A romantic collection

A couple of months ago I did a 5 days of art project on Facebook with some of my fave art people. I'm looking back at the little collection of art I shared and really digging how the "gingerness" carries a feminine enchanted tone throughout all the work I'm doing whether it be portraits, mantras or abstracts. It's good to take a moment of pause to enjoy, look with fresh eyes, and simply be happy that I can put paint to canvas and have it soothe my soul the way it does and inspire joy in others. Here is the collection of 15 paintings I shared:
 

Left: Truth Journey / Top right: Allow / Bottom right: Be True

 

Left: Winter Angel of Light / Top right: Winter Angel of Dark / Bottom right: Courage 

Left: Bloom / Top right: Spirited / Bottom right: Unfold

Top: Solace Abstract / Bottom left: Abstract, untitled / Bottom right: Pause 

 Left: Summer Flowers / Top right: Grow / Bottom right: Summer Flowers II

With heart, G

p.s. many of these pieces can be found as fine art prints in my etsy shop. If you don't see what you're looking for there please contact me and I'll be happy to create something for you.

Six Breaths Retreat!

Lovely friends, I am going to an art retreat! I am so so so excited and blissed out about it. It's been awhile since I've taken time away for myself and my creative heart. It will be a really unique experience working with two completely opposite teachers on a farm in a tranquil setting, along with daily yoga and fresh local food. Heaven. Here's a peek at the instructors:

DANIELLE DONALDSON – whimsical, feminine

BLU SMITH  – bold abstract

 
It's happening June 12 – 14 at Sleeping Dog Farm in Victoria BC (Canada) and I'll be posting and tagging on Instagram as I go with #sixbreaths2015. Follow along to see all the goodness and fun that comes from it! And if you have any super recommendations of inspiring things to do while in Victoria please leave me a comment below or email me at ginger at redpearcreative dot com.

The retreat is hosted by Poppet Art Studio, a Victoria based creative studio run by the talented artist Andrea Soos, with lots and lots of classes for everyone. Check it out!

xo Ginger

Change, Trust and Peace

My gosh the journey into your authentic life is something else. I've been in hibernation for a few months now, recalibrating and finding my way through lots of change. I'm starting to unfurl and come back out into the open where I can be seen again, and in some ways it feels amazing and just TRUE. In other ways it's scary. I'm changed and still changing and I suppose in some ways it feels very vulnerable. I don't have fancy labels or roaring successes to define me and I'm not entirely at home in my body and style right now (although that's evolving daily), but I'm beginning to find my centre and feel steady again. My life is quiet these days with a whole lot of being right where I am and not too much striving and achieving. It's a transformational experience. I'm simply being me—the me that's been there all along, the one that I've been struggling to love no matter what. And that's enough.

I think the hardest part though is letting go and allowing the journey to unfold. I catch myself in moments of self-doubt, feeling like I'm wandering blindly with no idea where I'm going, desperately clinging to the idea of success by achievement – being on track, having a plan, accomplishing. But being present is nothing like that experience. Instead there is a lot of trust needed. In the moments when I trust my instincts and trust the process I know so clearly that I'm right where I need to be on my path and my inner compass knows exactly where I'm going. I simply need to quiet my mind to allow the clarity to shine through. And it does. And I feel peace.

It's funny you know, I've always found it easy to see and celebrate the beauty and wholeness of others, simply appreciating their warm hearts and beautiful uniqueness without questioning whether they should be MORE. The bigger challenge is to see this completeness in yourself, to know you are everything you need to be, and to be still long enough to simply be jn your own presence and feel it. That's truly what peace feels like. That's a life worth living.

All of these pieces add up to a life of peace.

And so, the journey unfolds. A deeper layer. With many moments of straight-up fear and insecurity, but also many blissful moments of clarity, wholeness and truth. I'm so completely aware that the road will continue to dip and rise, and I will feel lost and then whole again many times over. This is the journey. This is transformation – moving from that cocoon to the glorious butterfly in flight. So worth it.

Spring Art Market this weekend!

