looking forward

Posted on Posted in Life, P.E.I9 Comments

I’ve been holding back on the blogging lately because the only thing I’ve had on my mind is trying to sell our house. I was worried that talking about that here might jinx things, so I ‘ve been keeping mum.

The thing is the house still hasn’t sold, and I don’t think my talking about it or lack of talking really has anything to do with it. It just is what it is.

We move into our new little house next week. That’s her up there. I’ve been holding back my excitement because I ‘ve  been so stressed out. It’s  incredibly difficult to maintain the high level of stress I’ve had for the past 7 weeks. I’ve realized there’s nothing I can do about any of this (hard realization for a control freak), so I’m deciding to let it go. No more stress. Ahhh, that feels better.

Look at that  sweet little house. It’s nestled on a quiet street, close to Sosi’s school, around the corner from my sister-in-law’s house and down the street from Ila’s baby-sitter’s. It’s still walking distance to my studio, downtown and the water. It’s a tiny house and I love that. I’m looking forward to making it our own. I’m also looking forward to the huge backyard with trees and my future garden… and maybe chickens? We’ll see about that one.

This house will sell… and if it doesn’t, maybe we ‘re meant to keep it. In the back of mind I’ve always wanted to hold on to this house, rent the 2 apartments out and maybe move back when the girls are grown. I love this house something fierce… maybe the universe is trying to show me again that I can handle more than I think I can.

New work

Posted on Posted in Art, fabric3 Comments

Between illustration jobs and custom portraits I find it fun every once in a while to just play around and do something just for fun’s sake. Here are a couple of fabric pieces I just finished up.

grounding

Posted on Posted in Kids, Life, P.E.I5 Comments

These past weeks have been a little overwhelming. We bought a house (!) almost  sold our house, but didn’t :(.

I’m trying my best to stay positive and grounded, but I’m worried about having to move in a few weeks, worried about what to do if we don’t sell this house… and about million other things.

In between the crazy-hustle-bustle there have been some lovely moments… it’s in these moments that I feel everything will work out and be OK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’d love to hear how you get grounded…

a collaboration…

Posted on Posted in Art, P.E.I5 Comments

Here are some peeks of something I’ve been working away on. Donnalee  gave me a couple of painted boxes before she left to the UK for a year to work on her masters. She wanted me to to create something from them. She mentioned something about pinecones that stuck in my head… and this is what I came up with.

She also asked me to curate a collaborative show for Peake st studios ( a wonderful local art collective)… but sadly I’ve dropped the ball on that. I haven’t been able to find a space, as the Guild (our usual space) is booked all year.

Hopefully we can get something set up for next year. At least my pieces are done!

 

 

tweet tweet

Posted on Posted in Art, small fancy

This week’s Small Fancy is “Birds of the Season”. Mine is dedicated to my father. I find his love and knowledge of birds infinitely inspiring.

Not totally unrelated… I’ve joined twitter. I always felt it a little overwhelming when I considered it before. I spend enough time at the computer, I didn’t want to be spending more. I really enjoy reading other people’s tweets and it’s fun, so I thought I’d give it a go. I’m still figuring it out and trying to get the hang of it. You can find me at @lorijoysmith.

Close to my heart…

Posted on Posted in Illustration12 Comments

I’m happy to finally be sharing with you something that has been so close to my heart for this past year. It’s  called “Noisy Poems for  a Busy Day”, it’s a collection of fun children’s poems… and I illustrated it!!!

It is going to be published by Kids Can Press and is due to be on shelves by this coming December. It was written by  Robert Heidbreder. He’s a retired school teacher living in Vancouver, who now works as a children’s book author.

Every part of this project has been a dream come true for me. I’m still pinching myself to believe it’s all real. Robert’s poems were a complete joy to illustrate, he was so supportive of my work .

I feel thankful that my art director Yvette saw the potential in me for this book. It was a crazy amount of work, but I feel like the luckiest person in the world that I got to do it.

I hope once it’s out there in the world it will bring as much happiness to others as it has brought to me!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Small Fancy Returns!

