Doll in progress

Here she is. Unfinished, my little primitive doll, pioneer-style (with a few twists, like, for example, her green felt face). You see her there with her unfinished coat which will be the most important part of that piece. I want to put a lot of details on it. Like a magic coat that also tells a story... stay tuned!!!

My Christmas story

It was a few days before Christmas the year 1985, when I lived in the 20th Century still, in the middle of England. I was an "au-pair girl". I was looking after 4 adorable kids, one of whom was little Richard who was the quintessential little british boy with red hair and blue eyes and with a school uniform with shorts and long grey socks even in the winter. He was a dreamer that one, we had great fun together. The kids were from diferent mariages and had diferent fathers. Richard 's father never came to take him out the way the other father did. As we approched Christmas, he drew countless little drawings of Santa and his helpers, which was a new concept for me since we don't have those in french culture. (french pere Noel is on his own!) There was never a fan of Father Christmas greater than this boy. And so we were walking thus together in the little town we lived in on that cold winter day. The street was empty. Not a soul in sight. We walked up the street and at the turn of the curb we fell upon an unbelivable sight. Santa himself, the Real Santa, was there, laid across the large sidewalk was his beautifull sleigh, with all his reindeers - not the plastic ones - as if he had just landed there for a cookie break on his way to somewhere else. We were both little Richard and I dumfounded. We walked to him both very shyly and said Hi Santa! ...He smiled and had a beautiful white beard on him and gave us both a candy. Richard was paralized with awe, where I was in a state of confusion. Then, feeling that perhaps I might have had a chance to fly in Santa's sleigh and missed it, we moved on and still there was not a soul in sight as we walked away. I realy wonder if little Richard still remembers this, this many years since.

Last year's little animal

This image is of a painted piece called "Little animal" - watercolours and varnish on drift wood. It was one of the pieces i brought to Catherine's store last year and was sold there. I wonder who has it now? I miss him! Sometimes a little lump of wood inspires the most weirdest of ideas. I must follow my muse though. This year I have a similar piece, - small drift wood piece painted and varnished - it's a chair with a cat sleeping on it... You gota go to the store to see it! ...or go to my main web-site...

In other news, I am training this week for (boring) work so my brain can not handle anything else... what so ever. I feel like someone is trying to get me to remember an entire phone book. So that's it for now. bye bye. Ciao. Shuss. Salut. Nasdarovia...

The Art is out!

I brought all the little Art-things I made for Catherine Huizenga's store and she took erh... most of it!!! Even "Burden" my drift wood doll... though Catherine despises sad-looking-things. She call them "hard done by"...me, I love sad looking things! ...not that Burden looks sad all that much, but she is carrying a heavy load, her body bending under the weight... that sort of sad-looking... So there she is and I pray no small greasy hands will wipe their left-over pudding on her gown while she's away. Since I miss her, I have started a simple-yet-odd felt-doll and I'm taking my sweet little time assembling her. She'll be rather quaint I think, already has wood hands (need painting) and a blue dress (almost finished) and I've decided on an apron from a piece of quirky french material I have. That'll be a nice touch! she'll be very folky. I am looking a lot at the dolls in my new book "North American Indian Jewelry and Adornment" Amazing book! The title does not do it justice! It has time charts for each culture in North America, includes artifacts from oldest to most recents, including garments, jewelry, bags... and ...dolls, in particular shaman's dolls. That is what fascinate me the most, shaman's dolls. I will talk again about dolls you can count on it: I have so much to say about it!

Ancient Ukraine

There is a show at the ROM about Ancient Ukrainian culture. That would be fascinating to me and I hope to be able to go there. Living smack between the Ukrainian and Polish quarters here in Toronto, I have learned a lot about eastern Europeen cultures. There is even a small Ukrainian museum near my home. And I have collected many objects myself from that culture (in thrift shops, garage sales...) ... so here is very my own little Ukrainian show!!!

Found in someone's garbages:
2 wonderful and very old children books (photos above: who in their right mind would throw this out???)

Found at Value Village:
a turned wood toy of the classic tale of Masha and the bear (Masha is a little girl kidnaped by a bear. She beggs him to take some cakes to her parents. She then hides in the basket and shouts all the way to the bear"I can see you, make sure you go to my parent's house bear" when he arrives at the parents house, Masha jumps out and the bear is killed and Masha is free at last!)
I love this toy!

