Watercolour Skies

                               "Remember to look up at the stars and not down at your feet."
                                                                  Stephen Hawking

 The other day, I stood still in the woods until my hands got very cold, staring at a changing water colour sky. Looks like a light indigo, or French ultramarine and a light phthalocyanine blue. Gorgeous!

This morning I was up before dawn, hoping to catch a glimpse of Venus and Jupiter in the eastern sky. It was worth it!
 I also wanted to watch the recent eclipse of the moon, but the weather had other snowy plans.

               And the sign says: Do not fed the wildlife. It's clearly overlooked and overruled.

More gift tags. Some people also use them as bookmarks. They are time consuming to make, but I love to paint them. I think it has a lot to do with the colours.

                                                      A bevy of Easter colours. Tres uplifting!

                                        I've also been painting tulips this week.

I am not sure if I mentioned it in an earlier post, but I am currently forcing tulips and snowdrops. I've never seen a real live snowdrop. I can't wait! The bulbs are in a neighbor's extra fridge because they can be cooled anywhere near fruit; that creates ethylene gas and that impedes flower development.
I've got my fingers crossed!

On the needles...

                        Beginning a pair of socks. Pattern Lydia Bennet Secret Stockings
from Jane Austen Knits magazine 2011. Yarn from Tanis Fiber Arts.  I love the picot edging.

                                                     Thank you for reading along.

                                                 'Til next time...Cultivate Your Dreams!

Spring Forward

With March's arrival, we the Hyperboreans, or northern folk can officially begin to think about spring.  Just knowing it is on the way makes all the difference. But even though, in these parts, spring takes its time, longer days do lighten the mood. (You notice happier people where ever you go.)

For the people on the eastern seaboard, March roared in like a lion. Unfortunately, that roar was a nor'easter with fierce wind gusts that brought power outages and storm surges. Here, further inland, March skipped in like a playful lamb, and a light wind, seemingly from all directions at once, whirled the snowflakes about. However, the old adage usually holds true:  If March comes in like a lamb it will go out like a lion and vice versa.

More beautiful downy flakes and, surprisingly, each one is uniquely different.

Huddled down in my creativity corner, my snowdrop fascination turned into another watercolour painting, and, then, I moved on to carving stamps and other things.

Paper ~  Flip side of Molin du Roy 140 lb paper.

                                                         Blue tulips, of course.

                                 Sketchbook doodles. Stillman and Birn sketchbook ~ Zeta series.

Watercolour ink blot test. Care to tell us what you see?

Splashes of colour from a $3.00 set of washable watercolour paints. ( An impulse buy just for the fun of it.) Rather waxy, but the paint does not run together, thus no muddy colours.  Brilliant!
Great for kids.

The Ocean.

For this painting on a birch panel, I used Tri Art's liquid glass and acrylic paints. It dries with a shiny hard finish--no need for spray varnish.

I did cast on a hat with Brooklyn tweed yarn. Click here to see the pattern. I am not sure how well the pattern will show up in this colour--time will tell. I do dream of knitting lace though, so I may put the hat away until fall.

                                               A gift that will stay in bloom for weeks to come.
                                                                       I love this colour.

         

                         
                                                  And greenery...Ferns are my favourite.  

When I was a child, I often tiptoed away to the head of the woods to stare at the lush green ferns. For me, they were then and still are a feast for the spirit.

Speaking of greenery, mail order seed packets are on the way. I am determined to have a bevy of blooming sweet peas this summer.  Wish me luck!

 And the good news: this weekend we move the clocks ahead by an hour.
 
Thank you for reading along...  

                                             Cultivate your dreams, girlfriends. 
                                                  They really do come true!

                                                 

Taking Time

Hello again,

On Saturdays or Sundays, I take time out.  I call it a spa day for the spirit. If you have read The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron she calls the time out an "artist date."  I think a lot of people do, now and then, take time out for beauty and renewal. And after reading the book, you understand how important that time is and how it works to heighten creativity.

