Sweet Dreams

Happy New Year's Eve !
Do you find yourself marvelling at the feeling of sitting on the precipice of a New year?
It all seems so surreal, and then, suddenly, you're in it, nothing surreal about it all

except

 

 for the magic of being alive,

this being who never was

 and now IS!

That's what art is about for me, the creation that never was, and now is. That I get to be a part of it, a conduit, of its making is pretty outrageous when you think about it, which of course, one cannot do-think about it- when one is in the middle of it.
Just sit back and enjoy the ride.

As I sat this morning, playing with my new Manuscript calligraphy pen, I found to my surprise

that I could add water to my drawing for a watercolour effect

as the "ink" is not waterproof

 

Then I added some gold from a Sharpie permanent marker

whose ink is waterproof

This was a pleasant surprise to see such a delightful character come out of my pen

She appeared after I drew

The Bear With the Golden Pumpkin

The characters all together

(perhaps that's fictitious me in reverie with a book in one hand and a "cuppa" in the other-

or perhaps it is me in every character as I've often heard said.)

 

I hope this is a year full of lovely magic for you

I hope you understand that ultimately

we're all in this together

along for the ride.

 

Here is a pretty rendition of

"A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes"

 

 

written by Al Hoffman, Jerry Livingston, Mack David

and played by Adrian Holovaty from Chicago

 

Happy New Year

Sweet Dreams

Two Snow Storms

 

This is what I'd been hoping for before Christmas. Well, here it is 2 days after.

 

a good old fashioned snow storm

Wally got let off work early- so he thought.

An hour later he was finished snow blowing.

But doesn't he look happy here! I couldn't have lived with a man who doesn't like winter.

Evening snow on the old lilacs

 

an amazing cloudbank to the south the next morning

 

The next day it snowed again- a lot, but a lighter, less dense snow.

That night: our new streetlight that throws a garish white light was softened by the falling snow.

(you may remember my post about the hydro worker changing the bulb a few weeks back)

Forget-Me-Not Cabin lit up in the night time snow

 

The same view through the back door, the next morning after the 2nd snow fall

Through the Hydrangeas, our concrete bench with a huge loaf of snow on it, thick icing on the hedges

I haven't been particularly focussed on my artwork which is inevitable this time of year,

but I have had fun playing with my new calligraphy pen

Muji got some lap time after this.

 

Love to you,

 in your life,

 in your thoughts,

in your destiny.

 

 

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

 

Christmas found us on a sunny, almost balmy morning.

 

So I opened the windows

 

for the cats to take some sun

 

 It was late afternoon when we headed off to the bird sanctuary for our Christmas Day walk

 

just as we did on a warm drizzly day last Christmas, but with the whole place to ourselves

This year there were many people out taking photos and walking about this beautiful place.

 

Bullrush mounds

wild rose bushes stripped of their leaves

 

mostly

 

but still a lot of wild rose hips on their brambley vines

 

They almost made up for the lack of snow, set against the pines

Here we found some ducks bobbing for greens beneath the still pond water

 

It could get almost mystical as the sun begins its downward arc

and here a fine fellow

serenely glides

 

back to join his mate

 

Many photo ops for still water reflections

 

But this one took the cake: a Sundog

a prism phenomenon where refraction takes place in a cloud far removed from the sun which is actually to the upper right, out of the camera's view

(wish I could have got a better exposure; it was quite beautiful)

 we round the path looking back at the bridge from whence we started

 

Now the whole Christmas experience seems somehow far away after a month of preparing, like a big meal that took longer to prepare than to consume. If you're one of those people who enjoy the kitsch of Christmas, apart from its symbol of hope and rejoicing this next section is for you, and if you're not, this may seem like too much dessert: a batch of pictures I took on Christmas Eve and forgot about til late today, Boxing Day.

 

We drove to Berwick and here are shots from along the way, there and back in no particular order.

 

A little floss and sparkle of other folks' creative efforts.