Life in the fast Lane- The Dishes can wait.

We all brag about how fast our lives are moving and how we are spinning out of control with to do list after to do list and our life in the 'fast lane'. I am calling a stop to it. Sit grab a cup of coffee, tea, espresso, wine or whatever your favourite beverage is, sit, pick up a book and read... The Dishes can wait.

Anyone who has time
to clean is not reading enough.

Download your own Bookmark to colour in!

Take your salad from boring to extraordinary!

Lightening up January... We should all eat salad but they can be kinda boring, one way to take them to extraordinary is with dressing. My husband and I have a go to dressing that he borrowed from a Buddhist retreat in San Francisco that turns out was borrowed from an artists retreat center on the British Columbian coast (my home territory) named for the institution Hollyhock dressing  that we renamed Crack Dressing that I now refer to as NOOCH* dressing because of its main ingredient nutritional yeast. We use it mostly on salads but it can be a good Buddha bowl dressing, or tossed on roasted veggies as a side.

If you make this dressing you won't go back.

Enjoy!

*Nooch is a term I learnt from the Thug Kitchen's cook book, the recipe isn't in there but it should be. Some people hate the word.... But I love it!

Good Morning Monday Musings... Rest In Peace David Bowie.

I am pretty sure we have all heard the news today (just in case I put off posting)... This is my Good Morning Musing... My husband let me sleep in knowing what I was about to wake up to. As a young girl growing up in the 80's and 90's David Bowie had a huge impact on me. 

The Stars Look Different... Today

I am sure it will come as no surprise but Labyrinth is my all time favorite movie. David Bowie gave all of us the permission to be our weird selves. With heavy heart Rest in Peace David Bowie.

Back to the grind? A simple Meal Cooks itself.

It's  back to the January grind and in keeping with my goals of creating more time for myself to practice my trade, this is a fast meal for weeknights that requires little time to prep. It cooks itself and is slurped up by my family every time it is made. Make an extra batch to reheat or use for Eggplant Parmesan!

Easy weeknight Tomato Sauce

How Simple is that?
Enjoy...

New Year Has Begun: a Perspective on Resolutions

With the New Year beginning it is time to check in once more and see where I was a year ago and where I want to be a year from now. I don't feel like my resolutions are in fact the life altering go from zero to a hundred type but more like am I on track?... What can I do better? ... How has what I've done fit into my goals and are my goals still the same... What can I do to move forward

Warning! This shit is going to get personal.
I want to be a Surface Pattern Designer and Illustrator...

The Next few Images are chronological order to give you some idea of where I came from!

One of the very first handmade Repeats I ever made, uploaded to Ai
and loosely put together. Late 2013

Original on vellum (Still a favourite drawing surface).

What have I done this past year to make that happen? I have developed mad Illustrator Skills- I never believed that I could learn such a complex thing. For 2016 I want to make it part of my daily routine... Practice Practice Practice. My family has been priority number one and often I use that as a distraction to not practice, so developing my skills has been a tad slow and I have not seen the results I always want. So in 2016- make more time for myself. Yes kids that means more chores!

Figured out how to clean it up early 2014

And turn it into a repeat!

By 2015 it was a matter of practice!

Early 2015

Spring 2015

October 2015

Style is another area I felt that was lacking- I have a personal style but had not had an illustrative style- I have always been here there and everywhere picking up on on different mediums, trying new techniques, in truth my drawing style has always been more lifelike renderings... I have had in the past wanted perfection- I have a personal mantra: If you can do it right then don't do it at all. Meaning don't do a job half assed (for me it is all about craftsmanship) but somewhere I started using it as a cop out to not do things I was not good at and I was limiting myself to only doing what I knew. So this year I started playing around which led to doodling and letting go. And it turns out I was still doing the best job I could do but it was different. Through experimentation I discovered I do have a natural drawing style that feels somewhere between a doodle and accurate representation, that is both slightly quirky and realistic. It also reflects my interests in food, drink, travel, minimalism and abundance. In 2016 I want to see that grow and turn into a solid body of work that I can call my signature style.

Turns out I love black and white!
I also love color but that is for another post.

In 2015 I said I want to be a Surface Pattern Illustrator, this year I am declaring this is who I am. I need to present that to the world. By honing my in on my strengths, skills and developing my style. My outward goal for 2016 it build my brand, sell myself and get a gigs... Personally I want to pay for a house cleaner and buy a Shasta camper, but hey I will take doing what I love, feeling fulfilled and contributing to my family, being a positive role model and good example as a job well done.

PS... I added the images after I wrote the post and I can see that I have had a slightly similar aesthetic all along!