Happy Easter & A Tiny Break

Happy Easter Everyone.

I hope your all having a wonderfully cozy spring weekend.

 

Here's a new little inkling I got done whiles outside in the sunshine with a frolicking rabbit.

 

 

Well it's the last few chaotic days before I hang my exhibition & than taxes are due!

So to help myself out with the stress load I am going to take a break from blogging...

So I'll see you at the beginning of May with oodles of new images & goodies for my shop.

 

Have an amazing day and if you can give a bunny a hug XO

Rough & Tough

The days have been feeling long & tiring...

Bringing 3 new rabbits home in the same month has turned everything

topsy turvy for everyone in the house...not that we regret it...

it's just been the stormy part before we re-enter the calm part!

 

 

All 8 bunnies have spring fever & they've all been really naughty...

I've lost 3 favorite pillows in the span of 1 quick week, wall chewing is at a high,

 

 

Teela & Yuuji are waking us up at 5 or 6 in the morning,

which is a problem since we're both night owls & usually hit the hay around 2 or 3 in the morning!

 

 

6 of the buns are shedding like mad & vacuuming the whole house twice a day isn't even enough!

 

 

Bonding has been going terribly and well all at the same time...it's such a roller-coaster

and a real test of patience...luckily my honey has way more than I!

 

 

2 of the rabbits have allergies & need eye drops administered twice daily.

 

 

Headaches have been constant and

some personal disappointments in life have been had and are being worked through!

 

 

And there's only a few days left until I hang my 4th solo exhibition, so things are feeling stressful!

Will anyone come out to see my show? Will it be well received? Will I have enough work? etc..

 

 

It's been a couple of weeks that's been feeling rough & tough...you know those weeks!

Soon it'll all be good and smoothed out again...soon!

 

How are you doing these days???

NOT an Easter Present 2

Make yours chocolate...

 

 

Spread the word...



Stories, Dreams & In Between

Here's the poster and write up for my upcoming solo exhibition 

 

Spring is on its way finally!

We’ve been in this deep white freeze for much too long now

and Mandy Saile’s upcoming exhibition “Stories, Dreams & In Between” is the perfect way

to usher in spring with lots of fresh bright colours and an abundance of joyful whimsy.

 

With this collection of coloured pencil and mixed media works

Mandy will show mostly newer pieces but also a few of her older favorites as well. 

The theme is just as the title suggests, pictures about dreams; ones dreamt of and ones longed for, fantastical stories for a motley crew of quirky characters and a few images where the viewer

can decipher if the story is based in myth or truth or somewhere in between. 

This exhibition opens to the public in Gallery 1 of the W.K.P Kennedy Gallery

on April 26th with a closing reception on May 16^th

in conjunction with the Downtown Gallery Hop.

The artist will be present at the closing reception and loves to chat about her work.

Mandy encourages adults to bring their kids, for her images are for adults and children alike. 

 

Snow Play

How are things warming up in your part of the world?
 

The buns are enjoying the last of the white stuff though there's still enough of it I suppose!
 

 

Some days we can't get these fast and sneaky rabbits out of the snow fort, ha ha!
 

Have an excellent and happy weekend.



Aireadney

She's an elegant little bun and her name is Aireadney

 

She is another little 5 x 7" coloured pencil on a painted wood canvas.

 

 

Her lineage is most impressive...

it goes back to Edwardian times where her ancestors were

the first hand-maidens to the sad but stately Mary Stuart, otherwise known as 'Queen of Scots'.

For 26 years, from 1542 to 1567, Aireadney's ancestors dressed the royal monarchy.

They ran the whole show from design, to measuring, to making,

they were trusted to use their indisputable elegant taste to select fabrics from around the globe,

right down to the daily selection of wardrobe and my goodness this in itself was a full time job because we all know the monarchy changes clothes for every event of the day including all 3 meals!

 

Inspired by her lineage, Aireadney now proudly own her own Edwardian costume empire...

her driving inspiration of course coming from the fashions her ancestors toiled over.

