May 29th 2020
There is no place on earth the I love more than my gallery/studio. About eight years ago David and I planted a Laburnum tree in our back yard because there was one down town that I fell in love with and each year always enjoyed the yellow blossoms so much. Even though I have seasonal allergies I love the gentle smell of the blossoms. They also look amazing beside the grey stucco of the shop, studio/gallery.
May 14th 2020
It feels good to be back in my studio again, it has been quite a while. I like to post work in progress drawing on my FB page so I figured I would post them here on my blog as well.
I started this 20″ x 26″ coloured pencil and ink drawing on art paper about a week ago. I love Star Trek The Next Generation and a while back someone I know said they would love to see me do a Science Fiction themed drawing.. Well it took me a while to get into the mind set to do this but lately life has been full of challenges so I thought I would add one more challenge to the mix. The Borg in S.T.T.N.G. are terrifying and as the say Resistance is Futile… I thought OMG how cute would it be if cats were Borg. Can you imagine little half machine cats flying around in a litter box shaped ship going from neighbourhood to neighbourhood assimilating all the cats with their tails… Then I imagined how cute there little meow would be if it sounds like the Borg voices… lol So I had to do it, I had to create a Borg cat.
I love doing poster styled art. I did this with Lunch With flapper Girl and The Dark Carnival. So I wanted to do the same with this one as well.
As I said between the whole C19 thing and some stuff going on in our personal life, life has been quite a challenge so has been nice to escape to my studio once again!
So stay turned and I will keep you up to dat on the progress of my latest work. Cat Collective Resistance is Mewtile…
May 4th 2020
Before David build my gallery and studio and his shop I did all my work on the kitchen table. LOL, also I am very happy that we don’t have that wallpaper anymore, that’s what you get when your home was built in 1931 .. Later on I got a computer and David built me a work bench that could be flat or tilted in our front sun porch. I worked there for many years before David and I built his shop and my gallery/studio space. Today I appreciate my studio and gallery space so much.
Our first fur baby Karmen always loved watching me do my art and she often sat on top of my drawing while I worked on it… We still miss her so much she was quite a kitty!
April 25th 2020
I am back. It has been a while since I have posted on here. Life has been so crazy as of late with COVID, our business (Signs and graphic shop) and dealing with family matters… I haven’t been spending a great deal of time in my studio. I have been to physically and emotionally exhausted.
I finished an 8”x10” acrylic dot painting of one of my Whimsey Cats that I will post on my ‘Being Crafty’ page. I consider this drawing more of a craft than a painting. I have put away all my paints and cleaned up my space. I like to clean everything up after each project so I can start my new project new and fresh.
I am going to be working on a new drawing called The Cat Collective – Resistance is Mewtile. Yes it is going to have a borg feel to it and cats of course. I’ve have never really done any science fiction themed art, all my work is usually very organic. So I thought I would give something new, er um mew a try.
This drawing will be created in mainly black, white and grey with splashes of color for lights and the cat will be grey tabby. I will be using colored pencils and ink. This should be an interesting project. I will post progress drawings on here.
I have started by adding the words Cat Collective and Resistance is Mewtile and some pipes that will eventually be attached to a cute fluffy tabby cat named Rupert 1 of 4.
It feels so good to be back in my studio again! 🙂 After all it is my favorite place in the world to be!
April 25th 2020
Humble beginnings.. When I was in my twenties I worked and trained as a graphic designer in Alberta. As someone with a severe disability it is very difficult to find employment, especially when you have a visual impairment. People just don’t want to take the chance to hire someone who has a disability even if they might be qualified or more than capable of learning the tasks that are expected of them. A lot of times people with disabilities can learn the same tasks but in a different way and employers are not always qualified or willing to take the time to do this. There are some programs that will aid the employer but not all places have this.
I met my employer Michael via family and he started a new design-house business and said he would train me as a graphic designer via a government program for unemployed and disabled people.. I learned so much via Michael. He was very intelligent and a fantastic teacher. It was much better for me to learn this way rather than sitting in a large classroom which was always difficult for me visually. So this was the perfect opportunity for me!
This image shows my very first computer back in the 90’s. How time flies and technology has changed! Once a week I had to save all my files on floppy disks because my computer memory was too small, lol. Later I got a larger monitor so it was easier for me to see plus the graphics program I worked with had enlargement capabilities. The monitor was so large that it had a button that I had to push now and then to degauss the screen to remove static from the glass that would build up like you get on the old televisions. This was not good in the computer world. I always joked that it was like a dog shaking water off its body after getting wet. The image on the screen would actually shake when I pushed the button.
I absolutely loved my job and discovered that it was the perfect sort of work for me to do and I could incorporate my creativity with the digital world and also visually it was easy for me to do. We didn’t print much we were a design-house and sent our files to the city to be printed. The guys who did our printing for us were awesome. I was just learning and new at this so when my boss was out of the office I called their print shop if I had computer issues that I didn’t know how to resolve myself, they were very helpful and friendly.
