Open spaces

I have been in Saskatchewan for 5 days now and the landscape continues to amaze me. The cities are similar to most cities full of life and stores and people and cars, but outside the countryside is so unique. "Land of Living Skies' is the logo on license plates and it is true. The sky dominates the landscape as the earthscape is so flat.

With trepidation, I took my daughter's car on my own to explore. I am not good at directions or navigation and it still amazes me that I negotiated roads, cloverleafs and intersections without ending up in Winnipeg!

I stopped in a tiny rural town of Pense between Moose Jaw and Regina and had my first encounter with a grain elevator. These elevators are rapidly becoming a thing of the past as farming life is disappearing so the need for them dwindles too. Some are amazing structures with ancient timbers, others well kept and modern looking. The older ones appeal most as they have character. They pull me to explore them and photograph them and draw them. And I will, once time permits. For now, a photograph will have to do til I have enough time alone to sketch. The girls get fidgety if I linger too long and get out my sketchbook.



Tonight exploration was rural too - to Buffalo Pound Park and on the way found a small grain elevator abandoned along with other outbuildings in the middle of nowhere. We didn't get too far into the park or see the buffalo as light was fading and to be honest the atmosphere as we wandered down the path was eerie with dozens of half dead trees flanking us, rahter like a scene out of the enchanted forest. There were sightings of wildlife as a pair of whitetailed deer popped up in a field and a large flock of pelicans flew overhead, startling me, looking for all the world like some prehistoric gliders. I haven't seen pelicans fly high before and the sound of their wings against the air added to the feeling of creepiness. I know, I have a vivid imagination...

More adventures tomorrow as I borrow the car again and head towards Regina - or perhaps I'll go discover dinosaurs in the opposite direction!

Work

I work for a non profit organization. Unless you have operated in that environment and become used to it, when viewed from outside eyes, it is unusual. Volunteers are the norm, paid staff the exceptions. And meetings tend to be held outside regular working hours to accomodate the volunteers. So Ii worked Friday night, allSaturday, all today and will finalize my meetings on Monday.

No, I don't get paid for overtime. Yes, I get time off in lieu, but rarely take it. Its one of the 'catch 22' situations. You have all this extra time building up but more work accumulates while you're gone so you never get around to taking the time off because more work accumulates in your time away....etc., etc.

Its a life I know and know well. Elements of it I hate and other parts I love. Stress is a high factor but offset with working with good hearted people who are in the organizaiton for the long term, so each meeting becomes like a big family reunion.

There are wars and words, successes and failures and disagreements, but in the end we all come together and make things work out as a group. And now, a little recreation - dinner at the casino then I'll see how my luck is holding up.

Travelling

Airports and airplanes provide captive audiences for drawing adventures. I tentatively took out my Moleskine at 5:45am and began sketching people around me at the airport, waiting for a flight. The first,a group of people waiting for a flight; the second a rather round person dressed in what I can only describe as inappropriate clothing; the third, on a flight from Toronto to Regina.

I started work meetings tonight and will work tomorrow through Monday. After that its pleasure time with my daughters. A year is a while to catch up on.





Technorati tags:sketch, moleskine, airport, travel, drawing

Travelling

Tomorrow I will go to Regina, Saskatchewan for business meetings. Once meetings are over, I'll spend the best part of a week with my daughters, one of whom lives in Moose Jaw. My other daughter will travel from Calgary to be there as well and I look forward to seeing them both as its been a year since I was last there.

In that time, I rediscovered drawing again and am anticipating some freedom to take my Moleskine out into the flat prairie landscape.

Blogging may be irratic over the next 10 days, but I will try to be consistant or at least will have a very long post when I return!

TOnight has been spent scurrying around getting packed, remembering what I have to take, what I msut take and squeezing in things I think I need but probably don't. Soon its off to bed as I must get up at 4am. It will be a very long day tomorrow with travel and meetings and waits in airports. Drawing will keep me busy during the wait times.

Pen and ink appeals to me lately. Its not something I have done a lot of and I find it more forgiving than I thought it would be. This is an image from the Weekly Drawing Thread at Wet Canvas. The image is from a reference photo taken in South Africa. It makes me think of dry heat and that wonderful turquoise sea that looks so inviting. It is done in my Moleskine sketchbook 8 x 5 with pen & ink and Prismacolor pencils.

