Eclectic Broomstick

Grandma Duty

2012-01-31T13:55:00.001-05:00

I have finished two postcards for the mixed media swap but I will have to wait until I get home to post them here. I am using my iPad and I haven't worked out which app to use to make the snaps I took of them look good on blogger. I thought I would get more postcards finished but life has interfered with my art making! My daughter had wanted me to help her out by going with her to the "well baby group" appointment. My grand-daughter is two months old now and that means it is time for some inoculations. That means that there is a possibility that my little angel will not be a very happy child after the appointment. I have had to put off picking up my new car now! I had hoped to have it a few days before deriving it to work for the first time. In addition, I still have to clear out my Dad's old Hyundai (sorry dad, but I really hate that car!).It is my intention to get as much done on my postcard project on my long change over day - Sunday. I want to post three or four postcards by next week.

Best intentions and a new ride!

2012-01-25T17:59:00.001-05:00

I'm justing finishing four days off, four fabulous days off.

I had laid out all of my ephemera and other postcard making materials when my hubby called to say that his vehicle needed more unexpected work done and was being kept in the shop overnight. Oh, and by the way, there is a car here in the lot that you might like. It is a 2007 Toyota Camry with all of the bells and whistles! Oh joy, it has heated seats, total luxury!!

So I had good intentions but I ended up making the deal and buying the vehicle. I will pick it up next week on my days off. So, that means that I did not get the work on my project completed. Ten postcards....I hope to not let it lag on too long. I want them completed within a reasonable amount of time. I think that I will mail out to the woman in Australia first because it will likely take much longer than the other names on my list. I was really getting into my project (I had laid out what I needed to complete two postcards) when my hubby called. Life has zigs and zags so that is okay. I will do what I can, when I can.

I'm pretty excited about the new ride though!! This new car is just so sweet with leather seats and a moon roof.

Yesterday, we went to Toronto to see our daughter and grand-daughter and visited the Royal Ontario Museum to see the Mayan exhibit.

This is a quick snap of my hubby and my daughter pushing the snazzy stroller/carriage thingie going into the museum. I'm glad we were able to go because my hubby really wanted to see it. We took our grand-daughter too; this was her first trip to the ROM but without a doubt it will not be the last. Truthfully, although she was awake the whole time she likely didn't enjoy it as much as her grandma and grand-dad!

Picture taking was prohibited in the exhibit itself so this is a snap that I took of a promotional picture in the elevator of the ROM.

Bummer, but off to work tomorrow... another day, another fifty cents!

Try, try, try again!

2012-01-22T14:03:00.001-05:00

I remembered the old adage so I thought I would take heart and try it on for size.

I wasn't happy with the way my last pencil drawing looked so I spent a little bit of time last night attempting to clean it up with the end result of improving the drawing. I dragged out my pencil box that my hubby bought for me many years ago and grabbed the 6B. On my way to work night shift last night, I picked up a package of Primacolor Ebony pencils as well. I have used those two new pencils to darken up my drawing. Using constructive criticism, I think these modifications are certainly a move in the right direction, especially the shadow cast. At least now they actually look like a shadow and not part of the cutlery.

I see one glaring mistake now that I have it on my screen before me (that is the beauty of technology and iPhoto). However, I can still fix that without any problem. This is a good start but I still think that it needs some more work, somehow I think that it is not dark enough yet. It is just does not look "metal" enough for me. Having said that, I will give this drawing a final spray and put it away for now. It will be alright if I move on and try my hand at another drawing of something metal.

That is it for today as I am trying to get all the bits and bobs together in preparation for putting them together to make ten mixed media postcards! I will be getting my mailing list by January 27th so I would have liked to have many of the cards made by now but I just haven't had the time. I am working overtime tomorrow and then the next day my hubby and I are heading south to the big city to see our grandchild. It has been a week and a half since we have seen her and I expect she will have changed much already. I miss her!

Play Day

2012-01-17T16:57:00.000-05:00

My hubby had to go to town today so I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for some "play". It has been awhile since I have brought out the paints and my mark making tools.

I watched the Doodles Unleashed workshop on the web a few days ago and today I got busy. I didn't do a "follow along" with the video so my page is not turning out like the instructors - Traci Bautista at Strathmore Artist Papers.

http://www.strathmoreartiststudio.com/

It was fun and I used some acrylic inks with some mini misting bottle, water colour paints, acrylic paints and fluid acrylic paints, oil sticks and oil pastels. In the beginning of the process, I used stuff from around the house to lay on the 140 lb watercolour paper (it is what I already had on hand, same with the paints and inks) to start misting the ink around on the page. I'm glad that I had most of the materials already. Since I didn't have enough mist bottles or fluid watercolours I used the acrylic inks that I had and just added water to the misting bottle.

Now that I take a look at it again, I think I should have attached the key to the key fob. What do you think? Does it really matter since this is only stage one in the process? In some ways, I like the picture just the way it is; I like its minimalist simplicity.

Then I added more colour. I'm not done yet because now that I look the snaps I took, I can see that I need more "light" to contrast all of the dark. This is much more defined in the purple, pink and blue doodle page

My red, green and blue page has some light yellow but again it is way too dark and I need to add acrylic ink to it as well as part of my doodling process.

It has been a fun day!! I am looking forward to the next time that I have a few hours to spare so that I can complete these. I did a couple more pages too; for something to do while the wet paint was drying (I should have gotten my hair dryer out I suppose). Those pages are not even as far along in the process as these above so I have not taken any snaps of them.

All in all, I had a lot of fun on a very dreary, rainy, foggy day! If I must spend a lot of time indoors then I am happy that I could spend my time making art.

I look forward to seeing how these will morph once again as I spend some quality time with them and apply the final marks on them!!

Metal spoons!

2012-01-14T16:48:00.001-05:00

It never ceases to amaze my how time can speed up so. It has been almost two weeks since I last posted. I wasn't sure I could post today because I could not get my browser to load. I'm using Firefox because it seems that Safari will not work for me today. I was on the phone with the technician and was hoping it isn't my computer. I don't really want to spend a bunch of money just yet. It would be great if I could gimp along until I get my income tax return (well, I anticipate that I should get a return that is).

I really hate having things not work well when it is my first day off. I went right to bed this morning and woke up just before 2 p.m. I had to get up anyway because a friend of my old boy wanted to go cross country skiing with him. Sweet! I get to have my java in peace and quiet.

I'm now going to see if I can load the pencil drawing that I did last night. I don't like the drawing as much on the screen as I do the original. I can see that there is not enough definition between the spoons to see them clearly. I had to manipulate the image somewhat to correct that and even then it isn't the best.

I like the idea of drawing metal though. I saw this idea while I was surfing the net and if I can find the blog name I will come back and edit this post. I think that hers were much better than mine but I can't complain too much since I did the drawing on nightshift and it was a hard nightshift. We were busy and I didn't have as much time as I would have like to complete it. My most favourite part is the reflected image of me in one of the spoons. It made me chuckle when I drew it in.

Yup! Firefox is a new experience when using Blogger but I think I am getting the hang of it!

Welcome 2012!

2012-01-01T09:28:00.001-05:00

Thankfully I'm not one for resolutions! That said I have hopes: I hope to make more art this year than last. I hope to read more books (real and digital) in the new year. I hope that a fairy will appear this year and clean my house for me. Hmmm! That is certainly a dream come true and I am doubtful that will happen in this millennium!

Since I can't have everything I want, I did my first doodle for the new year. What I like about mimicking the zentangle doodle is its simplicity. Usually it is just black and white and for this special occasion I colourized it! I don't think I like the effect really. I will try it again but use a different set of coloured felt markers. These were a large set that I got in the sale bin at the local craft store but not all felt markers are created equal. This set is meant for children and although they have been good for other simple projects I don't like them here. But a doodle is a doodle....it is meant to be fun, so here it is..... Welcome 2012!!

New Years Eve

2011-12-31T18:46:00.000-05:00

I just talked to a very good friend who called to wish me a Happy New Year! She lives 5 hours away from me now so I don't get to see her very often but through technology we have been able to keep in touch and "be there" for each other although in an "arms length" sort of way.

Yes, it is New Years Eve! I'm glad that I don't feel obligated to go out on the town, spend money that I don't have and worry about the cost of the cab to get home!! My hubby and I are happy to stay home. We had such a great time for 5 days in Toronto with out daughter, son-in-law and grand-daughter that we think that "life is good" and there is not much need to feel like crap after a night of heavy drinking.

I chilled a bottle of dry rose in the freezer and I am sipping on the bottle now! My hubby doesn't like wine as much as me so it is all mine! I will save him a glass for dinner. He is preparing a fine supper for us; a personal favourite, ham with hot mustard and scalloped potatoes! How great is that???!!!!!

He had to go to a funeral today for a good friend of his; a fishing buddy. I spent the time doing housework and trying to get some time for art in as well. I wanted to get some of the substrate made in preparation for making the postcard's that I will be swapping later. It is a time consuming venture but I love doing it anyway. The only issue is that I like to have the house to myself so I can turn the tunes on (loudly that is) while I make art. I am so lucky that my daughter has keep me abreast of technology and I am not a technophobe. I have a great set of Bose speakers attached to my laptop beside the kitchen. However, all that really means is, I have less time to actually make art because I am spending too much time reading my e-mails and surfing the net etc.

Yesterday I took this picture while I was clearing my car of snow, shovelling the path out to the car and a path out to the bird feeder. It was quite chilly but it wasn't too bad. The only thing that got cold were my hands because I was too stupid to wear mitts.

I love how natures hoar frost has made prickly sweaters on the grape vines!

And again on these wild cucumbers! I had thought of picking these to use in a project but forgot since they were just beyond arms reach and too close to the ditch. I especially love the prickles on the prickles. Very fun mother nature!

I should have made more grape jam this year since it was a bumper crop! I wonder what would happen if I tried it now. Grape "ice wine" jam, perhaps??!!!!

I am not one to make new years resolutions..... so..... Happy New Year to all!!!! See you in 2012!!!

Year End Fast Approaching

2011-12-30T11:33:00.000-05:00

I find it very interesting to realize that I am not really interested in year end this 2011. I look back and think that I am glad that 2011 is over but really it is only because of my father's illness and death that really has had a real negative effect on me! I miss my dad! Yup, he made me angry about some of the things that he did or didn't do but really - he was my dad and he was what he was! Regardless, I miss him very much!

The best news of the year is that my grand-daughter was born and is now gaining weight. As of yesterday she now weighs in at 8.14 lbs. At the last weigh-in she was only one ounce past her birth weight of 8.5 so there was some concerns about her health. She is such a little sweetheart and greatly loved by both grandparents.

We finally have snow! We are looking like a winter wonderland now and here is a snap that epitomizes the colour of winter.

I love all of the shades of "white" or maybe I should say black, white and grey! These snap were taken yesterday and I really loved how the snow was sticking to the trees and vegetation. A few more months of this I won't be thinking that it is so very pretty!

The roads were still pretty clear but my car is firmly encased in snow. You can see the hood of my car peeking up at the bottom of the snap.

My hubby thought that we had best get some of the maples trimmed because they are growing like weeds and overtaking the roof of the house. He finally got most of his piled up before the snow fell.

Christmas Tree Collage

2011-12-23T10:03:00.001-05:00

Here is another "doodle" for want of a better word. It really is a "doodle" in the sense that I had the felt pens but I wasn't really going anywhere with them at first. Then I cut out the Christmas trees from the wrapping paper roll and applied them to my sketchbook page. I had to cover up a lot of doodling but that is no matter. Although this isn't fine art, it was fun to do. I sometimes think that is more important for me!
I think it keeps me calm and it is good not to think about all the silliness (whatever it happens to be) for a few hours.

I couldn't find my white gel pen so I had to use correction fluid in this multi-media piece. I love spending time in my sketchbook and feel naked without it.

Christmas Tree doodle

2011-12-22T10:13:00.002-05:00

Here is one of the Christmas icon's that I love....the Christmas tree!!! This is just a simple rendition using watercolour paint. I found a box of semi-moist colours some time ago and I thought that I should get them out and try them.

Great news! Our precious grand-daughter who was born late on November 30th has finally reached a benchmark; she has surpassed her birthweight by one ounce! Yippee! My daughter was getting worried and my hubby and I were getting worried for them both. So that crisis has been averted and just before Christmas! We just received our second present! We are all "over the moon"!

I got this cool app on my iPhone and I took some snaps while I was in bed. It was actually early yesterday morning when I got home from my night shift. I was given another present from my boss who let me leave work early.

This is what my duvet looks like after using the Paper Camera app to alter the image. My duvet is white and was all jumbled up because I was reading a book using my Kobo app. I was very amused by how many variations the app offers. Simple and fun!

Christmas Pears

2011-12-21T14:35:00.001-05:00

This is day one of my Christmas holidays and how glorious is it when you get a bill in the mail that isn't. Ontario Hydro says that I have a substantial credit with them and will not have to pay a hydro bill for many, many months in 2012. Ticks me off that I paid too much all year though; I mean, I lost use of that money and could have used it to buy something really cool - like an iPad. Okay, I'll quit whining since it is the Christmas season.

It was fairly quiet last night at work so I had some time to do a pencil drawing. We are not allowed to have any "personal electronic devices" on our person so I feel that my pencil and sketchbook is still fair game. I totally love drawing! Each time I make a drawing no matter how small or insignificant it might seem; I get a charge of transferring that which is real and getting the image on to the page! However, I need, I must, practice way more! Oh my, did I just make a New Years resolution and in black and white no less???!! Very scary!

