All of a Sudden

 

Hi everyone, 

Time has a way of slipping by, so it has been awhile.

The spring art exhibition was a successful event. Always nice to greet the public and spend time in a room filled with beautiful artwork. Several students also participated in the spring show and their work was impressive, indeed.

 And so May has arrived--such a beautiful month.  Even though I was checking daily, all of a sudden, it happened, one morning when I looked out the window the trees were sporting new leaves. Definitely awe inspiring, and you wonder how it happened so fast.

Glorious greens in varying hues catch your eye and bird songs fill the air. Ah spring, so wonderful.

 

 Because it was so warm in March, the sap ran early. But heavy frost followed in April, so a lot of the trees lost their buds. Never happened before that I know of, and I have been around awhile. However, as you can see they recovered well.

 

                                                                    Lilacs

                                 A  dreamy, spectacular day. So beautiful!
 

                                                        The geese enjoying new tasty grass.

                                     

                                                  "A Light exists in Spring

                                                   Not present on the Year

                                                   At any other period --
                                                   When March is scarcely here"

                                    Emily Dickinson. A Light Exists In Spring.

In early March last year, I happened upon this American Bittern. He or she was intent on catching a meal, so he didn't seem to notice me. That day an anxious photographer with huge lenses on a tripod was circling the area. He ask me if I knew the name of the bird, and if I had ever seen one before. Because I have a few bird guides, I knew it was a Bittern. I said that I had never seen one before, although I've been looking for years.

 What a scoop!  I only wish I had one of his photos, but, alas, I do not. Although blurry, I count myself lucky to have this photo and to have seen this wonderful bird.

 In April the beavers were busy in the marsh. Not sure what they are up to. The water is shallow and sometimes they drain the marsh, so it's not the best place for a beaver lodge. Perhaps they will dine on the invasive cattails and purple loose strife. That would be great.

 

                                                            A muskrat lodge, I believe. 

                          There are also mink in the marshlands. We saw one last week.

                           No time for a photo opt though. They scamper along the boardwalk, flip over the side and disappear in a flash.

           

                                           A bumper crop of Trillium this year.

                         

                         

                                                  

   A likeness from Sargent's portrait drawings #7. Over the year, I will draw practice copies of most of the drawings in this small booklet. There are 41. So far while drawing, I keep asking myself how did he do that? Amazing.

 A free hand with a little added watercolour on Strathmore toned tan sketch paper. The best drawing paper I have found. While drawing this, I erased many times and it didn't mar the paper. It did buckle a bit from the watercolour, but it is not made for mediums.

              The sketchbook is a bit pricey these days. I bought this one sometime ago, but recently bought one with gray toned paper which was cheaper. If you are interested, perhaps you can find a better deal at your local art store.

 

 Tip for portraits from Milan Art.  "Generally,  the middle of the eye lines up with the corners of the mouth. And the inner eye lines up with the outside of the nose."

                                                                     Until Next time...

                                                          

                                                                   Cultivate Your Dreams

                                              Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

                                                          Thank you all 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.

Tulips, Drawings and Preliminary Paintings.

                                 Vibrant tulips always a welcome sight in the snowy world of January, especially when you are longing for spring. However, we did have the customary and wonderful January thaw for two days with temperatures on the second day reaching 14C. So lovely!

                                                                One for the drawing board too.

         Drawing on tracing paper saves a step or two, but the drawings can be difficult to see.

                             

A blood root flower and a monarch butterfly with a wee tea pot on the side.

                                    As you can see I've been busy drawing. With a file full of drawings, I have a lot to choose from for painting. 

                                                             

  A dapper fellow.

 A preliminary colour mock-up for a larger painting.

Also a colour mock-up of blue poppies. Usually I don't do trial runs before I transfer to heavy paper for painting, but I enjoyed the process and I wanted to test some colours.  I will be using 300 lb. Moulin du Roy which I haven't tried yet. I used 140 lb Moulin du Roy on these preliminary runs. I find the colour lifts easy, but often the colour looks a little dull, but I like the paper for clean lines.

Command Central. 

The Ikea utility cart was an August birthday gift.  It holds a lot and wheels about with ease.  If you are in the market for one, they are great. (No, most regrettably, I am not receiving any gratuities for saying that.) 

I've named these paintings 'watercolour splashes.' They somehow remind me of children splashing about in puddles.  Wouldn't it be fun for kids to splash about in colourful puddles instead of muddy water.
(Hmmm maybe I am on to something.) :)

'Til next time lovelies...

Cultivate your dreams.

A Directional Challenge

 Top of the day to you!

For many years now, I've bought Amaryllis to brighten up the season. However, this year things got away from me and the eager bulb started to grow in the box. There was no need to soak the roots first, but I decided to be gentle with it, so I gave it a soaking before I planted it. After of few days of chasing sunbeams around the room, it straightened up--bloomed and there's more blooms to come

.

 My Christmas cactus. A changeling that often looks apricot.

Since Amaryllis need staking, I went to the woods to procure a piece of red alder. There's no snow yet which is unusual, but not unheard of, and the temperatures sometimes climb into the low teens, so it was a great time to go.
With full bird feeders along the trail, the 'wee' chickadees and nuthatches swoop down in front of you for a snack. Unfortunately, I left my camera at home, but who can forget the sweetness of a chickadee. They do make me smile.

My drawing is not quite finished.  But because the excess graphite has worked it's way into the paper, I've decided to move on. I am not sure how that happened. I did have a clean piece of paper under my hand.

Thanks for reading along...

 'Til next time...Best Wishes!