Andrea Mulder-Slater

by Andrea Mulder-Slater Late last year I had a crazy idea. To be truthful, I had quite a few of them, but one in particular is worth sharing. I decided to paint - or draw - a coffee cup a day. Every day. All year long. And nobody stopped me.  So, this year, my goal is to paint or draw three hundred and sixty-five coffee cups. Or tea cups. Because I'm not picky about subject matter. I do however draw the line at cats. I won't be painting three hundred and sixty-five cats this year. Or lobsters. Or about a billion other things. But I plan to paint three hundred and sixty-five coffee cups. YOUR coffee cups. Or tea cups, because as we've already established, I'm not picky... Whether or not I'll actually achieve my goal remains to be seen. Talk to me in July. But for now, here it is, February 1st and guess what? I've got thirty-one coffee cups to show you. I'm selling the acrylic on canvas paintings (unframed but ready to hang) for $45.00 and the draw...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater Because not everyone enjoys impromptu discussions about poop, our local coffee shop features a not-so-secret upstairs room where mothers of toddlers congregate to have conversations punctuated by phrases like, “What happened to your other shoe?”, " How long has that worm been in your pocket? " and "Can you please take that dolphin out of your brother's ear?" without disturbing the street-level caffeine imbibers below. The other day, after a chance meeting on the sidewalk, my friend Sharon and I made tracks to “the room” to swig copious amounts of coffee while our kids ate giant ginger cookies. Two seconds in, our children asked if we had any toys. You think they would know us better by now. The only remotely kid-friendly items in my purse were a marble, two Band-Aids, a hotel pen and a miniature Spirograph toy that can only be operated by someone with Barbie doll sized hands. So, you know, I’ve given up on any aspirations of beco...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater This Christmas, I created some coffee charms for a good friend of mine. He is a potter and so I used images of his work as the inspiration for three tiny coffee & ink paintings. I slipped two of them into fridge magnet frames and made the other one into a key-chain. He was pleased - especially when he recognized the work as his own. Thought I would share them with you... Happy Holidays. No, really.

by Andrea Mulder-Slater I am in the middle of doing battle with a flying insect. I don't know what it is, but I'm fairly certain an earwig had sex with a flying ant. I was just about to crawl into bed when I saw it, sitting nonchalantly on my bedside table - eying my pillow. Normally I would ask Geoff to deal with such things but the poor dear has been burning the candle at both ends with this whole house-building project. At this moment he is fast asleep, clutching a toy dinosaur placed carefully in his grasp by our daughter. Nothing says "Do Not Disturb"  quite like a toy dinosaur in the fist. So, I took matters into my own hands. I grabbed a magazine and with it, inadvertently removed one of the creature's legs. I say inadvertently because really, I was trying to murder the thing - not torture it. I have a conscience. So then it went all vigilante on me and hurled itself into my head. I turned the light on in the hopes that the brightness w...

by Andrea Mulder-Slater We had just picked up a "new puppy pack" from our veterinarian. Included was a chew toy, some flea medication, dog treats and a tiny sample bag of dog food. Anytime I am presented with a container - the contents of which cannot be seen - I must open it.  And so, I did. Inside the little foil bag was a handful of teeny dog food pieces, just the right size for a little puppy mouth. I grabbed a scoop to gave Max (the Westie/Papillon cross) a taste. He sniffed and then laid his head back down on my lap. We were in the car - Jan was driving and Max and I were passengers, as was the toddler  who sat, cheerfully singing, in the backseat. Heading home, I swallowed another mouthful of my ever present coffee. Several kilometers later, I was tilting my head back, sucking back the last of my drink when something hit my lip. My stomach did a flip as my brain began working overtime.  What was in that cup? Did someone from th...