Woman-who-can-change-the-world, Entrepreneur, Philosopher, and Friend wins $75,000 on Dragon's Den!

Yay, Barb! You go, girl!!

WFN's Jamie Pistilli loves my fish art!

World Fishing Network's Jamie Pistilli, host of "Big City Fishing", has selected my art for his December 2010 column "Jamie’s Xmas List and Holiday gift ideas for the angler in your family". I made #6 on his list:

6. Need some fish related art work for your home? Why not ask for handmade custom fish art made out of recycled materials from Choleena DiTullio. The Muskoka chair turned into wall art is my personal favorite! Check out Choleena’s work at www.choleena.com

The complete article at WorldFishingNetwork.com: Jamie’s Xmas List and Holiday gift ideas for the angler in your family

My Newest Art

Click on any image to enlargen.

01
Fish Plant
Free-hanging sculpture. Acrylic on wood with terra cotta pots, brass hook and real plants.
36” x 13”


02
Sardine
Watercolour on Arches with recycled tin can and can’s key.
19.5” x 17”


03
Bluehead
Acrylic on stretched canvas
26” x 10”


04
Marquis de mer II
Watercolour and glow-in-the-dark acrylic with recycled found objects.
19.5” x 17”


05
Adirondack Fish
Acrylic on stretched canvas; complete recycling of a disassembled Adirondack chair.
144” x 54”


06
Fish Stick
Acrylic on stretched canvas with recycled jewelry.
8” x 8”


07
Fish T-shirts (adult)
100% cotton; printed in Canada. 4 different sizes in 4 different colours.


08
Fish T-shirts (kid)
100% cotton; printed in Canada. 4 different sizes in 4 different colours.


09
“Fish Tank” Tops (girls/women)
100% cotton; printed in Canada. 3 different sizes in 2 different colours.


10
Fish Greeting Cards
12 different designs; printed on recycled card stock; colour envelopes


11
Dragonfly Reflecting (mirror)
Recycled mirror and frame; hand-made paper; gold acrylic paint
10" x 10"

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you."
— Rashi

All Things Fish

I love this blog! What an interesting woman. Val Kells is a Marine Science Illustrator, Author, Fisherman, and Naturalist. See All Things Fish blog. Enjoy!

Showing at The Linda Street Gallery

The Linda Street Gallery presents the artworks of Choleena DiTullio.

• January 1st to 29th, 2011
• The Linda Street Gallery
• 411 Dovercourt Avenue
• Ottawa, Ontario K2A 0S9

Mimic Octopus is one of the most amazing things I've ever seen

Fish T-shirts Launched in Ottawa's Eclection

I'm proud to launch my t-shirts in Ottawa's Eclection, in the Byward Market. Eclection is a store showcasing Canadian designers of jewellery and clothing.

"FishTank Tops" for Sale!

Fish shirts by Canadian artist/designer Choleena DiTullio. The cleverly-designed artwork allows the colour of the t-shirt to play a part in the design, giving the appearance of a 4th printed colour. Printed in Canada.

• Bella brand
• Ribbed knitting; very "stretchy"
• Comfortable, custom-contoured fit
• 100% cotton

For sale at The Kick-Ass Idea Company.

Marketing Monday

Quiznos has anything but "sub"-standard signage
I love it when businesses consider the little things like this OPEN sign at Quiznos. Your standard oval blue and red "open" sign (as seen in the storefront to the left) might do but Quiznos Sub wanted to make their mark on even this smallest detail of their shop. It's a little difficult to see in this night photograph but they've used their "Q" logo to be the oval shape for the sign. Spending this much attention to the outside of the shop suggests that the products within will be as lovingly prepared. It certainly was enough to lure me in. And, I can honestly say that the product held up to the unspoken promise. 2 burps-up!
Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current and find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

WhatYouOughtToKnow — Things We Say Wrong

I always want to correct people who say "I feel bad." It's BADLY!!

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic! Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm"
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ottawa Riverbank rich in inukshuks and fossils

What an incredible shoreline the Ottawa River has. How ironic that it's lined with fossilized patterns and creatures of older river beds. Every year in September, artists flock to the shore to make inukshuks with this fossilized rock. From what I can tell, the artists challenge themselves to choose oddly-shaped/weighted and fine-pointed rocks. In some close-ups, you can see that they've used tiny rocks to wedge/shimmy things into place.

On this visit, many of the inukshuks have fallen victim to wind and rising water. Unfortunately, I didn't think to bring my camera on my first visit and so aren't able to show you some of the more impressive ones that were such bold balancing acts that I was afraid my simple act of observing might cause them to collapse.
Millions of years from now, will paleontologists find these odd, anachronistic configurations of fossil and wonder what happened?
• Wikipedia "Inukshuk"

Canada Council for the Arts - 5-yr Plan

Toronto, October 20, 2010 – The Canada Council for the Arts outlined today its priorities for the next five years with the release of Strengthening Connections: Strategic Plan 2011-16.

