Getting a lot of painting done for my first animal furniture picture book.

The zebra book, I ordered a first edition of 40 copies. They are still getting printed, yikes the publish world is rampant slow.

I’m a mom of two young kids, did I mention. The latest craze is stickers. I use them as linking objects. They hate saying goodbye in the morning before school so lately I’ve come with a system of letting them pick a sticker to accompany to them to school. I love stickers, like little pieces of art, and they love them too. A lot better than sugar too. It’s become our fun little morning routine now.

I changed one of the characters in my book from a singing cardinal to a singing sparrow. The cardinal seemed too flamboyant for what I was going for. It’s a character that encourages the protagonist to be brave and find their own voice. I wanted her to be beautiful, but wise in a less flashy, more enlightened way. I then found my thoughts wandering over to my old art teacher again. He would have been the singing sparrow in my life, the Tulip Ring, forever blooming in my thoughts. I started some sketches, from memory. Hoping to relieve some of the tickle it’s got on my brain. I think I got it close here:

I proceeded to wander on the possibilities of where it could be. Is it with family who hold the secrets to his past? A dear friend who guards his most embarrassing moments? A trusted lover with juicy tales? Did it not make it past the skiing accident, tragically crushed on impact, nestled in a functional bird’s nest perhaps. Maybe it slipped off his finger, landed in a ditch, and later discovered by a passing wanderer who pawned it in a shop somewhere off the coast of BC, maybe an antique shop where the furniture and housewares come to life and turn into animals when no one’s looking 👀 I may never know, but I’m leaving the door open, may it find its way back to me, and if not, just momentarily!

Another fantastical thing that happened this week. My friend and author of Maple’s Garden, Christine Van Geyn, ran into my fourth year nursing professor. This woman was my launch pad into my nursing career and thus gave me the key that unlocked my personal freedom. I remember having to write these reflective pieces as part of our studies. It was with her, I uncovered this inability to name my own feelings which sent me into therapy after I graduated that year. Therapy led me to face my tangled relationship with myself, art and eventually Doug whom I never internally acknowledged, nor had a chance to say goodbye to.

She supported our book and passed along a message: she still has this illustrated card I gave her. I believe it was this one, the painting that birthed the idea for my upcoming Zebrathenia picture book ! I painted it in around the time I was under her mentorship, actually. Time is circular.

#artdiary #picturebook #artstory

I am TOUCHED by art.

Recently I dedicated a picture book to my old art teacher. He is no longer with us for about two decades now.

I can’t stop thinking about this ring he used to wear, it is of a tulip. A very masculine and chunky metal ring in the shape of a very feminine and sensual tulip. It is both gentle and demanding. That was the sort of person Doug Moore was, a kind person with a robust way of going about it. I’ve always been a maker and not a collector, until this experience hit me recently.

I was contacted by Doug’s family, through a friend. They were touched and liked the book. I had to ask about the ring.

They say an artwork grows with you, acquires a life, and a meaning of its own, overtime. I’ve met people who have instantaneously rearranged a whole week’s plan at the glimpse of a painting, just to acquire it. I’ve heard from folks who can’t stop thinking about a painting for days on end and people who have regretted not buying something when they had a chance, for years and years. This unsettling yearning has never really hit me before, I’m a maker by nature and usually on the giving side of it.

However, this is something I can not replicate, sure I can carve the tulip, make a cast, pour the metal, even pay someone to do it, but the real “Je ne sais quois ” that really embodies the artwork: the nicks and dents it has likely acquired overtime in its travels, the story of the thing, the way in which it is embedded into the universe of our waking world, our spinning globe, I cannot make up. I even have a memory of him using this very ring to show me silver point, the process of using metal to scratch a drawing on gesso. The result is a shimmery, silver mark on a snow white background, along with a scratch on the ring where it hit the gesso. I know because I effectively ruined a ring in the shape of a snake doing a whole Salvador Dali inspired drawing with silver point. I learned about Salvador Dali that semester and that tulip ring acquired a scratch, a la me.

