This Little Light Of Mine

photo © Nicki Ault, 2016

I had every intention of writing a message on Christmas night, but the turkey coma set in and the tryptophan won. I was not good for much of anything once we returned from Christmas dinner at my parents, so here I am on Boxing Day night offering you a somewhat belated wish for a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday, whatever you may celebrate. 

photo © Nicki Ault, 2016

I feel like 2016 has been a dark year: so much peril around the world, political unrest, and the loss of so many cherished artists/musicians. It has been unrelenting in so many ways and I am fearful that 2017 may be even worse. So this post is all about light. I feel like we must be vigilant in the need to burn our own personal light of beauty and hope, compassion and empathy like we have never needed to before. Our children deserve this much from us.

"There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in."

~ Leonard Cohen (Selected Poems 1956-1968)

“We've all got both light and dark inside us. What matters is the part we choose to act on. That's who we really are.”
~J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix)

photo © Nicki Ault, 2016

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”

~William Shakespeare (The Merchant of Venice) 

 “Learn to light a candle in the darkest moments of someone’s life. Be the light that helps others see; it is what gives life its deepest significance.”
~Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)

 photo © Nicki Ault, 2016

“We cast a shadow on something wherever we stand, and it is no good moving from place to place to save things; because the shadow always follows. Choose a place where you won't do harm - yes, choose a place where you won't do very much harm, and stand in it for all you are worth, facing the sunshine.”
~ E.M. Forster, (A Room With A View)

“May your feet ever walk in the light of two suns... and may the moonshadow never fall on you... ”
~ Robert Fanney

Thank you for the part you play in helping me to shine my little light through art... whether it be by reading this blog, following me on Facebook or Instagram, coming to my art shows, leaving me comments and messages, or by actually purchasing a painting. All of it matters to me and all of it is appreciated.

May you face the sunshine in 2017.
 XO

~Nicki

Last Minute Help For You!

 Fall Tangle

6x6"

(not available)

All of these paintings are available through moi! I would love to help you with your shopping or help your loved one with his/her shopping if one of these paintings is on your wish list and he/she wants to buy it for you. It is easy- just email me and we will make it happen... nicki.ault@shaw.ca. Eeee-zeee.

 Festivities

20x20"
sold

 Flitter

6x6" 
sold

 From The West

30x30"

 Golden Reflection

12x12"

sold

 Moss On The Pine

6x6"
sold

 Spring Puddles

6x6"
sold

 Watching The Night Fall

6x6"
sold

 Light Hearted

20x20"
sold

 Last Morning, Lynx Lake

24x48"
sold

 July Rain

6x6"
sold

 Soft Prairie Days

6x6"
sold

 On The Edge Of Canola

6x6"

sold

 Cattails

20x24"
sold

 Floating

6x6"
sold

Scatter

30x30"

Lonely Studio

lonely studio © Nicki Ault, 2016

I have not been painting. You may have noticed. My studio space has sat quiet and lonely since the Open Studio. I haven't even been in to set my work table back up and get ready for paint mode. Bridget hasn't been there either. The year is winding down, but the holidays are winding up. I am so looking forward to beginning some projects that are on my mind, but I am not sure when I will be able to get the brushes out. Hopefully sooner rather than later. My newest series is whispering to me... "Nicki, I am not done with you yet!"

Please bear with me and stay tuned!

Little Tree With Memories of Grandma

my grandma's little tree

As idyllic as the thought of Christmas and the festive season can be, the reality of it is often more gritty and raw. This can be a highly charged, emotional time of year for many people... in both good and bad ways. Some people dread it; family dynamics and stress can reach peaks unlike at any other time of year. And some people are lonely, which is a sadness that is amplified when everything we see and hear seems to make it look like nobody else is alone. 

For me, I do love Christmas. I have happy childhood memories and now that I have a family of my own, I think I have been able to create some happy memories for my children. 

Many of my early Christmas memories involve my Grandma. She made the best Christmas toffee ever! She gave us advent calendars and PJ's and she always had this little ceramic tree on the table in her front entrance. I adored it! As a little girl with a big imagination, it seemed truly magical to me. And now I have it for my front entrance. It is a treasure.

My Grandma became a widow at young age, not much older than I am now. I was a tiny baby when her husband died. My mom was in her twenties. I really can't imagine the shock and the loss. As I grew up we never wanted Grandma to be alone at Christmas so she would often come stay at our house overnight on Christmas Eve. I can still picture her in her housecoat.

Fourteen years ago yesterday we lost her. My oldest son was a tiny baby just as I was when her husband, my Grandpa, died. It was a very hard time. She had fallen at my house and never recovered. This year the loss feels a little closer than other years. I'm not sure why exactly, but I think it has to do with my acknowledgment of just how fast time is passing. My fourteen year old son, who she only knew as a baby, is now six feet and is as tall as the Christmas tree!  He is growing up. I always knew he was, but the changes he is going through seem more significant now than ever before. She would have been so in love with him and with my other son. And this high velocity calendar makes me hyper aware of how much time I may have left with my own parents which is a place I can barely go in my head.

So please, be gentle with each other- those you know and those you don't- not just now, but all year through. Everyone has a Grandma they are missing, and if not a Grandma then a sister, a friend, a neighbor, an uncle. In a world so very divided, if we can somehow remember we are more alike than unalike, maybe, just maybe, we will be okay.

Delayed But Sincere Reaction - Thank You!

Open Studio Show and Sale 2016

© Nicki Ault, 2016

Sunday, November 28th is a blur! Our Open Studio was soooo busy- it was packed right from the get-go! Thank you so much to everyone who came to support us at Studio On 20th!

Thank you to those who came to see me and look at my artwork... and to make a purchase! The thrill and joy of having someone say they love what I have created so much that they actually want to spend their hard-earned money on a painting is a feeling I will always cherish and never take for granted. I am stunned to report that I sold 19 paintings! Several of those were my 6x6's - at one point it was almost frenzy-like around them! My heart was pounding and I felt a bit flustered! I am so grateful! And my new series was extremely well received which gave me a special validating push to keep exploring my ideas.

two pictures of the long wall

© Nicki Ault, 2016

I managed to take a few shots of the studio room that I share with Bridget Aitken. We had it all cleaned up and looking presentable for the day. I loved how it looked this year. It was so pretty; the long wall was gorgeous. I always like how we hang our work together, but for some reason this year it especially came together.

a different angle of part of the long wall

© Nicki Ault, 2016

small wall opposite the long wall and above one of our work tables

© Nicki Ault, 2016

back wall and corner

© Nicki Ault, 2016

Bridget loves painting cows, horses and abstracted still lifes. Our work is not the same, but somehow we show well together. We love interspersing our work instead of splitting the room in half and putting my art on one side and hers on the other. This way seems far more visually interesting and we have the room to do it, so why not? I also think it helps to show people how you can make work by different artists pull together aesthetically.

Again, huge thanks and appreciation from me to you, both those who found time to come on the weekend and those who support me here in this virtual world!

Thank you!