The year in Princess Monsters

Well first off, I just have to say thank you to everyone who has supported this book. I can't believe I have sold 200 copies since it launched in September. I love how you keep coming back to buy more copies for other children in your life who need this message. Here are some of the fantastic  things you are saying about Princess Monsters from A to Z:

"I love her use of language and the flow of the verse. Her illustrations are wonderful - so colorful, creative and whimsical... This book truly celebrates individuals and the strength of being unique."
-Shirley Martin

"Great book, wonderful message and my girls both love it"
-Christine Kizik

"I love this book and my kids do too! Lighthearted and entertaining in a way that the underlying message comes through without being obvious or preachy."
-Errin Morrison

This has been such a roller coaster year, and I am so incredibly grateful for all the amazing experiences that have come along. Here are a few highlights of my year:

-Performing at Burrard Inlet Fish Fest

-Releasing my book with a spectacular book launch party at my house

-The Princess Monsters from A to Z art exhibit at the Port Moody Arts Centre

-Visiting some amazing K-5 classrooms and reading the story with them

-Speaking about why I wrote Princess Monsters from A to Z at Pecha Kucha Night

-Starting the Trigger Points Anthology and online community for parents who are survivors of childhood abuse

-Trigger Points Anthology was featured on Huffington Post and Blunt Moms, as well as many other sites 

-Seeing all of the monster portraits created by the little readers of my book:

-Coordinating and performing at the Port Moody Winter Solstice Lantern Festival:

So thank you all for being along on this crazy ride. I have so much more to come in 2015, but I will save that for another post! In the meantime, have a very Merry Christmas all!

Why Princess Monsters? A Pecha Kucha Presentation

Last week I had the immense pleasure of getting up in front of a wonderful crowd at the Terry Fox Theatre and speaking about why I wrote Princess Monsters from A to Z. Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to have an experience that makes every crazy twist and turn in your path all converge into a point of purpose and direction. This was that moment for me.

If watching this talk you felt something meaningful, please share it. I believe this message is so important right now, and I know that so many people will benefit from hearing it.

Have a beautiful day!

100% Inspired: Pecha Kucha Night

 

I am getting pumped for Pecha Kucha Night! I will be one of the 11 speakers sharing my passion in just under 7 minutes. This is a fast-paced evening of sharing ideas and meeting interesting people. This will be my second time doing a Pecha Kucha talk, so I know now that I need to practice, practice, practice to get my timing just right! My talk will be about the inspiration for Princess Monsters from A to Z, a topic which for me has evolved as I have brought this project from an idea I had floating around in my head for several years to finally bringing it into fruition.

If you haven't attended a Pecha Kucha talk before, here is a little bit about the format of the evening:

Get Ready to be inspired by local talent and creative minded community members in a fun, fast paced speaker series event with an unusual twist! The PKN format is 20 slides x 20 Seconds each. This means our presenters have just under 7 minutes to present their unique ideas & creations complimented by 20 images.

PechaKucha (prounounced Pechuk-cha) means "Chit Chat" in Japanese.

And what would a PK Night be without our famous "Beer Break" to socialize and network giving you a chance to "Chit Chat" about all you've seen and heard yourselves!

Our speakers for this event:

Joyelle Brandt | Creative Dynamo

Paul Gauthier | Paralympian

Shelley Gruendler | Typographer

Chad Matchette | Artistic Director

Diane Moran | Artist & Community Connector

Adi Parker | Abstract Artist

Diane Roy | Fibre Sculptor

Win Seaton | Designer/Artist & Educator

Jaret Stodola | Musical Engineer

Ravenous Randy | Pro Wrestler

Carlyn Yandle | Visual Artist

Special Musical guests from

Rock the Fox

Tickets are available for $12 advance/$15 at the door. You can purchase tickets online here or at the door on the evening.

They are also always on the lookout for Performers/Musicians & artists to showcase and of course PEchaKucha Speakers/Presenters for upcoming PKN's held 4 times annually. Interested? contact the PKN Team at: tfoxtheatre.pkn@gmail.com today.

The Princess Monster Blog Hop

I am so excited today to introduce you to a few of the fabulous women in my life!

I have asked some fellow artsy bloggers to share the stories of their inner monsters with me. Today I will be sharing two wonderful artists, and there will be more to come! If you are a blogger and would like to join the fun, leave a comment below and I will send you all the info!

First off, meet Ginger Deverell of Read Pear Creative:

I run a boutique art and design company, Red Pear Creative. Here I blend raw creativity and rigour to bring authenticity and a visual voice to a range of clients. I experiment in my bright open studio, creating eclectic peaceful mixed media art and bringing beauty and self-reflection to every day.

Ginger and her son Julian sat down to create their inner monsters together. Check this out:

You can read Ginger's full post about monsters Peep and Skeet here.

