". Arranged Words: Books
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books. Show all posts

13 Feb 2024

Wintering in Colour



Hi everyone,

I hope you all had lovely, happy holidays!

Of late, over this way, I've been puttering about, enjoying painting and experimenting with different mediums. An overall quiet time--winter works for cocooning in place with good books, paints, yarn and, of course, tea. Where would the world be without tea?

This year, February barged in with a bang. The earth moved!

 We have had two small earthquakes over the years. The first one was more severe. The noise was unbelievable with the loudest cracking sound I ever heard. It reverberated for  a minute or two. Your mind turns--where to run to--what to do. Thankfully, it stopped. Always good to have a plan or two in place.

Did you watch the Superbowl? Is that even an admissible question? Fair weather fan here. Enjoyed chicken chili, and watched the half time show. 

Pastel on pastel mat paper.

             
 Thanking Jesse for these beautiful blue pastels.
 Watercolours-Sennelier and three Daniel Smith's. Always fun to mix greens, but Daniel Smith's sap green works well with a hint of red mixed in to tone it down.               


           
                                                  
 The three colours in the last row are Daniel Smith's.  Love the Opera Rose, although it is a fugitive colour.
                                 


A little grocery store bought colour oasis.


Scraps of paper will do when you don't have a lot of time, or you may want to paint quick daily paintings.  As you can see, the painting on the right is halved because I put the lane almost in the middle. A definite no no. (She lives and sometimes learns.) 

* * *
Books:

What an amazing book this is. Not hard to know why it won the Pulitzer.  In a you tube interview with Richard Powers, he said he researched the book for six years. And while it's a work of fiction with a cast of human characters, trees are, in my opinion, the main characters. 

I've always loved trees; was surrounded by them in my childhood, and if you been reading here awhile you will know that I love to be in the woods. It's difficult not to feel sad when watching land being cleared. Now more than ever because there aren't that many tracks of treed land left. 
  
In case you are interested, besides this book, a couple of recommendations are: The Wild Trees by Richard Preston published in 2008, and more recently The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohellben. 

Netflix has bought the rights to The Overstory, so we can expect an adaptation sometime-- can't locate a time line just yet.
After reading these books, I could go on and one. But I will say there's no doubt in my mind that we walk among miracles. Trees are a community.  They help each other out. They are so remarkable it's mind boggling. 
Definitely a crime to cut old growth forests, especially the giant red woods; as you probably know, they can be 20 or 30 stories high and they have likely graced us with their presence since say 786 or longer! 


Speaking of miracles, my Echeveria elegans is blooming


Enjoy the week


And Happy Valentine's Day!


Cultivate Your Dreams

                                    Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

                                                         Thank you to all for hosting.  


21 Feb 2023

Cyanotypes and Ink Making

 Hi everyone,

Making Cyanotypes, or sun prints last summer was fun, and I am looking forward to the season ahead.

Eco printing on fabric sounds great too. I can only imagine what the kitchen would look like when I finished whipping up a batch, using fabric and leaves, bits of iron, string, alum, vinegar, and a cauldron for boiling up the whole lot. 

 For now, back to Cyanotypes.

Below a print of my Grandmother, Lilas. First printed as a negative and then placed on watercolour paper brushed with Cyanotype mixture. The sun does the rest of the work.



   
 Original picture. 

I decided not to "fix" the picture in Photoshop by removing all the nicks etc. I like it the way it is. 

My grandmother, Lilas, was a midwife. She also travelled with and assisted the doctor. If the doctor wasn't available, and he often was not, my grandmother went wherever she was called, day or night, alone. 

My mother told me that my grandmother was also called upon to "lay" people out.

Back then life was more uncertain and precarious, and I know it wasn't an easy life for a lot of people. 
My mother told me a few stories about my grandmother's life and work. ( I wrote them down.) 
I only remember seeing her a hand full of times. She was quiet, and warmth and serenity radiated out from her person.

 Apparently, Grandmother cried a lot, but she carried on, brought up a large family, and never turned  down anyone who needed help. Nor, as far as I know did she take any payment. All that makes her remarkable in my books. 

