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

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17 Oct 2023

Autumn Has Arrived

Hi everyone,

 So far this year the autumn colours are not as intense as usual. Someone said it is because the summer was so hot. Still there are flashes of brightness here and there, and, perhaps, if the rain stays away, there's still time for the fall colours to put on a big show.

Temps are cool and the nights are, of course, closing in early. Time to cozy up with a throw and a good book in the evenings, or perhaps some knitting.


I've been busy farming pastel paintings for the juried art show in November.  I forgot to take a photo of them before framing. Now that they are behind glass it is not that easy to get a glare free photo. My son, at one time, had a small digital camera that had a function for taking photos behind glass. It worked so well.

 
          Probably no one wants to hear this, but since this is a diary of sorts, I can finally bring myself to say that my Mother (Celeste Mary) passed away in April. Mom was 99 years old, and she was exactly two months away from her 100th birthday. 
I know how fortunate we, as a family, were to have her with us for so long, but I do miss her so much.


                                           
                                            Have this photo on my list as a reference to paint from
                                                             I am thinking watercolour.

                                     
                                         I just love these ornamental cabbages. They've got style. 

                                                                   New England Asters.

                                                       Solomon Seal ~ Still pretty, I think.
                                                                     
                                                                     * * *

I recycled Pastelmat for this little painting. How? Well, you can actually wash off a painting that didn't work out, and begin again. Just rinse under water, and use some paper towel to remove more of the pastel and dry it off.  Then I usually place the Pastelmat inside paper towel and weight it down with books until it dries. Of course it doesn't come perfectly clean, and you can't add as many layers. Also, it is not as easy to paint on as the original paper, but it still works quite well.



'Til Next Time...
Enjoy Autumn or Spring wherever you may be.

Cultivate Your dreams

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7 Jun 2022

The Art of Nature

Hi Everyone,

It's been a while. I hope you are all doing well.

May was a busy and fun month for me, although not without a few bumps in the road.

Early in the month, I bought a point driver and set about learning how to frame a few of my paintings, complete with dust cover and bumpers. I did learn a thing or two. Such as: check the size of the screws, if too long they could puncture the frame. (Who would want to make that error.)  A faux pas for sure. (You've got to love the French. Somehow faux pas sounds so elevated—almost noble, in fact.) So much better than an epic blunder. I also found out that the mats in store-bought frames are generally for portrait mode and are 1/8-inch weigher on the bottom. Who knew?

Anyway, to shorten a long story, I did ruin a lovely frame. When I realized my mistake, I took a few deep breaths, strolled outside to admire the flowers, and, well, eventually carved out enough space to laugh at myself. I reckoned, that the blinding light of perfection touches just a few people. And perhaps those are angels.

The art exhibition that I attended in May was beautiful. There were many lovely, inspirational pieces of artwork to see. There was also a wonderful student section. Unfortunately, photos were off limits.

      
Harmony
   
                    Approximately 7.5 x 7.5 in. With frame approx. 16.5 x 13. 5 inches.


                                           Lakeside Reflections   

                   Approx. 9.5 x 7.5 in. with frame approx. 15.25 x 12.25  

                                                                        * * *

Weeping Willow Pond

At this time of year, here in Canada, the world dresses up in so many glorious shades of green; the colours make my heart sing.

If you've been reading here for a while, you will know that I wax on about the colour blue, but green does ring bells too. After all it is the colour of nature, and I love nothing better than to be outside soaking up all the world's beauty, especially in the freshness of spring.

  

Don't cha love how the light and shadows and reflections play on the water? I could sit here for hours, but..the mosquitoes love it too, so I had to move on. Luckily, for me, the frogs were busy catching lunch, so that helped a bit.

                         Spring flowers: Trout Lily, Bloodroot, and an early blooming of wild Honeysuckle.

 

 
I thought I'd share this gadget. A friend of mine told me about this sturdy little Foldable Bucket Brush Washer that clips firmly in place. It could also be used for beads as well, and who knows what else.
But it's also handy for watercolour or gauche paint. Once the Sennelier tube paints dry, I can 
use it on my desk to save space or toss it in my bag and go. So far, I love it.