Sometimes, I take the time to look at beautiful blogs, but if I am not careful I can get lost there. But even if I do stay longer, I always come away feeling better. Here are two of favourite picture blogs:  Ana-rosa  (for A.R. click on the archive) and The Little Hermitage. 

Depending on the season, I find other things to do such as walking or driving along the river, visiting gardens/greenhouses, bird watching, a walk in the woods, museums, etc., or I might flip through beautiful books. In January when the longing for spring strikes, (way too early I might add) I turn to gardening books.

So last Saturday I made a pot of tea and settled down to admire books that I borrowed from the library as well as a few well-loved ones from my own stash.

O blue! No need to say more.

As you can see, in a simple way, I've been playing with the Apple Pencil. The surface on the iPad is very slick--a whole different medium.

I like the Procreate app; there you can paint/draw/write (Calligraphy) with all mediums and textures.  Also good, Adobe Sketch, Brushes, and there are many, many more. 

It amazes me what some people create with these apps and how quick they learn.

Moving on to Monarch butterfly beginnings, with black, yellow, and orange watercolours.

Finished the Calla lilies and a few flowery doodles.

After another hour or so spent painting and drawing, (with temperatures on the plus side--definitely in my favour), I decided to take my time out seriously and go visit the birds. I've been missing them.

~ Last summer, I met an elderly lady in line at the hardware store. Cupping a small bag of seeds in her hand, she proudly pointed out that the seeds were for two sparrows who visit her every evening. "They know me," she said. :)

Mr. Dee Dee Dee. Dressed to the nines in his tuxedo. (Pic from the archives.)

(A bit of data. This little Chickadee and his mate have the capacity to remember hundreds of places where they have stashed seeds to get them through the winter. Next season they can erase those memories to make room for new ones. (No, the birdies are not bird brains.) For details, visit birdnote.org - Old and New Memories of Black-capped Chickadees Fernando Nottebohm. ) Remarkable I say!  

(Apparently if it gets too warm in winter, their stashed seeds will rot, so if you are out in the woods, please carry a few seeds with you.)

An older sketch. 2015, I think, with fall leaves and Milkweed seed casings.

I only saw this hungry sparrow and a few chickadees on Saturday, but I was pleased to see them.     Birds always make me smile.

Books, Books, Books and A WIP

It's world book day so I thought I'd post today since books are important to me. Where would I be without books? Good question. And it's a question that I can't answer definitively, or short and sweetly. I will say, I'd be a whole lot poorer. Over my reading life, books have allowed me to armchair travel; they have also given me joy, understanding, and I hope enhanced my compassion. They have provided me with many different ways of looking at the world and the people in it. Further, I am sure that certain books have save me a few times.

Looking up at my poetry shelf, I'd  also say that, for me, books have, thankfully, been The Road Taken.

So today, I like to say a great big thank you to all the writers and illustrators out there who have poured out their hearts and souls into their work.

~ If you feel so inclined, I'd love to hear you thoughts about books and a few of your favourite titles. 

One of my favorites: Love in The Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends." 

Charles W. Eliot

One of the books I'm currently reading with a lovely blue jacket.

Not a book but plants have the power to uplift too.

On my Desk . . .WIP

 

It's coming along. Hopefully four colourful birds will tweet their way around this watercolour painting. 

These days I'm working by daylight. Unfortunately, I had to send back my daylight lamp. It was  wonderful--you might say illuminating, but it hurt my sensitive eyes so much that I couldn't use it. So...it's back to the drawing board before the light fades.

“One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the       power to change us.”💗

Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel

 (haven't read it but what a great quote)

 Have a lovely weekend...

Changes

 Hi there,

As you can see, I've made a few changes. Call it a blog lift. It's scary. There's hardly any blue left in sight! (If you are new here, I readily admit to being crazy about blue.)  I don't even like to use a black pen, and will walk a mile to find a blue one. Although for easy reading, I usually type with black/grey ink in blog land. I occasionally draw with a black pen but it's difficult for me. In loving blue,  I am not alone. Survey says: blue is the favourite colour. Period! What a slap in the face to one's concept of uniqueness, but, then again, we are all kindred spirits at heart.  It seems my original blue scheme lost the plot next the snowscape pic, so red lettering it is until spring arrives, or until I have a change of heart.
Speaking of colour, I've been craving it. So here we go...

