Here's to 2018!

Hi there,

Another post but in a brand New Year. It will be 5 years in April that I've been blogging. (I must find something special to do to celebrate...perhaps a give-a-way.) I find that extremely encouraging since I gone back and forth about blogging, especially last year. But thanks to a few lovely people, (you know who you are-many thanks xx) I am still here in Blog land and happy to begin the New Year, but not without a quick look back.

Before the year ended, I re-visited a few of my watercolour paintings and decided to enhance the colour. When painting sometimes the subject seems colourful enough, but a re-visit may change your mind.  For me, painting is like writing... it does help to put it away for awhile.

The Pretty Pair

Sweet violets. They are one of the first spring wildflowers..so delightful.

The show...:)The story goes like this... I put this orchid outside for the summer. Because I thought the sun might burn the leaves, I put it under a table. In the fall heavy rains and cold nights took over before I remembered the poor thing. Since it was soaked, I debated whether I should keep it or not. I am glad I kept it.  I may even get another bloom.

Since this Amaryllis is rather small, I am sharpening up my pencils so I can draw it and the orchid flower.

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A special thank you for supporting my tictail shop last year. It means a lot to me!
 In the New Year, I hope to add cards and other items to my new etsy shop. Once it gets running, I may close tictail, although I do like tictail's platform.

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Happy New Year! May it be for all of you and your families, a wonderful year filled with health and happiness, creation and peace, with a good measure of prosperity thrown in.

Cultivate your dreams.

 'Til next time...

Just Popping in To Say. . .

 Hello everyone,

Time has been flying by and Christmas will soon be here. I can't believe it! 
Because we put the tree up early this year, everything else seems to be falling into place with relative ease. I've sent out the cards and parcels, and most of the wrapping has been done.  Next week  more cleaning and a bit of baking and that should round things out.

In the meantime, I've been enjoying a few Amaryllis blooms and all that glitters both at home, in the malls and the snowy neighborhood.

A cute snowman. I find some of them rather creepy, so he's the only one I have.

A ship conjures up thoughts of home.

Paperwhites on the grow.

Backup beauty ~ on the way.

 

So...basically I just popped in to say have a Merry Christmas Day! 

If you do not celebrate Christmas, enjoy the holidays.

And my very Best Wishes to all of you for the New Year too!

Best Wishes

January 10, 2017

It's been almost a month since I've been here, so I'm definitely overdue to wish you all a Happy New Year!

This time of year it's not difficult to catch the sun rise; it crawls over the horizon at 7:36 a.m. And what a beauty this one was.  ( Wished the pics were better.) Flaming red rimed the horizon and a carpet of red, pink and beautiful shades of blue rolled out across the sky--a true celebration to greet the day.

I don't take a lot of winter pictures; however, it recently dawned on me that other people might like to see what a Canadian winter looks like. So over the holidays, I had a chance to go out and about. So far the winter has been a bit warmer (a mixed bag of snow storms and freezing rain) with less snow than usual, but ice is still settling on the river.

             For avid fisher people: an ice fishing chateau 👀 for rent. No, no thanks.

                                              Sitting on thin ice.  Not for the faint of heart.

Inside there have been a few doodles. I may get copies printed so I can pop cards in the envelopes to say thank you for my shoppe orders.

And finally a collage from my instagram account of the best of nine for 2016.

May you and yours long continue to promote joy, light, laughter, peace and good will in a world that, more than ever, needs a strong united front in voice, word and deed and our tender loving care.

Happened Upon...

For those who want to draw or paint flowers, or just look at beautiful books these two books fit the bill. I borrowed these books from the library, however, I wish I owned them because they overflow with information and are truly uplifting. Since they are an inter library loan, I can't renew them, but I  do wish I had more time with these treasures.

For me, it has been a productive drawing year, I've nearly filled five sketchbooks with "the good, the bad, and the ugly." :) It's been so much fun to get lost with a pencil in hand. Besides being meditative in a concentrated way, drawing has made me really look at things. For example, now when I look at flowers, I really look at how they fit together: where the stems and leaves attached, how the veins flow, and the list goes on. I read somewhere that drawing does make you look at the world differently. I do think that's true.

So if you want to draw, pick up a pencil and begin. It's never too late, {or too early} to ignite the creative spark in any area that you choose.

Inside the cover of my kraft covered sketchbook.

Before I sign off for the year, I'd like to say that I've enjoyed following your wonderful blogs this year.  Also, a big thank you for reading along with me.

And I'd especially like to wish you all a New Year filled with joy!

Happy New Year!

For the Birds

"All is Bright"

If you've been reading along, you will know that I love birds. I'm always happy to go to the woods to watch them or just sit somewhere and listen to them sing. In the winter the world is quieter, but, just now, the little chickadees are still singing their happy song. 

You may remember this little fellow. I originally painted him last year using mostly FW inks; however,  because he tickles my fancy so much, I decided to give him another go using mostly watercolours.

I've drawn five birds recently. Four of them border on the exotic; two are from Africa, and all have bits and bobs from my imagination. I hope to start painting them early in the New Year.

The Maestro

A preliminary sketch also to be painted in the New Year. I outlined this little fellow in red  so that he would show up better. A steady hand helps. Mine wavers as soon as I concentrate on drawing a straight line. It's like carrying a large tray of tea and looking down at it and then, sometimes, it can be all over but the crying. :)

But I digress... I think this birdie is about to conduct The Magic Flute, or is that lyre?

Lady Slipper with bluebells on Fabriano Artistico 300lb (640gsm) hot press paper. I'd like to scale this up and add more flowers...some day.  This is the first time I used Fabriano's heavy paper. What a difference in how the paint flows on different weights and makes of paper.

 

There's also a small drawing of a part of my Christmas Cactus ready to be painted on a cold pressed watercolour card for someone.

 If you are preparing for Christmas, I hope all is running along like clockwork. Things are ticking along here and I am having fun. I'll be making cookies etc. this weekend. It's  such a lovely time of year! 

Enjoy...