Monday, February 28, 2011

Congratulations!

The winner of the red scherenschnitte bird ACEO is...art2cee2! Crystal's name was chosen by the most impartial judge I know, Muffin! Here he is pecking at the winning entry:





Thank you to all who entered and look for the next contest soon!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Hello Tomorrow!

Yesterday was my last day of work, and I have to say, what a messed up day. It was exciting and sad at the same time, and I did get a little teary. I worked with a lot of good and talented people and it's going to be strange not seeing them every day. But I'll probably still see them around of course! It's not "The End" but "The Beginning", right?

I can't tell you for how long I planned this day, or tried to plan for it, the day when I would have time to devote my life to art and school. Now that it's here, can I actually do it? I'm sure I can...my new life seems pretty shiny and new right now!

I kind of have a "job" lined up for March. There is a new skyscraper called The Bow which is under construction downtown. It's 58 stories high and it seems like you can see it from anywhere downtown. Encana, who is constructing the building, has a student art competition going on. Each piece that is selected will be paid $2000; if the piece isn't selected, it will still be on display for sale. If it sells, the price is split between the artist and Inn from the Cold. And if it doesn't sell...I'm going to have a 30x40" acrylic painting for my living room!

Don't forget! Have you entered my February contest?

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Ready, Set...

I can't believe that tomorrow is my last day at work! February seems to have gone by fast and slow at the same time.

My first day of unemployment counseling is on March 1st and I'm looking forward to dusting off a six year old resume. I think the timing of my PPRL class is timely. I had no idea that when I picked it last summer hoe useful it would be. I was hoping to get our first assignment, the slide CD and artist resume, back already.

Our next assignment is due March 16. We have to find a grant application and pretend to apply for it. Already it seems pretty complicated! I can see why this needs to be taught.
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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Opposite Day

One of the things we're doing in class today...drawing with the opposite hand.
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Monday, February 14, 2011

How Do I Love Thee...

Here's another way :-) I feel silly this morning! February has been crazy and now it's officially mid-month. Here's my February contest for this ACEO. You don't have to guess anything this time, just leave a comment to enter and I'll draw a name at 6pm MTN on February 28 :-)




The ACEO was cut from red paper in the tradition of scherenschnitte. When I was at the farmer's market last time, I found a pair of brand new schnipstering scissors and this is my first time cutting with them. They are sure sharp and a pleasure to use!

Sunday, February 13, 2011

A Rose By Any Other Name...

I have been trying to come up with a Valentine's theme all week, and so far I keep coming back to my mini roses. My husband gave them to me for Valentine's Day three or four years ago and I was pleased with such a thoughtful gift that would last longer than a bouquet or chocolate. Here is a picture of one of the last times I had a bloom:




Now, mini roses are real roses, but they are often called "throwaway roses" because people don't know how to look after them. I was determined to make my roses thrive and over the years I have spent many hours tending to them, spraying them for bugs (sigh), pruning, water and repotting. This past summer I put them outside where they acquired a new kind of bug, alas. But I think they enjoyed the sunshine and their new terra cotta pots.

Unfortunately I lost one of the four to cold. I rather foolishly thought that something so delicate and hot house grown could overwinter outside. One bloomed for a final time in November indoors and hopefully I'll see new blooms this summer.

There have been many times when I thought I killed the roses otherwise - such as when all their leaves fell off - but somehow they always bounced back seemingly better than ever. It was my reward for constant devotion and faith in them. They are high maintenance, but they were given with love and as such I cannot be impatient or resentful at them :-)

I suppose what I'm saying is that the mini roses are a living metaphor for the love I experience in my life from friends, family and people I haven't even met :-) If you ignore it, it withers. But if you treat it tenderly, amazing things happen. It's easy for the over-commercialization of Valentine's Day to make people feel unloved, and I think that's so sad. It makes people forget what love actually is supposed to be. I'm not sure what else I can say, except friends, that I love you :-) I love it when you create art and blog, and I love you all for just who you are <3

Monday, February 7, 2011

Behind and Ahead :-)

I haven't been around much lately and homework is the usual reason. I hope everyone had a good weekend and that the week is off to a good start. I worked from home today because we had a foot of snow!

I'm almost finished up the first assignment for my Wednesday night class. I just have to check the DPI on the images and burn them to a CD. For this assignment, we had to write a proper cover letter, compile an artist's resume, build a slide list aaannnnd take 20 properly lit and adjusted photos of recent work. The quality of the work didn't matter, just the quality of the documentation. Whew! I'm hoping I did it all right as there were a lot of i's to dot and t's to cross.

My laundry area was transformed into a little photography studio with black foamcore boards, lights and my tripod. I took last Friday off to get this all done, but I was retaking photos up until yesterday. I changed my mind constantly about the photos I wanted to use and kept trying different things. Part of the problem was taking a few photos, then running upstairs to pop them into the computer to make sure the lighting was OK. Then of course, when actual laundry was being done, I had to dismantle everything and put it off to the side. At least it forced me to take some pictures of my Fibre 2D projects that I'm sure you're still waiting for! It also gave me a good excuse to take some pictures of ACEOs. Here's one that I did last year: