Guys. I've written 250 posts on this blog. Can you believe it?? I've come a long way since my first post in 2009 (no camera, no direction, no idea...) and I still have a long way to go (I hope!). I've enjoyed every minute of this fantastic journey in blog world. I've learned so much along the way. This blog has seen many changes but it's fun to look back at where it's been. I wish I had a picture of what the very first layout was! SO much different than today. 

Anyway. To celebrate this milestone, I've decided to have a giveaway! This print represents the beginnings of my watercolour and illustration journey so it's quite special to me. It may not be perfect, but there's something quite whimsical and fun about it. So here are the dets (read: details). Just follow the instructions under each one of the tabs on the Rafflecopter for 9 ways to enter! And make sure to leave any information it asks so I know your entry counts. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

This is what my art life has looked like lately. Everything started, nothing finished. Well that's not completely true- I did finish the butterfly painting, but it was a gift and I completely forgot to snap a finished product shot! My sketchbook is finally getting filled again, though. I've got lots of ideas and I'm attempting to remember to sketch them down rather than leaving them jumbled about in my head! You may have seen this last shot on Instagram, but that was the cropped version. As you can see, I pushed a whole lot of clutter out of the way to make a cleaner final shot. I especially like my foot poking out on this one ;) Oh the things we do to alter reality! 

Although I don't have much to show for the work that I'm doing, all of this behind the scenes stuff tends to take up a fair amount of time so I feel like I've been working hard! I'm thinking ahead for once in my life and planning projects months in advance. Including...Christmas cards! I know, it sounds a little early, especially when Thanksgiving hasn't even passed yet, but in order to get them ready to sell in November for all of the eager beavers, I'm taking action now. Keep an eye out in the weeks ahead for more on that. 

And one more thing, be on the lookout for a small announcement to be published very soon...ah the suspense!

"How we did love trees! I am grateful that my childhood was spent in a spot where there were many trees, trees of personality, planted and tended by hands long dead, bound up with everything of joy or sorrow that visited our lives. When I have "lived with" a tree for many years it seems to me a beloved companion...

...Dear old trees! I hope they all had souls and will grow again for me on the hills of Heaven".

-Excerpts from chapter 3 of The Alpine Path

I've been reading this book, The Alpine Path, a memoir by L.M. Montgomery (I really can't seem to move past her writing). I've always loved her and felt a sense of connection with her but this book is deepening my kinship with her once more. 

And oh how I miss the beloved trees and groves of my childhood! The spaces where I found a closeness to the roots of growing things. I, too, once found that my familiarity with each of the trees caused me to find relationship with them as I would with another human. I long for those spaces of connection, the treed areas I grew to love. 

A part of me felt like they were made exclusively for me to enjoy. That old stump was cut down in such a way that is made the ideal seat for me to gather thoughts or spend hours sketching dreams. The two rows of trees planted just so to create an avenue for a Romantic encounter.  The leaves of an elder tree, catching the golden afternoon light, casting dancing shadows on my painted paper. The seamless rows of bushes and birch trees making room for my rattling bike on the uneven path. The poplar branches so perfectly formed to place one foot on top of the other in effort to reach the top. 

I delight in each of these with every moment I receive to enjoy them. My heart finds rest when I can see my old friends once again. Their whispering leaves remind me once again that I belong and that I am home. 

*Photo by Cattura Imagery

If I were a writer, I would try to express the beautiful rootedness that I feel toward my homeland. But I struggle with words and finding my voice within an essay or memoir. I am thankful for a writer that so accurately describes my deepest thoughts in such an eloquent way. L.M., you once again remind me that we share a heart for the same thing. 

The connection to land has yet to be found here on the west coast. And perhaps it will never be found because I find that my connection lies more with the sea. I'm becoming more familiar with its rolling waves and wild, rugged shore. The deep, dark unknown captures me. Its loneliness draws me in. The vast and mysterious hidden world beneath the water's surface allows my imagination to soar. 

Trees have always reminded me of my roots, but I suppose the sea reminds me of something else...maybe a desire to be known. Or maybe it's just the reminder that there is so much more than we know or can even imagine. There is great beauty in that fact and somehow it helps to bring me peace.