Vivian painting in studio with daughter and grandson




I am on the furthest eastward point of St. John US VI in a beautiful rented villa open to the sea and air on all sides. The only discordant part of the gorgeous setting and decor are the fake indoor plants that seem to be de rigueur in vacation homes. The silliest is the fake banana tree…
The world price of cotton in October of 2009 was 66 cents per pound. By October of this year, the price of cotton had risen to $1.26 per pound.The price of cotton had risen dramatically in the past year and that was the price of your average cotton. Who knows what price, organically grown, extremely rare Canadian cotton…
A storage unit provided inspiration for dance.
Standing in the greenhouse looking at a choice of seedlings of 200 varieties of heritage tomatoes I could grow was a thrill.This Spring having built more wooden boxes and added more colored plastic tubs to my office roof top vegetable garden I could still only accomodate about 60 varieties, accounting for multiples of favorite ones from last year. I had poured over the printout catalogue and circled the…
Early this Spring a very stylish and beautiful woman came to my studio to buy a painting.Her name is Christina. As we looked through some of my portraits her equally stylish and handsome husband asked if I could do his wife’s portrait. Thus began the painting you see today. The next day when Christina arrived at…
When I sent this photo out to friends as a Canada Day greeting, I recieved this inspiring response from writer Helen Lovekin. Thank-you so much, darling Vivenka! Its true: I love Canada. It allows its citizens to have patriotism without nationalism, we dare to be a work-in-progress, and we have a curious respect for the…