I think I love the essence of the pear. My subjects are all different but I forgot to look to see which is which. Okay so there is likely a bartlett but I forget the names of the other two. I guess it is time go Google pears!! Obviously, I don't need to admit that I might like the essence of a pear but I am no connoisseur of the pear.

I don't know why but I just couldn't seems to get the camera situated in such a fashion to take a better picture of my pencil rendering. I don't normally have such a hard time but for some reason my befuddled brain just can't seem to comprehend what I need to do to get it right. So, heck with it; here is the photo as is.

When I compare my drawing to the photograph, I can see some things that I should have included and that my perspective is slightly off for the pear laying down. I should have measured better using my pencil so that it didn't look like such a "gourd". But nightshift being what it is makes me not the best visual thinker.

I know that the Christmas doesn't make you think of pears but really we must remember the 12 days of Christmas song. These pears are just no longer on the tree!!

I have signed up for a mixed media postcard challenge and have to make 10 postcards and send them to people who will be like me....patiently waiting for theirs in the mail. This will be my first and I look forward to it beginning next month! I should link to her site so you can join too. I'm off to see if I can make that happen. The author mentions that I could have grabbed a badge but I'm not sure how to do that so haven't. Here is her address that you can copy and paste instead. It would seem that I have some learning to do about using blogger.

http://musingsonrealities.blogspot.com/2011/12/international-mixed-media-postcard-swap.html

I'm almost done shopping and have wrapping to do! Looking forward to that along with some spiced rum and eggnog!

Our Angel has Arrived

2011-12-08T18:26:00.001-05:00

No need for Christmas presents this year; our first grandchild arrived on November 30th and she is so totally adorable. We have waited nine long months for her arrival. It seems that home birth was a good thing for my daughter (I had my reservations about it). My hubby has finally put up the Christmas lights so I feel a bit more Christmassy. We were waiting for our angel to be born and put everything else on hold. She was a good weight 8.5 lbs; pretty good weight for a girl too. My daughter just sent us a video of her after her first 8 days of life. wow! Technology is so fantastic!

Last night was the final art class at the McLaren Art Centre (I will miss going to them each Wednesday night). We were still working on egg tempera. What a strange medium! I only got two layers so there really isn't much of a picture yet. I'm very ambivalent about this way of painting; it just takes so long! We got to see a local artist who had a showing at the gallery and her work was lovely but just not for me. Now there was a pencil artist work on show and I really loved his; Kelly Wallace. Fascinating work!

The Waiting Game

2011-11-29T14:43:00.001-05:00

Here I am! I'm still waiting for my first grandchild to be due; obviously "it" is overdue or past due (whatever suits your fancy). I must endeavour to acquire the gift of patience; I see it as a character flaw that I need to continuously work on. I know that we live in a culture of instant gratification and I have tried to ignore those yearnings but it is so very hard to do so. It is almost as if we have never grown up and we are stuck in a childish rut. It is as if we forgot to slough off some programming from when we were children. In those days we always wanted for things and wanted it when we wanted it; meaning we wanted it, NOW!

This is a picture from a supper boat cruise that I went on at Toronto, Ontario harbour back in 2009.

Here is the results from last weeks art class. I don't think that I chose the right picture for the medium that we were using last week - watercolour. I got inspired by one of my classmates. Several weeks ago during the acrylic class she brought a store-bought card of light reflection in water. I knew that I had taken a snap several years ago with a similar subject matter. I did find it and took it to class and here is my attempt. My photo included the cityscape buildings in the background so I cropped them out to make my picture similar to that of hers.

My reproduction of the picture is not as precise as I had hoped but that was due to the fact that the instructor flipped the picture upside down so that I would not concentrate so much on the photograph and spend more time on my art piece. Having said that, I see that I would like to try this once again because I do indeed like the photograph and would like to reproduce it more closely because of the way it "flows" I like the sporadic nature of the red "line" and I like how the yellow is only a "highlight" of the green. I even would like to attempt re-creating the grey line as well.

Again I have to say that this is the reason I took this class; I got to play with different paint media that I might not have otherwise.

Persimmons

2011-11-18T15:15:00.001-05:00

I can tell when I am tired and not necessarily hungry.... I pick up fruit and veggies at the grocery store to draw on my night shift. I buy it thinking that I will have something interesting to draw on my days off. However, it was desperately quiet last night which makes every minute feel like an hour and pure drudgery. A new edict has put put out that we are not allowed "personal devices" and actually "on our person" while working. Yup, that means no iPhone for me! The thing is... it is also my calendar so if I take the procedure literally then I have to revert to paper copy. I never thought that the day would come when I would have to revert to ancient technologies. I mean, I finally got to present day technology, so far I am really enjoying my Macbook and iPhone and the Evernote app to reduce my paper consumption. Strange. I can understand it to a point but I think that not having it on your person so that it can be used not as a phone or as a vehicle to get on the internet is going just a bit too far.

I digress. I bought a persimmon while I was picking up my salad for work; I bought it because it looked interesting. The girls at work checked it out on the internet and it seems that my choice of fruit is not quite edible....yet. The orange flesh of this fruit is quite hard and it should be soft to the touch. I really chose it to draw and not to eat but I will not be consuming it myself anyway it seems. Thankfully, I have a hubby who likes tropical fruit so I hope he likes this. From what they learned it is full of tannins so I think that I will stay clear in fear of getting a migraine. I already eat too much other stuff that I shouldn't and I would be afraid that this would put me over the edge. Maybe I can survive a "taste".

I had forgotten my pencil case at home so I search all of the work stations to find a 2B pencil that still had an erasure on it. It is just office supply quality but something is better than nothing. I can see that my perspective is slight off and I think I should have made the background slightly darker to bring the fruit forward. Now that I look at it again, my green centre is definitely not dark enough either. Regardless is it a drawing to pass the time in a positive way. It is okay after many months of not drawing anything since my fathers illness and death. I love making a mark with my pencil; there is just something so very satisfying in its simplicity.

Art Class II

2011-11-17T12:01:00.001-05:00

Here is a photo of my piece that I did in art class last week. I was inspired by a photograph that I took last March and was created in water mixable oil paint. This is my first painting ever in this medium and although it was enjoyable it has one draw back.....it is till not dry. I know that all of the fine art painters would consider that to be a positive aspect, I on the other hand do not. When I took my colour theory course in university (many years ago via long distance study), I received in mail a box of acrylic paints. I have never tried anything else. Of course that is the whole reason why I took this art class in the first place!

Okay so this isn't the exact photograph but it is the only one that I have watermarked in iPhoto. It certainly will suffice. I took tons of photo's that frosty morning while the sun was rising. My fingers were almost frozen by the time decided that I had had enough snaps. I certainly was a sight to see and I was happy that I made the detour to the water's edge of Lake Simcoe to see it so early in the morning and following my night shift.

I find trying to capture the essence of my photograph is more difficult than I had first thought. Isn't it always the way.....we always attribute simplicity in others work.... but... when we try it ourselves we finally realize that there is nothing simple about applying paint to canvas or in this case to canvas board/panel.

I have to say that I really do like the "look" of oil. I has it's own look and feel that is quite wonderful. Again, my photography skills do not do the colours in this painting justice. I think I need to add highlights in the icy snow to show the reflection from the rising sun. Not sure how I will accomplish that but I am thinking maybe oil pastels might be the answer. I'll have to think about it before I actually apply the pastel.

Belize

2011-11-14T11:05:00.001-05:00

Oh well....days off can't hang around forever!! I will have to force myself once again to get up at 04:30 hrs. What is it with me? There is nothing worse than getting up in the dark and coming home in the dark.

My hubby has returned safe and sound from inspecting our lot in Belize. He bought it sight unseen and I am happy to report that it is high and dry!! I look forward to going down south myself but I will wait until my grand-child is born before I venture far afield.

Here is the only photo that we have of my hubby's trip. It is taken by a fellow tourist because my hubby forgot to pack the camera. Thankfully the resort is sending it to him via snail mail. Check the resort out at www.matarocks.com

The day before his return it snowed and thankfully it has melted away. I have to say that it was pretty but I was a tad tired on my way home from my night shift so I really didn't appreciate it that much. I did get some snap while I walked in from the yard.

I think I would love to try for some late harvest or ice wine although there is not enough of this wild fruit to make any....even if I knew how to do it.

I haven't worked on finishing my painting and won't have the time today since I have to get all my stuff ready for work.

Sunrise Painting

2011-11-13T16:49:00.001-05:00

My hubby has been away checking out the plot of land that he bought in Ambergrise Caye, San Pedro, Belize. I used my alone time to paint. It has been some time since I have even felt like painting anything. I am almost happy with it but I can see two things that I want to change before I declare that I am finished. Oh yes, I need to finish the frame as well.

Here is a photograph of my inspiration...I took it this past October and thought it might be interesting in a painting. I use acrylics and it enjoyed the layering process to achieve the colour that I wanted.

Now this is not the exact photo that I used but it was taken the same morning (this is the only one that was already watermarked). I don't live on the water but only about a mile away. I just took a detour down to the public access on Lake Simcoe to grab a few snaps using my point and shoot Panasonic Lumix. I usually carry this camera around in my car with me for just such occasions- moments of spontaneity. I could see the sky on my drive home and I was sure that this would be a great photo taking opportunity.

However, what I don't like is the water. I know that it is the lens of the camera that reads the water as dark when in fact it really isn't. So, I will use some of artistic licence by changing the colour so that it does not read as "black". There is no reason to be a slave to the actual photograph.

Now my photographic skills need to be improved, I think that I should have re-positioned the easel away from the window a bit more. I think that would have eliminated the glare on the right hand side. Overall, I need to do a bit of tweaking of the water and the sky above the sun a bit and it should be considered done. My hubby is a good creative critic and even he agrees with my intended modifications.

Home Alone

2011-11-06T17:23:00.000-05:00

I have the house to myself for the next week! I can watch all the television I want and pick my channel. I can eat what I want, when I want. I can do exactly what I want to do and when I want to do it. Wow! The choice!

So I have been busy trying to paint a picture that I took. I have made some design changes that I think suit a painting although it will deviate from the original picture that I took last March. It is actually a sunrise photograph and I love sunrises and sunsets. I am having some difficulties because I don't really know my brush strokes well enough. I don't know how to make the water resemble water. I have done what I can and it looks kinda sorta like water but I'm not always the best judge.

Here are some pictures that I painted in class this week. They are colour studies, one blue and one burnt sienna.

I ran the study in blue through my iPhone 100 Camera's program and it came out looking like an antique and in many ways greatly enhanced the original picture.

The burnt sienna picture did not fair well through the same program and looks a bit over exposed. These are just studies so I should not be too hard on myself.

I'm not sure that I like water soluble oil paint as these were still wet and they were painted last Wednesday. Okay so I know that oil painters (read fine art oil painters) love that very fact. Me...not so much! The more that I look at this photograph the more I think that I might have to revert this image to it's original.

I was busy try to reclaim a laminated board and frame as my next project (I firmly believe in recycling - regardless if it is art or not) so I only had a minute to sketch this 2" x 2" thumbnail. I saw it on the web and I think it is a photograph taken in Scotland. It is a quick sketch and I can see now that I have not clearly expressed the river bank from the river.

Art Class

2011-10-29T16:34:00.003-04:00

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

2011-10-19T07:26:00.001-04:00

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!

2011-10-16T10:32:00.002-04:00

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

2011-10-07T11:48:00.002-04:00

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.

Raining cats and dogs

2011-08-03T12:17:00.003-04:00

We need the rain but really....where did that old adage come from? What do cats and dogs have to do with rain? In the summer, hot days are called the "dog days of summer" which I can understand but not the one about the rain.

My daughter sent me an invite to Google Plus and I have accepted but there are some things that I like about this new addition to the social networking sites and others that I don't. It is a small thing but it bugs me that I can't see what I have added as a post. What I like is that I can keep people separated; I can keep my work colleagues separate from my friends and family. The real problem is that no one is really "on" this new site for it be viable in my life. Yes, my daughter is but she and her hubby are the only ones on at this time. will that likely change? I'm not sure. When there was some concern that FB was going to charge money for using their site, I think that Google would certainly have a better chance.

Colorsplash

2011-07-31T09:54:00.003-04:00

Good late morning! that is okay because I'm on holidays! And it is good-by July and hello August. Unbelieveable!

No time to do any art but I had a chance on my night shifts to check out an app on my iPhone that I had downloaded sometime ago called "Colorsplash". The app came with some videos on how to use it. I like app's like that. I had a good time converting this photo.

I think that this photo epitomizes being on holidays!! Just add people and some beverages - life is good!

Oil Pastels in sketchbook

2011-07-29T15:35:00.004-04:00

I thought that I would try this out using some cheap dollar store oil pastels that I have. I made a zentangle of a flower some time ago and like the motif so I created another coloured zentangle using the oil pastels. Then I smeared odourless mineral spirits on the drawing. It took quite some time for the sketch to dry in my sketchbook but it finally did.

I liked using the mineral spirits on woodless pencil much better as it makes the lay down look much more painterly. I haven't got a picture yet but will take one later and post.

My dad has finally decided to take the morphine so he feels a bit better and I feel a bit better too. It is easier for me to see that he is not in pain when I visit.

