each moment eternal

Flowers: a hyacinth beside me,  and geranium essential oil, lavender and lily of the valley scents in my daily life.  The snow from yesterday has almost melted.  You can smell spring in the air.

FLoWeRs

a monotype painted with watercolour

 

How lucky we are to have flowers

each moment an eternal startburst

keeping this in mind as we meet

the next miracle

 





ambiguous ambivalence

Mid-week of the last week of the third month.  March is such an ambiguous month, neither winter nor spring, always tipping on the edge.  How often I have felt that way myself, excited about Spring, wistful for the loss of Winter. But there it is, that's life, always moving forward even if it appears to be waffling in ambivalence.

a little more colour each day

 

We went to the library in Wolfville but it's closed on Mondays....sniff

 

Turn around in the library parking lot and this fabulous little house faces you.

 

one of the great old houses of Wolfville....note the maple lined drive to the carriage house....sigh

 

It rained all night last night, but what do we wake up to?

 

This!

 

 

experimenting with monotype

 

Butterfly Baby monotype

 

Flower Halo monotype

 

Nature Monk monotype

 

peace

an awkward evolving

A grey day in Kentville this Monday morning, but it is mild.  We will go do some errands, a walk and possibly peek into some new places as it is Wally's day off.  This will do me good as I'm usually stuck at home, which has done me well for my creative work, but left me too isolated at times.

 



Driving out to our workshop yesterday morning, my new Nova Scotia friend, Pam, drove through Canning, and I couldn't resist another shot of Canning's Grande Old Dame. This time I noticed the eyelashes on her upper "eyes".

 

Pam stopped the truck for me to take this photo of eagles in a tree, the spotty female at the top. 

Like the previous house photo, it is  so amazing to see these sights even when poorly photographed. 

 

A sunny golden highlight on the trees as we ventured up the north mountain

coincidentally picked out the house of an acquaintance of \Pam's.

 

a funny donut of a cloud on a hill as we drove into  Ross Creek Centre for the Arts.

 

Megan Hepburn, our teacher, started us off with a very interesting slide show of the progression of her art which opened up my mind to the rich subtext of abstract art. As I write this, I suddenly am more aware of the abstraction of these blind contour drawings I did of Pam in the centre and Megan on the left.

 

 

I'm afraid I missed the point of our directive to use the selection of materials provided to make something that resonated from our blindfold experience of describing and/or identifying an assortment of objects Megan gave us. Really, I suppose we were to be combining 2D and 3D with our feelings about the objects, but I didn't quite get it.  Instead, I made flowers, thinking my feelings about the materials (mostly natural) and the subject (natural again) were the 3D and the colour was the 2D.

 





The top-mounted "flower" was made from rolled yellow tissue wrapped with unfurled twine and embellished with blue and turquoise gauzey fabric.

 

I cut a sponge to make this cartoon atomic flower with hot-glued a folded paper napkin in the centre, hot-gluing the whole thing to a tissue and fabric-wrapped dowel "stem".

 

Another gauze-wrapped tissue set in the middle of a folded napkin.

 

 I did enjoy the process, and expect, with my notes and some time for contemplation, I will digest more from this unusual class. Thank you Megan.



in the meantime...

this is what I've been doing

  

I've enjoyed playing with a muddied palette again

 



as my so-called doodle evolves

  

Somewhere long ago, I heard "the secret to youth is a flexible spine".  I think I would add to that, "a flexible mind". I certainly got stretched this weekend. And while it was uncomfortable at times, I am obliged to ask myself why I brought this into my life apart from the obvious reasons to get out of the house and known quantities.  I'm not one for extremes, so when I say "no pain no gain", I certainly mean in moderation.  From this we grow. I still think, as with the subtext to Megan Hepburn's abstract art, there is a subtext to the choices we make. Conscious or not, there is always a subtext.

 

 a sweet day to all



a doodle state of mind

We were the lucky ones to miss the terrible snowstorms forecast for the end of this week and got lots of sunshine instead. Still there were grey spells as the weather moved in.

