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

13 Feb 2024

Wintering in Colour



Hi everyone,

I hope you all had lovely, happy holidays!

Of late, over this way, I've been puttering about, enjoying painting and experimenting with different mediums. An overall quiet time--winter works for cocooning in place with good books, paints, yarn and, of course, tea. Where would the world be without tea?

This year, February barged in with a bang. The earth moved!

 We have had two small earthquakes over the years. The first one was more severe. The noise was unbelievable with the loudest cracking sound I ever heard. It reverberated for  a minute or two. Your mind turns--where to run to--what to do. Thankfully, it stopped. Always good to have a plan or two in place.

Did you watch the Superbowl? Is that even an admissible question? Fair weather fan here. Enjoyed chicken chili, and watched the half time show. 

Pastel on pastel mat paper.

             
 Thanking Jesse for these beautiful blue pastels.
 Watercolours-Sennelier and three Daniel Smith's. Always fun to mix greens, but Daniel Smith's sap green works well with a hint of red mixed in to tone it down.               


           
                                                  
 The three colours in the last row are Daniel Smith's.  Love the Opera Rose, although it is a fugitive colour.
                                 


A little grocery store bought colour oasis.


Scraps of paper will do when you don't have a lot of time, or you may want to paint quick daily paintings.  As you can see, the painting on the right is halved because I put the lane almost in the middle. A definite no no. (She lives and sometimes learns.) 

* * *
Books:

What an amazing book this is. Not hard to know why it won the Pulitzer.  In a you tube interview with Richard Powers, he said he researched the book for six years. And while it's a work of fiction with a cast of human characters, trees are, in my opinion, the main characters. 

I've always loved trees; was surrounded by them in my childhood, and if you been reading here awhile you will know that I love to be in the woods. It's difficult not to feel sad when watching land being cleared. Now more than ever because there aren't that many tracks of treed land left. 
  
In case you are interested, besides this book, a couple of recommendations are: The Wild Trees by Richard Preston published in 2008, and more recently The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohellben. 

Netflix has bought the rights to The Overstory, so we can expect an adaptation sometime-- can't locate a time line just yet.
After reading these books, I could go on and one. But I will say there's no doubt in my mind that we walk among miracles. Trees are a community.  They help each other out. They are so remarkable it's mind boggling. 
Definitely a crime to cut old growth forests, especially the giant red woods; as you probably know, they can be 20 or 30 stories high and they have likely graced us with their presence since say 786 or longer! 


Speaking of miracles, my Echeveria elegans is blooming


Enjoy the week


And Happy Valentine's Day!


Cultivate Your Dreams

                                    Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 

                                                         Thank you to all for hosting.  


4 Apr 2023

Spring or Thereabouts

                                                       
Hi Everyone,

 Now in the early morning, the sun lights the prisms and they dance on the wall.  And in these parts that means spring.  But from the ice and snow still about, you can see that, here in Canada, winter tends to hang on, sometimes, a little longer than necessary. But it is so wonderful to feel the warmth of the sun and enjoy longer days.

Yesterday, we went to the Sugar Bush where Maple syrup is made. What a busy spot. Too busy to hang about waiting for breakfast, and the snowy trails were over flowing with people as well.  Although there was no hope of getting served breakfast before closing time, it was nice to see everyone out and about enjoying life. 

Also made a trip to the marsh. We saw a lot of robins. They were looking for a tasty morsel or two. Not easy for them to find food just now. Unfortunately, I didn't have any raisins with me. Did have sunflower seeds for the hungry chickadees, Starlings, and the squirrels were happy to see us too.



                                                             Garden Centre Easter delights.  


                                                    All that colour! It makes my heart sing.

                 Couldn't resist buying, probably, too many plants. (Is that even possible?) 
                Absolutely love the miniature African Violets dressed up in their polka dot pots.

                                 
                        Saw painted candles somewhere, so wanted to give it a go. As you can                                                              see I got a little off course. 
                                                      
                                                              * * *
 Really enjoying the linocut printer makers art I've happened upon lately. They are amazing!
 Besides Angela Harding, John Bloor is also a wonderful printer maker. 
 A link to his Etsy shop here


                                                
                                                          Stone Harbour by John Bloor  
                                                           Couldn't resist this one. 

                                       
                                                     An inspiring book. Oh to be half so good.
                                    One of these days I will dig out my carving tools.

                           

Found this embroidery kit on Etsy. Love to knit, but, for now, this is much easier on the hands.
  Made the needle minder a few years ago from paper clay; it's finally getting used.

                                                 Watercolour on Fluid 100 paper. 
                     
Because of Blogger's fickle ways, I wasn't able to leave replies to your comments here on my last post. Perhaps this time. I do thank you all for your lovely comments. 

                               I hope you all have a very Happy Easter!

                                         Cultivate Your Dreams 

                               Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. 
                                                Thanks to all for hosting.  

28 Sept 2021

Unusual Clouds

 

Hi everyone,

I saw this beautiful and unusual cloud formation and had to take a picture. If anyone knows what these clouds are called, please let me know in the comments.

                                                                                                                            

Goldenrod and wild grape vines as a backdrop.
                                           

         Still blooming outside: Mum, Shamrock, and Hibiscus.


Since it seems to be a popular medium these days, I thought I'd try out Jelly gouache. I do have a few tubes of other brands but I haven't really tried them yet.
To me, gouache seems rather thick and, of course, unlike watercolours it's an opaque medium. I love these colours. 




The brown gouache covered well on black paper. As you can see, the orange gouache didn't cover well on black paper.


A package arrived in the mail for me not long ago.  Among other delightful beautifully wrapped items, I received this wonderful little sketchbook made by my lovely friend, Soma. 

Soma is a multi-talented artist. Besides painting, Soma makes beautiful quilts and tote bags. She designs quilt blocks, carves, and makes these wonderful perfect, professional (and I mean professional) sketchbooks, complete with her own logo design on the back page.
 And, to top it off, she is also an accomplished photographer! 

Check out her beautiful blog and lovely artwork @  Ink Torrents .

I have named it My Little Flower Sketchbook; the first and last page I will book end with a sketch of  old houses from the town that I am from in Nova Scotia. I've been posting a few of the flower sketches over on Instagram and I will post some here at another time.





 In the Wilds ~ Pastel on Uart paper.

'Til Next Time...

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.


















6 Jul 2021

Trees and Things

                                                              Looks like a deserted island.
 Hi there,

       Another day along the river. Can anyone ever have too many of those? 

                      
                                                 Wonderful old trees along the Parkway. 

 If you been reading this blog for awhile, you will know that I love trees. Unfortunately, the nasty Gypsy moth caterpillars find them attractive and tasty too. When I was out at the Parkway recently, sitting at a picnic table under a tree, the caterpillars were falling on my head. I ran to better accommodations by the water's edge. 

In towns further down the highway the caterpillars have completely denuded and killed trees and are so busy munching others that the trees have lost the top quarter or more of leaves. Apparently, one adult caterpillar can chomp down one square foot of leaves a day. Parks Canada has decided to allow nature to take its course. I don't like spraying, but something should be done. It will take a really cold winter with temps to -20 to knock them back. One wonders when it will end. 


Such a beautiful tree.
 
First wildflower or a weed a Wild Pea, I think. Second one? Last picture Spatterdock, or yellow pond lily.


 Peonies ~ I can't resist buying a bunch.
* * * 
From the easel...



Nearly there.

Pastel on Pastelmat paper ~  Ribbons of Light 9 x 12"

Near the end of this painting I thought about adding a boat. But once the tooth of the paper is full, it's nearly impossible to add anything. Plans must be made early, I reckon.

An update on Terry Ludwig's pastels. I originally said I thought that his pastels were non toxic. I ordered a small box of his best loved colours and they did arrive with a warning.




I seem to be very partial to mountains and lakes and the sea, so I do have a few forest scenes in mind. Luckily, someone sent me several pictures that I can paint from.

For those looking for pictures to paint from. Here are two sites that provide free images:

Lately my main computer requires at least three re-boots before it works. My son, Jesse, just built a whole new computer from parts he ordered, (he's obsessed :) and, luckily, he hands down the parts from his old computer to me. He also bought me a new hard drive so I am hoping for great results.

Since Blogger no longer sends email notifications, I exported my email followers to a new feed. For those following by email you will receive notifications of my new posts from Follow.it. You will receive an email to confirm your subscription. Thank you for following. I hope all runs smoothly. 

Late to the party, but I just finished setting up a Pinterest account with a few boards. I be pleased if you followed me, and, of course, I will follow back.

 I generally take a July and August blog break. I will be posting on Instagram. I hope to see you there.

Be safe, well, and enjoy the summer, or the winter too!

