You know when you have so much work to do and you don’t know where to get started so you pick up a brush and start painting instead? Happens to me quite often. Having too many hobbies is a good thing but allows for too many reasons to not get on with work.

My hobbies include: gardening, travelling, reading, music, painting, and food. I am forever procrastinating with these distractions. Especially when it comes to painting and gardening, it’s so easy to get lost in your own world and before you know it, hours have gone by and you haven’t checked a single task of your to-do list.

I usually visit North America from Dubai once a year and am always excited to get my hands on affordable art supplies as art supplies in Dubai will definitely hurt your wallet. I’m especially excited to visit Michaels Art Supplies (present in most major cities across North America) as you can always find a 40% off coupon on their website for one item.

The weather in Toronto has been phenomenal this February. Usually February suffers from the worst climate but it’s been like spring and the sky has mostly been clear. I tend to get cranky when I don’t see the sun so it’s been a great trip so far. Painted a few random pages since I got here.

Michaels, downtown Toronto. Huge store, great for stationary. Not great for watercolor supplies. Very limited range of watercolours.

I don’t recommend the below beading container as a watercolour pallet for obvious reasons. This wasn’t a very smart purchase on my part. 

The above watercolour set was unbelievably affordable with a 40% off coupon. 

Curry’s Art Story – Expensive Good Quality Artist Materials- this branch near College and Yonge is closing soon. Went there to buy watercolor brushes and paints, though the supply and range was fantastic, they were definitely beyond my budget.

I can’t remember where I found the source photo behind this quick painting but I remember reading an article about an entire generation of children who are being raised in refugee camps around the world. Most of these kids do not have a single item of belonging to call their own and are sometimes living with four to five siblings and their parents in these make-shift tents. There are some youth enrichment programs in place for many of the older refugee camps and these children get to play a game of football and make their own toys from recycled items. A world so far from my own. A world I can hardly relate to. Yet some of these refugee camps are less than 3 to 4 hours away by flight from home. It’s pretty tragic how we say we live in such an interconnected world yet are so disconnected from the plight of those suffering closest to us. It’s now time for me to go back to Dubai – will update you soon with more paintings and musings.

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