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Sad news, folks! The opening reception for our art show, Growing Up (at the McMullen Gallery, UofA hospital) has been postponed. Officials are worried about H1N1 and therefore are putting any social gatherings at the hospital on hold. The Show IS STILL ON and it will be open during the original reception hours which were November 5th from 7-9pm (but without all the wonderful bottles of wine we bought and yummy food to snack on).

In order to feel better about the reception, I drew a picture for a friend of mine with a baby around the same age as my son. The baby is pictured in a ring sling, one of my favorite modes of transporting a baby.

On a side note, does anyone trick-or-treat anymore? My house only saw seven little ones (and we live in a city, in a home in a residential neighbourhood)... don't tell me H1N1 has scared off the kids as well as the art show viewers!

Horrah! So it turns out I can be a mother and an artist at the same time. At the expense of some very valuable naps and with the help of my amazing husband, I squeezed in the time to finish a painting for my upcoming "Growing Up" show this fall. I've been wondering how amazing illustrators such as Rachelle Anne Miller, Gina Perry & Heather Castles, manage to take care of a baby while also keeping up with illustrating. While I'm still a far cry away from taking on any client work, I am starting to see such things in my future which absolutely thrills me.

This is another finished piece for the growing up show. I'm hoping it's quite obviously a scene from a girls sleepover, an event that many girls experience while on their path growing up.

Growing Up Show Painting Links 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 (#5 is still a progress picture - will upload the final soon!)

On another news worthy note, a book I started illustrating for Tony Potter Publishing late last summer that was put on hold is now back in full force. Apparently there was some interest shown when they took the mock-up to the Bologna Book Fair this year. This will most likely be the last project I can fit into my schedule before I take maternity leave (unless something little and lovely comes into the picture). I'm hoping to finish all client work by May 15th so I don't end up with deadlines and a newborn at the same time. I hope this leaves me with some time to complete a series of paintings for the baby's room!

I've finished Sprinkler Dash for the Growing Up Show. I will share this show with illustrators Amanda Woodward and Davey Thompson. See progress on the painting by scrolling below and find links to the other 3 paintings there too.

I may have mentioned earlier that I'm busy creating art for an upcoming art show in 2009 with the theme being growing up. I don't think there's been a time in my entire life where I've felt like I've had to grow up more than since I found out the big news (see previous post) but it's been fun meeting with the other very talented ladies involved in the show: Amanda Woodward and Davey Thompson and discussing how we've grown up in our lives and that the process never seems to stop.

I've only nailed down one sketch which I've started painting. Here's the painting as it stands thus far (it's about me moving to the city when I was 17 - feeling so out of place and in wonder yet scared out of my mind) -