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

24 Nov 2020

Keeping Tabs

Hi everyone,







 One of my favourite things to do: keep tabs on the sky.
There always seems to be something engaging, streaming across the sky. 
Streaming? Maybe, technological jargon has gotten the better of me. 

Other than sky watching, I've been planning a little Christmas cheer. 
I enjoy slowly decking the halls, especially with the smell of cookies baking. 

So many homes here are already beautifully decorated. Baubles and lights of every colour peeking out from everywhere do gladden the heart when the sun sets early. Last night the lights looked especially beautiful because fluffy flakes of snow continued to drift down throughout the evening.


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My four year old orchid showing off. I leave it outside until it turns quite cold. Apparently it likes that. It produces even though it has never been repotted; I keep forgetting to order the proper potting mix.  



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From the drawing board...      



                                                                      Garden Doodles
                                      Copic multiliner in cool grey. Various pencils on watercolour paper.

Since I don't have a particularly steady hand, I noticed the  grey marker tricks my mind into thinking I am using a pencil and that helps steady my hand. Give me a black pen and I am all over the place. 

 I do have several full sketchbooks, but a lot of my drawings are on tracing paper. By-passing a sketch book saves a lot of time when transferring to watercolour paper, but the sketches are fading. So I've decided, over time, to transfer the sketches to watercolour paper. I may use a large sketchbook that I have on hand. I might section it off, but I am not sure yet. 






I've also been printing stickers for my Christmas card envelopes, using
 a birdie from one of my early watercolour paintings. 
Printed on Avery Stickers #22807.




And, up next,  Holly and Ivy Stickers.


Happy Thanksgiving to my American friends.

Wishing you well.

'Til Next Time...

Cultivate Your Dreams

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




2 Jan 2018

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...

28 Nov 2017

Wonderous Things

Hello lovely people,

I hope my U.S. friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I always wonder how you do it, with Thanksgiving so close to Christmas. Both times require a lot of preparation, so my hat goes off to you all.

Earlier this year, I made my way to Toronto and I thought I'd share a few pics. I saw a painting by Rubens that the AGO recently acquired for 150 million dollars.  I was vastly overwhelmed by the subject matter, so I didn't take a picture of it. However, with that said, it was amazing, vivid and looked like it had been painted yesterday.

"The Lady of Shallot" by Tennyson a favourite poem of mine has, thankfully, been painted so beautifully by John William Waterhouse. I am not sure how many he painted in that series, but they are all wonderful.

'I am Half-Sick of Shadows,' said the Lay of Shallot.

Click here to see a clearer version.

"On either side the river lie
Long fields of barley and of rye,
That clothe the wold and meet the sky;
And thro' the field the road runs by
       To many-tower'd Camelot;
And up and down the people go,
Gazing where the lilies blow
Round an island there below,
       The island of Shalott."
Tennyson
 
Loreena McKennitt's song "The Lady of Shallot." You can listen here.

 Monet


Lady with Soup. Picasso ~ Blue Period

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I absolutely love Greek sculptures.

A favourite of mine. From the palace of King Nebuchadnezzar ll. c 600BC.
I love to imagine what the palace was like.


A wondrous totem pole. Taken at the ROM

Georgia O'Keeffe.

 I made it to the O'Keefee exhibit with only a day or two to spare before the closing date. Pictures were prohibited.  However, this wonderful photo covered the wall at the end of the show.  And people were lining up to have their picture taken with Georgia.

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My orchid has been blooming for more than two months!

In keeping with my usual winter habits, I've planted a few Amaryllis bulbs. I should have one in bloom next week.

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"I've been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I never let that stop me from a single thing I wanted to do."
Georgia O'Keeffe
Cultivate your dreams. 

'Til next time. . .

20 Sept 2016

Birds and Golden Days

Sept 20, 2016 
Hi lovely people!
As you know, I am very fond of birds. These days the migrating birds are flocking and making plans to fly off to warmer climes. The hummingbirds have already left. (My friend, Lois, knows when they arrive and when they leave to the day.)  They are so small, yet so clever and resourceful, obviously the denigrating term bird brain does not apply. The hummers are off to Mexico and Central America. Such bravado!

