guess what!

I'M PREGNANT!!!!!!

that's right. yup, you heard me right. Joseph and I are going to have a baby.

The baby will be born sometime around May 15th.

I'm hoping for under 9 pounds, but considering my family history, that's unlikely.

homemade

I promised many people a picture of the chairs Joseph and I recovered with the help of my mom and dad. So here they are. They are definitely not perfect and I'm not sure I would ever do this project again since the chairs are still wobbly even though we tried to reinforce them.



One thing Joseph and I have started doing regularly is baking our own bread. We use the simple no-knead recipe from the New York Times and it is always yummy.


A few times in the summer we took a loaf of bread and had a simple picnic and searched for geocaches around the city.


I've made a lot of treats lately but my fourth of july oreo-esque cookies were the yummiest.
The best craft of the summer, however, goes to our new quilt my mom and I sewed while I was visiting at the end of summer.

It looks mostly blue in this picture which is misleading. only that corner has blue in it the rest is warm colors. It fades from blue in the bottom left corner to dark pinks and yellow in the top right corner and the two other corners are light pinks, yellows, and greens. I love the fabric, it comes from Anna Marie Horner's Good Folks collection.

San Sebastian/Donostia

My favorite place in the world is now San Sebastian (Donostia in the Basque language), Spain. It's amazing beauty, rich culture, and laid back feel had such a soothing effect on me. I love that while it was a relaxing place to stay it was also energizing. I would love to rent a house here for a summer sometime in the (distant) future.

See how beautiful it is:

Joseph and I on the funicular.

Me on the beach:

The church right down the street from our tiny hotel:

an admonition: wear sunscreen

A few of you know that a few months ago I went to a dermatologist to check out a weird mole I had on my face. It turned out to be basal cell skin cancer. Don't worry, that is the less dangerous non-spreading type. On Wednesday, I had Mohs surgery to make sure all the cancer was removed. Luckily they got it all out in one go, but then I had to wait 3 hours until they had time to stitch me back up. That's Canadian health care for you. However, let me be a lesson to you all. Learn from this and, from now on, wear sunscreen. Otherwise you will end up dealing with this:

(note: this first picture is mild, if you are squeamish about blood, do not scroll down.)

This first picture shows the swelling I am dealing with and a bit of bruising. It looks more mild in the picture than it actually is. See how the corner of my eye is enveloped in massive bulges, yeah, thats not normal.

This is the wound in all its glory. You can see the large blue suture at the bottom and there are smaller dissolving stitches underneath the surface. They could not stitch the whole thing up because of where the incision is located; stitching it up would have left really ugly ridges of skin. This way the scar will be smooth.

And, lastly, here is a good close up. Sure makes you want to slather your face in sunscreen, doesn't it?
Good. My job here is done.

Spain, the last day

I decided to start with the last day of our trip to Spain and work backwards from there, because I'm crazy like that.

Last day in Spain: Bilbao.

We arrived in Bilbao in the late morning on a bus from San Sebastian. We left that same night on an over-night bus to Madrid.

Our first, and really our only important stop, in Bilbao was the famous Guggenheim Museum. We actually went to the cafe first because the beautiful bus ride through the Basque countryside left us a bit peckish. We had an amazing slice of quiche that involved spinach and pine nuts.

We then commenced our tour and I have to say that the Guggenheim has the best free audio tour I have ever had. You just dialed in the numbers posted next to the artwork and listen to an explanation of the work and sometimes listen to the artist talk about his or her work - fabulous!
There was also some audio tracks about the amazing building itself.

As you can see it is an amazing place. The second photo also shows one of my favorite pieces: a huge metal spider called "Maman" by Louise Bourgeois. There are a few other Mamans scattered around the globe and I hope that we will see the Ottawa one sometime while we are living here.

This picture is of some sweet nostalgic graffiti. While it is not a part of the museum, I was standing on the patio of the museum when I took this picture.

After perusing the museum for hours. We took a stroll along the river, drank some famous Spanish hot chocolate and ate a waffle, and wandered around the old town area. This was a beautiful balcony in the old town:

After our walk we continued to walk around the city seeing some really cool bridges, a nice opera house, and even saw part of mass in a small church (it was Sunday), but we could not find a place to eat and finally ate at a Chinese restaurant near the bus depot. It was pretty yummy and our pineapple chicken dish came served in a hollowed out pineapple, which was pretty awesome.

While I liked Bilbao, and its beautiful setting in the green hills, it just didn't wow me like San Sebastian did. However, the museum was worth the trip.

Stay tuned for the next segment: San Sebastian.

