My Work in Brick and Mortar Living Boutique!

I'm excited to share a few snapshots of my work in Brick & Mortar Living boutique here in New West. This is the best place in town to pickup local artisan gifts, hands down. Go check it out and pickup some of your special gifts for the season!

I'm so delighted to have Brick & Mortar carrying my artful products. I just dropped off this batch of beautiful goodies today, so by the time you make it into the store you'll find even more to choose from. As pictured below: handmade and surface designed gift wrap $6 for 2 unique sheets, notebooks $12, greeting cards $5.95, and greeting card gift sets $26. Also carried in store are my small fine art blocks $22 and mini tins $5.50. Enjoy!

Brick & Mortar Living is at #50 - Sixth Street, New Westminster, one block up the hill from Sixth and Columbia.
  
Feeling the joy of the season. With love,
xo

Torn.

I want to share a book with you.

This book TORN is one of the few books that has stayed on my bedside table for a long stretch. I didn't know a couple of years ago when I went to a book reading with a friend that this book would become such a favourite for me. I pick it up and read a short excerpt before bed on my hardest days, and the thing I love about it is it doesn't try to teach me anything, impart any great wisdom or technique, and it definitely doesn't try to fix the problem or take the pain away. It simply shares stories from other women just like me who experience the duality of motherhood and career, the pull in multiple directions, the human experience of feeling and wanting opposite things at the same time. This is how I spend much of my time, torn, and this confirms many other women/parents do too. It reassures me to know that I am not alone. And it give me a laugh sometimes too. There's a lot to be said for that.

I Am Resilient.

Every day in Vancouver the birds flock from all over the city back to their nesting place in Burnaby. It's a breathtaking thing to watch hundreds of birds in flight, sweeping across the sky in chaotic and seamless unison. Today as my broken heart was finding strength again I found myself thick in traffic and watching these graceful creatures. They know by instinct how and when to journey home. They know the way. They trust the journey. They do it every day. I can too. My heart has been shattered by the immense pain of being a mama and feeling the uncertainty recently, but it is healing and I'm finding my way again. I am resilient. This is what brings us through.

I am resilient.

Barefoot Contessa {heaven}

I'm sharing a quick peek at my products in Barefoot Contessa boutique at 3715 Main Street, Vancouver BC. This shop is full of feminine and sophisticated products, and is simply one of my fave places. Love, love. 

Monsters

In support of my lovely friend Joyelle's recent book & art show "Princess Monsters," my son and I created our very own monsters – the monsters within us.

Meet Peep and Skeet. Peep is a boy and he's short and round. Skeet is a girl and she's tall and elegant. They are very best friends. They love playing hide & find games, reading comics, breakdancing, singing and pretending to be Sonic the Hedgehog. Their favourite song is by The Police, and since they don't know the name of it they just call it The Creepy Song. Peep really dislikes mushy vegetables and the tags in his shirts – he always cuts them out himself. Skeet really dislikes noisy places and being woken up when she's sleeping. Peep likes to eat seaweed snacks, chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream with sprinkles. Skeet likes veggie curries and chai tea.

Peep is really outgoing and noisy, and loves surprising and scaring others. Skeet is pretty shy. She likes to keep to herself and play quietly, but sometimes she can get pretty silly. They are very different, but that's what they love about each other. They will be best friends forever.

Congratulations to Joyelle Brandt on her recent work and successes. Shop her work here.
xo

Winter Art Market, November 8th

You are invited to 100 Braid St Studios Winter Art Market. Please drop by to see some amazing art, to meet the studio artists and do some holiday shopping. It will be a great chance to pickup locally made gifts for the holidays. I will be featuring artful products ranging from $5 – $40 (including art blocks & prints, greeting cards and tote bags) and original paintings. Lots of options for everyone. Please mark your calendars!



When: Saturday November 8, 2014 from 10am – 5:30pm

Where: 100 Braid Street (unit 200), New Westminster BC (entrance off Braid Street, parking behind building and on nearby streets). Braid Street skytrain station is across the street.

Hope to see you!
Ginger

Product Spotlight!

[ art blocks, giclée reproductions, shop online ]

Hi friends, It's been a busy autumn. I've got lots on the go between my roles of mama, designer, artist, entrepreneur, cook and more. Amidst it all I'm growing and expanding (personally and professionally) and wanted to shine a spotlight on a few pieces I'm enjoying right now in my product collection! Hope you enjoy too.

A few of my surface pattern designs & sensitive, feminine portraits reproduced on mini art blocks.

My greeting card collection: I've added my surface pattern designs along with a few black and whites.

Here's the current product story, including matted art prints, mini tins, greeting cards and art blocks. I was at the printers today sourcing notebooks and notepads to add to the line. Boy I'm holding out for getting licensed! Paper goods make me so elated, I'd love to do much much more.

