Telling The Truth

"Telling the truth is like spreading the underside of your wings, you see that part only when you fly" 

- Sabrina Ward Harrison. 

I brought the above words with me on my artist residency. 

I also brought images of birds in flight, wings, butterflies, flowers, flying sculptures........

Sculptures by Ranjani Shettar

Papaya Art

My life for the past couple of years has been moving.  At times I've been pushing it..... and dragging it forward. At other times its been tunneling right over me and I haven't been sure if I can catch up with it.  

Through-out all of this movement I've had my feet firmly planted on an earth that was familiar, my home, my life, my apartment, my street. 

Until now.  I needed to firmly step off of solid ground - on my terms this time......and fly.  

For these reasons my work while in Holland has been influenced by the ideas of flight, moving, propelling forward, leaping, taking risks, changing, evolving, wings, wheels, growth, petals, freedom, letting go, growth, renewal.......

"Telling The Truth", Brooch - copper, wire, felt, thread

Beautiful Innovative Gift Ideas

Beautiful Innovative Gift Ideas. Enjoy!


How much would you love to come home each day to a fresh flower with a little hand written love note from your sweetie on one of these very creative chalkboard vases? Designed by Ricardo Saint-Clair and available online at the MoMa Store.



I am in love with this. It is masking tape made from washi, which is handmade Japanese paper. How much prettier would wrapped gifts look with these beautiful colours? Also available at MoMa.


This is the Boskke Sky Planter. It is a planter that you can hang from your ceiling. I think this is perfect for a small cozy place. I also think that this just might be the answer in getting my cat to stop eating my plants, although knowing my trouble maker cat, she would likely just figure out a way to hang from my ceiling.... These are available at Walrus in Vancouver.





UPPERCASE Magazine. I adore this magazine. Every issue is beautiful, inspiring, and playful. My perfect day would involve leafing through a pile of luxe magazines while sipping tea and UPPERCASE would definitely be in that pile. Find our more on their website.



I would love to hear about your beautiful gift ideas so please feel free to share!

xo patsy.

What Love is.......

Some musings about Love.....

I'm often moved by words. Recently while reading one of Danielle Laportes inspiring posts I was struck by this one sentence:
"But at this point, I'm tender and tough enough to know what love is and isn't".

I would like to think that I always know what love is and what love isn't. I think deep down I do know, I should know by now............shouldn't I?

I'm in my early 30's...and I like being here. Pain hurts a bit more, but only because I now have the ability to let it hurt, to feel it, to dive the fuck into it and come out stronger. Joy feels incredible, but only because I know how devastating life can feel without joy, and I make sure to do things that make me smile, laugh, and soar.
I have figured out some big things.....I've done some hard work, I've looked at some of my pretty dark and twisted places, I've accepted things about me that may always be flaws, I've accepted things about me that are amazing, incredible, strength. So, why don't I always know what love is and isn't? Why do I sometimes still allow things into my life that bring me down? Why do I still doubt myself sometimes and not trust the voice that is telling me what love is and what it isn't?

I want to always know what love is. I want love to be truth. I want love to be honesty. I want love to move me, to challenge me, to lift me higher. I want my art to be filled with love and my love to be filled with art.


Here are a few things that I love.....and things that bring me love:

• Brooke Castillo's Blog - Personal Coach - her blog posts always seem to come at the exactly right moment in my life.
  
• Yoga in Daily Life - My yoga center - This is pure LOVE.
• Kate England - Artist who designs beautiful and functional icons - I love hearing about her design process and I fantasize about being as organized as she must be one day.
  
• Peregrine Honig - Artist who I fell in love with through watching Bravo's Work of Art - there is something about her work that makes me a little breathless.
  
• Kathleen Edwards - Canadian Alt Country signer - LOVE her, her voice moves me.
  

Facing Forward and Self Relfection

I have been designing new jewelry pieces inspired by my theme for the sketchbook project, Facing Forward.

For the past while I have been designing jewelry inspired by love stories. I have been in a very self-reflective place. being uncertain. being doubtful. being hopeful. being in awe... of love. I have been meditating,practicing yoga, and figuring some shit out.

I started to wonder if it was possible to still be self reflective while facing forward? and what does self reflective look like? what does facing forward look like? I started sketching ideas for earrings that represented both of these themes........

