One of my neighbours told me I should keep a portfolio of my work. I've found it's been a great idea as I already forget when I did certain things and since I give away quite a bit of stuff, it's nice to have a picture. It's also been really helpful doing the tiles for my kitchen as I have the designs in an easy format to work from. Today I'm posting pictures of a couple of trays I did from my paintings in France.

I 'm posting a few notes about books I read over the last few months. I'm always on the lookout for suggestions for reading so pass any ideas along by email.

"The Map of Love" by Ahdaf Soueif. Egyptian writer. Fairly good story even with all the obvious politics. Somehow fairly intriguing even though the characters were rather cardboard and romanticized.

"Oleander, Jacaranda" by Penelope Lively. Very good non-fictional account of a child's perception of events in Egypt during her childhood there.

"Miss Garnet's Angel" by Sally Vickers. A quiet unassuming book that gets you in the end especially having recently visited Venice where it takes place. I think most people want to read something set in Venice after having been there...just to recapture the magic spell.

"The Russlander" by Sandra Birdsell. Very impressive especially how the suspense really builds even though you know about the eventual massacre. Really managed to pull off the telling of a historical period without boring you to death like Wiebe did in "Sweeter than All the World".

"When We Were Orphans" by Kazuo Ishiguro. In the end somewhat disappointing and even during the novel it didn't seem really all that good. Can't really explain why I couldn't put it down and read it the entire day until I finished it...certainly was a page-turner.

"Downhill Chance" by Donna Morrissey. Another really good Newfie writer. I think she really captured the way of life in the outposts before and after WWII without making it overly idealized. I loved the way she captured the language and expressions.

"Testament" by Nino Ricci. Nice to see Ricci writing up to his "Lives of the Saints" period again. He has captured the times of Jesus and what things were probably like and how the stories came about and grew.

"Spelling Mississippi" by Marnie Woodrow. Another new Canadian writer. Very good writing especially for a first novel. I did like the settings of New Orleans and the flood of '66 in Florence. We saw the plaque and the water line of this flood when we were in Florence this past April.

"The Divine Economy of Salvation" by Priscila Uppal. Quite an amazing first novel by a 27 yr old and also Canadian. About a young girl who becomes a nun to try to redeem her involvement in a another young girl's death when she was a teenager.

"In the Skin of a Lion" by Michael Ondaatje. Some excellent writing and overall very good especially the ending but I somehow got a little bogged down with it.

"The Remains of the Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro.The books goes deeper than the film but I don't think I would have been disappointed by the film if I had read the book first.

"The Navigator of New York" by Wayne Johnston. Another fabulous book by Johnston this time about polar exploration and the controversy around Cook and Peary. Wonderful writing once again about ice and snow.

On the mystery front, "Justice Hall" by Laurie R. King was very good as well as Reginald Hill's "Dialogues of the Dead". Ruth Rendall should give up writing I think. Gave up reading both "Adam and Eve and Pinch Me" and "The Blood Doctor".

This is my latest painting and tiles I painted for a backspash in my kitchen. I did the painting as a study for a canvas floorcloth I want to do for my soon-to-be new terracotta stone floor. I'm doing a partial kitchen reno incorporating my the backsplash plus other painted tiles sporadically placed with white tiles. The designs are all going to be from the paintings I did in the south of France this past winter. My walls are already a wonderful sunny yellow of Provence. I think having this kitchen will always make me think of those wonderfully warm, full of light sunny days during our winter there. Just the thought should brighten up our dark gloomy west coast winter.


Mimosas in bloom along the coast around St. Tropez


Rockfish on a provençale tablecoth painted on tiles

Our very dear friend, Monique, moved to Montreal this month to take up a new challenge as the Director of a language centre. We wish her very well but we will miss her a lot, although I believe there will always be a bit of the spirit of Monique in Victoria.

Monique in the midst of preparations for Montreal

This is a trunk that my friend, Fern, gave to me. I wish I had taken a "before" picture. I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. My son is now using it as a coffee table. I had put in pictures of all the places he had travelled in the lid.

I've started painting on glossy white ceramic tiles with Liquitex Glossies paint and having tremendous fun with this medium. I've posted a pictures of a trivet I made and I've made some coasters as well. Next I'm going to try to do something like my Rockfish painting over six 6" x 6" tiles that I hope will work as a back splash over my stove. The medium is quite different to paint with so I'm so quite sure how it will turn out. Should be fun trying.


Tuscan Hills on 6" x 6" white glossy ceramic tile