Though Aireadney cleverly designs each piece so that no torturous corsets are needed!

Her biggest clients come worldwide from Stratford/Shakespearean play houses.

and she does on occasion accept custom orders from royal princesses...but only if she likes them!



Coloured Pencil Student Feature

I was recently asked to write an article for Coloured Pencil Student.

 

I was asked to talk about how we adopted our rabbits from the shelter,

how they inspire me and the artwork that I do

and the editor also asked me to put in abit of an advocacy slant to help educate people,

since so many rabbits are purchased as Easter presents...which we don't want to see.

 

I mean to talk about my art, my rabbits &

to be able to educate a little on buns...what more can I ask for!

 

 

 

 

 

I just received the digital copy...it looks great.

 I am beyond pleased & so happy with all the images the editors chose to use.

 

Click right here if your interested in getting a printed copy or digital version.

 

I can't wait to get the actual magazine and hold the issue & article in my hands. YAY!

 

This is a really great thing...So happy.

 



Not An Easter Present 01

Easter stresses us out & makes us sad.

Apparently over 90% of rabbits purchased as Easter presents

don't even make it past their 1st birthday.

 

 

My honey made this poster...

Please help us spread the word...share this post on Twitter, Facebook etc...

Tell people that rabbits are NOT Easter presents. 

Thanks so much.

 

Emmett

We went back to that oh so far away place that we respect & appreciate so much...

 

The Toronto Humane Society...

to pick up our sweetie pie.

He was finally cleared to come home with us and to Jaks.

 

Everyone meet Emmett...

 

 

He came from another shelter in Quebec that was shut down, so he came to the THS very very sick.

He is considered a special needs adoption but we are aware of all that entails

(Frenwyck & Flynn were special need cases as well).

He went through a lot & the good people at the shelter went through a lot to get him well again.

He is a lionhead & 1.7 years old.  He's spent most of his life in the shelter system.

 

 

We loved the name Emmett, so we kept it as such.

He's a such a sweetie...abit squittish and nervous but that's okay,

he's come to the right place that understands that buns need time,

he's come to a gentle home full of patience & understanding & we're confident that he'll settle in.

 

He did really well on the drive home and was cuddled in my arms pretty much the whole time.

My arms felt like they were going to fall off

but apparently I was his comfort spot so I sure as heck wasn't going to let him go, ha ha.

Luckily the drive back home only took the usual 4 hours instead of 7 that it took for Henrie & Elsie.

 

This little guy is so soft and he smells sooo good...I can't stop smelling him, ha ha.

You know how babies have that sweet baby smell...he has that soft warm wonderful bunny smell.



 

I absolutely hate having him in a pen...but for now it's a necessity until the two boys are bonded.

 

 

They get turns on each side to help battle the whole territorial thing...

 

 

So far Jaks is VERY interested in Emmett and Emmett seems like a really laid back little dude.

 

 

The very first bonding session in the truck went so well and they were kissing each other abit

within half an hour...but we try not to get too excited and we'll be taking things really slow.

 

 

One thing is for sure...weather Jaks and Emmett take to one another,

we sure are glad this special long-eared love has come home to us...

he's now proudly part of our little sanctuary/warren.

 

Welcome home Emmett baby...welcome home our new love.

 



Alot Of Our Time & To Be Clear...

A lot of our evening and weekend time looks like this...

 

In our Jeep with Frenwyck, Teela and Yuuji trying to bond and forge a fuzzy trio!

They want to be friends, we can tell by certain behavior,

but Frenwyck just isn't 100% sure about how to go about it.  He's really trying though.

We've made progress and some kissing has been going on the last few times, which is a great sign.

 

 

We do so in the truck because it's a neutral space,

which is important because rabbits are very territorial.

And the movement of the truck usually takes their minds off attacking one another and instead

they will often seek comfort from one another, which allows them to get used to another bunny moving around them etc and eventually hopefully leads to the epiphany that 'hey I am not being hurt'.

