It started off with snow and more snow and then morphed into an extremely cold spell. Then all of a sudden we had rain and warm weather. Needless to say the rain, the melted snow and temperatures below freezing resulted in extremely slippery highways and dangerous sidewalks. Winnipeg, I guess, decided to wait for the sidewalks to melt so we found ourselves forced to walk on the roads whenever we ventured into the city.

I am sure when the temperature rose there were intrepid souls who went out in shorts. It wasn’t that warm but it certainly felt like spring – with the melting snow on roofs making mini avalanches. The end of the month is colder and more like normal but so bright and sunny with deep blue skies and pristine snow.

I have a three season sunroom off the studio and when the sun is shining it can get very warm – I have the doors open to it as I write as in there at the moment it is 29 above – a heat gain!
When the winter snows set in one of the ways I find to brighten my day is to have as many flowering plants in the house as possible – here is one of the ones I have in a round window in the studio. It’s a Kalanchoe which I have had for several years and it seems to like the amount of sun it receives even when the top of the window is covered with snow.

I finally sent off my two pieces for the Botanical Reflections show at the Van Dusen Gardens in Vancouver which opened Friday, with the reception yesterday and will run until March 15, 2017.


This last week I delivered my Game of Life hanging to the Winnipeg Art Gallery for the Manitoba Craft Council Love of Craft show. It had its opening on Thursday January 26 and will close February 19, 2017

The Selkirk Community Art Centre gallery shop has had a new system for the past year – instead of dropping off work and forgetting it for the next ten years they have instigated a system where three times a year member artists remove all the work they have in the gallery shop and bring in new work. It means the gallery shop has a constant change over and as there is a size and amount restriction there is a greater range of work for clients to see. The change over was last week and that meant preparing clay and paper jewelry, shrink wrap and paintings ready for delivery.

Next week Kathleen and I set up a display window on the lower level of the Centennial Concert Hall. There is room in the cabinet for 12 – 15 pieces of art depending on the sizes. That show will run from February 7 until May 2. I think Kathleen’s work will be mainly paintings but I am hoping to include some of my tiny quilted pieces.
I have started working on the pieces for the Fibre Art Divas show in November – every one of the divas will be doing a small piece with the thought of a sunset and then a much larger piece that at the moment has the theme of prairie perspectives. Having drawn my design for the sunset I decided to produce it three times - 4” square, 8” square and 12” square and then I stacked them.

The smaller piece I painted with Derwent Inktense pencil crayons but the larger ones I pieced by hand. I want to do some machine embroidery on it and then it will be finished ready to hang the beginning of November.


So after a busy end of month I can begin to start to think, not only of the divas show but also of my piece for Conversations for one of the Fibre Art Network shows for 2018!