Unusual Clouds

 

Hi everyone,

I saw this beautiful and unusual cloud formation and had to take a picture. If anyone knows what these clouds are called, please let me know in the comments.

                                                                                                                            

Goldenrod and wild grape vines as a backdrop.

                                           

         Still blooming outside: Mum, Shamrock, and Hibiscus.

Since it seems to be a popular medium these days, I thought I'd try out Jelly gouache. I do have a few tubes of other brands but I haven't really tried them yet.

To me, gouache seems rather thick and, of course, unlike watercolours it's an opaque medium. I love these colours. 

The brown gouache covered well on black paper. As you can see, the orange gouache didn't cover well on black paper.

A package arrived in the mail for me not long ago.  Among other delightful beautifully wrapped items, I received this wonderful little sketchbook made by my lovely friend, Soma. 

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Soma is a multi-talented artist. Besides painting, Soma makes beautiful quilts and tote bags. She designs quilt blocks, carves, and makes these wonderful perfect, professional (and I mean professional) sketchbooks, complete with her own logo design on the back page.

 And, to top it off, she is also an accomplished photographer! 

Check out her beautiful blog and lovely artwork @  Ink Torrents .

I have named it My Little Flower Sketchbook; the first and last page I will book end with a sketch of  old houses from the town that I am from in Nova Scotia. I've been posting a few of the flower sketches over on Instagram and I will post some here at another time.

 In the Wilds ~ Pastel on Uart paper.

'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.

Idyllic Days

Hi there, 

Nearing the end of one of my favourite months. Beautiful June.

Now and then, I sit at the picnic table to the right and watch the boats cruise along the river.

              Doesn't this look like a lovely summer day.  Sunny, warm, clouds puffing by. Perfect.

You may, if you squint your eyes, or locate a magnifying glass, be able to see the Heron over there on the other side of the river fishing. (My kingdom for a telephoto lens.) I haven't noticed that many Herons around this year.  I enjoyed watching this one fish. They are intent and so still. Amazing.  I wonder from standing so still if they stiffen up like humans? Inquiring minds.

                                       I wish you could all smell the roses. So lovely!

A colourful spot with a stone inukshuk. The Inuit build these in the Arctic. They are used for navigation, hunting, messages etc. 

You may have seen this picture on my Instagram. I named this little Mallard "Capability." Eleven, yes 11 ducklings. And she does it all on her own. As you can see the well-behaved ducklings were swimming and feeding ahead of her near the rivers edge. I was setting on a dock. When she noticed me she reared up a little. I have seen other Mallard mothers attack other ducks that ventured too close to their ducklings. They can be fierce.

I had plans to go kayaking this weekend near this spot, but I hurt my foot on a walk. So I reckon I better sit still until it's better. Humbug!

* * *

    Pastel

I recently unearthed this happy little watercolour painting, and I have listed as a digital download in my shop.

                                                                       Until next time...

Be well and safe and stay huggable.

Huggable times are near.

Cultivate Your Dreams

 Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by for a visit; you will be glad you did.

  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.

Changes

                                                           Looks like Indigo back there.
 Hi Everyone,

 What I miss most in the winter, besides the birds singing are clouds, but so far this year has been surprisingly mild and most days have been cloudy and awash with varies colours to brighten up a monochrome world.  

                                                                             Sunrise 

                                                           What a change...a  minute or so later.

                                                                                   * * * 

From the Drawing Board...

An oldie from the botanical blues series.

I haven't painted with watercolour for awhile, so I'll be transposing these peonies to watercolour paper to see what I can come up with.

 

Unison pastels-a gorgeous gift from my son, Jesse. I have broken them in half and have used them a couple of times. I don't think I am the only one that stares at new pastels a long time before they have the heart to break them though.      

Only one Amaryllis bulb in the house this year. I am not sure how that happened.  It cost $5.00 so I wasn't expecting much. It turned out to be a winner! It had thirteen blooms and there's one left as I type. I'll put it outside this summer to see if I can

plump up the bulb for another year.

