Ramblings to date.

In the summer this year I did another cross-continental move back to Canada. I must be insane moving like this, it's an expensive affair and incredibly stressful moving away from family. To manage with the move and to get a balance in my life I have gone back to yoga, you can read my blog here. I practice Bikram Yoga, I enjoy it because it is demanding and it does not go into spiritual healing and chanting which kind of scares me a bit. I have also been working on a number of journals, like Keri Smith 's Wreck this Journal as mentioned in a previous post.

As I get older I like big personal change least of all, or at least moving around. I want stability and a home but most of all I have what is important to me more than anything - my family. Since I love art I want to pass my passion onto my kids, or at least explore it. I mean what kid does not like playing with paint, clay, coloured pens etc? So during the summer I wanted my kids to experience art without worrying about making a mess. I signed them up to a mixed-media course at 4Cats, it's the perfect studio, in fact they encourage making mistakes and getting messy, you never know what these things can lead to.

Because there has been a lot of change I have not been painting at all. I was doing some doodling and sketching but nothing serious. I also seek inspiration, where I live is so inspiring however, I am not ready to pursue my work at the moment due to other pressure but I am signed up to attend a Photoshop course which I think will help in so many ways; with business and with my art work. I have also been doing a lot of reading, knowledge based reading. How to improve my writing skills, keeping up-to-date with social media platforms and so on.

One of my favourite places to shop for art supplies is Opus Art Supplies in Vancouver. A huge selection of artist materials, it is like a toy shop for artists. Recently I had the pleasure of receiving acrylic paints from Sennelier  in France. I signed up to test their packaging and reviewed it, in return they sent me an unexpected box of paints as a gift. I was thrilled. I have always wanted to try out their paints. I am a lucky girl. So when I get back to painting they will be the first things I play with.

The nights are drawing in and it makes me think more about art, I think it is because when I started painting properly, it was during this time of year. Inside, painting and creating.

Soon, I hope to produce a work of art and post to the site. In the meantime, I will ramble or maybe not post a darn thing until I have something worthy to say.

wreck this journal by keri smith

Have I ever been on a mission with this recently purchased book! I have been wanting to get my hands on this for a while and my local bookstore just stocked up with the latest updated version which has several new covers. I have a number of Keri Smiths journals which I have listed below. She has a great talent of getting your creative juices flowing by making you look at things and bending the rules, it has childlike qualities since the ideas are so simple and some of the things in her books are activities we used to do as kids. A lot of her activities involve drawing but it is nicely mixed in with writing creatively.

I highly recommend this for school kids, creatives, stay-at-home parents, executives who need to improve their ideas generation, anyone really.

Wreck this Journal is a good place to start. Mess is also fun, How to be an Explorer is great at making you see all the things around you and my other favourite is Living Out Loud, geared towards women in need of empowerment, creative space, relaxation and reading guides.


You can see on my Instagram page the work I have been doing in my journal(s).

All images from Amazon.ca

Add objects to the tree (Keri Smith - Mess)

Stephanie Matthews

Going Dotty (Keri Smith - Mess)

Stephanie Matthews

Break the rules (Keri Smith)

This was fun to do - it was like being a defiant, naughty little girl, reminds me of the good old days. There is a sentence I wrote (I will do as I please) but you can't see it in this pic.

Keri Smith's book Mess. I will not publish all my adventures it would spoil the surprise.

Jam, honey, sprinkles, flour and cocoa powder - Keri Smith

Ooops! I spill some coffee from a great height. - Keri Smith again...

My own intro in Keri Smith's book - Mess.

Make a Mess with Keri Smith

I had to buy this book, perfect for me. I am not used to making a mess so doing this is freedom in a book. Very liberating. My kids, who I am constantly telling off for making a mess are bewildered by the fact that I am doing the complete opposite and now they can't wait to make a mess. Oh my what have I done? It is not a good time for the family to be making mess. But mess it is and more mess it shall be, beside I am on holiday. This week come rain or shine I hope to go to the sandy beach to go seashell hunting - yippee!!

Now it looks like this...