Too cold for ice cream

This has got to be the coldest weather I have ever experienced in my life. I walk to work and I literally have to wear so many layers and I still freeze. It only take less than ten minutes to get to work but I have to run. It is too cold and dangerous to walk. We had a terrible storm on sunday and the cat door in the basement blew snow inside we had to shut the cat door because the temperature was too severe; in the minus 40's for three days. Tonight it will be -37 before the wind chill. the cat has not been out in three days. he seems a bit depressed, but hanging in. i let him out and he can stand a minute of it and comes right in. I have been keeping a close eye on my bird feeders to make sure they don't run out. I get chickadee, nuthatches and so many other species. any given moment you look at the feeder there are over twenty birds.
The coolest thing happened I saw an arctic hare and then the other day I saw a large snowy owl, and there are deer everywhere near the base. And I finally don't here the chilling howls of the coyotes. I assume that this cold weather is normal for a person from alberta, but not for me. I lived most of my life in the maritimes a land where walking through slush is a daily activity. it is so strange for me to see all the roads covers with inches of solid ice and packed snow. It like you could skate to work. Gosh I just can't get warm

january blues

I am just not creative or i am too picky with my ideas. I have over 40 canvases in my studio and i am just not feeling any drive to paint right now. how to be inspired??? it will come to me shortly right now i will just wait. I have a job on base that pays very well. it is keeping me busy during these winter blahs. Trevor is in Wainwright during the week days and comes home on the weekend. so i started drawing in the evenings and going to the gym to keep myself busy. I having been toying with ideas or images of the birth of angels in a contemporary thought. females that are dead and then sprout wings. i wanted the skin to have a hint of blue in the tone. I wanted them to look strung out or emaciated and exhausted from the pain of wings coming out of their backs.I don't know just passing images that caught my eye.

Happy New Year

Its been a while but here I am. I just got back home from a long and excellent holiday in Quebec and Toronto. We started off the holiday shoveling the roof's of my parents houses one roof a day. 4 feet of snow each we got a great work out. Trevor learned to Snowboard and picked it up very quickly. He has a bruised tail bone but it will heal ( hope). I am just getting settled into getting back to work here. I will be working on some new pieces of work completely different that anything that I have done before. As well as work on some old projects. I am having a hard time with the time change in the sun rise so far up north. I checked the internet to see what the time the sun really rises and it is at 8:48 am and sets at 4:33 pm. check out this site.
www.timeanddate.com

You're in oil country

Tickets for troops, is happening this saturday nights hockey night in Canada. It is military appreciation night and season ticket holders gave up their tickets to military member. it will be a sea of green. It will be cool to be there. The Rexall Place will be packed. We will be at the late game starts at 8pm and the Edmonton Oilers are playing the Chicago Blackhawks.

slide show

I added a slide show application so we will see how that works out on my blog page. I am updating my photo album as well. Here is three new painting of my oil refinery series. I like em.

Pinks smoke

Here are two paintings I did yesterday. The apple blossom is meditative and the other one is part of the body of work "Canadian Issue." I am not sure if i should shade the area around the guy so it is not so highly contrasted, or keep it so intense. I like it, never thought pink would fit in that painting but it looks pretty cool.

Windy Days

We had a wind storm yesterday and it was a whole new experience to cold wind. I am from the eastcoast so if there is a wind storm and it is chilly out with blowing snow. That wind is going right into your bones. Eastcoast wind is wet and chilling, where you shiver. The wind here was fierce and blew over the farm fields surrounding the base. It was intense shaking the house and I felt the roof shingles creaking. The lids on the recycling bins in the parking lot across the way bent right in half. But the wind was not as cold as out east, it was not chilling and crappy. But I hear it gets really cold out here, so we are in for it. I had a meeting with the base commander yesterday about being an artist in residence and it was short and I got good feedback. But things here are going to take a lot more time, care in wording, and paperwork. Hopefully in January I will be able to get access to there photo, Nyalas, TOW and EME equipment. Here are 4 new painting.

new red bamboo painting 8 x16

Just working on my my holiday line. Tonight we are going to a semi-formal meet and greet dinner at the officers mess. This will be fun. Still have a sensetive stomache from the flu so I don't think I will be drinking. Oh well. I will be posting the pic of the paintings as I finish them. All of the holiday painting are for sale so if you like one just let me know. Mostly they will be bamboo, sea turtles and apple blossoms. Well got get ready.

artillery painting

Trevor who is in the infantry was like "Man, why you make the artillery painting so cool?" I thought that was pretty funny. Finally met some people on base and hopefully I will be able to finish this body of work. I am starting from scratch all over agian moving to a new base making new contacts, presenting proposals. It is going to take some time but I am up for it. I also am looking into some galleries to carry my work and I am on the waiting list for a table at the Old Strathcona market. I decided to get a job on base and at least make some money. I will be working in the kitchen, I am shocked at how much I will be getting paid. It makes me a little giddy and fuzzy inside. Still getting over the stomach flu, yucky. I started a book club on base which will start up in a week. I hope to meet new people and friends. I was not that successful in Oromocto, so isolating there. I have a good feeling about this place so keeping positive. Thats it for now hope you like the new piece it think it is a break through in my style.

New work

Here are some of the paintings I have worked on this week. I have 7 more ready to work on and about 15 blank canvases. I am working on applying for different festivals in the area at this time. I am also looking in to any openings for submissions for group shows.

