Ceramic Stuff

I hadn't painted kitties for a while and was inspired to do them on this unusual, cube-shaped creamer and sugar set.


While I was on a cat roll, I painted a few more cat faces, this time on 4.5" high mini-canisters and topped them with purple paw prints on the lids.


I just loved this vintage 15" x 10" platter from the second I saw it. It screamed "asparagus" to me. It's on its way across the United States as a wedding gift and I hope the happy couple use it for many seasons of asparagus to come...


Summer is watermelon time so I felt inspired to paint it on a plate. Looks refreshing, doesn't it?

Feeding Chippy

I've made friends with several chipmunks around my house this summer...


...and they love being fed peanuts.


Looks like this little guy is going to take flight!

Men at Work

Richard and David had a few trees to cut down and donned their tree cutting outfits. I thought it strange that they were both wearing New York Yankee t-shirts. Perhaps they had a fashion consult before they got together?

Walter's Hot Dog Stand ATCs

I've been to Walter's Hot Dog stand twice and it has really fantastic hot dogs! I made this set of artist trading cards based on Walters -- the mustard and ketchup are added with raised fabric paint so it looks (almost) like the real thing. The back of the cards have this info on them:

Walter's Hot Dog Stand was originally established by Walter Warrington in 1919. It was a roadside stand selling hot dogs and sodas down by Harbor Island in Mamaroneck, NY. After gaining so much appeal Walter decided to expand his business and build the Chinese pagoda building. Due to its unique architecture, the building itself was named a historical landmark by Westchester County. It is world famous due to its high quality hot dog made of beef, pork and veal that can only be found at Walter's. Walter's was voted the number one hot dog in America by Gourmet magazine and was voted the best roadside stand in Westchester from 1994 to 2004. To see more, visit: Walter's Hot Dog website.

Sign of the Times

It's getting to be that time of year...driving into Vankleek Hill yesterday to get envelopes for the fall issue of ATC Quarterly, I spotted a maple tree starting to turn red. Althought it's beautiful, it also means we're teetering on the brink of fall.


Speaking of autumn, here's a mini-sneak peek at the "Fall Leaves" challenge that will appear in the centre spread of the upcoming ATC Quarterly. The entries are all just gorgeous! Publication date is a few weeks from now, when there's more of a nip in the air...

A Wicked Evening

Our evening out in Ottawa started with a black cherry soft drink...

...followed by a Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich at Nate's Deli.

Dessert for the evening was seeing the play "Wicked" at the National Arts Centre. There's nothing like live theatre! Simply wonderful.

One Bowls, Three Ways

I found three of these oval-shaped bowls, (that look like little bathtubs as one end is deeper than the other) and decided to treat each one in a completely different way. It was a fun experiment to see what I could come up with.

Demi Virtual Vacation

This summer's virtual vacation became a real one yesterday. Half of the "Virtual Vacation Team" appeared in Montreal last night. John is working up in Quebec this week and we met him for dinner on the first leg of his journey. To see the video message we sent Nancy, go to John's blog.

Show Me the Money

The generous folks at the Alexandria branch of the Scotiabank, matched funds raised during the 3 hour period in which they volunteered at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum's Annual Booksale. This photo ran in this week's Glengarry News. (I'm the tall one in the middle!)

Travelogue: Great Art & Food

My friend Fran and I took my 90-year old Aunt Sylvia for a day at the Museum of Civilization in Hull, Quebec yesterday. In the background, you can see the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa, on the other side of the river.

There's the fabulous architecture of the Museum to appreciate outdoors...

...and indoors, here are Fran and Aunt Sylvia entering the "Great Hall."

Aunt Syl and me in front of the fantastic aborignal exhibit in the Great Hall.

Lovely things behind this wall too!

...and totem poles in abundance.

We visited the Museum's café for lunch. Sylvia ordered "Tuna three ways": tartar, deep-fried and sesame crusted.

Fran had pan fried farm trout and spinach salad.

I had the smoked chicken pizza with pine nuts, sun-dried tomato pesto and goat's cheese. Now that's what I call great art!

Kids Plates & Mugs

My friend Lauren in Champaign, Illinois is thinking ahead. She ordered Christmas gifts for her seven-year old daughter Sophia...

...and her two-year old nephew Zachary. I hope the kids love them as much as I loved painting them!

From the Garden

Inspiration for my ceramics from my garden abounds. Here is what inspired my nasturtium china.

And here's what inspires my kitchen. Yesterday I picked a ton of tomatoes, two kinds of cucumbers, a long, yellow pepper and a couple of zucchini.

These gladiolas are a spectacle of incredible colour. I anxiously await their blooms every year (more are on the way)!

I've had these Asiatic lillies for a few years now and this is the first year they bloomed. Magnificent!

Nasturtium-Inspired China

I love painting nasturtiums, so I covered this 3-pronged candlestick with them.

This 6" high garlic keeper will smell sweeter because of its nasturtiums, right?

A 7.5" round covered casserole covered with nasturtium vines.

Virtual Vacation: Perch Rolls

While our friends John and Nancy are on their virtual vacation with us (travelling to northeastern Oregon, click here to see more) Richard and I headed "south" to Lancaster, Ontario.

We tracked down the elusive Lancaster Perch, cooked in a former bus...

...at the famous Loretta's Chip Wagon.

Richard couldn't wait to chow down...

...because Loretta is famous for her perch sauce...

Okay, so in the real world, we usually have meals that look more like this: everything on this table (except for the olives in the Greek salad) came from our gardens we picked that day. But we're on our virtual vacation, so a little junk food is allowed on vacation, virtual or not, right?