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

7 Dec 2021

Good Cheer



Hi Everyone,

Are you busy preparing for the holidays?

Over here, things are shaping up; lights, tinsel, and glass bubbles have enveloped the tree, compliments of my son, Jesse, and an Elf. Touches of greenery peek out from almost every corner. Plans for what goodies to bake are nearly solid. The Christmas cards are signed, sealed, and stamped and will soon be winging their way to, I hope, add a splash of good cheer to family and friends.

The sun breaks through the dark clouds at dawn. 

                     My cobbled painting path, has become a bit uneven, but I tell myself there's nothing to worry about because taking a break also plays an important role in the creative process.  Well, that’s my story…

Watercolours     
I added a white board next to my desk to post some watercolours on. (Motivation required.) I wanted to buy a cork board, but why not use what is at hand. I only had to purchase a few magnets. (Besides, should a magnet hit the floor and roll to parts unseen/unknown, until, that is, the inevitable happens, they are easier on the feet than push tacks.)


 
 Preparing for a colossal art re-entry ;^)  in the New Year, a small pastel order, plus some paper arrived. Two of the names to the right made me laugh, especially Burnt Reynolds. The pretty yellow pastel: Goldenrod. These pastels are from Great American Artworks. (Not sponsored, but I girl can hope.) They are very soft and creamy, so they will add a flourish near the finish. If used at the beginning of a painting, they could quickly fill the tooth of the paper, I reckon. (Experimentation required before firm results can be chiselled in granite.)
 
    

On the needles...

                                   Swallow Tail Lace Shawl by Evelyn Clark. Also a free pattern.

 

                                                                  Nativity

Below, a very short story that I may have touched on before. 

If you have read it before, dear hearts, do forgive me because I am growing old and stories, containing certain words in just the right order sometimes forget that I may have written them down or told them before. 

Meant to Be

Long ago, in a far away land, high above the Arctic Circle, where winter plunges the land into darkness for more than forty-five days a year, where mysterious wailing winds whip the snow into eddies that either skirt the ground or whirl up a whiteout, where, in the frigid, dry air, footfalls can be heard from a mile away—there in the midst of this new to me land, with little money on hand, I put down my hard earned cash for what would be, although there were more figurines to acquire, the last two nativity figurines that I would ever purchase from Avon. (I am searching for the three wisemen.)


Yes, it had taken awhile to acquire enough figurines to make the scene. (I think, they were sold at the time without a base. But I might be mistaken because, although the news will shock you,  I confess that I have been mistaken, in my life time, at least once or twice before.)

So...I pondered and thought and pondered and thought; and I hoped and I wished. And then it came to me in a flash: Surely cotton batten would make a nice base? I sprinted upstairs to the cupboard. No way--it was just too lofty--not right.

Being quick on the uptake, as luck would have it, other appropriate materials slowly came to mind. But in such a remote place, at such a time, where one couldn’t distinguish daylight from dark, I couldn’t think of one store in Edmonton where I might purchase the necessary items. (Remember it was the dark ages and yellow pages for Edmonton were as rare as sunlight.) 

To place an order just wasn’t feasible. So I reluctantly banished the thought.

Time crept by; the winter winds continued to howl. Then on one rare, quiet, dark, auspicious indigo day a couple of weeks before Christmas, a parcel that I'd long sense given up on  arrived. When I opened the box, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Straw covered the contents. The very thing, besides an open stable, that I’d been hoping for! I can't remember what else was in that box. But don’t you agree that somethings are just meant to be? 

(To date, lovely readers, that was the only time in my life that I ever received a parcel packed in straw.)

 

It’s time for me to go,  but before I do I would like to say:  Many thanks to everyone who visited my blog this year. I thank you for kind support, readership, friendship, and lovely comments.

  ❤️

          Wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

And if you do not celebrate Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to you and to yours!

Cultivate Your Dreams!

Best Wishes,

Dixie

 Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

The parties cover most of the the globe; there’s much to see and admire, so do stop in for a visit.

  Thank you for hosting.





7 Sept 2021

Summer Escapades ~ Part 1

                                                             
                                                         Loosestrife in the Marshlands
 Hi there,

Since my last post, I've made another trip around the sun. Travel onboard terra firma; it's a marvelous world!