Dominoes

2011-07-28T12:03:00.005-04:00

My Dad's condition worsens with each passing day and now I am trying to cojole him into agreeing that pain medication is alright. In this day and age, there is no need to feel pain. I don't know but he might just want to "feel" something. I just got upset to see that he was not feeling well and frustrated when he wouldn't let the nursing staff give him the medications that would help.

I ahve not been keeping this art journal up because I haven't been doing too much. I started a simple project but I don't have all of the supplies so can't finish it. I really think that these are fun and easy to do and love the fact that I was able to find the dominos at the Good Will. I have never seen this white type of plastic domino so was thrilled to use them instead of the "adult" ones that I found. I think the children ones are cute too because they have great colours that cold be used as pendants all on their own.

Here is a picture of my prototypes. I used Ranger Inks and applied the ink using the applicator (sold separately). I then used some Triple Thick coating that I got at Micheal's. I found a website that had a bit of a tutorial but I couldn't get what she recommended as a sealer but I think that this product does the trick.

I don't really like the effect of the stamp on the one domino; it is just too thin and insignificant, so I will have to change that. I had run out of ink on the applicator and decided that I didn't mind the mottled effect but I should have inked the sides of the domino to make it appear "complete".

Happy Canada Day!!

2011-07-01T07:04:00.002-04:00

My dad reminded me yesterday that this use to be "Dominion Day". Happy Dominion/Canada Day to all!

Define FUN!!

2011-06-30T06:42:00.004-04:00

Wow! It is the end of June already! So far it is a fabulous morning with the bright sunshine!

One of the girls at work brought in these mini candy bars on our first night shift. The words "FUN SIZE" caught my eye. Often I think that the creative minds behind the marketing do an exceptional job. This time however, I think they missed the mark. How does the size of this bar make it any more fun than its' full-sized counterpart? I have no idea. I am not sure how eating a mini chocolate bar and any chocolate bar can be considered FUN! I don't think of eating as a "FUN" activity since I don't consider chewing to be an active activity and one whereby you consume more calories than what you spend in the process of that consumption. Really, eating nutritious food is a "necessary" requirement for our bodies.

I know that this is not rocket science and there is no ah-ha moment here but it is just something that gave me pause on my last night shift. I find that I contemplate the oddity in life that catches my eye.

Summer Projects

2011-06-21T08:43:00.005-04:00

I have a few projects that I want to start but I have a painting "started" or rather one layer on the canvas. I will finish it. The next two projects are not paint related; one is to make something useful out of the mess of spools that I purchased and once that is finished to start a abstract painting using collected fibres. I have it partially imagined in my mind but don't want to get too solidified so that the end result won't look too deliberate.

Here is a picture of a "tag" project that I completed with a group of fibre art enthusiasts called "Marmalade". It epitomizes what it is that I want to do (and no, I don't want to replicate this project but just give you an idea where I might be going with the abstraction concept).

I have been trying to clean up my computer and off-load some stuff (like movies and videos etc) because they suck up so much space. I am not too sure about the idea of CLOUD storage but I will put some of my documents there for safekeeping. I purchased an external hard drive to hold all of the stuff that I don't need regularly. I am also removing many of my photo's for the same reason but I want them to be "safe" so I will be adding them to the hard drive as well. I have tried to be a bit more "brutal" by trashing some of the "not-so-great" photographs. Honestly, not every photograph I have taken needs to be kept.

It is hard but I have reclaimed 2G of space on my hard drive already. I had best get back at it.

It is such a beautiful day and I want to go out for a long walk too. Need to get a move on....

It might only be a Bic pen but....

2011-06-20T18:20:00.007-04:00

Okay... so I know that it isn't "fine" art but ya know... I just love to doodle if that is all the time there is, so be it. When there is a bit more time but that time is sporadic I still enjoy trying to complete a picture and not make my doodle a "zentangle" (which I have to say I also enjoy!).

I was trolling the internet and came across a photograph of a a teapot. It reminded me of a "Brown Betty" that I had purchased "back in the day" when I was in my late teens and early '20"s. I know that I am NOW a coffee-holic but everyone needs to own at least one teapot in which to steep some jasmine tea, if nothing else. I have to admit that I am very partial to a "blueberry tea" even though it is of the alcoholic persuasion (a very close and good friend of mine introduced me to it).

So the bottom line is this.... making art doesn't alway have to be about making "fine" art but just about exploring a new medium, a new image or whatever. The fact the matter is that I enjoyed the time that I spent creating this doodle and that is what it is....a doodle. I am proud of this "doodle" even though it is not quite "right". I "eyeballed" it so often I find that my perception can be out of line at times.

Honestly, I don't think this was created using a "Bic" ball point pen per se since it is just a blue ink pen that I found at work. If memory serves, the advertisement on the pen was for a national hotel chain. The point I am trying to make is to make a "mark on the paper", it does not have to be "fine art" just a form of art. I have to say that the memories that sparked in my mind where fun. I recalled the times when "back in the day" we spent hours upon hours contemplating the universe and drinking tea. It feels like a minute ago although I don't want to say just how long ago it was...fun times!

So my advice is....just do art.... it is all about the "DOING" and not always about the art!

Vintage Thread Spools

2011-06-18T10:38:00.003-04:00

So how many is too many?

I bought three bags of these vintage spools at a local thrift shop. I couldn't help myself. They didn't have any thread on them when I bought them.

The clerk asked me what I was going to do with them. I actually had no idea but I know that the internet will supply me with some ideas. Yup! Some of them will have a new purpose shortly! When I get them re-created into something new I will post them here!

I wonder who had these and why they threw them out. I find it strange that each one had every bit of thread removed. I have found a few other spools but they usually have a least a little bit of leftover thread on the spool. Someone went to a lot of trouble to remove the thread from all of the spools. I haven't counted them yet and all I can say is that they are "numerous".

Made me laugh

2011-06-06T08:03:00.005-04:00

This iris was growing on the side of the road, obviously transplanted by rodents from the neighbouring garden. Very pretty! I love how the "mouth" of the flower with it's lucious tongue attempts to lure you inside. If I was a bee, I don't think I could resist.

It is strange sometimes what tickles my funny bone. When I saw these birds yesterday on my walk I immediately thought of the birds on wild beasts in African travelogues that we see on public television. I just couldn't help trying to get some snaps.

Now, we all know what it is that these birdies are waiting for don't we????!!!

My Dad is failing with each passing day. Although he is now on the list for long term care I don't believe that he will make it. It is sad to see him in such a way because I truly don't believe that he would not want this for himself. I am sure he would rather leave this world quickly and not by this long protracted method. He does not have any quality of life!

So, I must find as many pleasures in my life as I can so that I do not become melancholy too. Walking and listening to my iPod is one of my greatest pleasures.

Back to Work - Bummer

2011-05-30T08:16:00.002-04:00

I can't believe that I have to go back to work! How inconvenient for me since I was hoping to be around for when my dad gets the results of his most recent tests. Oh well! I have until June 15th to close up my Dad's apartment. Gawd! I absolutely hate that job! It just seems like I cleaned out his house (it was just a year and a half ago after all!).

I have almost finished my niece's wedding card so I am very happy about that! I just have to make the envelope yet but I have two weeks so I'm not going to stress out over it.

I cancelled my art class for the summer because I just didn't think that I would be able to "do" everything and get bogged down and not be able to do the art homework each week. It is an expensive class so I don't want to waste my money. I have been thinking about trying out some classes that I see on the internet that I can do at my own pace. Hmmm sounds like a possiblity.

Blooms are here,summer is coming!

2011-05-24T08:47:00.007-04:00

I still go and see my Dad almost everyday at the hospital but since I am on holidays I try to do something creative once in awhile. Sometimes it is just my camera and what I see in the world around me. Sometimes that has to be good enough.

I went for a walk a few days ago and decided to take a detour in the woods and by chance it was the right day. I found these lovely trillium that are in full bloom. I have not noticed them anywhere else so I was especially happy to come across them.

I really am so lucky to be able to take a walk in the woods. Actually it is a skidoo path but that is okay with me since it makes it so easy to walk under the canopy.

So it seems that everything is in bloom in readiness for summer. At first, I thought the flowers below were for some sort of weed until I took a better look and realized that these pretty little flowers will soon be wild strawberries. YUM! YUM!

I have said it before and I will say it again...I love spring and I love summer!

Objects are Smaller than they Appear

2011-05-23T10:49:00.004-04:00

It makes me chuckle every time I see the caution statement on the side mirror of my car, "Objects are closer than they appear" . In this picture the minnows are smaller than their shadows. I am not a fisher woman, it is my husband who claims that interest but I know we have a "minnow can" somewhere in the garage. Regardless as to the smallness of some of them, I think that the holes would not be large enough to capture some of these bait fish. Not that my hubby is really interested since he is away on his annual fishing trip with the "boys" up north (a four hour trek)

I have been trying to finish off my wedding card for my nieces wedding that is fast approaching. In the meantime, I have decided to get my brushes in some paint and slap it on a blank canvas that I have had hanging on the wall. I had found it at a local charity shop but had to gesso out the horrible picture that had been digitally sprayed on my machine. The canvas is completely square and measures 22" x 22". It will be a simple painting because I don't have the time for something too time consuming and complex but I am just so happy to be mixing pigment and getting paint on my brush! This really satisfies my attention deficient disorder; while I am waiting for the paint to dry on the card project then I get add the next layer to the painting.

What is this?

2011-05-19T15:40:00.003-04:00

Since my dad had taken ill again and has now been diagnosed with a terminal cancer, I haven't been spending as much time on-line or doing any sort of art. I've got to clean out his apartment, make sure he is properly taken care of , pay his bills and that sort of thing. It is a lot of responsibility. He has made some specific requests as to what he wants at his funeral and I am not sure just how to go about it. The piper is easy as there is a local pipes and drums corp that do play at funerals. It is the pall bearers that I am having some difficulties with. I have no idea who to contact at the local armed forces base to ask if they can send 6 men and perform a community service for a 91 year old retired serviceman.

I was trawling the internet last night and came across a photograph of what was likely a ceiling to a church or some other historical type building. I think my drawing looks a bit like a spider web and I wonder if the design was created originally from that motif. However, I had a few minutes of time so I made a sort of "zentangle" of the photograph. Now that I look at it and if I was to imagine myself as being "very small" and looking up at a ceiling; now I can "see" that it indeed could be a ceiling of a church. Having said that, I am also looking at it with a different perspective. What other ways could this pattern, this motif be used? Would it lend itself to a rendition in fibre art or a mixed media piece? Hmm... I think there are certainly possibilities.

Dreams are Free!

2011-04-26T11:10:00.006-04:00

"DREAMS ARE FREE!" I heard this phrase in a song from a popular television show N.C.I.S.; it is called Genie in my Dreams and sung by Sharon Little. "When you can't take the living, remember: dreaming is free". I remember my mother telling me to stop "day-dreaming" and she said that she could tell because of my eyes. I do understand what she means by the way one's eyes often become "fixed", "glazed over" or a person just looks "far away". I wasn't thinking really, I was "day dreaming". I still day-dream and when I can't sleep, I night dream before I finally just say the heck with it and get up.

These dreams come in many forms; some continue to be day-dreams or "I wish" thoughts, some are thoughts that are attempting to conjure up a solution to a problem. More often than not, I do "dream" the answer to whatever pickle that I am in. It could be a workplace issue, or an artistic technique one (since I often do not have a set of instructions follow I need to think through to the next few steps).

Then there are always the "I wish" dreams but when one gets to a certain age, these rise to the top very often and must be stuffed back in the box because they are pointless, the past can not be changed. The future is the only thing that we have and we need to make the most of it! I consider myself lucky that answers do actually "come" to me in my day and night-dreams. I wonder if this should actually be called "lucid" dreaming? To answer my own question, yes, I think so.

A friend of mine told me about this incredible internet sale, Interweave had a sale on some old videos regularly priced at 19.99 for .10 cents (imagine that!). So, being the cheap type that I am I couldn't help myself. I had a ton of fun making some stamps from cheap dollar store vinyl erasers (4 for a $1). The DVD I downloaded was originally designed for use on fabric but I gave it a try and paper is also a suitable substrate.

This really fits in my my "childish" self; that self that still daydreams, daydreams about making time to "make art". This doesn't really take too much time and it really is worth the effort.

I love the results because it is so simple and close to "immediate" gratification.

Print on a piece of paper your word (making sure it fits on the eraser) and pressing hard to get lots of graphite on the paper (so a softer 2B is preferable to a 2H). Then rub hard over the word you have printed and once you have then fill in the "rubbing" so you can see your work clearly. Yes, it will be backwards when you are cutting it out but remember it will be "right" again when you stamp on your page or on your fabric.

The only other piece of "equipment" one needs is an x-acto style knife of utility craft knife the type that has the triangular shaped blade with a long skinny point. The point is used to pivot in the eraser to get a really great circle.

Herons

2011-04-21T13:02:00.004-04:00

I feel bad about the snow that continues to fall; I had hoped that that nonsense would be over by now.

I wonder how difficult life is for the heron's as they make their nests and I would anticipate that they are trying to keep their eggs warm for hatching.

I was lucky to get this snap of them on the morning of my last nightshift that I worked. Often there are the photo buffs who have their tripods out and there mega camera's with the telephoto lens out. Me, I just have my baby Nikon but I was able to zoom in enough to get a snap. At least I caught the image of a bird that I could not see clearly with my own imperfect eyes.

