Solitude on Loan

People are always so boring when they band together. You have to be alone to develop all the idiosyncrasies that make a person interesting.

- Andy Warhol

I need solitude to draw or paint. I need to be in a room by myself, preferably a house by myself. Interruptions are frustrating and annoying and make me lose my train of thought or come out of that lovely place that I've escaped to where the rest of the world disappears and just what I am creating is in my mind. It is almost as if I become part of the drawing. It truly does have a sort of trance-like effect.

I came across an article in the LA Times about a couple who will open their house to writers to provide that much needed solitude to create. I like that idea. Laguna Beach here I come. I already have the beach rocks.

This is another study of beach pebbles collected from Ferryland on the southern shore
I can't resist picking up pebbles and shells or the prickly remains of sea urchins. Their brittle spines crumble at the slightest touch, like chocolate sprinkles at the first bite of a cupcake. Phantom crabs, their contents long eaten by seagulls or dessicated by the wind and sun surface on the cool grey pebbles. They are ghosts of the sea, along with the urchins. Now fragile and brittle with time and the elements, their colours seem false as if something long dead should not have the glow of life still about it.

Technorati tags: solitude, art, artist, beach, pebbles, sea urchin, crab

Colours

Some of the trees in the garden are reluctant to give up their leaves while others are waiting for a hint of a breeze the shake them loose. This mix of maple and mountain ash trees surround the entrance to the fenced in section of the garden at the back of the house. Its a little oasis in a large area and was constructed for the dog to keep him contained from running in the woods and getting lost or hurt.

I liked the way the leaves and branch draped almost like arms and the mix of colours was so appealing, leading the eye to the hydrangea in the background. The early morning light catching the tops of the golden trees looks wonderful and highlights the colours so well.

I am hoping to catch up on some drawing as while teaching and with a busy few weeks at work, I haven't had much time for anything more than simple sketches. I rediscovered a sketch that I had started a year ago. It was done in pen and ink, a stipple technique, which while time consuming, is very effective. Now if I can only find the reference image again, I will try completing it.

Technorati tags: trees, colour, autumn, fall, pen and ink

All Hallow's Eve

Sly does it. Tiptoe catspaws. Slide and creep.
But why? What for? How? Who? When! Where did it all begin?
'You don't know, do you?' asks Carapace Clavicle Moundshroud climbing out
under the pile of leaves under the Halloween Tree. 'You don't REALLY know!'

--Ray Bradbury
from 'The Halloween Tree'

Halloween. From its origins to present day is a far stretch of imagination. Today its more like a begging festival as kids go door to door lugging not the little plastic pumpkin that we toted as kids, but pillow cases to hold their loot! Did people give out much less when I was a child or are today's Halloween goodies supersized like the rest of the North American diet?

Living in the country as I do, not many children show up and the ones that do are driven by their parents. Today, only one set of kids turned up, so they got about half of the bag of Caramilk bars that I bought. I know I should buy something that I hate, so I won't be tempted to eat them. However, I'm not in a chocolate mood, so they're safe tonight.

Tripod, also known as Dr Love because of his supersmoochy nature, the stray cat, has ventured into the house now. He's still timid but his need for heat and companionship over rides his need to panic. He does race for the door at sudden sounds and movement but is getting calmer by the day. As I write this he's stretched out on the sofa, asleep. Food, heat and a pat on the head works the same for all living creatures it seems.

This sketch amused me. The twinning of the girl and the carved pumpkin was too good to resist.

Technorati tags: drawing, halloween, all hallow's eve, cat

Sketches

I've been very busy with work and life for the last week and haven't had much 'me' time to draw and its taking its toll. I feel distinctly deprived and find myself doodling at every opportunity on bits of paper at work. I've tried bring my Moleskine to work, but even at lunch, there are interruptions and I never seem to accomplish much, but I'll keep trying.

