an early evening drive in the valley

Hello and welcome back, or just plain welcome to those of you who have never been to this site. It is a gorgeous day here in the Annapolis Valley after a post Hurricane Jose dreary start to this week that culminated in much needed rain on Wednesday. Wally told me that hurricanes start as thunderstorms in Africa and escalate as they move westward out to sea. The results here are generally benign though that can be a different case altogether on Nova Scotia's south shore. So far so good this year.

It has been super dry this last month. Though there is some colour change, the leaves on the trees are crispy and somewhat brown from dehydration so we're glad for a little rain. Today is the first day of Autumn and we're sure to see some change in the weather. Already the nights are cold, the days temperate, sometimes warm.

Last week we drove to Berwick to find some bits and pieces at a specialty nut and bolt shop to assemble a no longer made Ikea shelving unit that we'd like to put together alongside its twin that Wally already put together. I'm sure the package of elements will show up one day (we've looked for many months), but in the meantime we'd like to get on with it. So last Thursday, after quite a bit of paper sorting on my part and much painting and plumbing on Wally's part, we rewarded ourselves with an afternoon drive. These are my best shots from a moving car:

A big grey house in Berwick with signs of ongoing renovation on the front porch

one of many apple orchards that line the drive home

another apple orchard with old apple wood stacked

an old country home tucked back from the road

an old barn turned garage, roadside

pride of ownership, an old home, landscaped and in good repair

a humble old country house

a corner house in Waterville looking quaint and somewhat European

a maple lined drive with a tire swing hanging from an old maple out back 

the old Waterville Community Centre (I think)

evening country homestead

raised bungalow with a courtyard installation

Cambridge Baptist Church with a promise of "ham potato scallop bean supper" on September 30th

The yellow door makes it

Muji in the vestibule after breakfast. I just missed him rolling around on his back which always means he's in a good mood.

Babu has taken to exploring under the rolling laundry cart which we use for a recycling divider.

Here he does the combat crawl. There's a conch shell in the stew can where I'm softening the  periostracum outer layer to make it more presentable. I change the water every now and then; it sure smells like seawater. 

Worked and reworked, I struggled with my propensity for muted colours, trying to bring the children (cut-outs from a Tim Holtz pack) into the foreground by colouring them with pigment markers. The muted washi tape colours didn't help, nor did the outer border in Winsor & Newton pigment markers and Gold Sharpie paint pen. Eventually I blacked and smudged an ink background over the original brown coloured pencil background which helped immensely, and added the quotation from who-I-don't-know in white Sharpie pen. It says:

"Do not let your fire go out spark by spark in the hopeless swamps of the not-quite, the not-yet and the not-at-all.  Do not let the hero in your soul perish in the lonely frustration for the life you deserve and have never been able to reach. The world you desire can be won. It is real. It is possible. It is yours."

Enhancing the subject with a darker outline,

this mixed media piece is a mix of watercolour, coloured pencil, paint pen, ink, and a washi tape border. The chair is based on my 1930's pink chair in the living room.

 Another mixed media piece starting with an inked circle for the face and coloured in watercolour with a little coloured pencil on her pathway and in her hair and dress. I used some white paint pen for details. The wing of this Flower Fairy is done with triangular points of colour cut from a magazine, the border done in various washi tapes. I felt the border was encroaching too much so I used some white China marker and white paint pen to enhance the separation between the picture and the border.

Late last night I completed this circle face group of a mother and her children.

There was no black outline for this watercolour but I felt it needed the distinction once again and added it afterward in fine-lined India ink with a  Pitt pen . The little boy's hair and teddy bear are blacked with a Derwent Colorsoft pencil.

Thank you for dropping by dear viewers. 

 with conscious breath that pulls us into this moment

happy Fall Equinox

a short trip

After a heatwave last week and the much needed rain yesterday, it is one of those glorious summer days without a cloud in the sky. The cooler weather has brought a shift. There's a feeling of, dare I say it- fall in the air.

On Saturday we hit the highway for Greenwood where my favourite health food store is located.

Cindy carries a wide variety of organics which she sells in the original bags for great savings or breaks down to smaller quantities when you don't want 25 pounds of basmati rice. I stock up on all kinds of things for Wally, me and the cats which makes the cost of gas and running the car worth it.

Outside of Berwick, we're 213 km from Yarmouth. I've yet to get there.

One of the rare days we take this route when it isn't snowing or rainy though it was a bit blowy.

 Kingston is the exit off the highway that we must take to get to Greenwood where Cindy's shop is.

My favourite house sits at the corner of the road into Kingston.  It is the home of the folks who run an

antique shop out back.

What a shock to see the fire damage along the way. Wally only then remembered that he had heard about a fire in Kingston.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Muji's having his day in the sun after breakfast

Babu comes to join him

But it won't be long before he's bugging me for cuddles or playtime

as he doesn't tire nearly as much as Muji.

just a glimpse of what I was playing at in the Second Peninsula Park the week before

Watercolours. I need a whole lot of practice.

I'll have some more artwork to show you tomorrow- something in a completely different vein.

Many thanks for your visits.

peace

cradled for the Pre-Shrunk show

Greetings on this cold and grey January afternoon.
A couple of light snowfalls this week, a bright sunny day yesterday, and now some random flakes are floating about.

I have just been given permission to post pictures of my 4"x5" watercolours that will be for sale tomorrow at Argyle Fine Art's Pre-Shrunk Show in Halifax, January 22- February 13.
(You can click on each of the following pictures for a larger version.)

