On Saturday, my husband and I drove to Toronto again for my step-daughter’s wedding shower. At the same time, I had to stop by Leonardo Gallery on Monday to drop off 2 large canvases for a potential client to approve.

On the 4 hour drive to Toronto and back to Windsor, I was lucky enough to be a passenger. This gave me the perfect opportunity to “rubber neck” the gorgeous fall colors and take few blurry shots as we whizzed by.

We had the most incredible assortment of clouds later in the evening as a cold rainy front was moving in. Here are a few of the shots I took as the sun was setting.

I keep a folder of digital images as reference material. These are photos of my observations and they serve as memory joggers for my paintings whenever I want to be inspired. It’s always my intention with my art to capture the essense of landscape or nature without being literal.

Funny how sometimes you just get swept along by the tide. I never would have thought I’d be writing an E-Book. How did this happen?

Early this year, I was invited to be one of 12 Panelist / Presenters in SmArtist Telesummit this coming January 2009.

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, I will be speaking to about 1000  artists worldwide via the internet for 1 hour during a Professional Development seminar. Because I won a National Portfolio Competition in Canada earlier this year, my topic is “How to Put Together a Winning Portfolio”.

Along with handouts for my seminar, I’ve been asked to provide a Bonus Gift for participants. It was suggested I write an E-Book about the one thing artists seem to mess up most often. What’s that?

Well most artists really don’t know how to create professional photographic images for their portfolios, jury submission discs, email and internet.

For the past 4 days, I’ve been totally absorbed writing my E-Book. It’s called “Stand Out in a Crowd with Dazzling Photos” - “How to Create Impressive Images for Your Art Portfolio.

Stay tuned. I’ll probably have it available on my web site soon if you’re interested.

It’s been a fascinating experience to put down in writing what I’ve been doing automatically for years after many years of trial and error. Kind of clears the cobwebs. If sharing my experience with other artists helps even one person, that’s a bonus to me. I always wish someone earlier in my career had shown me the way.

Meanwhile, my painting routine has been put on hold until next week. Sometimes a small shift in thinking is good for me. It gets the creative juices flowing and makes me eager to get back to the studio.

I feel very lost at the moment without a laptop.

Last Tuesday my Mac laptop decided to die after 5 years of hard use (that’s about 80 years in human years). Fortunately, I got most of my data and was able to download it to my large screen desktop in the studio. For the time being, to get my emails, blog, log online and do just about anything that involves my brain, I have to physically be in the studio. And when I’m in the studio, I’m supposed to be painting not noodling around getting side-tracked by the computer.

I was prepared to buy a new one on the spot, but was told Apple was about to launch the latest iMac Aluminum in a few days. It’s supposed to be both more powerful and less expensive. So waiting a few weeks seemed like no biggy. Hmmmm.  Amazing how cut off I am.  Hope I don’t have to wait too long. I’m literally having dry heaves !!!

The Mac desktop is perfect for preparing photographs of my work but a little cumbersome to carry around with me.

Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada and I have so much to be thankful for. The weather is a glorious, sunny and summer-like 78°F. Defying description, the trees are a breathtaking rustle of reds, golds and tangerines.

Speaking of tangerine, I was able to see the documentary “The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine” at the Detroit Film Theatre last Thursday evening.  This film explores the inspirations and life of 97 year old installation artist / sculptor, Louise Bourgeois. Through conversations with  Louise Bourgeois, her assistants, her son and curators, we are brought into her passionate world of creativity.

“The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine” is intimate, touching and at times hilarious as she talks openly and bluntly about her art and her life. Throughout, there were moments which moved me to tears of empathy and many others which surprised me with tears of laughter.

The first thing that hit me is her unbelievable energy. She works in a HUGE scale that would be daunting to most artists, let alone a tiny 97 year old. She works non-stop and her output is astronomical. It is quite inspiring to see how her creative power hasn’t been diminished but instead increased, by advancing age.

Another thing that inspired me was how Louise Bourgeois never lost faith in her work even though she wasn’t “discovered” until well into her 60’s. At 71 years of age, she became the first woman honored with a major retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. She’s been racking up worldwide honors ever since and is now looked upon as a towering figure in the contemporary art world.

I had never been much of a Louise Bourgeois fan, finding her work a bit dark and oppressive. She has a reputation in the art world for being a “difficult” person as well. But to my delight, this documentary was a revelation. I still can’t say I’d consider myself a fan, but at least now, should I ever see one of her pieces, I will understand it and be moved by it.

Even if you’re not a fan of contemporary installation / sculpture, go see “The Spider, The Mistress and the Tangerine” if you have the chance. If nothing else you will get an unusually candid glimpse into one major artist’s day to day world.

I’ve been “out galivanting”  as my mother used to say. This time I drove up the highway to Toronto again to visit the Toronto International Art Fair and check out the city-wide art happenings called Nuit Blanche. I was able to do a little networking, drop by my gallery and spend time with some of my artist friends as well.

I’ve been going to the Toronto International Art Fair (TIAF) every year since it began about 10 years ago. I also like to go to  Art Chicago and Art Miami every year to see what’s going on in the art world. These art fairs are showcases for top tier galleries and their best artists. It’s always a fascinating mix of international art dealers, collectors, museum staff, art critics, artists, art students and the merely curious all prowling the booths looking at the most incredible array of art. 

This year was a bittersweet experience. Leonardo Gallery, who represents me in Canada were slated to have a double booth at TIAF this year. They were going to feature my large paintings along with the work of 3 other artists they represent. However, TIAF was bought out by Merchandise Mart in Chicago, who decided to make room for more US and international galleries. In late July, Leonardo Gallery was informed they had been dropped from the line-up this year. Alas, I missed being in TIAF by the skin of my teeth.

It would have been a thrill to be included because the emphasis seemed to be on painting again. Galleries from Canada, New York, California, Berlin, London, Chicago, Paris all seemed to be showcasing gorgeous canvases with luscious color. That’s a huge turn because for awhile, paintings were being ignored in favor of photography, sculpture, installation and conceptual art. I’m thrilled to see the death of painting was grossly exaggerated.

Considering the state of the world’s economy, there were a surprisingly large number of red dots (meaning sold) on pieces with fairly big prices, ($ 5,000 - $ 40,000.+) From several of my conversations, the gallery owners were pleasantly surprised also. They seem to feel people may be moving their money out of stocks and into hard asset investments like art. That’s the best news I’ve heard all month.