To Do

wash kitchen and bathroom rugs
clean kitchen thoroughly
rearrange furniture
buy containers for closet storage/food storage
clean off patio
make yummy organic meals full of fresh veggies
workout much more
plan trip to Spain
figure out finances
and find a new job

life is a strange mix of boredom and stress

story fragment...

Composing came easily now—music flowed out of her dreams and pooled in little ponds on the staffs of her notebook. O resented the flow of sound that she could not control—it was no longer her music, it was someone else’s, it was the voice’s music, her damned muse’s. Her life took on a pattern, she woke up, convinced herself that today would be a normal day, but it never was normal. She would either stub her toe, fall down flat, space out for hours, almost drown, alienate all those who tried to talk to her or, on the days the visions left her alone, she felt the dread and spent the day imagining what would happen if she left reality during dinner with an old friend, while crossing the road, driving her car, or chopping vegetables for her mother’s favorite gratin. Slowly, methodically, O stopped crossing roads, riding her bike, crossing the bridge, or any other activity that could be deemed dangerous to someone whose hold on her mental life was as shaky as hers.

quotidian inspiration 4

This video from Jem made me dizzy when I watch it the first time. However, after they explained how they made the video, I was floored and watched it three more times. Make sure you watch to the end so that you too will know the secret.

ear art

Yes, you heard right. Ear art. Art that depicts an ear.

A few weeks ago I suddenly got the desire to do a collage piece depicting an ear. I thought that my inspiration channel in my brain was really looking for anything to amuse me with, but I heeded the call and sat down to make an ear.

I used a tiny wood block that Joseph bought me for my birthday, so this one is dedicated to him.
Here is my ear piece:

Personally, I like that you can still see the wood grain through the paint.


I was listening to some beautiful music at the time and that is where the swirling lines come in. However, when I look at it, it seems like the lines are coming out of the ear, like wind passing from in one side and out the other.

quotidian inspiration 3

empty space



can be really beautiful

in art it can take your breath away



in poetry it could make

all the difference


I'm inspired by empty, or seemingly empty, spaces. Here are a few pictures from around my house that capture empty spaces.




Before you go, I have one more inspiration for you. This music video has been on my mind for about 2 weeks - a good indication that it inspires me.

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie:




Enjoy.

circus art

I made two companion paintings for my aunts. They were meant to match each other and both featured a circus animal, two figures (representing my aunts), and a circus tent. The first one was finished in November, but I forgot to take pictures of it before I sent it off. It featured a large elephant and the two figures were running up a hill to a large circus tent.

The second one was completed only a few weeks ago.





The backgrounds are painted on a 6x8 canvas board, all the figures are collaged from papers with some charcoal, and the lion's mane is made from string.

quotidian inspiration 2

Sometimes, it is important to stop and look around you for inspiration. It might be as simple as looking around your own home. There is a reason we decorate the way we do and a reason why we surround ourselves with certain objects, textures, and colors.

Today I'll share two pictures of our bedroom, which is actually not fully decorated. There is only one side table and our mirror is not yet hanging on the wall, and a beautiful Turkish quilt has not yet been hung on the wall opposite our bed. However, I am inspired by our bedroom partially because it is unfinished and partly because I love the combination of grey and orange. It is a place of love and a place of dreams, and that is what inspires me today.


(Sorry about the weird lighting in the second picture)

birthday

I am officially a quarter of a century old (as of a month ago)! This birthday was great, but it was also difficult. I don't think I've ever had one of those birthdays that made me really think about what I'm doing with my life. That could be because this is the first year I have not been in school since I was 5.
However, the birthday was, overall, awesome. First, my mom sent me flowers:


Then Joseph came home from school with roses and a cute little cake from a bakery called Flour. It was so adorable and very yummy.


I loved it:


After a nice dinner at a near by Indian restaurant, Joseph took me to an art supplies store and let me pick out some stuff for my birthday gift. It was a great idea because Joseph doesn't like picking out gifts and I love art supplies!

I also received daffodils from my visiting teachers:


Definitely a good birthday!

a quotidian inspiration 1

There are many things that inspire me about daily life, like how simple things smell, taste, feel. I don't know what inspires you, but I'm going to post some random things that for some reason spoke to me on that particular day.

Today, I will post two things.

First, there is the beauty of a cooking egg:


I love the shapes that the whites make and the beautiful yellow color of the yolk. Mmmm, and the smell....mmm....and the taste of a perfectly cooked egg...mmm. Serious inspiration right there.

The next inspiration that I will share is a wonderful song and even more wonderful video by Goldfrapp.



This video has the power to cheer me up no matter what.

art

it has been awhile, again. sorry.

i'm back and I want to share some art projects I have been working on. Here is the painting I'm currently working on.

This is it in the first stages (well the first stage I photographed at least):


it is now a bit further along:


it feels really good to be painting again.