A week or two ago I took my mother to some doctor appointments and knowing that waiting rooms are named aptly, I took my sketchbook. I managed to do a couple of sketches on each visit, but the second wasn't as lengthy a wait. I had a few suspicious looks from waiting people, but no one said anything. I always feel a little intrusive when sketching people in a 'captive' situation. But mostly people are kind or interested or uninterested. I try to avoid eye contact if I can as that does draw people in like magnets and then my limited sketching time is even more limited as I explain what I am doing and then they want to see the sketch and the others in my book and suddenly the time and mood is gone.

The change in time screwed up my internal body clock and this morning I woke at 5am. I got up, made coffee then decided I would make a start on the underpainting of the dog image I had penciled in a couple of weeks ago. So I met the dawn an hour later with the scent of turpentine and oil paints and for once didn't manage to dip the brush into my cup of coffee.

This weekend is the last day of the beginner's drawing class that I have taught.Eight weeks have moved by quickly and there is interest from others to do another course, so I will look at times and numbers and see when the next can happen. Others want a place to draw once a week which I am considering too. Compositions can be objects or people provided there is enough interest to ensure that I don't end up paying for a model on my own all the time. Its another option to work with.

Technorati tags: sketching, sketches, drawing, art class, teaching

The Somerset Levels

Many years ago when I lived in Somerset I travelled around a lot in my job. The Somerset Levels was one section of the country that I travelled through at least once a week. I loved the willows that grew there and how they were harvested for basketmaking. The industry is celebrated in the form of the Willow Man (sometimes known as the Angel of the South), a 12 m (40 foot) tall willow sculpture by artist Serena de la Hey that can be seen from the railway and the M5 motorway to the north of Bridgwater.

I loved the shapes of the trees and the shadows and light that played around them and the marshes. This image was one of those views of the Levels, painted in acrylics quite a long time ago, but it always brings the image of those drives and views into sharp focus for me. Unfortunately the image isn't great quality. Low light levels this time of year cause havoc with photographing art.

I've spent the last two days (yes Saturday) in meetings. They were lengthy and wordy and filled with people I didn't know but I survived and came away with what I wanted for the organization I work for. Working for a volunteer organization can be a challenge as meetings do tend to be outside working hours. Overtime doesn't exist and resources are limited. However, I've done it for so long that the hardship becomes part of the experience and spills over into real life at times.

I have been so busy this week that I haven't had much time to devote to drawing or anything related to life on the farm. I have a few sketches completed but nothing more. In weeks like this, I feel distincly deprived when I can't draw as much as I like. I miss that chance to get into 'the zone' and escape. I still have to start on the set of oil paints that I bought and I lie in be dat night and think about those tubes of paint - their colours and the buttery texture. I want to smell turpentine and linseed oil and get paint on my hands and on the old shirt that I wear when I paint. As hard as you try, you always (or I do anyway)manage to get paint on your clothes. You touch something or absentmindedly run your hand through your hair and you are transformed into a multicoloured zebra. Its part of the charm.

Tomorrow I will draw and paint. Something, anything.

Sentinels

Crows are a constant around the farm and to be honest I don't really mind them. They can be a bit noisy around the time they have young with them in early summer but they mostly keep to themselves. They have a buffet of mice from the barn that are caught in traps. Its a bit like feeding the mafia and in return they don't cause problems.

The ducks and geese tolerate them usually to unless they get too close to their food, even them some days a blind eye is turned. The crows do act as sentinels and I can tell from their calls when a hawk is around. They act as an early warning system and send the other smaller birds flying for cover when danger is around.

The sketch however, is of a baby robin, mostly graphite with a touch of coloured pencil. The funny little face was too hard to resist. And completed, if my records are correct, 24 years ago.

Technorati tags: crows, farm, ducks, robin

Autumn cowboys

This is a study of a young cowboy done for a weekly drawing thread last week. He looks rather undernourished to me and I can't see him wrestling steers or heaving bales of hay without keeling over. But I guess he wasn't chosen for the purpose of profiling the real cowboys of the world. I think this is more the San Francisco version...no hate mail from cowboys in SF please.