In Moleskinerie, you can find a link to some amazing photos from the Maldives by Ahmed Zahid. The initial image that compells you to see more is aptly named "Propelling under iridescence of the influential weather." The photos are exquisite. You'll be packing your bag and heading there once you see them. I want to go now...

Technorati tags: drawing,
Moleskine, coloured pencil, sketch, travel

Making it worthwhile

On days like today when my job feels like crap and I hate every moment of it; when I feel like my life is going nowhere and my art not far behind it; when I feel old and fat and tired and not in the mood to write or draw, I stumble across a comment from someone on my blog or in an email that tells me they enjoy what I'm doing and it makes the effort worthwhile.

Days like today are a challenge. People and demands pull at me from all sides and trying to fit a large load of work into a small space in preparation of some time away always brings a level of stress that always catches me offguard with its intensity and how it affects me. It leaves me drained and uncomfortable and wishing that everything tiresome in my life would disappear, leaving me to just get on with the things that I enjoy doing.

Unfortunately life is never that simplistic as an adult. I have to show all sides of myself, from worker to mother to daughter and so on. Sometimes I think I'll grab the wrong hat and provide the wrong response to the wrong person. Who will be more surprised then?

I haven't had a chance to draw anything today. Well, that's a lie, I did add more layers to a coloured pencil drawing around 5am this morning. If the computer and camera decide to cooperate I may even have an update tomorrow.

Meanwhile I will show you an image that I completed earlier this year as part of a CP class I participated in. It was a learning experience and provided its own set of challenges in what proved to be an interesting image. The result came out more like a watercolour, soft colours giving the patina of age to the Venetian scene. I secretly call it "Mother in law Door'. For those people in your life that you kindly open the door for - oops wrong door. I can think of a couple of people who would appreciate such a door about now.


Technorati tags: art, blogs, colored pencil, Venice

Drawing from life

There are challenges associated with drawing from life, especially animals and children as they don't stay still for long enough to capture more than gestures or lines usually. So most portraits of either may be done with a combination of life and photographic aids.

As with all life drawing, it takes practice to become efficient at analysing and placing lines so that you quickly capture the movement and shape of the object. In life classes that I have participated in, we would start off with a number of very quick poses ranging from 10 seconds up to 30 seconds or a full minute, which seemed like forever after a 10 second pose! It really does teach you to see and commit to paper quickly even though there is some stress involved at the time.

The same technique works well with animals who are constantly moving. It is what I did with this drawing of my mother's cat. It was sitting on her deck in the late afternoon sun which came through the trees and slats of the railings. I started drawing the cat and had most of the basic shapes complete before she moved. I then finished the sketch from memory or imagination with the light shapes still remaining constant more or less.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, sketch, moleskine, cat, light

Illustration Friday

Ok, I'm late. Its not Friday,it is early Monday morning, but sometimes life takes over.

I can also be forgiven for plying a little artistic license in 'under the sea' to morph to 'under the water' as these fish are Koi carp, not a saltwater fish.

A final confession, the painting was done in 1985! Older than dirt, but it still hanges in my home, having crossed an ocean since its conception. Aha! I HAVE got some sea in there!

Technorati tags: art, watercolor, illustration friday, koi

Rural life

There is a romantic view of rural life that is held mostly by people who don't live in the country. Its one of a bucolic setting, calm, quiet, with gentle animals from the film set of some Disney production.

Let me dispel a few myths. Yes, it can have elements of all of the above, but often it is laced with all the problems that go along with urban life, on a different scale.

Lets start with an essential - water. Simple, you just turn on a tap right? Well, yes, more or less. Our water is from a well. Beautiful, clean, sweet water. This is pumped electrically, so if there is a power interruption, there isn't any water. Then there is the fact that animals consume large amounts of water, especially horses and poultry, especially ducks and geese. In the late spring and summer its not a major problem as a hose can be run from the house to the barn, but winter brings a set of challenges - and builds muscle as you lug buckets of water from house to barn. Yes eventually a water source will be in the barn, for now - its summer ease or winter hauling.

Of course then there's the field. When there are crops in the field and its a dry spell in July or August, an irrigation system needs to be set up. In an acre field, you can't slip out with a watering or stand with a hose for hours. Also watering with a hose would severely put a strain on the house pump to the well. So its irrigation from the pond where water is fed from the pond at the edge of the property by a generator and pump through some 500 odd feet of pipeline to the fields and a form of sprinklers.

