An I for an Eye

BooBoo has stolen my best fish eye. I spent over 2 hours working on it. It was for my prettiest maggoty fish. It had long, sparkly eyelashes and teeny polka-dots. The last time I saw it she was running through the kitchen chewing on the pupil. SHE said we should just let BooBoo keep it since she loves it so much. BooBoo always gets her way.

Yesterday: Poor Ladies outside our studio door.

ME: I REALLY need more maggots NOW and I'm not kidding!!

HER: I just cut the head off the fisherman so you will have to wait for

your maggots!

Poor Ladies: OH MY GOD!

That's how I knew they were here.

From now on, we are going to keep the windows closed OR try not to yell at each other about maggots and decapitations. Mama Mia.

Images: "H... The Alphabet Song" Detail. wood block/acrylics by Cara Kansala

Henry the Maggoty Fish Who DOES Have an Eye

Enjoying the Calm

Our dear friend and neighbour who is 86 years young often sits on our front porch and watches for whales and boats. Yesterday I brought him out a bowl of watermelon and asked how he was getting on..."Like the biscuit!" he replied and then gave me some lovely advice.

I had been inside working most of the day, worrying about orders, projects and phone calls and hadn't stopped for love or money.

He pointed out to sea and told me I should take my time and "enjoy the calm". I looked around and it WAS calm.....the wind, the sea, the gulls. Everything was taking a breath....and thanks to a good friend, so did I.

Image: "If Life Gives You a Bruised Apple, Make Applesauce" by Cara Kansala Acrylic Wood Block Alphabet Series

Pretty in Pink

Finally, after so many years, we get a commission to do a piece with a PINK house! Hooray!!!!
Two Years Ago...HER: I'll make you a deal. You let me take off the vinyl siding on the house, put up wooden Cape Cod clapboard and you can choose any colour in the world you want for the house.

Two Years Ago...ME: OK!!!! Yes! Yes! I choose PINK! ...PINK PINKPINK!!!!

All my life I have wanted a pink house! OK!! PINK! YAHOO!!!!!

Two Years Ago...HER: Um....how about any colour in the world except for pink? I have always dreamed of having a house any colour BUT pink.

Two Years Ago...ME: Oh.

Our house is Kermit the Frog Lime Green.

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Images: "The Pinkest House in Town" by Cara and Pam/Private commission

Riff and Stomp...they live in the pink house!

Any Mothers Allowed In?

Currently we are working on a gallery show opening in August. It is based on Newfoundland folk music. There are half finished pieces all over our house, mostly on the kitchen table. Yesterday, a lovely customer from out west snuck into the kitchen while I wasn't looking (people do this quite a lot...sneakers!!)and saw the mummer's parade that I am working on.
Lovely Customer "OH...these are those mothers I have heard so much about!....ANY MOTHERS ALLOWED IN?"

ME: "Ha,ha......they are mummers. Any mummers allowed in."

Lovely Customer: " YES! I LOVE IT! What fun for all of the mums to get dressed up like that. I wonder how that tradition started. ANY MOTHERS ALLOWED IN?"

ME : "OH, the old time tradition of mothers dressing up at Christmas and going door to door, asking any mothers allowed in?
I haven't got a clue!!!
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Image: "Could be Charley" by Cara Kansala Acrylic on Wood

I Loves Ya Me Old Trout!

Our new funky fish are selling like crazy this summer. They are swimming off the shelves. It’s always interesting to try new products .This year, it seems, people need fish.
Yesterday, a lovely lady picked up a particularly googly-eyed, pink and orange fish with sequins and asked if that type of fish was native to the region. I smiled and said I was not sure. Lovely lady bought the fish.
SHE thinks my fish are crazy. It was very nice to meet someone who actually thought that a sequin-bedazzled-pink-orange-googly-eyed fish might actually exist. In the cold waters of Newfoundland.
Very nice indeed.
Speaking of FISH....we had a gorgeous trouty dinner at Old Foolishness the other night. Thank you THANK you to the best cooker of fish in all the land! It was fabulous and a wonderful time was had by all!
Image: Funky Fish- Miroslav (blue) Flora (red)
Amazing Trouty Dinner

You, Light Up My Lemons.....