 

You can't just take rabbits and throw them together and expect that they'll get along...no way!

As cute as rabbits are,

they can be very very vicious towards other rabbits...

so one has to be careful, know what they are doing & move slowly to ensure no one gets hurts.

It's time consuming & doesn't always work out.  You have to be prepared for that.

Some times years will go by and suddenly a rabbit will fall in love with a certain furry

when all others before them were refused.  Rabbits are strange & confounding that way.

 

 

We'll be doing this routine with Jaks and his new little buddy really soon,

hopefully it doesn't take long, hopefully it happens, we know Jaks is typically a friendly dude and it sounds like the new buddy we picked out for him is a nice little guy, but you just never know.

(So we indeed do have a back up plan incase the 2 boys don't bond)...ugh!!!

  

We're pretty confident in knowing when to keep trying and when to give things a break.

 

Teela and Yuuji took months of trying before they just suddenly decided they loved each other

and now they are thick as thieves and completely adorable...

and unless you've been around a bonded rabbit pair,

well, it's hard to describe just how heart tugging insanely sweet it is.

 

(And because Easter is around the corner and sadly parents will be buying rabbits as presents)

I must stress that rabbits NEED loads of company,

they are NOT solitary animals...

if you have a bunny who is alone a lot, they will be very unhappy little creatures.

If you don't gently interact with them on a daily basis like I do with mine,

you won't have snuggle buns like you see on this blog.

AND sometimes even with all the love offered up in the world,

they still may never be snuggle buns...some rabbits are just not friendly,

some are grumps, just like people!

We've had a few of those in our time thus far & though disappointing we just have to find

happiness and satisfaction in knowing that we are keeping them warm, safe, healthy and loved.

 

Also if you cage a bunny & don't allow them time out of the cage to stretch and play

at least 3 or 4 hours a day, you will likely NOT see their wonderful personalities.

Bunnies need to be bunnies...

they need to run & get lots of exercise for healthy gut motility & happy spirits.

 

The only reason Jonathan and myself are comfortable having so many in our home

is because we both work from home (most of the time), we don't mind mess & destruction!

and we're both real homebodies & just spent a lot of time at home with them.

 

Life with rabbits isn't for everyone...

I must point this out because I know my blog makes bunnies very tempting for some people.

 

So help me spread the word. 

Be kind....do NOT buy a real rabbit as an Easter present.

(Unless your completely aware of the big commitment they are)

Make sure your advocating Chocolate Easter bunnies & feel free to spread this post around.

Thanks XO

 

 

Wolowitcz

Meet

 

"Wolowitcz"

 

a new little 5 x 7" coloured pencil/mixed media character

 

 

Wolowitcz is a complicated little dude but he focuses his energies his 3 biggest loves.

 

1) being an advocate for birds and battling against the illegal capturing & caging of tropical birds.

(Though he dreams nightly of the universal freedom of all birds).

 

2) he teaches lock picking!

That's right...he tries to communicate with caged birds and secretly

shows them how to pick the locks on their cages so that they can be free.

(the whole 'teach a fisherman to fish & he eats for a lifetime' type of scenario)

He doesn't charge anything for this at all, his only rule is that the bird he teaches &

helps to be free must move on to teach some other bird the same skills.

(His great aunt left him a very hefty endowment, allowing him his life of  bird philanthropy).

 

3) he is quite addicted to making rice wine.

Now to be clear, he only drinks 3 or 4 glasses a week himself

but he just loves to bottle his special mixtures up, hand draw one of a kind unique labels

for each bottle and than give them away to his beloved friends and family...

and of course a bottle is uncorked every time one of his lock picking students

does indeed secure their own freedom.

 

Wouldn't he be an interesting little dude to meet and share a glass of rice wine with?  ha ha.

 

This Little Face

People wonder why I am always in a hurry to rush back to our house & home...

 

 

...it's because I have this little sweetheart waiting for me...no better reason in my books!

On My Desk

One of the many pictures on my desk this week!

