". Arranged Words: doodles
Showing posts with label doodles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label doodles. Show all posts

7 Jun 2022

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!


6 Mar 2018

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!

                                                 







13 Feb 2018

The View From Here

Outside . . .

Hello beauties! 

Doe a deer a female deer. 👀


All bluster along the river.


The yellow weeping willows.

Inside . . .

Lately, I've had the urge to knit something. Awhile ago, I bought two skeins of Brooklyn Tweed yarn, so I may knit one of their hats. In the meantime, besides a bit of seed planting, and stamp making, I've been drawing and painting flowers.


At the moment, I have snowdrops on my mind. Must be that spring thing creeping up on me again.  I'd love to see a snowdrop. Besides white, I did notice that, these days, there are amazing yellow and pink ones, too. 

Last fall, I looked for snowdrop bulbs, but didn't find any. If all goes well, and I can find them I will order some by mail next fall and try to force them. Forcing requires about 12 weeks of cool temperatures. A small fridge should work, although they can't be cooled near fruit.


I tried both sides of the Moulin du Roy 300 lb. watercolour paper for the Himalayan poppies. Another beautiful flower that I've never seen. I'm still not sure which side of the paper I like best, although the right side seems a bit more vibrant.( Yes, I am still arguing with paper. Fabriano was sooo perfect!)

I just noticed I am missing a flower stock. :)


Flower doodles.

💖


 (If you've been watching When Calls the Heart, season 5 starts Feb 18th. I can't wait!)
 My last Amaryllis for the season.


Enjoy the week . . .😘



29 Aug 2017

Tuesday It Is

Hi everyone,

Since I've been on the go, it's been awhile since I've been here on Tuesday. 
I hope you all had a great summer, and or fall/winter. Not that summer is over yet, but I do feel that nip in the air.  And a few trees have been stroked by nature's paintbrush to keep us aware of the beauty yet to come.

Because I wanted to travel light, I only had a cell phone with me while traveling. I don't have the pics organized yet, but, hopefully, I'll have a few arranged soon, especially a pic of the seahorses that  I saw at Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto. I've waited all my life to see them. Sweet things!

Chrysanthemums . . . traditional autumn blooms.

I love the divine colour of these Begonias. 
My dahlias didn't grow very big, but they are appreciated.

 Common Arrowheads. So pretty!
Abigail--mission control.  
My first attempt at fashioning paper clay. A trinket dish painted with acrylic paint and stamped in the middle with a stamp I carved awhile ago. Can't wait to try another. Next time I'll try watercolour paint.
If you haven't tried Paperclay, I think you will love it. It's light weight and versatile.  It air dries in a day (no heat required) and you can paint it with acrylic or watercolour.  

 Water colour added to my sketchbook doodles. Tricky...you can only add a bit liquid or the paper lifts. My Stillman and Burn Zeta series sketchbooks recently arrived, so they should be better for watercolour.

Fern frond and maple seeds.


On the needles. . .
Swallowtail shawl.  Yarn Brooklyn Tweed's Vale... so lovely and squishy to knit with.


Cultivate your dreams.

  Have a lovely week...and enjoy a great long Labour Day weekend for my U.S. and Canadian pals.

31 Jan 2017

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...