Last minute

Coloured Pencil Sketch 9 x 12
Golden Labrador
Copyright Jeanette Jobson

Is 10:15pm and I'm finalizing frames for tomorrow's exhibition. Of course I leave things til the last moment, then rush around trying to do things all at once. I think deadlines are good and perhaps are what spur me to complete tasks. They also produce stress too, but sometimes that is a good thing as well.

I was supposed to have a board meeting this morning, but as full quorum didn't turn up, it did not go ahead. This is very frustrating for me. I spend hours preparing for board meetings, writing reports, financial statements, analysing provincial and national interaction, working out thoughts, questions and answers, adding my own items to agendas, etc etc. So when a board member doesn't show, it throws off my timetable and has a domino effect on the rest of my work. One meeting's results are required to provide useful information at the next meeting, and so on. The meeting will be rescheduled no doubt, but I will not have the missing information for the next. Volunteer boards are unique.

Silver thaw

Today has been stressful. Very stressful.

It started out with the world being coated in ice this morning and spending 20 minutes chipping into the car aided by letting the heater run at full blast inside and wasting more of that ever-increasingly pricey gasoline.

Freezing rain - or drizzle in this case - is expected and dreaded in April in Newfoundland. Its treacherous, bowing trees and turning steps, walks, roads and car parks into skating rinks. The silver lining of it, is that if the sun comes out, the world turns into a glittering crystal of blinding light and there is nothing more beautiful. Provided you can still remain upright while viewing it.
This is the view of the 'garden' from my dining room window. Yes, that's still snow melting out there. Its in a shadier section and is much slower to go.

Its a bit funny calling it a garden, as the land stretches around the house encompassing 15.5 acres. A section of the land behind the house was enclosed by a fence to keep the old dog from wandering off and getting lost and also serves to keep the moose from eating flowers too.

The next section of my day from hell was work. I should not go into detail, knowing that things written online can come back to bite you on the ass. Suffice to say, electronics, staff and workload all play a role in creating my own little pit of fun.

So I drew a little when I came home. A friend's birthday is coming up soon and I hope to do a little nostalgia trip for it. This is an image of him as a teenager who was guitar-mad and still is, so I'll work on putting this into motion and see if I can pull it off. This is a quick line drawing to get a feel for the portrait. Whether it is forty years ago or yesterday, adolescents don't seem to change much do they? I see today, yesterday and the future in this drawing.

Fear of flowers

Why is there cat hair on my laptop? Ah yes, the 'supervisor' at work again...

I just wrote a big long post about how I hate drawing flowers and my adventures in not drawing them with photos and drawings etc., etc., then hit the wrong button and lost it all. Sigh. I just hate it when that happens.

So instead I'll let you know about this:

An Open Book: Portraiture in Art, Literature, and Contemporary Culture
Saturday, April 21, 2007, 2pm - 3:30pm
Level 2 - Theatre

In conjunction with the exhibit Peter Wilkins: Kinetic Portraits of 12 Canadian Writers, The Rooms is pleased to present the panel discussion, An Open Book: Portraiture in Art, Literature, and Contemporary Culture, featuring writers Michael Crummey and Jane Urquhart, as well as artists Craig Francis Power and Peter Wilkins.

Join this group of diverse artists and writers for a varied discussion on portraying self and character in creative practice and contemporary culture. Representing a range of views on the subject, the participants will be here to discuss sources and strategies in their work, as well as influences and current directions in portraiture.

Refreshments will be served and everyone is welcome, (first-come, first-seated).

This event is included in the cost of admission to The Rooms.

Oh and the ice is packed into the coves as I saw on the drive to and from work today. I didn't have a camera with me and light was fading by the time I did, so I didn't get any images of it. Perhaps tomorrow if its still there. Meanwhile, you can see some photos of it on Vicky's site here.

Exhibiting

I have joined the Art Association of Newfoundland and Labrador and as a result, I have an opportunity to show some of my work at one of their exhibitions which is being held on April 22nd at the Capital Hotel in St. John's.

I have chosen four drawings to show, two in coloured pencil and two in graphite. Now that I've made my decision on them, I wonder if they are the right choice and represent my work as well as they could. One is a still life, of tomatoes, the other three are animals. Should I have added a portrait or some kind of landscape? Its too late now to change so I'll stick with it and see what happens on Sunday.

This is one of the drawings that will go into the exhibit and the smallest piece. All will be for sale and depending on how well the Association has done their marketing, I hope there will be buyers there.

Animals

Tripod, the cat who thinks he's a dog has shown his colours when it comes to other animals.

A stray beagle was found wandering and secured, waiting for its owner. The cat was in the greenhouse and wandered out, took one look at the dog and attacked it. The cat had to be physically removed from the dog who didn't quite know what had hit it.

I think Tripod may have had some run ins with dogs during his couple of feral years and decided to take the initiative. He was put in the house and spent his time pacing up and down, muttering to himself, dying to get back out there and have another go at the poor dog. Animals!

This is not a drawing of Tripod, but another cat, done for practice. He has that 'well?' look about him...

Sea treasures

We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came... (John F. Kennedy)

I've spent time working with stone today. Its an interesting process, full of experimentation and discovery which is fun. Using different bits to produce shapes is very much trial and error, as I haven't done this before.

I tried my first efforts on a hand sized beach stone that's a lovely mid charcoal grey. The design was a mix of several with no name in particular. The straight lines turned out ok, the curves are providing challenges so I still have to go back and refine them more. My lines aren't true, but for a first effort, its ok. I will need to practice more with this.


I then turned my attention to some very small beach stones which I will turn into pendants. They measure about 1.5 - 2 inches in length. These are the first two, which still need to be polished. The greyish larger piece is a piece of whitened sea-worn timber, perhaps from some long lost ship now at the bottom of the Atlantic. I love the concept of having something tangible that the sea has provided to use in a different way.

There are lots of possibilities for jewellery using naturally found materials. I will be hunting the beach for more varied shades and colours of stones or other treasures and perhaps unearth some nice sea glass as well.