autumn

Happy thanksgiving to you, whether you're Canadian or not. I LOVE this weekend. The colours are always their best on this weekend and thanks to the wet wet WET summer we have had, the trees will NOT disappoint. The weather is absolutely perfect too, warm-ish with sunshine the entire long weekend. If I was thankful for nothing else, this would make up for everything.

Many thanks ARE in order though. The wedding was perfect, one giant package of beauty, joy and exhaustion played out over a single day. We pretty much froze getting photos snapped for 2 hours in the 8 degree (Celcius) temperatures, but it did NOT rain, a fact I could not shut up about because I was oh-so-happy over it.

Weddings are strange and unfamiliar things, in a good way of course. I've been to a bunch of them, but it was different this time around. I am awed over the fact that I have a married brother. It's so different when it's a sibling getting married. Weddings are usually such FULL and potently sweet events, but it was even much more so with this one. I'm not sure that any other wedding will grip me so strongly. Of all the lives that live on this planet, Ben's story is probably the one that is most similar to my own. Caleb is 5 years younger than I am and in many ways grew up in a completely different world of experiences (they do say that every kid grows up in a different family), but Ben and I were close enough in age that we did most of our growing up in the same way, with the same people, the same experiences. . . . To whitness the amazingly rich event in the life of someone who is SO much a part of my own existence and reality as a human being was pretty spectaular.
. . . not to mention that I love my brand new sister in-law!

It's also a relief that the wedding is over. Now we know it went well and we can all get on with the rest of reality. I, for one, will maybe get back into the routine of being in bed BEFORE 1am. That plan hasn't worked for me as of yet, but I can keep trying. . . though I may just have to accept that the artist I am may never allow myself to keep time with the sleeping habits of the rest of the world. We shall see. It is an exhausting existence, but I suppose someone has to do it.
. . . now if only that meant I produced some serious ART.

I've registered for a pastel workshop in November. I'm a little bit scared that it's going to be a lot of pie-in-the-sky/teddy-bear-realism-focusedness. I LOVE Degas, but other than his work, I have seen almost no pastel work of others that I thought was truly real. Hmm. I have always wanted to figure out how to use pastels better though and it IS held at an art school, so hope springs eternal. . . Stay tuned.