Julia Feltham - A Creative Change Maker

Julia Feltham - Creative Change Maker

" Shop local" is a frequently heard statement. I think the same should apply to local artists. We don't always have to search outside of our geographical location to find talent that we might think is some how bigger and better, because it's 'come from away', as is also an often heard statement in the Maritimes. There are so many movers and shakers with a plethora great talent, and it can be found right under our noses.

A few years back I was invited to a story telling night in Sackville New Brunswick as part of what is called Baked Ham, to be a participant. It was really fun and exciting to be part of this very talented and interesting group. I was particularly taken with one young woman. When I try finding the adjectives to describe her, vibrant, vivacious and full of life and talent, these come to mind.

But you can see this for yourself on her site. She is a storyteller and so much more. I'm certain you will agree, she is also someone you'll not forget because she has an infectious enthusiasm that inspires and lifts the spirit.

I am talking about a beautiful young woman inside and out, Julia Feltham. She is a creative change maker.
This is my second blog post I have written about Julia, because I want to world to know just how special she is, at least I certainly think so.

Ursula Franklin - A Celebration

Ursula Franklin

"Peace is not the absence of war—peace is the absence of fear, and the presence of justice."
– Ursula Franklin in The Ursula Franklin Reader.

I would be remiss if I didn't mark the passing of this great woman Ursula Franklin, who truly understood peace and justice.

Last night I listened to a beautiful tribute on CBC Ideas, to this brilliant, feminist, humble and kind peace maker. 

Why Are My Blogs More Popular In Russia Than In Canada?

I'm not really up on all that there is to understand about algorithms, but I do continue to try and educate myself about having an online business presence. I do think once you can figure out some basic logistics about how to get visitors to your site, the main input comes from having good content that engages your viewers.

That's just my opinion. I may be way out in left field. It's however a real mystery to me how I manage to get these kinds of stats as of late that I've listed below.

I've especially noted the difference in numbers between Russia and Canada.

And so I don't know the answer to my posed question it's a mystery to me, but I do thank you Russia with love from Canada! It tops the list! If someone out there could shed some kind of light on this mystery, I would be very grateful for the information.

These are the statistics I've had recently over the past month on my blog Catherine Meyers Artist.

Russia	1024
United States	400
Canada	103
France	46
United Kingdom	40
Germany	35
China	18
Australia	16
Italy	13
Netherlands	12

These are the statistics I've had recently over this past month on my blog  Apple River Tarot Readings 

Apple River Tarot Readings                                   

Russia	274
United States	171
Canada	20
Germany	12
France	7
China	5
Latvia	4
Spain	2
Netherlands	2
Ukraine	2

Conversation VS Connection

 

I don't have a cell phone. Oh I had one many years ago that I used for a very short period of time when I also thought I had more money than brains. Cells phones can be a extremely helpful in emergency situations. Only to this extent do I see them as being an absolute necessity. Mostly I find them to be an addictive, an unproductive distraction, undermining relationships and creativity.

We may be more connected but we seem to have lost the desire, interest and even the ability to engage in conversation. This situation has really come about in a short period of time.

Sherry Turkle's book Reclaiming Conversation carries a message we all need to hear and pay attention too. She might be a visionary, simply a very insightful and intelligent woman or perhaps both, from whom we have much to learn if we can take our attention away from our phones and devices long enough to listen to what she is has to say.

10 Quotes From Ken Robinson That Motivate and Inspire Creative Thinking

Learning is a creative activity, at least it certainly needs to be, if we are going to effectively learn. Being taught creatively  increases our curiosity, our creativity and our ability to achieve through the power of our imagination.

Sir Ken Robinson motivates and inspires me creatively, and to share his important message, being an educator and an artist myself. We are in the midst of a creativity crisis. His message and mission “to transform the culture of education and organizations with a richer conception of human creativity and intelligence” gives me hope for a more creative world in the future.

In my opinion not enough people are aware of his work, particularly in Canada, and his call for a transformation and a paradigm shift that is needed within the educational system on all levels.

The following quotes are a small glimpse into his way of thinking.
 

1.“ Curiosity is the engine of achievement. ” 


2. "Imagination is the source of every form of human achievement. And it's the one thing that I believe we are systematically jeopardizing in the way we educate our children and ourselves."

3. "Creativity now is as important as literacy, and we should treat it with the same status."

