Changes

Hi everyone,

Top of the day to you!  I hope you all enjoyed the summer. 

 

It was a hot, hot summer over this way, but we are now enjoying the lovely early days of fall.

The above photo was taken last weekend. Changes are happening...a lot of the trees tops in town have been touched by frost, but as you can see autumn's paintbrush has barely touched the countryside. 

Unfortunately, after this outing, I injured my foot again. Even with physio, last time, it took a long time to heal enough (although not completely) so that I could get around. Wishing it heals quickly, this time, so that I can get out and about for what is shaping up to be a wonderful autumn. If not, well there is always the car etc.

                                                 Always enjoy seeing the steeples.

                                      And cupolas. This clock tower cupola is in Brockville.

Time to say something about the hurricane in the U.S. I was and am so sorry hear about the loss of lives and missing family members and overall devastation. Heartbreaking for people. But many people have stepped up  to help including, bless her, Dolly Parton. 

Praying for massive help in these early days and also with the rebuilding. And I am also praying that the latest hurricane that's on the way will go out to sea.

***

 

Quite a few books were read this year and throughout the summer. Here are a few.

 

Made a pact with myself not to buy books for awhile, so have been reading books from the library.

(But I had an epic relapse today and  ordered Jane Urquhart’s new book: In Winter I Get Up at Night.) Strange and intriguing title—can't wait to find out how it pertains to the novel.

The library's online app also excellent for magazines, movies etc. So very important, especially these days to support the library. We had inter-library loans cancelled at one point, and talk of closing rural libraries. For shame!

 

I won't go into details, but I especially enjoyed  Hamnet and The Feast, and well all of them. Thankfully, no tossers in this stack of books.

Love Tan Twan Eng’s writing. Such a longtime between books, but it was worth the wait.

 At one point, I wrote posts about different authors and books, but haven't done so for ages. If you are interested, here's a short review titled Spotlight on Tan Twan Eng from 2013.

Also, maybe you have read all or some of the books shown here. If so, it would be great to hear your comments.

* * *

                              You may remember a work in progress from last time. At the time, visions of a flying Goldfinch came to mind. While not quite a flyer, here's the finish.

                               

                                     

                                              Acrylic on 10 x 10 linen panel.

                    There are two more of these linen panels... ideas are simmering as well.

                        Linking to Friday Face Off this week with the birdie and flower faces. 

 I've been working my way through one of Sargent's portrait booklets. Because I received a nasty slap on the wrist for a Master copy of a Sargent drawing I posted on Instagram, I am linking to the Friday Face Off with the birdie and flowers.

 

 I wrongly assumed (never assume) Master copies are acceptable; there are many on IG. Oh well, time to look for more open access photos to draw from, although I am still working my way through the Sargent booklet.

                                                Watercolours. Left Strathmore card on a NOT

                                      surface meaning of all things Not Hot Press or, specifically, cold  

                                      press watercolour paper.

                               Fun to try cold press. Would be great for enhancing the texture in                

                                landscape paintings.

                               

                                      Seems I am  obsessed with cone flowers.

                                                            Confession:  They are easy to draw.

                                        

                            Matcha Latte with cinnamon and a little honey.

                               

          My birthday was in August. So thankful and happy to complete another yearly whizz around the sun!  

One of my birthday gifts was the plaster bust; it holds my fountain pens, all except for a large one. Who knows where it came from. It is heavy and cumbersome.

 

                    Linking, among others, to T stands for Tuesday.

 

                              Linking, also, to other Link Parties via my link party page.

                                                        Thanks to all for hosting!

 

       Thank you for all the lovely comments on my last post. I left replies there.

                                  Recently enjoyed a late dinner at a restaurant on the river.

 

               Time to say bye bye for now.

 

                                                      or spring, depending on where you are.

Cultivate Your Dreams

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.  

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.  

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.

            

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.