School is done and things are finally slowing down for me a bit. That’s good, because the sad truth is that I haven’t had time to do any art in a couple of months, really. And no art makes Silena one grumpy witch. Yep. I admit it. It’s amazing how stress relieving art is. Even when it becomes more of a job, it still has that property! And amazing how not having that really affects my overall mood and stress level.

In any case, finally I’m back at it, in many forms. I’m plotting and planning for a couple of murals this summer- I’ll post on those when they *hopefully* come to fruition.

In the meantime, I’ve been painting a little (also more to come on that), but the main thing for the summer is…pysanky! For me, summertime is the perfect time to stock up and make a ton of pysanky for next year. I’ll be teaching full time next year (yay!), so I want to have quite a few ready to go. Then I can make some when I have the time throughout the year, but without the pressure of having to produce all of my stock while working full time.

I’ve started out with some easies to get me back in the flow – a new series of wildlife eggs that I’m enjoying making…and people really seem to like buying! Naturally, they’re all animals of my area.

As always, I’d love to hear what you think! (And as always, please remember that these eggs are my art and as such, please don’t copy them to sell. If you’re just learning and want to try it out, feel free! And then send me a pic…;~D )

Some news on the mural I did in Kelowna this spring. Recently, the magazine Okanagan Life published an article on the many faces of adoption in the area. The couple I painted the mural for, my sister Nica and her hubby Jrock, are in the process of adopting two new beautiful daughters from Ethiopia and were profiled in the magazine.

Being that she’s 1) my biggest fan, and even more importantly 2) my best promoter, Nica insisted that their picture for the magazine be taken in the girls’ room with my mural featured prominently. I like to think that the magazine agreed because they liked the mural and thought it was so amazing  they wanted everyone to see it, but I have no illusions about how very persuasive my big sis can be when she’s pushing for her little sis! (Thanks, sis!)

So here is the article online, WITHOUT my picture. Yeah, I know. But in the actual magazine, it’s there, along with my name (Silena Ann Ewan- oops). A wonderful piece of promotion for me throughout the Okanagan and even in Calgary. If you live in the area and can pick up a copy, please do so and check out my awesome entry into print media! You can also check out my sister’s very cool (and much more popular than mine!) blog, all about her adoption journey HERE.

On another note… A super HUGE congratulations to Nica and Jrock, as Sugar and Spice are now officially part of the family! WOO-HOO! I’m an Auntie to two beautiful little girls! Can’t wait to meet you, shrimplies!

*For anyone who thinks this isn’t a big deal, please realize that they have been on this very difficult (but totally worth it) journey for two long years – adoption is definetly not for the faint of heart! I’ve been priviledged enough to meet several of their friends also at different stages in the adoption process, and I’ve come to realize what an amazing, challenging, loving choice they’ve all made, and what incredible courage, patience and pure heart it takes to become an adoptive parent. Kudos to all of you adoptive parents out there – including my awesome new mommy sister!

Yes, it sucks. But that’s life. It’s been the busy time of year for work, so I haven’t had a minute to do any art. Which is tough, because given how stressed I’ve been, I could really use some art time. I have to admit, though, it does help bolster the bank account!

All I can say is that the school year is quickly coming to an end, so soon I should be arting it up. I’m hoping to get a lot accomplished this summer, build some stock up for next year, etc. I’ve got some new ideas for both pysanky and painting that I’ve been pondering for the last month or so, and I’m excited to get started. I’ve also got some possibilities for murals, so that will help take me through those very lean (but blissfully low stress) summer months.

In the meantime, I’ve been getting my art fix by teaching a class at the local college once a week. It’s a drawing course for true beginners. I’ve been having a blast. I can’t say enough what a pleasure it is to teach  art again. Teaching is amazing, because I always feel like I’m the one that learns the most. The class may have one teacher (me), but I have an entire class full of them! Each student teaches me a new way to see, think, solve, etc. I’ve grown a lot as an artist just by seeing art through another person’s eyes and trying to break it down into manageable chunks for them. (technical term, there.)

So hopefully I’ll have some new pics and work to show you all before long! In the meantime, keep checking back and commenting – I love knowing what you think!

As you can see, the work was three eggs in a shadow-box (many of my eggs are now available mounted in shadow-boxes). The three were designed as a gift for a specific gentleman, and it was requested that they all be traditional eggs.

I decided to do two eggs that were quite similar in appearance and a third that contrasted, but I did stick largely to geometric designs, as they tend to appeal to men more.