 

 

Last time I counted there were 14 paintings in progress, it's going to be a busy week!

Elsie and Henrie

Last Saturday in the wee hours of the morning we were on the snowy roads.

Driving almost 1000km once again to adopt two new bunnies from the shelter.

 

Long before Jinny passed, we agreed that we'd bring home a new little friend for Jaks.

So when looking at the adoption pages, we noticed that two older buns were still there

from over a year ago when we went to get Frenwyck and they called to us big time.

So we decided to open up a previously 'bunny-free' room to these 2 big bunnies

(On top of the little guy we adopted to hopefully bond with our Jaks).

 

Jaks's buddy was really sick and not cleared to go home with us but we couldn't wait to get

Henrie & Elsie, especially not when they've been there well over a year already.

We wanted the new babes home asap.

2 separate trips, even though exhausting, expensive & long is actually ideal in our minds

because it allowed us to concentrate on settling in Henrie & Elsie first. 

 

We are completely confounded as to why this duo was at the shelter for SO long.
They were apparently surrendered when their owners condo board changed the rules to 'no pets'.

They are beautiful rabbits.

But sadly it's probably a mixture of their older age (almost 4), the red eyes and the bigger size.
 

On top of an excited and super happy heart, I am admittedly struggling with alot of guilt,

that they were there this WHOLE time...

I remember seeing them when we went to get Frenwyck.

But Jonathan keeps telling me that it just wasn't the right time...

to be happy that we acted on it and that they are here NOW!

It's always SO insanely satisfying to see the adoption sign up on their pens.

(as you can see Henrie's name was Perry but we changed it after my favorite Aunt & Uncle)

We snuggled and feel in love with abunch of the other bunnies,

oh my goodness...it's so hard and feels cruel to pick & choose, but you just have to don't you!
 

 

We've been SO impressed & proud of all the shelter buns, because despite the long long drive,

they all do super super well in the truck.  And it's a great time for me to bond whiles Jon drives.

 

 

Although 48 hours prior and the whole entire day I had a super bad splitting migraine,

so it was difficult for me...my sweetheart was massaging my head any chance he had...

But I was too happy to let the pain stop me from going to get them or from smiling...

and the whole time in the shelter I actually completely forgot about the pain, ha ha!

 

Henrie & Elsie & I patiently waited in the truck

whiles Jonathan got us pizza & sushi for the haul back home.

Once the sun went down, the two feel fast asleep.  They were pooped.

But you could tell that they knew they were in good hands.
 

 

Elsie was out of the travelling cage within 10 seconds, ha ha.

They usually take longer than that.

 

Henrie was popcorning & zooming within 10 minutes, ha ha.  It was so awesome to see.

They are a super sweet bonded pair...brother and sister...awww.

Always snuggling & kissing.

They are our biggest buns yet at almost 10 pounds each (heavier than our Roo even).
 

 

They seem to LOVE their room.  It's pretty big and perfect for these big bunnies.

Elsie loves the couch.

It just feels SO perfect to have them here... 



and SO FAR they are so well behaved.  We are super impressed.

 

 

They seem to have settled in super fast and they seem to love it here

which makes my heart grow a million times.

I know the shelter takes great care of them

but there's nothing like a loving forever home for these beautiful sweethearts. 



 

The shelter said they were super snuggly rabbits and holy smokes are they ever.

Especially Elsie, she'll cuddle for hours on end.  It's really very very awesome.

 

 

We've been taking turns sleeping in the room with them at night...just for the first little bit,

to make sure they feel safe and also to see what they get up to,

incase we've missed anything in our bunny-proofing.

Who wouldn't want to wake up to these two gentle giants smooshed up against your pillow, ha ha.

 

 

So that was our big wonderful news.

Elsie & Henrie have joined our family.

And we could be happier about it.

They are awesome and amazing. 



Welcome home new babies...welcome home.  XXOO.

 

(p.s.  We'll introduce you to the new little guy as soon as we bring him home & he's settled in).