I happened to look out the dining room window and noticed that the Embden geese had gone into the field with the horse who was grazing there. The horse quite likes the geese and often spent time looking over the fence into their pen, much to their horror at the time. But they got used to her and she never harms them so they hang out together in the field sometimes.

The changing colours of the leaves and the peace of the animals together is always warming. This is also the view I see from the studio that I work in, just on a higher level.

Sometimes they find me

I have done some work on the first portrait. I used Derwent Drawing pencils and though the sunglasses aren't quite what I want, its ok. It isn't a commission, but I still demand things of myself. We all have exacting standards in art for ourselves, don't we? I think the next portrait will be done in watercolour. I just need time to do everything that I want.

Then along came a surprise. There has been a feral cat, or supposed feral, who has appeared off and on for a year or more, hanging around the barn. The cat is missing a front leg or rather the paw portion to the 'knee'. It still moves well but hobbles and has to remain on the ground as its ability to jump up on objects is limited. In the last few weeks, its been given some food which it wolfs down, constantly looking over its shoulder as if something is going to seize the food. The cat will not let anyone within 10 feet of it and bolts if you move suddenly or come near. Til today.

I came home from work to see the cat sitting on the steps with the two Muscovy ducks at the bottom. She quickly moved down the steps as I got out of the car then stopped. I moved very slowly towards her (I'm saying her, but I'm not really sure at this point it its male or female) and she finally came over and sniffed my hand then nlet me stroke her. Its as if a floodgate opened and she couldn't get enough stroking. She leaned into my hand, head butted me, and purred like a diesel engine. But she was still wary. She looked as though she wanted to come into the house, but was so timid. Perhaps over a period of time she will get braver and venture in.

She loves her food however and has the loudest voice I have ever heard on a cat! Each picture I tried taking of her, she was vocalizing so most images are like this one.

So because of the three legs, I've nicknamed her Tripod. Silly I know, but it seems to suit her. My own cat died 10 months ago after 18 years and I said I wouldn't have another inside animal. Seems I may be wrong. Sometimes animals find me instead of me finding them. More drawing material...

Technorati tags: drawing, portrait, feral, cat

Little things

I've done it.

Then the next day I did it again.

I wandered into a baby clothing store and bought teeny tiny baby clothes. I laid them over the back of a dining room chair and just stared at them, imagining them filled with a small warm body. I think the concept of grandmotherhood is sinking in. I think I will also be in debt before the child is born...

It is the first test piece for art money. I'm sure more will complete the diary of my journey through this new step in life.

Meanwhile, to snap myself out of it, here is the third value map drawing of the portrait trilogy that I started this weekend. I started adding colour to the first portrait last night and tonight. I'll post an update tomorrow on that.

Tonight its babyland.

Technorati tags: baby, baby clothes, art money, drawing, portrait,

Art as currency

Just as ACEO's have taken over the art world, I was sent a link to something that seems a little similar, but with a twist. Its becoming legal tender. Art Money. The concept is rather interesting so I've signed up for it and will produce the entrance fee of three 4 3/4 x 7 inch pieces of art. Larger than ACEO's they provide more room to express myself and expand details. Details of what needs to be on the art money, how to apply and how to participate, is found on BIAM's website.

The Bank of International Art Money is an original art object by which we aim to create a global alternative currency. This art project was born as an attempt to introduce a more humane global alternative currency from original art.


The purpose of BIAM is

* To offer artists worldwide the chance of financial freedom and worldwide exposure in order to focus on the creative process in the pursuit of a beautyfull world.
* To integrate an alternative global currency with local currencies world wide as a setp towards equal shopping conditions for rich and poor reguardless of the conditions of the local social environment in the persuit of a world of individual choise and personal freedom.
* To create an art object with a pratical social application. Using art money to pay for private accomodation will bring people together in an intimate private situation. This may offer the chance for new friendships among strangers from all over the world. This currency may as such function as a human link across cultural, racial, linguistic, political and religious barriers in the pursuit of a peacefull world.

