A New Experiment

And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
- Anais Nin

I'm ready. Thank you for being here with me. Please join me at my new digs, my Creative Living Experiment.

Love and hugs,
Steph
xox

Not Quite Yet

I'm planning a virtual move. I have a new blog waiting in the wings, its welcome post written and ready to post. I even have a farewell post ready for this one. But I just can't do it.

Maybe the gremlins are responsible, trying to sabotage a next step towards creating the life I've been dreaming of for the past eight years. Or maybe there's still healing to be done, tears to be shed and sabbaticals to be mourned. Maybe it's a combination of both or something completely unrelated.

I can't pinpoint why, but I don't think I'm ready to turn the page on my Urban Living Experiment quite yet.

So just for today, I won't.

Mer Bleue Hike: A Few Photos

"And so I go into the woods. As I go in under the trees, dependably, almost at once, and by nothing I do, things fall into place."
- Wendell Berry, A Native Hill

home

birches standing tall

silhouette of a Northern Flicker

trout lily

hiking compadres

trillium

Grateful Saturday

Because I want to highlight all the goodness that surrounds me right now...

• hanging out with D on the couch listening to a never-ending Supertramp song
• paints & colours & textures, oh my!
• our first sunny 20+ Celsius day of the year
• hiking a new-to-me trail at the Mer Bleue bog (#8 on 36 Things)
• the abstract painting class I started on Wednesday (#32 & #36 for at least 10 weeks) and the possibilities that come with trying something new
• chickadees, cardinals and woodpeckers outside my window
• Sis, Lala, and all the Squammettes
• last year's Squam experience (still!)
• my health
• the roof over my head
• healthy food
• my paycheck and the flexibility it allows me
• the Mad Chatters
• RSVPs trickling in for the wedding
• the prospect of a happy, healthy, adventure-filled marriage with D (and Cassie)
  
• my morning pages
• a trip to Montreal to the The Tragically Hip next Friday, another one in August to see AC/DC (floor tickets for that one!)
• and so much more...

I've been feeling envious, frustrated and discontent lately. Thanks to Christine Mason Miller's (aka Swirly) latest post, this Miniature Earth video helped put things into perspective. Check it out if you have a few minutes.

What are you grateful for today?

Earth Day Wendell

"we and our country create one another, depend on one another, are literally part of one another; that our land passes in and out of our bodies just as our bodies pass in and out of our land; that as we and our land are part of one another, so all who are living as neighbors here, human and plant and animal, are part of one another, and so cannot possibly flourish alone"
- Wendell Berry, excerpt from The Unsettling of America

Happy Earth Day.
xox

Francesca

Francesca

Meet Francesca. She's a product of this afternoon's playtime in the studio.

With Giselle parked on the windowsill for inspiration, I decided to try my hand at something similar and am thrilled with the result! Once Francesca's settled for a day or two she may get a bit of tweaking, but for today I'm happy.

I love the newness of painting faces. Some are pretty bad and get painted right over, but others work out and when that happens I get a natural high.

I couldn't wait to share her with you.

Weekend Artist Date in Montreal: A Trip Report

4:45am - The alarm clock rings. Remarkably, after only one snooze I stumble out of bed and into the shower. The dog doesn't stir; it's even too early for her.

5:45am – I send a last-minute email to an acquaintance in Montreal on the off chance she may be available for coffee. A groggy D. waits patiently to drive me to the bus station.

6:00am – I pick up the ticket I bought online the day before, grab a coffee and two toasts – white bread with butter please – at the bus station’s canteen. I drag a still groggy pre-coffee D. in the photo booth with me to commemorate the moment. He's such a good sport.

7:00am – I’m on the bus, window seat, empty aisle seat beside me. The sun is shining, life is good. I take in the scenery and consult my copy of Montréal's 25 Best by Fodor’s. The trip goes by fast.

9:30am – Knowing that I’ll most likely be wandering the Museum of Fine Arts till mid-afternoon, I proactively stuff myself with a greasy breakfast consisting of eggs, toasts – white bread with butter please, hashbrowns, tomatoes, about seven slices of bacon and a cup of coffee. Oh my.

10:30am – After a quick ride on the metro I’m at the Museum. I love this place.

10:30-13:30 - I blissfully take in the Van Dongen exhibit - the reason for making the trek in the first place - and am not disappointed. His paintings speak to me. The subjects engage me. The colours inspire me to be bold in my own artistic play. I discover (or maybe confirm?) that I like portraits. I also take in the Imagine exhibit, commemorating the anniversary of John and Yoko's famous bed-in at Montreal's Queen Elizabeth Hotel 40 years ago. I don't know what to expect, but am pleasantly surprised; I am moved to tears more than once and leave feeling centered and at peace.

13:31 – Tired from museum-ing, I consider hopping an early bus back to Ottawa. I’ve done what I came here to do; I could leave now and be entirely content with my day.

13:32-15:00 – I decide to stay a while and meander the streets of Montreal: Sherbrooke, Saint-Laurent, Prince Arthur, St Denis. I enter Café Gitana to grab a coffee and a light bite to eat, but am intimidated by the Turkish coffee contraptions on the table. I leave and find a more traditional café, vowing to come back someday and try the Turkish one.

15:00-16:00 – I walk back to the bus station, but am drawn to the public library branch located across the street. I catch an exhibit by Monique Charbonneau called "Le goût de l'encre" (literally translated to The Taste of Ink) and shop at the library’s boutique. I score a three funky journals for my morning pages and a few other trinkets.

16:00-19:30 - I wait in line and hop an early bus home. My day here is done, I am content. I cross #6 off my 36 Things.