I hope and pray that the weather will soon bring spring like breezes and not winter weather.

Altered "book" art card

2011-04-12T09:09:00.006-04:00

I finished the "altered book" art card for my friends birthday. Silly me but I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the project before I gave her the birthday card (and a small gift!). She was kind enough to bring it back for me so I could do exactly that.

So here are some pictures of the process.

In the beginning there was a unloved children's story book....

Unfortunately it had the shiny plastic cover so I gessoed on some cheesecloth. I ended up using some tinted gesso that I had left over from another project. I don't know what I was doing at the time but it had been hanging around so I thought that I would use it up since it was starting to harden in the jar and would be wasted.

I had been concentrating on the beadwork and I almost forgot that I wanted a closure for the "card" and at the last minute added the ribbon.

I laid out the prepared painted pages, the beadwork, and the embellishments prior to slapping on the gel medium to glue it all together.

The "eye on the prize" theme just sort of came to me. It wasn't what I had planned at all, it was like the "beads" had a mind of their own.

I think my friend enjoyed the card! I think that most artistic people appreciate the work involved in making art.

I had fun doing this project and got to play with "puffy paint", resin sand, artist glass bead medium, acrylic jewels, recycled dryer sheet.

So my next project is another altered book wedding card for my niece who is getting married this coming June! More fun.

Paint Brush App

2011-03-18T16:55:00.005-04:00

I tried a new art drawing and painting app on my iPhone. I was on my lunch while I was working my last nightshift. So the depth of my creativity is at a all time low! I looked at the cover of the library book that I am currently reading and decided to give it a go. Not the best but it was fun way to while away part of my lunch hour.

Can you guess the name of it from this awful representation???!!!!

However, I really need to get reading this book since I have to return it to the library next week. I doubt that I will be able to renew it since it is popular and it likely has a hold on it by another member. Bummer. So I need to get off of this computer and "get reading"!!

Sunrise on Snow and Ice

2011-03-17T15:11:00.006-04:00

Happy St Paddy's day to all from a girl whose descendants hail from County Clare, Ireland!

I love the internet! I love reading Canadian Geographic and the plethora of other similar and not so similar sites out there devoted to artistic photography. I belong to the school of photography that says that one only needs to open their eyes and look around them for the beauty that is everywhere. One only needs to be spontaneous and seize the moments as they come (as often as one can!). Not sure if there actually is a "school" of thought out there that adheres to this maxim but I think there should be. I don't have any really expensive equipment; just two point and shoot camera's. One of them travels with me everywhere and the other only when the weather is a bit more "seasonal" for such equipment.

I'm still baffled about what exactly drove me to go down to the lake following my nightshift but I'm glad I did. I got some really fabulous snaps! Afterwards I did think that my fingers were going to snap off because they were so cold. When I got safely back in my warm car, I stuck them on my neck and blew on them before putting my gloves back on!

I was very happy and satisfied that listening to my intuition meant I didn't miss this excellent opportunity. Sometimes all things "happenstance" are just the best! Don't you think so too??

I just love the one above and find it interesting that my point and shoot camera could capture the colour in all it's glory. I didn't have to do much manipulating of the picture other than to straighten it. I realize now that when I'm that tired I seem to "list" to the right or left. All of the pictures I took actually LOOKED slightly OFF. At first, I thought that there might be another problem but no, it is just simple human exhaustion. I think a tripod would be a good solution too. However, I would certainly have to be dressed properly for the weather; as it was the elements took it's toll on me!

I love the surreal quality of the pictures as the light reflects off of the ice and snow. There was lots of activity down at the lake for so early in the morning (0730 hrs) but it was the day that the ice hut fishermen were to take their huts off. March 15th is the cut off date, come rain or shine. It was a beautiful day and the following one was raining. So, it seems that the selection of that "arbitrary" date is not so arbitrary after all! We can't let these "structures" get stuck on the ice and then fall to the bottom of the lake - to become garbage and pollutants.

As I look at these now, I am listening to a song titled "Didja Dream?", didgeridoo music from the Dreaming Didgeridoo album (from iTunes). A perfect accompaniment to this post, almost as surreal as the photograph.

A Wee Rabbit

2011-03-07T15:30:00.006-05:00

I have been wracking my brains trying to think of a way to get a picture of the rabbits that come to feed at our bird feeder. I have seen their backsides only as they take off like a shot when I round the corner of the driveway. I had even considered purchasing a "game camera" at Canadian Tire, it automatically take snaps of wildlife that activates the motion sensor in the camera. However, I thought the price was a bit steep for what I want to use it for. So, I only have to try and get a snap of the racoon now!! I'll have to put my thinking cap on for that one!

This morning as I pulled up and parked I saw his head pop up, so I waited and watched. I finally had to go in because the car was beginning to get very cold at 07:30 hrs this morning. I noticed that he had returned when I got inside the house.

So there is one of the snaps that I got of him before the alarm bells settled in and he took off like a shot once again!

I have no idea if I missed a better opportunity to to catch him again at the feeder because my pillow was calling my name!

Watermarking Photo's

2011-03-06T10:38:00.006-05:00

I forgot that I need to watermark my photo's for 2011! It totally slipped my mind somehow.

So here is one where I have tried to have the watermark not be so.... in your face but it is definitely there and the photo would not likely be used by anyone else. At least, not as "the photo" in it's own right. That is all that I really want. we should already know by now that if something is on "the net" then it is "out there for all to see"!

So here is a little drawing that I completed yesterday; I wanted to draw something....anything because it has been awhile since I have. I have been concentrating on hand stitching in my "altered book birthday card" (to be shown here after completion). It was slow going at work yesterday morning so I had a bit of time to put my 2B pencil to a page in my sketchbook!

I think that this particular watermark is the best choice so far, it really is "just right". I'd like to thank one of the girls at work for mentioning that all the "professionals" use one similar to this. Okay, so I'm not a professional by any stretch but the truth is I would like to appear to be knowledgable about what is considered "professional".

I don't normally watermark my pencil drawings if I can apply my name somewhere but I was just doing this as a test especially over a lighter background.

As my art instructor said to me in university, I should not be so hard on myself when it comes to making art. I am so good at criticizing my work and I must constantly remind myself that I enjoyed the process of making art, therefore there really is little need to be so negative; besides, this is a quick drawing in a sketchbook!!!

Okay, so this is not the most fantastic picture but it still makes me smile! I do love garlic almost as much as I love onions, food does not taste right without one or the other!

What to do?

2011-02-11T15:04:00.003-05:00

I had no pencils, no sketchbook..... no problem! I did have some pens and a few minutes of time! So I tried doodle type drawing on what I had, a piece of paper! It was entertaining, something to pass the time. I was able to focus on the positive and kept my mind active at work last night.

Bird Song

2011-02-07T08:45:00.005-05:00

I got a quick snap of this bird yesterday and I had to clean it up using iPhoto to finally get an idea on the lovely markings it has. So I thought I would post the before and after. Interesting thing is that I saw it the way it is in the snap; very dark. I have no idea what type of bird it is but there was a poplar tree full of them and some of them travelled over to the crab apple. I was lucky to get this snap because they seemed more nervous being closer to the ground and closer to me.

What prompted me to try the shot was the fact that they had this strange bird song. A warbling hum. It was pleasant enough and it seemed that they only sang as a group; in harmony so to speak.

I had to really
Okay so I am off to do some playing.... I have lots to do, birthday card and I'd like to finish a little drawing if I can find the time.

Altered "book" art

2011-02-02T11:47:00.009-05:00

I have been mulling a new project in my head. It will be a birthday card for a friend. I'm looking around for inspiration and I think that I have my colours solidified. I found an old Elle Canada fashion magazine. Although it is a fashion magazine it is not clothing that is my source of inspiration. The picture has the colours that remind me of a Bollywood movie; very rich, very vibrant! Suffice to say, I don't want to give too much away at this point.

This was a children's story book and because it had a plasticized cover I have applied some cheesecloth using gesso; I learnt my lesson on my last project! This is the barebones of the "foundation" of the altered book birthday "card". I had some left over paint from another project so I mixed it in with the white gesso. I'm not found of the colour but that is no matter since it doesn't really matter. Next step will be applying some molding paste to the front.

Now that I'm no longer flip flopping on the colour scheme, I can get down to the business of altering the book in preparation for the mixed media art to follow.

I'm told I have a great imagination. The thing is, it all takes time with me, I wish that the inspiration just dropped down from the sky and I knew exactly where I should go next. As I have said in the past, I don't have a "how-to" for these projects. I'm not complaining, I'm just "explaining". I'm on night shift tonight so I will spend a bit more time thinking about the overall project and get a positive direction on where I want to go. Will the next step be a proto-type or will it be the final project? Hmmmm, don't know yet!

Altered "book" art

2011-01-28T11:42:00.006-05:00

I have been so busy and now I have popped my head up and taken a look around; unbelievably, January is coming to a close already! Where did the month go?

I thought that I would post the "altered book" piece that I finished a couple of weeks ago. I had to have it ready for my very good friends wedding celebration on January 15th. That day is snowed across Ontario and we had to stay home. I sent it to her via snail mail.

It all started with an "idea".... to make something... to make a "wedding card" for a friend.

The idea morphed from the sketchbook to the actual art piece. I took an ugly children's story book from the charity chop and gutted it and gessoed the whole thing.

I think that it looks very pretty with the tissue paper texture on the front. I used some tri-Art paint on the front called "Liquid Mirror". It is super expensive so I only painted the front of the piece with it.

I think that my piece of art turned out even better than I had imagined. Since I didn't have a "how-to" or any instructions it took quite a long time to get to each step in the process. At each level I had to "think" what would work so that I could get to the finished project.

The only information that I was able to glean from a journaling website (I wish I could remember which one now then I would post it here) is that I should not have used a book with a shiny cover. Unfortunately, I had already started the process and found this information to be very true. I had a hard time getting the gesso to adhere!!

I think my friend liked it but I wasn't there to see her face. Says that she thinks that I am so very "imaginative" and that I am talented. So, that being said, I think she means she liked it. I'm glad because I just didn't have the heart to buy some of the store bought type with their banal sayings.

A "Cut" Above

2011-01-20T09:21:00.003-05:00

I received a drawing Zine that I ordered from Etsy in the mail the day before yesterday. The author is a woman from England and I read her blog several times a week because she always has something interesting on it. I was so excited to pour through it and get some inspiration. However, my body had other ideas; a headache blossomed and just wouldn't go away no matter how many milligrams of pain medication I took. I managed to reduce the pain enough to make this small and simple drawing.

The round dots in the picture are replicated from the envelope that she sent all the way from the UK - the Royal Mail!!! The artist had covered the envelope with these to spark up a plain white envelope. Very cool!

Turning a New Leaf

2011-01-17T12:39:00.005-05:00

Honestly, I hadn't actually consciously thought about this when I drew it since often in the new year we are all interested in "turning a new leaf". I just had three leaves left over from fall. I had kept them aside because I loved their shape. I started it on the last day of December last year but didn't get it actually finished to my satisfaction until this new year.

However, it is quit poignant I think since I have wanted to be more diligent with my drawings. I have now decided that a "quick sketch" is better than no sketch. I'm a bit tardy with posting this but better late than never. In a round about way I'm trying to not say that I have NOT made a new years resolution to "do more art". If nothing else, to sketch more since it is important to make a mark on the page. But I am naught going to make new years resolutions because I am prone not to do this and set myself up for failure.

I try to keep the drawing within the confines of 4" x6" but this time the shadow took over and I had to extend it out into the margin. Really there is no problem there, in fact it makes me chuckle since I had to break my "drawing rule".

New sketchbook

2011-01-05T15:51:00.004-05:00

I got a fabulous new sketchbook for Christmas! It is handmade and I am totally delighted with the results of my friends labour. The photographs do not do it justice but you will get the idea.

I love the handmade Christmas card as well! I'm so impressed and slightly envious since I have not taken the time out to make anything this year.

I've been somewhat lazy in the art department. I have been trying to keep up with the needs of my elderly dad and that seems to be where my extra time has been going.

Currently I'm trying to "craft" up a wedding day card for a friend who will be married in a few weeks. I am in the midst of it now and I hope the product I am working on is not the "proto-type" but the end result.

Christmas Ornament

2010-12-20T17:56:00.002-05:00

Here is my version of a Christmas tree ornament for this year. I think that I had to rush through it and I'm not as fond of it as I am of my 2010 Christmas Zentangle doodle. However, it might be the choice of subject. Maybe next year I will draw another one and it will of course be a different one and I'll see what happens.

Christmas Zentangle doodle

2010-12-18T16:02:00.002-05:00

I love to doodle when I only have snippits of spare time! I love how I can not have a plan and the drawing can "turn out". 2010 Christmas doodle is fun! I knew that I wanted the star and snowman motif and some trees but that was about it when I started it. I think this is a great use of my creative time!!

Have I said that I absolutely love prezzies? My friend says that I have only said it, "oh maybe a thousand times"! However, I have to get my own personal Santa moving because there are no prezzies under the tree for me ... yet!

It is beginning to feel like.....

2010-12-11T19:14:00.003-05:00

Yes, I'm beginning to get into the spirit of the season! I had some time and took my inspiration from Canadian Christmas stamps (having finally sent out a Christmas card to friend down east!).

