My même would have been a 100 years old yesterday if she was alive today. I wanted to recognize her and her life in mine... as she was my first artistic influence. A strong, bold and creative soul with a full heart. Alzheimer's sadly took her early nearly 12 years ago yesterday. I still remember one of the last touching things she said to me in the care home that I won't forget. I showed her a photo of her and i in front of her painting, to remind her who I was. I told her that I had become a painter like her and she was a inspiration to me.

“I hope you will go out and let stories, that is life, happen to you, and that you will work with these stories... water them with your blood and tears and your laughter till they bloom, till you yourself burst into bloom.” - Clarrisa Pinkola Estes

As a flaneur I float between being a silent observer of life to immersing myself into the crowds. Both roles I love and both have a time and place. I’ve gone to Cuba several times now and usually its solo. One of my pleasures and passions is to take a hike into the Valley of Vinales, without a plan or a destination in mind. Just a full day, to explore and observe. On this day, I set out, wandering a bit. I had stopped a moment to check out the incredible view, when I saw a small figure in the distance

As a flâneur, I love to walk the streets, in silence,, simply observing. With the camera in hand I try to capture life's moments unfolding. You can see a lot of different emotions and interactions on a given day if you really just become more aware. I think that's why I enjoy this subject matter. There really is so much variety and stories happening that there is never a lack of inspiration, especially in the city of Havana , where this was captured. When i photographed this, I was sitting across the street, sketching , with my camera close.

This photo right here, could describe one of the reasons I am completely smitten and constantly drawn back to Cuba. A place with many layers, colours, history and complexities. Once you peel back one layer, another more impressive intricate detail is revealed. It only makes you more curious to learn what it took to create these impressive urban spaces and imagine what it must have looked like back in the day. No need for a book on architecture, it’s all visually there. Able to see different era’s in time from Art Deco to neo-classical

While trekking solo in #Vinales, I tend to wander off the beaten path. I want to say from time to time I get lost, but lost is a strong word when you never really knew where you were going in the first place. That's the idea of wandering. However at this moment in my trek i had been walking through muddy trails for a hour and was seeking a different route to get me home. I came upon this farm house and decided to try to get a general direction. When i came up to the house I was greeted by the most rural image I had seen in awhile.

Back to work and feeling a tad off kilter after the holidays.? That's alright, it really comes down to how you perceive it.  Life isn't always picture perfect. The road is not always straight but made up of different angles and perspectives. It's wonderfully textured with layers of beautiful imperfections. It's embracing the uniqueness of each moment for what it is. There is beauty in everything. 

AsI my made my to the Malecon one day for golden hour , I took one of my favourite routes. I paused for a moment on the corner and thought. It all seemed familiar. Reminding me of a place that I live now #montreal and a place I grew up next to #detroit . Perhaps that’s why I was lured back to the spot. A place of comfort. Almost like three worlds coming together in one beautiful strange dream that has multiple layers. Like the Trumen show where the actors and language changed but my role is the same, and the landscape is similar. Its funny when your past and present converge. Like it was all strangely met to be

What is a flaneur and what is its role in our modern-day life? The traditional definition for a flaneur is one who strolls, explores, and observes in an urban landscape without a destination. A word that I found described the action I took while on the road. At this moment in time, it is evident that our lives are getting busier and more absorbed by modern technology. Becoming more distracted and less focused on what surrounds us at a given moment. I feel most of us walk around with our heads down, merely skimming the surface and grabbing fractions of each experience. I can only feel that the importance of taking time out to be more attentive is necessary. That incorporating the role of a flaneur into one's life could only bring benefits.

The other day, I took a stroll down to a local cafe in Montreal. Not necessarily to get a coffee but to hang out with myself. On my return home from some recent travels, it was brought to my attention that I had been hangin at Kahwa cafe for the past month. Apparently in rare cases like this, you can be two places at one time. To be greeted with such a incredible piece straight back from a solo trip abroad, seemed fitting and metaphorical in ways. I couldn't help but compare this painting and photograph to my experience as a solo traveler.

Have you ever felt like your racing against time.  Racing through each day with a million goals, errands, projects and questions.  Getting so caught up and stressed with finding the answers and getting to the finish line,  that we forget to even enjoy the process or the moments it took to get there.  So busy to check things off our list that at times it can bring any progress to a pause or even to a screeching hault.  We've all been there .  The battle of the mind with procrastination or resistance.  The moments you are pushing yourself to the limits, that you reach a point where you feel almost frozen with fear. Getting too far ahead of ourselves or behind that we forget to trust exactly what is happening right in front of us.   

Well friends and family near and far, we have arrived at the last day of 2017. What a year it has been! Filled with many highs and lows, with some doors closing and others opening, with many reminders to stay on the path i am on now. There were incredible connections made and some losses along the way, but in the end each of them taught me that its all part of the grand story of living. Threaded together by the common theme to live each experience fully

Happy Canada's Day. A place I AM proud to call my home. A country I've discovered from East to West and back again. I have climbed a few mountains, swam and fished in some lakes, rivers and oceans. Hiked, canoed, hitchhiked across the country. I've slept under the stars, beside a fire with the sound of a loon in the distance. I've walked with the company of a few wild animals. All of it reminding me of its vastness, and incredible beauty.

As a photographer, I try to stay present and capture the moments as they happen.  You have to be ready, patient, lucky, and sometimes just at the right place at the right time.  Some photos come to you and others you need to search out.  As we all know, things change, so to capture the same or similar moment twice is rare...well this is what I thought until I started traveling to Cuba.  Described as a city frozen in time, where if things change, they change slowly..

The hummingbird has landed on Canadian soil once again. Back from a month long adventure in Cuba. Each time I go, I experience something new, old, the same and different. As we all know, Cuba is on the brink of some potential big changes and to have been a witness and an ( Flaneur ) an observer, in ad mist of all that, is special and rare. Just like everything, you have to take for what it is. Like any adventure, or experience, you need to enter it with a open mind, without judgement or expectations and just flow with it. This was my intention. I didn’t go there anticipating the Cuba I had known or the Cuba I think it would become. I went back again to see it for what it is NOW.

On October 15th, I participated in the eye contact experiment in downtown Montreal. A event being held over all over the world with the simple intention of making a connection. There weren't many instructions, other then a basic sign stating, "where has the human connection gone, sit with another for a minute and make eye contact". I kind of knew the drill as I had practiced this once or twice in past Yoga trainings and workshops, but for me, I welcome any opportunity to connect with another human even if its brief. The timing was pretty perfect as well, as I'm only a week away from launching my retreats on this very same intention "Observing"