I also did some illustrations and ad design for a small eight page publication that we distributed for free once a month called The Grapevine. I was sad when my employment here had to end (I knew it would happen eventually) but I was very grateful because this is how I discovered my dream job and is partially responsible for where I am today with my husband David.
Today I work with a Mac Pro and use Corel Draw 2020 for Apple (yes they have that now) and Adobe Suite. I also use my iPad Pro when I want something digital that has a more hand drawn look to it! I love my career as a professional graphic designer and I also love being a business partner with my husband David and I will always be thankful to Michael for getting me started on my career path!
March 30th 2020
I love my home in the Creston Valley aka The Swan Valley. I don’t have to go very far to be out in the middle of nature and away from people.
The other day my husband, mum and I were out for a drive. It was so beautiful and we would go through an occasional rain shower, something we need badly since we didn’t get much snow this winter.
I grew up hiking, camping, fishing and hunting with my parents. I am no city person and enjoy a more solitary lifestyle. I would find it difficult to live in a city.
Nature definitely plays a huge roll in my artwork. Most of the artwork I do is nature themed.
The mountains in the photo below are of course much closer than they appear in this panoramic photo that I took with my iPhone.
With this whole COVID and quarantine thing we haven’t been at work, so this has given us a lot more time to get away from everyone and escape into the countryside and enjoy being alone and away from other people. It is amazing how quiet it has been A little nicer than just staying in the house all day.
Also I think tomorrow I am going to start on my next colored pencil and ink drawing inspired by the world wide events.
March 27th 2020
Photo of me painting Cat City with my cat Bastet sitting in the window. So during this whole quarantine and social distancing situation because of COVID-19 I see people starting to get a bit of cabin fever from having to stay inside so much. These strange times make me ever so grateful for my studio and gallery space.
I have been busy working on my website so I actually haven’t had any time to spend in my studio as of yet but I went in there last night to get something and there was my beloved studio waiting for me to do some artwork.
My studio is my most favourite place to be on earth. It is like your favourite comfort food or a dear friend. No matter what sort of difficulties I am going through in my life my studio has always been a place of solace and escape for me.
When I go to my studio I turn all the lights down low. David has put some of those small LED Christmas light all around the gallery and that is all I use as well as the two lamps attached to my workbench.
I love to listen to podcasts of old time radio and vintage radio horror stories, ghost stories and murder mysteries. I usually light up some Super Hit or Nag Champa incense and pour myself a glass of Merlot, brandy or sometimes tea. In the warmer weather I leave my door open as well as the window in front of my workbench. My door opens into our cat kennel aka catatorium so my fur babies can run freely through my studio and David’s shop.
Now that I have gotten to this point with my website I think I will go and spend some time in my studio. I have a cute little cat painting I am working on right now that is all dots and bright colours. I am almost finished that painting then I think I will clean things up. Before I start a new project I always like to clean up everything first plus my floor needs washing and things need to be dusted…
I want to get my studio area looking really nice because David is making a bright defused light for me so I can start vlogging.
These are images I took in 2019 of my gallery studio area.
March 25th 2020
Hi everyone welcome to the first official post on the blog, vlog and scribblings of a Krazy Kat Lady section of my website. We are in the process of getting my personal studio area ready for vlogging (videos) with the proper lighting etc., then I can talk to all of you in person instead of just typing everything. I think that will make this page far more personal.
On here I will talk about my daily life, post photos about gardening, work and anything else that gets in front of my camera. I will talk about my artwork and how I draw using my visual aids. I will talk about photography and I will discuss what it is like to live with a severe visual impairment. Being visually impaired in a world created for people with good eyesight can be very difficult at times so some of the content on here will be of a more serious nature. I will be discussing my experience as a graphic designer. Basically this is the place where I talk about my life in general.
Also If you have any questions that you would like to ask me just hit “Contact Margaux” and I can answer your questions. There may be some questions asked that a lot of people would be curious about so please indicate if I can answer your question publicly or if you would prefer my answer to remain private. Of course if I answer your question publicly your identity will remain anonymous. Also all comments are reviewed by me so any inappropriate comments or questions will be deleted and ignored.
So stay tuned everyone this page and website will be constantly updated. I still have so much content to add. If you follow me on Facebook I will post a notification whenever I have updated anything on here.
Also if you are on FB be sure to stop by and like and follow my art or photography pages by clicking on “Like My FB Art Page” and “Like my FB Photography Page”. I also keep those pages up to date. You can also visit our other business page and check out my graphic design work and all the other work that David and I do as well as check out our shop at “All Signs Graphics and Printing on FB”.
In the early 2000’s I managed my first website for ten years. I stopped after social networking sites became more popular. I really missed having a personal website so I am glad to be back! The one thing I LOVE about having my own website, as opposed to social networking sites, is the freedom I have in regards to what content I choose to put on here and the appearance of my page. For me managing my own website is a lot more personal and I know I am going to enjoy working on my site very much!!!
So thank you for stopping by and stay tuned because I will chat with you again real soon!
