Days of Sunshine

                

Hi everyone,

 Not many walks in the woods this winter. The Japanese call a walk in the woods forest bathing. Clever people.

The winter has been extremely cold and stormy season so far, but so happy to be out recently to gain new perspectives and inspiration. Wonderful to see blue skies.

Of late, enjoying the sunshine and longer, brighter days. Sunset 5:20 p.m. and daylight increasing by two or three minutes per day. The way I see it that means approximately fifteen minutes per week.  Hurray!

Computers have kept me away. Main computer still out of commission. Inside the computer tower the hardware has been cradled in spots that are, at this point, inaccessible. Done, no doubt, so that you have to buy a new computer, or send it in for repair.  An expensive endeavour for sure.

 My son usually builds the towers, but not this tower. We took it to the “geek squad”—(yes that is what they call themselves) and they said no cant be done. 

Not one to say uncle before all avenues have been exhausted, I think Jesse still has a plan.

Meanwhile, my iPad took a bath and required more than TLC.  I’ll spare you the details of that fiasco.

New rules.  No water, tea or any liquid within 10 yards of computers at the moment. So easy to think a spill won’t happen. 

 Nearly Over it ...

             

Definitely time to locate the book Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. 

Green Tea

Pleased to Join T Stands for Tuesday this week.

           In the middle palette dried gouache. Many people use dry gouache, but from the tube              might be a better option for me.  I still have much to learn about gouache.                             The small gouache painting looks more like watercolour. It's difficult to mix a thick mix from dry gouache. Maybe it depends on the brand. Any thoughts?                                                          

                         There are divots in the paint because I forget to spray the palettes with water.

Speaking of spray, notice the buckled

 canvas to the right. ( Buckled canvases are usually in the cheap bin at the store.) A quick fix: spray the back of the canvas with water, and once dry it will tighten like a drum--treated canvas on the left.    (Info I read somewhere.)

Although canvases have a layer of gesso, it’s good to add another layer or two of gesso so that the paint doesn't sink into the canvas. Some people gesso the back as well.

Pleased to be linking to Nicole's Friday Face Off

A very Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

Be well and stay strong. Good will prevail.

                                   Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                      Thanks to everyone for hosting.

Let It Snow

 The snow came early, and soon disappeared, and now its back again. More downy flakes are drifting down as I type. With a foot of snow on the ground, it's a magical world out there. 

I haven't been out much, but hope to get back to walking through the woods soon.

Must see the sights and see and feed the birdies.

                                                                           Amaryllis showing off.

                                                                          The Board

      

                                                                             Desktop

A useful tip. Easy to hang artwork:  put a paper clip on the back of masking tape and stick the masking tape on wall and use a magnet to hang a photo or artwork. (Tip I noticed on Instagram or Pinterest.)

My big computer is still out of sorts, so using the iPad. Photos could be sharper. 

Maybe next time all will be in order.

 

Linking to Nicole’s Friday Face Off

                           Not much happening on the art front, although I did draw a few faces.

                  Looking forward to getting busy at the easel in the New Year.

                 The art club has plans for three shows—March, June and September.

                        

Linking to T Stands for Tuesday

                                         Enjoyed getting the cards ready this year. Last year

                       there was a postal strike so, sadly, no cards were sent or received. 

 

                                                    The Infamous Mr. Grinch        

       

Also linking to Art for Fun Friday      

                                              

            It can be difficult to find good watercolour paper, but I thought I’d try a small watercolour block of 60 sheets of cold press 100% cotton paper from Amazon. 

I drew the Grinch on top of 60 sheets so it was precarious from that height.  I erased a lot, and it didn't damage the paper at all!  You can paint on top of the block and let dry, so no need to flatten later, or remove a sheet and paint on it, of course. The paper is 140lb, so I do not think it will buckle too much if you paint on a single sheet. It will be interesting to see how a full landscape turns out. If all goes well, hen I need a new sketchbook I will order

from Lightwish.

You can check out the watercolour block here 

                                                                  

                The halls are decked and I added a few new ornaments this year, including                                                              this glittering teapot. Definitely fun for tea lovers.

                                              Has anyone tried the new Google button?

                           For those who celebrate Christmas have a very Merry Christmas!

                                      Sending my very Best Wishes and Happy Holidays to all! 

 

                                                            Bye bye for now…

                                   Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                              Thanks to everyone for hosting.

Beautiful Hues of Fall

                                                      Many trees are still hanging onto their leaves.

November so soon. Thinking about and looking forward to Christmas, and the quieter season filled with good books, drawing, painting, warm cups or soup, tea, and cocoa. There will be time to snuggle up on the coach wrapped in a warm wrap too.

