What a fantastic mini vacation I’ve just had! Although I live in one of the world’s most beautiful areas, as far as nature goes, I love to travel; even if that means just a few days away in Toronto, a mere 3 hours drive from my home.

My friend treated me like a queen. We walked a lot, ate scrumptious meals both at her home and at some local restos. And visited various inspiring and artistic shops and so much more!

I enjoyed a variety of cuisines in these few days: Thai, Vietnamese, Korean. We went to the opera.

But my main reason for coming was a seminar about global textiles and non-profit organizations.

This visit to Toronto was motivated by a short, very informative seminar at the Contemporary Textile Studio Co-op, dealing with local and global artisan co-ops. We were a small audience of 3, with 2 presenters.

The focus was on non-profit social enterprises, both local and international. I already have some ideas germinating, about the direction that I’m going with my art and I’m ready to expand on them.

My thought is to link my artwork and my love of travel with artisans in other countries.

I would have to say that my main draw, at this time, would have to be India. I finally visited this amazing country after 30 years of thinking/hoping to visit, at some point in my lifetime.

From this short seminar, at the Co-op, I took with me a renewed sense of certainty about what I need to work on to achieve my goals. A lot of information to mentally digest and to research before I take my next steps. Who knows what all of this will lead to, but I’m very positive about my future outlook!

While I love my home and where I live, I absorb the energy of cities when I travel.

Lots of fantastic ideas that are starting to percolate and leading me to the next level of my artistic endeavours!

One evening out, we sat in “the booth” at the back of the hall, at the Canadian Opera Company. We watched my favourite opera, La Traviata. My friend works at COC. The lead soloists were Joyce El-Khoury, as Violetta and Andrew Haji in the role of Alfredo. Wonderful voices and the sets, costumes and lighting were exquisite. Unfortunately, photos were not permitted.

On my last day, in the big city, we toured the Museum of Textiles. For me, this was quite a disappointing visit as there was only one exhibit at the current time and that was of rug hooking.

Driving home, I encountered snow. This was a very early snowfall. As the week progresses, it is quickly melting, and the temperatures are returning to normal, about 13C.