When we send out a seed, we never know how it will grow.  When I approached Hannah Lin, Executive Director of the YWCA Muskoka regarding an art show celebrating women in the arts, neither of us could have envisioned the response both from the artists and those who would join us in the celebrations.

When women come together to build each other up, there's a magic that happens.  We start to realize we are not alone in our dreams, our goals or even our fears.  And then we begin to believe in ourselves a little more.  We add a few layers of confidence.  We start making plans to build our dreams, we take actual steps to reach our goals and we begin to believe that we can make a difference.  This is what happened when women from around Muskoka gathered at the YWCA in Bracebridge to finalize plans for our spring show at The Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge, ON, last Friday, January 18th.

In between the daily grind, the filtered social media moments, the good times and the bad times; once in a while we are hit with something that stops us in our tracks.  Whether from deep loss, physical or mental illness, grief, abuse, or some other trauma, we've all encountered deep pain in our lives.  This March, I have the honour of displaying a group of paintings at The Chapel Gallery in Bracebridge, ON, in a show entitled "Passages".  This body of work explores the journey through the emotions created by this pain.  There is a  path we must take  to get through it, and find ourselves again on the other side of grief.

The journey is not linear.  With the paintings in my show, I compare each emotion we go through to a passage.  It may be that one is stuck in a passage for years, only to circle back to a previous emotional passage.  One may be living in several passages at once.  All of these emotions are normal.  There is no time limit for being in a passage.  We each take a similar path, yet we each travel it differently, and that is okay.  With each emotional stage or passage, there is potential for learning and finding our way through, to a healthier place.  

To heal from pain, personal work is needed, yet with the aid from others, we can navigate the emotions we face, to healing and freedom.  
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I invite you to join me for the opening reception, March 3, 2018, from 1 to 4, at the Chapel Gallery.   The show runs from March 3 -24, Tues. to Sat. 10-1 and 2-5.  If you can't make it in person, I will be posting here shortly with pictures of the event.  

Albert Einstein once said "education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school".  

After my weekend enjoying the great weather and amazing people at the Cranberry Festival, I couldn't agree more.  I love people, and there were thousands that visited Johnston's Cranberry Marsh two weekends ago.  These same people saw my art.  That was intimidating, but I'm happy to say I survived the jump.  Showing my art to the public is like revealing a piece of my soul.  How relieved I was to receive so many positive comments, and  I sold more items than expected - wow.  

So to any of you who are contemplating taking a leap of faith.  I say, go for it!  Say Geronimo!  It's the anticipation that creates the most fear.  Life is an education, let's live it to the full.  I would love to hear from any out there that have taken the leap...how did it go? ...what did you learn?...  Send me your comments, I would love to hear from you....

OK, so I've painted murals before.  Kids bedrooms, restaurants, seniors' centers and small businesses.  But this is different.  I'm bringing my art to the public.  When I painted murals it was the client who chose the image.  Before the paint even touched the wall, they could change the layout.  This time I'm choosing, and it's sort of like jumping from a cliff.  I know I'll land safe, I'm prepared.  But I have  butterflies in my stomach anyways.

​I'm taking my latest pieces to the Bala Cranberry Festival, October 14, 15, 16, 2016. Come say hi, and let's cross our fingers for great weather!