                                                                                * * *
Ink Making...

                                                       
                                                      Sumac gathered for ink making.

 Late last fall,  I decided to make ink.  So I gathered some Sumac,, but there were too many bugs in most of the Sumac at that time. This fall I will gather earlier.


        The ink turned out lighter than expected, so will make a few adjustments next year and                                                          see what happens. 



                                    Trying a dagger brush from Jackson's Art. 

Jason Logan from Toronto has a book out titled Make Ink that I have ordered. Click here to read an article about him and his reasons for making natural botanical ink.

A little greenery...


                                          Succulents living quite well on a cold window sill.
                                                            Dried  Fern and clover

Matcha Latte



Asparagus Fern...Love ferns.



No mention of books here for awhile, so…
 A Year Unfolding. 
 I admire Angela’s expressive, detailed style. She’s an amazing  artist.
Check out her website here


The sun shines on the wall now. Such an uplifting sight.
Spring has begun to stir.

Thank you for your comments on my last post. Fun to read the different opinions about the Snowman. 

Cultivate Your Dreams

                                   Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 
                                                Thanks to all for hosting.  


26 Oct 2021

Celebrating Autumn

Hi Everyone,

 

In the wink of an eye, another month has flown by and autumn's beauty surrounds us. This year, with warmer temperatures, it took a while for the autumn colours to bloom, but bloom they have. Joyful and invigorating oranges, reds, golds and still bright greens are everywhere you look.


 

These trees over by the boat launch always put on a show. As you can see, they are especially celebratory this year.  In my books, they are as beautiful as fireworks. 

And what you see is what you get--no colour enhancement here, although a tone down of the sun drenched trees to the right might have proved useful.

                                                                 

                                                                       Light and shade.                                                                                    



 Beauty aloft too.

 

         
                                        

Winter will soon be hard on the heels of autumn, so these books are at hand to keep my head full of flowers. They are all great, but the top and bottom ones are especially good.

On the cup, Van Gogh's Wheat Field with Cypresses.  Wish I could paint a painting like that. Don't we all. 

 

                                                                                   * * *

                                                                From The Little Sketchbook

                                                                              

Gouache and Watercolour
 

                                                                          Watercolour


My second annual pumpkin painting.
 
  “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.”
 
     L.M. Montgomery,  Anne of Green Gables

To one and all: Have a safe and Happy Hallowe'en!           
 
Cultivate Your Dreams!
 
Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by the blogs for a visit; there’s much to see and admire.

  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.


            

16 Feb 2021

Sunsets

 Hi Everyone,

It's Pancake Day. I usually miss it, but this morning I had pancakes with maple syrup. Did you?

In other news, winter has been mild this year; we've only had two really cold days. Just now, we are enjoying longer days and we are, of course, looking forward to spring. 

The question on everyone's mind: Will spring come early? Apparently it will if the weather predicting groundhogs do not see their shadows. In the US and Canada, ( 2 groundhogs in Canada) each year a groundhog is yanked from his warm burrow on February 2nd. This year they couldn't locate Wairton Willie, in Wairton, Ontario; obviously he packed up and moved on. Can you blame him? So in Wairton they threw a fur hat in the air and, oh joy, not one witness saw a shadow, so we will have an early spring! No so in the colder regions of the U.S. (Know that I feel your pain.)

Some people despise talking about the weather, so do forgive if you fall into that category. But Canada, it seems, has an agenda because we live in a country of extremes. Here, almost everyone you meet has something to say about the weather. When you don't know the person you are speaking with, the weather can provide common ground. (Yes, we converse with strangers here.) Most Canadians, I think, look forward to what we call "good" weather. I suppose it all depends entirely on your outlook. We do have many lovely winter days too.

So there you have it. The secret of an early spring in the northern hemisphere. I will post a picture of a good weather day for those folks who are longing for spring, but first a sky picture or two. 

                                                                         Amazing

                                                         My head remains in the clouds.
 
                                                      
                                                          Sunset. A little blurry, but so beautiful.

                                                                A good weather day:                                                      

 Fresh, green, warm and sunny with a slight breeze. Perfect!
Hang on. This will happen in a few months.

