liquid gold

in case you were wondering this is what 32 pounds of bees wax looks like

i'm teaching encaustic classes at busy b's this month

when i ran out i called my connection  only to find out that this hasn't been a

good year for bees and a small harvest

i drove to peterborough to get 10 pounds and ended up with a lot more!!

(because you will never know when you may run out!!)

photos from my demo and last class

everyone got their hands "wet"

and now they are ready to take it to the next level

i look forward to this sunday's class

clearing my head

with a hundred things on my mind

classes to take (at the creative festival) and

teach  (encaustic at busy b's and christmas tree pin at john bead),

 which also includes lesson plans, kits and samples

crocheting, putting the garden to bed and

all my regular chores and work

i needed a little break

and nothing works better than a walk on the beach

the water always sooths my soul

above a photo taken on my iphone of the luety lifeguard station

using the "hefe" action in instagram

local fleamarket

it was a glorious day in the city

cool crisp morning, sunny all day, good food and great finds

at the junction fleamarket

a few reminders from growning up

finish it off with cappuccino and meringue's at pascals

lets go to the ex!!

where did the summer go???

if you live near toronto you know that when the cne 

(canadian national exhibition aka" the ex ")

starts that there are only 3 more weekend of summer

so...lets go to the ex.......oh baby.........lets go to the ex.......

if you go during the week in the evenings you can get in for only $5

a great time to get wonderful nite shots!!

(above photos from last year)

square foot show

if you haven't already gone there is still time

the square foot show is on until this sunday

a few of my favorite artists this year

andreas schneider

heather gentleman

marina hanacek

steven crainford

lindsey kemp

and cortney stephenson

and one of my encaustic paintings

strange tree

on the weekend i got a chance to wonder though home smith park on the humber river

my friend marianella wanted to show me her favorite tree

i can honestly say i have never seen anything like it

not sure what was going on but it was fun looking for faces

and as always it was relaxing being near the water

black and white ball

if you get a chance head down to

propeller centre of the visual arts
feb.16-27

works of arts from over 30 artist

featuring all mediums

including one of my photos seen below

"reflections"
10 x 18 metalic print

a nite at the distillery district

the toronto christmas market

on now until december 18th
if you get a chance stop by

inspirations

sometimes you just never know when or where you'll be inspired

-----

yesterday i was helping my friend gillian with a ps project

i was showing her how to add texture to a photo

it inspired me to see thing through someone else's eyes

today i wondered downtown to the artist project
200 artist under one roof

i was so inspired when i left i started taking photo in the parking lot

(above, one of my photos with 3 layers of texture on top)

----

check out some of my new favorite inspirations

jeff tallon

w.stephen cooper

sandy middleton

janny fraser

souleima basha

floyd elzinga

daylight robbery solution

catching up on my blog reading since my technical difficulties

i was visiting my friend marie and her post out and about in nyc

it is wonderful to see how my friends spend their days

and her photos are always stunning

as i got to the end of the posting

i laughed at her conversation with her DH

------

"since when did a sandwich and coffee cost that much?"

DH goes..... "well, it's new york"

i go....... " it's day light robbery"

------

i'm sure i've had this conversation with my friends

out and about in toronto

sometimes you just want a quick lunch

soup and share a sandwich or salad

with a coffee or tea

and its $30-$40

-------

well i'm here to tell you that sometimes you find a deal

or get your monies worth

even in a trendy neighbourhood

i take classes in the distillery every wednesday

and as a treat i will head over to the brick street bakery

above, left my lunch, a vegetarian with bacon!!!( i know. i know)

with a bottle water and a chocolate chip cookie for $12!
you can also get a blt for $4.50 /$5 with cheese

