Autumn Greetings!

Hello again!

It's been quite some time since I've dropped a line to many of you. I hope my message finds you all well and enjoying this amazing weather. I don't think I'm alone in my love of Autumn weather and the occasional fog bank. This season of reflection and harvest is always full of
activity for me. It is the deep breath before the plunge into the wild season of holiday shows just on the horizon.


Portobello West - Dec. 7 & 8, 2013
Where: Creekside Community Ctr., Olympic Village, Vancouver, BC
What: Fashion and Art Market
More info: www.portobellowest.com

Women's Winter Faire - Nov. 29 to Dec. 01, 2013
Where: Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street, Vancouver, BC
What: 20th Anniversary! Over 50 booths of creative, funky, beautiful, ecologically-sound and diverse gifts await a hoard of loyal shoppers each year who converge on this popular event to shop, for sure, but also because ...it's such a social event!
More info: www.soundsandfuries.com/faire.html

Christmas at Hycroft - November 21 to 24 , 2013
Where: Hycroft Mansion, 1489 McRae Avenue, Vancouver, BC
What: Sort of a Village, Sort of a Concert, Sort of a Museum, Sort of a Craft Show, Sort of a Shopping Trip, Sort of an Interior Design Show, Completely FUN for the Whole Family!
More info: www.christmasathycroft.com

Each Summer, I vow to be more organized and to have my paintings completed by October, and yet...


This September, however, we had quite a good excuse to keep me distracted from painting and sketching, as we were off in Ireland with a quick visit to Paris, which lit the creative fires like nothing else. After a wonderful adventure through Ireland's rural narrow twisting lanes, up and down winding stairwells of Celtic ruins and early Christian settlements, to the
top of the Eiffel Tower, and down to the bottom of a carafe of the richest French sipping chocolate one could ever wish for, we are home again and I am inspired beyond words.

 

Upon our arrival home, I hazily sketched away the hours of jetlag. The first painting to arrive on my watercolour paper was this Solstice gathering (note the fetching cardigan that the badger is sporting, none other than my own cardigan acquired in Co.Kerry, haha).

This polar bear has been wandering around in my subconscious for quite some time, but each time I sat down to sketch him before we had gone on our travels he never looked quite as I had envisioned him. However, as soon as we arrived home, he was ready to be drawn; there is something to that phrase about everything in its time.

So, now as we all face the coming change of the season from Autumn to Winter, I hope that like my own good fortune, you have all harvested the rewards of the seeds of intention sewn in the Spring. As you reflect on the year that has flown by, may your memories be full of crisp Spring mornings, lazy Summer afternoons, and pumpkin orange Autumn sunsets.

Until our paths cross again, I'm sending you blessings of joy, laughter, and inspiration in abundance

Leah

Cocoa Nymph Gallery Show (August - September 2013)

Greetings friends!

Just a quick reminder to come Away With The Faeries this Friday evening at 7:30pm (August 9) for the opening wine reception of my gallery show at Cocoa Nymph.

 My paintings will be hanging from August 9th to September 29th.

 

It is a rarity for me to hang my original paintings en masse and a great opportunity to see them all together… and maybe indulge in just a few (thousand) pieces of chocolatey Cocoa Nymph perfection. I do hope you'll join me, as that would indeed make this wine reception a truly perfect evening to share it with all the souls who inspire and encourage my illustrative adventures. 

Until then, sending you blessings in abundance for inspiration, joy & creativity.

Happy June 2013!

And what a start of June it's been. From a rainswept May to the early days of June bursting with sunshine, it's been a wild ride.

Well, I know I am a minority in the fact that I love the rain, I love storms, and find the  wilder the weather, the more relaxed I am. I didn't waste May's stormy weather, and managed to get two paintings completed in time for my first market of the year.

Hanami Celebration came with all the beautiful cherry blossoms blanketing Vancouver. I
wanted to create something that captured how cherry blossoms get this city all a dither, as they herald the coming of Spring and with it sunshine and longer days.

Fey Bouquet's inspiration is much the same, as lilacs arrive on the heels of cherry blossoms and soften the rough edges of the city with their billowy bouquets and wafting delicate perfume. As the impish wee feller dreamily inhales his bouquet, lilacs have the same effect on me. I am not one for cut flowers, but love seeing my neighbourhood awash in varying shades of pinks and lilac, and inhaling the amazing floral scent that fills the air.

Wishing you all a wonderful June and may these longer days be full of joy and abundant inspiration.