The drawing turned out good and Doug liked it more than I did, I know because a friend reminded me he still had it hanging in his office after I had long forgotten about it, and this man was not shy of throwing sentimental garbage out. The pursuit is just as invigorating as its ownership, my relationship with the Tulip Ring begins:

I met Doug when I was 12, I didn’t know being an artist was a thing you could be just quite yet. I stared at this ring during every art leason he gave, up until I turned 19. One day he told me he made it during a masters program in Mexico. He probably caught me eyeing it. I was far too shy to pry back then. I learned you could study cool art in Mexico.

Doug was an active, football playing dancer in his youth, so it was crushing to witness his life after he fell asleep at the wheel, leaving him a parapalegic. This I only know because I ran into an artprofessor who taught him when he went to McMaster university. A tragic major life change for anyone but I wouldn’t have guessed, for the time I knew him, he was circumventing the world, multiple times. He travelled more than anyone with two working legs I knew. A tragic life but not a tragic person. He wasn’t shy of being vulnerable either.

He dated, got rejected, got cheated on, stories and questions he’d answer as we chiselled away, making our own marks on these blank plaster blocks, he was more or less an open book. Regrettable feelings about being a bully in his younger days, personal faults he shared, he was human and did find love in the end, and maybe that’s not my story to tell. He studied every religion under the sun and never let you get away with BS, in all its glorious forms, and of course I ruffled his feathers. The ring likely met the Dalai Lama with him. Every person he ever met probably took notice of this one-of-a-kind, unique ring. I fantasize about being on my own around-the-world-art-journey one day, chancing on meeting a stranger who recognizes the ring with their own story of Doug to share. For me, the ring encapsulates his memory so well, and I haven’t seen that ring since I saw him last, before he died in a tragic skiing accident. He had a military engineer develop him some special skis. He wasn’t gonna go laying down, I think we all knew that.

I haven’t thought about the ring until now, when an opportunity arose to ask about it. Doug was never one to let a good moment go, and now I can’t stop thinking about it. This linking object, that started interesting and novel at first, and overtime, collected meaning as all the events unfolded themselves around it, and now it’s burned in my memory, just thinking about it and knowing it’s out there, somewhere, with its lose and mysterious connection to me, and a connection to those whose lives Doug touched. Doug has a second life in that ring, I feel it. Just thinking about it gives me a mental high, like a hidden gem left to uncover.

I’ll accept a photo of the ring even, but nothing beats the truth of an original, Doug can attest to that. To whoever has the Tulip Ring, I’ll even trade a painting for it. Big or small. ANY painting 🌷

Tmw will be the last Cold moon of the year. Meaning it’s gonna be big and bright as it will be close to the Earth! I’ve always loved the magic of the moon and now with my young kids, the giant glowing face in the sky is more prominent than ever. There’s just something magical about the luminescent disc in the night sky that no one asked for. It gives and gives, lighting up the darkness by nature, like light at the end of a tunnel.. -like the forty five minutes of painting time I get after putting the last one to bed before I pass out in front of the tv myself 🌕

I wish I could paint as fast as I could imagine. The world is full of wonder and I am only here for a sliver of a fraction. If you get a chance to catch a glimpse of the last cold moon, remember it bright. A toasty painting for cozy winter nights, this painting is for the griller in the family and a feisty take on your children’s favourite bedtime story.

#wonder #supermoon #cow #goodnightmoon

A children’s picture book about a group of free thinking zebras who use #democracy, #teamwork and #creativeproblemsolving to defeat their biggest enemy, THE LIONS!!

This is my first written, illustrated and self published work. Taking pre orders now if you would like a signed copy for $25.00 CAD, just let me know.

I did it ❤️

Last week we read to the kids, grades 3 & 4 and Montessori equivalents at the infamous Hillfield Strathallan College.. where my breakdancing career both began and ended..

Christine did a talk to the senior law classes while I did one for their senior art classes.

I had so much fun I ran out of art cards to give out. I visited my old art room and paid my respects to Mr. Doug Moore, an art teacher who was always a champion of my creative endeavours. I did not paint this incredible portrait.

We dedicated the book to him. He was always so encouraging about finding your own voice and exploring uncomfortable topics to talk about. He studied every religion under the sun and circumvented the world 3x despite becoming a paraplegic in his 20s. He never claimed to be perfect but lived with incredible humility and resilience.

