Definitely nothing in my kitchen!

Much to the disappointment of my family.

I am making a "recipe" I have never really made before. Some of the ingredients I have used and know very well, others not often if at all. Some are like those little-known spices you have to reach way back in the cupboard to get and realize how much you've wanted to use but never had the right recipe.

The ingredients I'm using are not spices, or culinary in nature. Instead, here's the list:

cradled wooden panels
photographs of a memorable experience
encaustic wax, heated on an electric griddle
encaustic paints & pigment sticks
archival print paper
hake brushes
blowtorch & heat gun
strong arms and good eyesight

No, I'm not in my kitchen. I'm in my studio creating a body of artwork called the Gratitude Collection, based on a memorable trip to the Netherlands in 2015 with my father - a WWII Canadian Veteran who helped liberate that country. I'm working through trial and error and, well, a few science experiments.

The element of using encaustic, or fusing hot wax, is new to me, and after a fantastic workshop with artist Dietlind Vander Schaaf, I knew instantly that the beautiful texture and ethereal quality of the wax were what these images needed to come to life.

I'm accepting the challenges and the unknowns because I think it is important, and I'm hell-bent to get this work into the world. The people of the Netherlands need to know how powerful their gratitude is and what it can accomplish in the world.

This recipe will take patience, resilience, maybe an assistant or two (AKA children), and a supportive network of family and friends. I am blessed.

So, while my husband makes his cranberry relish (it's Pepto pink but we love it!) for our US Thanksgiving meal, I'll continue feverishly working in my studio.

I invite you to watch this video of the first piece in the making:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e_Vmwb6anY

Be grateful. It is powerful.

Celebrating long-lasting friendships

It is a place to enjoy the best martini after a long drive, where the food is amazing, where the camaraderie fits as well as your favorite pair of shoes that you can slip into anytime and walk for an eternity. It's an annual event that takes place on a lake in Ontario, Canada, the second weekend in July, the setting lovely and inspirational, and the people incredible.

I'm talking about Girl's Fishing Weekend. I'm talking about friendships that have stood the test of time. Thirty-three years of fishing weekends to be exact.

My college girlfriends and I have made it okay to share triumphs, joys, challenges, sadness, and our vulnerabilities. It's a time and a safe place to reflect on the year that has passed, milestones during the decades we've known one another, and what the future holds. It's where we discuss the latest trends in architecture, art, travel, relationships, style - or lack of it, food, and wine, health, and maybe the lighter side of politics. Turn up the music, throw in a goofy game or two and laughter ensues.

And, for those of you curious to know the type of fishing gear we use, or the bait that's best for the kind of fish in the lake... news flash: we don't fish. Why waste time? We named the weekend because we wanted to give it validity for the other important people in our lives.

Girl's Fishing Weekend is our way of celebrating and preserving what matters most - our friendship.

I hope we all have or strive to pursue these kinds of friendships in our lives, and that we take the time to celebrate them. They are worth their weight in gold.

Bye now... I'm goin' fishin'.