Cultivate Your Dreams

Leaving you with a real oldie today. 


 
Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by for a visit; you will be glad you did.
  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.

29 Jun 2021

Idyllic Days

Hi there, 

Nearing the end of one of my favourite months. Beautiful June.

Now and then, I sit at the picnic table to the right and watch the boats cruise along the river.


              Doesn't this look like a lovely summer day.  Sunny, warm, clouds puffing by. Perfect.


You may, if you squint your eyes, or locate a magnifying glass, be able to see the Heron over there on the other side of the river fishing. (My kingdom for a telephoto lens.) I haven't noticed that many Herons around this year.  I enjoyed watching this one fish. They are intent and so still. Amazing.  I wonder from standing so still if they stiffen up like humans? Inquiring minds.

                                       I wish you could all smell the roses. So lovely!


A colourful spot with a stone inukshuk. The Inuit build these in the Arctic. They are used for navigation, hunting, messages etc. 


You may have seen this picture on my Instagram. I named this little Mallard "Capability." Eleven, yes 11 ducklings. And she does it all on her own. As you can see the well-behaved ducklings were swimming and feeding ahead of her near the rivers edge. I was setting on a dock. When she noticed me she reared up a little. I have seen other Mallard mothers attack other ducks that ventured too close to their ducklings. They can be fierce.



I had plans to go kayaking this weekend near this spot, but I hurt my foot on a walk. So I reckon I better sit still until it's better. Humbug!

* * *


    Pastel




I recently unearthed this happy little watercolour painting, and I have listed as a digital download in my shop.


                                                                       Until next time...

Be well and safe and stay huggable.

Huggable times are near.

Cultivate Your Dreams

 Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Do drop by for a visit; you will be glad you did.

  Thank you, ladies, for hosting.



27 Apr 2021

Leaning Towards Spring

 

 
Hi there,

I am happy to say it looks like spring out there.

Along with spring, it's my 8th year blog anniversary. A big thank you to everyone who follows and/or visits my blog. Like countless other Bloggers, I can happily say that blogging has enriched my life. I have met many wonderful people and made dear friends in blog land.  A big thank you for reading along. I really do appreciate it. 

In July, Feed burner will no longer send my email followers notification of my new posts. Does anyone know of a free program that will take over this task?  If you are on my email list, you can choose to follow along using a reader such as Bloglovin. Personally I like Feedly. In the meantime, I hope to find a new program to transfer my email followers to. I will keep you posted. 

              Not much greenery yet on the farms. I'd love to tour that old house with the cupola way back                                                                               there in the field.


Dare I mention Covid?  (Skip if you wish.) I know everyone has reached their upper limit when it comes to this topic. But, compared to other countries, we are lucky to have supplies, and here, in Canada, the vaccines are trickling in. We are not out of the woods, or in any way in an ideal situation, but military and Red Cross workers are on their way to help alleviate some of the strain in the hospitals here in Ontario. The wonderful nurses and doctors must be somewhat relieved that some help is on the way.
   Further, we are in lockdown again, and there are a few cases of Covid in the building I live in. However, I am scheduled to receive my first vaccine on Friday. That thought gives me a feeling of lightness and trepidation at the same time. Trepidation because I don't get along well with the flu shot. (I'm keeping up positive vibes for this vaccine though.) It may be late fall or later before everyone gets a second vaccine. My second jab will fall on birthday in the middle of August. ( The best gift, I reckon. The gift of life.)
In some parts of the U.S., fully vaccinated people are having dinner with friends and family.  So keep the faith. It will get better. Soon...very soon.


The Trout Lilies with their yellow bonnets are blooming. Earlier, the wildflowers didn't look like they would amount to much because we had some very warm temperatures and no rain early on. Then came two days of snow which the Trout Lilies and other wildflowers seem to love. 
What a heart warming sight!

* * * 
From the Art Corner


Watercolour book marks.



                                                              
                                                             Pastel on Pastelmat paper.

                      I felt the urge to be bold with this painting. I've been following an Instagram account that post sunrises and sunsets pictures from Australia and New Zealand. Such amazing beauty!  So I am sure the colourful inspiration for this painting comes from admiring those stunning pics.



                              I hope everyone is well and enjoying spring or fall, or the tropics!

                                                                         'Til Next Time...

                                                                   Cultivate Your Dreams

Linking to Link Parties via my link party page. Thank you, ladies, for hosting.