Fictional Convention

Wouldn't you like to go to a room filled with famous artists? This set of artist trading cards fantasizes that some of the great ones have gathered together for an artist's convention...and what their identification badges might look like.

Goodbye Ol' Spruce

I'll miss that old tree. It provided shelter to many birds and last year a family of Kingbirds nested in it. It also shaded my front yard from oncoming traffic and wind. Richard left its tall stump and suggested I put a bird feeder or birdbath on it. I think that's a great way to memorialize an old friend.
Spruce tree...you will be missed.

Just When You Think Things Couldn't Get Worse

No water. No heat. Then I went out to get my mail and discover that a lovely mature spruce tree got flipped over by the high winds -- right in my driveway. I called Richard to grab his chainsaw and remove it so that my propane guy could deliver my gas. What a day!

By 4 p.m., my propane was delivered and my heater was blasting heat and at 4:30 the plumber came and fixed the water pump (the pipes, it turned out, weren't frozen after all).

All's well that ends well I suppose. Once we split and stack the spruce wood, it'll keep me warm next winter.

A Winter Wonderland?

It is a major, wet blizzard out there. I guess no one told Mother Nature that it's actually April 16. I awoke to 6 inches of wet snow and frozen pipes. (Thankfully, I had some bottled water to make my morning coffee.) Although the lights keep flickering, I still have power. But then, to add insult to injury, I ran out of propane. And that's what heats most of my house.

So I'm sticking close to home, waiting for my pipes to thaw and my propane to get delivered (and for the serviceman to turn my pilot light back on).

Isn't it supposed to be spring?

Sandwich Artist

I've always find it strange when I see an ad on TV for Subway and it refers to "The Sandwich Artist." It got me to thinking...what would happen if a famous artist got a job at Subway and became a sandwich artist? These artist trading cards are based on the idea that Jackson Pollock got a job at Subway.

The 3-D red and yellow paint is courtesy of both my sister and Jen, who bought it for me in the U.S. Somehow, I couldn't find 3-D paint in ketchup and mustard colours here in Canada. In real life, the mustard and ketchup look like the real thing. Wonder what Jackson would say about these ATCs?

Nutmeg's Day Out

In a few minutes, I'll be taking Nutmeg for her annual check-up. The cage is open and my leather fireplace gloves are at the ready. What lengths one has to go to for such a seemingly simple thing as taking a cat to the vet! Argh!

ATC Quarterly Review

My friend Jen reviewed ATC Quarterly in her blog called Jenzart. I'm thrilled that she took the time to write up a review (and that she liked it). Be sure to check it out!

Oreo & Cookie's Excellent Adventure

Yesterday was check-up day at the vet for Oreo and Cookie, my 2 six-year-old cats.(Oreo is pictured above...I have yet to draw Cookie but I intend to one of these days.) Capturing those two is like a scene out of the TV show "24." I got the cages out and ready three days before the actual appointment. When we were ready to go, I put on my big leather fireplace gloves and nabbed Oreo (Cookie was sleeping at the back of the house so it was much easier to surprise her). By the time we got to the vet, the howling in the car was at a fever's pitch.

Friday is Nutmeg's turn. Anyone got a Valium?

Journaling in ATC Quarterly

In recent weeks, I've found that folks have used their artist trading cards as a way of journaling. Each day, they create a new ATC, based on the day's events. The results are really fascinating, so I've decided to run a new regular column in ATC Quarterly that features people who journal on ATCs.

The above set is my own attempt at journaling from a recent trip to Nova Scotia. I had pre-cut cardstock into ATC size and each evening, I sat with my watercolours and recorded the day's events. What a wonderful record of a holiday. The next thing I might do is colour copy them and bind them together in a mini-booklet as a keepsake of my vacation.

It Snowed Again

It looks more like Christmas than Easter out there! Yesterday, Richard and I went through the trails in the back woods and brought in wood from dead trees he cut last week. We're going to bring in some more later on today too.

This drawing, of a trail not far from here, was done in mid-winter. My back 25 doesn't have this much snow...but if it keeps up, who knows. Think we'll still have snow in July?

I sure hope the Easter bunny is a snow-shoe hare!

Goodbye Tony Soprano

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end for the TV show The Sopranos. In it's last season, I think it's one of the best written and acted shows on television. Yeah, it's violent but it's basically a story about a guy who has foibles and troubles in his life...and just happens to be in the mob.
Anyhow, Tony and his gang are usually digging into some pretty terrific Italian dishes: pasta, parmigiana, gnocchi and the like. These artist trading cards I drew, celebrate pasta in all its wonderful shapes and sizes. Now I think I'll do a series of ATCs on sauces!

Waiting for April Showers

It snowed overnight and I awoke to a winter wonderland. Unfortunately, it's looking like November instead of April. But late this morning the sun appeared and melted almost everything away. Now, only the shadiest corners of the landscape still have a bit of that stubborn white stuff. Nothing seems to be turning green yet though. Bring on those April showers!

Above is a drawing I did of a neighbour's property, around this time a few years ago. Just a bit of snow is still peeking out from between the rows of unharvested corn.

ATCs That Are For The Birds!

The birds are back north from their winter vacation. I saw my first Robin a few weeks back, pecking in frozen ground. The Red-winged Blackbirds are back too, making their distinctive squawks from every fencepost.

These ATCs are inspired by Martha Stewart paint chips I got at the hardware store. I loved the colour combinations and tried to illustrate birds on the chips that shared similar colour combos.

ATC Quarterly is looking for submissions for the centre spread for the summer issue. Fittingly, the subject is "Birds." We have already gotten some fantastic ATCs; one came all the way from Austria! Deadline is May 15, 2007. Submissions may be sent by snail mail or email. Click here for more info.

Round Robin Journal: The Egg

I'm involved in a round robin journal. Each of us choose a theme (mine is "dessert") and pass our journal ahead, so each person involved does a spread in everyone else's journal. In about 8 or 9 months, we'll get back our own journals and see what other people have done in them.

The theme for Jen's journal is "the egg." I decided to use a quote by Pablo Picasso who summed up his thoughts about the egg as a perfect form. Jen's book is a Victorian photo album and the antique, stained pages are cut in perfect oval forms, originally to place photographs within them. Instead I took advantage of those perfect forms for my own collage.