Crystal goes on holidays

Me at Stanley Park, originally uploaded by crystal driedger.

Spent a wonderful four nights in beautiful British Columbia with my mom visiting relatives last week. Couldn't believe the luck with weather - it felt like summer compared to the snow storm we left in Alberta!

Back to the grind... and only 6 more weeks to go until the due date!

Sleep Over (Growing Up Show 6)

This is another finished piece for the growing up show. I'm hoping it's quite obviously a scene from a girls sleepover, an event that many girls experience while on their path growing up.

Growing Up Show Painting Links 1, 2, 3, 4, & 5 (#5 is still a progress picture - will upload the final soon!)

On another news worthy note, a book I started illustrating for Tony Potter Publishing late last summer that was put on hold is now back in full force. Apparently there was some interest shown when they took the mock-up to the Bologna Book Fair this year. This will most likely be the last project I can fit into my schedule before I take maternity leave (unless something little and lovely comes into the picture). I'm hoping to finish all client work by May 15th so I don't end up with deadlines and a newborn at the same time. I hope this leaves me with some time to complete a series of paintings for the baby's room!

Growing Up Art Show - New Ideas

Here are a few sketches I'm developing for the Growing Up Show coming this fall. Somehow I'm losing a bit of my confidence in regards to the show probably because I'm so absolutely humbled by the other artists participating (Amanda & Davey) and I'm also feeling like I should have completed many more paintings by now (5 done, 11 more to go)! I find I've been fighting with myself to create more pieces that have potential to sell but continue to create work that instead is a more personal reflection of my own growing up experiences.

Lina Medina

Lina Medina - the worlds youngest mother (5 years & 8 months old).
I think I'm finished the piece although I'm going to put off varnishing it until I'm quite sure I'm 100% happy with the results.


Inspired by my husband who mentioned that I rough up my plywood painting surface with carving tools, I spent a good chunk of one day carving out and manipulating the "canvas" until it was a bit of a relief project. I loved the results and think I'm going to try doing this technique on some pieces for my future baby's room.