Seven rules apply to the production and use of art money

1. Art money is created by artist’s registered in BIAM. Each artist can issue an amount equivalent to the value of own art production.
2. Art money measures 12x18 cm (4 3/4 x 7 inches). All durable materials can be used. The bill shows serial number, year of production, www.art-money.org, nationality, artist readable name, artist original signature.
3. Art money must be an original work of art and show a visible sign of the artist’s physical work.
4. Art money starts at a value of 27 Euro and increases by 5 Euro per year for 7 years. The increase in value can be used only when purchasing art from art money artists.
5. Art money is guaranteed to buy art and services at registered BIAM artists for up to 50% of purchase price.
6. Art money can be used as a means of payment in registered BIAM shops and industry in respect of the individual policy of the business. It may well be used other places where accept is found.
7. Art money can not be exchanged back into cash from the artist.

I have included the second of the trilogy of portraits that I am creating here. Today I will start the colour process.

Technorati tags: art, art money, bank of international art money, portrait, drawing,currency,

Triology

Its been a true fall day here, cool and wet with the colours of the leaves strong and bright against the grey skies. Now and then a leaf flutters past the window looking like a colourful bird sailing past.

After a number of timewasters, a genuine person has bought Kit or started the process. My concern is that Kit would go to the right person who would give her the life she is used to and treat her well so that she remains kind and responsive to people. This seems to be the right person. A family with children with some horse knowledge and a willingness to learn. I can rest knowing that the horse will be well cared for.

Today I started three portraits. I have the master line drawings done for them and will now decide what medium to complete them with. I'm toying with watercolour for two of them and perhaps coloured pencil or derwent drawing pencils for the third. They speed up the process. I enjoy constructing portraits of either people or animals. The act of watching something appear out of the paper is endlessly fascinating. The first line drawing is shown here. The others will follow in subsequent postings, as will thier progression into colour.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, line drawing, portraits

How to be an artist

STAY LOOSE. LEARN TO WATCH SNAILS. PLANT IMPOSSIBLE GARDENS. INVITE SOMEONE DANGEROUS TO TEA. MAKE LITTLE SIGNS THAT SAY “YES” AND PASTE THEM ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE. MAKE FRIENDS WITH FREEDOM AND UNCERTAINTY. LOOK FORWARD TO DREAMS. CRY DURING MOVIES. SWING AS HIGH AS YOU CAN ON A SWINGSET BY MOONLGHT. CLUTIVATE MOODS. REFUSE TO BE RESPONSIBLE. DO IT FOR LOVE. TAKE LOTS OF NAPS. GIVE MONEY AWAY. BELIEVE IN MAGIC. LAUGH A LOT. CELEBRATE EVERY GORGEOUS MOMENT. TAKE MOONBATHS. HAVE WILD IMAGININGS. TRANSFORMATIVE DREAMS AND PERFECT CALM DRAW ON THE WALLS. READ EVERYDAY. IMAGINE YOURSELF MAGIC. GIGGLE WITH CHILDREN. LISTEN TO OLD PEOPLE. OPEN UP. DIVE IN. BE FREE. BLESS YOURSELF. DRIVE AWAY FEAR. ENTERTAIN YOUR INNER CHILD. YOU ARE INNOCENT. BUILD A FORT WITH BLANKETS. GET WET. HUG TREES. WRITE LOVE LETTERS.

Read how some of these were experienced by a group of 14 year olds between 4pm and 4am. The creative process is taken from the Soul Food Cafe, a wonderful source for inspiration and ideas for writers and artists.

More inspiration. This was through a weekend drawing event at WetCanvas. The image of the accordian player appealed. The costume, the stance, the background. I tried it with pen and ink and watercolour wash on my Moleskine. I do like the way it beads up on the Moleskine sketchbook even though I have the Moleskine watercolour book too. There's something about that paper that always draws me back to it.

