To create  something... anything... is a means to empty my mind of the miscellaneous junk I accumulate as I go about my daily life. I’m a worrier, over thinker, anxiety attack junkie, and stress puppy addict. There’s a lot of garbage rattling around in this brain.

Often enough, there is no the deep hidden meaning behind my subject matter. I paint what I like; I take pictures of what fascinates me, I make jewelry I like to wear. This portfolio is a collection of  the encounters I have of the people I meet, the places I see, the feelings I have, and the things I do.

I’ve spent much of my life denying the creative side of myself. I've chased my own tail in endless circles trying to be "useful" and "practical" according to the standards of others. It's not uncommon, this need to feel validated. It's not unique, this feeling of inadequacy and loneliness.

From unfortunate events, came perspective and clarity. I lost my dad to cancer. It's an old wound that surprises me occasionally with sharp stabbing pains if I poke it too hard. My dad was the one who helped me refocus on the one opinion that should count the most when it came to my life. Me. Only me.

I try not to deny the “artistic” side of myself anymore, which is as part of me as my strange curly toe. I may not like it all the time...but it's probably a bad idea to cut it off when I hate it. I'm still a worrier, over thinker, anxiety attack junkie, and stress puppy addict. But now rather than wishing I knew what other people wanted me to do...I'm just trying to live my life on my own terms with no regrets as I explore the strange and slightly unstable landscape of my creativity.

This is my life. It's a random project.

about the magπ [măg'pī] project

In February 2010, I decided to finally start satisfying my life long obsession with things shiny and bright and signed up for silversmithing classes. It quickly snowballed into my primary creative outlet, surpassing both photography and painting in sheer volume of output. What photography and painting could not do alone, silversmithing has. It has provided a way for me to combine all I have learned through my other disciplines, and create something that satisfies the “je ne sais quoi” that I feel I have been missing.

The brand “magπ” was a happy accident that I must give credit to co-workers Marilyn & Alex, whose sudden burst of inspiration happily gave birth to what I see my jewelry called as today.

I have been given a little bit of flack for the complexity of its meaning, but it very neatly sums up what the jewelry I create means to me:

m = Melinda

ag = argent / silver

π (Pi) = multiply with the diameter to get the circumference of a ring

magpie = lover of bright, shiny objects

black & white = Random Life Project photography & painting

red = randomness & blood (life)

While magπ has become my favorite Project thus far, I still see this as just one part of what I call the Random Life Project - always learning, ever evolving.

special thanks

I have the people in my life to thank for in making my world much bigger and my life much brighter. The list is long, but you know who you are. I want you to know how grateful I am for your support in all the ways you give it.

There are the ones the who have volunteered their time and mugs to my evolving cause, so I wanted to especially dedicate a bit a space to them:

Alex C. (the one who goes to bat for me]

Narissa C. [the one who is helping magπ fly]

Dan B. and Mourning Wood [the ones who let me do what I want while they do their thing]

Curtis C. [the one who is my alternate gallery]

Hans V. [the one who helped me start the musician project]

Kelly S. [the one who I sold my first painting to]

Richard A. [the one who is my tai chi instructor and let me do my photo thing]

Uncle Pao [the one who deals with all my heavy metal needs]

Wendy L. [the one who keeps me sane at Art Walk on Whyte]

Duncan S. [the one who has been a fantastic supporter for all my endeavours]

Alexander H. [the one who gave me an extra eye while working on magπ]

Marilyn M. [the one who gave me “π”]

Robin C. [the one who teaches me silversmithing & encourages my overambitious projects]

Kim H. [the one who’s given me a great chance to show off magπ)

Mary H. a.k.a. M.O.M. [the one who is my #1 fan and my pillar of everything]

Peter H. a.k.a. D.A.D. [the one who inspired it all]

mediums and materials

I dabble in numerous activities and hobbies that range a ridiculous (and sometimes geeky) spectrum in order to satisfy my almost ADD mentality. This randomness is starting to leak into my artwork, thus the name of the site - Random Life Project. You'll notice that though many of the mediums used are traditional, odd materials will pop in and out of my projects - sometimes contrived, sometimes unintentional.

Most of my work is essentially black and white. I work best with contrasts rather than hues, but I occasionally work with colour if my finances cooperate with me.

Main Mediums:

Silversmithing

Acrylics

Charcoal

Conté

Graphite

Photography

Random Materials:

Silver

Gems

Illustration Board

Illustration Paper

Wood Panels

Canvas

Sheet Metal [recovered]

Software:

Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Illustrator

iWeb

Blurb.com

issuu.com

External Sites:

flicker

Blogger

facebook