'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

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

A Trek

Jan 28/20

Because of  freezing rain, I haven't been out to the woods for about a month. And I‘ve been wondering about the birds.

At the entrance to the marsh, I called out and the chickadees and nuthatches quickly flew to the feeding area. They remembered me, and, my, they were very hungry. 

A beautiful, moody afternoon sky.

Recently, I was looking through my photos of the Yukon Territory. For a few years, we lived in the Yukon in a house nestled down near a lake, where I could hear, as I lay in my bed, the plaintive call of the loons. We drove there from Calgary, Alberta along the, then, unpaved Alaska Highway.  Later we motored up the Dempster highway that begins south of Dawson City, Yk. to Inuvik, NWT. 

 Not a garage, at that time, for miles on that unpaved, potential tire-shredding shale road, so we carried full cans of gas and extra tires on the roof. With only the vast remote wilderness for company, and the trepidation welling up within because the road sometimes does double duty as a landing strip,  we slowly motored on, in intermittent fog, for hours, with thunderheads of dust rolling up behind us, without passing a car or seeing a single living thing.  (From Dawson City to Inuvik it’s a two day journey: 478.5 miles/ 742km.)  Eventually, dust bitten and weary we stopped at the halfway point in an oasis named Eagle Plains / Rat Pass. Given its remoteness, we had reservations about the place, but it turned out to be a clean and hospitable place to spend the night.

While driving the Dempster Highway you see the rugged Ogilvie and Richardson mountain ranges and, of course, the tundra where ghostly cloud shadows, driven by the wind, mysteriously track over the land. Gorgeous at any time of year, but in the fall it is absolutely breath taking. 

The pastel painting below was inspired by those photos. 

A few years later, still eager for adventure, we drove from Inuvik to Tuktoyaktuk along the ice road on Mackenzie River and the Arctic Ocean.  (That may be a story for another day.) I do, however, feel fortunate to have made that trip, because the ice road has recently been replace by a highway.

Happy trails. 'Til next time...

Cultivate Your Dreams 

I am linking to: 

Our World Tuesday 

My Corner of the World

Skywatch

World Tuesday
Friday Bliss

Summer Continued

A word to the wise.

So lovely to be able to say that here, in Canada, summer will meander along until further notice. Today: another glorious day of clear blue skies, replete with sunshine and flowers on the bloom everywhere. One look out the window and gratitude taps you on the shoulder.

 Snowshoes. A friendly reminder to enjoy the lovely summer days.

Sailing anyone?  Looks like we might be heading north. But we can, with a good wind tack in other directions.

Coral bells. O the colour!

 

 

* * *

Off the drawing board...a few things.

I've been holding on to my pastels for more than a year now. Sometimes one needs a little push to try something new, especially when it comes to beautiful pastels. (They need to be broken to work with. I didn't want to do it.)
 Recently, a friend send me a picture of a sunset and before I knew it I was breaking pastels, not only with abandon, but with glee. Apparently a little inspiration goes a long way.

 For this painting, I used Uart Sanded Paper. Because this paper tends to buckle,  from now on I will spray it down with water and iron it flat and weight it down (there must be a few heavy books around here ) until it dries.

Last week I started a folder for my sky pictures. ( I have a lot of them and want to get them together for reference for pastel paintings.) From fair to stormy skies, I love them all.  Summer, spring and fall are great times for ever changing array of clouds.  One of my mottos: Look up!

* *  *

I bought this cheap wooden box to put my pastels in. Added a coat of acrylic paint, and then decided to paint a flower.  Because I did not plan to paint anything, I didn't sand the box first, but I may sand around the flower and add a coat of varnish. The smoothness of the wood so lovely to paint on. Gamblin oil paints. What a dream.

Iris in oil on canvas.  

Linking to Mosaic Monday and  Our World Tuesday and on Wednesday with My Corner of the World on Wednesday.

See you in September...

Cultivate Your Dreams!

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!