holiday shopping – go local

So I made some cards for ME and then some of YOU asked for some too!  After a few special orders, I still have a bunch left to sell at the holiday craft fairs I am participating in over the next two weekends.  Come on by and grab a few and send some West Coast wishes to those you love!  Printed on 100 % recycled paper (as all my cards are), these truly are good for the Earth….and the Sea!  Please send me a note if you want a bulk order (and special bulk rate) on cards, or if you cannot make the holiday sales coming up.

send some peace and mark your page with a whale tail

I also decided to show you the entire painting (DIVE DEEP) in the form of a bookmark. Wouldn’t they make a nice pairing with the gift of a book (used book are the best kind to get, share your favourites around).   To top off the ultimate West Coast gift, you could add my DIVE DEEP calendar (also printed on 100% recycled paper).

dive deep 2016 calendar

You will find my PEACEFUL ocean creations Dec 12,13, 19 and 20th at the Pier Gallery Artists Collective (Panacea has the best stocking stuffers, hint hint Santa) and this Sunday at the DRIFT Home Show from 1 – 5 pm (come see where the magic happens at Black Bird Studios and meet a bunch of fabulous artists) .  Check out the links to see who is involved in each of these fabulous shows.

While you are out and about, check out the other craft sales happening on Gabriola over the next two weekends. The Agi Christmas Craft Fair is at the Community Hall this Saturday from 10 am – 3 pm.    Also this Saturday, Dianna Bonder will have her studio open for an Xmas Blast Open House from 10 am – 4 pm (the perfect place to get those books I was talking about). Another talented group of artists will be selling their wares at Christmas at the Roundhouse over the next two weekends from 11 am – 4 pm.  La Belle Vie Studio will be full of my friend Josee Velsen’s creations, so stop by while you are making your rounds (her homemade teas would be the perfect pairing with the books you are gifting and make sure you get some of your own to sip while you write Christmas cards). 

There is simply no reason to go to Nanaimo when you can get all your holiday shopping done right here on our amazing island.  Shop local and have fun!

P.S. If you are in Nanaimo and cannot make it over this way, check out the beautiful creations made by Katherine Moore at her Breeze On In Open House this weekend.  Or head downtown and see my art alongside so many other locals at Artzi Stuff.

Rainbow Power – honouring Maya Angelou

 ’Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud’ — Maya Angelou

rainbows for mara A top R bott May 20140002 rainbows for mara A top R bott May 20140003

Today, as the world said goodbye to Maya Angelou, it seems fitting that my daughters were making rainbow art.  We should all be grateful for the wisdom and strength of this amazing woman who inspired peace and equality to the world.  Author, poet, teacher, civil activist…..her rainbow spirit will live on!  I recently discovered her writings and look forward to exploring them more with my daughters (she has a number of children’s books that I have yet to read).  I hope you will too.

MAYA ANGELOU

When asked how she’d like to be remembered, Angelou once told an interviewer ” What I would really like said about me is that I dared to love…By love, I mean that condition in the human spirit so profound it encourages us to develop courage and build bridges, and then to trust those bridges and cross the bridges in attempts to reach other human beings.”

May we all dare to do the same!