I used some STAEDTLER watercolour crayons and some Lyra water soluble crayons. I have used the hard Staedtler crayons before and had enjoyed using them. I have used them in my regular Moleskin sketchbook by using gesso on the pages so that the water will not leak through the pages. This time I used both products and found that I like using the Lyra water soluble crayons because of there soft creamy texture. the one downside is that it is impossible to apply more colour on top due to the waxy finish. I will have to try to add Lyra on top of Lyra and see if there is a difference.

Of course, I can see now that I have applied the colour a bit more haphazard than I had originally thought. I thing that I need to use a template (a glass or jar would have done quite nicely) to make the round shapes. Oh well, I was working on a nightshift and I was just so happy to have "created" anything let alone create something that should be "perfect".

Regardless, this quick watercolour "sketch" makes me happy!

The Zipper Rules

2010-12-02T16:12:00.003-05:00

Ahhhhh! Just a quickie pencil sketch. This is a drawing of two things that were at hand while I was at work (slow nightshift!!). No, the zipper wasn't exactly a chance item since I had picked it up at the charity shop the day before in anticipation that the shift might be quiet and I could keep myself awake with a small project. It really is the only way to go when time drags endlessly and all of your thoughts are based on .... will this night shift "ever end"!!!??

I like this sketch just because it is a bit odd and the perspective is a "bit" off once again (bummer!). I had originally drawn the zipper but the page. seemed empty so I just added the ruler on the bottom. Had I planned out the page, I would have placed the zipper and ruler at a different juxtaposition that would have been a bit more pleasing to the eye.

Oh well, it was a night shift drawing and not intended to be a "piece of art" but a artistic way of passing the time and keeping myself awake and primed to "do my job"!!!!

Proto-type in Moleskine

2010-11-26T18:06:00.005-05:00

I've been invited to a wedding for a long-time friend who has never yet been married. She wants to get married before she is fifty so the date has been set for January. I have wracked my brain on what type of card that I should buy for her. I love those expensive "pop-up" cards but then I thought... what the heck.... go for it and try to make something.

So I thought and thought..... then I recalled that I had a package of used from Casino Rama. They have never been used at my house since my hubby is not much of a card player. He never grew up playing cards like I did.

I got the idea from the cards and of course these are not Tarot, they did not speak to me or anything. I used them to represent to couple to be married. I thought that telling "their story" so to speak might be interesting. I think that I will do it up like an "art" card; no it isn't "fine" art but it is a handmade art card.

I started with a pencil sketch and you will see that it is only a sketch since I did not use any measuring tools. I just eye-balled it because I wanted to get myself moving, to get "into" it, get into the creative process of the "how". All with come together with "baby" steps; that means drawing first then a prototype in my Moleskin too.

Of course, I haven't gotten close to being finished and have added more text already so that I can "finish" the story of their relationship.

Now I have to figure out how I will make it into an actual card that I will be satisfied with. Writing the text in this way means that I use up lots of page space and that means I might have put it in a much larger watercolour page. It just so happens that I have several sheets but I will do up one more on paper and see how I like it.

Hibiscus

2010-10-31T16:51:00.003-04:00

So here it is Halloween and I finally get to post again! The best part is that it is a pencil drawing from my Moleskine. It was good to finally draw something yesterday before I went in on nightshift. The bad part is that it isn't a great drawing in anyway. My point really is that I just need to put the pencil in my hand and make a mark on the page. It has been way too long.

This plant was given to me as a birthday gift and I am constantly amazed how it blooms. It has three orange blooms on it today and many more to come. I love bringing this plant indoors from its summer perch on our deck. When I look at it all winter, I longingly think of spring!

Tomatoes

2010-10-09T08:58:00.003-04:00

We had a really great crop of tomatoes this year! We had a few varieties and they came in different sizes. So able to find the time to draw one. Not sure that I picked the best perspective, regardless it is a completed drawing.

Will be heading out on the IMAGES studio tour today with family so that will be great fun! Bringing the camera with me since it is such a fabulous day - another one!! We will be getting spoiled for sure!

Shibori and Zentangle

2010-09-10T13:36:00.005-04:00

Wow! It is September and before I turned around it is the 10th already! What a lovely fall-like day! Unfortunately, it is the end of my favourite season although autumn is a very pretty season to. I'm trying to get a bunch of odds and ends done like making telephone calls that I have been avoiding (I only have one more to go!) and such like.

No time to finish my final art project unfortunately, so the hair on my picture remains at 70% complete. I had time on one of my night shifts to complete a zentangle doodle; for the first time I used a coloured background. The doodle is done with a brush micron pen and I had some brush markers that I broke out for the background. I love the doodle since I don't plan anything out and it was completely spontaneous. The result is okay with me although there are a couple of areas of the doodle what I would have changed their locations. Regardless, it was fun and it occupied my time in the wee hours of the morning which were exceptionally boring on my last night shift. This is something that I can do to keep myself awake and doesn't take too much brain power so I am not expending too much energy.

I wanted to post a pic of my silk chiffon scarf that I dyed. I think it is lovely but I can see now that I should have dipped it more often. That is a good lesson to learn from my first try at Shibori and indigo dying.

Indigo and Shibori Dye

2010-08-31T13:29:00.006-04:00

Yesterday was my first ever attempt at indigo dying and checking out the concept of Shibori. I Googled "Shibori" and found out that: it is a Japanese term for several methods of dyeing cloth with a pattern by binding, stitching, folding, twisting....

It was lots of fun even though it was so hot yesterday. I was very happy with some of my projects. It is strange but I forgot to take a picture of the Shibori pole-wraped silk scarf!!! I still have some indigo left in my dye vat and I definitely want to do some more dying.

I invite anyone who is interested to check out these websites: http://shiborigirl.wordpress.com/

and

http://www.maiwa.com/documentaries/pc_callender.html

I just had to download a few of their informative podcasts too.

What a great experience! So, I wasn't really sure what to expect so I had "prepared" a few items for the dye bath. However, what I like the most wasn't my dyed pillowcases but the Shibori dyed silk scarf. I know that I have a few more packages of silk chiffon and my fingers are just itching to get them in the dye bath.

So, in the beginning ... there is plain white cotton and in this case, two pillowcases. I went to the dollar store and got some elastics (500 in a package no less) and started to "tie" my fabric. I was surprised to find out that elastics have changed from what I had used in the past (who knew?!!)

Okay there are a few things going on in the snap below. I have a piece of watercolour paper, an old sweater that had some stains on it and yes a pole. With some helpful instructions from my good friend Leanne, I have taped, wrapped and bound with crochet cotton my silk scarf to the outside of the pole.

I didn't know that the dye would at first appear to be green until the oxygen gets at the fabric and turns it the lovely blue shade.

One pillowcase successfully dyed!

So here is the one pillow case. The worst part of doing this was untying the elastic. I ripped out, snapped off as much as I could with a pair of scissors. I was just a bit concerned about doing that since I was afraid of cutting the fabric. Secondly, I was wondering how my fingers and nails would look the next day. My finger nails only have a slightly blue tinge today!

Oh so reminiscent of the 1970's!!! I love fun!

Oh and if you are wondering; yes, I am still doing hair on my final drawing project!!!

Okay, I'm at Starbucks in town so I can use the free WiFi internet and downloading the latest updates for my computer. Along comes an "old fella" and asked one of the men if he is here to get away from his parents basement. He thought that we were all way to engrossed on what is going on our respective computer screens. When I looked up to survey my colleagues at the table I would have surmised that we are all over the age of 35. Obviously, we look silly to the "old fella" who was wearing a white canvas fedora (while indoors no less).

Final Drawing Project

2010-08-26T09:51:00.004-04:00

Working certainly makes me a very dull girl! I will be working for 7 straight days in a row so I haven't had time to do any art. So, darn it all but I have not finished my final drawing project for art class tonight. I will try to get some of the hair filled in before I have to leave for work today.

I completed the skin on the face and neck while only my lunch break yesterday at Tim Horton's yesterday and had a very sweet kid come up and make some interesting comments. He had some good pointers to offer and I ended up using my kneadable to take off some marks that I knew I needed to but had not yet gotten around to it. He did say that I had done a good job so far! Yippee!!!! Unfortunately, I had hoped to get more done on my final piece but we ended up chatting, he is a construction worker and also enjoys drawing, tattoo designs (he had lots of them) and clay work. I have never gone to Tim's and drawn anything in the past, usually I just sit there and read a book. So it was an interesting lunch which afforded an objective critique of my drawing by a person I do not know

Nope, I'm not going to post it here since it will become a birthday gift for a very dear friend.

Here is the cover of my sketchbook that I put some left over paint on and doodled.

Nasty Hair

2010-08-18T17:24:00.003-04:00

I had a not so lovely experience yesterday! I had a date with the dental surgeon to get my implant. It has been a long time in coming when the tooth fractured last August. Healing and bone growth take time. This next phase will take quite some as well! I'm glad that I opted to sleep through the procedure. What a slick operation the dental specialist has!!!! In one door and out the back door; to ensure that the patient is closer to the elevator on leaving so that no one can see you with your ice pack on your face.

So, yes that means I am "still" working on hair. I don't know what it is but I thought that I had the drawing dark enough but the picture says otherwise. In addition, I can see some errors in my perception. So the question is, are the flaws in my drawing going to make a big difference and change the overall appearance of the person. No, I don't think so, my drawing is close even if I do say so myself. Sometimes I wonder exactly what I was thinking at the time that I did the contour drawing. I drew it in "quadrants" and coloured it in using the quadrant method as well and still I have made some obvious errors in the hair style. No, I have no idea what I was thinking and why it is that I didn't see the obvious until now. So I think that I will call my attempt at drawing hair - "impressionistic realism".

Drawing and Music

2010-08-15T12:02:00.005-04:00

I have read lots of posts by bloggers who cite classical music as the cats meow for making art. I have read that jazz greats like Thelonius Monk is another perfect option. These suggestions are often made for music to be part of the creative process but pushed into the background. I like mind just a bit more front and centre.

Hmmm! As with art, music is definitely a personal preference. I agree that classical and Thelonius have their place and there is certainly a good "marriage" between the two artistic realms. I have tried out these different genres with some success but find that I prefer my music a bit more uptempo whether it is a cold or sultry day! Music is so very subjective and I do change my mind oftentimes it is based on my mood. Of late, I have been leaning towards Latin/salsa and music from Africa, and the Arab world (Turkey and Egypt). I have a Macbook and I have different playlists that I use (my lovely daughter bought me some fabulous Bose speakers for my computer). I prefer world music BECAUSE I can't understand the words so I am not actually listening that closely and can continue to concentrate on the work [the art] at hand. The beat is just enough that keeps me happy but not so much that I get out of my zone and find myself "toe tapping".

Each to her/his own!

Thank goodness we have music because I am working on hair again today and need the tunes!

Today, I am listening to:

The Greatest Songs Ever: Middle East

Turkey - The Greatest Songs Ever

Arabic Groove

African Guitar Summit II - (recorded in Toronto)

Africa - The Greatest Songs Ever

Sleepless in Oro

2010-08-14T05:26:00.004-04:00

I would prefer to still be asleep but since I can't I can appreciate the net without feeling guilty. I don't feel obligated to doing any chores around the house and being on the net is a "quiet" activity. I have my cup of hot coffee on my desk beside me so life is good indeed.

I hope to tackle drawing hair a little bit later as it is the next step in my weekly art assignment. Oh boy!!! I thought teeth were hard! Hair is every bit as hard as the rest of the face. The instructor says that hair is tedious and has tried to simplify the process for us. For some reason I think that I am having difficulty grasping the concept. I started the assignment yesterday and I just don't "see" when I should be using island, parallel lines and star bursts. Some of what he showed us is so obvious if only I am able to see the "little intricacies" of the big picture that is HAIR (Cowsills song). On the other hand, the way I see it, some marks are completely subjective. I feel concerned about the rightness and wrongness of my mark making. I must remember that marks have to visually flow so that it replicates our normal world as closely as possible. For example, if there is a clump of wispy hair here then the hair near or "under" it will be darker; remember that hair is darker near a part. That is the sort of thing that is all true but not something that we actually "think" about. Without actually saying so, I think our instructor is trying to get us to change the way we "see" or at least "interpret" what we see and how we make that mark on the paper. It is exactly like my issues with the teeth, we all think we have white teeth when in fact we don't.

Ahhh well, come what may!

It is not always about drawing!!!

2010-08-13T09:23:00.003-04:00

I love the abstract nature of this snap! I stopped at a little parkette that I have driven by on many an occasion. It is right beside Camp Hillbilly!!! (seeing this name always makes me chuckle). I decided to stop yesterday on my way home from Deerhurst Resort. It was great because it was so cool and shady on such a hot day. I love how the lily pads are strong and clear in the foreground and the background is all blurry because it is the reflection of the trees in the water. No, I will never be Monet (I think he was the famous artist that painted the lily pads). I like the way it has percolated my creative thoughts. It makes me feel all bubbly with what if I did that or this or the other. Unfortunately, I have no time to do right now! But no complaints!

I had to take a snap of this little flower (weed)! It was the only touch of red in the whole park! It immediately caught my eye! No wonder! I'm sure that colour theory was modelled from nature.

Okay, so here is my portrait project so far! As you can see the bottom half is clearly different from the top half (hmm where have I heard that before??!!). My instructor said that my top half was too light so I drew the bottom half completely in 2B other than the mapping in which I did using an H lead. I had hoped to have time to blend the two drawings together so they actually looked like they "belonged" to the same face and without the line in the centre. That obviously didn't happen!

