The gentleman who opened the fire hall had actually been a firefighter in Dawson Creek in the 60′s and had a lot to say about how things have changed over the years, and his personal fight to save the two fire trucks that are on display at the Village.
I love antiques and would have loved to take home some of those old pieces of furniture. My plan for my new studio is to decorate it in the style of an old-timey general store, and so a trip like this is always good for ideas.

The kids enjoyed trying out the desks in the two one-room schoolhouses on the site, and my son was the perfect model for the dunce cap! He’s a clown.

This is just a quick post – it’s a beautiful Saturday and I’m going to dash outside and help my girls fill some hanging baskets with annuals to decorate our home. How we are loving the spring, now that it is finally here!

Last week I received my copy of Paper Crafts magazine’s 350 Cards & Gifts issue and it’s quite wonderful. Lots of great inspiration and I especially love the gift ideas since I love making gifts, altered items and paper crafted pretties. My journal and bookmark project was accepted and looks great in print!

Pick up your copy of 350 Cards & Gifts at news stands this spring or order it online here!

I also took a printmaking workshop on May 5th. What a neat process, and so full of possibilities! We kept running ahead of our instructor, Mary Parslow, with our “what if’s” as each demonstration sparked ideas for monoprinting creativity. I came home with forty prints that are mostly “misses” but I’m all fired up to pursue monoprinting as another artistic option for me. And I know the kids will love to try it!

I’m on version five of an Arizona landscape – thinking it’s time to take a break. When repeated restarts aren’t helping work out a painting, time might be what it needs instead. There are parts of this painting I really love, but it’s not quite “cooked.”

Spring is here, and the sun is shining, and there is so much to enjoy this time of year. I’m prepping for summer shows in some local galleries, and looking forward to painting with the Peace Watercolour Society on local at the Peace River in June. Art journalling with the kids is on my to-do list, and of course teaching them monoprinting! Life is good.

The Dawson Creek Art Gallery’s annual art auction takes place tomorrow night. I always try to donate a painting to this organization that has supported me as an artist in so many ways. The painting I donated this year is an older piece I’ve always loved, but I forgot to photograph it before it was framed, so I’ve never really shown it online. Titled “Spring’s Aristocrats,” it’s a lovely delicate portrait of irises. I love irises but I’ve never remembered to plant any in my yard.

You can view all the auction items here. Don’t forget that my Mother’s Day flower painting sale runs until May 15th. Details here.

Consider yourself invited to the Peace Without Borders show & sale, opening April 28th from 2-4pm at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre. This show features selected works by members of the Peace River Chapter of the Federation of Canadian Artists, and I have two paintings on exhibit there in Beaverlodge, Alberta.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the opening, as my daughters are performing in their first piano recital on Sunday. They have worked very hard this year and are excited and nervous about their first public performance. We have a wonderful full life and the result is sometimes these kind of scheduling conflicts in a week jam-packed with art, music, sports and good friends.

View the catalogue PDF by clicking here and message me to arrange a studio visit or make a purchase.

I’ve also filled my plate by taking on two weekly watercolour classes. On Thursday nights my studio is dedicated to four very focused women, learning watercolour step by step. I love a small class size for the informal, comfortable atmosphere and the opportunity it gives me to provide very focused individual attention.

On Wednesday afternoons the same space hosts eight equally focused young ladies, between the ages of eight and thirteen. My two daughters are a part of this class, and since it’s the class length is just an hour, mothers enjoy tea downstairs in the kitchen, while my six-year-old son shares his Lego with any brothers who might have come along. 

I consider myself very fortunate to have this large space in my home. The tables are always full of painting or crafting supplies, and being able to teach out of my home keeps my costs low so I can enjoy a smaller class size, and keep the cost of the classes at a fair price. And I always learn as much as my students, it seems, and their enthusiasm inspires me!

Not so our forests in northeastern British Columbia. Tangled with underbrush, Devil’s Club and wild roses, you do not hike off the trail unless you are wearing thick pants to resist the thorns. Dark arching aspens and evergreens block out sunlight, and leaves rot under a maze of deadfall tree trunks.

But there are treasures in the forest if you know how to look. Stepping into a glade fawn-spotted with sunlight, one might see violet faces cupped by emerald leaves. The delicacy of forest blooms stands in contrast to the ruggedness of their habitat.

Twinflowers seem too fragile to pick. Pale pink, bell-shaped flowers, doubled on one stem (hence the name) they are best captured on film rather than trapped in a vase. And they are lovely to paint. I created these two paintings recently, and I would say I’m still in the “working out a painting” mode. You know my third painting is usually the one where everything comes together, so, two down, one to go!

This will be catalogued under “unfinished” unless I go with my instinct and crop the painting down to my favourite of the three blossoms, the one at the top left.

I started training for the Fort St. John triathlon this month. It’s a shorter length event, between sprint and Olympic length and while I’m only upping my exercise time a little, from 3-4 40 min sessions a week to a daily 40-60 minute, I’m feeling the effects on my time management. Amazing the difference an hour can make! The tri is in early June, so the demands on my time will be short-lived, and I’m sure it will get easier as I adjust to the new schedule. I’ve also signed up for a half-marathon in August, my first time competing in a long distance running event. I’ve come a long way since I started running 3 years ago and I’m proud to call myself an athlete now, enjoying so many different sports as a participant. Even if I am the oldest woman in my indoor soccer league!

Tonight is the opening for the Art of the Peace 10th anniversary exhibition in Grande Prairie, Alberta. It hardly seems like ten years since the Art of the Peace magazine first debuted. I was doubtful that a local publication like this would find a foothold in the industry as I know the publishing business can be precarious even for national magazines, but having a publication dedicated to the arts in our region has been wonderful, and I’m so happy for their success. There are so many talented artists in our region that I would never have known about where it not for Art of the Peace.

I entered their 10th anniversary cover contest and, while I was not chosen as the cover winner, I was asked to contribute my watercolor painting, Blue Beckoning to the exhibition, which runs through the end of June. I won’t be at the opening tonight since it conflicts with my watercolour classes (and it’s blizzarding outside), but I’m honoured to be a part of it.