new smoky quartz

The latest smoky quartz painting, soon to be shipped away to a new home.

little blizzard

I hope everyone had a lovely holiday season. Mine was really great. I spent a week in Thunder Bay with my family, and enjoyed all the requisite visiting, eating, drinking, sleeping, knitting and Food Network TV marathon watching that have come to be my standard Christmas routine. I feel so fortunate that not only did I get to share a fun and restful time with people I love, but I also received some lovely gifts. This beautiful snow globe is one of my favourites. I think there's more snow in there than we've seen all winter in Toronto.

print!

I'm happy to announce that my first limited edition artist print is now available from Magic Pony. It is a full-scale reproduction of the painting I did for the Adam & the Amethysts 'Flickering Flashlight' album cover. The print comes with an mp3 download of the album. Just in time for the holidays!

September Mineral Show

 

Here is a pile of photos from September (months after the fact - typical me;) at the annual show held by the Gem and Mineral Club of Scarborough. This is my favourite show of the year. So many good vendors, and the swap room is fantastic. I can't wait for next September!

new

smoky quartz with inclusions  ~  oil on masonite  ~  9 x 11"

watermelon tourmaline  ~  oil on masonite  ~  8 x 10"

Some new paintings that are flying off to Miami with Narwhal at the end of the month.

nestled

Another successful bunny photo shoot with Sonja this weekend. Here's my favourite shot. 

Visit her at the One of a Kind Show starting this Thursday through Dec. 4th!

country weekend part 3: farm animals

The woman who rented us the cabin we stayed in also has a small farm on her property with the most beautiful and friendly animals.

country weekend part 2: in the forest

 

country weekend part 1: horse ride

This past weekend my BFF Alissa, her lovely friend Anna (who was visiting from Italy), and I rented a car and escaped the city for a few days. We started our little holiday with a morning trail ride at the horse farm where Alissa has been taking riding lessons. The morning started and ended with rain, but it miraculously stopped for the duration of our ride. It was my first time really riding a horse, and it was amazing. The misty countryside was absolutely breathtaking, with cool grey skies and the changing fall colours. I wish I could have taken photos during the ride! Riding was alternately calming and exhilarating, as I started to get comfortable on the horse and then we shook things up a bit (literally) by speeding up to a trot. We even did a little galloping - yikes. I really want to do it again!

This is one of the old retired horses wandering around on the property. She was really skinny and had burrs stuck in her hair, but she was still beautiful.

And this is Bear, one of the farm dogs. He was so sweet - aggressively affectionate (he even head-butted my camera when I was trying to take his picture because he wanted so badly for me to pet him). He followed along for our whole ride.

Flickering Flashlight

Photo by Celia Perrin Sidarous.

 Today is the official release of Adam and the Amethyst's new album, "Flickering Flashlight" on Kelp Records. I have actually been listening to it for many months already, since my brother gave me an early version when I was working on the cover art, and I absolutely adore it. Adam and I composed the image for the cover together, with various objects he and I have collected over the years. I photographed our composition and made a painting of it. Here it is:

The album (which can be streamed here or ordered here) has already received some great reviews and a cover story in the Hour in Montreal.

They will be playing here in Toronto tomorrow night, a few more shows in Ontario and the East Coast over the next couple of weeks, and in Brooklyn on Nov. 9th. The Kelp site has a listing of venues and dates.   

Aaaand... They also have a beautiful new video for one of my favourite songs (NSFW due to the skinny-dipping). It was made at Toronto Island by Yuula Benivolski.

ADAM & THE AMETHYSTS - Dreaming (NSFWish) from kelprecords on Vimeo.

Killarney rain day

On our one rainy day at Killarney we slept in late and abandoned plans to do a hike. There was a severe storm (tornado!) warning, but thankfully the storm didn't even touch us beyond a little rain and wind. During a break in the rain we did a little exploring near the lake by our campsite, and sat by the water for a bit, just relaxing with coffee. Then we went into the village for dinner at the famous 'Herbert Fisheries Fish and Chips' which is right on the water. The boat that catches the fish fresh from Georgian Bay was docked beside the outdoor dining area. The fish was amazing, and the setting and weather were idyllic. When we returned to the campground we were greeted by the most gorgeous pink misty sunset. Despite the rain, it turned out to be a great day.

new website!

I finally got my new website finished! Please let me know if you notice anything glitchy.

www.carlywaito.com

Thanks to Geoff and Steve C. for their advice!!