(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
Before anything else: yes, the hellebores are okay! They don’t seem to have been affected by the snow at all!
II hope you are all doing well!
I am so excited to share this week’s newsletter because I’m done with a painting! This one took my a while to complete because it is a very detailed plant. But, after three weeks of hard work, it is done!
Did some of you guess which plant I painted?
It is the fascinating Sarracenia purpurea!
This Purple Pitcher plant is simply fascinating! Native from the bogs and marshes of Eastern Canada, it is a spectacular carnivorous plant. I learned a lot when I was researching the plant. Let me share a few incredible details. First, what might appear to be the flowers, the pitchers, are in fact modified leaves. These little pitchers fill up with rain water and are soon colonized by little invertebrates. These wait for other insects to drown into the water and decompose them, providinf nutrition to the plant! How incredible! And as if you weren’t fascinated enough, look at the actual flower!
I had so much fun researching this plant and also painting it. I’m really happy to be done with it, but also a bit sad to be done because I had so much fun adding layer after layer of watercolour.
If you’d like to see some process photos, check out my portfolio by clicking on the picture.
New in store
You can bring this fascinating plant home as a print or a greeting card.
(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
Before anything else: yes, the hellebores are okay! They don’t seem to have been affected by the snow at all!
In other news, I’ve been painting a new plant profile, and I’m enjoying it tremendously. I was a bit nervous about choosing this plant because it is a bit more complicated and detailed that my previous pieces. I decided to give it a go anyhow because it is the most fascinating plant! Here are a few clues for you to guess what it is:
– It in native to Canada; – It has a symbiotic relationship with some invertebrates; – Its leaves are often mistaken for flowers, which is a shame because its flower is quite beautiful;
Any guess?
New in store
If you want to write a beautiful letter with some customizable letter paper, I’ve got you covered!
Look at all these flowers!
Inspiration
Let’s embark on a travel of imagination and magic!
(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
It is under a snowstorm that I write you this newsletter. The first thing I thought when I saw that it was snowing was, “My Hellebores!” What a difference a week makes!
In the atelier, I’m starting work on another plant grimoire page. I’ve challenged myself with another light flower, but it’s been so fun to get immersed in all the details and to figure out efficient ways to communicate white petals. I’m not telling you which plant it is, but here are some hints: I hope they’ll be alright! They’re called Christmas Roses after all. In other news, I’ve completed another grimoire page! I don’t know if you guessed it, but I was painting beautiful Vanilla! It was so interesting to learn about the folklore surrounding this orchid. Isn’t it incredible that we are eating the fruit of an orchid? It was a difficult plant to paint because, like the tea flower, it is very pale. Still, it was so much fun researching it, and I had lovely moments painting it. If you want to see more, feel free to visit my portfolio.
New in store
The Vanilla grimoire page is available as a print and as a greeting card! It would make the perfect gift for all the baking moms 😉
Inspiration
As we wait for travelling to be possible, let’s escape with this book!
(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
Spring is officially here! The lake has melted, and flowers are starting to come out. The quickest of them all in our garden are the hellebores! I have to admit, I bought these plants last Fall at the very end of the season based solely one their names. Hellebore. Sounds like the kind of flower that would have been used by medieval witches or fairies! Luckily, they settled down well in our garden, and what pleasure it is to discover their wonderfully beautiful flowers!
In the atelier, I’m starting work on another plant grimoire page. I’ve challenged myself with another light flower, but it’s been so fun to get immersed in all the details and to figure out efficient ways to communicate white petals. I’m not telling you which plant it is, but here are some hints:
– The plant was born from the blood of star-crossed lovers, according to legend; – The flower only blooms for one day; – You probably have some in your kitchen!
Can you guess?
New in store
I received some mushroom sticky note pads this morning! Add a sprinkle of forest magic with these cute mushrooms!
(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
What a week! After months of silence, construction has started behind our home. This came to us as a surprise… a noisy, heartbreaking and turbulent surprise! In an effort to stay sane, as noise makes me emotional since my concussion, I’ve moved my atelier to the basement. I feel very lucky to have this extra room and last refuge to go to. It enables me to keep on creating in a more peaceful environment. It was quite something to move everything out of the guest bedroom and the former office and to bring it all together again. I think I might have a slight book addiction! However, I think we’ve succeeded in creating a nice workspace. My partner is also working from home and now we have more room to work, and I even gained an extra desk in the process!
