I write a blog post every second Wednesday on my creative process and sources of inspiration. Subscribe to stay tuned.
Inspiration: Ode to Magnolias
After about 9 months in Michigan, my husband and I are getting ready to pack up and return to Europe. This upcoming transition means a shift for my painting practice. I have finished my latest commissioned projects (which I must wait to share since many are gifts!) and am now packing up. I am categorizing – deciding which materials to take and which to donate here. A necessary pause in production means a refocusing on inspiration and spring in Ann Arbor offers an abundance of this! In this post, I write about my inspiration, a recent visit to a favourite […]
The Tools We Use: Brushes
When considering what to write about this week, I instantly thought of the tools I use daily: my brushes. As the idea arose, I paused. Surely, I had already written about the essential tools that I use in my art practice? I looked through my catalogue of now nearly forty posts and found I had written about materials and mentioned brushes in passing yet had not delved into brushes as a topic. In this post, I write about the brushes I use for acrylic painting. I explain how I select my brushes, the brands I like, and how I care […]
When To Move On: Series and Seasons
Since February of this year, I have been working on my Snowy Trees series. Thus far, I have made six paintings, each 30 x 40 cm / 12 x 16 inches, acrylic on canvas. The paintings are lined up along a wall so I can see the collection as whole. I’m pleased with the compositions, cohesion, variety of light and the colour palettes. But a question has arisen: is it time to move on? This is a question that comes up when working on an individual painting or when working on a series. The answer to both is primarily a […]
Building A Series: Snowy Trees
At the beginning of February 2022, I wrote about beginning a new series of paintings entitled, Snowy Trees. These paintings were inspired by the trees I saw outside of my window in Ann Arbor and the snow nestled among their branches after a few Midwestern snowstorms. In the weeks since that post, I have continued to build this series and am currently working on the fifth painting. In this post, I share how I have continued to explore Snowy Trees and share my latest work! The inspiration behind Snowy Trees I & II was simple: I was struck by the […]
Literary Memories as Inspiration: The Lupine Lady
My two favourite things are reading and painting. Both literature and the visual arts hold the possibility of opening up new worlds and changing how we view or experience the world around us. Recently, the paintings I was working on reignited long forgotten memories of one of my favourite children’s books: Miss Rumphius, written and illustrated by Barbara Cooney (1982). In revisiting the feelings I experienced as a child reading the story and looking at the illustrations, I see parallels between the power of this book’s themes and what I appreciate most about the practice of making art, that is, […]
Embracing My Environment: A Look Out the Window
When the holidays were over and it was time to get back to work in January, I sat at my desk in Ann Arbor feeling more stumped than inspired. I had finished a couple of commissions and was ready to start something new – what exactly I wasn’t sure. I wanted a fresh direction to reflect the new year but I also wanted to build on my previous work, to continue to explore the world of trees. In what follows, I write about what I’ve been working on in the early months of 2022 and how a new direction doesn’t […]
A Visit to the Art Institute of Chicago
In early December, before travelling to Canada for the holidays, I visited the city of Chicago. I’d never been but had heard quite a lot about the Art Institute. I remembered having seen slides of famous artworks during my art history classes, many with the familiar small print beneath noting that the work was part of the Art Institute of Chicago collections. In this post, I write about my visit and the works that moved me. Unlike my enthusiastic partner, I (equally enthusiastic) didn’t do much research before our visit. I prefer to show up and see what is there. […]
Then and Now: December 2021, January 2022.
December is the month to wrap up projects and to take stock of the year gone by. While looking back, December, in my family, is also when we come together and make new memories, in the present. This intersection of past-present-future infuses the month with an air of contemplation. As Proust taught us, memory-making and recalling are very much tied to our senses. In Canada, December brings fresh, crisp snowfall, the smell of cloves and fir trees, the crackling of a fire, the twinkle of lights against a dark night sky. For me, December means a bottomless pot of hot […]
Art Fair Preparations: My Holiday Workshop!
Looking around me today, I feel that I am in my own little Santa’s workshop: brown paper packages (not yet tied up with string), cards, prints, watercolour paper, paints, and a variety of tools surround me. I’m getting ready! Yes, for Christmas, but first I’m getting ready to participate in the upcoming art fair pop up at The Arches of St. George Street in Moncton, New Brunswick (Canada) on Saturday, December 18th! Here’s what I’m working on and what you can expect to find on offer from me! The holiday season is, for me, the season of writing cards. It’s […]
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