I attended the dinner concert that kicked off the Stettler Variety Showcase 2024-2025 season on November 3rd, with my friend, Sheila. The meal was delicious (I freely admit I ate more than my personal portion and thoroughly enjoyed every single bite!). The performer was Trevor Panczak (www.trevortown.com). He mentioned that the last time he performed in Stettler was in 2002, which means he was the first SVS concert I attended! During the concert, Trevor mentioned he was the opening act during Don Williams’ final Canadian tour (I saw Don in person in Calgary during his 2nd last tour of Canada - the only time even though he was always my all-time fav singer) and has a Don Williams tribute album coming out in 2025. It was a great evening and I'm so glad I went as I missed the dinner concert the last two years due to extreme snowfall and sickness.
The next day, I attended the Bashaw Community Theatre's production of "Beauty and the Beast Jr." The cast did a great job, and it was neat to see so many tiny Belles in the audience.
Celebrations:
- I completed my 1,900th iPad sky drawing on October 6th!
- I published two more comic strips in the paper and posted them online.
Recently Completed:
Since the last newsletter, I've completed...
- 4 watercolour play faces on 9x12 mixed media paper. From left: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn.
- More playing with the Walmart set of watercolours (and gel pens) on the pad of 4x6 watercolour paper. Except for the red, these are not colours I normally use so it's been neat creating fall foliage to try them out.
- From Sketchbook Revival, I signed up for Jessica Swift's free Art for Self-Care class which provided 5 different prompts for creating. I decided to make 3 different versions of each prompt in different mediums: (L-R) 1st - ipad, 2nd - tombow markers (4.5x6), 3rd Inktense coloured pencils (4.5x6)
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- I completed my 33rd cartoon comic booklet and you can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/beth.richardson.10/videos/1798579700935462
In Beth's Kitchen:
- On October 11th, I finished making the grape juice and ended up with 11 (and a bit) cups.
- On October 29th - same day as our first snowfall - I made a baked oatmeal. Nice warm dish on a wintry day.
Our next snow day was November 5th and I decided that I could no longer put off dealing with some of the food stuffs in the fridge and pantry so made a couple of veggie casseroles, and I froze one.
Jigsaw Puzzles:
Since my last letter, I completed a 1,000 piece puzzle.
UFO (UnFinished Object) Update:
- From Oct 11 - Oct 31, in Inner Circle, we spent the 21 days working on a project that we wanted to complete. Rather than pick just one project (you should know by now that's not how I roll), I decided to deal with UFO's and other little tasks that needed done around the house. While I didn't spend every one of those days sorting, I did spend a few, and Optimistic Beth may have thought she was going to finish ALL of the crafts that Mom and Gramma had started and didn't finish, however Realistic Beth knew she wouldn't (and that quite truthfully, she didn't "really" want to!) - I boxed up MANY unfinished craft projects, MULTIPLE craft kits, and LOTS of craft supplies, and my sister took them. I assume she plans to complete them as she has completed a few already. I'd love to say that dealt with everything in the house, but there is still much more to go through.
- I watched 2022 and 2021 Woman Unleashed Summer and Winter Solstice sessions that I somehow never found time for when they were presented. That closed more open tabs on my computer.
- I recently watched a short class by Minette Riordan on colours and emotions in art. That closed another tab.
Courses and Challenges (free and paid):
- I watched a free class from Sketchbook Revival artist, Galia Alena from Australia, called Gentle Creative Invitations - some of her practices I already do, but I was intrigued by a guest artist she had in the class who paints on cardboard, mainly because I have a nice stack of cardboard pieces in the basement that I was just going to recycle. I think I’ll paint on them instead!
- Amanda Sophia's free mini Divine Woman Awakening course on the Celtic Wheel of the Year - we're now in Samhain (pronounced saa-wn), which began Oct. 31/Nov. 1. This is a time when the veils are thin and the focus is on ancestors and ancestral healing. As well as letting go of what no longer serves us. I will continue to sort items in the house - as time allows - thanking my mom and gramma for what they taught me, and letting go (ie crafts) what no longer fits the person I am now, and I acknowledge that it is more than okay for me to have my own interests that are completely different from theirs.
I also pulled out Demi Fox's Morgan Le Fay course that I did 2 (?) years ago and am going through the unit that corresponds with Samhain again.