Sandwich generation

These are two sketches of my mother. One done at the age of 18, the other at 82. She is still the same person, but different too. Inside we all feel the same as we did when we were younger. Its usually our bodies or minds that seem to skip a beat now and then or betray us in other ways.

I spent an afternoon ferrying my mother to specialist appointments, realizing how old she has become and even through her determination to be alone and independent, she is undergoing the ravages of time that are robbing her of all the things that she wants most from life. I felt like the observer in the doctor's examination room and a little remote from the proceedings. I imagined my mother as the young woman she once was and wondered if in her mind, she felt some of the discomfort that I felt on her behalf for not seeing, hearing or walking well or for having to take 10 prescriptions for a variety of age related and life abuse related illnesses.

My mother is independent but also needs support in some ways too. In new experiences she is a child and needs cajoling and treats to make the experience work without either of us losing patience. I feel like the parent with her, not the child. It is a strange feeling. I go through the motions but it never sits well with me. She seems to accept it however.

So tomorrow I must take more time off work to take her back to the specialist. Her short term memory is failing and she sometimes doesn't remember that I've taken her or the address of the doctors as it is new to her. She also doesn't realize that it is often difficult for me to stop work and spend 3 hours at doctors and the detritus that goes with a visit. But I will do it and play catch up later. It is what the 'sandwich generation' seems to do.

Cultures

I quickly drew this image as part of a drawing thread on WetCanvas last week. I liked the look on the woman's face - part disdain at being photographed perhaps or sitting next to the smoker. The indication of the type of restaurant made me think of the different cultures, foods and rituals and how little I know about many of them. Ethiopian in particular. I searched around a little and found some interesting sites on Ethiopian foods. It was similar to what I expected - stews and a bread, some vegetarian foods too all eaten simply without utensils. I'll have to search out an Ethiopian restaurant when I'm next in a larger city and taste the cuisine for myself.

Weeds II WIP

This is not a great photograph of a work in progress. Its the beginnings of a 'Weeds II', part of a series I am doing of garden, field and woodland vegetation. I'll get a better image of it daylight. At this time of year, there is little light left in the day by the time I get home from work.

Then there's Minnie and me having a 'moment'. Minnie is the little turkey that won't grow. She was being picked on by the other birds in the pen so had to be taken out and put on her own. I bring her in most days and we either watch tv together or she just stands there while I pet her and she closes her eyes as she's doing here. She's quite sweet really and very quiet. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about that or not.

She's nearly 8 weeks old and easily 1/4 the size she should be. She eats and drinks and walks around her pen but just doesn't seem to grow. If anyone knows why, do let me know. Meanshile, she's my pet turkey. Yes, I know. I need to get a life.

Technorati tags: drawing, Weeds II, turkey

I'll call you

Kit has been the epitome of patience this weekend with people arriving to view her, as she's for sale. She's such a good natured animal as people handle her or walk her. Though today she did her mule impression, planting her feet and refusing to budge for awhile. Its shortlived and her way of saying 'I don't like this'. That's about the extent of her rebellion, which for a horse, is pretty tame.

I can tell the idiots of the horse world who arrive and try looking in her mouth. They're like those guys who open the hoods of cars and peer into the engine. They haven't got a clue what they're looking for, but think its what they should do. Yes you can check a horses age by its teeth if you're experienced. These people weren't. Kit sighed and slobbered them. Good girl.

A lot of weekend time has been spent waiting for people to make up their minds. Which they do, but unfortunately they don't have the common courtesy to tell me that they have.

This is the second weekend in a row that someone has come to view Kit. They spend time here, examine her, ride her, talk about her, indicate that they are very interested in buying her, then go away to make up their mind, saying they will call. And they don't.

I don't mind that they decide not to buy her,but I do mind that I have to put my life and weekend on hold waiting for them to call.

So if anyone out there is interested in a kind 4.5 year old mare, part Newfoundland pony/part Morgan, contact me. Just don't waste my time.