4. "Human beings are naturally different and diverse.
 childhood. ”

5. " A real education has to give equal weight to the arts, the humanities, to physical education. ”

6.“ Kids prosper best with a broad curriculum that celebrates their various talents, not just a small range of them. ”


7. “ The arts aren’t just important because they improve math scores. They’re important because they speak to parts of children’s being which are otherwise untouched. ”


8.“ In place of curiosity, what we have is a culture of compliance. 

9. “ Our children and teachers are encouraged to follow routine algorithms rather than to excite that power of imagination and curiosity."

10  "Creativity is the process of having original ideas that have value."

Sir Ken Robinson is what I would call a real change agent.

Why the Lack of Sleep Affects Creativity One Night At a Time

One of the best things for me about being so called semi-retired is it gives me time to sleep. You might think it would that I now have more time to paint and be creative. That's true too but only because I can now get more sleep. What I mean is, I can now get a healthy amount of sleep.

Ironically now in my 63rd year, my need for sleep has lessened. I'm awake by 5:30 a.m every morning! It doesn't mean I get up then, because, I don't have too and I usually can catch a few more snoraphonics before I get vertical for the day!

If I need to take a nap in the afternoon I do, but sadly that habit seems to have more or less left me, along with my ability to sleep in like the lazy teenager I once was.

 When I was working for many years and then in 2009 while attending University full time for three years, I was usually very sleep deprived. This is the way it was, a good portion of my life. It's the way it is for most people.

I never saw my lack of sleep as a badge of honour, like some perceive it to be. My lack of sleep was in no way a reflection of my working harder. Nope, not all all. It simply left me with less mental, physical and emotional energy, and I day dreamed a lot about getting sleep. Mostly I could never get enough deep sleep. My creative life suffered.

When I worked traveling two hours one way, from where I lived I sometimes I had to sleep in my truck or had to get up at 4 in the morning and didn't get home until 7p.m. when I was attending school, an hour and twenty minutes away from home.

 On one occasion coming back from work after working three twelve hour shifts I was so tired, I'd had a black out driving, because I'd fallen asleep at the wheel and got stopped by an R.C.M.P. Becuase I was weaving all over the road, he thought I'd been drinking. I assured him I didn't drink, as I am a recovering alcoholic. I told him I had just finished working three twelve hours shifts and that I was exhausted. Fortunately he let me off with only a warning.

Getting behind the wheel when you're sleep deprived can be just as dangerous as drinking and driving. This experience scared the livin' bejesus out of me, and I knew something had to change, and so it did. I quit my job and got another one. This time it involved working mid-nights, which is pretty darn gruesome, especially for women because you get even less sleep. Most women don't adjust well to midnight shifts. The plus side was no longer having to commute back and forth long distances to work.

Studying Fine Art in 2009 in a creative environment helped immensely. I was doing what I loved, making art full time. However I still had academic courses and assignments to complete. If I'd had more sleep, no doubt about it, I would have been better prepared, being able to think with greater clarity, improved my marks  and especially increased my creative output.

 I would have enjoyed the overall experience much more as well, because I would have been functioning at 100% optimal health instead of about 65-70 percent most of the time, mostly going through the motions, often simply trying to get through my sleep deprived day.

In her book The Sleep Revolution Arianna Huffington succinctly and poignantly expresses why sleep is so essential and a great performance enhancer all based on scientific research.

Warning Yiddish Pornography

Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion

This post wasn't what I'd intended to blog about, until I listened to Q this morning. I thought, yep we all sure could use a laugh after all the serious goings on throughout the world, and Trump's absolute trash talk in the news, which I am beyond sick of constantly hearing and seeing online. And so today, I've turned to these very funny guys that I just have fallen in love with, Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion who have a brilliantly funny webcast, yidlifecrisis.com

I've always had a great fascination with Yiddish since I was a teenager. I wished I could speak it fluently like these two Schlemiels.This is partly due to the fact that my family ancestry comes from the old country and because I have a Jewish Germanic name. No one I know of in my family spoke Yiddish, but that doesn't mean they didn't. In all likelihood they did, I just don't have a lot of family history, as my great grandfather Meyer(s) was orphaned and I never knew him nor my grandfather.

Yiddish resonates with me, as I believe it does for many folks because it's so expressive and is a combination of a number of languages. Many of our words used in North America are Yiddish. Some of my favourites have to be Fartz, Shmuck, Kosher, Shmooz, and Tuchis.

Yiddish, literally means "Jewish", and is the language of the Ashkenazic Jews and a German-derived dialect, merging the sacred language of prayer, Aramaic, the ancient Near Eastern language of Talmud, and the languages of the Rhineland into a new dialect.