 I do hope everyone enjoyed a lovely summer, or winter. Thankfully, summer’s not quite over.


I did visit my usual haunts, but I certainly would have enjoyed a few more outings. But somehow when out walking, I twisted my foot and developed Plantar Fasciitis. I have no idea how athletes keep on the move with it. Obviously, they have superb medical expertise at hand. I hope to be on the move soon though; I do have lost time to make up for.

                                                                             A selfie.

   I love being outside for what I call my restorative nature therapy. I always feel renewed and refreshed     after a day, or even an hour, out in the heart of the beauty that surrounds us. 

The Loosestrife looks like Fireweed. If you really stretch your imagination, you can imagine lavender fields in Provence, France. According to Wikipedia, Bulgaria produces the most lavender. Who knew?


                                                   Peaches and Cream corn fields




Someone told me about this sunflower field, so I went on a little excursion to another town. Standing near the sunflowers, I found myself thinking about Van Gogh. I wonder what he would think about his sunflower painting selling for 39 million in 1987.


I hoped the farmer was the benevolent type, although my imagination conjured up an angry farmer with a shotgun in hand yelling at me to get off his land. Undaunted and with wonky footing, I stealthy crept into the field. I mean who could resist. 




                                                                          Busy Bee
    
Bees are a favourite creatures of mine. I've been out to the hives with a beekeeper a few times. 
Sometime ago I took a bee keeping course and would love to tend hives. These days I would need an assistant. A full super of honey can weigh up to 90 lbs.

A bit about bees. Bees navigate using landmarks and/or the sun. In the early spring, the scout bees fly out on a mission to find a supply of flowers. If they find them, they fly back to the hive and do a dance. The dance gives the worker bees the exact coordinates of that supply of nectar and pollen. In the summer, they air condition their hives to a precise temps required to raise the brood by fanning their wings that have drops of cool water that they have gathered on them. Easier done if they have afternoon shade, but, unfortunately, the proper placement of hives doesn't always happen. The queen bee, besides laying eggs non stop, controls the hive's activities with her pheromones. There’s much more to tell, but it’s time to move on.
Like many people, I am concerned about the bees; I wish they were treated better. They are such amazing creatures.

Here's a link for info and for a list of the many crops bees pollinate. 


The sky here looks so white. I've toned down the picture so you can look at it without wearing sunglasses. Actually, that's smoke from the many forest fires (over 100) that were burning in Northern Ontario at the time. Like many parts of the world, Canada has had a summer of extremes. In British Columbia, at one point, the temperatures were hotter than they were in Death Valley. On the B.C coast mussels fried on the rocks. Temperatures reached 49.6C or 121.28 F. It boggles the mind.



A late blooming wild rose. I wish you could smell it. Glorious!

                                                                         * * *

     Off the drawing board...





While clearing out my desk, I happened upon this wee birdie that I drew long ago; she was destined for the bin. I did manage to salvage it by pumping up the colour and adding the wee fly to cover a splotch of paint. (Sometimes the brush has a mind of its own; amazingly it can flip out of your hand and twirl about in the air and hit the paper with an unceremonious splat.)

While not much is happening on Etsy, a friend of mine knows someone who owns a shop, so some of my cards and prints will be available there next week. That makes me happy.

In other news, the local art group will be starting their regular meetings next week. (Social distancing, both vaccines and masks apply.) 
Also, the group hopes to have an art show at the mall in November. I have a few pieces of art to frame for the show. I can buy a ready made mat and frame for one, but two more will require a professional touch. (Mat cutters and I do not see eye to eye.) I love how the shops finish the back too.




Using up my scraps of paper. The top painting: pastel and then two watercolours.

'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by for a visit; there’s much to see.

  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.






5 Feb 2019

Musings

Desktop troop.
 As can see, I bought a few more pottery pieces over the summer. At the flea market, they have a retro pottery booth that I admire. Besides having many wonderful pieces, the people who run it are so friendly and helpful. I only wish I had room for more. Perhaps a six foot Ikea shelf would do it, but no, really, it's time to jettison a few things. Have "A spring clean for the May Queen." Led Zeppelin

( The two pieces of pottery to the right are West German. The blue one is a second that I picked up somewhere.)