LONG TIME

Sorry for the delay in keeping up with my Blog. It has been a life changing experience to move out to Edmonton. We moved in alright and got unpacked and now it is feeling like home. Trevor went away to Wainright for two weeks which is 2 1/2 hours south of here. He just got back on Nov 1st. Here are some pic of the new sectional (with pull out couch) we got at the Brick. and the view of the gym from my house. Which I am not going to Today because I have the stomache flue and I feel like ass. I am trying to figure out what I can eat that won't grose me out when it comes up. So far its lots of herbal teas and cereal. I have been looking at Galleries to sell my art in and I am just painting mostly turtles, bamboo and apple blossoms. In time I will start on the military painting but right now I would like to get established in the city and have a place that will showcase my work permanently.

last night in a hotel

We are finally moving into our new place tomorrow after staying in hotels for over 3 weeks. we hope to have internet installed and all that jazz in the next two weeks. So if I have yet to respond to anyone's emails it is because it is a pain in the ass to find a computer. Everthing will be up and running and back to buisness in two weeks at the latest. My new number incase anyone need to call me for question is 780-405-2110

september

Trevor was finishing up his Phase four officers training in CFB Gagetown and was soon to be permanently posted. He got posted to Edmonton with the 3 PPCLI. He asked me to marry him and I said yes, we decided to get married in Halifax and after only three weeks we had an awsome wedding. two days after the wedding our house was packed up and we drove to edmonton. we have been in a hotel since looking to find a place to live. We will be moving in to our new home in a week. blah. so much has happened in a month. we have slept in 20 different places so far. and I have driven in 7 different provinces....we have yet to check out a museum but we have seen all the malls.... looking for job and everybody is hiring...we bought a sectional sofa from the brick. That all for now, from the new army wife.

so much has happened

Well here goes, a long overdue update and so much has happened. the summer went well in Toronto, I took care of my sisters kids for part of each week and then worked selling my art on the street. here are some pics of the last few weeks of that. I started doing paintings with sea turtles and apple blossom trees.

Still in Toronto

I have not been able to go online for weeks. I am so busy. sorry for not keeping everyone posted on what is going on. I am still selling on fri-sun on queen st and during the week I am hanging out with my nieces and nephew.I will be here till then last week of september then i am back to oromocto.

Hot Days

I am on the street everyday now on Queen near Soho St. The heat is killer. I am usually there from noon till 8pm. I am getting a lot of great responses from the people on the street, so I am having a great time. I am pretty tanned and not eating too much but it is only for another month. There is a guy who stacks rocks on the street as a busker and they are really cool, I might draw on the side walk with chalk around his work as a collaborative perfomance in August.

latest pics

here are some of the new pieces i have finished.

warm july

I feel like I have brought the maritime weather to Toronto. It is not that hot here but not to worry apparently this week will be a hot one. I am very tanned now from being in the sun for 8 hour four days a week. I am doing some pretty cool new paintings and I should have some pics of them up this week. Sorry I haven't been writing to much on my blog. I am having serious separation anxiety from my computer that is in NB and I officially hate PC, I miss my Mac. I am thinking about buying a mac book they are so cute, i think that might go under a toy purchase. but i need it right about now, I hate going to a PC Internet place to write on my blog. It just feels wrong. I gave some of my art to go up for auction at a function at the Drake Hotel and that was pretty cool, it was for an interpretive dance group. I was interviewed by the daily gleaner in Fredericton and you can Google that and read the article online, I was interviewed by the CBC Radio this week about my body of work "Canadian Issue" it was the Fredericton CBC radio, I have no idea if that was aired or when. so far thats whats going on, thanks to everyones support out there you guys are my rock.

new gallery

Well I have been in Toronto for a week now. The bike ride home with all my gear is getting better. It takes me about an hour to get home from work. I live in the Annex and I sell on Queen and Spadina so it is a slow incline home. Twice I have made in home just before a crazy rain storm arrived. Just peddeling like crazy, too funny. I am have a great time selling, meeting some really cool people and getting in the groove of making some cool paintings while working. So far I have painted 6 canvases on the street. I would love to share them with you but I am not sure how to do that. I'll figure that out this week. I have a gallery that i sell my originals at and an agent. check out Norman Felix gallery at www.normanfelix.com

We stopped in Morin Height for Canada day and had an awesome time, fireworks and all. I Just arrived this week in toronto and I have been selling on Queen and Spadian for two days. It has been great, I am not to keen on how dirty I get by the end of the day, I am black all over. Today it rained for most of the day and it gave me a good 9 hours of work in to prepare for next week. Should I indulge you all in the bylaw chaos of Toronto. hmm that would be a very long rant, make a comment on my blog about what you think. Okay here goes, Basically there is no licence for a peddler. you can get a busker licence 88 bucks but its donation only by passer byes, you can't get a venders licence cause there are none and there hasn't been for 5 years. You can get a portraiture licence 500 bucks but you can't sell any art except what you draw of someone and the images you dispay can only be examples of portraits you have done. you also need 2 million dollars in insurance before you even can apply for the licence and get approved about 600 bucks. So my question is where is the peddler licence. So the people at the main office say i cannot have a portrait licence and the bylaw guys on the street say go back and get it and lie and say you are doing portraits. WTF??? SO I am doing it all basially by the end of it I will have several licences, this is nutts. I brought the cat and he is great, no problems on the drive or the move, I love my kitty. Oh yeah so cool I sold (got a donation for) one of my favorite painting this week, my Dead Kitty. I loved that piece. I got a new cell number if anyone cares 416-889-3175.