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!

​The past few weeks I have been working on some sweet Arctic cetacean minis. I thought it would be lovely to have some original pieces on hand for the Inuvik Christmas Bazaar this year. 
Sooooooooo as you can see, I did go a wee bit crazy with the belugas! I really couldn't seem to help myself and will most likely draw a couple more as they just seem to have so much charcater.
I have finished my beautiful Narwhal painting and will post pictures of it soon - I need to really practice my photography skills. 

       Happy Halloween!
Organ works by Bach is blaring and the doorbell is ringing like crazy. Freezing air is swirling all around my house as I hand out goody bags to Inuviks' cutest and scariest residents. The town firetruck just went by handing out treats as well! So sweet!!! 

So my youngest was set on being a banana - I had rather hoped he would forget about it and choose one of our other costumes I had made previous years. However this was not to be, so I spent yesterday evening sewing a banana! Basically it is a banana quilt and he loves it and vowed to wear it forever. I did have a lot of fun making this costume/movie watching cuddle blanket - LOL!

The banana and 2 other costumes I have made - the honeybee and bison or Minotaur (depending on which one my kidlet chooses it to be) 

Since we live up north and either pumpkins are exceedingly expensive or there just arent any available we generally use milk jugs! Pair these with red turtle light from MEC and you really can't go wrong. My husband drew these ones as the kids were being lame this year and wouldn't draw anything!!

Guess its time to close up this candy shop as the door knockers have dwindled right off. I had 195 Trick or Treaters this year! That's up from 146 last year. Crazy!
​Hope everyone is enjoying and will enjoy their Halloween!!!!

​Northern days are getting shorter, transferring their brightness to the lengthening night. Crazy long nights which amazingly, rather than suffocating one with overwhelming darkness, provides a canvas for the ethereal Aurora Borealis. The Borealis is a huge perk to living in northern climes. 
By far the best Northern Lights display I have yet witnessed was a time when some friends and I slept out along the river in ​Wrigley, NWT. As we lay on the shore of the Mackenzie River, cuddled deep into our sleeping bags, the lights played low and brilliantly; dancing for most of the night. With a grande finale where the Borealis swirled together, forming what looked like a giant ghostly hand which dropped lower and lower until it seemed to hover just above us. When it seemed as though it could descend no further, the lights closed into a fist, shimmering and pulsing as it ascended and dissipated into the depths of the night.

 Painting of the Mackenzie Rest Inn, a wonderful bed and breakfast located in Fort Simpson, NWT - gateway to the Nahanni National Park Reserve

;
A chill morning of hot chocolate and ice whispers. It is the time for Jack Frost to skim his freezing fingers across the top of the water, circling them along the edges of puddles and pools to give strength to his creations. Almost transparent feathers on this surface, daggers and diamonds on the next.
Every morning is a new display; for some a beauty to behold. While for others a new crust to be jumped on and crunched under rubber boots.

First in my ice formation series, playing with layers of blues. Water transforming to ice and the colour shift which follows. ​
Acrylic on paper 5" x 7"

Process - the daunting road to a finished piece, a curve in time documented only by obsessive pics. As time can pass with me barely registering the path I took to get to the layer I am currently working on. These are not the best of pics as I take them randomly with my phone with no sense of light play or time of day. Though as the long northern days are slowly melting away into lengthening darkness I am discovering (somewhat quickly) my paltry artificial light coverage. I am realizing that I am going to have to devote some time to lamp set up!

Stargazers
Following the North Star
Breezes ripple
Swirling already agitated waters
Whipping the sea into a frenzy of night
​

 
September in Inuvik is a rather quick succession of the finality of summer, with Autumn just barely allowed to dig her brightly coloured nails in before Jack Frost and his hounds of the blowing snowy whirlwinds descend. I have attempted to enjoy every moment of this quick northern Autumn and her stunning colours have had to offer. I took some time off painting to go cranberry picking and enjoy being immersed in the luminosity of our rather hasty Fall season.

I find that the brilliance of Autumns' cloak of vividness really inspire a lot of my current work. I adore colour and enjoy using bright colours that you almost cannot imagine in nature, but there they are! Colours which become even more vibrant when they are peeking through a light dusting of snow; or just a couple of red hued wild rose leaves reluctantly hang tight to their branch amid a chorus of twigs and branches now turned dismal shades of brown and grey.