Join me this weekend for a Spring Art Market at the studio.

Come on down. This is a great chance to see beautiful new art and visit with the studio artists, scoop up locally made gifts and do some mother's day shopping. I will be featuring artful products ranging from $5 – $40 (including art prints & blocks, greeting cards, tote bags, journal books, gift sets, tins) and original paintings ranging from $45 – $900. Lots of beauty to share, and lots of options for everyone. Please mark your calendar!



When: Saturday May 2, 2015 from 12 – 5pm

Where: 100 Braid Street Studios, 100 Braid St, Unit 200, New Westminster BC. Entrance is off Braid Street. There is parking behind the building and on nearby streets. Braid Street Skytrain station is across the street.

Here's a little peek at some of the products I will have on hand, all pretty and ready to gift:)

I hope to see you there!
xo

TV set decor – My Art

 packaging up my art for a TV show set

Hey peeps, a little something neat to share – recently a TV show filming in Vancouver contacted me and purchased a collection of my art to feature on a set in an upcoming new show. My lips are sealed until it's public. Stay tuned. 
x

Kundalini, my yoga practice

I'm doing Kundalini yoga these days. I stumbled into it last winter and for the past year and some I've been transformed by my time at my classes. It's gentle. It's spiritual. I'm able to practice being present, and I actually meditate. I leave feeling revived. Every time, without exception. I am finding my Kundalini spirit and elevating my energy through this elegant and simple household style of yoga. It isn't a conquest or path to prove my worthiness or competency. I won't strive to figure it out, research it and perfect it. I simply go and allow the experience that each class brings. And something I love about this type of yoga – the mantra we use is "Sat Nam" which means Truth and Identity. Our teacher is a gift – she truly is a woman I admire. I was in my class the other day and she asked us to think about this question:

who am i?

Strip away the labels, the constructs of identity. Without your roles, who are you?

My answer floated into my awareness – a gentle soul, with an essence of beauty and a desire to grow.

Simple.

x

Quiet: Reflecting on 2014 & looking ahead

For years I've chosen a word at the beginning of each season or sometimes just for a phase of life and it has guided me. It has been an informal and very intentional practice. A few past words are believe, receive, peaceful, abundance, beauty, trust, breathe, begin, hope, fun. In 2012 I experienced coming alive again & feeling peaceful. In 2013 I had a beautiful year full of discovery & I expanded and when it came to a close I had a strong desire to push myself further, and so last year I chose the word unleash to guide me. It came from a very powerful intention and desire to put my passion and creativity and full self out into the world. To truly unleash my potential. 

I did just that. I put my art and creative self further out there. I launched the year with a kindness mission which inspired my heart and gave others a small gift (I loved hearing from people how they saved my messages of kindness on their fridge or how it lit up their day or how it felt like the message was aimed directly at them and it was just what they needed to hear). I rented a beautiful studio space, created a sacred space, properly celebrated which is something I don't always do, and joined a creative community that I can walk to. I started documenting inspiring moments and began posting on Instagram and instantly loved the experience of sharing pieces of myself with other beautiful creative souls and having a little window into their lives and work (find me at @redpearcreative). I wrote guest blog posts & shared reflections on my process and work on my own blog. I connected with shop owners and had my work featured in beautiful boutiques. I shared my passion and process with visitors at events & experienced the joy of selling my art. I expanded my products to include notebooks, art blocks, gift wrap, art prints, greeting cards and tote bags. And I pinned my heart out on my Pinterest boards. I set out to unleash myself into the world and I felt like I grew and expanded with every step of the process. What I didn't expect was for a whole new meaning of the word unleash to surface and in some ways collide with the outpouring of work – unleashing from roles and labels, untying myself from things that aren't working, letting go of what I don't need anymore. Almost by force at first, I started letting go of things that weren't serving me. Oversubscribed work commitments, draining interactions, physical clutter, big ideas that were too big for this time in my life, expectations, limiting labels, unnecessary rules. It was a choppy journey and by the end of the year I was feeling depleted and sort of lost. I was struggling on the mama front, and struggling to remember who I was. It wasn't until I withdrew entirely and unplugged for a few weeks that I started to see it was all taking shape. I was becoming. I was going through that rough patch that seems like there's no reason but at the end you look back and see with simple clarity that it was all necessary. It was during this I started to feel the word quiet spreading over me like a warm blanket.