I was at a conference so I didn't spend as much time "checking" my work using my camera as my guide. Our instructors' critique was that my teeth are way to white. I can certainly see that my teeth are indeed way "too white"!! They almost jump off the page! Ugh! In fact, I think that he might just have a point, I think the whole drawing shows way too much white paper through the pencil. I think it is all about practice, practice, practice and yes, more practice. I have a ways to go on that score!

There was a "life perspectives" coach at the conference and she says that we need to do "NEW" things. So here I am, doing and learning something new and loving it. It is hard work but well worth the effort.

Drawing Challenges

2010-08-04T09:23:00.003-04:00

I have to get my picture finished today in preparation for lots of chores to do in town tomorrow. Then art class!

This latest homework assignment has been difficult. Our instructor said that it would be the most fun of all his assignments this far. That may be so but it is also the most difficult. I have to put in all of the skin lines and hair (eyelashes) and such today.

I will try and post my final pic along with the instructors critique. I find that since I am looking at it now, I see many mistakes. I think that I might do my next drawing exactly the way the instructor does; piece by piece. He draws in segments and fills in the "colour" in segments like fitting a puzzle together. I have been working "all over the place" and I think that I am doing myself a dis-service because when I do find a mistake then it is often just too difficult to correct. I just can't force myself to erase all the work that I have done and start over. Well, maybe that is exactly what I should have done; started over. No matter, I don't have the time for that and so this effort will have to suffice in its current state; warts and all.

Then later today I have to pack up for the weekend at our trailer in Bracebridge. From there, I am going directly to Huntsville for a conference. Only saving grace is that it is only 33 kms from where I'll be at the camp and only and hour and a bit back home! The conference is finished on Thursday and I'll be heading home southbound so there shouldn't be an issue with the northbound tourist traffic!

Thursday is drawing class night

2010-07-29T10:34:00.004-04:00

The cherries this year are absolutely fantastic, nice and sweet! I was only able to find two bunches of black cherries that were still joined. I drew them and then re-worked them (read edit) but although I am not totally satisfied, here they are. Using a camera is sometimes very good since it is a truly an objective "critic".

Thought that I would post some "tools of the trade" so to speak. These are things that I never thought that I would ever use. Obviously, the instructor likes us to use European drawing materials. I have read on the internet that they have softer leads with higher pigmentation. I certainly understand the softer lead thing since I have used over an inch of my 2B pencil for this weeks homework project. I never ever thought I would use the sandpaper block but what a useful tool it is!

I am amazed at how much information is available on the internet about drawing but then again there is lots that isn't explained. I learn better with actual instruction and then applying what has been learned in the homework assignment.

Well done Mark! Go see his amazing art at his website www.marktumber.com

I have to say that although last week I was disappointed with my drawing efforts, I am looking forward to tonight. I seem to be having some difficulties with the "live model". I have to say that I had had a very busy day last week and was a bit tired. I hate to lay to blame elsewhere but I do have to say that the environment is really not conducive to drawing. The perspective is all off for me; she was standing directly in front of me but was standing on the table which make her way above my head. Nothing I drew was any good, I hope that it was just an "off" night that will not be repeated again tonight.

Pears

2010-07-26T15:56:00.006-04:00

I am taking a drawing course down at Curry's art supply in town and I really should be doing my homework since it will require many many hours of work before the next class on Thursday night. But as always, I am a dilly dally sort of person and have been drawing fruit.

I find that there are times when the camera "does not lie" and I can see lots of errors in my drawings. It is a good to use the critical "lens" of the camera if you don't have anyone to critique your work. So yes, I can see the flaws in these little drawings but I'm putting them "out there" anyway.

Actually these two little drawings are from my Moleskin sketchbook because I know that I should to draw each and every day in order to improve my skill and technique. However, I did cheat on these and I used "shavings" from my pencil to darken the background. My drawing instructor thinks that is the lazy way since it is NOT actual "drawing" but smearing graphite on to a page with a stomp. He says 80 percent drawing and 20 percent stomping! I will try!

I will see if I can post his link here so you can check out how great he is: www.marktumber.com

In the Eye of the Beholder

2010-07-25T10:04:00.004-04:00

Well, I do like the new backgrounds that blogger has let me change but I thought I could fool around with it so much more. More reading and learning is required it seems. I'm a bit miffed that all of my old posts won't show up since the new change because the print area is now white when before it was black. Hmm. Wonder if there is a work-a-round for this. So that means more reading and more learning. That is certainly a good thing.

Although I would never wear anything orange, I really do love the warmth the colour brings to the screen. I know that some readers don't appreciate the stark blackness. I thought that the black punctuated my photo's but possibly that is only for my eye only. Ya know, in the "eye of the beholder"!

Moleskin Sketch

2010-07-20T08:52:00.007-04:00

I read lots of blogs where the blogger writes about why they have been absent from updating their blog. Sometimes they even write that they will endeavour to update more frequently in the future because they life has stabilized blah, blah, blah. I just refuse to make promises or to apologize. My absence is what it is, life happens.

I love my little red Moleskin sketchbook. It is all about being easy to carry in addition to my iPod! It is one of the two things that I just CAN NOT do without. So if I was stuck on a desert island, I would absolutely have to have my sketchbook and a minimum a 2B pencil.

I'm just started a drawing course this month so it has renewed my desire to get back to sketching and drawing. So here is a small one I did several nightshifts ago! I popped these cherries in my mouth after I drew them. Doing a drawing that has nothing to do with my class work was very satisfying!

Thinking Pink and Green

2010-05-06T11:29:00.006-04:00

Pink and "spring" green is the spring/summer version of Christmas time red and green.

The blossoms on the crab apple tree have me thinking about the pinks and green of spring!!

I think that I will use these little silicone gems today. Can you guess what they are?? What a great invention silicone is, so useful, so versatile! And just in case you were wondering, there is nothing in this picture that signifies these useful items have any relationship to "helmet head".

Once I have something in my mind it becomes easier to see it everywhere I look. the thought of "colour" gets my creativity flowing and evolving. I ended up taking the yet uncut seedless watermelon and staging it for picture taking. Hmmm! Not too shabby for a quick snap!

Reclamation Project

2010-04-09T10:26:00.005-04:00

I'm on holidays and I decided that it is time that I finished up some of the many "unfinished" projects that I have had on the go! I know, it is shocking but nevertheless so very true. I am "one of them"!

So for the last few days, I took it upon myself to finish a proto-type that I had started for the year-long project challenge for members of the Marmalade group! I hadn't liked the way it was going so I shoved it in a bag.

As it happens I had the mat and the frame has been cluttering around my workspace for years. Viola! I had a chance to use a RED frame. What was I thinking when I bought that thing? I have absolutely no idea!

I had named my project - The Reclamation Project - because I wanted everyone to make beautiful art from reclaimed materials. Of course, art is in the eye of the beholder but I think that this example demonstrates what I meant. Here I used old men's silk ties, painted coffee filters, painted dryer sheets and beads from my collection.

The Lady or the Tiger?

2010-04-07T15:21:00.002-04:00

Something that I have read recently sparked my interest (I’m on holidays and I’m reading things that I find entertaining); that something was written by one of my favourite authors, Neil Gaiman. He had written an introduction to his children’s book, “M is for Magic” (a Hugo award winner for The Graveyard Book ). Here is what he said, “Stories you read when you are the right age never quite leave you. You may forget who wrote them or what the story was called. Sometimes you will forget precisely what happened, but if a story touches you it will stay with you, haunting the places in your mind that you rarely ever visit”. This is the short story that impacted me the most since I read it at a young age, possibly 8 or 9 years of age. We lived in Mount Apica, a Canadian radar base in Quebec. It was a crappy three-roomed school but I found a book of short stories in the school library. I can still recall what I believe to be the right name of the story, “The Lady or the Tiger?” What I liked best about it was the fact that the reader is the one who must make the decision. Which ending is the one? Why do we think that one ending will prevail over any other probable ending? I guess that is one of the reasons why I like endings of the novels I read to be unexpected. That rarely happens, I am often disappointed. However, there was one other book where I was delighted that I could not for some unknown reason figure out the ending; the book was called, The Seville Communion by Arturo Perez-Reverte (a Spanish journalist and novelist). He is not an author who would be read among my peers but this is a novel that has stuck with me due to the surprise I received on the last page. The next was a book about a mentally ill man called, The Confederacy of Dunces. It certainly was not a “gripping” novel. Again, the ending was not quite what I had anticipated although in the face of mental illness it is often highly accurate.

I have since completed a Google search and find that Frank R Stockton wrote The Lady or the Tiger and it was first published for a magazine in 1882. Here is a link whereby you can read the story for yourself; it is worth the short time it takes to read it!!

http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/LadyTige.shtml

In many respects I am loath to read it as an adult, because I don’t want to change the way it has resonated with me for so many years.

Podcast Audio Books

2010-03-19T17:26:00.002-04:00

Have I said how much I love my Macbook laptop?!! I'm at Starbucks downloading podcasts to my heart content.

I have just finished another audio book podcast and have just started another. I love my iPod touch almost as much as this piece of technology! I can safely say that I can't recommend enough Mur Lafferty's podcast audio books. Just listened to "Playing for Keeps" and I plan on downloading "The Takeover" later. Right now I'm downloading the podcast that won the 2009 Parsecs Award for this genre. It is quite a lengthy story and I have had to download it piecemeal. Playing for Keeps is a story about super heros. I had thought that I mightn't like it all that much but I did indeed; it was recommended by the fella that podcasts the "Leviathan Chronicles". His podcast audio book is of such high quality adventure Mur's is a little less high tech but the story was great!

So in the meantime I have just started a new podcast audio book called "Nocturnal". This one is about crime and vampires and so far has been very exciting.

2010-03-06T17:24:00.002-05:00

I wanted to spend a few minutes "doodling" and I located this page in my Moleskine that I had covered with graphite and rubbed with a stomp. I'm not sure what made me do this and it sure looked like something needed to be done with it. I just couldn't leave it that way forever.

So I used some white and silver paint pens and a sharpie to make a doodle picture. I'm not sure what made me pick flowers but I think that it looks interesting if nothing else. I had not anticipated what it would turn out like so it was a surprise. I like it when I don't have a plan while making art - even if it is just doodle art. I find that my like is so planned out already that not having one is some much more fun! So I take my hat off to everyone who can produce art without a plan.

Bee Clip Earings

2010-02-27T17:45:00.005-05:00

I just loved these earrings when I saw them because they are intended to represent bees. If my memory serves bees are good luck. I checked on google and found out that they represent the notion that all things are possible! Really? I didn't know that.

Wait! I almost forgot, I have a pair of socks with a bee embroidered on them and I found a concert Tori Amos t-shirt (originally belonging to my daughter) that as a bee painted on it.

Then if found that in the ancient near east and Aegean cultures, the bee was believed to be the sacred insect that bridged the natural world to the underworld.

However, having said that, in Welsh lore it is good luck to have a strange swarm of bees come to your garden. Okay, I can understand that, but really, I'm scared to death of them. I can't imagine a swarm of bees anywhere near me! That reminds me that we did have a swarm of bees come to the house that we live in now. I had thought that they were rogue bees from a farm not too far away. Possibly a "rogue" queen who took the swarm with her to find a new home. Her choice of home was in our chimney!

My hubby had decided to burn some paper in the wood furnace and to his dismay the smoke filled the house. He awoke me and then our daughter before we anything happened. We had to get PCO to come to get rid of all of the wax, honey and "the bees". At first we had called around to local companies hoping they would help us but no one wanted to rid us of these pests. I know that they are pests really but they are if they are in the chimney that heats your house. PCO used liquid Vapona (remember the no-pest strip??!) in a machine that converted it to a smoke.

Have I mentioned that I am deathly scared of bee's?

Pastel small art work

2010-02-23T14:18:00.007-05:00

I'm feeling a bit chilly today and had a few minutes to spare so I got my sketchbook out and for expediency, my soft pastels. What I thought was, I wanted to do some art that would feel warm. The only thing about abstract work is that one has to be careful not to "over work" the drawing or painting so that the fundamental feel of the work doesn't look contrived. Now, I don't really have that problem with this piece because it is just a gradation in colour but I could see that the colours were about to become "muddied" slightly and so I had to walk away.

My favourite part of this small "paining" (for the lack of a better word) is the saturated colour. A pastel girl, I am not, or at least for the most part!

As you can see in the picture, this box of short pastel pieces haven't had much use. I did remember that I need to clean off the residue off because it is one reason that the wrong colour is applied to the wrong area. I need to get out my books and find out more about the use and misuse of soft pastels.

Even my wiping cloth looks good plastered with colour!!!! Can you tell that I love colour???!!!

This was a fun way to start my day!!!!

The Paper Curl

2010-02-20T17:26:00.004-05:00

I know that I have been lamenting about not having time to make any art. So.... I decided to quit whining and make something simple. I was surfing the net the other night an came across a site where the woman had done a simple pen and paper drawing of a paper curl. I like the simplistic nature of the piece so much I decided to put more effort into it and do this little pencil drawing. Yup, I used the lowly but lovely 2B woodless variety to make the drawing. My favourite choice of medium do to its cost and ease of use!!!!! I found an old sketchbook that I have not as of yet completed. I had to chuckle when I saw that the last drawing in it was from April 2009! So it was kind of fitting that I pick it up almost one year later.