Every culture that was encountered by the Ashkenazic Jews, especially Slavic, was merged creating an expressive, poetic, and humourous language of Modern Yiddish-the mamaloshen, or mother tongue. Yiddishkeit is Jewishness, but usually means the totality of the Jewish heritage that is loved and passed on from generation to generation.

You can find these two mentshes here at YidLife Crisis and the Q featuring them is here.

The Ultimate Guide To Creativity

Truth is, and sorry to disappoint you, there isn't an ultimate guide. I didn't lie, I mean I don't have your ultimate guide. I do have my own, ultimate guide and each person has their own ultimate guide. It's not a matter of having only one same guide for everyone. Now that wouldn't be creative at all would it?

We all may have similar and varying ways and to increase our creativity, to foster and enable this innate ability we possess at birth. Please do share the ways you've increased your creativity and how you continue to do this?

• Parents have a huge role to play in increasing a child's creativity and imagination, through encouragement and exposure to activities that provide an creative environment, allowing for lots of play, discovery and even risk. 

One of the very best things parents can do is to provide an opportunity for their children participate in creative activities such as art, dance, music, writing, reading and theatre etc.
Increasingly too many children have so much structured activity that doesn't allow for enough discovery through play that enables a free exploration of child's natural and fertile imagination in the physical world

• The educational system as Sir Ken Robinson states, really does need a complete transformation and paradigm shift, in that creativity must be seen as a foundation cornerstone of education. 

Having been involved myself in public schools as an art teacher, I must agree with Sir Ken Robinson when he states that schools kill creativity and that creativity needs to be seen as being so vital to education as literacy and every other subject, and needs to be treated with the same status.

• Involve yourself in creative activities.                                                                                     

This increases your creativity. It's discipline and work, and most importantly it should be fun. Learning and fun go hand in hand. One doesn't exclude the other nor should it.
 Practice might not make perfect but you'll certainly get closer to perfection and you'll increase you skills exponentially. Creativity is also about increasing our skill, regardless of what we do. It's a way living. Applying creative thinking to what we do, and how we live, is an extremely valuable and enriching asset.

Looking at loads of art work, getting into the habit of learning about loads of other artists is an absolute best practice.

• Do something creative every day. For me writing is what I do every day. It keeps the creativity flowing. When I can't paint and I'm feeling frustrated because I can't for what ever reason, writing I know is my creative outlet and keeps me connected to that creative source.

One of the most important pieces of advice I received when I went to University to complete my Bachelor of Fine Art, was being told to develop a daily habit of doing something creative everyday. I distinctly remember, and will never forget what was told to me verbally by my Professor Adriana Kuiper, who stated how important it was for an artist to make it a regular habit to do something creative everyday, developing that into a regular daily practice toward the creative process.

 My professor gave the example of Cliff Eyland, producing a painting every day. I never knew he did this until then. I knew intrinsically how a daily habit such as writing, or having the discipline of prayer or meditation can be so beneficial, and right then and there, I knew I had to apply this even more emphatically to my art practice.

I believe this is the 'secret' of being able to produce a remarkable body of work, like the one Cliff has achieved. It's no magical thing, nothing but applying yourself to the work, founded on the passion to create. It's a beautiful thing, one day, one painting, at a time.

Creativity is as important as literacy and numeracy, and I actually think people understand that creativity is important - they just don't understand what it is. Ken Robinson
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/ken_robinson.html

Creativity is as important as literacy and numeracy, and I actually think people understand that creativity is important - they just don't understand what it is. Ken Robinson
Read more at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/k/ken_robinson.html

• Keep a journal. 

 This one is really important to me. I will emphatically tell you that this simple act of journaling changed my life in so many ways. I can tell you it can change yours as well, but this is something you can only really believe by finding out for yourself.  You have nothing to loose in trying it on and might just discover it was so worth your while in countless ways.

• Go to school.

 This can be a bit of a sensitive thing for some folks. I am referring to some artists who are self taught, and who sometimes poo poo a formal art education. Getting an art education is never a bad thing, regardless if you go to University or not. But if you choose to go to University to study, it's a wonderfully, exciting, and highly rewarding experience. You are enveloped into an environment where your peers are involved in the same pursuit; learning about art, artists and creativity. I know it isn't for everyone, but for some it can make all the difference.

• Find a mentor(s).    

