october pop in

Hello dear viewers. Thank you, once again, for popping in. I know it's been a while...

Not much has changed around here. Muji is still his sweet, dopey self.

Many artist/illustrators have got on board with the practice called Inktober, honing their skills with ink for the month of October. I haven't got the discipline for such a long term commitment so

I just did this quick sketch with my Pitt brush pens and Crayola coloured pencils. 

I recently bought some water soluble pastels called Gelatos. 

I've done the Lion and the Lamb many times in my past, but this time I felt compelled to do

The Tiger and the Lamb

I do have an October project I am working on. Perhaps I'll share some peeks into it next time.

peace on Earth

Babu and Muji

Well here we are on a late summer day with all the potential that comes of being alive.
It is a quiet day with the windows closed to keep the stifling humid heat out - and the cats get bored.

Babu wants to play.

This is the routine.

 

There are so many ways he tells me.

For a cat, he can be quite eloquent

I get a lot of arm taps,

and sometimes my cheek

He is always gentle; never claws out

and tries to tell me with meaningful looks and purrs and myow's 

what I already know

pul-leeze play with me

His sweetness charms me.

I've learned a lot from Babu.

Though he can be annoyingly catlike,

I've learned how dense I can be as his communication is usually subtle and quick,

He only amps it up when I'm not responding

I've learned to respect his intelligence, and after all, play is the way we all express our true natures.

Now Muji comes in, never one to miss some love and attention,

he gives his head a ghostly shake. 

He inspects my camera strap

a sober little guy, 

Muji doesn't have the predator instinct like Babu and I often wonder how he would ever fend for himself outdoors where he'd love to be.

He much prefers cuddling

though he is learning to bat and jump at the mouse on a string that Babu loves so well,

"copy cat"-ting Babu's behaviour.

When Babu is exceptionally bored, he plays at taking Muji down like a gazelle, 

grabbing him by the neck and forcing him to the floor

Muji, in his sweetness, tolerates this predator play from his "little" (Babu's not so little anymore) "brother" (adopted)

I've never had a more loving animal than Muji

who also taps my arm, my cheek, the top of my head

for attention and love.

I'm a big fan of Cathy Cullis ever since I discovered her work at least 7 years ago. She has a big following now.  This piece is my interpretation of her gouache Tudor women, mine done in coloured pencil on that cheap kraft paper in my sketchbook.

Then a complete switcher-oo as I'm wont to do. The idea of groundless figures came to me and I used this format for exploring more with composite subject matter and colour. All done in coloured pencils save for some white Sharpie paint pen, I used a combination of pencil brands.  I became quite smitten with my old "light green" Eagle Prismacolor, a blue turquoise that I used to outline the figures. Waxier and more lush than my modern day pencils, it quite surprised me with its longevity as the name changed in 1969 and I'm pretty sure I got them well before that.

"Whether you succeed or not is irrelevant...Making your unknown known is the important thing."

                                                                                                 Georgia O'Keefe

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

afternoon at second peninsula park

Good Friday Mornin' to yeh!
Yes, after preparing all these photos of our trip to Second Peninsula Park, I'm a little potty from reliving the experience, not to mention computer weary. But it is so worth it.
I hope you enjoy the ride.

Starting with this funky sign, we  knew we had gone too far.

Lunenburg is only 10 kilometres (that's 6 miles) from Mahone Bay and the road we were looking for is not signed on the Mahone Bay side from which we'd come- just to make life interesting.

So we turned around and soon found First Peninsula Road that let us know Second Peninsula would soon show up. We made our turn and followed a winding road along this peaceful inlet.

This shoreline was so much like our old haunts in Muskoka, Ontario,

a somewhat tamed wild beauty we'd come to love.

I asked Wally to turn around so that I could capture this Raven in a quintessentially northern setting.

There was a LOT of loud screaming going on between it and another one or two hidden from sight,

not far from someone's home. Yikes! That'll spoil the mood.

We carried on around quiet bays

Though many water-edged properties are owned by wealthy people,

it charms me to see these humble old time properties.

another private dock and the road continues its scenic curves

a moored sailboat

Though this is a saltwater inlet, it' rolling hills, spruce, birch and white pine

truly reminds me of Muskoka or Haliburton at least.

a peaceful scene across the water

driving around another little bay

coming into the manicured park, discreetly signed park

With sentimental memories, we find our picnic bench of two years ago,

unoccupied at the end of the steep trail down to the shore

We have a neighbour this time, ensconced in her book, so we speak in hushed tones.

Beyond is a small Inukshuk, the appropriated (and ironic) Inuit message "we were here".

Beyond that, someone swimming, and then the sailboats.

Thankfully there was only one motorboat that went by. When I remarked on how quiet it was, Wally explained to me that it had an inboard motor unlike the outboard motorboats that spoiled so many visits to the lakes years past in Muskoka. (Those days had passed by the time we left five years ago due to a failing economy and higher taxes for those living on the lakes.)

It was, in fact, exquisitely quiet where we planted ourselves and we had our lunch. Wally thought to bring an organic apple/cranberry juice to mix with Perrier which was deliciously decadent.

Afterwards we took out our watercolour pads and palettes and set to work playing,

with this exquisite scene to rest our eyes on

.

This is the life

for some people

Two Ships in the Night

Oops, I mean

Two Boats in the Light

closer

We watched a sailboat motor in to its little motorboat, the second mate reaching for its line.

They took the little boat to the public dock where their truck was waiting. That's 3 motors for their afternoon holiday. That struck me as odd somehow.

Look what I found in the woods behind us! An honest to goodness Toadstool!

Mr. Snail close by

one of a few clamshells left behind by a seagull I'm guessing

over my shoulder the rock and windblown trees

down the Shore with the ocean proper not nearly in sight

the dock beyond where those sailboaters left from

two moss adorned trees, spruce I think, a little worse for wear.

Wally informs me it is lichen that hangs from the branches, not moss.

Their roots exposed where the soil has eroded, they stretch out for yards on either side.

more roots amid the growth of sea plants

With the tide out, little seaweeds cling to their moorings.

The tide gently laps its way out

so gently that you can see a good way into the clear water

As it comes in, it gently ripples, swaying the hinged seaweed with it.

It's good to see Wally unwind, here with his watercolour seascape that he splashed with seawater to see if the salt would make a difference. (It didn't.)

Squinting in the sun, I didn't wander too far from our "home base" as the shore was so rocky and I have a huge respect for rock against bone.

squinty, happy me

While still holding the camera, Wally took his traditional One Shot a Year.

Come Again

sometime

And just because...

I could have shown you earlier as they were made a week ago when I was still floundering.

I figured I owed myself a play date.

I brushed some of my new Jane Davenport acrylic paints into sections on the page and filled each coloured box with a different something or other.

It really amounts to doodling with paint. A matte acrylic is very compatible with paint pens and ink as you can see.

I learned from my squirrel picture, that I showed you yesterday, 

that a little white paint pen can take a picture out of the doldrums.

Thanks again for coming along with me. My day trip pictures will need one more installment.

But I think, for now, we've earned a rest.

kindness first