Next up, meet Violette Clark:

Violette is an inspirational artist, author, cartoonist,  teacher and creative cataylst who lives in a Purple Magic Cottage in the south-western corner of British Columbia in the quaint seaside town of White Rock.

Violette's inner monster is Felicity the Fox.

You can read all about Violette's Foxy monster here.

While you are visiting their blogs, take a look around at some of the amazing artwork both of these women have created. They are so very talented, and inspire me to keep being creative!

 And what about you? What does your monster look like?

Princess Monster Gallery Show Opening

It has been a crazy, exciting, exhausting week as I put up the gallery show of Princess Monsters from A to Z while both Gabe and I were sick with a bad cold. But to see it up this weekend, and to see all these kids come through and interact with the exhibit, it made it all worth it. Here are a few photos from the day, plus a special video of my performance of the Monster in Me song that accompanies the book:

Ali points to her new art piece, purchased during the opening!

Ali draws her Princess Monster to put on the wall.

A few monsters who came by!

I love wearing this crown!

That's my boy!

Love the monster art!

LMNOP...

My amazing, supportive family!

And one last glimpse, here is the video footage of the Monster In Me performance, taken by my friend Elaine, on YouTube.

The show is up from now until November 13th at the Port Moody Art Gallery, at 2425 St Johns Street. Gallery hours are from 10am to 8pm Monday to Friday, and 10am-5pm weekends.

Thank you to Janice Cotter at the Arts Centre, who worked so hard to make this exhibit amazing.

My Book as featured on thev3h.com!

 Having a proud mama moment here. Just had to share this lovely article written by Amber Strocel at thev3h.com all about Princess Monsters from A to Z:

Local Artist Releases Empowering Children’s Book

September 5, 2014 by Amber 2 Comments

For anyone who has ever felt like they don’t fit in, Port Moody artist and author Joyelle Brandt has written a fun and meaningful children’s book about the beauty of our individuality. Princess Monsters from A to Z is an enchanting collection of lovable characters, one for each letter of the alphabet. You’ll meet them all, from wrestling champion Elian, to troublemaker Mayzee, to the cat juggling Zibbo. I had the chance to get my eyes on a draft copy when Joyelle and I both escaped with some other local ladies for an evening on the patio at Onyx, and I loved it.

The Princess Monsters aren’t just a collection of not-so-conventionally-pretty faces. They have a diverse range of interests, from art to science to dispute mediation. Each character’s description is written in rhyming verse, making the book an entertaining read-aloud bedtime story. But the best part is the empty picture frame on the first page, a space left for its readers to create their own Princess Monster – or Princess Monsters. Joyelle says, “I want to inspire girls to imagine whatever kind of life they want for themselves. And maybe that starts with imagining what her Princess Monster self might look like.”

Joyelle was inspired to write a book for girls who struggle to find their place. She explains, “I always felt like an outsider growing up because I didn’t think I fit into the typical model of beauty. I want girls to read this book and see themselves in it, and know that there is so much more to be than just pretty.” Amen to that. I have both a daughter and a son, though, and I can say that I think my son would enjoy and benefit from this book as well. We can all use a lesson in looking beyond the surface.

As if being an artist and author isn’t enough, Joyelle is also a singer and songwriter. As a special bonus the book also comes with a song titled “Monster in Me”. Parents can download an MP3 of the song after they purchase the book to sing along with.

The book will be officially released on September 20, 2014, but pre-sales are already happening now. To find out more and see sample pages drop by www.etsy.com/shop/JoyelleBrandt.

My book goes live TODAY!

Pre-Sales for Princess Monsters from A to Z

are now open!

Please visit the Etsy store link to the right

to purchase it (click where it says Joyelle Brandt)

If you are planning to pick up the book in person,
enter the coupon code LOCAL
at checkout.

It Takes a Village

You know how they say it takes a village to raise a child? Well my new baby arrived today. Not the human kind, the monster kind. This baby was born of years of doodling, and "Someday I will..." and dreaming, and then little tiny baby steps. Just one paragraph. Just one painting. Just one little bit at a time. Because I couldn't bear to think about the whole thing at once, it was just too scary, too much. So I broke the whole process down into little tiny steps, to make it manageable for my easily overwhelmed brain. I refused to look up at the mountain peak, and instead looked down at my feet. Just one more step, that's all you have to do. Just one more step.

And now it is done. Today I reached the top of the mountain. Today I held my book in my hands for the first time. It feels every bit as significant for me as my human children. This is a dream I have breathed into life. This is a crazy, ridiculous, amazing thing I have done.