I know that it is such a simple little thing but I was really happy to spend the hour thinking about nothing else but the little drawing. It was pure heaven!!!

Crackberry Sucks

2010-02-19T08:17:00.004-05:00

I'm getting to my saturation point. If I get new technology I expect it to work and if it doesn't I expect to get a new product. Well Bell hasn't done that! I got a new crackberry in December and I tried to load some software on to it so that I could sync it to my MAC and the thing crashed. Bell has sent it to a repair centre, the slowest one in the world because it has been almost a month and I still haven't received it back. What nonsense! I know now that if I decide to make a purchase of a similar hand-held device, it will be a iPhone and I will buy it from Rogers. Sure it was great that Bell gave me a loaner but I had to input my contacts all over again. What a pain! The worst part is that the representative at Bell told me that they sent my device to the "slowest" repair centre. What the heck is that about?! I mean really, why do I need to know that Bell has sent my unit to the most inefficient department going? One must assume that the organization as a whole is likely similar.

Hmmm, now that I think about it, I think that many organizations are similar. My Dad sold his house and he moved into a retirement residence and I have been trying to cancel his security alarm service. Easier said than done. He called to to cancel but for some reason they want me to call them. Now, really that is ridiculous, he has already called you to cancel and his pays the bill and he is certainly capable of cancelling the service. I have never seen such incompetence in my life! I think that likely it is a cash grab as well and said as much to one of their representatives. I said I thought that they had fleeced a 90-year-old man out of his money for nothing. Thing is, I don't know how he got hood-winked into it. It seems that they sent a salesman around to the house and he signed up. Yup, the elderly are so very trusting and I am so very cynical.

Today is one of those days where I could rant about lots of others things as well but it would be best if I didn't. Got to try and keep myself calm so that I can have a relatively pleasant day.

The World Wide Web

2010-02-18T14:08:00.007-05:00

I'm here at Starbucks and downloading a new audio drama podcast! Currently I'm listening to "The Leviathan Chronicles" a free podcast on iTunes. Great sci-fi story and superb audio quality. I have listened to many others and this one is by far the best yet!

I love the fact that for the cost of a coffee I can gain access to the internet and it doesn't go against my allowable internet usage on my mobile stick. This has been an issue with me since I can't seem to get high speed internet any other way. It is costing me an arm but is well worth it when the only other option is dial-up. My hubby has been checking out other methods and it seems that the mobile stick is still the best we can do for where we live. An I.T. fella from where he works told him that we should just move in to town if high speed is so important. O.M.G.!! Never!

I ordered a pair of sandals on line this morning from Etsy.com I hope that they will be as great when I get them as they looked on line. The woman is a Canadian currently living in Uruguay. Amazing that this is possible. I found her sandals while surfing the net on my last night shift since I had a few minutes to kill waiting for the day shift girls to show up.

I can't wait to see what they actually look like! I hope I like them as much as I like them in this picture! If they are as great as I hope they summer can't come soon enough.

When did it happen?

2010-02-17T16:22:00.006-05:00

I have no idea of when that "pivotal" moment was when I became a LIP BALM JUNKIE but I became aware of it yesterday. Now the photograph shows the majority of them that I own but not all! Really, how many lip balm's does one woman need? I don't know because I keep them everywhere...at my computer desk, in the living room, in my bedroom, the bathroom, the spare room, in the pocket of difference jackets and coats. It seems that I can not be without them at any time or any place because my purse has many of them as well, tinted and un-tinted. I guess for an addiction this one is that has the least impact on self and others. Hmmmm! I think that it is possible that it is a "sign of the times"; we live in environments that are heated by gas, oil and electric methods with dry the skin. Then again, it could be because my skin is moving from the oily variety to the very dry. It would seem to me that there is a fifty/fifty split here.

I find it interesting that there are varying degree's of price point for these products. I like them all for different reasons and use them at differing times of the day as well. I got the comfrey leaf as a present and I use it before going to bed in the winter.

However, I have very fond memories of the so-called "classic" Chapstick. It is one that my mother used and I always wanted to have some of it on my own lips. I would have been 6-8 years old and I would to beg her to let me put it on my own lips. Reluctantly she would give in, but I was never allowed to actually own my own lip balm. Possibly that is the reason that I purchased this tube. It looks exactly the same as the one my mother had; hence the "classic". Every time I want to think of my mother, I apply it! Mostly what draws me is the smell and the taste. These two senses combined have produced a strong internal response by evoking such strong memories. It isn't so strange because there have been so many studies done on taste and smell that mirror my reaction.

This makes me smile, a blog post on lip balm. Who knew!!!

Diamonds on the Snow

2010-02-11T11:35:00.006-05:00

I love sunlight and stood in the hallway window to feel the yellow light warm my face. I can not stress enough; I love sunshine in the winter!!!!!!

When I looked down I could see the sparkling snow below me on the front lawn. I grabbed my Nikon to see if I could capture the essence of the sparkling snow. Okay I took a picture of the snow but even with shadows in the snap and a bit of iPhoto modifications I still can't get the true essence of the sparking diamonds lying there waiting for me to scoop them up!!!! Yup, picture capture of these sparklers eludes me. It would be just as if I had attempted to physically scoop up those diamonds (and "rubies" depending where you are and how the light refracts) and hold them in my hand.

I guess this means that I might as well go out and by a lottery ticket for that prize will elude me too! I guess I have come full circle so that is my post for today!

Oh yes, this reminds me of a song by Paul Simon, "Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes" - I have it playing now on my computer!!!!

No Time for Sewing

2010-02-10T10:37:00.004-05:00

I couldn't sleep last night so I decided that I could put that sleeplessness to good use. My focus is still on clearing out my Dad's house so .. I thought that I could sort through some of my photographs and put them into "albums". I had forgotten that I had been to a fibre art showing in Toronto with my daughter.

It was a one woman show housed at a "gallery" that allows the exhibit to be viewed from the street. For the life of me I don't recall the street name. I didn't get any photo's of the beautiful fibre art but I did make a purchase of these beautifully sewn greeting cards. Very lovely!

I am feeling sad that I asked my husband to buy my a sewing machine for Christmas last (yes, LAST YEAR) and I have not had the time to even take it out of the box. Wow!!! How sad is that? I have a brand new Janome that beckons but I must snub my nose at it. That reminds me that I must take in my old lovely Bernina for a friend who wants some parts for her machine.

From Alternative to Opera

2010-02-07T17:31:00.004-05:00

I love having eclectic tastes, it means that I can sample all the good bits of life! I love music and I enjoy what iTunes considers "alternative" as well as classical/opera and almost everything in between. Right now I am listening to Steven Pasero's instrumental "guitar masterpieces" album on my computer (surprisingly it is not available on iTunes). I don't usually like guitar instrumentals but this album is exceptional. My hubby is in the kitchen making chicken florentine for supper tonight and he is watching "Surviorman" and I have no wish to watch that particular program. Although I am not in the process of making art, I find myself thinking about it more and more often as each day passes. I am formulating a new idea that will have to percolate there until I can expend the time really making art! When I am deep in the process of painting or drawing, I like to listen to music that doesn't have words that I would want to discern when I listening. I just want to have good music playing, in the background, in the foreground, it doesn't really matter to me. Having said that, I also like world music because I don't understand the words so it amounts to about the same thing.

I forgot my "crackberry" at work yesterday and had expected that I would go into town today to retrieve it. Then I had the presence of mind to re-think that. The more I thought about it, the more I didn't want to force myself to go. Tomorrow will undoubtedly be fine (I have to go to town anyway to check the house and take my Dad to his pre-op appointment)! I know that I am suppose to have the thing on 24/7 in case a "member" calls me but I have noticed little activity during the weekends. It would seem that our members prefer to only call when they are working. It is unfortunate that I am a shift worker and most of my callers are not. I had not thought that I would miss the new technology until I was given the "loaner" crackberry because I fried it when I tried to download some software. I don't think crackberry likes my MAC even though it claims that it does.

Something just came to mind about that album, I purchased that tape at a nifty, eclectic shop and restaurant in Orillia Ontario called Mariposa. They had it playing while I drank my coffee and I just had to buy it in their scent shop next door.

Hmmmm!! The smells of supper is wafting over my way!!!!

Where has the time gone?

2010-01-30T12:47:00.008-05:00

Where has this month gone! I guess that really it is a good thing! I'm not a snow bunny so I actually hate the winter months. This means that we are closer to spring than we were. I have to say, that I am surprised at that last statement; I'm not usually a "glass half full" sort of person. Due to my working life experience I find that I am in fact very cynical. I often get very tired of acquaintances who views the world positively for I know that nothing really horrible has happened to them.

I'm still cleaning out my Dad's house and it is getting very stressful because we can't get anyone to buy his furniture. No one wants the solid oak dining room suite that my parents had thought was so fabulous. Unfortunately they made the purchase at a different time; today, people want furniture to fit in a smaller space. I hope that we don't have to just leave it for the new owners.

I had to laugh when I found a little Cabbage Patch dolly of my daughters, whose name escapes me. I wonder if she recalls it! However, I do remember when she got it for Christmas many years ago and it even came with its' own "adoption" papers. Regardless of the fact that her name is unknown, I just couldn't throw her out like so much garbage. It must be the "little girl" that still lives within me. Now I wonder if that "little girl" syndrome actually still resides in my daughter. Somehow I think not, as I see it, my daughter is as a woman who is matter of fact, very controlled; a woman who believes in minimalism. A woman who has grown up in a house with "stuff" and as an adult will not allow "attachment" issues or sentiment to permit her to hold on to useless things from her childhood. However, we will see!

I wonder if my daughter will want to keep her because I put a pair of sunglasses that I found on the doll. Will it make her smile or will she be all "business"; grab the sunglasses and put the doll aside. I will just have to wait and see.

Technology

2010-01-24T18:23:00.005-05:00

I often purport that I don't really care about the need for the "stupid" blackberry that the union has given me. I must be honest with myself and say that I enjoy the technology! I like the fact that for my age, I am more "in tune" with technology than many people who are younger than me! Yup, I really do like that!

Okay, sot the downside is the fact that my blackberry is on the fritz and I feel like the perverial "fish out of water". I really do hate it. Now I got a "loaner" blackberry but it is the same as the one that I just had and the technology is ancient. No, not ancient really, only a few years old but as we all know everything in the technology realm moves at the speed of light. Again, being in the "NOW" of technology is important since my broken blackberry accepted calls even though I live out in the boondocks. This old one doesn't. I tried to have a conversation and I eventually had to call on my landline when the blackberry disengaged.

It is truly frustrating that something like this would happen just because I was trying to do a good thing and be a good blackberry owner and update the software as requested by a message that the company sends out automatically to users. I had a thought, one that was in the back of my mind; my intuition, but I did not listen and now I'm in this mess. I really need to listen to myself more often as I have had similar experiences in the past and I ought to have "known better".

Of course when I drew this I kept thinking of the science fiction television series of a bygone day, Star Trek: to boldly go where no one has gone before! I still wish that I could have gotten an iPhone since it would be more compatible with my computer. I will try one more update and then I will give up until I get the iPhone that I covet!

The Horror

2010-01-23T13:39:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I'm being slightly melodramatic! However, I wonder what other people think these days about the night shift worker (like myself) driving home. I took a course at OPC on "facilitating adult learning" and I did my major project on the EFFECTS OF SHIFT WORK ON THE SHIFT WORKER! One of the important nuggets of information that I gleaned from the research is that when I am driving home following a night shift I would in fact be considered an "impaired driver". Sometimes I can sleep in late on the morning of my first night shift; if that happens, I am still fairly alert at 7 o'clock in the morning. Often this is not the case; I wake early and can't return to sleep! This morning was one of those mornings where I was so tired that I felt dizzy on my drive home. I could sense the frustration of the driver behind me as I slowly weaved my way along the concession that takes me "cross country". I believe that "he" was angry that I was holding him up; that I am not speeding down a side road that is not monitored by the police. The problem is I can only drive so fast while focusing on the road and concentrating on keep my eyes open. The frightening part here is that these anxious and angry people who are tail-gating me have no idea why I'm driving like "an old woman" (yeah yeah, I know; I hate the reference too but couldn't help it). I wonder if they would be horrified at my lack of physical capabilities if they actually knew my true condition. I hope to never have to find out and have a break in my concentration and have an accident. What is worse is when I am so tired I can't even get out of my car; in the spring and summer my hubby has found me out in my car sleeping whiles on his own way to work at 7 a.m.

Unfortunately I enjoy my job, I enjoy the excitement, the adrenaline rush when there is something going on. The morale of the story is to not to take a job that requires shift work.

I love listening to Podcasts

2010-01-22T10:57:00.002-05:00

I can recall a tidbit on the radio where the host was discussing the negative aspects of the iPod and how it narrows one's opportunity to hear different or new music that we would not likely listen to. There is some truth to that, the iPod does in fact mean that we only listen to what is on the device. However, if you look at all of the podcasts that are available on iTunes it is amazing at the versatility available.

For me, it is all about "time management"! Gawd how I hate saying that! I hear that quite often from acquaintances who work in business and other capitalistic organizations; we are rushing here, rushing there, rushing to nowhere! Unfortunately in my current situation, the notion is true. I don't have time to read a book these days so I do enjoy listening to them on my iPod while I'm driving in to town. I just finished listening to Alligator by Lisa Moore. It is a book of interrelated short stories about a group of people who live in St Johns, Newfoundland.

