etsyfied

Well I decided to put my wares for sale on etsy.com. I love this website and how it promotes hand made art from all over the world for a very nominal fee. I think it's a great way to get out there to promote yourself...especially if you are like me and not very P.R oriented. I am not a sales person and have never been very good at it and this website offers a chance for your work to sell itself without the expense of a website...been there...done that...we'll see what happens!

December 7....cold and cloudy...

Yesterday I went for a walk on the Gallopping Goose trail which is a reclaimed railbed/bike trail that goes from Victoria to Leechtown north of Sooke. There are different parts that you can easily join up on and do portions of the trail. The peice I was on borders a gravel pit on one side and an old farm with horses on the other. I spotted a Vireo nest up in a maple tree and tokk it down for closer inspection...as you can see in the photo it is lined with horse tail/mane hair which I thought was pretty cool...I could just imagine that little bird flying back and forth to the farm to find those treasured hairs for the lining of its nest...it was a cold clear day and I love it in the winter when you spot a nest just feet above where you've walked all summer but it was camoflauged by the greenery.

December comes in with a bang...

Well it's the beginning of December and we all know what that means...time for chocolate! My friend Irma had a small open house/studio tour on the weekend but unfortunately our wild weather kept allot of people indoors, and rightly so...sold a few of the little birds and had lots of good feedback. I do miss doing the craft shows on the social side but not playing the waiting game and watching the clock. I think people out there are starting to think twice about what and how they are buying what with all the problems with imported goods. A few friends and I went up yo a big country market in Coombs and they had all these cheap wooden kids toys but we were all a little leary about buying anything....

Snow day!

November 28th...while it's no big deal in most other parts of Canada, when we get snow here on the coast the first thing we do is grab the camera and run outside! My buddy Irma and I ventured up island going back in behind Shawnigan lake for a walk with the boys(Griffin and brother Frank). We took a beautiful old rail/trail to the lookout for the Kinsol train trestle built in the early 1900's. The largest of its kind in Canada but sadly in need of major restoration. Work has been ongoing to determine the fate of this immense wooden structure so the future will tell if it's possible to save this reflection of an engineering marvel from demolition. I love the fact that even something this grand and utilitarian is still like a work of art in my eyes....even the rotting timber has the beauty of age and a century of stories embedded within.

The beauty of looking closer

I found this dead avacado leaf on the living room floor after coming in from my morning walk with Griffin. I decided to take a closer look and loved the colours and form it had so I thought I'd take some close up shots....just looking for the details in simple things is a good way to be inspired...

In the studio...

November 27th...clear and cold....today the sun came out to warm us up on the west coast after a wet and miserable day yesterday...so I hunkered down in the studio with the fire on high...still working on the birds and loving it. I was listening to CBC talk about Christmas time and the whole gift giving thing and was glad to hear so many others out there with similar ideas as alternatives to the whole thing. On that note we need to encourage those around us to buy HANDMADE if they feel the need to buy at all! Get out to those craft fairs people! On another CBC program (yes I am a cbc head...) they talked about how the average income for an artist in Canada is around $22,000. That's in Calgary where apparently the artists are the highest paid in the country...does it make me want to move there? Certainly not but it boggles my mind to know that people will go out of their way to get a really good deal on a t.v but not put out for original handmade items...oh well..its just one of those things to whine about....

The beginning...

November 29....cold and sunny with frost on the ground...thought I would start this blog mainly as a journal and to share my thoughts and images with other like minded artists.
I live in a rural area that is full of inspiration as well as frustration. This past summer my wonderful husband decided to build me a detatched studio since my project area/workroom was starting to overflow into other parts of our small house. As the project neared completion I was beside myself waiting to get in and try out all of my great ideas that flow through my head on my daily walks with Griffin. When I finally moved in I was a bit intimidated and lost in such a space , beautiful as it is. Well after a few months of pissing around I have started working with good old papier mache and having a blast! The process is truly amazing going from little balls of mush to shapes and eventually end up with a life of there own....It's great to be motivated again.