 Whatever we do, we all need and hopefully want to find and have someone in our lives that we admire and respect. It gives us the opportunity to figure out what kind of person and/or artist we aspire to be, through anothers example. When we can have an opportunity to sit down one to one, get a critique, go to a critique,  pick brains, get suggestions and feed back from them, this can help us immeasurably, and it's what I particularly loved and miss about the University environment. I was always being challenged and always learning from others.

• Check your ego at the door. 

This can be difficult sometimes, because as artist's we can have, shall I say 'delicate' and tender egos. When you are in a University environment you can't avoid critiques and sometimes they can be brutal. uncomfortable and down right painful, depending on the situation, the student and the professors. That said, you'll be guaranteed to learn some very important, life changing lessons, and the bonus is you will develop a confidence as a person and as an artist.

You eventually need to develop a thick skin and more importantly be able to speak with conviction, integrity and with a discourse about your work. In other words you need to believe in what it is you are doing, even if your not completely certain what it is you are creatively exploring. Honesty really is the best policy, being honest with yourself, and with others.

 Please do share the ways you've increased your creativity and how you continue to do this?

Why the Beaver Hall Group is Better Than the Group of Seven

I am very interested in good legacy, particularly the legacy women leave. The women of the Beaver Hall Group left a legacy that most Canadians are unaware of including myself until this year.

• Nora Collyer
• Emily Coonan
• Prudence Heward
• Mabel Lockerby
• Mabel May
• Kathleen Morris
• Lilias Torrance Newton
• Sarah Robertson
• Anne Savage
• Ethel Seath

This list of ten women are artists who, dare I say are to me much more significant to art in Canada than the Group of Seven, and were all members of Montreal's Beaver Hall Group.

Last week I heard Steve Martin on CBC talking about his love for The Group of Seven and recently curated an exhibition of Lawren Harris at the AGO, entitled The Idea of North.

Granted, some of these women in the Beaver Hall Group may have come from the same privileged WASP backgrounds, as the Group of Seven, but I would've preferred an exhibit of these women over Lawren Harris any day.

When I was attending my Canadian Art History classes in University, the Group of Seven was part of our Canadian studies. I was struck by how many students, in particularly young women held an opinion of disdain toward the Group of Seven, expressing their weariness of hearing about them and were critical for a myriad of reasons, but directly related to historical colonialism in Canada and all that it entails.

 I was also included in that group of critics, with the exception of Tom Thomson. He was outside the Group of Seven, not that it mattered, but I just happened to be a fan.

To the women in the Beaver Hall Group, it mattered as it affected them in not receiving the same kind of public recognition as those privileged white male artists. The social conventions of the culture and time made it difficult to do so.
Certainly the same can be said for First Nations artists who were and are still ignored, marginalized and are the survivors of an attempted cultural genocide through that historical colonialism previously mentioned.

Canadian Art Magazine in it's critical review, entitled Whose Idea of North? Lawren Harris at the AGO written by David Balzer, Merray Gerges and Caoimhe Morgan-Feir gives an excellent and very accurate overview and criticism of the Lawren Harris exhibit. It accurately conveys the numerous reasons it falls very short in not measuring up to what should be expected from the AGO, which is insensitive and devoid of the any concern for the political implications of having such an exhibition, presupposing that it is representational of the Canadian North.

Not surprizingly, there once again exists an acute and infuriating irony in that certain Canadians continue to be willingly addicted and dependent on allowing Americans to define or usurp our identity as Canadians. Canada sadly continues to teach our American neighbours to do this. It is even more disturbing when you see cultural institutions intentionally and willingly doing this because the temptation of celebrity, power and money is just too great to resist. On other words it's expediently good for business. This is not a good legacy, and in fact it makes an already existing bad legacy, worse.

7 Ways For Artists To Be Their Best Boss

One of the most challenging personal ' issues ' I've had in the past was making allowances, excuses or treating others better than myself. This doesn't translate well into a healthy personal or professional life.

As an artist the most important lesson I have learned, and it took me years, to finally understand and know how to advocate for myself proactively, as a business person. Creating art is business, and creating a good business is an art. This doesn't mean I make art I don't really want to create for money, that's called selling out. I want to create art that has value above and beyond my art and sell it, this is my vision.

Artists advocating for themselves is lesson is a particularly difficult lesson to learn, because we aren't taught it in art school. Especially if you are female, trying to navigate their way in a male dominated art market, in spite of the fact the majority of art students in University Fine Art programs are women, however are not represented in enough galleries or museums.