Perhaps rural life is one of the things that helped me decide on this sketch from the Weekend Drawing Event at Wet Canvas. Done in my Moleskine sketchbook 8 x 5 with with a Micron pen in black ink. Now, how much water would this bunch need....??

Technorati tags: sketch, sketchbook, moleskine, pen and ink, drawing, rural, cows

Works in progress

I have a number of drawings and paintings that I shall call 'works in progress' as they sit in varying unfinished states for an equally varying number of reasons. Working on images for a long period of time, I tend to lose concentration to a certain degree. Also with limited time, my ability to devote longer periods of time to an image changes,so I find myself doing it in 20 minute sessions or less at odd times of the day or night.

Then there are the beginnings of drawings that didn't go well, but are kept 'just in case'. Its like an archival drawer of mistakes that you cringe at everytime you see them, but still you don't throw them out in the belief that you can resurrect them into glory.

In my drawer of malcontents a couple show promise and I've pulled them out today and done a little work on them. Both in Prismacolor pencils on Stonehenge paper. Sometimes all we need is a break from them to prove that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

The first of three apples on a windowledge was started as a companion piece to a similar setting of tomatoes done a few months ago. The second is more recent and is persimmons on a pewter plate. The apple colour was too harsh for me and still is. I used process red which really isn't a colour I like much. It takes over and makes a drawing its own. The persimmons have promise and I need to work on evening out the tone and working on the other fruit and plate. I can see I have some work to do tomorrow.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, colored pencil, works in progress, persimmons

Quick fix inspiration

I stumbled across this site today through a link in Moleskinerie The Soul Food Cafè is a portal for artists and writers alike. It is a safe haven where creativity flourishes. Soul Food Cafè aims to promote creative pursuits as a daily practice. The site is quite literally overflowing with healthy and tasty morsels for every artist. It’s full of tips, techniques, references and encouragement.

The Artist's Loft is a jumping off point for creativity. Be sure to have a look at the Advent Calendars for the past years. Clever ideas for creativity for every day.

There is so much to see in this site, it could keep me going for months!

For those times when the thoughts or images won't come to you in your blog, visit the Creativity Portal and let the Imagination Prompt fill your head with new ideas.

Then there are places like Illustration Friday to urge you on to inspiration.

This Lab cross is one of the collection of dogs I have drawn in an effort to rebuild my portfolio. More to follow...

Technorati tags: art, drawing, creativity, inspiration

The passage of time

Years ago I drew religiously, daily, fitting it in at every point, going to life classes, being a life model. Then life happened and everything seemed to be in the way of creating. Days stretched into months, then years and more excuses came. No space, no time, kids, work, fatigue, etc. - all the usual. Well about 15 years passed before I picked up a pencil again last summer at the urging of a friend. Now I'm getting back into it and finding my stride again, becoming familiar with mediums and supports and seeing what is new in the art world.

This time, excuses are pushed away. This is something I want for me. I had forgotten how good it felt to escape into a drawing or painting and no notice what else happened in the world during my absence.

Animals or people always were my favourite things to draw or paint but I was out of practice, so I'm building my portfolio again to get into that contradiction of art - the commissioned work. Commissions are a necessary evil. You want them because it brings you exposure and finances. You hate them long term because they lock you into a set mode of art that you cannot break out of, but long to do. Yet, right now, commissions are what I want, so I'm building my portfolio and working on ways of marketing it locally.

I'm 'borrowing' dogs for photos. Drawing friends dogs. Redrawing my own dog that died in December, or drawing images that I find suitable. When the commissions come again, it will be a good thing.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, commissions, dogs, Great Dane

Seeking calm

It is only Wednesday and it feels as though a whole week or more has passed. Work and life in general has been a bear and I feel as if its taking me over some days. I want that place to retreat where there aren't demands or phones. I won't even go into the fiasco of yesterday with chasing loose horses through the woods and security alarms at home.

At an enforced break at work (I have decided to MAKE myself stop and concentrate on me) I found myself drawing what was in front of me. My office. That in itself is depressing enough, as even during some offtime, work still stays with me. I think in future for those breaks I will physically go somewhere else and do a little plein air.

