Summers End

We've been having a very difficult summer, starting with me, continuing most frightfully
with my honey the past month, we're still in recovery/cope mode right now, it's been hard...
Give me some time and I'll start to catch you up a little bit on what's been going on.

It's been a really hard summer, if I think about it I honestly want to cry!
I am feeling quite raw & emotional right now so today in efforts to cheer myself up, I post about some of the lovely days of summer, which yes, ha ha, is usually us out in the yard with the buns!

Pencil On Watercolour Paper

I really fell in love with using my beloved colored pencils on really textured watercolor paper.

I feel like the colors are so deep and I can layer like crazy, especially with the Prismacolor.

Sometimes I drag my heels on images because I am multi-passionate & can't decide on a medium.

 but now and then an image just scream on out

"I want to be done in watercolor...I want to be a lino cut...I want to be ink pen on board"

I love it when that happens and I try not to ignore the instinct.

I am Back!

Hey guys, sorry for that really long unplanned absence.

I am back and my goodness I've missed this blog of mine!

I was away for a few reasons but the main one was just simply that

life has been kicking my ass lately!

Long story short,

my migraine life got really bad and at the same time I took part in the Migraine Summit

which was pretty overwhelming for me as I don't think I've ever fully accepted how much

my life as a migraineur affects me, so for lack of better words,

I kinda went into a mourning for lost dreams (more on that later on).

Than I let all kinds of stress from all kinds of directions hit me and pile up

and my body got pretty darn sick let me tell you...I ended up in the hospital on two occasions

and just a couple weeks ago was experiencing a very scary heart issue...all due to stress.

Another big point of stress for me has been being a vegan in a very cruel uncaring non-vegan world

(more on that later too for that's a pretty big issue!).

I have also been diagnosed with a new thing that I am not quite ready to chat about yet

as I am still accepting it and processing it...it's nothing horrible, just something I'll have to deal with.

Than our Flynn got very sick for about a month & we thought we would lose him.

And this happened not even a month after we lost our Henrie to a heart attack.

And in between all of that my sweet sweet man has been having problems with his ears

and we've been dealing with long sleepless nights on the floors etc with stasis and gas

in mostly Leisel and Misa, who are prone to these problems...

Life with so many rescues is always rewarding but hardly ever very easy.

But I am feeling Spring full now...I am soaking in the birdsong...

looking forward to a new season with hopefully very little drama and losses

and a new season with a much stronger grip on how I let stress rattle me!

So start visiting me here again okay...I am back...and I have so much to share XOXO

Respect For Earth

I was so happy to be asked to join an awesome group of artists for this group exhibition in May.

I am not sure which pieces I will show quite yet but I am really looking forward to it.

(correction:  The exhibition will actually be running until mid-June)

Summer Colours

Just one of several pieces I have on the go right now (& a doodle),

I am being inspired by summer colours I think.

We have been on holidays so studio work has slowed down some.  Before we know it we'll be hibernating inside for a long cold winter so yard time for us & the buns is priority right now.

Pishner Coming Along

Mr Pishner Toppingale is almost complete, the colored pencil part is atleast.  People always ask me how I come up with my character names but it's no secret & it's simple, they just pop into my head.

I have quite a few new pieces to show you all but my scanner is still dead & I haven't found

a decent replacement that I am happy spending my money on yet so bare with me!

Quiet & Raw But Good

I've been back at it...

to art & bunnies & all the good beauty amidst the bad...

Things are still very raw and we are feeling very quiet...

But Jaks obviously doesn't have many days left, he needs me back at work,
at my desk, keeping his old bones company.
I admit I feel embraced & bolstered by the cozy whimsy of my art spaces.

Shimmering Rabbity Sweetness

This has been what my desk upstairs looks like, full of little beauties getting their finishing touches.

I love this part...applying varnishes, clean edges, titling, adding sparkles, attaching hangers etc.

As I was telling you in one of my last posts, I work all over the house to get work done whiles I

spend time with all of our 9 rescue buns so I work on quite a few pieces all at the same time...

For a spell it seems like I am getting nothing new done and than all of the sudden bam a whack

are finished and lovely and whimsical and shimmering with good happy rabbity mojo, ha ha!

Pishner Toppingale Started

I have to be able to work in all kinds of corners of the house...

wherever a bunny needs company is where I have to be able to get some kind of artwork done...
On top of getting up every 10 minutes to see what a rambunctious bunny is up to
I also move between my work areas scattered throughout the house ALOT!

It's proven to be the only way to mix my two passions of bunnies & art
(with a life of debilitating chronic pain!)

For example, in Jaks room, I have several pieces going, coloured pencils, mixed medias & weaving's.
Whiles 'Florin Blue' is being done in the living room for the evening bunny rotation.
In my downstairs studio I have 3 lino cuts in progress, pastels, sketches, computer stuff etc
and than in Higgins area I have sketchbooks and a desk set up for when feltwork/stitchery strikes me.
Whiles in a corner of Misa's rooms, on a teeny desk, I just conjured up this new bird character...
it's my way of having 9 buns & still getting lots done, it works...most days, when the pain isn't bad! 

Florin Blue In Progress...

Guys...look...Florin Blue is looking really pretty so far...

(Is it bad or cheesy when as artist says that?  hmmm I don't think so really,

we've got to like our own work after all because if we don't how can we expect anyone too right!?)

Anyhow, you know that excited feeling you get in the middle of a new piece,

that "This Is Going To Be One Of My Best One Yet..." feelings?...

I've got that feeling with this one & usually with that feeling I move slowly so I don't mess up

but with this one, I am so anxious to see how it turn out & if I was right, it's speeding right along.

(Well okay okay...speeding along as quickly as colored pencils allows anyhow ha ha!)

I Can't Wait To Show You...

This pretty gal is all done & I am so anxious to show you, she's going to make for lovely art prints

BUT my scanner is dead again....and of course so is my printer!...

Technology and I don't tend to get along well!!! So I've got to figure those 2 situations out asap

& than I'll be back on track to showing you images & shipping orders out, bear with me!!!

Prepping Pretties & Feeling Grateful

I've been spending a lot of time preparing/finishing up linears and transferring them to paper.

I like to do this in piles so that I have a huge stack of work all ready to go for when my desires

switch from working with lines and pencil to needing to work colour and shapes.

(as you can see from my studio bulletin boards, I always have a lot of drawings & linears on the go)

This week as school begins again, I am reminded of how amazing it is that I get to make art full-time.

I've come a loonnnggg wwaaayyyy, I've worked my ass off, I've paid my 'dues'

but knowing all that I am still so aware every single day of how lucky

I am to spend my day with art & bunnies and my working-from-home honey.

Sketching With Fruit & Bunnies

Just give days full of sketching time, bunnies to snuggle and fresh fruit

and I am one happy and content gal (even with a sore head!).

It's been a pretty rainy summer

but I honestly don't mind one bit really because it just means more of these favorite things!

Sweet Shipping

I am not one of those artists who complains about having to spend time packing & shipping my art!

I L-O-V-E prepping my shipping stuff & packing things up perfectly & adding little extra goodies.

All of you out there who have been ordering  my artwork, THANK YOU, it means SO MUCH XO.