3 Ukrainian vases, from Value Village.

Strange and wonderful

Thursday night. I had a strange day, starting with getting my driving license early in the morning. I expected bureaucracy. Instead I got friendly-and-efficient. Then I got a mocha in a fancy-to-do coffee shop full of boring-looking people near my work. I felt so good about getting my driving license back. I felt free and my future opening up. I dreamed about going up North to paint, hike, canoe, connecting with Gaia, Mother Earth. Now, allow me to explain. I had this experience over a year ago. I had gone to Wasaga beach with friends, and once there felt a huge weight I didn't know I had on my shoulders lift up and then felt this immense peace and happiness. I want to find it again. Another experience I am looking for again was the one in Algonquin Park years ago. I had paddled around our large lake and climbed on the slope of a shore covered with trees. I stepped into the forest and found myself surrounded with very strange looking trees, one in particular that was lying on the forest floor on it's side with all it's structure intact except for it's needles that were missing. It looked so alien that I had a moment of real fear feeling that I had stepped into a strange, ominous world... And THAT was wonderful.
(above: "A landscape - No a World" watercolours, pigments, artist pencils - 2006)

AGO

...went there early, met my friend Eduard at the green sculpture. I was amazed at the incredible line-up a kilometre long all around the block, and just as amazing was how fast the line moved! I was sure it would be packed, crazy crowded but not at all!!! - some kind'a magic trick they got there hey? It was a big swirl of amazing master pieces all more magnificent than the other. Eduard was the route guide, I was the Art guide! A perfect match! Then I slowly became aquainted with a massive migraine. That took a lot of the joy out of it. We blazed through the top part which would be for me the most interesting part. (so many works by Carmichael and McDonald arhhh!, and Inuit art...) Must go back! Luckily I work just beside it... But will have to pay next time! I was supposed to join a train-the-trainer session at my fencing club afterward (yes, uses sword! may be dangerous, don't feed!), but the migraine is not going away, don't think I can make it. Feel like a warm bed right now, with my cat Happy lounging on my legs... or somethin'

The week-end

Oh How I long for you week-end! I have many plans for you, some more fun than others! The AGO is free this week-end, and I am going there with friends, and less fun is perhaps going to get my driving licence. I'd love to get that one out of the way! I'll probably come out of the AGO all inspired and will just pick up at the art store maybe some foam boards for that support base I was looking for. Live and find out..... I will tell all!

Sketches

Before I started my new job, I had a lot of time for a while to think on paper about the next project. And when I saw the movie "My Winnipeg" I was so inspired by the idea of the underground river.... and the 3 layered pools. So it splish-splashed in my head and became "the 3 underground rivers" project. I feel deep running symbolism in many directions there: that's the attraction. Everyone will pick their own story. Here are a few initial sketches (very small, in my note-book). I've done a preparatory small painting in watercolours but may not finish it. It will depend wether or not I find a support for my big paper soon or not.

My new easel!

When I told her that I needed an easel for my new painting, my mom, who is very generous and adorable, jumped on it and offered to buy it for me or at least half. It took me 1 month to pick one, but I finally brought it home last Tuesday and assembled it, and it stands proudly in my small home. Now I have to figure how I am going to set-up my large piece of paper on it (need a support obviously) don't have. I'll figure something out. It might be then my last large watercolour for a while as I am going to experiment with oil painting next.

Tradition

It's now a tradition: as soon as I can, I will bring a small batch of small Art-works to sell at 121 Roncesvale who sells my work every Christmas. It's a very small thing to do and not really for profit but I like traditions, I like Catherine Huizenga who is so friendly and I like her store filled with tastefully arranged treasures of time past, lost and rediscovered, and I love Roncesvale ave, lined with still a lot of Polish bakeries, meat shops, artzy cafes and restaurants and my kind of crowds.

This year I have out-done myself with the packaging. For fun mostly, like a kid playing grown-up. I have bought shiny cellophane bags, and decorated some labels. It looks soooooo ...finished! I know, it's stupid. I will add a photo soon... lots of photos as a matter of facts!

First...

A bit about me: I have studied Art at Luminy School of Art near Marseille, France where I grew up, and Graphic Design at Georges Brown College in Toronto, Canada where I now live. I come from a family of artists, very talented artists, and I care to make my ancestors proud. My greatest influences are Russian children books of the 60's, Haida Art, Inuit Art, Paul Klee's Art and many more.

Well, hold on... yes, I want to have a blog of my very own with all my best stuff on it, my Art, but other things too: my love-at-first-sight-things and a few rants. So let's get started, let's get organized! (ok! now THAT might take a little while!!!) I am not terribly organized by nature, but I want this to be useful to someone, somehow, so I'm going to make myself be organized! ...Laugh all you want!