Nutmeg's TV

Nutmeg watches her own specialty channel out the window. It's called "The Chippy Show" and it's on from dawn to dusk, as long as I'm feeding the little guy peanuts (off camera).
Chippy can be seen in the bottom left of photo.

Mood Indigo

The forget-me-nots have gone wild in my garden, making it into a sea of pale blue...

...which inspired me to repaint the Adirondack chairs and tables in a similar colour...

...which inspired me to paint a fat, blue cat on a soup ladle...

...and another few fat, blue cats on a luncheon set...

...and another one on a funky, little teapot.

Art Fayre 2008

The Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan, Ontario is holding its second annual Art Fayre beginning this weekend. This year I decided to show a selection of my hand-painted ceramics.

Two side views of a flowery teapot.

A set of 6 cups and saucers, each sporting a flower that's also on the teapot.

Two side views of a veggie-inspired cannister.

A super-duper sized 14" dipping tray, ready for veggies and dip.

Going Dotty

The centre spread for the latest issue of ATC Quarterly had the best response yet! The theme was Polka Dots and we were inundated with dotty ATCs...way too many to print in the magazine. So check out www.atcquarterly.com and click on the centre fold. You'll see spots in front of your eyes.

Julien Chung's Fantastic Artwork

I am really thrilled to have reconnected with my old buddy Julien Chung. Julien and I went to Concordia University together in Montreal where we studied graphic design. Julien has gone on to be a talented art director and has launched a business specializing in animal themed art for graphic, product and various design applications. You've gotta see his stuff. It's fantastic! Click here julienchung.com to see what Julien's been up to lately!

Julien also has a cool blog called "View from the Zoo: A look at the animal world through contemporary design, illustration and craft." I'm tickled pink that he's featured some of my kitty cat drawings and ATCs on it. Check it out: View From the Zoo

Morel Motherlode

Richard and I were busy as beavers yesterday. While I mowed the front lawn, Richard was using the chainsaw in the back. We bought/planted tomatoes and peppers and even stopped at a bunch of yard sales in Hawkesbury. We also treked to the back woods to search for morel mushrooms. The season is short, only a few weeks, and they are pretty darn elusive. Richard spied 4 tall ones in the woods but after a half hour of searching, that was all we found. On the way home, we spotted a few more, and then "here's another," and "another one!" until we had close to 3 pounds of them.
Last night's supper was rib steaks on the bbq, asparagus and morels fried in butter. The rest of them have been put in the dehydrator and will be made into cream of morel soup later on. What a great day!

Dog Daze

Yesterday I spent a wonderful day in Prescott, Ontario, visiting my friend Jen. Her newly opened store, the Milkhouse Gallery is amazing. It has all manner of scraps and bits for collage, new stuff, old stuff, books, vintage aprons, maps, food labels and seed packets. The list is endless. It is absolute heaven for anyone who likes old things and loves interesting bits and bobs. If you're in eastern Ontario, it's just a hop, skip and a jump from the 401. Check it out! If not, click here to see her blog. The website for the Milkhouse should be up soon.
The lovely beagle above is Jen's 14-year-old pup Rosie. I drew her, a while ago, basking in the sun. She, along with their other cute doggie Gumdrop, were pretty happy to see me yesterday. Nice to be remembered!

Glengarry Pioneer Museum Gift Shop

I was asked to sell my ceramic stuff at the gift shop of our local museum, here in Dunvegan. Here's what the display looks like -- my stuff is on the bottom shelf.


I made some tiles sporting a Scottish Thistle motif. Since it is the Glengarry Pioneer Museum and for the most part, this area was settled by the Scottish, I thought it might have some appeal. (Somehow pioneer olives didn't have the right ring to it!)

Sneak Peek: ATC Quarterly #11

The summer issue of ATC Quarterly has been printed and all that's left to do is to stuff 'em into envelopes and get 'em in the mail. That should be done on the weekend. It's a really good issue, full of artful ATCs and interesting stories. Great stuff!

Primrose Lane

I planted these gorgeous primroses about 10 years ago. I look forward to it blooming every spring as it gets bigger and more beautiful each year. Pretty dramatic colours.

Nesting Bowls

I had a few rimmed soup bowls and loved their shape. They kind of looked like nests so it seemed a natural to paint bird's nests in them...

Happy Victoria Day

I made these Happy Birthday Victoria artist trading cards at a "make and take" session on Saturday. A bunch of us sat around a dining room table and hardly made a peep as we worked on our cards. Kind of like being at a quilting bee. Later we dined on buttered scones, tea, jam and clotted cream. Very Victorian.
Happy Victoria Day. Richard and I are off to put in the garden.

Happy 89th Amelia

Last night we celebrated Amelia's birthday and I made her a cake.

Amelia was the first person I met when my parent's bought the property here in 1975. Our family and hers became good friends. Yesterday, she celebrated her 89th birthday and we attended a party in her honour. The party was somewhat a bittersweet celebration as she is leaving for the west coast next month, to live with her daughter. We wish her well. She will be missed.

This Week's Production

Life's just a bowl of cherries, eh? (Bowl measures about 6" across.)

I love this peapod serving bowl. It's really large, measuring 12" across and has a nice, shallow shape to it.

The leek butter dish is now residing at my Uncle Al's house. He bought it sight unseen, when we were talking about my painted ceramics and he mentioned he was looking for a butter dish. (Have I got a butter dish for you...!)

A bunch of tiny, formerly plain, white things. I particularly like the round box with a lid that I turned into a sunflower. I also like the cow hook on which I added cross-hatched hearts. Fun stuff.