night. She literally blows my mind with her paper creations. My particular favourite is a secret decoder card. You send her the secret message you want encoded with in, she creates it and sends you the card with a discreet piece of paper with your secret message encoded within. You have to use the decoder to figure out the special message. I LOVE IT! Check out her shop here and for some fantastical fun read her blog here. Enjoy.

Creative Rut

2009-03-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

What is wrong with me? I am supposed to be painting an Asian inspired abstract for a client and I can not for the life of me bear to look at it. Two weeks ago I was all over it, excited and eager to bury my head into it, fill every crevice with acrylic and only occasionally come up to breath when my coffee supply ran low. And then one dreary, drab and oddly gray morning I woke up hating my creation. Hating it with an unusual amount of certainty. So much certainty in fact that I covered it with a fresh coat of deep gray paint and never looked back.

Back to the drawing board. Out came the sketch book and instantly without any thought came a roughed out sketch that spoke volumes to me. The next day a few coats of background paint got slapped on my freshly grey canvas and I was eager to begin... only something happened somewhere between the background paint and now. Fore now, I don't even want to be with in a foot of it! I don't hate it. I look at it and think... A solid foundation for my painting indeed. And then I try to talk myself into grabbing a brush and blobbing some paint onto my over sized pallet that my father so graciously made for me, and every fiber of my being yells.... NO! What's on TV?

And so my painting sits. It sits, sadly looking over at me wondering what went wrong. And from time to time I give it a guilty side wards glance hoping that maybe it's powers of seduction will draw me near, and yet, still I sit.

What is wrong with me?

Polka Dots and Goofy Giraffes

2009-03-03T19:54:00.000-08:00

The other day I posted a spot on a children's book illustrator that I thought was worth clocking out of work early, running to the nearest book store, buying one of his books, run home to jump into bed and read myself a bed time story. I speak of the one and only Mike Wohnoutka. Well the other night I needed a cutesy character to paint for a set of sweet little twins I know will be arriving into this world shortly. Mike had this goofy sweet giraffe painting that just completely won me over and the twins bedroom is going to be all polka dots and Madagascar characters. So I took inspiration from... ah, why lie, I copied the goofy giraffe and created Davis and Cali. What do you think?!

Foxy Lady

2009-02-27T09:26:00.000-08:00

Looky at my new earrings! I love all things Foxy. Their designs are so unique, playful and attractive. If you're one of the unlucky ones who've never heard of Foxy Originals then you are in for a treat. Foxy was created by Jen Kluger and Suzie Orol, two young girls who met while studying at the University of Western Ontario. Upon graduating with business degrees they turned down job offers in the corporate world to follow their dreams and now 7 years later have a thriving company with product being sold all over Canada and the United States.

All of their jewelry is composed of Pewter that has been coated in Gold, Silver or Bronze. Some of the more playful pieces are hand-infused with fantastically coloured enamels, while others are adorned with faceted Czech glass stones to dazzle and sparkle. If you're looking for well made fashionable jewelry then I highly suggest you start your own obsession here.

Tascha The Great

2009-02-19T13:29:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I stumble upon something that is visually fantastic to me and yet I won't be able to explain why. I just know in an instant that it relates to some recessed memory or experience that I had as a child that left me with a warm happy feeling. So today I was browsing around my favorite online shop, etsy.com, and I found retro folky fantastic fun! She is only known to me as Tascha from Toronto. Maybe I shall try to reach her and beg of her to tell me more but for now Tascha from Toronto is enough to keep my craving for all things childish, cute and creative at bay. I love her brush strokes, her creative concepts, and the characters she paints. I would like to create bed time stories that go with each painting while I snuggle up with one of her Freda Kahlo dolls. And you know how much I love stories! Have I peaked your interest? Maybe a little. Well then visit Tascha here at her etsy shop, or read her blog here, or take a gander here and watch her work her magic at the etsy Storque.

Artisits Only Make Money When They Are Dead

2009-02-18T13:42:00.000-08:00

I'm a bit childish. Or maybe a lot childish. Whatever, does it really matter? I love books! More specifically, I love children's books. I love the funny, simple little stories with the life lessons at the end that you never really pick up on until you are an adult. But most of all I LOVE the illustrations! So you wouldn't believe how giddy I was when I found Mike Wohnoutka's art work. Much like myself, Mike has wanted to be an artist since he was knee high to a grass hopper only Mike went to Art School at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia and I went to school for graphic design because my father told me that you can't make any money as an artist unless you are dead. So maybe I'm a little jealous. But on top of that I'm in awe. Check out his work here. I'm in love with all of his characters and am seriously considering buying a book to read at bedtime.

Watch Out Or I'll Blind You With My Lipstick.

2009-02-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

Want to know something personal about me? No? Well too bad, I'm giving it to you anyway! I used to have a stalker. Yup, lucky me right? This sociopath of an individual thought he had some type of ownership over me. And yet he started out well enough. It was only when he realized I wasn't interested in pursuing a serious relationship that things went awry. I would get anywhere from 27 - 38 phone calls a day with strange messages like "you have to call me right away. It's really important. It's about your brother" Of course he didn't know my brother. And I was smart enough to call my brother instead of the stalker.

He would be kind enough to toss rocks at my window in the wee hours of the morning, park his truck out front for hours and wait for me to leave and even tested the securness of my front door by trying to beak into it with a screw driver. I know what you are thinking, how wonderful to feel so desired, how wonderful indeed. And yet I had the innate urge to leave a stick of dynamite under his truck while he so courteously waited in my drive way for me to arrive home. So rather then chose the later I decided to move and get a new phone number.