 
These days the tulips stand at attention on their sturdy stocks. 


* * *
From the Easel...




Pastel 
                       
  This painting has been re-worked a bit. I like it much better now. 
Paper ~ Canson Mi-Teintes Touch--pastel and mixed media. In other words multi-technique. Apparently, that includes charcoal, crayons and acrylic too.
I used a watercolour underpainting in certain areas. 
Would acrylic and pastel really work?


Paper ~ Pastelmat

              
                                  I'm currently reading the last book of  The Wolf Hall trilogy.                                                                                               
                 In case you haven't seen it, the TV series features the first two books of the trilogy. And Mark Rylance plays Cromwell. Cromwell has many sides to his character, including calm, cunning and ruthless. Brilliant. Shrewd. A master of revenge, yet loyal to Henry, in most things. (What choice did he have?) What an intriguing round character, especially viewed from a safe distance on the far side of history. But, still I think most readers will be somewhat sympathetic towards Cromwell. It takes a brilliant writer, I think, to make that happen. 

 Some critics found the depiction of Thomas More unfair. He definitely isn’t pictured in the novels in a favorable light like he was in A Man for All Seasons. I read that play many years ago, and in it he held the moral high ground. But I understand what Mantel's novels tell us about More rings true, although, as we know, historical fiction takes a lot of liberties. (The writer must not only fill in the blanks but make the story work.)

I’m no historian, but actions form history. History is complicated, messy and, in this case, the 'facts' were recorded nearly 500 years ago by who knows who. So what has been overlooked? What’s true? How many sources does it take to make it a fact, and are they reliable? What biases creep in--then and in the present day? (The plot thickens.)

Enter Thomas More the saintly inquisitor who stood against Henry and was charged and executed for high treason. (Apparently he was canonized in 1935 for as near as I can determine  his martyrdom. There's much this grasshopper doesn't understand.) 
Anyway, word has it that More instituted his inquisitor tactics, without mercy, on the strength of his convictions. And we all know what can happen when a person with power believes they are absolutely and unequivocally right. 

I may read Thomas Cromwell:  A Revolutionary Life by the historian, Diarmaid MacCulloch, one day because of the research that went into it. It may be as close to the facts as one might get. For now, I will  finish reading The Mirror and the Light, take a break and then look for books to read with a little less heft.

                                                         Any recommendations?     
 
                               Tea: Numi's aged Earl Grey. Very tasty! And I love the colour. 

                                                           'Til next time...

                                                    Cultivate Your Dreams

  Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Thank you, ladies, for hosting.

14 Jan 2020

Mixing It Up


Jan.14, 2020

Hi there,

I hope you all had a lovely holiday. We did and it flew by. Now back to reality with plans for
painting, hiking, knitting and reading to add creativity to the hours and bolster the spirit.

Checking over last year's reading list, I didn't read as many books as I hoped, but I so enjoyed the ones that I did read. Cold Earth by Sarah Moss stands out in my memory, along with the very popular A Gentlemen in Moscow by Amor Towles. And Pachinko by Min Jin Lee was a definite eye opener.
Several more come to mind, but I will leave it there for now.  Since I am always on the outlook for good books, I'd love to hear what you enjoyed reading.


Feathered Friend


A bunny recently passed this way.


From the oasis corner.

In case you missed it, yesterday was national clean your desk day. That makes me laugh although I can make a hot mess in no time, and since I have limited space, I find it difficult to paint if things get out of hand.


So to help tame the upcoming chaos, I raced off to Ikea to buy a set of office drawers which hold, among other things, my watercolour paintings. 
 Although I drew the mistletoe and wreath, I must credit the wonderful botanical painter, Billy Showell, whose free you tube videos I watched as I tried to mix and match her colours.


A trillium line drawing added to my list of flowers to paint.


Recently, I also bought drawers for my pastels. Unfortunately the width of the drawers are too small for Unison pastels, but the Rembrandt's fit nicely.
So this year, among other things, it’s all about organization. A place for everything and everything in its place. 
'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to:  Our World Tuesday
                    My Corner of the World
                    Friday Bliss