Lest We Forget

Today is Remembrance Day in Canada.

We go to a local ceremony to remember the sacrifices made for the country we love.

Every year, Oliver and Charlotte seem to get more out of the event than they did the year before.

Walking back to the car afterwards, we paused to admire the historical neighborhood as well.

Oliver and Charlotte, watching the regiments pass by.

This was an intriguing abandoned house.  We all agreed, haunted, for sure!

A mossy late-autumn tree.

A lovely jumble in this garden.

Many houses in the neighborhood shared in the character of this home.

 


Hoping everyone else had a chance to pay their respects on this important day!

Lovely Days

Some snapshots of recent adventures!

We recently had a chance to get away from town to discover a sweet coastal community, Sechelt.

We could hardly believe this beautiful playground we discovered overlooking the ocean:

One sunny Sunday, we roamed around Main Street in Vancouver, were I got lots of new ideas and inspirations for art lessons.

This picture we took of Oliver and Charlotte on the walk astonished me...they are growing so quickly!

Teachers in BC recently took some time out of the classroom to learn a new curriculum.

The Parks Board in our town arranged for various camps to keep the children busy that day.

Oliver and his oldest friend (they have known each other since their birth!) Hudson, canoed the local lake.

Being a stay at home mom (mainly) has its perks;  the local library pulls out their bins of lego on rainy days...we spent more than half a day there recently, building little magical worlds and special memories:

I had the privilege of being invited as guest art instructor at the Rhododendron Festival at the Lake last Sunday.  There must have been a hundred people who tried their best to draw a bee with the graphite pencils we had on hand...I managed to get some photos!

Hope you have all been well too!

Discoveries

This a has been a lovely month.

One full of  joyful times with family and also creative moments, as always.


We beachcombed locally, just the four of us.

I led my class (these students are 10 years old!) at the studios by the river, in painting a local icon, the Samson V.  

Here are some results:

I just discovered Lily & Madeleine...their harmonies have been my soundtrack this month.

Lily & Madeleine

At Oliver's hilltop elementary school, I spotted this lovely group project in the hallway between two classes, symbolizing student and teachers' desire to work with and respect one another.  I can see ribbons with names on them, likely woven into the mix by each individual.  Lovely both in form and function!

November Photo Journal

Woah!  November ran away from me!

I've been happily busy, teaching art around town and keeping haus, as always.  Here are some discoveries and highlights from the past month, in the studio and out:

Winter may never come!  Spotted this lovely flower & herb bed nearby recently.

I was happy to be called upon to fill in for an art instructor at the beautiful Anvil Centre recently.  Happily, the 'handprint birds' the littles and I made were framed and hung in the gallery there!

Mr. Hausfrau and I left the hill for a short escape to Vancouver Island
mid-month with the littles.  The parliament buildings at night are spectacular.

Oliver and Charlotte and I spent a cozy weekend at my parents' house.

Whilst running errands in downtown Vancouver, we stopped into the lobby at the
Four Seasons hotel.  Isn't it lush?  I love all the natural elements and colours
used in the decor.

Students in my "Printmaking and Collage" class worked on some collaged ATC's
recently.  They lingered over the trading session for a long time.  Love it!

On November 11th, we honored those who have served to protect Canada and
remember those who have lost their lives doing so.

And finally, a single from the album I've got playing on repeat these days...

Now that my classes are all done  until the new year, I'm focusing on some new studio works which I will share here soon!


What's new in your world?  Reading, listening, eating anything fabulous you can share with us?  Post in the comments below...I'd love to hear from you!

Trend + City Art

I get regular requests to post my project design ideas sooooo: here's another one!

The girls over at Port and Quarter in Vancouver actually inspired this concept.  The 'hometown homage' has long been on my list of potential art themes and this week I introduced it in both my kid and the adult classes.

With the children, we focused on our own lakeside town, Burnaby, BC (otherwise know as BBY).  I found a comprehensive map of the city, printed off a copy for each artist (in black and white) to use as our collage base.  Then some quick practice at drawing letters, et voila!

Here is the map we used:

After the children cut the map up and arranged the bits on the black cardstock, they smeared some custom blended periwinkle acrylic paint here and there, using plastic forks for some added texture.  They drew the 'BBY' letters onto a pretty contrasting mint coloured cardstock and outlined them in black sharpie.  After they had been cut out and glued onto the page, they used some yellow and orange washi tape (sourced at none other than IKEA!) to add pops of colour.  A coat of clear high-gloss finishing medium was the very last step.

We had many different arrangements from the students.  I think the finished products turned out really well!

Do you have any home decor that pays homage to your city, or a place that you love?

Discoveries

The City gardeners have outdone themselves with this late-summer garden outside the Burnaby Art Gallery.

Charlotte calls this piece 'A Picky Eater's Delight'

Discovered this gorgeous mural whilst roaming in Port Coquitlam, BC recently.

Charlotte couldn't resist this brawny Captain.

A simple old-timey bakery at one of our favorite spots, the Burnaby Village Museum.

Mr. Hausfrau and I had a lovely day to ourselves a little while ago.   The riverside lunch was perfection!

Summer Summary

As every summer, I'm less in the studio, more living life with the littles who are home from school.

Galiano Island, BC - Summer 2015

Here's a sampling of my summer, so far:



Listening

 - Armistice

- Charlotte Cardin

- Egyptian


Eating

 - nectarine + tomato salad

 - grilled herby shrimp

 - the 'insanity' burger


Reading

 - The Wilder Life


Watching

 - Amy

 - The Paradise

 - The Killing


Exploring

 - Galiano Island

 - The Fort Winery

 - lake canoeing



What's on your list?  What's appearing on/in your dinner table/ headphones/ nightstand this summer?

Finds. Favorites. Flowering.

Some additions to the photo journal this week:

Our container garden is in full bloom

We painted the powder room the colour that had been keeping me
up with excitement...and of course finally hung the Grant Haffner
paintings I'd been obsessed with as of late!

Big news in our world:  we are able to buy mâche salad locally now.
Reminds me of summering in Switzerland...

One of Oliver's (aged 7.5) latest paintings.

I love a good crime drama in the summer months.  Been watching 'The Bridge', a Danish/Swedish venture.  Soooooo good!

Anyone have a good fictional crime author or tv series recommendation?  Ghost stories are up my alley too.  Please share in comments if you do!

The Woods in May

The forest we live next to is ever changing.

These are some recent images of the path along the woods:

The springtime scenery has inspired me.

This original abstract is my homage.

Waldrand - available here

Hope you are all able to enjoy a late-May walk out in nature too!

Perspectives. Pardanthopsis. Paintings.

Current faves and raves...

Am loving the work of Grant Haffner at the moment.

This iris (aka: pardanthopsis) bouquet is most definitely not
an apology from Mr. Hausfrau for coughing up a lung outside our
bedroom door while I was trying to sleep in.  Repeatedly.

The spring skies up on our hill.

This is a local band called 'The BC Trees'.  One of their members, Matt Houghland (far left), is a grade 4/5 teacher at Ollie's school and recently performed this at a tree planting ceremony on school grounds.  Inspired!

Pentatonix take on Daft Punk.

New up on our hill: the Trottier Observatory.  How lucky we are...just steps away from premier star gazing equipment!  Our perspective has just become that much greater...

What is spicing up your life these days?  Got new music, book, foodie or destination inspirations to share??