While taking a break from recording my personal story – I was documenting a difficult time in my life – I decided to tackle one of my long-time genealogy brick walls once again. Elizabeth Gilmour, my 4th great grandmother’s parents had been found but beyond that I knew nothing about her or her family line. I stumbled upon some fun stuff! I find some anomalies in the following document, it is still a work in progress. I am...

The Challenge Prior to our four years of travel we downsized and parted with many of the larger items in our house. There was enough trauma associated with that exercise that most of the smaller treasures associated with our lives to that point were packed and put in storage. In 2014 we emptied our eastern storage locker and again parted with many items. The problem is we still have too much stuff! The other day I made the mistake of choosing...

Bear with me. There is a bit of 2017 introspection here… Looking Back to 2016 As 2016 wound down I found myself restless, rudderless in my art. For some time I’ve been wanting to branch out, expand into new ventures, try new techniques and perhaps define a new style of work. I have stuck a toe in the water here and there but nothing has super-charged my engines! It is one of the first years in some time that I have not picked my...

I’m trying to pull all the bits together as we coast towards the end of 2016. We are in the middle of a deep freeze here in Calgary and I am being a wimp! If I don’t have to go out, I don’t! The ground is white, the weather forecasts are full of warnings and the accident count is high. One of the joys of being in ‘retirement’ mode is not ‘having to do’ a lot of things! Go Away Flu! I still have the...

During a summer of ‘arting’ while hubby was away, I turned the main rooms of the condo into my studio.When he returned we left for a month of travel with a couple of major show deadlines hanging over my head. Need I describe my past month? On my return I needed to prepare for my first-time-ever participation in an artisan show. The Contextural show in mid-November required me to create items that would mainly be in the range of...

After major computer problems (two 8G sticks of RAM memory replaced), two bouts with human viruses, a month of travel and a tight art show deadline I am going to once again get back to my blog! In the near future I hope to have some website updates and to separate my art and my genealogy postings but for now they will both appear in my Diane Duncan Art Blog.  That said we are into the Christmas anticipation mode with a six year old visiting...

  I disappeared for a few days… to my sewing machine!  Every September, after a summer of this’s and that’s, I have a mind that dances all over and has trouble settling on art priorities and letting me get down to business. I’ve discovered a bit of a pattern developing. I turn to my Someday pile.     In 2013 I spent the summer making quilts – I think it was seven quilts to be exact that I completed...

A SOS call from my son led to a fast trip to Scottsdale last week. Surgery was scheduled and the medical team would not proceed until  he organized post surgery assistance. Mom to the rescue! Between 40+ degree temperatures that didn’t moderate much at night and my son’s recovery it was a quiet week. I managed a couple of evening walks in this park and a few shots of flora and skies that I would like to share.      ...

Mark on the Body Project Honoring those who live with type 1 diabetes I have followed Margaret Blank’s ‘Honoring Those Who Live With Type 1 Diabetes’ project for some time and recently contacted her to make a contribution. Her husband died at a young age as the result of diabetic complications and she has undertaken a mammoth art project entitled ‘Mark on the Body’. For the details visit her blog. She tells of how...

My Tuesdays have been designated art play day for the foreseeable future! Three friends and I spent the day chatting, laughing, and generally having fun as we worked through a couple of art exercises. I hosted today so I organized a warm up exercise for the first half hour – exploring different material to use when adding colour to a junk journal page. The journals were a gift I prepared for each of our group before Christmas. I wanted to...