If he felt you did a half hearted job he’d toss ur painting on the ground and wheel over it with his chair. One time I submitted a painting still wet for an assignment, so obvious I crammed it in the night before as an after thought. He gave it a bad grade then tossed it in the trash.

Those are my favourite stories about him. To some he could be harsh, he was not everyone’s favourite teacher, he could be hard to please, the truth can be hard to hear. He came at a time in my life where I was close to closing off a very big part of myself, art, to pursue something logical and very practical, but what good is efficiency if you don’t like where you are efficiently getting to. He changed my life, and made me see a life of art is incredible!

I loved seeing the art room’s upgrades, a dark room, a firing kiln?!! There was gentle talk about me maybe teaching art there one day. I flirted with the idea a bit, and I let them woo me some with their printing press. I would totally jump in there and do a joint picture book with the class, how fun would that be. Everyone can take home a copy too. Would have loved to learn how to self publish a picture book at that age.

It was wild getting to have lunch back at the old cafeteria, so many upgrades. No giant chocolate communal pudding spoon though. Rumours went around about the morning’s cool visitors. So many memories of old friends and lost crushes, a testament that your past shapes and follows you, even without you realizing, a real Wes Anderson, Rushmore type moment for me.

My favourite part was reading to the younger kids. It was amazing to see them so curious and actually engaging in our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Some future aspiring lawyers already!

The kids loved the art and while front row sat a good two feet away from my toes at the beginning of the read, by the end of it, they were nearly on my lap! Everyone leaning in to see all the different Canadian wildlife I had painted in between the pages. They were so curious of the process too.

Atlas, my ultimate favourite was when this young lad came up to me to say that I was his new favourite illustrator ❤️

I had so much fun I promised them I’d be back in one year’s time with two more picture books. Thank you HSC for all the support! & the Canadian Constitution Foundation and Christine for the opportunity!

I was invited awhile back on national television for an interview on my work on Maple’s Garden, a children’s picture book on freedom of expression. Here I discuss my thoughts on art and the people who don’t like it -and that’s ok. I’m gonna keep making and showing it because I strongly believe it still serves a function in a peaceful society, whether popular or not:

https://youtu.be/yQueajAq3rY

You can easily find a copy from Indigo and Amazon now, here is me waltzing into my local Indigo bookstore at Golf Links, Ancaster, signing a copy.

This week Christine (the author and my old friend) and I will be visiting our old grade schools to do a reading with the kids, and I’ll be dishing both the dirt and the lore on my rocky start to a career in the arts 🎭

Made a short promo video for my children’s book, now I don’t have to look like a goof and stare blankly when people get all excited and ask me what it’s about. Just watch the video, or wait to buy it! Easy peasy. I can handle overwhelming feelings, this journey is mine. #childrensbook #democracy #freedom

In a nutshell, it’s about a highly advanced group of sentient beings, the zebras, and how they face and ultimately defeat their greatest enemy, the lions using: DEMOCRACY, TEAMWORK & CREATIVE PROBLEM SOLVING.

The title of the book, ZEBRATHENIA, steals from the first recorded democracy established in 6th century BC, the Greek city of Athens.

Where did the inspiration and ideas come from?

For 2 decades, I have drawn and painted nothing but pictures, and every month, the feedback I have received has always been, “COOL ! “ and, “These would make great picture books.” It’s always been a dream of mine, too.

Growing up I had no family members who really drew anything nor was really interested in art like I was. The public library was where I found everything, everything on my favourite painters, cartoonists and story tellers, and even though my paintings grace the walls of beautiful homes, it might be time to muscle in a little room for myself on the bookshelves.

But why now?

Maybe because I’m finally settled in a place of mental freedom. What do I mean by that. I can paint and draw whatever I want and on any timeline I want. I have a fantastic day job (home care nursing) that affords me time and resources to. My ideas therefore answer to no one except myself, I don’t have to worry about market demands or altering my art to put food on the table. Artistically, I have complete and total freedom. Maybe also I recently became a mother of two toddlers, and I have a new audience to think about.