So I thought I would give a brief list of 7 ways to be your own best boss that you probably already know many if you're an artist. I have found the more I revisit and apply helpful lists, hints, tips and useful tools that empower me as a professional artist, they act as important reminders that get embedded into my psyche. I can compare it to learning a skill. Someone shows me how to do it, I give it a try, and then I have to practice it to improve my skill, until it becomes inherent to my basic nature.

Here's my list of 7 Ways For Artists To Be Their Best Boss

1. Advocate for yourself. Be you own best friend. Most artists can't afford to have an agent or a dealer, and why should you pay them to do so, when you can get 100% return and be the kind of ideal boss you'd want as an employer. Don't settle for sloppy seconds and end up saying to yourself,' You're Fired!'

2. Allow courage to be your guide. Go against the grain and don't allow fear to dictate your behaviour, or someone else to dictate your behaviour.

3. Believe in yourself. The old adage you hear time and time again is so very true. If you don't believe in yourself, how can others believe in you? Don't be shy and hide your lamp under a bushel, because you won't be seen and your lamp will likely just burn out!
Building productive discipline work habits and focus will help to build your confidence.

4. Know your purpose and mission. Having a vision with authentic integrity helps you to clarify and determine your purpose and inspired mission. that should be both over and beyond the value of the created art work itself. Once you have laid this foundation you can find the target market that you can best serve and celebrate their values and culture. Know your why, what, how and who.

5. Network. In business you hear this word over and over, because it is absolutely essential. There are countless ways to network. Personal interaction, connections through friends/fans, family and social media are excellent ways to make inroads. Also following up with contacts made will make the difference for your business in the present and into the future. Have a great business card at the ready to share with potential clients.

6. Be reliable. There is a myth that artists are always unreliable, crazy, addicts, mentally ill, and perpetually lazy and poor. Don't give those who believe these myths any more reason to perpetuate them, by not following through. Mean what you say, and say what you mean. If you can't for whatever reason follow through, make sure you own up to your mistake immediately, make your amends, assuring the client it will never happen again. We all want and need to have and keep a good reputation.

7. Have a business plan. This can be a tricky one because most of us haven't got two clues as artists how to go about getting ourselves an effective business plan. As someone once anonymously stated," A plan to do business without a plan, is a plan to do no business. "

 Basic money management is paramount to effectively running a business. Learning from a Business Development Bureau can't show an artist how to do this because they aren't artists and what you are selling is emotion not a widgets.
Learning from another artist who has not only the experience, strength and hope to share with you is invaluable, but learning from other artists in community who walk the talk and know from where they speak is priceless. Being in a creative community with artists that support, encourage and mentor one another is the way we grow exponentially. I have been blessed to find one such person in Ann Rea from Artist's Who Thrive. I strongly suggest you visit her site, because it might make all the difference to you and you'll hire yourself, because you'll find more than 7 ways to become an artist who is your best boss and hire yourself!



That's my list. Please feel free to add to it! I'd love that! 

How To Get Your Moo On.

My Mini Moo Business Cards

I'm fussy about the products I endorse on my site. Unless I feel I can stand behind the company the individuals involved, whether it be a website, product or company, otherwise I'm just not interested.

Today however I was so excited to peer into my mailbox and to very unexpectedly find a package. I was so hoping it just might contain my Moo business cards I'd designed, and sent for a week or so ago from the Moo site. I started ripping open the package before I got back to the house, and sure enough there they were inside the package!

They'd arrived much earlier than expected, as the estimated date of delivery was July 24th 2016. This is the second time I've ordered business cards through Moo. I first found out about this site through an artist friend who had some Mini business cards. I'd loved like the look and that I could put my art work on the cards. Plus the quality,  and the price, made them even more appealing. I wanted to get some of my own.

So this time I ordered 100 cards the same amount as my last order, but Mini cards instead, plus a spiffy, very groovy card holder. As they say "half the size twice as nice"! And it certainly isn't any ordinary print company. I'm now even more impressed with my cards, plus the case holder. I'd highly recommend Moo to anyone wanting to get quality business cards, or other business related products that are affordable. They are of the highest quality, with great attention to personal detail, hand packed, paper sourced from sustainable forests and packaged  in a 100% (and recyclable) pulp box (that's so cute) because I love lil' boxes, and my lil' Mini Moo business cards!