Posted on Posted in small fancy7 Comments

Small Fancy is returning! Look, we even have a fancy new header… drawn by my partner in crime Mia.

We need your help though, we’re trying to make a bank of themes. The hardest part of doing the weekly comic for us is not the drawing of the comic, but the thinking up of a theme each week. If you have a theme you would like to see us each draw please leave it in the comments.

Thanks!

Thanks!

Young folk in Charlottetown

Posted on Posted in Art, Life, P.E.I5 Comments

It’s always very exciting when something new opens in Charlottetown.

It’s even more exciting (for me) when they want to have my things in their shop.

The Young family (Adam, Rebekha and their 3 lovely boys) recently moved to Charlottetown and is opening up Young Folk and the Kettle Black. It’s a coffee shop/store.  I actually went to high school with Rebekha in Ottawa, many years ago. It was so nice to see her again. She and Adam fell in love with PEI after visiting,  (it’s hard not to) and decided to move here last year.

Last weekend, with my sick Ila in tow (I didn’t know it was hand, foot and mouth at the time!), I dropped off a bunch of paintings, fabric pieces and cards for the store.

It is a beautiful space, where the old Ampersand used to be. They are opening this weekend and  will be selling all sorts of lovely things upstairs and downstairs there will be cake and coffee…

yes, the coffee… let me tell you about the coffee! It is the best coffee I’ve had on PEI. I almost cried when I tasted it. I’ve been wanting to go back and have another ever since, but have been stuck at home with a contagious child. Soon.

They are such kind and lovely people and it’s a wonderful  little space, just what this little town needs.

 

happy valentine’s day

Posted on Posted in Art, Kids, Life4 Comments

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I have a couple of posts I have been wanting to write, but life has been a whirlwind lately. Paul is starting a new job, we’re selling our house, and looking for a new house.  On top of all that, our littlest got hit with hand, foot and mouth disease…it’s not pretty, that girl’s a trooper!

I hope you all have a wonderful day full of love, treats and full hearts.

 

just finished…

Posted on Posted in Art3 Comments

I just finished this custom painting for a cute little family down in Texas. I’m about to start another twin portrait… one for my sister. Her twins turn 1 next week!

in my studio, part 2

Posted on Posted in Art, fabric, happiness, Kids, Life

I’ve had some company…

I’ve been revisiting old work…

and trying new things.

All that studio time is having an effect on little Ila, who tells me she wants to be an “art-tast” when she grows up  (and also a puppy!).

 

In my studio…

Posted on Posted in Art, fabric3 Comments

In my studio (oh those words make me smile!), I have been doing lots of different things this past month… but not really finishing much of anything. I have been *so* excited and happy to just be there , it’s been hard to concentrate!

I’m finally settling down a bit and I just finished this piece. It’s for the upcoming “Something to Crow About” show at the Details, Past and Present gallery.

sosi turning 7…

Posted on Posted in crafting, Kids, Life

I can’t believe Sosi is turning 7 this weekend. I look at her and all I see is my little baby. She still has those same ginormous brown eyes and round cheeks she had back then, and still never wants to be alone…

I somehow convinced her that a family trip to Halifax would be more fun than the usual big friends from school birthday party (it wasn’t hard… neither of us too crazy about parties). We are all super excited for some big city fun!

To make up for the lack of a party, we had her 2 best friends over for cake and pizza last weekend. It just so happens that their moms are also my best friends. So this worked out nicely for everybody! It was a great night.

We had so much fun decorating for this special evening. We made a giant 7 (I was inspired by this) and decorated it with polka dots, making this our “polka dot” party. She then got into the balloons and made this beautiful balloon wall. It felt more like installation art to me!

This girl has taught me so much over these past 7 years. Each day she tests me, challenges me, inspires me, ….but  most of all she just loves me. That is the thing I have learned most from her,  to love.

Happy birthday baby girl,

 

(Wondering about the cute matching t-shirts with my dogs speaking french drawing? They were made by the good people at ooshirts )