Wine

Wine ~ and another chance to play with one of my favorite palettes, van dyke red, dioxanine purple and yellow. Limited palettes are a great way to experiment with painting techniques. I happened upon this palette after visiting a Rembrandt exhibition, inspired by his use of low light and glow...

By Julie
"Wine"
Acrylic, mixed media on canvas

These Boots

A smaller piece, found myself in that denim and leather mood again...

"These Boots"
By Julie
Acrylic on canvas

"I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be." ~ Douglas Adams

Playing in van dyke red, dioxanine purple and yellows...

Eavesdropping

Sorry folks, I need to get this off of my chest...

I always thought it was rude to eavesdrop.
But I have been left no choice.
The prolific use of cell phones these days has made it impossible not to.

On a casual day I become party to plans for a birthday bash, an argument with a financial institution, a squabble with Mother, the dimensions of the room to be installed with new laminate or tonight's plans at the nightclub.

A loud and happy "Hello!" has me spinning around in the direction of the greeting only to discover the intended target is actually on the other end of a cell phone or ear-piece.

The friendly taxi driver is speaking to me then suddenly wanders off into another language and conversation. At first I thought he was talking to himself until I spied the earpiece. Our conversation had just disappeared into thin air replaced with another.

Now don't get me wrong. I am not anti-cell phone. I believe they can be a life-saver in an emergency, right up there with those On-Star devices installed in newer vehicles. I just haven't had the opportunity (thankfully) to witness that kind of conversation.

Though as a pedestrian in Victoria I was almost taken out on a crosswalk on a few occasions by drivers distracted with their conversation on their cell. Would that driver have cut their conversation short and then used their cell phone to come to my aid and call for help? I wonder about that sometimes.

I don't suffer from that here in Edmonton however. Since I discovered people here like to drive like the flames of hell are licking at their heels, I choose not to indulge in the pedestrian lifestyle as much. After 2 years of living here I understand why so many people opt for driving a Hummer.

I am not from the dark ages - someone waxing nostalgic for the 'good ol'days , I too have a cell phone. Though most of the time I struggle to remember my own number. I prefer to have people phone me at home.
I am from the mindset that if you call me and I am not home, that must mean I am busy.

My cell phone is a great alarm clock though. That little alarm function gets more of a work out then my cell minutes ever do.

I was taught that it is impolite to eavesdrop.
But I have been left with no choice... Many cell phone users speak much louder into their cell phone then they would face to face.

So, forget calling Cassie if she continues to stand you up. Go with the cream colored short shag vs the Berber. Besides, you just said they are the same price and the shag will feel softer to your feet. It's a great deal if the lights are 50% off but another week will garner you a savings of 70%. I think the Oilers will get their butt kicked in the next game, their vibe is off right now. Is that strange rash you are getting diagnosed for contagious? An RRSP loan is only good if you can support the additional debt that it will place on you without suffering financial hardship. To me it makes more sense just to get the extra money taken of each pay, at the end of the year, voila! You have your funds for an RRSP without having to have incurred more debt!


Pardon?

Oh, sorry ...
I thought you were talking to me...

Bamboo Moon

I enjoy working with texture and bold color ...Moonlight is a theme that shows up frequently in my work, as does symbolism. In China, bamboo is a symbol of longevity...in India, a symbol of friendship.

By Julie
"Bamboo Moon"
12" x 36"
Acrylic Mixed Media on Canvas

"I often think that the night is more alive and more richly colored than the day."~Vincent Van Gogh

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!