 I bought some sketchbooks this summer with the focus that instead of trying to draw objects and scenes that I would really embrace myself as the abstract artist I am. Shapes, forms and textures are just something I naturally gravitate towards and I’m looking for my voice in the analog art world. What do I mean by that?  For the past 5 or so years I’ve been focused on digital, while I have no intention of leaving that behind, something within me craves to scratch a mark making tool on a substrate. Perhaps just as a means of expression to move out from the mundane, or even just to get a quick something down on paper.  Being a mother of one soon to be two leaves me with little time and little energy, but I’m determined that I can’t leave that part of myself behind. I look for ways to include it daily with my son, whether it’s teaching him simple observation or encouraging painting with acrylics. Here are some of the photos from my sketchbook recently. Some finished, some unfinished. 
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 This summer I had pledged to make the focus all about art. I bought new sketchbooks with intentions of filling them with more than just words and thoughts, I started drawing and encouraging my toddler to colour and paint everyday with me. This picture is actually a picture that he painted of a lake. He painted it alongside of me trying to give my rendition of a lake for a collage I was making starting with paint and I rediscovered that painting really was over for me. I liked his painting so much better that I decided to put it with this post. So with that in mind I sanded down the plywood I had been painting on and decided I would stop trying to make my voice heard through a language that I had no desire to speak, and that if going back to some forms of art that were considered more traditional, I maybe needed to find a way that I could express myself that wasn’t killing me on the inside. Here’s to the summer.
 I’m really thinking about story a lot more these days. My last hike was Ribbon Creek, and while I snapped a lot of shots, and mostly close ups, which are my jam, I really didn’t think about story. And it’s something that I have been thinking what kind of stories do I want to tell, do I want to tell stories? It’s hard sometimes the light works well in the forest, but is garish in other places. I end up culling ( as should you) so many photos that the light wasn’t good and it broke the photo. What about you? Do you like story telling in your images?
 I love the sculptural quality, the lines that give so much movement in the the photo. I look for that energy as I’m walking about. A boss once joked that upon hearing my name as Melissa when they hired me that they thought I would be calming like the herb Melissa, but that wasn’t the case. No, don’t look for me if you want calm, still, serene, it just isn’t me. Since I’ve been making art and photos, it’s always been about movement and energy. I don’t know how to not do it. What kind of work do you make? Energetic or serene?
 I’ve decided that I need to make a collection of some of the black and white images. Group some photos together to make a portfolio. Sometimes, as I walk through on a hike I’ll usually group those images together, but some of these I might get a good photo here and there, and then a few months later get something that relates. A friend recently inspired me to start getting zines out, and I have to say I’m really fond of the idea. I’ll have to make an email list or something so you can get some prime photos in your hands.
 I love taking photos of grass. It’s so expressive and out here in the foothills there’s no lack of grasses. Grasses take well to photography in both winter and summer. There’s always something that shapes it into something interesting to look at. I need to get outside. It’s been too long and I can’t wait for the weather to warm up. What will you do first when we get out of the polar vortex?
 The wonder of winter, I've talked about it before. There is something magical about winter, even though here in the north we complain about it a lot. But to feel icy wind blowing on your skin, and hot sun on your back. It awakens you. While I moaned and groaned about returning to the snow, it’s better than rain, hail and sleet. And, I have found that if you find the right winter activity, that winter passes by rather easily. What do you do to make winter pass by more easily?
 The closeup, you can feel the texture of the ice crystals just by looking at the image. Its called the haptic. The ability to feel within your body even though you cannot physically touch something. It’s one of the reasons that images are so powerful. The body can feel something without feeling it. Its been nothing but ice crystals these days!
 Geez, I need to put this up in big letters on my wall. How many times have I not made work with fear paralysis, because I didn’t know how it worked or how it fitted in. I was so thankful in my master’s degree. There were no grades, just rubrics stating how you fulfilled certain criteria. My first semester I took advantage and experimented as much as I possibly could, without the fear of failing. What about you, does fear stop you from making work? PS: This quote is from Todd Hido’s book; Landscapes, Interiors and the Nude.
 Moody moody mountains. The one amazing thing about living out here is that you see everything from a distance. You see the snow coming, the rain, and the smoke in the summer. The mountains have a certain ecology that they influence and we are here also influenced by it. Its so cold that I’m craving a chinook. Let me know if you know what a chinook is!
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