Storm Approach

A view of the country around Douglas, Manitoba. A little license taken with the storm approach, but that it is the joy of painting...

By Julie
"Storm Approach"
12" x 48"
Mixed media acrylic on Canvas

"If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint."~ Edward Hopper

The Kindle

Amazon's Kindle was finally released to Canadian buyers yesterday.

Now truthfully, I have never bought into the 'next new thing' electronic frenzy. I still use an ordinary flip phone rather then the iPhone or Blackberry with their 50,000 applications. Yet I never fully moved into the cell phone world either. I rarely use it, resent it if it rings and have to struggle to remember my own cell phone number at times. I never text and would probably be painfully slow at it if I did.

I am not a gamer so the world of Wii and PlayStation escape me. My computer, while reasonably solid, is not state-of-the-art with a 6 trillion GB hard-drive and all the bells and whistles( ~ though I am seriously switching from a PC to a Mac.

I bought my first DVD player a solid 5 years after they first came out. I still have a few VCR tapes kicking around here but no VCR to play them on.
In the realm of electronics, I am pathetic, a true novice.

Ahhh... but the Kindle. The Kindle makes me drool. I adore my book collection, but to have a library of 1500 or more at my fingertips? All the time?? It would be an impossibility for me to lug 1500 books around in my semi-nomadic lifestyle. I try to keep my permanent hard-copy library carved down to true classics and favorite titles for 'roam-ability', the kind I will read and re-read again and drag with me everywhere. Don't even ask me how many times I read "The Stone Angel" or "The Story of Zhara", or a number of my Pierre Berton and Emily Carr titles, it's almost embarrassing. I can almost hear someone out there saying "Good God woman, get a life!"

Don't even get me started on newspapers and periodicals. I adore publications like McLeans and Newsweek and Time, the local papers.

But I was sometimes lethargic on getting my blue bins and bags of recycled newspapers to the curb and with the thick nature of the papers today with their weekend editions and dozens of flyers, it was just a matter of weeks before you started to look like you were a hoarder and needed an intervention.

While I read a variety of genres, I am a sucker for anything Canadiana and period memoirs, historical and the classics. There are so many other books I want to read, but when moves are pending, or time is scarce, the time to peruse new titles on bookstore shelves becomes scarce. I tend to find many titles through Amazon these days. They offer a handy little suggestion feature that will offer up more titles of a similar author or genre when you are reading up on a particular title.

Amazon had a picture me in mind when they were developing their site, I am sure of it.
"Listen, if this chick likes this one, well offer her three more similar ones, she will probably buy them too!!"

Yes, they have my number.
A recent television documentary led me to the book "The Floating Brothel" by Sian Rees which led me to "The Fatal Shore: The Epic of Australia's Founding" by Robert Hughes. Now as a result of these first 2 books, I am considering purchasing the title " In a Sunburned Country" by Bill Bryson . Good grief.

Hell, I will read anyone's history, it need not even be my own! And what could be more interesting than a country founded on convicts??

But back to the Kindle.


Yes, the Kindle is for a girl like me.
I can't help myself. My finger is twitching over the 'Add to the Shopping Cart", knowing full well that this will head me down the slippery Amazon path of "Proceed with the Order."
God help me ~ I am turning into an electronic junkie.

...Just a very select one.


Disclaimer: The preceding blog was NOT endorsed by Amazon or the Amazon Kindle. It just looks like it.

The Dogs Are Barking

Just a fun little piece, an ode to summer and the season of flips flops. The pose, a testimony to any girl or woman who has spent too many hours on her feet.

By Julie
"The Dogs Are Barking"
Acrylic on Canvas

"It doesn't matter how the paint is put on, as long as something is said." ~ Jackson Pollock

Working on Songhees

This canvas is a 5ft x 5ft canvas of the Songhees Walkway, a beautiful stroll to be found on the Inner Harbor of Victoria BC. Stay tuned for more pictures of this large work-in-progress.

By Julie
"The Songhees"
5ft x 5ft
Acrylic on Canvas

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way--things I had no words for."~ Georgia O'Keeffe

Thanksgiving

Re-posted from an earlier date:


" Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting." ~Brian Tracy

I am an insatiable reader and collector of quotes. I appreciate being inspired and sometimes the right quote at the right moment can be just what the doctor ordered if life is not going as you had expected. A reminder that this experience of being human is a global one, that we walk amongst our peers, not strangers.

I remember it was around Thanksgiving that I had this experience as a volunteer at an inner city mission. Fresh fruit and vegetables were very desirable ~ but also very rare. Missions and soup kitchens often make due with whatever happens to come their way, usually in the form of bruised fruits and soft veggies that are at the brink of expiring.
On this particular day a large box of fresh vegetables arrived, and it appeared to be enough to be distributed to the people present ...what a treat!! Though an impromptu long line had formed, a number of people swarmed over the box, anxious to partake in its contents and it was depleted quickly till it was all but emptied, only a head of lettuce remaining. The next man in line paused and looked back at the 10 or so people still remaining. He took the head of lettuce out of the box, carefully opened the wrapper- and peeled off one leaf. Taking a piece of bread, he spread on some margarine, laid the lettuce leaf on it, folded the bread in half and quietly walked away. The next man followed suit, than the lady behind him, and so on...

The man in the line probably wasn't even aware of it, but his actions, his grace were a gift to all who witnessed it. And I received something that day that I know I won't ever forget...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Prairie Patchwork

Just a desire to take a prairie scene that was common to me and play with patterns!

by Julie
"Prairie Patchwork"
Acrylic on Canvas


"Art is the only way to run away without leaving home." ~Twyla Tharp

Chateau Frontenac

A piece from my earlier days that I decided to throw in here. Sorry about the grainy photograph, I did not have a digital camera back then, and knew almost nothing about photographing art. Somewhere amongst my photo files, I think I have a better picture...
It was a larger piece, 24" x 30" ... still one of the pieces that stood out as fun to paint until I thought I would count the windows I was in the midst of painting on the Chateau ...257....

By Julie
Chateau Frontenac
Acrylic on Canvas
Sold

"Your style is the way you talk in paint." ~ Robert Henri

Just Because...

Night themes featuring the moon show up a lot in my work. One of my favorite things to do is go for a stroll under the moonlight. Night is never just black, there are always many colors present. Add to that, I enjoy playing with patterns and textures, going off to explore a particular color palette, just because...

By Julie
Acrylic on Canvas
12" x 24"

"They thought I was a Surrealist, but I wasn't. I never painted dreams. I painted my own reality."~ Frida Kahlo

The Village

A friend's visit to India resulted in my acquiring a bright hand-made quilt from the region they were visiting. The women of the villages that sew these quilts usually sew vivid patterns and designs distinct to their particular region and village. This quilt is one of my favorite possessions and the whimsy, joyful fabrics, sequins and beads inspired this painting.

By Julie
"The Village"
18" x 24"
Acrylic on Canvas


"A work of art is above all an adventure of the mind."~ Eugene Ionesco

I am Every Woman

We share far more in common then not. It's part of the human condition...

By Julie
"I Am Every Woman"
Acrylic on Canvas
18" x 24"