The two on either side of the frame are a Gypsy Road and a 40 Days.

The Gypsy Road (right) is a continuous meandering line around the egg, seperating two fields (one red and one black, usually) The idea is that if an evil spirit enters your home, it will land on the egg and become stuck on the continuous loop. In this way it will never find it’s way off and into the owner’s life. I added orange (endurance, strength, worthy ambition) netting to the red fields as a new take on a classic, as the netting symbolizes the seperation of good and evil and fit in well with the theme.

The 40 Days pattern (left) is actually 48 triangles on the egg, and they symbolize the 40 days of Lent, the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert, and the 40 trials of married couples.  In each triangle I placed a ram, a masculine symbol of leadership and strength. Once again I used the classic combination of red, white and black, partially to match the other egg, and partially for its symbolism:

Red signifies: positive action, passion, charity, spiritual awakening, the sun, joy of life and love; the love and passion of Christ, hope

Black signifies:the absolute, constancy, eternity, the darkest time before dawn; may also symbolize death, fear and ignorance

White signifies: purity, innocence, birth, light, rejoicing

The third egg is a classic division of the egg into four parts, chock-full of symbols. Some of the ones included on this egg are:
Star/Rose: purity, life, the giver of light, the center of all knowledge, beauty, elegance, perfection; herald of Christ’s birth, symbol of God’s love toward man
Circle: completeness, continuity, cyclical nature of the universe, the sun (giver of life, center of universe, victory over evil & darkness); God, perfection, the ability to unite
Comb: putting of things in order
Wolf’s Teeth: loyalty, wisdom, a firm grip
Oak Leaves: strength, persistence, cycle of life & death
Ladder: searching, rising above petty problems
Rabbit Ears: the humility of man as he listens to the lessons of nature

I think that the combination turned out well, and I hope the new owner is pleased.

Please feel free to post comments or questions!

Crazy. You know you live in a small town when… (Actually, it’s pretty awesome living in a town where most of the news is good stuff…there’s a small section in the paper that reports the small crimes and thing, the rest is municipal politics, good news stories, etc. Pretty rad.)

Anyways, so here I am on the cover of the Columbia Valley Pioneer, which distributes about 7,000 papers a week. It’s the free paper around here, so everybody reads it. I’m hoping that the publicity (which frankly makes me a bit uncomfortable as well as proud) will be good for pysanky sales.

Now, despite the fact that a) I never claimed to be Ukrainian, and b) many of the direct quotes are really more like paraphrasing what I said, it’s still a very flattering article and a nice gesture. Thanks to the Pioneer for including me in their paper.

(I can’t really legally post the article without their permission, so click on this LINK to see it on their website.)

The day started with a power outage. Not the biggest deal, except that the popovers I had in the oven at the time went flat. Lucky for me I’ve been careful and have a surge protector on my computer and save often, so I didn’t lose my work. I’m working on an important contract (I work as an educational/arts consultant sometimes) that is coming due on Monday.  I have to work for the next two days and have company this weekend, too. Unfortunately, when the power came back on, the internet didn’t come with it. I figured it would be maybe a half hour and it would be back up, so I finished the last couple of things I could do without it.

It didn’t come back up until a couple of minutes ago. Grrr. Argh.

So, in the meantime, I thought, ” When life gives you lemons…” and decided to make some pysanky (I desperately need to get caught up on that, too). Everything was going promisingly well with the pysanky. Until…

I was just taking the wax off an egg when my finger got a wee bit too close to the flame. ouch.

Also, I dropped the egg when I burned my finger.

GRRR. ARGH!

One of those days.

I thought that this might be a bit of a quick catharsis and hopefully help me to ditch the Murphies….we’ll see.

In the meantime, here’s the egg…poor, poor, eggey.

Okay, it just took about five tries to get one picture to upload. Maybe I should just go back to bed…;D

Most rooms I finish in one shot, so this one (done in my spare time, in another town) felt like it took forever, as much as I loved doing it. I hope my new nieces like it as much as I do…

Here are the completed walls…

Winter:

Spring:

Summer:

Fall:

Here are a few more pics of the finished product:

The beds…

The reading nook, with beaver being a good example under the window…

A few more details:

And the overall room…

Of course, I can’t take credit for decorating the rest of the room! That would be my sister’s doing. To learn more about her adoption journey, check out her blog: rowanfamilytree.com

I’d love to hear your comments and know what you think…

And here’s the finished egg…