Passions

Usually on Friday I get to write... which is pretty amazing. I sit quietly at my desk with my 47lb cat in my lap and peck out words that string together to create stories. Pretty cool. "Passion" seems like the wrong word because it's not frantic or heated or impulsive - it's quiet and reflective. But I love it.

Other passions - art, reading, baseball, pets... and today I get to watch my son share one of my passions. That might be my favourite way to experience passion - watching one of my kiddos learn to love one of mine. Often I am begrudging when I have to give up a writing day to do something else but not today. Today I get to watch my eleven year old play baseball. And by 'play baseball' I mean 'throw himself all in' to the game, down and dirty, full out, game on. He loves it. And I love to watch him.

My elder daughter loves shopping and drawing.
My younger daughter loves reading and animals.
My oldest son likes to write and read.

I love all of those things - my passions - but my favourite thing is to watch them learn to love it.

N

Research

My first three books were drawn from personal experience and needed little to no research to make sure they were plausible. The best way to avoid research? Make sh*t up in your own world :) That was fun!

But my latest WIP is in this world in a time and place that already happened so I have to do some research... It makes me nervous to get things right but the good news is I love research if it's interesting, and this stuff is. I've written about basketball, I've written about words and writing, my next story has a theme of art and I'm excited to dive into the paint.

N

Creative Drive

I've spent the past several days editing my indie pub coming out in February... Guys, I can't wait til I can share this story with you! I think it's a worthwhile, powerful story... I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

I've been dabbling in other creative activities... drawing and colouring again. I can remember always doing three things: playing baseball, writing and drawing. All three kinda went by the wayside with babies and toddlers and new companies and such, but they're creeping back in. Or pushing their way back in. I started writing again when we were adopting AnnaWen, then started in earnest with my Nov 2013 release, Game Plan. I started playing ball again last year with a great group of women who don't really care how many errors are made on the field so long as we're trying and having fun (which is really good b/c my 19 year old ballplayer self would be pretty embarrassed of my present day ball playing self). And now over the past couple of months I've started to draw again and it feels great! I'm looking at opening an Etsy shop to sell prints and am already collecting some peeps on Facebook.  Check it out!

Some may think writing and drawing are two different things... I think they're drawn from the same source of creation, of making ideas become real of giving breath to people or colours to animals and sharing those with others. It's a powerful source and I'm glad it's been forcing its way out again.

N

Art and Soul

I went with my movie going partner last night to see Woman in Gold. To be honest, it wasn't a great week to go to the movies... there weren't many we were interested in seeing let alone any we had noticed that we wanted to see. Isn't that the way? The weeks we can't get to the movies, there are so many we want to see, and when we finally get out there aren't many we were interested in watching... So we were pleasantly surprised by this show, though we shouldn't have been seeing as it stars Helen Mirren.

It is a true story about a woman living in California who sues the Austrian government to recover a painting of her aunt that had been stolen by the Nazis. It was the type of movie that made me think, and want to read more about the movie and the history of that time.

It's an understatement to say the Nazis stole so very much from the people they persecuted. So why do a few paintings matter? In the end a painting is just a thing, right?

Except it's not.

I've said before that creativity is driven from something deeper than paint brushes and fingers and fine motor skills. I honestly think art is driven from that something that some people call a soul, others call it a heart, psyche or spirit. And because it's driven from that source, that's where it impacts people who experience it. A piece of art that is loved becomes more than canvas and paint or a block of clay. It's a piece of spirit that is shaped from a spectral quality to a tangible, solid artifact.

And when that's stolen, a piece of the person who loves it is stolen as well.

So it's no wonder that more than half a century later the families are still searching and pleading for restoration of their artwork. You can't bring back the lives and families that were desecrated, but you can reclaim the pieces of of their souls scattered throughout museums and attics.

N

Don't ruin it!

(or less PC: Don't fuck it up)

I drove to PEI yesterday. Elliot has a hockey tournament. The drive was uneventful, we missed today's storm by well, a day, and the weather was perfect for driving - a lucky break for January. Heaven help us on our trip home tomorrow, hopefully the storm is done.

The drive from Halifax to Summerside is about three and a half hours of straight highway and a lot of farmland. I was amazed by the trees. (I want to say 'besotted', just to use the word, but I don't think that applies to trees.) I was transfixed. As I drove I studied the trees trying to figure out how I could draw them. I finally got Elliot to take a picture for later use:

Beautiful, no?

But how do you paint that on white paper? Because the magic of the tree is the white ice on the tips. If you take a white piece of paper, you'd need to draw in the trunks and branches delicately enough to leave nothing as the stunning part - you'd have to lay out the visible and let the nothing of the white ice be suggested. Suggested. For the viewer to experience without the interference of the artist's clumsy attempts to recreate the magic of... nothing.

Sounds like writing, no?

N