You May Be Asking Yourself....

You may well be asking "where on earth has this passionate chiquitta disappeared to?" Fear not, I'm here. But I've been on the move- literally.

A week and a half a go, my two young daughters and I packed up, and left the beautiful city of Vancouver, British Columbia. Permanently. Don't get me wrong- I loved living in Vancouver. I was born there, my family goes back three generations there. But I have had my fill of overcrowded schools under a serious ESL strain. Not to mention the hideous sky rocketing costs of living in the metropolis. In addition to the level of violence, especially in East Vancouver, where we resided for the past six months. I could not, in good conscience, bring my daughters up to the best of my ability, only to have them attend an east Vancouver highschool. I know, I know, they're still young.... but I want them to have the chance to develop "forever friends" long before they even have to think about highschool.

In essence, I made the move for the best interests of my daughters, and hope it will work out as beautifully as I hope and plan.

Where are we know, you may ask? Mission. 90 minutes (highway driving) from Vancouver. My girls' paternal grandparents live out here, and I want my daughters to have the experience of a deep loving relationship with grandparents.

Needless to say, there has not been much time for art. Having said that though, I've managed to squeeze a minute here or there for a craft or two, namely, this year's Motherhood Mask.

You may or may not be familiar with my ongoing project. Each year, since having become a mother for the first time in 2001, I have commemorated the year of said motherhood with a papier mache mask creation, using symbolism and colour to summarize that year's experience with my girls. With the move and all, I felt it important that become the focus of this year's experience. Hence, the photo of the individual mask (with the house) is the mask for 2008. The opposite photograph, is a display of the masks in their new home. Most excited, as they've never been up as a collection before.

As for upcoming events.... I'm excited to be participating, again, in the 21st Annual Granville Island Garbage Can Art Contest & Auction. A brilliant fundraiser for BC Children's Hospital art therapy program. Come visit 25 Lower Mainland artists at Granville Island Sunday September 21. As always, musical appearance by Blackthorne.