I'd sooner put the year behind me, yet I truly learned a lot about suffering, healing and the kindness of family, friends and strangers. And the value of art. Things were going well until mid March when I had the first sign of something not being right.  By the end of that month I was in such severe pain that an emerg visit landed me in hospital. An almost 3 month stay made me thankful for the care, comfort and compassion I received from all the health care professionals and staff.  Nurses are definitely special. I have no idea how they stay so calm and kind when chaos and suffering are all around them.   My partner was my rock, our daughters my nurturers. Friends and relatives were my lifelines, providing much needed encouragement by sending healing vibes,  running errands and delivering  meals. By end of June I was back home healing, resting and finding some pain free moments in my art zone.  Music, poetry and art became essential for healing.  By September the constant pain had lessened and surgery was scheduled for mid October.  Again, the surgeon, anesthesiologist and nurses made me feel safe in their hands. So now I am home and will incorporate art as one of my healing mechanisms.  I brought out a beautiful Saint Armand canal paper pad, a gift from a dear friend,  and filled every page with collage creativity.  Art does make a difference.  Thank  you for following along.   May you be well.   AXO

This is the time of year of light-obsession as we try to stave off the darkest days of winter.  Shouldn't we  embrace the darkness?​​  We should take time to rest in the shadows.  Find inner peace and self-reflection to help us learn and grow.  Look up into the star filled long cold nights and embrace the moonlight.  If you listen carefully the silent nights are beautiful. 

​​​I put my paints and brushes down to absorb these darker days and revisit all the artwork I created over the last year.   They are a sort of visual diary of time spent by the sea, in my garden and my studio.  My mixed media works are all about imagination and creating a new story.  My oil paintings share my obsession with the ever changing sea.  And now I am happy to send them out into the world! Many have found homes and I am thankful. 
​
May you all find calm and beauty as you delve into the darkness and may you be uplifted by the return of the light. 
​Love and Light, AXO

Summer time and it's great to see art galleries and groups putting on exhibits with good attendence and plenty of art sales! Artists either used the time of pandemic isolation to delve deeper into art making or may have found it impossible to create. Fortunately, I fell into the first group, at least for a good while.  I hate not being able to access one's creative ability, that frustrating hole called the "creative block".  With an abundance of curiosity and no expectations, I experimented with materials sent to me by friends and aquaintences...thank you Krista and Jay!  I've always had a thing for texture and sculpture,  so assemblages and mixed media are always part of my metier.  At the cottage, the ocean and sky capture my eye (and heart) and a large series of seascapes were borne. I use oils on wood panels (made by Twisted Doorbell in Bridgetown) and paint how the views make me feel.  Hoping that the viewer sees and senses it.  
Some of these seascapes can be seen and purchased at The Flying Apron in Summerville until the end of August and at the Marina in Guysborough as part of the Artworks East Group until the Labour Day weekend. Check out my gallery page to see where else you can find my artwork.  I am thankful to all my galleries (xoxoxoxo) and other venues to share my art.  You are also welcome to visit my summer studio in Fall River "The Hildegard" by appointment.  Contact: thirdlakeart@gmail.com
Love & Light,  AXO

"April hath put a spirit of youth in everything."  William Shakespeare

​I love the smell of spring. The scent of the earth warming up. Green things pushing up through the ground. Birdsong so sweet it uplifts the heaviest of hearts.  It's a time of renewal and the birth of creative projects.  In January, an artist friend brought #the100dayproject to my attention and I thought it might be a great way to get rid of the doldrums during a very long and isolated covid winter.  I had to come up with a creative project, work on something for 100 days and share my process on Instagram (@andrea_artarage) or other social media platform.  So I looked at all the porcelain and ceramic sea shards that I collected and piled up in baskets in my studio and decided that it was finally time to use them. I was going to create a simple design on small 5"x5" cradled wood panels and so #100daysofseashardsandhealinghearts was born.  I ordered cradled wood panels from Twisted Doorbell in Bridgetown (I highly recommend them),  got the appropriate glue and grout and dove right in.  Since I did not cut the shards to fit the pattern, it took time to find pieces that fit well together in a heart shape. That was definitely the longest process.  These antique shards were carefully glued and left to dry for 24+ hours.  The next step was to grout and allow another day or two to dry and then clean with a vinegar solution to take off the grout residue.  I quickly realized I couldn't do one a day but probably one a week.  These shards hold a lot of mystery. They wash up on our little beach in Whitehead, Nova Scotia. Some say the porcelain and ceramics were used as ballast on ships coming from England and France in the 18th & 19th centuries, maybe they wash up from ancient sunken ships or are simply broken throw aways from long past residents of small fishing communities.  Each unique piece holds secrets and stories and I feel good about giving them another purpose.   
I plan to hold a fundraiser for a good cause (TBA) at the end of 100 days and I hope that my Healing Hearts will find walls to hang upon. 
Happy Easter, Ostara Blessings, Happy Passover,  Ramadan Mubarak....
AXO