My design for self reflection had to feel a little twisty, circular, curvy, deep, and beautiful. My design for facing forward had to remind me of birds. birds have made themselves very present in my life the last number of months. My beautiful Papaya art prints around my home have uplifted me every time i look at them. and I have seen eagles, cranes, humming birds and yellow finches all around me. The design had to be soaring, wing like, clean lines, beak like, bold, strong.


Lots of ideas. I spent a day playing in my studio and decided that these two designs are my favourite. I have been wearing them around proudly the last few days.

Facing Forward Earring

Self Reflection Earring

Bold. Colour. Passion.

My life is filled with bold passionate colour. It is not always pretty colours. Sometimes it's angry reds, some days it's crushing blues, and sometimes it's even head under the covers gray. But it is always interesting, engaging, and colourful.

When I was little I used to draw faces over and over again. I had one of those amazing cases of crayons with every colour imaginable and I would sit in front of a blank stack of crisp white paper and draw women's faces for hours. I would give everyone of them a name and a number, hole punch them and stick them in a binder. Some had dangle earrings, necklaces, bold make-up, and crazy hair. I was enchanted by all of the different colours that I could play with.

Playing with colour is something that I still get to do and is why I am so drawn to enameling jewelry. The colour combination possibilities are endless and I am constantly inspired by my colourful world to try new things.

I saw these photos the other day by photographer and former Heatherette designer Traver Rains.

Bold. Colour. Passion. Incredible......







All photos Traver Rains Photography www.traverrains.com

The Love Story Necklace Contest Winning Stories Part 2

Today I want to share the second winning story from the Love Story Necklace Contest. I ended up choosing two winning stories for very different reasons. They each in their own way really embodied what the Love Story Necklace is all about.

Amanda's Love Story -
Matt and I weren't supposed to meet, fall in love, or get married. We are 95.7% opposites. We met through MySpace for crying out loud! I met Matt my junior year in college. I wasn't looking for a relationship and he was so I blew him off at first. Then when he wrote to me again asking to get ice cream, I caved and after meeting him, I was done.

We moved in together right after i graduated college and were happy for awhile, then it started to get hard. We were living in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment with no privacy, nowhere to be alone and it was just too much of each other and it really brought out our differences. So I moved out and back home with my parents, thinking that was it, it was over.

We still talked and neither of us were dating other people. We decided to start going out on dates again and doing things together that we both liked instead of being apart. Things got better so I moved back before Christmas. We then started looking for a home together and found one.

The following January we were laying in bed reading and I had a pain in my chest. I felt around and found a lump the size of a large walnut. I instantly knew something was very wrong and started crying, breast cancer runs in my family and I was only 25. My cousin died at age 26 from cancer, this couldn't be happening to me. Matt held me and told me that no matter what he loved me and would always be there for me. I said even if I lose all my hair? He said he'd shave his head too. At that point I knew I had found the man that would stand beside me no matter what. After tons of appointments and biopsy's the tests thought it was benign but they had to take it out to be sure because of it's size and shape. I had surgery and Matt was there to nurse me back to health, change my bandages and just be there for me. The tests came back 100% benign and we finally breathed easy again.

That August we went hiking to our favorite waterfall, hidden from the general public, we had found it on our third date. We hiked down with our tripod and camera to take some photos. After many shots Matt told me to stand still so he could get one of us together, there in front of the most beautiful spot he asked me to be his wife, through sickness and health, whatever lies ahead. We are now planning our dream fall wedding for October 16, 2010. This Love Story necklace is perfect for me to wear because it symbolizes the twists and turns that we've had in our relationship, but no matter what it's one piece that will stay together forever, like us.
What I loved about Amanda's story was that the two of them have been through so much as a couple. Relationships, although amazing are hard and I think it takes great compassion and great strength for a couple to fall apart and then come back together. A little over a month ago one of my closest friends was diagnosed with a brain tumor, thankfully it also turned out to be benign. Life is scary and short, and it is the people and the love that we choose to have in our life that make it incredible and a little less scary. I would say that Amanda and Matt are a pretty inspiring and courageous couple. I am honoured to be making Amanda a Love Story Necklace to wear on her wedding day.

I wanted to share with you another inspiring and courageous woman and artist, Kerri Smith - I am loving her blog these days www.kerrismith.com

Also for all of my brides-to-be I thought you might like this very pretty blog for a little wedding inspiration www.weddingchicks.com