New Studio... Courses Offered Soon!!!

I just went by my soon-to-be-new-studio today. Saw the friendly land-lady again, paid the rest of May's rent... and got the keys!!! I didn't think I'd have access 'til May, but Landlady is nice. Happy happy!

So in the next couple of days, I will be heading over there with tape-measure and papers and pen in hand. Like any time that I start in on a new space (for example, back in 2002 when I bought my home in Courtenay, BC) I like to make a little "dream-map" of what I imagine things could be like there. I want to set this place up well, so that I utilise the space to its best. Shelving, extra lighting... things that will make it all the better.

I will be teaching courses in this space for kids, teens, and adults. The courses will be administered through the Salamander Arts Centre, but people can contact me directly, too. There will be courses in felt-making, painting, and mixed media stuff. The kids' courses will run mostly in the summer, and the teens/adults right through 'til Christmas. When I have the exact dates and times worked out, I'll provide a link to the lists. In the adult courses, we will make things like felt scarves, felt coasters, felt purses, felt beads, felt cat-toys...

The painting course for adults that I will offer is one that I had designed a few years back, and offered in the Comox Valley... however there was never enough interest in it then. I am hoping that in all of Montreal I will find 4-8 people who would like to "Add Depth To Painting"! It will be a fun course, despite the dry name. Depth is a good, good thing!

Anyhow, I must get on to packing things around the home that will be transferred over there, now. Soon I'll get movers to come and haul furniture and etc for me, so I need to get a-boxin' up. I'll also need to shift stuff from my old, shared studio space to home in the next couple of weeks...

Busy, happy, exciting time! Really, living the dream.

Some Good Old Fashioned Resolve

It's time for the annual list of hopes, plans, and things I'd like to accomplish/put into gear this year. I drew out a general timeline for the stuff I want to get done, and then boiled it down to some generic things. Then I made some sub-lists and stuff... it's a long and drawn-out, complicated process. A recipe for my next year, in a way.

But you'll get the short version and here it is:

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-slice the potatoes
-put them in the oven with some olive oil
-make a packet of gravy
-buy some cheesecurds.

When the potatoes are all done in the oven, put the gravy and cheesecurds on top. Enjoy!

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Haha, just kidding. Here's my short version of this year's resolves and stuff:

-have more art exhibitions
-do more vounteer work
-do more teaching of art
-apply for grad school

Yay! That is all do-able. I'll try to not have poutine so often, too.

The Craft Rat

As some of you are well aware, I sell things like felt wool scarves and my smaller paintings and prints of paintings on an Etsy page (http://HendersonArt.etsy.com/, in case you didn't hear about it yet...)

As of yesterday evening, I now have a second storefront on Etsy... this one's purpose is to showcase more punk styled things. I'm starting with the first item, a men's scarf that incorporates trash in it! Seriously, go check it out. http://TheCraftRat.etsy.com/

A huge thanks goes out to my punk friend Greg, who also has an Etsy shop (it's empty at the moment, but I'll link to it from TheCraftRat as soon as it's not!)

Cheers and happy holidays to you all.