My Year in Review 2010

Most of my year I was here, at home, waiting to find out what my future held. Due to Chris' new job there would be/could be/might be/should be/probably will be and then definitely was a move in the future for us.

All this home time would have been fine with me except my Chris' new job saw him travel to the Bahamas in January, Costa Rica in February, and the Isle of Man in October.

I was very jealous.

As consolation, I took a trip with family to my hometown of Sudbury in April, primarily to get a grave marker for my grandmother who'd been without one for over 10 years. It's finally there now.

I had to go all the way to Dynamic Earth in Sudbury to find some rocks that made me feel all warm and cuddly. I recall the Sudbury landscape as dark and brooding and barren. Like this:

But even this picture has too much green for me.

They've even cleaned up the Big Nickel and made it shiny and new.
You just can't go home again.

In the summer we went to North Bay and I found this delightful signage on an even more delightful property down by a lake. Oh Northern Ontario lakes how I *heart* you!

We stayed overnight in North Bay and then drove off to Parry Sound. It was at a resort there where I took my first jump off a dock into the water EVER.
Yes.
Ever.
I do believe my own personal "leap of faith" was in the top five things I did this year. It makes me smile even now.


Also this year The City Of Ottawa purchased an artwork from me: my giant handmade print about the bus strike. I was so honoured! I am now in the Fine Art Collection of the City of Ottawa and my work will rotate through city owned buildings. I don't think I can say how much this means to me. It's a fine way to cap off an art career in this city when I started as a street vendor in the Byward Market in 1991. The showing of all the work purchased by the city will be at City Hall in the Spring of 2011. I'll let you know when it is. The best place to get a good look at this piece in on the Ottawa Citizen Big Beat Blog by Peter Simpson. Click here to go to my interview done during our grad show preview ... it was so so hot!

A very spontaneous Santa Claus brought us a new car this year,

and big consumer debt to go with it (hohoho). I do love my car coloured "velocity red". Thanks Santa.

On the sadder side, my beloved Kitty X died this year. Colon cancer. Here she's being bothered by Caesar Cat as she's taken his special spot.

All year I waited to find out where I'd be moving to and now it's settled: Toronto.
I was really REALLY looking forward to a move overseas but it's not in the cards for now.

Beginnings and Endings. Looks like I'm going to be experiencing many of them in the coming months. I'm anxious to find out what Toronto has to offer and, actually, it's a lot. So much of everything there. We'll see what I can do with that.