boxing day (turkey) $8

pulled pork $9

and of course they have all the sweets you can image

while i waited for my meal

i managed to get a few shots of some grunge with my i-phone

camera bag plastic



camera bag infrared

one of a kind show

first stop at the show, as always

carmi's booth to say hi

and purchase a few christmas cards

my favorite at the show

toronto artist joanna sipos

i purchased this wonderful belt made of wire and metal

dan bi-- jianzhi artist

from markham 647.588.4168

this tiger caught my eye

i can't image how much patience it would take

to cut out this intricate design out of such thin paper

(i was born in the year of the tiger)

paper collage artist mary karavos (left)

beautiful collages with handmade paper

and sue mcnenly (right)

cute precious metal necklaces

i just had to laugh at this card and buy one for fun

it came with a set of vodoo pins and

the black background is foam
creepy christine

birch poetry by

stalina roubinova

----------

sunday i will be back to work carmi's booth and

see the second half of the show

longweekend fun and games

if you live near toronto

you know when you hear the song

"let's go to the ex"

it is that time of year again

the cne is a long tradition, 132 years, of fun

there's games

and food, lots of food
my favorite, tiny toms donuts
a bag on the way in and one for the ride home




the midway, concerts , kids world,
the farm, horse show, cats and dogs,
casino, shopping, air show
and so much more



and did i mention the food building
my second favorite
the perogies
----
wishing everyone a great long weekend!!!

----
above, photos taken last year at the ex
top photo of the princes' gate

it's like a heat wave!!!

with temperatures in the 30's

(and with the humidity

it feels like 40 celsius)

it was a good day to stay inside....

going through some old photos

i came a cross my

winter file folder

it wasn't that long ago we where

wishing for warmer weather!!!!

----------

above, one of my photos from

earlier this year

i added a few textures

and using the color dodge and

color burn blending modes

where has the summer gone?

finally, summer arrives

on the closing of the cne

it was a great long weekend

while the masses left the city to

spend time at the cottage

i enjoyed a wonderful time

visiting my town

like a tourist, camera around my neck

visited friends and a few galleries

toured different neighbourhoods

ate way too much junk food

and enjoyed a day at the ex

------------

above, a shot of the ferris wheel at the cne

or the "ex" as we call it in toronto

square foot show

if you live in toronto

check out this show

it's hosted by the awol gallery

i'm heading there tonight for the opening gala

over 800 artists have submitted their works

maximum 3 per artist


it took my encaustic teacher heather
weeks to convince me to work bigger so to go back and work
on a square foot format was challenging

one of my works
bees wax, oil paints, wallpaper,
found objects and copper edges
distressed with liver of sulphur and patina





it was interesting to go back and recreate this one
colored wax, copper leaf and a photo transfer
framed with copper sheeting

what to do with this?

my friend, marie, aka lost aussie

has posted this challenge on her blog

she found through

this disordered life

here's what it says, quote:

wHat wOuLd yOu do wiTh thiS?
"One of the things that most fascinates me about art

is how you can have a group of about thirty people

give them the same task and

they all come up with something different.

It's amazing.
This is a collage and paint background i created.

I was about to work over it but

then i wondered what other people would do with it.

So if you have the time,

download this image and work your magic with it.

Just remember to show us what you do!"

.............................

so i took the challenge

i added a few pictures (above)

a textured background

one of my photos from a local cemetery

script found on an old postcard

and some latin text

i played with the sizing and blending modes

and this is what i came up with

let me know what you can do

faces

the countenance is the portrait

of the soul

and the eyes mark it's intentions

cicero

-----------

photo from old city hall

toronto

photo journal group

it's been since last fall when

i participated in the group

hosted by

catherine anderson

this months theme was architecture

above is the cover

a photo by catherine

she always finds an interesting way to

put the books together

she added a copper roof!

what a lot of work

and it turned out just stunning!

thanks catherine

for another beautiful journal

i couldn't decided which photo to use

one of my favorite things to photograph is architecture
so i decided, since most of the

group members are american ,

that i would show them a bit of my city

something modern

bce place

and something old