So while I wait, I draw. This was from a reference image in an art forum that appealed to me. I liked the contrast of the hard shiny sun goggles against the softness of the baby face and sheepskin. Its done in my Moleskine with a 2B mechanical pencil.

Technorati tags: time wasters, horse for sale, drawing, baby

Imparting Knowledge

I've passed the midpoint of the drawing class that I'm leading and its gone better than I anticipated. The people are willing to put in the time to practice and I can see the theory starting to translate into the images that are being produced.

The most difficult thing to teach is the ability to observe. It comes with time and practice - usually years of it before the mind/eye/hand coordination works to the degree that you want. So I suggest a lot of sketching from life as 'homework' each week in addition to reinforcement of theory that we have covered in a particular session.

Teaching is said to sap creativity and it does to some degree - mostly from a time perspective. Preparing for the class each week involves demonostration drawings and consideration of how theory can be turned into practical application at a level easily understood by a beginner. But over the last few days I have been sketching and have started a new drawing of the 'Weeds' series. The first I created limited edition prints with, the second is about a third finished. There is something therapeutic about drawing in detail with negative drawing. I never liked it previously but now that I have a few of these drawings under my belt, I find that I throughly enjoy the process of creating the detail of them. Watch this space for a sneak preview.

Meanwhile, I drew this dagger today as part of a realism exercise. Its not exactly as I want it, but fairly close.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, weeds, negative drawing.\, teaching art, dagger

There's some turkey on the phone for you....

Turkeys are so curious about their surroundings. They inspect everything that comes into their pen, especially anything shiny or bright. This cordless telephone that fell off its beltholder onto the floor of the pen was too much for them to resist. So if you received a strange call lately, well, I'll check my phone bill and see if it was the turkeys.

But it quickly becomes boring and you need to take a nap to get over the excitement.

Technorati tags: turkeys, telephone

Katherine's Moose

Katherine Tyrrell requested a moose photograph. Ever willing to oblige, here are a couple.

To explain, I live in the woods (yes,just like little Red Riding Hood - or did she just visit??). Anyway, being in the depths of the woods, we get a lot of visitors, such as squirrels, coyotes, foxes, mink, birds galore and of course the ever present moose.

In Newfoundland, the moose is an introduced species without a natural predator. Smme are taken by bears annually and more by hunters but the population is rapidly approaching a 1-3 ratio compared to the population of the island. While I have a soft spot in my heart for all animals and even moose, they can be a nuisance and make driving at night a real hazard in the province. The size of the animal and its long legs makes hitting one in a car a recipe for disaster for people and the moose.

So for you Katherine, here are some of the moose visitors. The first was just outside my dining room window, munching on rosehips just as dawn broke. The second is a yearling moose that became a daily visitor this summer. At about a year old the mothers drive the calves away in preparation for the next one's arrival. This little guy (well not that little) was rather dazed and confused, poor thing. So he hung around here and everywhere I went, he popped up rather like a large dog!.

The third image is another moose polishing off the rest of the cabbages in the field while the muscovy ducks looked on from their vantage point on the trailer.

Any other animal requests? I don't do bears...

Technorati tags: moose, newfoundland

The last of summer

I found these little tomatoes in the greenhouse lurking among some nearly dead leaves and spindly stalks. The sun was bright and lit them up making them look like those little Christmas tree lights. The picture is a little sad, as it reflects the end of the growing season and the beginning colder weather. I wish I could capture summer's essence and keep it all year round, taking it out when the snow is falling and the frost whitens the ground.

Perhaps I have captured a little bit of summer right here.

Technorati tags:
summer, fall, light, tomatoes

Horses and grapes

I've been steadily working away in small bursts on the portrait of Lady. Its one of the few times that I've included a 'real' background for an animal. I'm usually in a hurry and end up with a generic colour background instead of a detailed image. This time it just seemed right to add her common surroundings. It is slow going as the background takes as much time as the horse to complete and the size of the image makes it slower still.

