Feather Song

All done...I've titled this one

'Feather Song'

prints will be in my shop by the end of this week, they may be in a limited edition.

Looking Promising

I won't have "Feather Song" completed today to show you so instead here's a peek at a new lino...

I've been doing a lot of linos, most I don't like enough to show but this ones looking promising.

I Love Feathers

All done...I am just cleaning the scan up... 

I'll show you hopefully tomorrow if my head cooperates!

My Inspiration In Jelly Bean

We had to bring Jaks into the vets this past week which we worked ourselves up over!
He wasn't sick past the usual congestive heart failure we've been battling for 2.5 years now
but the doctor needs to see him atleast once a year in order to renew his meds
and unfortunately but understandably our rabbit doctor doesn't do house calls.
He hates the truck, he hates change and we were so worried he would have a heart attack.

 
 

So we bundled him up in a basket with the softest blanket in the house and tried to stay calm...
It was hard on him, he did shake, his breathing wasn't great, it was uncomfortable but he did it.
I sat there looking at my oldest boy so impressed and I thought it's not just luck helping him last,
it's in large part his tough spirit & tenacity & I realized if he can do something difficult like this
than I can continue to navigate all of my pain with grace...he is a dose of inspiration plain & simple!

Food Friday

I've been vegetarian for a really long time and going the step further to being Vegan

was easy once I educated myself on the horrors of the dairy industry.

It was made easier too because typically I don't crave anything super much (except for coffee!)

BUT once in a while I was still craving just one thing...tuna salad sandwiches!

Well a couple weeks ago my honey tried his had at Tuna-Free Tuna salad sandwiches

and holy crap, we are over the moon with it and right now it's all we want to eat!

You gotta try this recipe like now...  

Tuna-Free ‘Tuna’ Salad Sandwiches (My honey's recipe)

         19-oz can of salt-free chickpeas, drained and rinsed

         ½ cup vegan mayo

         2 tbsp dijon or whole grain mustard

         2 tbsp Maggi

         1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

         4 tsp celery seeds

         2 celery rib, chopped

         2 tbsp minced green onion or red onion or shallot

         ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

         2 tbsp dulse flakes (or more to your taste)

Mix all ingredients in food processor, just don't blend too much,

spread on your favorite bread and HELLO YUM.

Something Feathery On My Desk

Last year was such an off year for getting new work done.

I let life interfere with my studio/art time wayyyy way too much

and this year I was determined not to do that....

And already I feel good about what and how much I am getting done

and that's even on top of almost constant head pain, so I really hope I can keep this momentum.

I feel like I am all the sudden leaving more white space in my imagery too...

it's feeling like a lightness, breathing space for the main elements...I don't know why but it's working.

I have some new linos brewing too that I can't wait to show you!

A Pretty Bird

I love doing birds...so here's the first one of 2018...

the feather work is complicated so I am going gently, letting the colours lead me slowly...

this one is in Polychromos on stonehenge, a heavenly mix.

I think I might try something totally new for me, which is to leave the background white...

'What, you may ask'! ha ha, I know, it'll be a first and it'll be different because I am soooo used to filling in the background with colours as bright as the main part but I think for this one it'll be right.

Miss Misa

Misa wanted me to hop in and say 'Hi' for her...and that she hopes your all kicking back...

and stretching your legs out lots and relaxing...cause kindness starts with your own self XO.

Tiny Chisel

Tiny lines...

Tiny tiny chisel.

Share Sunday

Share Sunday...

Link 1:  How to do your own breast exams...

It's no secret...Woman should take self breast exams very seriously...I do...

especially after going through a scary time after I found a lump in my own breast a few years ago.

Link 2:  How to make effective To-Do lists...

cause with a new year just starting it's the perfect time

I love my to-do lists...mind you, mine have to be used with a lot of fluidity because of my migraines my own personal trick is stick-it notes, so I can easily move tasks to a new day when need be.

Just Around The Corner

Psssstttt...A little soul is waiting to change your life

at a shelter just around the corner nearest you!!!  XOXO.

Food Friday

At first I wasn't a huge fan of the Tofurky logs but now I really like them because I know how to

prepare them properly and now after holidays when they are on sale

we buy several for the freezer so that we can have them on non-holiday times too.

Trick 1:  You gotta slice the log deeply on all sides so the baste seeps in

Trick 2: surround the log with loads of veggies (and cook all of it covered)

we use lots of potatoes, carrots, turnips, onions, garlic and sometimes like here, green peas.

Trick 3: When you serve it, slice it very thinly, not thick, trust me it makes a difference

Trick 4:  Make your own gravy cause the one comes with kinda sucks!
and don't forget the cranberries & vegan stuffing....hello Tofurky!

Headed Into Cozy

We are headed into a weekend that's going to look a lot like this...studio time and bunnies...

The typical winter weekend...my favourite as you know already...hope your cozy as a bug too XO.

Foggy Night

Sometimes you just have to venture out into the late night when everyone sleeps...