- Amanda Sophia's free mini course on Feng Shui - finished this on October 11th. Great info, and my biggest takeaway was that I really need to get mom's belongings all dealt with so I can create a home that nurtures ME and MY dreams!
- Amanda Sophia’s free Geomancy & Land Healing course - I finally started this on October 11th. I only watched the video on the history of Geomancy so far, and will have to watch again as it had a LOT of info in it. What really stood out for me was that a meandering river is called that because it has a "meander" in it! And a meander is where the river does a U-turn (because of impenetrable rock) and flows back toward itself. This usually occurs with underground rivers and people can find where it happens as there is usually an ancient labyrinth on top - with the centre of the labyrinth right over the meander as that's where the most intense pressure and energy is. That puts a whole different spin on my theme for the year of "meandering!" Does that mean I'm supposed to U-turn somewhere in my life???
- Hillary Faye's (paid) Eternal Beauty course - I finished this course Oct. 27th. There are a couple of the guided meditation audios I really liked that I will continue to listen to in the days ahead as they are really good reminders (especially on days when I feel sick) of how incredibly awesome my body really is.
- To get moving on my drum playing, I pulled out a 5 Day Drumming challenge from an old email series. I still haven't gotten to Day 2 yet, though I do play the drum daily.
- Recipes, Remedies, and Rituals Ayurveda course practices: eating only my personal portion size for each meal and doing abdominal rubbing throughout the day to help with digestion/elimination and overall relaxation of the body.
Works in progress:
Currently, I'm working on...
- a 9x12 page of watercolour play
- playing on the 4x6 watercolour paper pad with my "fancier" watercolour paints
- I recently got 2 small inexpensive paint palettes so I'll soon be able to start playing with the watercolour technique I mentioned in my last letter re mixing watercolours.
- seated forward bends! Still a challenge and I'm only doing my seated forward bend in the tub when I have my evening bath. Rather than focus on how far my nose is from my knees, I'm focusing on how far my nose has moved from when I started.
Middle: 26 weeks (1/2 year!) - Aug. 19
Bottom: 33 weeks - Oct. 7
- "Mystery activity” I have done a little bit on it EVERY day for just over 10 weeks! Health-wise the past couple of weeks have made it quite the challenge, but I persevered!
Featured Art for Sale:
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Lady of Desire (acrylic/mixed media) on 16x20 stretched canvas $450 I painted this from an online class. As I didn't have all of the materials and supplies required, I had to be a bit more innovative with what I did have. The first layer was created with orange napkins collaged onto the canvas - you can see a bit of the texture that created around her head. Her hair was created with pieces of lace. For the collar of her dress, I used small folded paper doilies. After painting with acrylic paints, I embellished her with a fabric flower in her hair and her jewellery was created with old buttons (that my mom had saved after taking the back stem with the hole off). Please contact me to purchase "Lady of Desire."
"Magical Moments in my Day Journal: for the extra special moments all around me" 6x9 lined journal $15 purchased from me or you can purchase from Amazon https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0CJLKZ3KB
Please contact me at thechautauqua@gmail.com or phone 403-352-3837 to make a purchase.
Upcoming Projects:
- I offer Pay-What-You-Can Distance Reiki/Energy Healing sessions. Energy healing works great from any distance and I've sent Reiki healing as far away as Queensland, Australia. Please, contact me to set up your healing session.
"I have been suffering with Long COVID for over a year and have tried every healing modality in the book to get my energy back. Beth has been gifting me with healing Reiki energy for quite some time now and I have, for the first time in over a year, started to feel like myself again. Much of my weakness has dissipated, and the dark cloud that I have been stewing under has lifted. Thank you Beth. ♥️" - Carla, Esthetician, Nova Scotia
Thanks for reading, and as always, feel free to share with anyone you think might enjoy it.
Beth
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Thank you so much for your support, to receive this newsletter directly via email please email: thechautauqua@gmail.com to be added to the mailing list. Thank you!
Back issues of this newsletter are found here: https://thechautauquanewspaper.blogspot.com/ under the category "Artist Newsletter"
To support my artistic journey, please consider purchasing my artwork, items available in person at 4910-47 St, Mirror, AB
or make a donation via
Mail a cheque or money order (made out to Beth Richardson – Chautauqua) to Box 261 Mirror, AB T0B 3C0
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Your support and kindness are always greatly appreciated, and I look forward to bringing you joy and inspiration! Thank you so much and have a marvellous day!
