I spent a very nice afternoon in Orono wandering around the antiques stores.  My original intent was to see if I could get a preview of the auction there tomorrow.  Unfortunately, no-one was at the auction house despite smushing my face up against the window and banging on the door.  Anyway, at the Orono Antique Market, I was was very graciously shown around by the owner Alistair.  I enjoyed a conversation with one of his customers (who had me fired up about the possibilities for some pieces) and I walked away with a couple of great bargains.  Stayed tuned for the makeovers in the next few weeks.  P.S.  That doesn't mean that I won't be at the auction tomorrow.  Despite the foggy glass I spied more than a few goodies that were begging for a transformation!

As I was quietly (or sneakily) clicking away on my computer in my home office and checking out used furniture on the online classifieds, I heard my partner upstairs in my studio doing what sounded like a demolition.  Amid the muttering, I picked out the words "junk", which got my hackles up.  After all, that was my "stuff" that he was falling over.  I knew better than to ask what he was looking for and just hoped that he would by-pass me on the way back down the stairs.  No such luck.  He popped his head in and demanded to know what I was going to do with all of my stuff.  I really had no idea but decided to go on the offensive anyway.  It didn't matter that I didn't even know what particular items he was talking about and wasn't even sure what was up there - it was still mine!  I immediately brought up the issue of his massive tower speakers that had been in the basement for a decade and justified my "collecting" because I had used two large canvasses after they had sat for two years.  Still, there was something nagging at the back of my mind.  Items that had once held promise were now projects that I was no longer enthused about.  Did I really need that incomplete painting I started in art school in 1998?  Would I really used all the rubber mold making material that was covered with an inch of dust?  Maybe not.  Well probably not.  OK: definitely not.  So why hang onto it?  I went downstairs and loaded up the car with some of my stuff to take to Salvation Army.  One piece was a nice antique cradle that I meant to make into an indoor planter.  I gave it to the Manager who put it in their monthly auction and in exchange, she gave me a big hug and heartfelt thanks. Surprisingly, I felt relieved and happy that I had helped not only her, but I had saved something from the landfill and it was one less project on my list. 

I have been twiddling my thumbs about writing a blog and feeling much intimidated because of all the amazing and creative bloggers out there.  But, since my motto is  "how hard can it be?" I decided to bite the bullet and give it a try.

Today I was featured in the Toronto Star Gift Guide.  Gadzooks!  Who thought seeing your name in print would be so cool?  Not to mention the very nice words that Amy Dempsey used to describe my work.  There was a digital version of the article which linked to this website so naturally I went into a minor panic that the website was not up to snuff.  Hopefully that will change in the coming months as I get more experienced and add more pictures.  Of course, any feedback from readers would be muchly appreciated.  Since I have never created a website before, I can only hope that you will come back again and I'll hope to impress you with my ever-evolving web building skills.   You can see the article below.