But what story?

Every painting has potential to be developed into a character, a theme, a plot. All the beginning elements of interest were there. I had over 300 ideas to choose from until I finally zoomed in on something.

Previous to this decision, I had just finished a marketing class helping me to hammer out my own personal mission statement. I grew up in a strict upbringing, in part of having immigrant parents struggling to set up new life in a strange new land offering freedom, Canada. My parents originally came from China, then Hong Kong, and finally made it to Canada in the 70s. Growing up not much was revealed about their upbringing nor journey, I only ever overheard snippets, I know there was the Japanese occupation of China, and I know there was immense hardship. I am in the midst of squeezing out their detailed stories, but from what I gather, they moved because they wanted better freedoms. Art has always been my outlet, a place to fill the unknowable void, a place to wrestle with the silence. Art to me offers freedom, a place to express, a creative outlet you can use to tackle problems with and win minds over. Finally, I came up with my mission statement:

To safeguard the realm of freedom of thought and expression, to excel and fascinate, by painting !

Soon after writing this sentence, I was approached by the Canadian Constitution Foundation to illustrate a book. I never would have done it normally, I hate working for other people when it comes to art, but they were asking for pictures for a picture book and the story revolves around how natural gardens became a protected right of freedom of expression here in Canada. The theme resonated with me and it mattered a lot that they believed in me, that I could illustrate a children’s book and do a good job of it. The publisher and author both LOVED my work, it comes out this August, “Maple’s Garden,” authored by YouTube Channel Canadian Justice host, Christine Van Geyn and illustrated by myself. I’m pretty excited, more on that later.

It was a fun and challenging project that really lit the fire within. It was time for me to take the inevitable leap, I’ve always known I’d only ever be truly happy as an artist as an auteur.

There a million ways you can take a children’s book and I will likely explore other themes as I embark on my journey, but for this one, my first one, I really wanted to know I could write a story. ABCs and 123 books are a dime a dozen and I could do an alphabet Animal Furniture book, or an Ugly Animals In Cute Outfits counting book easy peasy, and I likely will in the future. When you come to know yourself, as an artist, a creator, that you have the ability to draw anything, that you can ultimately figure out how to make what is in your mind reality, the endless choices, the endless options, the real work then becomes, the choosing: The what, when and why. Not straying from the ideas that could be harder to execute. I can spend days just thinking about what the next move on my painting is without actually painting anything. It is all a very important and valuable part of the journey into the unknown.

I wanted to know if I had what it takes to write a meaty, yet simple story that you could take a life lesson from, gain a perspective on something, and something that could be expanded into a series. Turns out I do! So far I have applied to 8 publishers with the manuscript and received 3 hybrid contracts. I’ll likely wait for a traditional contract (not a lot of publishers want to take the risk of a new author) or self publish ( I do like having to only answer to me), but that’s besides the point. The fact is only 10% of manuscripts hear any feedback at all out of the hundreds they receive every month and my manuscript is landing in the top 10%! Also, I wanted something that honoured my parent’s journey half way around the world in search for better freedoms, and my own up studious up bringing. Finally, I landed on an old idea I had a painting of from 2012:

This painting has always captured the attention of audiences. It reminds me of my brother’s childhood bedroom. He really liked zebra prints, and so did my mom. My mom had no formal art education but she was a slick seamstress with an eye for patterns. She upholstered our whole house growing up, immigrant culture means being thrifty no matter your circumstance. So my brother had zebra print bed linens, curtains and chairs. I subconsciously took the room with me and threw some lions in. The end result was so fascinating I repainted the idea two more times, once in 2021 and again in 2023:

In these paintings, it looks like the lions are winning, but the zebras in hiding, look like they might just surprise us. I wanted to do an origin story. How did the zebras find themselves in this situation, what happens next and how can I weave in a theme of, in the pursuit of freedom and resiliency into the stripes?

..and that is what my children’s picture book is about 🦓

#freedom #democracy #childrensbook #zebras

This Polar bear excels at climate change! He is resilient, flexible, resourceful, stylish and comfortable in his own skin. Not just anyone can own this piece. #fatheradaygiftideas #polarbear #fishing