It's a new year but it just feels like a continuum of the last one.  The funk is real.  As a self-employed artist, I try to keep myself motivated.  Should I start a new art project? Take a creative workshop? Apply to another call for submissions?  Lightbulb moment!  I think I should try to perfect the art of doing nothing.  Listening to the breath, relaxing like a zen cat, taking a long hot bath, walking in the woods or just watching the birds at my feeders....but maybe that's not really doing nothing. Perhaps it's just about being present.  I'm not very good at either. There are too many distractions including this blog and laptop. Time to turn it off.   I'll keep trying because being present in the nothing may be a great start to a much happier year. 
Love and light - AXO
Hourglass is my last painting of 2020...coming from a pure place of reflection and creative emotion.  Let's be gentle to Mother Earth's sacred spaces and all her creatures. 
​

Heading into winter feeling covid weary as the numbers start to rise again and dire measures are taken to protect all of us.   A lock down is imminent. What could possibly be  a "bright spot" in all of this?  Personally, it's been taking the time to observe nature closely and turning it into new artworks and learning something new from online tutorials.  I learned how to knit dishclothes and after making dozens I decided to get a little more adventurous and make toques (winter hats) with big pompoms!   There are so many free tutorials online.  Learn about the stars, how to bake delicious bread, pick up a new language or just zen out and meditate......and don't forget to call your family and friends. It's going to be a long winter.  Stay safe. 
Love and light, AXO

 "Is this the real life?
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide,
No escape from reality." (Bohemian Rhapsody)
The opening lines from Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody are an earworm in my head.   It sings a truth.  As an artist, it's not much of a hardship to spend time alone all day, every day in studio/art space. I've hermitized nicely and become childishly creative.  How about you?
​My partner cleared out my Artarage (winter studio) so he could paint it and I was obliged to organize decades worth of art materials hauled into the Hildegard (summer studio). Old paintings are being gessoed and resuscitated. Collectors may actually be getting two for one unaware! "Mystic" and "Sentry" were inspired by the characters that show up every day to get treats.  Florals are always at my fingertips because I simply love flowers.  Shorebirds are on the easel and I'm figuring out a way to upcycle old CDs.  
When I head back to the house I feel a deep sense of gratitude that I have the space and time to make art.  I hope that some day soon you will be able to drop in to see my art and maybe even create with me!
Love and light, AXO

What do you do when you have to "stay home" and "stay safe" in a pandemic?  You get creative! I am astonished by all the visual art, music, literature, dance and comedy being posted on social media during this time of social distancing. My own predicament, breaking my ankle on a dog walk a few weeks ago, has been a double whammy of sorts. Though, if you had to have a broken foot, it's probably a good time to do it! I miss my studio 'the artarage' a lot.  I miss the smell of it, the sight of its chaos and all my art materials or what I call my art candy.  So my partner gathered up some candy from my artarage and brought it to my perch on the couch. Working with paper, liquid acrylics, a couple gel pens and pigment liners I started to create "art blobs" and these blobs showed me what they wanted to be.  These little artworks are a far stretch from my usual practice but they have allowed me to have some creative  fun and puts my mind into zen, a  state of no-mindedness.  I also created a "how to" video so that kids of all ages can try! You can see it on my Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/andrea_artarage/ and FB page www.facebook.com/AndreaPottyondyArt  . Stay safe and healthy and share your own creativity with the world. Somehow planet earth has become a little smaller and a lot kinder.  Love and light,  AXO