I love moments like the one above.  I can never get enough of  the cheerful Chickadees. They are so trusting and they don't mind visiting a giant hand. My son said this wee birdie didn't even take a seed. At the moment, it's Eden out there. No need to rush or grab seeds, so this lady flew down for  a long visit. I like to think the Chickadees remember us from our treks to the woods on cold, snowy blustery days with pocketfuls of seeds. I sometimes wonder how they make it through the long, cold winters.


You may remember my Staying Alive Series (threatened or endangered species); this one's #3. Eastern Meadowlark and Dogwood. I put a background in ( not shown) at night.  It looks a little too bright. (An OttLite, please Santa.)

A few older paintings and a new one to the right.

Since my other lily didn't make it until I was ready to paint it, I nipped over to the florist for another one.  It's so nice to be able to buy one stock now and then for a reasonable price. 

A wee one.
I planted this orchid at the end of May. I was about to cross it off my list of bulbs to plant and then the other day it began to bloom.


The annual pick up has begun. I still have a ton of leaves from last fall, but I can't resist. I'll check Pinterest for ideas on what to do with these beauties. I'd like to paint the Maple leaf.
And finally, a glimpse of gold. It's a wonder out there just now. It reminds me of the following stanza from Dylan Thomas' Fern Hill.

Now as I was young and easy under the apple boughs
About the lilting house and happy as the grass was green,
The night above the dingle starry,
Time let me hail and climb
Golden in the heydays of his eyes,
And honoured among wagons I was prince of the apple towns
And once below a time I lordly had the trees and leaves
Trail with daisies and barley
Down the rivers of the windfall light.
Enjoy...


27 Apr 2016

Calla Lily





Calla Lilies are so pretty.  Since I have a plant on hand, I couldn't help but paint a few.  What's great about them besides the obvious: the blooms last a long time and although I haven't compared, they must last almost as long as an orchid. They make great outdoor plants too, so I bought bulbs to plant.  Actually, I bought several packages of bulbs to plant in containers this season.

The greenhouses will open soon. Always, it seems, in time for Mother's Day.  I can't wait to see what they have this year. In the meantime, and even though they were just setting up, I managed to sneak into Walmart's greenhouse. I left with a few pansies.


Pansies symbolize merriment, thoughts of you. The Calla Lily symbolizes magnificence and beauty.
The Victorians were very conscious of the meaning of flowers. And they had flowers everywhere. I've noticed that a few flower shops are, once again, emphasizing those meanings. How lovely!

I am also fond of air plants. I'd love to have a red one. Hopefully, I'll to find one when I go to the city.

Enjoy the week...



3 Mar 2015

This and That

Lady Slipper ~ I've painted a few of these.

Although I was reluctant to do so, I decided to use one of my shell plates for painting.  It has worked out well because I can easily see the true colour of the paint, and the added bonus, the grooves on the side act as a brush holder. 

When my son saw my new palette, he raised an eyebrow.  Did he think that I might covertly wash the plate and put it back in the cupboard? Chuckle.



A gift. Unfortunately it arrived a bit water logged. Also, on the way here it lost several of its buds because of the arctic temperatures. But its still beautiful!

The large flower is approximately 5 inches across. 

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On the needles...

I found out that, for me, a paint brush is not a substitute for knitting needles. It seems my fingers also need to knit. Originally, I frogged [for those folks that do not knit that's knit speak for unraveling, or in frog terms rip it, rip it.] this shawl to use the yarn for another project. Ran out of yarn for that project and had to order more. And because I spent my knitting budget on paints, there's no new yarn in my stash, so although the pattern is different, it seems like a re-run, but I really like this bright colour.


The tulip shawl

Lastly, I recently joined Instagram. For an easy transition, I bought an app, but the fit still isn't right for my new camera ~ older pics work fine. Does anyone have any suggestions, or have success with a certain app?

If you are an Instagram member, please let me know. My link for Instagram is at the top of the page.

Enjoy...