Grandmother in training

I have been experimenting with some new Gioconda pastel pencils that I bought and children have been the result of the doodles. Children have been on my mind for a few weeks in one form or another since learning that I will become a grandmother in January. I don't think that the news has sunk in entirely yet and likely won't until I see the baby and see my daughter in her new role as a mother.

The news comes with mixed emotions for me. It makes me realize my own mortality and how time slips away so quickly. It revives fears and inadequacies in my own parenting skills. It stirs up fears for the future for both my children and my children's children. It makes me recall my own childhood and the trip down that lane isn't often one I care to revisit.

So much has changed since my children were babies. I have changed too. Childbirth physically hasn't changed but, even in the last 30 years has become a thing of medical intervention with monitors and wires and procedures and specialists, with every parent to be sporting a 'first' baby picture of a blurry fetus swimming in a sea of amniotic fluid. However did the population grow to its current number before intervention I wonder, rolling my eyes.

What kind of grandmother will I be? A long distance one most likely, as my daughter is several thousand miles away from me. The advent of internet and telephone will have to be the medium for connection and will have to be worked at to ensure any relationship exists. Distance doesn't diminish emotion or caring or concern. It probably enhances them if anything.

So I will likely be the grandmother bore with a fistful of photos and a host of baby stories to share to those interested or not interested. I will draw my grandchild and knit for them and send unsuitable presents and spoil them when I do see them. I will be the grandmother that is not traditional and I will also fit the traditional mold.

Technorati tags: drawing, children, babies, grandmother, pastel pencils

Determination

Tonight I completed week three of the basic drawing class that I am offering. One of the participants decided to drop out, stating lack of time to practice. I know not everyone has time, but if it something that is truly wanted, you make time to fit it into your life. It becomes as natural as breathing and with art, in my case, the medium becomes an extension of my hand. I think about drawing, I see scenes in day to day life and they become drawings or paintings in my head. I see the sky in the morning and want to stop in the middle of the road to capture it. Light, water, earth, trees, animals people, they all form images in my mind that don't go away and demand that I do something with them.

There is a determination in me that is like a fire now. I find ways around obstacles to acheive what I want and am often surprised when something good falls in my lap, as I never quite expect it, even when I've worked hard towards that goal.

Today I picked up the final images for a limited edition series of 30 prints called 'Weeds'. This is a negative space drawing done in graphite, 9" x 12", printed on archival matt paper and enclosed in an archival cellophane sleeve. The prints are for sale for $30.00 Canadian and come with a Certificate of Authenticity. Shipping and handling are not included in costs and will vary according to location. Please contact me for purchasing details. I can accept money orders, personal cheques or credit cards through PayPal. I will also be making some prints available on Ebay.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, limited edition prints, weeds, determination, art class

Underpinnings

For every drawing that is complete, there is another that is a thought which is eventually translated into line on paper. It may be rough and be filled with afterthoughts or colour notation. It may be finished and stand on its own as a drawing in its own right.

It is the moment of conception.

This sketch of a red setter is one of those conceptual moments. Perhaps it will move onto the next level.

A painting when I can

So much for the 'Painting a Day' concept for me. I do a painting or drawing when I can. This was done yesterday of two small winter squashes from the garden that I painted while I waited for supper to cook.

Its amazing how you can find a few minutes here and there to fit it in.

Drawing update

I have completed the master drawing of the horse, Lady, and transferred it to Stonehenge paper, then made a very small start on it with coloured pencils. My drafting table looks like a bombsite with drawings and references scattered all over it.

I came across a wonderful find the other day that's great for keeping my coloured pencils from rolling all over the place. Northwest Airline food trays. They were $1.50 each so I bought 3 of them, now I wish I'd bought more as they're proving very useful both as tool holders and potential palettes. Unfortunately they are grey, but even so, they'd do in a pinch. My other current 'palette' is disposable paper plates.

On impulse yesterday, I bought a set of oil paints - 24 tubes. I haven't used oil paints for many, many years, but suddenly had the urge to use that delicious colour and texture to create something. I have a set of small streched canvases that will be perfect for experimenting with. Now I just need time to do it. My weeks are so full lately that its a bit overwhelming sometimes, but I keep on trying to squeeze more in.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, coloured pencil, stonehenge paper, oil paint, oils

Ladies Night

Many years ago I had a book of Beryl Cook's paintings. Beryl paints larger than life characters in day to day situations that always make me smile. This image is one of my favourites and I have it as a postcard which is close to 20 years old now. Ladies Night.

BERYL COOK OBE

‘I DON’T KNOW HOW MY PICTURES HAPPEN, THEY JUST DO. THEY EXIST, BUT FOR THE LIFE OF ME I CAN’T EXPLAIN THEM.’