Through all of this, I managed to continue working on my foxes. My original idea was to make a colouring page with different foxes doing different foxy things, but then plants happened. Still, I’m very happy with the result, and it was so interesting to research different plants named after foxes. I realized for example that Foxglove is also called Folk’s Glove because of a Welsh legend that says that fairies (or Little Folk) use the flowers as gloves. I can’t help but wonder is Folk’s Glove slowly became Foxglove because of how similar these names sounds. Fascinating! In any case, the colouring page became a calligraphy piece and finally a greeting card and print! I’m very happy with this page of foxes!
New in store
As mentioned above, the foxes are available as a card and as a print.
It is also time to order your Beltane cards if you want to receive them around May 1st!
(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
This week, I needed a break! Everything seems to be irritating and stressful. I’m starting to work on new products, have new paintings I want to paint, my graphic novel is calling my name, yet all I want to do is draw for myself, read books and walk outside. I’m looking forward to Friday to take the day off and reeelaaaax. I hope you have some time off for Easter and that you will be able to unwind and do things you enjoy!
In the meantime, I’m planning, taking notes, and doing all the small things that need to be done in my business. I’m allowing myself to draw for fun and do some research. It’s incredible nice to be able to navigate this mood and to still fill okay with myself. In the past, I’ve struggled a lot with feelings of unworthiness when I wasn’t working at 1000% all the time. At the moment, I’m learning to be kinder with myself and also that as an artist I need to refill my creative cup once in a while to avoid exhaustion and to stay inspired.
One of my artistic goals this year is to learn to draw animals better. I’ve been sketching a lot of foxes this week. Here are a few. They’re not perfect, but it’s quite nice to discover this animal through drawing… and I’m having so much fun experimenting!
New in store
As I finished the Camelia sinensis painting, it is now available as a print and as a greeting card. I think this piece would be perfect for kitchen decor, or in a nook where you usually drink your tea!
Inspiration
This graphic novel is incredibly touching, and I’m sure you’ll love it!
(This is a news letter I sent out. If you’d like to receive fresh news every week, sign up here! The full newsletter contains surprises and is delivered once a week to your mailbox. Et elle est également en français!)
I hope you are all doing well!
This week, we have had such nice weather. It feels like a treat to go outside with just a sweater! I know Winter is probably still lurking, waiting for one last surprise, but it’s been really nice all the same. We’ve also started seeing geese come back and hearing them in the Spring always makes my heart so happy. I’m incredibly impressed by their voyage to Southern lands. All the things they must see!
In the atelier, I’ve finished the piece I showed you last week! I’m very proud of this one because I’m extremely intimidated by leaves and white flowers. I learned a lot through painting this one, and I’m happy with the end result. It’s so nice to learn and persevere. It was also a lot of fun to research this familiar plant and to learn more of the folklore that is attached to it. So, did you guess what plant this is? It is beautiful Camelia sinensis, or tea!
I was very happy to see what the tea flower looks like because I didn’t know anything about it before painting this piece. This plant has such an interesting history, I really hope this painting will inspire you to look into it, with a warm cup of tea to keep you company of course!
New in store
As I finished the Camelia sinensis painting, it is now available as a print and as a greeting card. I think this piece would be perfect for kitchen decor, or in a nook where you usually drink your tea!
We rewatched The secret life of Walter Mitty, and it was such a treat! As a result, I’ve had this song stuck in my head since, but I’m not complaining!
Walter Mitty is such an interesting character. After reading the classic short story, it is a real pleasure to watch this modern adaptation filled with love, courage, humour and beautiful scenery… and a great soundtrack!
This week I’m sharing the beautiful book My Friend Fear, by Meera Lee Patel. For the past two years, going through the process of building myself back up after a concussion, I have became very well acquainted with Fear. It’s been a constant companion, and it can be incredibly vocal at some time and quite paralyzing. A book that is helping me shift my perspective on fear is this one, and that’s why I’m very excited to share it with you this week.
I actually bought this book very soon after my accident. At the time, I couldn’t really read anything anymore, but I was drawn to colours. That’s how I discover Meera Lee Patel. Her art is incredibly colourful and striking. I spent many hours looking at each page of the book, exploring the textures and getting lost in all the colours. Each page of the book is fully printed in colours which meant that I had a lot of beautiful material to jump into.