Donation of Artwork

*****Update: Nov 18, 2010: SOLD! This artwork sold and has netted $45 for the Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge.

The goals of a local wildlife refuge caught my attention and so I'm donating some "wildlife" of my own. "Dragonfly Reflecting" will be one of the 15 artworks on display and for sale at their upcoming fundraiser.
"Dragonfly Reflecting"
mirror, japanese paper, gold acrylic
10 " X 10 " (25 X 25 cm)

Where the Wild Things Are — Fundraiser for Constance Creek Wildlife Refuge
• November 6th, 6 pm
• Sandy Hill Community Centre, downtown Ottawa
• Tickets: $40
• www.ccwr.ca
• Cash bar, live band, dance, and vegetarian dinner catered by The Green Door restaurant. Silent Art Auction. Sponsorship and straight donation opportunity with tax receipt in return.

The goal? To raise desperately needed funds to complete qualifying projects to gain them government accreditation to take in orphaned wildlife. Did you know that the Ottawa area has the most collisions with deer in all of Ontario, and the closest place that takes in orphaned fawns is Napanee? CCWR is a haven for many abandoned or abused domesticated farm animals and pets already. With your help, we can give injured and orphaned wildlife the local care that they need. For more information, visit www.ccwr.ca.

Marketing Monday

Trilo"bike" stand
This Summer I visited the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. Anyone who reads my blog knows that I love this museum. Even on walking to the museum you know you're in for a treat when you come across bike stands shaped like trilobites! This ancient arthropod is just one of the fossils that you'll encounter in the Paleozoic Era displays inside. I think it's brilliant to, 1. encourage bicycling to the museum, and, 2. show walkers-by a hint of what they're in for. It's a very smart way to lure visitors. Kudos!

Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current and find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Marketing Monday

'Passion' for Selling Soap
In the mall recently, my niece needed to make an emergency pit stop. As the devoted Auntie, I made the obligatory overtures to my sister who was more than busy enough with my nephew, then hurriedly carried the leg-pinched little lady to the potty.

With great relief that the timing worked out (anyone who's ever rushed a kid to the bathroom knows what that means), but a new anxiety to complete our shopping before our window of opportunity was lost (anyone who's ever shopped with a kid knows what that means) we exited the stall for a quick hand-washing at the sink. Here's what we found there...

Brilliant! Fruits & Passion had filled the soap dispenser with lovely, fruity suds that made all my worries wash away.

I was so impressed that I sought out the Fruits and Passion store in the mall, let them know how much I liked their idea and left the store with their product as a reward (for me as much as them). This is smart marketing: their product in a room that almost every shopper is going to visit and they didn't even have to pay rent for the space. Kick-ass idea.

Marketing Monday is a column devoted to innovation in the world of commerce. It celebrates companies, products, packaging and campaigns that swim against the current and find creative ways to stand out. Got a suggestion for the column? Send me a comment.

Art Fundraiser for Canadian Cancer Society

*****Update: Sept 30, 2010: SOLD! This artwork sold and has netted $45 for the Canadian Cancer Society.

Support The D.A.D. Project!
The D.A.D. (Drawing A Day) Project is an ongoing, online, art-based fundraiser for the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada. Sisters Emily and Serena Chen used their creative talents to start this fundraiser when their father was diagnosed in May 2009 with metastatic stage 4 colon cancer.

The D.A.D. project won my heart so I donated a painting for their cause. If you like my fish, buy it through D.A.D. and help them raise money for continued cancer research.
Fundraising progress:
Goal: $1,000.00
Achieved: $600.00
Almost there!

• Make a donation (as much or as little as you can).
• See/buy my donated artwork
• See other artworks for sale through the Fundraiser
• More about the DAD project
• Join D.A.D. on Facebook

Here's the work that I donated:

Congratulations, Linda!

Congratulations to Linda Rae Dornan on her Strathbulter Award!

The $15,000 Strathbutler Award (The Sheila Hugh Mackay Foundation) is given in recognition of a New Brunswick artist who has achieved excellence in visual arts while having made a substantial contribution to the province over a significant period of time.

Sackville artist, Linda Rae Dornan will receive the Strathbutler award on October 6th at a Gala event celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Strathbutler Award. Selected by a jury of independent art professionals, Ms Dornan has been chosen to receive this award in recognition of both her pioneering embrace of interdisciplinary media and her significant community contribution to the visual arts in New Brunswick.

Wednesday's Words of Wisdom

Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence."
— Robert Frost