Speaking of Christmas, I recently bought some Christmas bobbles, napkins and Christmas cards from Home Sense. Last year there was a postal strike so sending and receiving cards was sorely missed.

Many stores are already decked out for the season. In fact, this is the first year that that has happened here, except, of course, for the dollar store; they are always ahead of the game. Usually the larger stores do not decorate for Christmas until after Remembrance Day.

                                                               ***

Package from a friend.

                                                                      

Earlier this year, I received a wonderful package from the multi-talented and lovely artist, Soma. You can visit Soma at Ink Torrents Graphics   We do an exchange now and then.

Inside, a lino print of her sweet kitty, Charlie; the beautiful handmade book was in the tin, and the wonderful watercolour painting, was painted using paint that Soma made from Coreopsis flowers no less.

She’s a wonder!

                               The colour of the paint looks exactly like Quin gold. It is amazing. 

             Soma said, her painting was inspired by her hikes in the Sierras. 

                                         The painting arrived in its own little envelope too. 

                                                           

                                

                                                                   ***

Ordered a few pastels, and a few arrived a little worse for the trip. One was pulverized. The company kindly gave me a discount for the damage. 

These are Diane Townsend pastels. Terrages to be exact. I can't believe how similar they are. I must have been day dreaming that day.

From L’Artisan Pastellier 

Blue to compliment the orange.  A girl can always do with a few more blue pastels, or blue clothing, ornaments, ribbons or anything that is blue. (Shown before—can’t stop admiring these colours.)

These divine blues come from the Woad plant.

There are thirteen blue pastels that the company makes from the Woad plant; I have ten gorgeous colours. 

Most people are familiar with the indigo plant, but I, for one, didn't know about Woad. Both plants create beautiful dyes; however, extracting the dye makes for labour-intensive work.

Here is an interesting article about Woad. It's a wonderful that they have revived both plants for dyeing, paint making etc.

Speaking of blue, I went to a pottery show recently.  Came away with a wonderful handmade mug. So many talented potters there. It was a real feast for the eyes.

The potter mentioned that the bottom area represents pebbles. Looks like water flowing over pebbles to me. (What's life without a little drama?)
 

                                                              

Sketchy 

Until Next Time...

                                    Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                      Thanks to all for hosting!

An Autumn Field Trip

 Hi everyone,

Finally, back to say hello and to catch up. The summer was, well, hot and dry. Much hotter than anything we have experienced before. Early mornings or later evenings were, at times, a good time for a stroll.

Autumn has arrived and it is lovely. We still have a lot of leaves of the trees. Usually by Hallowe'en the leaves have fluttered away.

Made it to Pumpkin Inferno this year. A magical, spectacular event! 

Apparently, everything is carved by hand. Can't imagine how long it takes to carve and then wire the lights, and then install everything. On the night we went, it was sold out.

The inferno just keeps getting better and better. So good, too, that nothing scary jumps out at you. Yes, I am a scaredy cat. 

The photos were taken with a cell phone because my big camera was taking in too much light, and I couldn't find a suitable spot to sit down and make the needed adjustments. (Just as well because at this point there's no way to transfer them to the main computer.)

The main computer needs a new power supply—perhaps. My son needs to check it out for sure. So I am limping along on an iPad, which is working well. Could never complete a post using the I pad. Must be the new updates.

The village venue was sectioned in categories, and I tried hard not to get people in the photos, so this post will be a random showing from here and there.

          In case you are interested here are a few photos of  the Inferno from 2017 

   

                                                            Love this photo

                                            So loved the lights and pumpkins in the trees.

                                           There were hundreds of carved pumpkins all over the village.                                                          No two faces were the same.      

                                       

                                                                           
                                The cat category was fun. Cats everywhere, including the roof.         

                        Unfortunately, several photos are blurry, so just a few pics of the cats.       

     

                       

                                                             Nursery rhymes

                                                                    Hickory dickory dock…

                                                                          

                                        Humpty…

                                                                  

                                                                The Great Outdoors

                                                                     Marshmallow?

                                                        Who needs a birch bark canoe? A pumpkin one will do.

                                          

A bit fuzzy. Boo!

                                            

                                                      The Scarecrow and Dorothy.

               
                                                                     Mad hatter 

                

             Needless to say it's the big bad wolf and the fashionista Little Red Riding Hood. The        wolf, looks bad—bad to the bone.

                                                           Alice Through the Looking Glass

                                          

                                       There he is! The Knight in Shining Armour.

                                                                   The Gilded Age

            

                                                      

                              Tea always as must, along with an occasional fashionable tea party.

                                           Linking to Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                       Thanks to all for hosting!