I really enjoyed how Patel uses watercolours loosely and playfully. I feel like her work really showcases the possibilities of watercolours in a lovely way. The intersection of painting, hand lettering and mental health is also greatly represented, and refreshingly so. One thing that I particularly enjoy is her use of white on colourful backgrounds. It’s softer than black but still leaves a lasting impression.
The book itself is also a very interesting read. The author explores her life and goes back to her childhood to see where fear started for her. Her writing is rich and evocative. Through her own life she gives the reader great examples of how fear impacted her, and makes a book on fear, which could have been heavy, feel like a friendly and poetic conversation.
She also gives great tips and perspectives on how to shift our relationship with fear in a positive way. She presents fear as a tool for self discovery and introspection. This has become an invaluable tool for me, and I think it can be a great tool for anyone and most especially for creatives. This is a courageous process, but the author guides you in the kindest way possible.
Overall, I think anyone who enjoys self-help books, introspection and loose watercolours will enjoy this book. I really like the format of the book which is small and easy to carry around or read in bed. It’s a beautiful book to flip through as each page is richly coloured or illustrated. Finally, if not for any of the reasons mentioned above, I recommend this book for the unique voice Meera Lee Patel presents to the world in this book. Fear might not yet be your friend, but you’ll feel like you met your new best friend as you read through this lovely book.
Book review: Mon amie la peur, par Meera Lee Patel
Cette semaine, je partage le magnifique livre My Friend Fear, de Meera Lee Patel. Au cours des deux dernières années, en me remettant sur pied après une commotion cérébrale, j’ai appris à bien connaître la peur. C’est une compagne de tous les instants, et elle peut être incroyablement volubile à certains moments et assez paralysante. Ce livre m’a aidé à changer mon point de vue sur la peur, et c’est pourquoi je suis très heureux de le partager avec vous cette semaine.
En fait, j’ai acheté ce livre très peu de temps après mon accident. À l’époque, je ne pouvais plus vraiment lire, mais j’étais attirée par les couleurs. C’est ainsi que j’ai découvert Meera Lee Patel. Son art est incroyablement coloré et saisissant. J’ai passé de nombreuses heures à regarder chaque page du livre, à explorer les textures et à me perdre dans toutes les couleurs. Chaque page du livre est entièrement imprimée en couleurs, ce qui signifie que j’avais beaucoup de belles choses à découvrir.
J’ai vraiment apprécié la façon dont Patel utilise l’aquarelle de façon libre et enjouée. J’ai l’impression que son travail met vraiment en valeur les possibilités de l’aquarelle d’une manière agréable. L’intersection de la peinture, du lettrage et de la santé mentale est également très bien représentée, et de façon rafraîchissante. Une chose que j’aime particulièrement, c’est son utilisation du blanc sur des fonds colorés. C’est plus doux que le noir, mais cela laisse une impression inoubliable.
Le livre lui-même est également très intéressant à lire. L’auteure explore sa vie et remonte à son enfance pour voir où la peur a commencé pour elle. Son écriture est riche et évocatrice. À travers sa propre vie, elle donne au lecteur de très bons exemples de l’impact de la peur sur elle, et fait en sorte qu’un livre sur la peur, qui aurait pu être lourd, ressemble à une conversation amicale et poétique.
Elle donne également de bons conseils et des perspectives sur la manière de modifier notre relation avec la peur de manière positive. Elle présente la peur comme un outil de découverte de soi et d’introspection. Ceci est devenu un outil inestimable pour moi, et je pense qu’il peut être un outil formidable pour tout le monde et plus particulièrement pour les créatifs. C’est un processus courageux, mais l’auteure vous guide de la manière la plus gentille possible.
Au final, je pense que tous ceux qui aiment les livres de développement personnel, l’introspection et les aquarelles légères apprécieront ce livre. J’aime beaucoup le format du livre qui est petit et facile à transporter ou à lire au lit. C’est un beau livre à feuilleter car chaque page est richement colorée ou illustrée. Enfin, si ce n’est pas pour l’une des raisons mentionnées ci-dessus, je recommande ce livre pour la voix unique que Meera Lee Patel présente au monde dans ce livre. La peur n’est peut-être pas encore votre amie, mais vous aurez l’impression d’avoir rencontré votre nouvelle meilleure amie en lisant ce beau livre.
Anne Sea Illustration 