My Spiffy Mini Moo Card Holder

Hari Kondablolu Has a Rubber Sword

This guy is laugh out loud funny. But his message is serious and definitely strikes a nerve, because he has the guts to speak the truth.

Hari Kondabolu  was on Q this morning. I'd never heard of him. His comedy is edgy and poignant in his description of the present North American political climate, that reflects the kind of divisiveness we see going on within the world.

Comedians like Hari Kondabolu provide a social critique, enable transformation, and are a sign that there exists a healthy comedy culture, pushing social boundaries and presenting a commentary about present day race relations. These comics hold up a mirror that forces us to confront what most of us would rather ignore.

When a comedian can get his observational humour across using an intelligent wit, it's refreshing and healthy. It enables honesty, truth telling, and transformation toward a more compassionate and peaceful world. That's what I hope for.
 

“Humor is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.”
-Mary Hirsch, Humorist

Creativity, Tarot, The City of Words and Gilgamesh

Eight years ago when I began to seriously study Tarot, I saw creativity as being naturally and directly connected for many reasons, and has increasingly been affirmed to me as being a perfect fit, especially as an artist.


 Primarily it's necessary to have a creative, intuitive perception for both pursuits. Consciousness and the unconscious are also involved with execution of both these creative arts and skill. This instinct and ability is certainly not exclusive to certain individuals, as we all possess this instinct and creative ability, but they must be nurtured and practiced in order for it to increase.

 C.G. Jung stated  'the collective unconsciousness is the "soul of the world" and it is in that 'soul' that our shared symbolism of the archetypes dwell. An archetype is a universal human behaviour or pattern. Tarot and art help me to tap into the universe's unlimited creative energy through archetype.

Tarot has long held the human imagination for ages and shows no sign of disappearing. Art and creativity do the same. Both reflect story telling, and a self-knowledge of the soul. Tarot imagery is fundamental and exact in describing the multi-coloured working of the inner psyche that spring from the imagination spontaneously, in a poetic language that tells the story of the archetypal life journey. This language of story is found on many levels and in countless creative outpourings over the millennia.

The use of the Mythic Tarot deck has allowed me to study the images of the Greek Gods so beloved by the Renaissance artists and writers that formed art and literature, the cultural underpinning of the whole western world.

 Currently I am reading a fascinating book given to me by a good friend, by Alberto Manguel, entitled The City of Words. His book suggest that perhaps through "the stories we tell, these hold secret keys to the human heart. "
He encourages us to look at the artists and other visionaries who can help us change our hearts for the better and build a better world through myth and story.

Like in the story of the ancient epic poem Gilgimesh, we can learn to live life and to love well.

Gilgamesh Morns Enkidu

Alyona Azernaya

 From - The Cycle of the Life

Your entire human experience is predicated on your viewpoint.
Your viewpoint is predicated on your
inner belief system and that is predicated on
how much you believe in fear
and how much you believe in love.

 
 - Emmanuel

Art by Alyona Azernaya

Finding artists online is one of my very favourite things, and I've come upon several over the past eight years since beginning this blog. But I must say, I haven't found one artist that spoke so strongly to my soul until today, when I learned about Alyona Azernaya. This is I think the third Russian artist I've found online, and I admit I'm fast becoming a great admirer.

I happen to subscribe to a Jungian site on Facebook and one of the members had posted one of Alyona Azernaya's paintings along with the above quote.
Her palette is sumptuous, subtle, and muted, simultaneously with a brilliance of colour that delights all the senses.
 I expect the reason I so love her work, is because I have a strong identification and affinity with mythology, symbolism, the Divine Feminine, all of which is reflected in my own subject matter. Her imagery struck me as being so familiar on both a conscious and an unconscious level.


Alyonan Azernaya is Russian and her subject matter explores mythological, symbolic subject matter, and dream like imagery. She inspires me!

Canada Day - Open Mind, Open Heart, Open Spirit

On Canada Day, I think most of us take time to reflect about our country and what it means to be Canadian. I think Canadians have a clear understanding of what our identity is, in spite of the days when we seemed to be were less clear. We are ourselves are, down to earth, generous, love the land, and our culture of inclusiveness. This has not always been born out in reality in our past, present and no doubt reaching into our future. But I think we like to see ourselves as a hopeful people in spite of our troubles, and character defects.

David Johnston the Governor General of Canada does a good job in describing what Canada means to him. His perception is creative, hopeful and realistic I think.

Being Canadian for me is best described creatively through all the arts. Creativity requires an open heart, mind and spirit. That's my kind of Canada.