8 years or so go by and I still have an unlisted number, I still make sure my last name is never on anything that can be seen over the internet, I always watch my back when walking down the street, I try not to vomit when I smell Versace Blue Jeans cologne, and I walk with a envelope opener in my purse in case I ever need to open someone up like a piece of junk mail. One might normally think that after 8 years of hiding one would be free of such nuisances right? NOPE. Turns out that's not the case all all, because guess who found out where I work and decided to pay me a visit? Luckily there is a Major in the Military who just so happens to be a lawyer working with me who just so happened to shove the threat of a lawsuit tightly up his ass on my behalf. God how I love a man in uniform with a law degree! So all of this got me thinking about Pepper spray! And looky at what I found at Only-Pepper Spray.com! Pepper spray in disguise. It looks like a very non threatening tube of lipstick but PsssssssSSSSS Surprise! You are blinded by the fiery stinging pain of a thousand tiny burning atoms! Wa HOO! I love this! I may or may not be feeling a little vindictive.

Poor Art History = The Need For Pretty Tools

2009-02-09T13:19:00.001-08:00

There are days when I feel as though I was completely jipped in my art history education. Sure, sure I learnt about Rembrandt, Michael Angelo, Picasso and Van Gogh. And I know about relief paintings, mosaics architecture and sculpture. But what about jewelry design, furniture design, ceramics, the Bauhaus, Poster art, and textile design?! Had I known at a young age that an artistic mind had so many more options to use as a creative outlet my life likely would have turned out very differently.

So for the past 5 years or so of my life I have started my own tutoring in alternate art History. It all started when I found the late, great William Morris. This illustrious artist inspires me to no end. As far as creative outlets go he pretty much nailed them all. William, the British writer, designer, artist and socialist is best known for his accomplishments with textile and wall paper design. I'm a bit of a pattern freak so you'll understand my utter buoyancy when I found these little beauties while out on a walk through the antiques district the other day. The London England based Victoria and Albert Museum has come out with William Morris printed garden tools, water bottles and tool sets! Oh Joy, Oh Bliss! I shall of course order one of each for myself! I can't even begin to imagine how much more beautiful my garden would be if I had that garden trowel.

The Tantalizing Coraline

2009-02-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

I don't know about the rest of the free world but I am super crazy excited about the new stop motion animation picture Coraline directed by the oh so wonderful Henry Selick. Henry is the directional mastermind behind Tim Burton's infamous the Nightmare Before Christmas. Now I'm sure the story line is wondrously delightful but what I'm really excited for is to watch the the big-screen, hand made, adaptation of Neil Gaiman's novel come to life. This movie is art in motion! And I'm not just talking about the eye popping colours, the visually stimulating shapes, or the fantastic compositions. The entire movie has taken every day household items and created a piece by piece moving sculpture. The cherry blossoms are composed of a quarter - million pieces of popcorn, snow is masterly whipped together with baking soda and superglue, and even the sketchy chest hairs of Mr. Bobinsky are made of black fishing line. So even if the story of Coraline is lacking in entertainment value, which I'm certain it is not, the 101 minutes of eye candy will make it worth every second of my sacred time.

Have you seen it?!

My New Crush

2009-02-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

I have a girly crush. No point in denying it. A fact is a fact. I've yet to meet this oh so talented, vibrant and delicious woman. I admit I don't even know what she looks like! But that is of course besides the point. The only thing that matters is what she creates with her hands. Magic. Colourful, rhythmic, beautiful magic. Allow me to introduce you to a fellow Canadian and my new muse, Mandy Budan. Mandy creates her visual bliss using acrylic on hard board panel by mimicking shapes found in nature and landscapes. By melding simple shapes with pattern and bold colour the remaining result is well... it's just plain crush worthy. If you'd like to lust after Mandy's work as much as I do please check her out at http://www.abstractlandscapepainting.com/ or of course you could admire my personal favorites above.

The First

2009-01-26T20:32:00.001-08:00

Hmmm... This is stressing me out some. I have no idea what to write. So why the heck did I think it was a brilliant idea to randomly start up a blog? I'm not off to a very good start so far am I? But you see there are a few blogs that I religiously follow because they kinda make me drool, for various reasons, and they make me jealous for my own drool inducing blog! But damn it all, I'm royally sucking at it.

I'm not going to fret over it. I just can't be bothered because today is a good day. Why? you ask... Well because, today is my birthday. It is, it is. And today after a long and boring day at the office I came home to a very sexy man making me dinner, who greeted me at the door, took my coat and hat and demanded I take myself to the bathroom for a birthday surprise. So I bounced off to the bathroom eager to see what awaited me. GUESS WHAT!? There was a dusting of orange rose petals scattered about the floor, candles in every corner, and a bubble bath speckled with more rose petals. So I did what any intelligent woman would do, I ripped of my clothing and jumped in. Of course it couldn't go perfectly... I jumped in and the water was scalding! So I hopped up and down making the usual loud noises that one makes when they are being boiled alive, only until I came to my senses and jumped back out safely onto dry land.

Once I added some cold water to balance out the temperature I enjoyed my bath with a glass of red wine while listening to some good old time Jazz. Then came dinner, then cake, then coffee, then girly movies while nuzzled up on the couch. But the best part? well the best part was when the sexy man who made me dinner suddenly started to roll play with me. Suddenly I was whisked away from my living room and dropped into a packed movie theater. I was no longer cozy birthday girl but rather a hot little vixen who had no inhibitions about public displays of affection and was not taking no for an answer. Lets just say, without giving too much away, that the usher kicked us out for inappropriate behavior and we've now been banned for life from that particular theater. But hey... there's plenty more theaters around town.

So there you have it... a little too much information about me. This was fun. So until next time I shall leave you with this wretched sketch of a overly boisterous woman that I drew today. She's a bit of a horse face and not one of my prouder drawings but at least she embodies how I feel today.