I'm actually excited for my birthday this year! It's been years since I had anyone to celebrate with but now I have friends who I hang out with . I don't even have to make a big fuss or plan anything because our weekly get-together night just happens to be that same day. So I won't be doing anything out of the ordinary but I will get to be extra thankful and happy that day. Perfect!

Oh, and I will be shooting a NEW SET in about 2 weeks! It's going to be sexy. The wonderful Cherry will be shooting it. That lady is so awesome and talented! We get along amazingly well so this is really just an excuse to get her and the other Vancouver SG's together for an afternoon of fun.

Cruella has a new set and I've got a cameo!



Go check it out here!

Uko. acrylic on wood. 336x24. 2010. (sold)

I'm very excited about art these days. I've begun working differently, almost devolving in a way, taking sketches directly from my sketchbook and working them into paintings. As obvious as this is, it was never something I could wrap my head around. I've always edited myself so much, to the point where the essence of all of my sketches and doodles were held solely in the eyes of the girls that I paint. I'd always felt a tightness when working, as if I was expressing what I needed to, but not in a way that was wholly satisfying. Now that might change, we'll see.

I'm going to be having a solo show next year, and with about 7 months to prepare I'm expecting a lot out of myself. I've already started working out my ideas and have 2 paintings started. The whole process has been very intuitive so far and I haven't been letting my analytical mind judge anything. It feels really good! I think the theme for the show is going to be creating visual narrative. It's a really common, broad theme but is something that I've actually never explored before.

I'm so fortunate to have people looking out for me! Being the shy hermit that I am, it always surprises me that people will go out of their way to do nice things. Of course, in business "it's all about who you know" but the same goes for one's personal life. The more good people you know, the greater your world becomes.

I've always felt like I should do everything for myself, but I can only be in so many places at once putting my full effort into so many things. Sometimes I feel like I've had to let opportunities pass me by because I know that I'm unable to take them on just yet. I know my strengths and weaknesses and sometimes it's not worth the stress just to throw myself into something without the right tools. The beautiful thing is that because I know what I am capable of right now, the Universe finds ways to make things work for me. I don't need to be pushing in all directions at once. A path always shows itself in just the right way that I understand what needs to be done on my part. I don't need to be anything more than I am because there are so many wonderful people out there to help. And I don't need to know everybody on the face of the Earth, because specific people come into my life for a reason. Somehow I am able to help them, and they are able to help me - the purpose of our conscious existence.


A quick in-progress shot of my latest painting.

Myself, and a few other SG's, have a cameo in an upcoming set! It was tons of fun to shoot. Can't wait to see the photos and share some sneak peeks. Kinda reminds me that it's high time I did a new one.

So I just measured my bra size and apparently I'm a 30DDD. Oi!

In other news... my client has asked me to repaint the brown eye, which ends up being both eyes because otherwise they would look totally off to do just the one. If you read my last blog you will understand the context. The funny thing is that I just did an underpainting for the eyes, where I haven't added the color yet, and I LOVE them as is. I think this is how I will paint a lot of my girls in the future. Win for me!

Vivyan. Sold.


Sonmi. Sold.


Meronym. 20x16. oil on panel. For sale.

I just finished these and they are going up in a show tomorrow. The names are from the book Cloud Atlas and are not literal interpretations of the characters. Surprisingly, I only posted them online last night and 2 sold already! I couldn't be happier! It means that I can treat myself this weekend while I'm out of town painting at a music festival.

Since I made a commitment to buy as few things as possible life has been very simple. I no longer spend any time thinking about things that I like, want, or wish I had. I never feel a pang of heartbreak when I can't have something. I never go out shopping and I save sooo much money. The one thing I do enjoy is eating out, so that's usually what I treat myself to and it's usually organic. Yay Vancouver for making it so easy for me to eat delicious, organic, ethical food.

Hmm, it seems that myself and Choplogik's 1 year anniversary occurred yesterday. We do something special every day so we managed to celebrate even though we didn't remember that we should have celebrated until today. It involved sharing a gooey s'mores brownie and then buying some sexy things and taking them for a test drive once we got home. If only we'd known that we were celebrating...

In other news, I'm really proud to have hit a huge career goal this week! This is the first time in my life that I've ever been in this position and it feels really good knowing that I did it all the way I wanted. I don't feel like I've suffered and sweated to get where I am, I feel like it has been a most natural and enjoyable journey. The next step is to structure my work days so that I don't feel like I'm always working. I'm going to set aside blocks of time where I am 'at work' so that I can focus solely on art-making and then I have all the time around those blocks to do what I want/need to do.

I've been listening to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink audiobook and his ideas are so interesting. I've read most of Tipping Point and all of Outliers and I think they're amazing. His ideas about a holistic approach to things is very similar to Ken Wilbur. I love seeing different authors coming to the same conclusions! One thing I've noticed about the audiobook is that the only time I can focus my complete attention on it is when I'm making art. Now I'm finding work to do just so that I can listen to the book! Win! I'm also reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, which is wonderful as well. If you have any recommendations for audiobooks I would really appreciate them.

And finally, it's time I shot a new set!