I have a few new projects on the go. In late May, I planted 19 garden containers. Because it's been so warm, the Nasturtiums, Sweet Peas, and Morning Glories that I planted from seed are growing like weeds.  But Jack Frost can sprinkle his glitter about in June, so I am keeping a wary eye out. 

 I  also have two pastel paintings on the go, and I just started to knit a linen top. More about those next time.

Nasturtiums 



Flower doodles on a salted watercolour background.

                                               Cultivate Your Dreams.

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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.


            

19 Jan 2021

An Array of Colours


Hi everyone,

I hope you all had a lovely holiday.  
I always enjoy getting things ready, but I am never that eager to take the decorations down. I have  friends with a big house and they, at this point, keep the Christmas tree up year around to please their little granddaughter. Not a route I would like to take, but sometimes I am tempted to leave the tree up a little longer--say March. 
In other news, the daylight hours have increased by approximately 35 minutes, so what's not to love about that.
And the sunrise and sunset have been spectacular. The photo above: a sunset. Love the cool yellows, and the purple near the top.


Gorgeous dreamy blues with a hint of purple.




A Common Redpoll ~ Handsome to the core.
And not all that common; I haven't encountered one for a long time.

Of course I was out to feed the birds. When I arrived I found the feeders well stocked. There are a lot of people out and about this year. We are under lockdown, but with the mild temperatures the woods and parks are busy spots. Not so other years; we may only have seen one to three people, or none at all.  But it's nice to see families out enjoying the great outdoor, and they are phone free too.

* * * 

My son bought me a lovely pastel set for Christmas. I've been experimenting with some of the colours.


Pastel

I always forget to take pictures of the different stages of a pastel painting. They go through a ragged stage, but I love how they come together as if by magic.


The light is garish today, but the top photo captures the colours well. (Notice that I didn't blame it on my photography skills.)




 Thank you for reading along.

                                                                    Until Next Time...

                                                              Cultivate Your Dreams

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6 Oct 2020

Autumn in Full Swing

Hi there,

                                      Well dressed maples. I think they might be showing off. 

At this time of year, I my senses pick up. Everywhere I look, wonderful colours catch and hold my attention. Over head I see and hear the geese; they will soon be honking out their goodbyes. The squirrels are busy, scurrying everywhere looking for nuts to fill their stores. And I can smell the scent of autumn's magic. I wish all this beauty would last. But the rains will come soon and wash the leaves away. Until then I will be outside as much as possible, enjoying the sights, sounds, and smells of autumn.






                                               
                                               So many beautiful paint box colours in this picture.
                                    

                             My son, Jesse, was with me and we walked this path seldom taken. We saw a rabbit and I believe a coyote in stealth mode.                                                                  


A drive by photo. The picture: a blurry cornfield that I cropped so that you wouldn't get dizzy, but just look at the colour of the sky! Amazing!
In case you are wondering what corn. It's cattle corn and the last of the harvest that will be brought in later this month. Before tractors had lights, the farmers worked late into the night under the light of the harvest moon. Hence the name harvest moon.


                                                      Dahlias really love the cool weather.    

I can't resist picking up pretty leaves.
          
      

And what would autumn be without pumpkins? I've been decorating a few, using FW acrylic ink. Pumpkins...weird material to draw on. For the next one, I will use a pencil instead of pen, although ink can easily be removed with rubbing alcohol. 
Easy to do... just wash and dry the pumpkin, and a sealant would have helped the paint glide easier.  I used two coats of black ink, and three coats of white; it requires another coat of white, but I am off to press.
                                  
"Along the River"

A  pastel painting that I painted awhile ago.




As we all know, 2020 has been a year. Events have been happening that we can all do without.  But with Thanksgiving day coming up on Monday, I have been taking stock and thinking about what I am thankful for. Among other things, although this one is at the top of my list, I am thankful and grateful that my 97 year old mother recovered from pneumonia that she had in late February. After two and a half weeks in the hospital, spent mostly without visitors because of Covid restrictions, she passed go and was sent home in good health. 

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Thank you all for the lovely comments on my last post.

Be safe and well!

'Til Next Time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

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