In no particular order.
Why 54? I was aiming for 100, but my memory is failing me.

Every significant change in life comes with its share of self-doubt. The best way I know how to evacuate them is to create art pieces and let them go. The human brain is wired to see changes as danger; our natural instinct is to fight or flight. Persisting in action that will ultimately alleviate our life quality is not an easy thing. Lately, I feel like I have to deal with a lot of thunder inside my head. I'm fighting with myself not to sabotage all of my efforts. 
This painting was created with that feeling in mind. While I'm fighting the thunder, I choose to wrap myself with warmth and stay focused on the goal.

Like her? You can purchase her here

​Throughout our lives, we all go through life-changing events. Sometimes it's big and side, others it's small and, we barely notice at the time. We realized it much more later after the fact. 

This last year has been a mixed bag of challenges, roadblocks and sadness.  But all the sadness also brought opportunities, new people/friendships and new adventures. 

I begin the year in convalescents after a hysterectomy. In that period, I could do nothing but rest and think. The brain fog was slowly dissipating. Projects took form in my mind, and I realized what I didn't want to do anymore. 

Being secure and a creature of habits while I welcomed new opportunities, it was hard to let go of old patterns and ways of living. 
This long period of self-isolating also brought back feeling of loneliness. It is not something I often feel as an introverted artist. While I usually can't get enough alone time, I was craving the company of others. 

A bit more than a month ago, I lost my job to restructuring. At first, it hit me hard but being someone who doesn't like to sit in sadness for too long, I decided to see it as THE BIG OPPORTUNITY! I still have a good 15-20 years, if not more, on the work market and have more life experiences than when I decided to become a Graphic designer at 15.

It's a weird question to ask yourself at 46. What do you want to be when you grow up? I love creating art traditionally; it is and will always remain my first love. But I have always been attracted to technology and the wonders you can produce with it. 

So my plan, for now, is to take 6 months to complete an associate degree as a UX designer. Creating the best user experiences for someone like me who is always on the lookout for better ways of doing something seemed like a natural fit. At the same time, I will further my knowledge of video editing with adobe premiere and After Effects and grow my online presence. These are all things I had on the back burner for way too long. 
Of course, if the perfect job comes along the way, I'll take it. in the meantime, why not seize this wonderful opportunity life has sent my way.

As an art supplies enthusiast, I'm always on the lookout; for great and affordable brands to try and then; share my findings with my art friends and students. Let's face it, most of us don't have thousands of dollars to spend on of brand of watercolour alone. 

Lucky for us, more and more brands understand that and offer us good quality supplies. This time I try Paul Ruben Phosphorescent and Prima Marketing  Vintage watercolour sets. For Paul Ruben, I think phosphorescent is a bad translation as it is lightly glittery but doesn't glow in the dark… 

The first video is my first impression as I open both boxes and create swatches of them. The second one is a timelapse of me, creating a page in my Arteza sketchbook using both of them together. As always, the first time using a product gives us unpredicted results.
​I find both brands to be a bit dull. Since then, I used them on bright Fabriano 100% cotton paper and they were much brighter.

I hope you have fun watching both, I have two more videos coming in this series. Let me know if you heard of great products you would like my opinion on and I’ll look into them when my budget allows it,