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.

                               Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

                                               Many thanks to the hosts!

A New Day

Hi there,

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year!
We had a wonderful time.

Below are two projects from last year that I wanted to finish before the clock struck 12:00. And I also wanted to ring in the New Year with a blog post, so I am nearly there.

There were a few personal milestones that I had planned to complete in 2018. Check. I never was much of a list maker, though I find lists really do help keep me on track.

I'll spare you the personal milestones, however I did finish a small knitting project, and I did have bird cards printed. I didn't paint and draw as much as I would have liked to last year, but it's a new day.

Long ago (say September- you may remember) I started knitting a hat named  Bough. I used Brooklyn Tweed's yarn named Shelter. I contemplated using a bold, zingy colourway. Somehow that thought vanished. So I chose: Pumpernickel.

Anyway the finish line finally arrived, so yesterday we went off to the woods to take a few pictures.

Just look at that! Canada in January ~ sans snow. One gets the feeling it might be early spring. A florid illusion, I reckon.

A pompom too. How daring! But, then, one should live a little.

 Cables add texture and beauty, and they are easy to make. Wishing my hands liked all that yarn twisting. However, knitting slow, like a tortoise might if he could, does eventually get you there.

 

While I was in the woods, these tenacious leaves and the pine needles below caught my eye.

 The "Fashionista" bird cards are printed and will be listed in my Etsy shop by 4 p.m. tomorrow.

For those of you who are not on Instagram, there's a program called "The Best of Nine." You enter your user name and voila the program calculates your most liked photos for 2018.
Call me fastidious, but I do want to straighten out that blue painting.

 

 

(Signo white gel pen on Strathmore Artagain 400 series.)

Wishing all of you a healthy, happy and prosperous New Year filled with love, and good cheer!

Cultivate your dreams!