Art Class

On a whim I called to see if there were any spots left for an art class on painting techniques at the MacLaren Art Centre in town.  There were!!  I was so very excited!  I have had two weeks of class on acrylic painting and I look forward to the oil painting instruction that we will be having for the next two weeks. I have never worked in oil and I'm not so sure that I will like it.   Having said that, it is the what the impressionists used.  The instructor says that oil is very different to acrylic and I sensed that she preferred it over other forms of art.  I have checked around the house to find rags; no clean up with water when it comes to oil paint.

We had to select some pictures and I chose one that I took back in March; an early morning sunrise!!  Here is a pastel rendition of it from my sketchbook.

Okay so this isn't the "exact" picture that I used; I used this because it was the only one that I had already watermarked.  I will be very interested to see what happens when I paint this in oil.  I haven't had the time to take some snaps of my acrylic work but I would like to wait until the end of the oil work.  I want to see if I can improve my painting skill and improve upon the end result.  Looking forward to that!

Early morning Sunrise

I always complain about working night shifts; it is the bane of my working existence!  However, I must admit that at time I need to take the good that come with the bad.  The only perk I can think of is that of photo opportunities; I get to see the early morning sunrise.  If I wasn't coming home from night shift, I probably wouldn't.  Yes, I am awake usually but I would still have my pi's on and drinking my java (kinda like right now!).


I was able to snap these on my way home from work from Sunday night shift but it was actually Monday morning.

I could see that there was some red sky on my way home so I took a slight detour down to Lake Simcoe to get these snaps.  I never seem to tire of sunrise pictures.  My eyes always seem to drink them in, it must be due to the colour scheme.  The beauty of a simple sunrise.

I have something to look forward to today; I am going to be taking a class tonight at the MacLaren Art Centre called "Painting Techniques".  I can't wait!!!!

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

It is in my nature to be very cynical - mostly learned behaviour due to the nature of my work though!!  So the "old guy" and I took a little trip to "disneyland" or rather we lived in the land of dreams for four days during the Thanksgiving holidays.  I remained hopeful during this time, I kept my negativity at bay and kept it pushed down but secretly I just knew...

Reality set in when my hubby spoke to the lawyer and he then spoke to the city planner for the area.  It seems that this property has an unusual designation:  EU.  I have heard of the European Union and I have even heard of EP for environmentally protected but EU is a new one.  It stands for EXISTING USE.  Right now it is a bush lot and it has been designated so since the 1970's.  We guess that they two adjoining property owners banded together and got the designation so that they can continue to enjoy their privacy and the property in the middle remains pristine.  We could buy especially since the owner has dropped the price by $20,000 but taking the issue to the OMB is a crap shoot so at this stage of the game it is best not to throw away our money.  Sometimes old adages bug me but in this case it does apply;nothing ventured, nothing gained.  We had fun trying!

Here is a picture from my sketchbook; it is a page that I did earlier this month.  The jumping off point for it is the tiny square on the bottom right-hand corner.  I cut it out from a free house design magazine that arrived that week.  I pasted it on after I had put the paint on the page and thought that it would be a nice addition.  The crab-apple leaf fell out of the phone book so I added it as well.  Okay so this is not "fine" a ret but those additions made this sketchbook picture fun!

The picture didn't scan as well as I thought it might and it really is not this "yellow"; it is more of a burnt orange.

Autumn Colours

I have to say that I do love the fall!  Not just because it is virtually insect free - no giant sized misquotes or black flies to make me itchy but due to the colourful splendour that is Canada!  This picture truly depicts the idea. 

The old boy and I took a trip up north to Parry Sound Ontario and spent a few hours checking out a piece of lakefront property.  Very small frontage but lakefront it is.  This lovely view is directly across from the lot.

I have to say that this was the first "hunting for property" trip that I have taken with my hubby where I was not whining and complaining that I wanted to leave; the property wasn't too wet, too bushy, too anything really.  Very nice.  A bit pricey but the offer will hinge on the daughter.  If she will never go up and use it then there is no sense in making the purchase.  It is intended to be a long term investment and commitment is needed to make the changes required for habitation.