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!

Summer Escapades Part 2

Since it's nearly the middle of September, I thought I'd better post the second part of my summer pictures this week so that I can catch up after two months away from blogland.

The blue mountains: the Adirondacks in upstate New York. 

 

                                                     

                                                         A bird's eye view. Well, almost.

Weeping Willows swaying in the wind.

     

                                                               Summer clouds.

I just received Remarkable Diaries to add to my collection. In my opinion, these are great books; they give you a fascinating view into many remarkable lives.  Armchair exploration at its finest.

          

  One of my container plants. Begonia still hanging in there. The nights are cool but the days are still lovely. After all, the very last day of summer isn't until September 22nd. And I am sticking to it!

Brown Eyed Susan's, Purple Coneflower, and an early turning Maple. The Maple photo was taken in August.

* * * 

Pastel on Uart 400 Sanded paper. As you can see the paper likes to curl up, but it holds colour and layers well.

                                 

Have a lovely week...

Cultivate Your dreams

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by for a visit; there’s much to see.

  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.

Natural Magic

 Hi there,

Thank you for the lovely comments on my last post. I was excited to have a painting chosen for the juried art show. From the vernissage, to the day I hosted along with another lady, it was fun and I learned a lot. The best, of course, was chatting with people and admiring the wonderful paintings that covered the walls at the show.
 

My framed entry. Snowdrops--a slight obsession of mine.

 * * *

The crab apple trees and lilac trees are in bloom. And the newly hatched, fresh-faced leaves are waving in the breeze.  When I look out the window, there are so many lovely hues of green--rich, deep, subtle, and, well, the whole landscape looks gorgeous. All those spring greens do animate the spirit.

The birds woke me up at 4:45 this morning. They were singing their hearts out. How industrious and celebratory they are. After opening the window, I crawled back into bed and found myself imagining spending an afternoon under a fragrant crab apple tree, drinking tea, knitting and/or sketching. I even  fancied I could feel a lovely soft breeze blowing in from the river. (Time to make that reverie a reality, I reckon. Even an hour would be lovely.)

Wild honeysuckle.

Yes, Emerson. "The earth [ really does] laugh (s) in flowers."

 Ms. Squirrel dressed to the nines.  Hurrah! She made it through a hard winter and is in fine form.  I think I have mentioned before that it takes about 3000 trips for this little one to fill her pantry with enough seeds to get her through the winter. She's an independent wonder.

  I am contemplating painting a bearded iris. Just look at the colours...as rich as a fine tapestry.

It was raining the day I was out taking these pics. It's still raining and that's okay. Blossoms need moisture. I'd like to get a few closes ups with my big camera; I hope to go tomorrow rain or shine.

A red-winged blackbird searches the area for a mate. (I love to hear his discordant melodies.) Since it's breeding season, the red bands on his wings are brilliant. What a charmer. I hope he soon finds his lady love.

Speaking of charmers/charming, how about that royal wedding? I loved it. Wouldn't it have been grand to be a butterfly on the wall at the receptions at Windsor castle and Frogmore house?

'Til next time...

Cultivate your dreams.

An Artful Winter Wonderland

Hello there,

Thank you for stopping by.  As you can see we've had a snow storm that has beautifully covered the world. Although I am not enamored with winter, I do love a downy snowfall.

Humming and Singing " It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

A squirrel came out to check it out too. I think he/she was somewhat amazed. He kept jumping about like wow what's this.

Jumping for joy, or he has cold feet.  From my vantage point it looked like joy. It must be his first winter. (Cell phone pics...sorry about the quality, but even fuzzy joy is definitely worth seeing.)

 * * * 

These two paintings have been sent to a good home. 

I found a scrap of heavy paper, so I put it to use for this rose bud.

I added a few embellishments to this wee violet painting.

And a few embellishments added to this one too.Watercolour paper on a birch panel. First attempt at multimedia. A learning lesson for sure since I don't really now what I am doing. :)  Because framing watercolour runs into added expense, I am hoping to use birch panels for other paintings. I may finish the sides, although I do like the look of the raw wood. 

This one isn't finish yet. Normally you finish with two coats of spray varnish, and then apply  Dorland's Wax Medium.

Framed "In the Tropics"

* * *
"Kindness is like snow. 
It beautifies everything it covers."

Kahil Gibran

Cultivate your dreams!

Have a lovely week...

Different Directions

Hello lovely people!


 I hope you all had a great week. 

Sometimes people talk about the weather when there's not much to talk about. But the current temperatures are amazing and worth a few words.  30 C-33C, or 86F-91F.  The trees must be confused, but they are turning and many have already lost their leaves because of the cold nights.  Of course, these temps won't last but while they do hurray. But, then, when I think about it, it must be difficult for the kids at school. So it's probably better that temps return to normal soon.

 

Because they are available, I've been out buying pumpkins.

And this dapper foxy fellow dressed for fall was too cute to pass up.

* * *

Off road.

 

 

In case you don't know, dragon flies are accommodating. This one was flying around like mad, so I sweetly said, could you just stay still so I can take your picture and it did! My son just 👀 at me. 😉

Bee cause she's a worker. 

* * *

A little art.

 Mixed media on a wood panel.

* * * 
Stitching

Lately, I've been doing a little work on my cross stitch Shepherdess Sampler.

 One of these years it will be finished.

I've almost finished the large tree on this detailed final section.

 Enjoy the week. 

Cultivate a dream.