The horses will go up for sale this weekend. It is hard to work and try to find time for them. As well, the mobility of their primary caregiver is limited and it is more difficult to maintain that level of care which they need. They've both grown a lot since they arrived more than a year ago. They've expanded upwards and outwards and their personalities became apparent. Kit, who I've sketched here, is the 4 year old, with the mentality of a 4 year old much of the time. Sometimes a 4 year old on a sugar rush! Lady, is the blonde bombshell, a sorrel quarter horse with an arrogance that can only be experienced. I will miss having them around, but know that they need more time devoted to them that I am not able to provide.

So if anyone wants to buy a horse...

Technorati tags: art, drawing, sketch, work, horses

Anatomy for artists

A good life class can teach you more about anatomy than text books ever can, but its is useful to have a basic knowledge of musculature and bone structure to enable yout o see how the body is contructed. Years ago I religiously went to life classes under Tom Greenshields but haven't done so for a long time. I am currently searchin out some classes. The only ones I have found so far, run during the day and as I work, its impossible to attend.

I have a copy of Gray's Anatomy, well thumbed, as well as several other books on human anatomy. These were mine when I completed human anatomy for my herbalist certification and they've come in handy to revisit from time to time when I need to see how a part of the body fits or how a muscle is shaped.


Figure Drawing and Portraits is a good place to get started on drawing the human figure and portraits. I was sent a link to Artnatomia which is an interactive program that looks at musculature of the face and how they move.

The Anatomy for Artists Seminar is a concentrated study of the human body for artists, not a Life Drawing course. I use a full-sized skeleton and hundreds of slides to show you every significant bone, muscle and form of the figure, and we take time to "draw notes" from the slides.

Basic Anatomy on Wet Canvas provides a good introduction to anatomy. Human Anatomy for Artists hosts a varity of human figures for reference.

There are hosts of books, videos and classes to help you explore and enjoy painting or drawing the human figure. Explore locally, regionally, globally and see what you come up with.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, life classes, anatomy for artists, human anatomy

Cream teas

This image reminds me of cream teas that I indulged in while living in Somerset. A friend's parents ran a dairy farm and offered the biggest cream teas you could possibly imagine. Nearly everything was made with ingredients grown on their farm. Lucious pale clotted cream that had a texture of soft butter; rich red strawberries glistening and sweet or homemade strawberry jam if the berries were out of season; light, flaky scones still warm from the oven, followed with lashings of steaming hot tea, dainty sandwiches and lots of conversation, all taken in the confines of their enclosed flower garden.

It always seemed a little amusing as these people were quite large and robust and they would also serve as well as make the cream teas, balancing china cups on trays filled with food, they would come and stand next to you while you ate and drank. Mostly it was general conversation as we knew them fairly well by then, but often they would simply stand or sit there, beaming, pleased to see people eating, drinking and enjoying their labours.

I miss them. And I miss their cream teas. This sketch was done in my Moleskine with pen & ink and watercolour.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, sketchbook, pen and ink, watercolour, moleskine, cream tea

Disasters

Today the sun has finally come out after a week of dismal weather. Grey cloud and cold damp weather does affect my mood without a doubt and the glimpse of the sun today helped a lot.

This has been a weekend of disaster. Once more a mink has gotten into the barn and played havoc with the chickens and ducks. Fifteen chickens were killed and all the ducks injured. We presumed that it was a small weasel or mink because the ducks weren't killed but all had been attacked from behind with varying degrees of injuries. One poor little Khaki Campbell male is in serious shape and may not recover. Luckily the mink didin't reach the pens with the goslings and ducklings, likely because the adult geese were nearby.


This image of of a mink that was trapped earlier this year. It measured about 24 inches long. The trap killed it instantly and I have to admire the animal for its shape and coat and ability to move. However, they are likely the most vicious, nasty creatures that I have come across. We discovered one in an outdoor duck pen last summer that had killed four ducks. Caught in the act, it stood defiantly, hissing at us, defending its kill. Horrible creatures.

After blocking off a hole that he must have come in from, the animal was trapped in the barn. Going into the barn a little later, it had just killed another hen then was disturbed and hid behind some crates. It was then shot.

This is the 3rd mink caught in the barn. We also have to contend with coyotes, foxes and hawks. It becomes disheartening to lose birds to these predators. And by now the initial venture of trying to build a stock of heritage birds has been all but abandoned as the expense and heartache of losing them to mink or others is not worth it.

Perhaps I need to get a big old mean barn cat...or ten.

