I’m gearing up for the first big market of the year this weekend – Portobello West. It’s a 2 day event, so the art factory has kicked into high gear over the last little while, trying to get some of my newest paintings turned into prints and lockets and all sorts of goodies!

I’m so looking forward to getting out of the studio and meeting my customers face to face again. As much as I love my little online shop, it’s a special thrill to watch people look over my work in person and then snatch up something they really love to take home. It’s an amazing feeling. If you’re in the lower mainland, come say hello!

March 27th + 28th, 2010
Portobello West
Rocky Mountaineer Station
1755 Cottrell Street
google map link

noon – 6 p.m.
Vancouver, BC

Finishing up a new painting tonight inspired by the book Where the Wild Things Are. I loved the book as a kid and wasn’t at all disappointed with the movie adaptation, unlike some other recent children’s books that have become blockbusters. Ahem, Mr. Burton, I’m looking at you.

While I thoroughly enjoyed painting those terrible yellow eyes, I did run into a bit of trouble while painting the edges of the canvas. I usually paint the edges a dark brown or whatever color works with the painting, so that you can hang it without necessarily needing a frame. Easy enough -except when you DROP the canvas on the floor. Face down, of course.

Fortunately it was *just* about dry, so I didn’t have a total mess on my hands, but I did spend a good long while picking dog hair out of
the monster’s fur. I was tempted to just leave it in there to add to the authenticity. Hehe

Ferry trips are still novel enough to me that they make any trip feel like a *real* holiday. I kept hoping I’d see a pod of dolphins or a
big orca pop out of the water. Alas, no excitement, but I’m taking my grandma to the casino in Victoria, so I guess we’ll have to make our own! My grandma’s so cute. I wish we lived closer.

Hands down my favorite part of the trip was a visit to Miniature World in Victoria, BC. They created all sorts of incredibly detailed miniature displays, from civil war reenactments to historical dollhouses (think Tara from Gone with the Wind) to crazy city scenes depicting the circus coming to town. I could have spent HOURS in there, drooling over the teeny tiny details and snapping photos.

If I ever have enough room for a workshop space, I am so turning into a miniature world of my very own. This guy will definitely want to move into one of my artist studio apartments:

OK and this guy too:

More (and larger) photos on my Flickr page.

I finally caved to the Apple takeover and bought an iPhone to take with me on our roadtrip. So far it’s been great and already proved its worth by allowing me to receive and reply to a few very important emails. Plus it’s just fun!

Assuming this blog post works out, it’ll make posting on the go a possibility too. Awesome!

Speaking of on the go, the mister and I are visiting friends in Portland who took us on a little tour of the gorge and Multnomah
Falls. Of course it started pouring rain and hailing as soon as we arrived, but that just added to the misty raw beautiful sights.

I did take a few more non-iPhone pics, but I’ll have to wait until we’re back home to upload those. And check on if this worked at all!

See you soon!

EDIT: It worked! A little wonky in parts, but nothing a few minutes of HTML tinkering can’t fix. A couple more photos of the falls below.

Why yes, that IS bacon on my doughnut, thankyouverymuch. On my list of places to stop by while in Portland, my mister voted strongly in favor of Voodoo Donughts.

We were not disappointed. Bacon sounds weird on a dessert, but the maple glaze and doughy goodness reminded me of bacon drizzled with syrup, sitting beside your pancakes and eggs on a breakfast plate. Yum!