Hortense

Hepzibah

Hannah

 

 

Preparing and finishing work are the secret thieves of time when it comes to creative work.

This was the first time I'd mounted paper onto board.

 

Mounting A Finished Watercolour Onto Board- Cradling

 

1. I used a thin piece of 4"x 6" piece of plywood that Wally had to cut an inch off for the unusual measurements of 4"x 5".  

 

2. I sanded the edges, then gessoed, sanded and painted the edges and a little over the front of the board, the latter because despite my best efforts, the paper and the board didn't quite match.

 

3. I brushed acrylic gel medium onto the board and weighted the paper down with books overnight. (My paper was too small and heavy to bother with using a brayer to get any bubbles out; in fact, using the brayer only helped to slide the paper around, but I would use it in future for a larger piece of paper.)

 

4. Once dry, I used a sharp blade to trim the bit of overlapping paper using the edge of the plywood as a guideline.

 

5. Sure enough, I shaved a little of the plywood off and had to touch it up in places with more acrylic paint.

 

6. Then, I  used the time saved from not having to travel to Halifax on Saturday (because of the blizzard) to do a third coat of spray (so as not to disturb the paint) matte varnish over top.

 

7. At the last minute, Sunday morning, I decided to paint the somewhat rough back with acrylic paint to stain the wood and create a somewhat more finished look

 

8. onto which I double-sided taped handwritten labels to each.

 

The days that passed in this process added up to many more than the day it took to paint each one. What a short memory I have for that lesson in life. This reminds me of my father's lesson in irony: " By the time (sic) you learn to hang the wallpaper, 25 years pass and you have to learn it all over again."

 

wishing you a pleasant wind-up to your week

and, hopefully, some time to set aside for some creative pursuit

 

 



wonder

 

"Curiouser and curiouser"

It seems my time is playing elastic band with my memory again as some things that happened long ago seem like yesterday, and vice versa.

 

For instance, it's been so long that I thought I'd never seen a red squirrel before, til my friend reminded me that this little guy in our driveway had cousins in our attic in Muskoka many years ago.

 

The picture I hoped to show you on Monday is pretty much done today.

Black coloured pencil and watercolours from my Koi Pocket Field Sketch Box by Sakura.

"Alice was beginning to get very tired" (detail)

"and this time it vanished quite slowly beginning with the end of the tail and ending with the grin"

Muji wakening from a long nap

 

 You may enjoy this recording of John Gielgud reading from Alice in Wonderland as I have, though you may have to listen very closely as the sound is so low.

 

 

sweet dreams to you,  both the waking and sleeping kind

staying present to the wonder in this moment

 

 

 

summer of 1,ooo dreams

Sometimes I just can't pull the rabbit out of my hat. Creativity can be so elusive as life demands so much attention to other things. Ultimately it is the sweet space between "reality" and the Infinite in which a painting takes place. That is where it's almost like channelling cosmic energy.  Talent is a mixed blessing and too much or too little technique can render a picture lifeless.

And I wrestle with the gift. The gift of time and materials, quiet and space,  not to mention support and talent. It is a precious thing to be given so much in this life, but it is something altogether different to run with it.

To sit down with the intention of play within a structured format is a safe and happy place. Too much freedom and one flies off altogether. A big element for me is support. Thank you to those of you who give that to me. You cannot know how much it means to me....

Summer of 1,000 Dreams (graphite pencil and watercolour)

 

Babu being seductive. He so wanted to play this morning.

 

 

A grateful time. Hold the moment.

 

peace

 



two Sundays

Hello again.  I'm back after 2 Sundays.

The first Sunday after I last posted, I suggested that Wally and I go out for a picnic.

Here's Wally well rested after our reprieve from reality. We rested in the cooling shade of these trees while I read to him from Henry James' gothic tale: The Turn of the Screw. 

On Monday morning I woke to the tractor baling the mown hay.

Here he comes scooping the windrows into his baler.

About to poop a bale out, I mean release one..

and there it's gone, rolling away.

Rounding our end of the field

Coming back past our yard

The closest bale

and there he goes again in the summer heat

I turned to go back in, snapping this shot of an echinacea flower about to bloom

As I played with Babu, Muji came bounding in to grab the string,

something he rarely does

It pleased me to see him in such good form, but what's with the tongue?

After supper, the hay all baled, this ambitious farmer came out to retrieve all his bales

Scooping one up,

he turns to take it back to the hay wagon.

One of the crows in the field seemed somewhat curious about me

but he never came close enough for me to get a good shot

Here he is in context to the tractor

his mouth open to cool himself in the heat

So, any other blogger would probably save these shots for another day, but as I've got so many favourites, I'll share a few more with you to round out the 2 Sundays:

like this funny one of Muji. Wally called me to see Muji sleeping in this unusual position

Even this one, minutes later is unusual

This is the 2nd Sunday. Wally begins to open the wall up to pack it with insulation.

What to do with the telephone wire attached to the old telephone box...

Salvaging the telephone box. I was thinking it might make a neat altar.

Underneath old cupboard that he'd already removed lay a strip of old wallpaper

A charming strip of vintage wallpaper made to look like tile 

The windmill image up close

The faint remains of more wallpaper that could not be salvaged

Wally at the end of a good afternoon's work

As he went to rest, I pulled out my watercolours and painted for the first time since February.

The spell is broken.

Sweet dreams.