Advent Begins - and a giveaway!

Day 1 of Advent

I would like to share a bit of Advent cheer, the simple fun of opening a numbered window every day, the hidden treasure revealed.  Look here every day for the next 24 and see what new picture-bauble has been added.  Leave a comment - even just a smile - and you could win this pretty item! 

( Leave a comment every day and I will send you one of my Christmas cards, just to be jolly!)

I designed the little reindeer above for a Canadian giftware company in 2006, this is one of the product samples.   It is 9cm tall from tip-toe to antler curl, and hangs very prettily on the Christmas tree.

Happy Advent to all.  

A visit to St. Marie Among the Hurons

How to best describe Sainte Marie Among the Hurons? A recreated historic site and a sacred place of Christian pilgrimage, it attracts visitors from around the world. During his 24 years here as missionary to the Huron, in 1643 Father Jean de Brebeuf created The Huron Carol , part of his remarkable effort to establish a bridge between two cultures. The museum at Sainte Marie records their brief but significant shared history. 

 I  first visited Ste. Marie in preparation to illustrate The Huron Carol book, published in 1990.  In 2007 those same illustrations became part of an ongoing Huron Carol exhibit at the museum at St. Marie.  At summer's end this year I  retraced my steps through this beautiful and moving historic site.

The Huron Carol installation begins here, with the original Huron language verses and the later French and English versions.

Here are some of the pictures in the installation, enlarged pages from the book with the text in French and English. 

The scene above, the Chiefs from Far coming around the longhouse, was inspired by this very spot between the longhouses and the paling:

Another view from the lookout, looking down on the kitchen garden.

Three of the Huron Carol illustrations are available as cards, which can be ordered from the website or from my Etsy shop. The Knights of Columbus Museum  in New Haven, Connecticut, have prepared a "Christmas in Canada" exhibit this year, with the cards featured in their on-site gift shop.  

It is hard to believe that Advent (and beautiful First Light at Sainte Marie) begins in scarcely a week.  I have been busy with new work and teaching, and will be posting again soon. 

Midsummer Magic 2012

My computer crashed this morning and it seems new equipment or parts are needed.  Bad fairies, one might say.  But the good fairies will still be at our annual Midsummer  Magic art show at Sovereign House, and preparations are still going forward...

even if I have to resort to paper and scissors.

I am also teaching art classes at Sovereign House this summer, painting scenes of the house and garden.

This beautiful Tiger Swallowtail was in the garden while we were painting last week.  Despite a very damaged wing (look closely, top left of butterfly) it was able to flutter on from flower to flower.

Faerie Footpaths

 

Here are a few photos from the Faerie Footpaths show now on at Arcadia Gallery.  There are fifty one paintings on display, starting at the gallery entrance with the signature piece, the Parasol Fairies that are featured on the flyer and advertising.

I chose a smaller fairy (with parasol) to use on the labels that identify the paintings,

sometimes with butterflies, as above, or with qotes from the Fairy Gazettes, like this one for a fairy caravan picture

 

  

Here is one of the groupings, paintings on a Fairy Wedding theme:

and here is another, of summer-time images.  I just recently rediscovered the "Wonders and Fairytales" banner that I painted a few years ago for a trade fair event.

  One of my favorite fairy paintings, the romantic Fairy Waltz.

From our Posy's Fairy Wardrobe collection, the Morning Glory Fairy paper doll, under glass but accessible for a quick wardrobe change:

 One of the visitors to the gallery this aternoon, very fairylike and silky:

July 24th, next weekend, is International Fairy Day.  You are most cordially invited to don your wings and join us at Arcadia Gallery for a celebration of all things Fairy.

Faerie Footpaths at Arcadia Gallery

 

I have a new art show coming up, Faerie Footpaths at Arcadia Gallery in Toronto.  The Fairy Gazette fairies will be on display for a month, along with books, prints and cards.  This is the first Toronto show for the fairy art and between teaching and painting there has not been much time for blogging.  A magic wand would come in handy.

Sweets for Shrove Tuesday

Here's a fairy selection of dainty treats for Shrove Tuesday. I have been busy teaching art classes this winter as well as working on new fairy images for an art show that is coming up in June, just in time for International Fairy Day. More about that closer to the date!

I have posted some of my art lesson material over at my other blog, All Around the Palette. Please do drop by and see the other side of the canvas, as it were.

It has been a mild winter for once, with just enough snow on the weekend for this charming scene on the nearby creek.

"Snowmen fall from heaven... unassembled." anon

Fairy Purses

The fairy purses have been mentioned mentioned before, they are Avril's crochet creations that were inspired by an antique "miser's purse". This one was in my Christmas stocking just a couple of weeks ago. Not miserly at all, these are stylish joined pockets of ingenious design; the entire work is a single continuous chain of crochet from one pocket to the other. Hard-to-find silky thread of just the right weight is necessary for the pockets to hang nicely and to support the beaded fringe.

Each pocket is 2.5 inches wide. The multi-layered flowers are Avril's invention too, plus the slider ring to keep the cords from tangling.
Designed to hold a few coins, perhaps or a sovereign or two, they are small enough to hang stylishly from a belt or belt loop.

Coming soon to the Etsy shop are these, in silky aquamarine

and fairy green.

Little fairy purses are beguiling things to shape and consider.