I think that the conception of "time management" sprang from the old religious belief that hard working people are in fact closer to "gawd" than everyone else. All hard-working people will achieve greater rewards (up there ?) than those lazy, fun-loving types. Hmmmm! Not too sure where I will fit in here. At times I am lazy and fun-loving and at other times my head is spinning with too many things to do and not enough time to do it in.

Getting back to the narrow focus, that is just so much bunk really. I check the CBC track of the day to hear what is new on the Canadian music scene. Most of it is not to my taste but every once in a while I just have to get the "free" song of the week. So, really it is all about YOU and who you are. If you are the sort of person who is "stuck in park" then you would be like that whether you had an iPod or not. It would mean that you wouldn't switch your radio station from your favourite to sample other music genres.

Life's roller coaster ride

2010-01-16T16:06:00.003-05:00

It never ceases to amaze me how life throws us a curve ball and we have to adjust! I know... I hate the baseball reference but there it is! I try not to be too RC even though I was born one. I make every effort to try and not be "resistant to change". It makes me laugh when you take a look out into the horizon and see that resistance may be futile! Yup, there is a sci-fi reference here too. I know that if I am the only one who is interested in how our language uses references from television and the inextricably linked between that medium as being part of our surrounding world. We affect the medium and in turn it affects our view of the world through language. It is the one regret that I have, I regret that I didn't go to university early in my life because it is entirely possible that this would have been the avenue that I would have taken. I loved "conversational analysis"!

Were was I going here? Hmmm!! Yes, the curve ball! I constantly surprise myself at how scatter brained my mind is following a nightshift. At this moment in time, I am taking the rest of today off for me! I am not going to think about all of the things that I "should be doing". I will reserve that for tomorrow.!

Life's constantly changing

2010-01-14T09:49:00.005-05:00

Life constantly is changing! My life is inextricably intertwined with my dad's and I realise how much it is now that I am cleaning out my dad's house. It has finally been sold! It is strange to me to realise that where he is now in his life is where I someday soon, will also be. I will be a loved but also a burden to my own daughter. Even saying that he is a burden sounds so selfish but I am struggling to juggle my own life and my dad's too. I do wish that I could share this with another sibling but since that is impossible I am forcing my dear hubby to help out! Isn't love grand!

Somehow I will have to try and avoid some of the pitfalls of aging. The way I see it is that being an involved and social person is so very important, especially being able to maintain one's own independency both mentally and physically. So having said that, I WILL go for a walk today before I go into town to box up more of my dad's life. I am amazed at how little feeling he has for much of the memorabilia. Here I am oohing and aaaahing over some old picture of mom or a receipt for a painting that has adorned their walls for decades; he on the other hand, could care less. Strange how many of the gifts that I bought mom for christmas and birthdays are now coming back to me. I guess I will have to let my own daughter understand their importance so that she will not in turn view them as superfluous articles of little or no value! My daughter is very much a minimalist due to the fact that she too lives in a very small house. However, I have to determine what items have sentimental value to me and those that my mother also valued. Like the cross that has hung up over the doorway since I can remember. I know that it will sound so strange but it was from my grandmothers casket. She was being buried in Montreal and the grave-digger told my mom to take it because it would be gone before the final burial. I don't think my daughter has any interest in this type of religious iconography and neither do I really. I can't explain why I need to keep the cross that was meant for burial of a woman that I only recall meeting but once.

It is hard to compartmentalize my mom and dad's married life; a life that has been long and full! I am trying to decide what to keep, what to throw away and what to sell!

Here is a picture of one of the presents that I made for mom that is coming home to me! It was made too many years ago to count on a weekend (back in the day when I worked normal hours) with a bunch of girls from work. We gathered together in her basement to clean and paint our "dolls". The dress was made of lace and the hair was fashioned from dog hair; everything was soaked in "slip" and fired in a kiln. I made another doll and her dress was made from a soaked J-Cloth!!!

Christmas chilli-chocolate convections

2010-01-10T10:37:00.007-05:00

The new year has come and gone and I sit here wondering what I have been doing and then I remember. Busy times are behind and ahead, at least until February 15th. I will be exceptionally busy until then and then just my "normal" busy. So I'm not going to let myself stress out too much about the fact that I have to jam so much into so little time. Today for instance, the hubby and I have to also go to a wake for the farmer's wife who live across the way. It isn't that I knew her or anything. My hubby has spoken to her on numerous occasions when he would pick up flowers from her at their farm. I think about how she died quickly, slumped over her computer (at least I hope that it was quickly). Sue had been involved in trying to breath life back into the little community centre located in the little village on the next concession. It agree, it is better to use it than lose the building to developers and development of some other kind. Right now, the skating rink is beautifully flat and inviting. I hope her death doesn't mean that the effort that they have put in to keeping the old community centre is safe from the wrecking ball.

Now these lovely Christmas confections are the most delicious ever and I had to take a picture of them before I gobbled them up! A friend from work makes them and is ever so nice because I get my own person little gift box. Yum, Yum, This year, they had the purr-fect mix between the chilli and the chocolate!

The Celebrating is about to begin!

2009-12-23T15:24:00.007-05:00

Today I am putting up a drawing that I did last year along with the inspirational decoration. I had fun trying to get a photograph too! The sun was beginning to fade that day and the shadow is not as dark as I would have liked. Taking a picture on another day could have been an option but obviously I haven't. But that is okay, it certainly gets the point across. It was fun to draw! Bottom line is that I love to make art whenever I can even if it is only a doodle!

Yes, the celebration is about to begin!!! Although it is a wonderful time of the year it is also a stressful time especially when there are too many other changes in our already busy lives. However, we have no choice but to accept what is and get on with it! So, it is 15:27 hrs and my coffee cup is glued to my lip after only "just" getting up! There is no way that my feet can even begin to hit the floor running yet! Shockingly I received a call and I have just said no thank you to overtime for tonight! My mind can't fathom working another nightshift and I know that it wouldn't be sugarplums that I would be dreaming of once I got myself to bed again.

I"m getting excited!

2009-12-22T15:17:00.004-05:00

I am oh so looking forward to Christmas! I have to admit it that I love presents! I love the anticipation of it all the most. I love getting together with family - the eating, the drinking and the telling of "stories". Often these stories don't come out until such occasions.

I love making my family squirm when I make them wear their hats from the Christmas crackers except my daughter who refuses to be cajoled. Of course, I will try again this year (you bet!!).

"Tis the season to be listening to Bob Dylan's Christmas album, Christmas in the Heart!

Not sure how this zentangle inspired Christmas doodle will look like on this blog due to it's nature (black and white) but here it is regardless.

Re-invented Christmas Wrapping

2009-12-16T08:47:00.007-05:00

I'm all about recycling if I can! I was surfing on the net and found a website completely by accident that showed how to make Christmas bows using magazine pages. I'm amazed how many magazines are thrown out - at lease they are recycled these days. The bows are easy to make and just need a glue stick from the dollar store and you all set. Although this is likely considered "crafty", I think there is a bit of "artistic" flare in the way that I photographed the subject matter. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to get the image to be interesting and visually pleasing to the eye. Of course, all art is in the "eye of the beholder" so it may be that I think this is good when no one else does. Bottom line is, I'm going to please myself since this is my blog!!!

This is a nice pile of bows if I do say so myself. I like how well the bow goes with the red copy paper wrapper that we normally throw out at work. I think the effect is quite festive. It does fill me with satisfaction when a recycling project turns out well!

Wasn't so sure about the white copy paper as a wrapping paper (yes out of the recycling bin!). I think that it is too much white here but under the tree it should look just fine.

Well, I still need an army of elves to come and help with cleaning up my house (which I need to get going on any minute now). I got the tree up yesterday and that makes everything good! There is no Christmas without a tree; a place to put all of the presents that I have already wrapped. I need to finish that up as well!

Cute bottles

2009-12-05T15:16:00.006-05:00

Not much on the art front once again as December has snuck up quickly! I always think that I am prepared when in fact I am not. I will be scrambling like crazy in the next few weeks so that I might even be close to "ready".

I have taken a minutes out from Christmas "wrapping" to take a couple of snaps of some tiny bottles of food colouring. I don't ever recall these little bottles being quite so cute before. I just like the way that they look due to their simplicity, the simplicity of their conical shape and the vibrant colour.

The Season is Upon Us

2009-11-30T09:35:00.007-05:00

I can't believe that the Christmas season has snuck up on me once again. I am trying trick myself into the "spirit" of things by playing Christmas music. Since it is so early,I like contemporary Christmas tunes to get me into the mood!

Listening to "The Christmas Song" by the Raveonettes from the album The O.C. Mix 3 - "Chrismukkah".

Okay so the stores and shopping malls have had Christmas music on that matches with all of the Christmas decorations.
This cute display is down at the downtown waterfront at Centennial Beach.

The above snap was taken the other day while I was driving home from work. I thought I would take the photo because they have the biggest and brightest light display en route to my house. The picture doesn't do it justice since I couldn't get all of it in the viewfinder. Put it this way, it is reminiscent of the Griswald's on Christmas Vacation (love that movie!!). That isn't a bad thing, I mention it only because of being in the boonies it appears garish. I guess I should mention that I embarassed myself and drove off as quickly as possible since the residents were watching me take the picture!

Art can be found almost anywhere

2009-11-24T09:30:00.006-05:00

I seem to be lamenting about no time for art these days. Try as I might there has been absolutely no time to make art for the last week. In fact, I haven't had the time to think about it either.

The only time I had available is to take a snap of a piece of art that was in the foyer of the facility where I was taking a leadership course in Ottawa. This piece filled the foyer and would have been 20 or more feet high. The foyer felt immense so I don't really know exactly the height or width.

The piece is very beautiful and this photograph does not do it justice. The colour was much more intense and the texture of the metal inspiring.

What is important to note is that the facility is in the business district in Ottawa and I was surprised to see that there was lots of art featured in many offices including fibre art. Even the hotel displayed fibre art safely behind glassed in frames. That is somethng that we would not see at home.

It is sad that "art" has not been able to rise to the top in this conservative town. Ahhh, I think I have stated the obvious.

Actual Picture vs Photograph

2009-11-14T12:36:00.006-05:00

Here is the first drawing that I did of a little bag that is so smooth to the touch.

The above is the next step using pastel to get a good base. I'm trying to actually reconstruct the little bag I got for Christmas last year that contained three lovely hand lotions. The bag is a smooth coppery bronze. It is strange how light can trick the eye. I looked at this and thought I was finished but when I got it up on iPhoto it looked "all wrong". It is suppose to look like man-made metallic material and not at all like rough "leather".

This still doesn't look metallic but at least is is getting closer to the coppery colour that I was looking for. I do like the way photographs can be used as a way of getting the look that you want. Sometimes seeing somthing in "real-time" isn't the way it actually looks. The eye of the camera is much more objective that our own.

Okay the real reason that I painted on the actual drawing in my Moleskin "sketchbook" is due to an ooops! I had coloured the page that followed with blue pastel and had "fixed" it with hairspray. I forgot to put something between the pages and the pastel that had become liquified with the hairspray had transferred on to the back of the bag drawing. As I have previously discussed, the pages are not meant to be used for pastel or anything other than pen and ink. That means the pages are transparent enough that the blue pastel could be seen thus ruining the drawing. There was no choice but to try and save the drawing by doing something to it - anything would be better that the way it was now! Luckily I had taken a photo of the drawing before I created the mess!

Never enough time to do Art!!

2009-11-13T16:54:00.004-05:00

I always seem to be complaining that I don't have time to make art, post on the blog or just plain whining about something that I have not done but wanted to do. I feel that I should stop my nonsense and be happy with what I can do! Post to this blog as frequently as I can and draw or make art as often as I can.

I seem to be wishing my life away but sometimes the wishing means that I'm not "doing". Then there are times when I think too that I spend too much time on the "net" and that is the reason I'm not making art (or whatever). If I put it all in perspective, I am complaining that I have a good and interesting life and that I have lots of interests that mantains the vibrancy of my life.

Around the house

2009-11-08T11:17:00.003-05:00

I wanted to make art and looked around the house for something to draw. I chose the clothes peg because I think that someday sooner rather than later they too will disappear along with the clothes line.

This summer I looked around for clothes hanging out on lines and I had a hard time finding them. There are two houses that I pass by on my walk who hang out clothing to dry. It is sad that I had my own clothesline removed. It was at a time whereby I didn't see the "green" aspects of drying laundry in the sun.

In the eye of the beholder

2009-11-06T07:55:00.005-05:00

One of the girls at work gave me a orange hibiscus for my birthday two years ago. Right now it has 6 fully opened saucer-sized flowers on it. My hubby wanted to put it in the ground this summer and I said no, that I love the colour indoors, especially in the winter time! Today especially since....

I just can't believe that there is white stuff on the ground this morning, it is only a dusting and will be gone by late morning I expect. I bought a new coat last week so I am prepared! I had to laugh at myself since I seem to be governed by colour, I made the purchase because the coat looked warm, had a hood, it can be washed or dry cleaned; mostly I bought it because it was purple.

I have a greater appreciation for the old adage, in the eye of the beholder. When I started this little drawing, I had thought I was drawing a pomegranate, when I finished I thought it looked more like an onion! The drawing of it on the dictionary on the net shows the fruit at a slightly different angle and therefore just a bit easier to anyone to see the cues as to its essence. I enjoyed the opportunity to do a small drawing so I will stop complaining.