And now the whole process starts all over again. Not the process of birthing the book, but the process of taking this baby by the hand out into the world. And I have big dreams for this baby. Dreams that are bigger than I can possibly make happen myself. So here is a big challenge for me. I have to start asking for help. I have to reach out and ask people to believe in this dream as much as I do. 

I have years of experience in coordinating groups. I have organized benefit concerts, workshops, a compilation CD, community events, a petition, and block parties up the wazoo. But here is the thing for me. I'm usually doing those things in service to a cause outside of myself. And even then, I tend to do more than my share of work rather than asking for help. But this baby is going to need a village if I am going to give it the life I want for it. So I'm starting now, to reach out to my village, to ask for help. I can't do this alone. I need to be bold and shameless if I am going to make this happen. I need to be OK with showing just how incredibly proud I am of this baby. In short, I need to be everything that women are taught not to be, and everything that I have struggled with most of my life. 

So wish me luck, as I raise my village in service of my baby. It's a brand new day. I'm at the top of the mountain, but now there is another peak to climb.

It's Done!

I know I haven't posted here much lately. That is because I have been busy finishing the book, and I am so excited to announce that it is done! Woo hoo! Here is a peak at the cover image:

I have sent it off to the printers and should receive my proof in a few days. I can't wait to hold this baby in my hands. It has been several years in the making, and I really can't believe that it is finally done.

In the next few weeks I will be setting up a special Princess Monster page on this site, as well as setting up pre-sales for the book. Anyone who pre-orders the book will receive a 5x7 print along with their order, and all book orders will have the option to have it signed to the recipient of your choice!

More to come soon, but for now, it's back to work for me. I have some new Princess Monster products in the works to go along with the book, but first I have to get painting!

Hope you are having a beautiful day!

Book Update, or, battling the perfectionist

So last week I finished the final painting for the book. And the next day, I wanted to burn them all. Ok, maybe not all of them, but there are a couple that I am not thrilled with. And it brings up the question of when to stop and when to keep going. Is my inner perfectionist coming our right now? Oh yes. So to appease her but limit how long I spend obsessing over this, I decided to allow myself to re-do the two paintings that I dislike the most.

So did that, and it's all good. Now on to the manuscript. I know there are a few stanzas that are not as strong as others. So how much time and effort do I put into re-working them, and how do I know when it is done? I don't know how authors do this. I am used to writing songs. They are short, and generally I don't re-work a song much. If it doesn't come together, I let it go and move on to another song. So much easier!

But here is the real question: When is it good enough? And it is no coincidence that this issue is coming up for me. You see, I set an intention at the beginning of this year of radical self acceptance. And it's funny how once you set the intention, the universe goes about testing that in every aspect of your life. 

We live in a culture that inundates us with messages of "Not Enough" daily. According to Dove, even our underarms need a little help! Everywhere you go there is an impossible standard of perfection being flaunted. And as women, we are really sensitive. This stuff gets under our skin. A few months ago I took Brene Brown's online course "The Gifts of Imperfection". The first assignment she gave us was to write "I'm imperfect, and I'm enough" on our hands and then take a selfie. Well that is an exercise in acceptance all by itself!

What I learned as I started to tune in was how often I judged myself, in every single aspect of my life. My appearance, my parenting, my purchasing, my creativity... the list went on and on. So here I am again, re-learning this lesson of acceptance. Reminding myself that I do not have to perfect, and neither does my work. I just have to be real.

So it's back to work for me, reminding myself along the way that kindness and compassion to self is the starting point, and the middle point, and the end point of this journey. I read a quote recently that to achieve success without happiness is the greatest failure of all. And I have enough experience with that to know that it is true. I want to enjoy this journey that I am on. So that's what I will do.

Love, kindness & gratitude,

 

Monsters in progress: An update on the Princess Monster Alphabet Book

I have been hard at work on the Princess Monster alphabet book, and wanted to give you a quick update on progress. These are some quick pics I snapped with my phone, so I apologize that they aren't the best image quality, but they will do for the purpose of today's post.

Today I wanted to share a little step by step breakdown of one of my monsters. This is Ollief.

Step 1

I work on my sketch until I am happy with it, then scan it in so I can re-size it and print out my template.

Step 2

Using a Stabilo all marks pencil, I trace my template onto my background. I then gesso, using the mix of the Stabilo pencil and the gesso to create a nice outline for my figure.

Step 3

Using a combination of Inktense watercolor pencils, acrylic paint, paint pens and pencil, I add the details of the character.

I'm more than halfway through the alphabet now, and it has been quite a journey already. I have struggled with self-doubt, second-guessing and self judgement. I have been overwhelmed when I spent too much time thinking about how much work there is to come. I have felt so much, and returned over and over to my mantras of self-acceptance and being present in the now. Just one step at a time, one foot in front of the other, and I will get there.

Love, kindness & gratitude....