When it's a sudden warm snap and the ice melts to create delicious colours and ghostly mist...

when your schedule is all messed up because your little fur-child got super sick and you didn't sleep 

for 2 days so your schedule is all messed up & you can't sleep from the stress of it all!

Yep, sometimes you just gotta head out into the fog, to find that that's where you finally breath deeply
& feeling grateful that everything luckily turned out okay, you than head home to bed smiling!

I Messed Up

I was so happy with how my nesting doll was turning out

but than I worked on her during a bad migraine when I shouldn't have and guess what

I completely screwed up the background!  I made it way too dark, I used the wrong medium,

I wanted to scream but than I calmed myself down and said okay Mandy, this is fixable...

The only thing to do was to cut her out which was more difficult than usual because
she's on thick watercolour paper but after I cut her out it was looking good again, phew!

So now I am just inking the thick paper sides so they aren't so noticeable than I'll lay her back
down, this time when I figure out the background I'll wait until I am clear headed!!!

Fiarella/Flynn

I was just looking at this older piece of mine called Fiarella

(prints are in my shop if your liking her)

She's still one of my favorite pieces done in the past few years...

My inspiration for her came when I was trying to imagine what Flynn's grandma would look like

I am so grateful that my inspiration for my art & stories

is so abundant throughout our home every single day...

these little rescues of ours are everything good and amazing.

Share Sunday

I have only have one link to share with you this Share Sunday & Misa & I hope you'll check it out

because it's oozing with sweetness that'll just squeeze your heart...

It's a 30 minute short called "Stickman"...we LOVE it sooooo.

I know your time online is short like mine but I am positive you'll adore it too if you give it a try!

Sweet Saturdays

I LOVE these freezing cold winter Saturdays (as we rest up from a big scare with Yuuji this week)

you know the ones that are just drenched in sunlight

where it's too damn cold to go out anywhere...

where you stay inside all happy as clams...all warm and snug...

My New Year head-pain wise hasn't been off to a cracking start,

I've been having more pain-filled days than not BUT that's okay because in between that crap,

I get all of this too...sun-dappled precious as pie bunnies,

a cozy sweet home and a gorgeous kind sweet vegan man waiting for/helping me. Ahhh Good stuff.

Food Friday

I will keep sharing food ideas on my blog for 2018 because well I love food, it's such a part of life

and I feel very lucky for all the beautiful kind food that we create and get to enjoy...

and I want to show that you can still enjoy amazing food whilst living a vegan lifestyle.

This has been my favorite breakfast lately, I hope you try it, it gives me good fuel for the day...

Vegan Pate (click here for my recipe), salted kumatos, delicious green avocado &

lemon juice sauteed asparagus...YUM.

A Place Of Happy

I am trying a new studio schedule,

as much of a schedule one can keep with migraine/headaches anyhow

and it's feeling really good so far...there are some growing pains of course but that's okay.

I love my studios...I am lucky to have two, one upstairs and a bigger one downstairs,

they are undoubtedly my happy places, especially because I get to share them with rabbits.

Where is your happy place?  send me a link, I love seeing where other people spend their time.

New Vinyl For A New Year

So last Fall I found myself a huge roll of vinyl for printmaking

and with some wrangling and fighting I got enough of the sucker rolled out on the floor

so I could cut off a large piece and than that into smaller pieces.

I am so so happy with it...it cuts like a dream, let alone when it's heated on my heat-board.

Mind you, it's been rolled up for 7+ years so it's not going to loose it's curl easily,

I'll have to sandwich a whack of it in between boards and

leave it by my studio heater in hopes that that helps it flatten out eventually!

But it feels so good to be cutting again after long holidays away from it.

It's part of my day that I love so much...AM's with vinyl and Misa at my side nibbling my feet.

Snowy & Cold But Snuggy

I always wonder about where you, my readers and visitors are visiting me from specifically...

I don't know about your Winters but around here it's been such a cold and snowy winter.

We had over two weeks with Siberian temperatures & winds with

some days seeing us in the -30's and a few times we even dipped into the -40's.

I don't mind it so much myself, in fact I enjoy it because it makes inside all that much more cozier

and my honey works from his home office much of the week too (plus autostart on the Jeep helps!)

but it's a long season for the 7 buns, especially the snow buns like Yuuji and Leisel,

so for their sake I hope it warms up so that we can get out there for some snow play & fort building!

Starting With A Pink Bunny

I have so many plans for studio work...probably way too many to be anywhere near realistic...

Excitement builds, at the drop of a hat, about the smallest art project & keeps me up at nights!

I won't list them, they are my delicious little secret until I let you all see them...

But as I work harder, I must also just try my hardest to get as many of them done as I can,

because towards the end of 2017, I really realized just how much time I loose to chronic head pain.

My word is still "Fluidity" I'll let the year flow as it's meant to & as it has to,

BUT this yes I going to do my best not to let anything superfluous run away with my time & energy!

I am diving into myself and into my art more than every before...
I will offer my heart & soul through colour and shape and composition.

I begin small and sweetly and excitedly with a pink leaping rabbit...

I can't wait to see 2018 unfold, pain-riddled or not, your going to be beautiful XO