We took a trip out for various supplies, and were lucky to get 14 grow bags of spent mushroom compost- with mushrooms still in them! I've never eaten a perfectly fresh mushroom. What a difference from store-bought. 

 

 Along the drive we found this rickety old garage with Wally's birth year on it. Had to have a picture of that!

 

This amazing old barn alongside an apple orchard is for sale. 

In back of our home the field was covered in snow crop circles.

(Actually they are the tire tracks from the ATV that the neighbourhood kids ride

 when they're not out on snowmobiles.)

 



Last night I amused myself in my moleskine notebook while out with fellow artists.

 

It was a long, late, noisy night but thankfully I entertain myself very well these days.

 

Today I'll work/play painting up a doodle of sorts (meaning it was done with intention which sort of takes the doodle out of it, though I tried (that's an oxymoron too) to be in a doodle state of mind.)

 





have a lovely lovely day 

a day in spring

a snowy first day of spring... but I don't mind

I do love the snow, love it

maybe it's because I was a winter baby

 



I love the little chickadees

 

I love their cheery call, "chicka-dee-dee-dee"

and I've taken a liking to the junkos, they cheer me too

meanwhile, indoors, it's pink, the hyacinths

 

and some stitching

 

Pink is lilacs and hyacinths,

and babies' lips, and fingertips,

Pink is rosebuds and peonies

  and oriental lilies

 the gemstone rose quartz,

and pink-tinged clouds at sunset in the eastern sky

 Pink is a kitten's nose

and a baby's toes.

 

Pink is the colour of love

 

spring is rebirth



 

 





Doodle Fairy

 

Since my paintbox was beside me as I chatted on the phone, I began to paint in my doodling on a whim. I painted for hours afterward, totally unaware of the time. By 6pm I "woke up" and scrambled to get supper on, have my "morning shower" and get into some day clothes. Sheesh!

I don't know why it always happens that some of my nicest drawings are done on the worst paper.

 



What am I supposed to do? Write all my lists on 300 pound archival rag watercolour paper?

 

Doodle Fairy

  

Saturday morning sky

 

Looks like it's going to be a nice day. What are we going to write, draw, paint on its blank page?

 

keeping my heart open

 

spring peek-a-boo

Well, that was fast. A hint of spring and it's gone.

But we all know it's just hiding, snowball hydrangeas hiding behind snowballs,

 



pale clumps of lilac snow clusters masquerading as lilacs

 

 

as I wandered back into the vestibule I saw this message centre left by the former owners

 

the door knob in the vestibule a glorious layering of shabby chic textures

and from one door knob

 



to another

 





 

and another

I worked my way around the house

 



 

a loosely painted pencil sketch

 

 

colour-blocking a red letter A day

 

peace on earth

 





 





spring is in the air

Spring's a-comin' in...

a view across the Avon River at low tide from Windsor on our way home from Halifax

 

While I haven't been too happy with my paintings of late (probably because I'm treating my watercolours like gouache), I thought this detail of one came out nicely.

 

as did this March Hare

 

centred in this moment

 



joy as a sidedish

Well, isn't that just the way; as soon as I feel I can't go the extra mile, there I go and find my way back to my source. It's like saying "I'll never fall in love again" and then you do. Of course, the trick is not to go back to what you know but to be open to what is possible.





5 babies 5 girls

 

  Right after that post 2 days ago, I got out my sketchbook and started pencilling in the 3 equal proportions of a baby in circles: head, body, legs. Then I went over my drawings in white ink and crow quill. "Oh that's nice". Then the little girls followed with double circles for their bodies and legs, and more white outlines. "Oh no, a blob on #4's head; now what shall I do? Should I even bother to go on?" But I did, blobbing black ink as I went because the crow quill doesn't like the soft paper in my sketchbook.  I carried on.  And somewhere along the way I realized the mistakes worked for me in a way I wouldn't have done on purpose!

 

As my friend Pam would say," an answer to a question we didn't know we asked."

 

At the end of the day, COLOUR !

to clear the palate

certainly not the palette!

 

a joyous day is a choice

that comes as a sidedish to doing what we love