Were you looking for a gift or treat? Shop all these products online and in boutiques. Blocks $22, cards $6, tins $5, matted prints $28 small & $38 large.

xo

What's inspiring me & full full life

These days life is full, full, full. Parenting, transitioning our boy to school, work contracts, getting back into yoga, cooking warmer foods and shifting with the season. Fall is my absolute favourite time of year and I am trying to stay slow amidst the chaos and breathe in little bits of inspiration throughout my days. Here's what's happening around here and what's inspiring me these days.

Floor time with my little boy – fat markers and paper and some slow time together, that's all we need :)

More floor work, this time solo, at my studio. Sketching, pinterest, email... all the pieces of work.

winter veggies, baking, loving being that 1950's mom :)

A batch of geli mono prints I played around with the other day, and a new painting in the works.

Packaging up stock for Barefoot Contessa boutique. Happy happy moment!

Digging into my big stack of magazines - Uppercase, Darling, Somerset Studio etc.

I am so inspired by Anahata Katkin - her as a person, an artist, her PapayaArt brand, her shop Papaya Living (serious heaven). I'm loving seeing her art evolve over time. I'd like to meet her and do some art together.

Check out these colours on Bows & Arrows – peachy pinky salmons, greens, whites. These are the colours that move me right now. My colour palette keeps changing and I love that, there's space to keep growing and evolving.

I stumbled upon Hilary Rushford and Style & Styleability, through a much admired art coach that I follow, Laura C George. They're both great! Check 'em out. These style videos were fun to watch.

My pinterest style board. I love fashion in the fall. The layering. The colours. It's my fave fashion season, and I've added some great pins here.

(i heart) Instagram. I simply love sharing a little piece of my world with others and having them share back each day. I feel so connected and part of something, surrounded by beauty and creativity and intentional humans. It has become my daily dose. Join me on Instagram – @redpearcreative

And saving the sweetest for last :) Me and my little boy. He loves his angry birds high tops and I love my floral high tops from Barefoot Contessa. We make quite a pair. We've been having so much fun together lately.

That's all for now. A little peek into my life and what has been inspiring me lately. What's got your fancy these days? Leave me a wee note with your fave moments.

xo

Truth Journey – New Art in progress

It was a studio day today, yay. Sharing "Truth Journey" painting in progress. Loving the soft colours and feminine feel, and just happy with this piece overall so far. She is my truth – a little documentation of this journey I'm on. I was planning something totally different for this piece, but that's the beauty of life and art isn't it, sometimes we change course on instinct and it's exactly where we need to go.

Summer Turns to Autumn, and a birthday note to myself

Today is my 36th birthday. I'm taking a moment to reflect on what I want life to be about, and to celebrate and cherish who I am—the woman I've become, and the girl I have always been. I was looking through a stack of memories my mom passed on to me and this picture held my heart. I'm about 10, and I'm a picture of the feminine, gentle and creative soul I'm still nurturing to this day.  

As I sit in this reflective space, I feel like the last few months have all been connected to this moment. I pulled back from the world over the summer and took time to be with myself and those dear. I found a lot of stillness in myself, along with a pool of grief and uncertainty, and more strength and confidence than I knew I had.

Here are a few of the moments that added up to a summer:

Quietening My Mind. In August I unplugged. It wasn't planned or unplanned, but it came together. It was what I needed in a deep way. I took care of myself and I worked on being the kind of mom I want to be. Accepting and embracing our son's recent autism diagnosis and parenting in a new way was a sort of surrender.  I let myself feel the grief and the uncertainty of it all. I feel like this is the beginning of a new journey for us.  

I spent renewal time with my mom in her garden oasis. I'm so grateful for my mom. She's something special.

Nourishment. Growing and eating fresh food, practicing yoga, making art, cooking, surrounding myself with beauty, and heading into the mountains with family to soak up nature's beauty. 

Reading. Stacks of books are everywhere in our house. I got some of these titles from this local blogger. I love her perspective. 

I read an interview with Julia Roberts recently (InStyle mag). These words struck a chord in their simplicity and truth: "Be nice, be happy, be grateful." This is the way to live. I'm a fan.



Dreams. A favourite Vancouver boutique—Barefoot Contessa—will start carrying my wholehearted art products this fall! A dream come true. Stay tuned.

A word. The word intentional emerged out of the chaos in my studio one night. It's definitely my word for right now. I am working hard to bring intention to everything that matters to me. It's a daily practice full of imperfection but also possibility.

 

And so, as I celebrate 36 I sit with the chaos and beauty of life, and know that I'm living it – my feet are dirty, my hair is messy and my eyes are sparkling. I'm grateful for this. Happy birthday self, with love. And welcome Autumn. I love this time of year.

ginger