Artists are such self critical animals. We are so rarely satisfied with our work and no matter how long we look at something we will always find a section to change or a section that doesn't please. I can be satisified overall with the image and its usually best that it leaves my hands at that point or I'll pick at it til I am either satisfied or I overwork the piece.

Most of the grapes have been harvested from the greenhouse. They are so very ripe now and almost unbearably sweet, like candy. They are white seedless grapes, called Interlaken and there are two grapevines in the greenhouse. The third vine is Pinot Noir- a purple seeded grape. They have all borne copious amounts of fruit this year. This bucketfull is destined for the freezer to be made into grapejuice or added to wine when I get around to it. Ice wine perhaps?

Technorati tags: art, drawing, coloured pencil, horse, grapes

Homemade Thanksgiving

In Canada Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October. Unlike the American tradition of remembering Pilgrims and settling in the New World, Canadians give thanks for a successful harvest. The harvest season falls earlier in Canada compared to the United States due to the simple fact that Canada is further north.

The history of Thanksgiving in Canada goes back to an English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who had been trying to find a northern passage to the Orient. He did not succeed but he did establish a settlement in Northern America. In the year 1578, he held a formal ceremony, in what is now called Newfoundland, to give thanks for surviving the long journey. This is considered the first Canadian Thanksgiving. Other settlers arrived and continued these ceremonies. He was later knighted and had an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean in northern Canada named after him - Frobisher Bay.

Thanksgiving in Canada is a celebration of harvest and nothing to do with pilgrims or founding new colonies. And pilgrims or not, the harvest in any year in history is THE levellor when it came to survival. Without a good harvest, lean times,even death were a certainty. So Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate the abundance of harvest. Here we ate homegrown turkey, potatoes, peas, and squash. The dessert was created from Canadian produce, local pumpkin, maple syrup from Quebec, local cream and eggs from the hens and ducks who wander around the yard. (no, not pumpkin pie, maple pumpkin creme brulee - and yes it was divine - and yes there's more in the fridge)

Technology allowed me to speak and see my children as they were together for the Thanksgiving holiday at my eldest daughter's in Moose Jaw, the younger driving from Calgary. Technology does have its moments in addition to the times that I swear at it when it won't work correctly.

Here is another update on the tomatoes drawing that I began last week. I've been playing with it on and off but its destined not to go further. It seems rather pointless to spend a lot of time on it due to the support it is on - computer paper. The tooth isn't there and the paper isn't acidfree so it will likely stop where it is and I'll use it as a demo on shading for the drawing class I'm teaching.

May your Thanksgiving be peaceful, filled with pleasure and local food.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, graphite, Thanksgiving, local food

Potential

A few months ago an additional 8.5 acres of land was purchased which brings the total land now owned at 15.5 acres. Most of this land is wooded and a path is being cleared through one section. This newly cleared section seems to have become a moose highway. They, like everyone else, like the ease of walking in a clear space.

The woods are dense and slightly eerie even with sunlight filtering through. It is full of potential for drawings and paintings and photographs. I will be back there many times in many seasons to see what I undercover. Today, my find was a dead tree, the space where a branch had grown had hollowed and amidst the leaf litter in the hollow grow two tiny tree seedlings. Life is everywhere.

Technorati tags: woods, trees, seedlings, potential

Grey and red tomatoes

Here it is: Grey Tomatoes on recycled computer paper, with mechanical pencil 2B and HB .05 and .07 respectively. You think Michaelangelo had access to art stores???

I've been doing a drawing of some tomatoes from the greenhouse as a demo for shading for a class I'm facilitating. I started it at work on some computer paper with a mechanical pencil and now I'm at the point of making the decision of whether to continue on or take the image onto better paper and complete it.

Then again, a piece of scrap computer paper might make a statement in itself. I read recently about someone who uses 'found' pieces of paper to create drawings on. Usually very old documents - antiques in their own right I would think. And he's done some interest work on these pieces. Maybe my drawing will be the 'found' piece of paper and I can incorporate the scrappy nature of the paper into the image.

