 Teal, blue, white &dark pthalo turquoise - these are the colours on my palette today. Colours of the depths of a northern lake, where Whitefish snap & swish in the frigid waters.  Painting layers upon layers of watery blues, teals & turquoise I sporadically glance out the studio window. The sky is still an expanse of various shades of gray. Today ; however, there is definition of clouds - the fluffiness offsets the foreboding chill that the Autumn overcasts typically casts down upon my mind. Steady wind catches bright yellow birch leaves, making them flutter like the butterflies on my window might wish to be doing.  Recieved a wonderful present today from one of my longtime friends! A panda mug to replace my previous pand mug which cracked in half; it was my favourite! What can I say! I was surpringly saddened when it broke & tried to find a replacement, which turned out to be much more difficult than I had anticipated! I had gotten it on a whim at the Calgary Zoo when I took my kids to see the panda exhibit. Anyhoos - imagine my happiness when I received this beauty in the mail!!!! Interesting that it arrived as I was painting with a palette of similar tones.
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 Looking out onto a cold gray day, bleak colours begin to edge their way into my mind. Gray fixes itself onto my palette; I'm not sure if this colour, this feeling will stay or fade away underneath brighter moods, brighter colours.
 It has warmed up to -18 today, while other places further south are dipping drastically into frozen temperatures. With the warmer weather the foxes have been playing out in the yard again. Apparently my car is their new playground!!! It is 10:30 AM and still pitch black out - it's almost hard to believe that the light will soon eat up all the dark until there is none left. For now I am enjoying lunchtime sunrises and afternoon sunsets; the two are still close enough that sunrise blends into sunset creating cotton candy daytime skies. Spent the day yesterday outlining - soooo much outlining! Today will be re-working the foreground. So off I go - back to the studio with my tea!!!  So it seems that our cold snap in Inuvik is finally nearing the end; however, Yellowknife has an extreme cold weather warning so I am sure those chilled temperatures will swirl themselves this way soon enough. In these frigid temperatures where I was pretty lame and have tried to avoid going outside. So I have been dreaming of and painting summer colours on the tundra!  Work in progress - summer tundra muskox This morning it is -31 with a windchill of -36 and the air is filled with ice crystals I sent the kids off to school and am curled up at my painting table with a cup of tea and my paints! Tea of choice this morning is Stash Licorice Spice.   First day of school after Christmas break for the kids today; however, I forgot that there was no school this morning and sent them anyways. Whoops!!! They weren't too pleased with me when they got back home.  The first sunrise of 2020 will be arriving today, bringing with it days which will quickly flood with light. It is hard to explain the joy of seeing the sun for the first time in 30 days. It is indeed a time of celebration and Inuvik goes all out with welcoming back the sun! In fact we have a whole weekend festival to celebrate the return of the sun and the light which will follow.
 Long Arctic nights of December have pulled the frozen cloak of numbing temperatures. Ice fog whispers along the streets and ice encrusted eyes peer out from thick scarves and toques as people rush along main street. Unless of course you are my teenage son, who is too cool for the cold and refuses to wear a parka to keep the freezing temperatures at bay. I actually had to hide his Autumn jacket so he would wear a parka! The kids are still going sliding on the hill in the yard; however, it is for smaller bursts of time, with hot chocolate breaks in between. It really is the perfect weather to cuddle up with mugs of spiced tea and watch cheesy Christmas movies! Even though it was -31 there was a great turn out for the Christmas parade!! It wasn't the longest parade, but there was lights, sirens, kids, candy and a whole lot of smiles!
 Urchin Acrylic on paper 5"x7" - 2017 Urchin Cling tight Urchin Cling to home To love Cling urchin Cling To all that matters  Delta Freeze Acrylic on paper 5"x7" - 2017 Delta Freeze Freezing air snaps at the surface Of the Mackenzie River Dragging frosty jagged nails across slight waves Bringing temperatures down Sucking in rising water vapours Breathing it back as ice  A Whisper in Time Acrylic on paper 5"x7" - 2017 A Whisper in Time Whisper carefully - "Come home to me After you follow all your dreams And drift back across the sea For I will wait As long as it takes For I know that you will never break"  To Each Their Own Acrylic, pen & ink on paper 5"x7" - 2017 To Each Their Own To each their own Trying not to fall When they cry Though people see Just what they want to see It doesn't hurt...... If no one sees you in tears  Hot chocolate is a pretty big deal in our house in the winter months. Nothing quite says winter or December to me like a lovely mug filled with warm chocolate and on the luckier days - whipped cream with mini marshmallows (or as my children know them - Snowman Poo!) So for my Christmas cards this year I figured I would pass on my warm wishes with some whimisical hot chocolate cheer!   Listening to unlimited Christmas carols while I draw and paint is bringing back memories of Decembers past with family and friends. Some brightly painted cutie cups to negate the darkness of our sunless northern sky. Stars are shining almost twenty-four hours a day now; hence making their way onto every hot chocolate cup.       Winter Warmth
Have a cup and let warm wishes surround Hot chocolate dribbles and marsmallow whispers Melting memories of all Winters together as one Topped with fluffy clouds of cream making any Snowman smile Had a absolute blast at the GNAF Christmas Fair this year! Met a lot of wonderful people and got to see (and buy of course) some amazing work from all over the north! The talent which is spread throughout the north is phenomenol - from mukluks to carvings and paintings - with so so so much in between. The north truly is a special and spectacular place!! And the smiles this weekend!!! So much happiness in one place, whether you were a vendor, artisan, customer, or just there to look at and eat all the amazing things. Oh the food - cannot foget to mention the food - in Inuvik we are so lucky as so many cultures meet here and this really shows in the food available. Samosas, curries, chili, macarons, bread, baked goods, and so much more; this weekend was truly a feast for the soul and I can't wait to do it all again next year!!! A huge thank you and mahsi cho to everyone who bought my work in Inuvik and also in Fort Simpson. I am super lucky to have such a great sister who set up a table for me in Fort Simpson this year! Huge hugs and a million thanks Cait!!  So my kids and some of their friends decided that they would like to earn some money at the craft fair so that they could get Christmas presents. I had quite the little work bee at the house as they unleashed their creativity on the perler beads and shrinking plastic. Boy did they create some neat stuff; and they were so proud of themselves when their ornaments sold. I am super impressed with the work and creativity they all put into their ornaments, no two are alike!  Oh the fun part, sorting, printing, and packaging! Getting all of my work ready for the Christmas Bazaar which starts tomorrow and continues over the lengthof the weekend. I am soo excited to see all the amazing work as people come from all over the north to show and sell their amazing arts and crafts. Last year was my first time attending the Inuvik Xmas fair and I was, simply put, completely blown away!  Delta Freeze Acrylic on paper, 5" x7" Freezing air snaps at the Mackenzie River surface Dragging frosty jagged nails across slight waves Bringing temperatures down Sucking in rising water vapours Breathing it back as ice |
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