Now as I am firmly planted in a new year I find the word quiet is my guiding force. This is a time for hibernation, going within, reflection, renewal, closeness, smallness, gentleness. I am feeling quiet on all fronts. I am not expanding big, but instead I am expanding in small subtle and quiet ways. It is a soul expansion rather than a tangible material expansion. And it extends beyond me, beyond self, to those I love most dearly, and to what I feel is most important in life. It is a quiet re-discovery of who I am and what my place is in this world. This is my way forward. And of course I am still making and creating, and doing it very intentionally.

xo

p.s. Quiet art prints available in shop.

In the swirl. Sit with it.

I was sitting with a woman I highly respect recently, telling her about how I'm finding it hard to accept where I'm at right now. She said this:

Sit with the discomfort.
Don't run away.
Don't lash out.
Don't try to control and improve things.
Sit with it.

How? How do I sit with it? I begged. Right now things suck. They suck. So let them suck and acknowledge that they suck right now. They will change and things will look different at some point but right now they're hard. Don't tell yourself to suck it up or to be ok with how things are. Let them suck and sit with that. Be in the swirl.

I did. Things have already lightened. I continue to be amazed at our resilience.

love

Prints available here.

Keep love in your heart. A life without it is like a sunless garden when the flowers are dead. 

—Oscar Wilde

Winter: The Journey into 2015

Journey Mantra, prints available here

I've learned that sometimes life has other plans. If the universe has indeed been sending me whispers as I believe it does, let's just say I've been ignoring them and there was no choice but to yell to get my attention. I was busy making plans – business development, projections, new contracts. The works. Then life happened and here I sit with my world turned on its' end. My son needed me. He needed me to stop, to be there for him. My husband and I are choosing to unschool and I'm spending my days engaged with my son, learning to be present, and fitting in time for solitude and art. I'm re-imagining the year ahead. I'm finding my footing and trying to lean into this whole process. It has been a hard, hard road here with some of my darkest and most hopeless moments only weeks behind me. I've moved through labels and boxed solutions. I've faced judgement and fear. I've laid awake in anxiety. I was swallowed whole by grief and have been (am) struggling with my identity and the loss of my dreams as I had imagined them. It's been a hard road to acceptance of who I am and who my son is but I've come to a truer place of letting go, trusting my instincts as a mama and a sensitive soul, truly seeing my son and myself for all our beauty and strength, and knowing what's important.

This is where I need to be. This is where my son needs me to be. At home, present, and slow.

I'm thinking and reflecting a lot about a mothers' attachment to her child (not the child to mom, but the other direction) and seeing how easily this is eroded in a busy and stressful lifestyle. I'm really looking at those parts of myself that I'm not liking and seeing that it's within my hands to change – to slow down, pause and look into my son's eyes when he's telling me his biggest secret, to delight in him, to give a full hug when my husband comes into the room. To give time and quality. To trust my son when he tells me what he needs, especially if his only way to express it is through a tantrum or anxiety or fixation. To truly believe he doesn't need fixing (and neither do I). I feel like I've been on the run, avoiding, escaping, pleasing, multitasking, succeeding for so long. I'm exhausted. I'm ready to slow down. To practice being present. To let go.

It's not entirely simple though – removing external distractions in my life has opened up space for this stream of internal distractions and dialogue and restlessness that is deafening at times. There's something unnerving about simply being with yourself and your most cherished ones, yet there is a weightlessness and sense of peace that's so true. Yes, it's relief. It's the beginning of a new journey. And honestly I'm ready for it.

Here's my mantra for myself right now: Dear Self, be who you are and trust that your journey will unfold as it should. And I share the same wish for every other beautiful wholehearted person out there having their own breakdowns and breakthroughs.

xo

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