                             Standard January fare...tulips and daffodils. Puts a spring in my step.

 I always hope for a cool spring so that I can stroll by the neighborhood gardens to stare at the tulips.  If it's too warm, they fizzle. Stunted and struggling, they take on that sad this is it look.

* Tip of the day. For cut tulips, drop in a few ice cubes into the vase now and then to cool down their  toes. They love it!

Back in the day, (And a very long day ago it was--say early 17th century.) you could trade the farm, furniture, implements, and your animals for a tulip bulb. (Think Jack and the Bean stock.) Wouldn't the wife and family be pleased? Fortunes were made and lost. It sounds a bit more romantic than  pork belly futures, and once the craze hit, it hit. M-A-N-I-A! "Step right up, secure your future, buy a tulip bulb!" It's a good thing that I was not alive at that time. She did what, son? Yes, mother you heard it right. She sold the farm for a tulip bulb. Rack and ruin! 
That wifee though, she doth protest:  But, but, BUT I must have beauty!!!

 The movie, Tulip Fever will be released next month. I'll be watching.

  Here in Canada, Maple Leaf Tulips will be popping up all over this spring

               in honour of Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation.  (Top row second and third from left on the link page are prime examples.) They are so pretty and were, of course, bred to resemble the flag.

Yet another reason I'm looking very forward to the Tulip Festival in Ottawa ~ Gatineau in May.                                                                                  Not until May, you say? Pity!                                                                  "Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine to the soul." Luther Burbank                            Purple for royalty. That's how it used to be. Purple cloth was too expensive                            for mere mortals way back when the dye was cast from sea shells.  Amaryllis.  A never fail winter favourite of mine. They are easy and fun to grow. Every  year I hope to find different colours.  Besides being beautiful.  They also hold the keys. 💗                               I love old keys, and have recently started a collection.  I sometimes wonder  who carried them, which clocks were wound nightly and by whom, or which house doors they  locked and unlocked.  I'm not certain the skeleton key on the right is old though, but a keeper it is.                                          After Christmas, I try to catch the Amaryllis sales. I can't resist. Such a lovely blooms and what a colour. (Looks like I may have nailed the colour  on the breast of the little bird below. Who knew? Serendipity!) * "Flowers don't worry about how they are going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light. And that makes them beautiful." Jim Carrey  I started this little painting on the wrong side of a bit of scrap paper. It's difficult to tell which  side is the right side if it's not marked, but I didn't have a plan...simply the time and the will  to create something.                       "With freedom, books, flowers and the moon, who could not be happy."                                                                   Oscar Wilde                                                             Did he mention birds? A line drawing in basic black and white with a touch of red thrown in. Arches scrap paper--frayed edges and all.                                            "I must have flowers, always and always." Claude Monet Truly a man after my heart. 'Til next time...

Icelandic Lattice Lace Scarf, BBs, Sale

August 2, 2016

Lava Lace Scarf. An fun knit and easy to remember pattern. Raverly post here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you've been reading along for awhile, you will remember that I planted a Gloriosa Lily last year and several of you wanted to see it. (I had wanted to grow one for many years but I couldn't find any bulbs.) Unfortunately, the wind knocked it down last year, so I am happy to finally say TA DA... here it is. It's about 5 feet tall. Although it was hard to do, today I picked one for the drawing board.

Another favourite...Queen Anne's Lace.

Doodles of the Botanical Blue kind. My new Micron pen is not the quite the same beautiful blue as the other one. It's close but not quite. I'm searching for just the right colour.

In honour of my birthday this month, there's a 20% sale on in my shoppe. Just type in SALE at the checkout. 

Enjoy the week...