It's helpful to lay out your paint in the same order.

I had a question about paint. Specifically what watercolour paint do I use? The answer: several brands, but my go to is tubed Sennelier.

The binder in Sennelier is honey and it adds to the smoothness and enhances the richness of the colours. I also use Schmincke half pans, Windsor and Newton and I have random tubes of Daniel Smith, PWC etc. In other words a lot of paint. But that happens when you like something: the ever growing stash. However, I will try to pare down my art supplies that I won't use in the spring clean too. Well, perhaps. Having said that I already feel a pang of greedy horror. ;^) As you know, it's difficult to part with certain things. For me it's books, yarn and art supplies. 💕


 I prefer mixing my own colours, but I don't always do so. Although magic happens when you mix a few colours together and come up with say apricot/orange, green, brown etc. But there are so many gorgeous colours to choose from, and you can also easily buy what you like. Or if you want to experiment and start small, you can begin with the primaries and mix your own colours. That way you can find the paint that works for you for less money.


If I am mixing a lot of one colour, I mix a large amount in a bigger dish. In this case a dollar store candle holder. And work from that mixture to lighten or darken a colour because it can be difficult, although not impossible, ( I'll let you know when I can do it.) to mix the same colour twice.


I had fun with these acrylic colours. Very different colours from what I normally use.

***

***


Back to the drawing board...

Have a wonderful week.
'Til next time...lovely people.


23 Jul 2018

Mixing It Up


Hi there,

Nothing says summer more than sunshine, dreamy clouds and flowers. And we are enjoying an abundance of all three. A summer day spent lounging about in a lawn chair with an ice tea and watching the clouds roll by is my idea of a perfect day. Of course, a good sunhat and a wonderful book just tops it off. Speaking of clouds, I've always loved this quote by David H.Thoreau: "You must not blame me if I talk to clouds."  (Definitely one for the smile file.)



We are in the throes of a heat wave, so I haven't been out and about on foot a great deal. However, it doesn't take long to adjust to heat, and when the temperatures dip a little, I've been reaching for my sweater. 

                             How hot is it? So hot that there's not a turtle to been seen on golden turtle pond.

But I've been longing to go to the woods, and I was so happy to get out there when the temperatures dropped recently to take a few pics. I didn't want to miss the mid-summer flowers.

Wild lilies ~ Turk's Cap



Crown Vetch

Milk Weed
Sumac
 A busy Chipmunk with places to go and chipmunks to see.
Cattails


The heights

Fleabane
I've been painting with acrylics recently. The great thing about it: if you make a mistake, you can paint over it and begin again. So very different from watercolour. And what would an acrylic painting be without a bit of blue?


A bit more of the detail in this picture.
Keeping with the blue and yellow theme. A small cobalt blue pitcher that I found
at a flea market.


The 8 x 10 ocean scene. When I buy a larger
canvas and a few more tubes of paint, I  think I will revisit the sea. If you look closely, you will spy a bit of sea glass from the beaches of Nova Scotia on the left of the painting.


 From my watercolour painting: a butterfly fashioned from molding paste.  


The manufacturer's stamped paper mark will show when this painting is framed. My son said, it's hardly noticeable, but, well, there's no way around it, so... When I was painting the scene I didn't notice it.  (I do have a prescription for new specs!) However, I have the 'new' drawing on the drawing board, complete with a few modifications. For example, I drew a smaller leaf fern and curved it a little to lead the eye back into the painting. I also modified the center part of the orchids and changed up the vase a bit.
A few of my favourite cultivated  flowers. Rose of Sharon, Platycodon, Cone Flowers, Peony

* * *
A small scarf just off the needles and not blocked yet. Actually I knit two. One for me and one for my sister. The yarn: Mini Maiden from Handmaiden.


This post with a mix of things will be linked with Soma's Wandering Camera on Thursday. A very special thank you to Soma for hosting!



And linking to: Mosaic Monday.
 Floral Bliss
 Wednesday Around the World
Pictorial Tuesday
Thank you, ladies.

Leaving you with an oldie to celebrate summer, and if you are in the southern regions I hope you are having a mild winter.




'Til next time...Cultivate your dreams!