The tomatoes that I first tackled in Cindy Brunk's CP class are rather different, but each has their appeal.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, graphite, computer paper, tomatoes

Equine blondes

I've made some progress with my coloured pencil drawing of Lady, the quarter horse that I owned til this past summer. Lady did go to a new home where she seems very content in the company of other horses and gaggles of adolescent girls who worship everything equine.

Lady is a sorrel quarter horse with that lovely glowing red coat and creamy blonde mane and tail. She's the pin-up queen of horses. Capturing her on paper has been more challenging than I anticipated, as well as including the background of the meadow where the reference image was taken.

I've made progress and the image is going past the ugly stage and coming together. Its on Stonehenge paper - about 14 x 16 and I'm using Prismacolor pencils - lots of layers. I haven't had huge blocks of time to work on it so have been grabbing a few minutes here and there to build it up. Early mornings, a few spare minutes on my way past the drafting table or before I go to bed at night seem to allow me enough time to work on it. Just as well its not a commission isn't it?

Technorati tags: art, drawing, coloured pencil, quarter horse, horse

Birds of prey

Its inevitable that if you have chickens and ducks and geese wandering around your yard, you attract things that want to eat them. Coyotes, foxes, mink and hawks have all tried their hand at catching a bird and many have been successful unfortunately.

This newest visitor was perched in the tree watching from his vantage point, waiting for a chance to swoop down. It is a goshawk and they are large hawks with a wingspan of about 3 feet. He, or a relative, caught a chicken previously and obviously knows where the good meal deals are.

I don't like losing a bird to a hawk or any other prey animal, but these are beautiful birds to watch and to see them fly is amazing they are so large. Today he wasn't lucky, lets hope that luck doesn't change.

Technorati tags:goshawk, birds of prey

The Road to Hawkchurch

My art skills were honed on the edge of the tiny village of Hawkchurch in Devon under the guidance of Tom Greenshields. The Westhay farm was rural, as most are, surrounded by earthen roads edged with dense growth of elder trees, prickly sloes and aged oak and chestnut trees where cows were driven from barn to pasture and back in a tradition that has lasted hundreds of years.

Along one of those roads early one morning Tom captured the moment forever in conte pencil. It was an image that always brought me back to Hawkchurch and one Christmas Tom surprised me and a number of others by presenting us with limited editions of the very image that I loved. Twenty-two of 200 prints, it is signed by Tom and in his spidery writing on the reverse is written 'A Happy Christmas from Tom'. I had almost forgotten that I had this piece as time has take its toll on the matboard as I hadn't had it framed. I will do so now to preserve it. I won't change the mats as even in their state of disrepair they still hold the edition number and Tom's signature and message.

technorati tags: Hawkchurch, Devon, Tom Greenshields, drawing, conte pencil

Grouse

I caught sight of some movement out of the corner of my eye today in the garden. It was a young grouse foraging in the grass - ok more like weeds - that needs cutting. They blend in so well with the trees and fence surrounding the enclosure and they freeze if they sense trouble, so its usually difficult to spot them. This one was braver than that and let me come fairly close to get some photos before hopping out to the other side of fence and wandering off.

I sketched a small 8 x 10 canvas and will start the underpainting in oil tomorrow if I can. Its a great image of a border collie acting coy - as if such a thing could be. However, having owned a border collie, I know they do have their own minds.

Tonight I am turkey sitting. The turkeys who are nearly 6 weeks old and destined for Christmas have a runt among them who keeps keeting picked on and they are relentless with the poor little mite. So tonight he/she was rescued from the pen. This poult is about 1/3 the size of the other turkeys in the pen and may well be destined to become another of my 'babies'. It sat on me, ensuring that I watched a whole hour of CSI while it snoozed. I think it is worn out from being chased by the others in the pen. Now it is sleeping in its own little crate next to me as I type. Another waif and stray has found its way to me.

Technorati tags: grouse, drawing, turkey, oils, painting