I have mentioned before that our kitchen sports an Italian lemon grove. There are painted lemon trees, quirky red birds and lemons everywhere. We also have paper mache lemons hanging from the ceiling. In the past 2 months, several people have asked if the lemons "light up". Really? Wouldn't that be a bit much.....slightly over the top...perhaps, dare I say, tacky? Some of the people who have asked have been on the conservative side of the street. This all leads me to think that the obvious thing WOULD be to electrify the lemons. Should they have regular lightbulbs or yellow? Perhaps those of you who have asked for the electric lemons could write to me with your suggestions.... it is, after all, quite beyond me!!!

Image: A Fine Afternoon For Gulliver by Cara Kansala

Lemony Ceiling PRE-Electrification

I don't Want Yer Maggoty Fish!

The capelin are rolling. We have been given plates of capelin, cleaned capelin, whole, fresh capelin (raw), fried capelin and baggies of capelin for the freezer. Every time I open the freezer, their cold, dead, frozen capelin eyes stare at me in a very menacing, capelin way. SHE is in capelin heaven. I, on the other hand know just how Lizer felt about it all!

P.S. This is the only time of year that I holler daily...I AM FROM AWAY.........I don't have to like capelin!

P.P.S. Really, though, thank you to everyone who has given us capelin. SHE is very happy and has a happy capelin belly!

Image: Detail- I don't Want Your Maggoty Fish

Cara Kansala and Pam Dorey Hand-Carved Wood/Mixed Media

The Soup of the Day Is.............

It has been a whirlwind weekend......we've had a lot of visitors and it's been so nice meeting new customers. We always appreciate it when people take the time (sometimes a very LONG time) to find our wee house! On Friday, we had guests for lunch, the table was all set and everyone had just sat down when a car full of customers drove up to see the studio. SHE continued with the lunch in our kitchen and I gave the studio tour.

During my talk, everyone was trying to look past me into the kitchen and eventually, they started asking questions....

What time do you stop serving lunch? Did we need a reservation? It smells delicious, what's the special? After we see the studio would it be possible to have lunch?

They thought we were a restaurant too! That is a first. Wouldn't THAT be fun I said to HER....to have a tiny restaurant? SHE said that if I mention it again, she is locking away all of my cooking utensils and barring me from the kitchen. SHE says that I have enough on my plate and that I don't need to be putting things on other peoples plates too. HHMMPPHH!!

(Maybe I will build a teeny, sneaky hot dog stand and sell Frankfurters by the sea......that'll show HER!)

Images: Thanks so much to our customer Sandra Rever from Calgary who sent us these beautiful pictures of our framed artcards. She did a gorgeous job framing them and we thank her so much for sharing!

Happy Canada Day...Stains and All!

What a Happy Canada Day it was! A gang of us had a beach fire/pot-luck on the shore in front of ours and like true Canadians, we persevered through the tinkling rain and took it like the toughies we are! We had a grand time and even spotted several whales swimming by! Thank you all for the wonderful chili, homemade bread and decorations!....and Happy Canada Day to everyone!

P.S. I was going to wear my linen blouse "whitey" to the fiesta but I didn't want to get chili all over it, so I wore HER blue linen shirt. I'll let you know if the stains come out......my TIDE pen was empty.

Model Behavior

On Tuesday and Wednesday a lot of our work was on loan for a photo shoot in St. John's. An amazing photographer was here from Ontario shooting a fabulous St. John's house, and they asked if our work could be used in the shots! It was SO interesting watching everything being put together...quite an honour! Nana and Boo Boo asked when THEY would get to be in a photo shoot and I told them never, unless they could learn to be polite and behave themselves. Clearly, this is not going to happen any time soon.