To soothe my soul, I draw. This is a sketch of a Cornish Rex cat, though I haven't developed it enough to show the ruffled irregular fur that this breed has. I love the elegant, Egyptian look of these cats with almost sculpted features. I don't think this one will make a good barn cat somehow...

To top it off, one of the horses escaped the enclosure and went prancing around the garden, through flowerbeds, over grass and with the ground so soft at this time of year left craters everywhere she went. When I went out to stop her she knew she was in trouble and stood there, like a child caught in the act, head down, looking at me sideways. She reluctantly came when I called her but fought me everytime I tried to lead her with my hand on her halter. She's a big horse and still young and goofy at 4, which makes her a bit of a handful at times. Her escapade set off the other horse who was still inside the enclosure and she got caught up in some rope in the confusion. Just one of those weekends, I guess.

This photo is of the culprit, Kit, taken in the field while the snow was still down. She loves to roll in the snow like a dog. Now she likes to try to find mud to roll in. Sigh.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, mink, Cornish Rex cat, sketchbook

Beach huts

Its is a cold, wet, windy day here - a full week of RDF (rain, drizzle and fog) which always seems to herald spring at some point in April in Newfoundland. But today, I brought summer into my life.

I browsed through images in the Weekend Drawing Event at Wet Canvas and found a picture of some beach huts. I had forgotten completely about beach huts and how common they were on the coast in England. This image reminded me of hot summer days, salt sea breeze, sand in every nook and cranny, hot, tired children, hotter, more tired parents, ice cream, seaside stalls selling brightly coloured buckets and spades and inflatables. And beach huts.

Beach huts have moved upscale it seems. With celebrities snapping them up in select areas, a 12' x 12' beach hut can sell for 125,000 up to 160,000 pounds. More than the average house costs to purchase!

Technorati tags: art, drawing, moleskine, watercolour, pen and ink, beach huts, sketchbook

Art in Newfoundland

Living on a island has benefits and drawbacks artistically. One of the challenges is searching out Newfoundland artists flung throughout the province in every nook and cranny who are creating the most beautiful art.

I have searched out a few blogs and links to art and artists in the province, both as a reference for myself and for those who may be on a similar search.

Gone to the Dogs was my first stop and provided more information that made my research easier. The next no brainer was to head to the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador who act as a reference point for many of the craft and art movement across the province.

After a bit more digging around I found Newfoundland Blogroll, a collection of links to Newfoundland blogs of all types. I've browsed a few and picked out some of artists and some that just interested me.

Artistic Microphage
Painting the Surface
The Truth About Dogs in Black and White
Art in Newfoundland
The Association of Disaffiliated Artists
The Art of Scott Keeping
The Art of Dave Sheppard

A fine art program is taught at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook on the west coast of the province.
The Pouch Cove Residency program Since 1990, has provided live/work space to visiting artists from around the world. Their program provides artists with a calendar month's residency either on the edge of the North Atlantic in Pouch Cove or overlooking the Bay of Islands in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, Canada.

Eastern Edge Gallery
St. Michael's Printshop
Gerry Squires, Artist, art activist and teacher, much of Squires' large body of work finds its inspiration in the landscape and culture of Newfoundland.
Christopher Pratt
Mary Pratt, one of my favourite artists

I'll end here, but I know this list will branch out to a much longer list as the artist community in the province is prospering and this is very much just the tip of the iceberg.

Technorati tags: art, Newfoundland, artists

Catching up

I've been absent for a couple of days in posting. I always feel a little cheated when days are missed when I read other people's blog. Its rather like having missing pages in a book.

Work and meetings have taken my full attention and have taken me away from drawing too. So I'm playing catch up today and through the weekend.

I did have time on Wednesday night to finish a sketch from Mending the Nets by Winslow Homer. I started with a pencil sketch then moved on to watercolour and some ink later. I'm not completely pleased with it because the faces are more ghoulish than those of young women, and also I cropped the image. I think I will redo it in full and see what comes out of it. I love watercolour but am certainly no master of it. When it does work it is indeed a 'happy accident'.

Technorati tags: art, watercolor, pen and ink, Winslow Homer, sketchbook, drawing

It's here

At last my Moleskine sketchbook has arrived! I have searched endlessly to find one within Canada with little luck. I finally tracked one down on Ebay of all places and had it shipped from California. It has a story to tell before its even been opened.

Canada's inability to keep up with my needs is frustrating sometimes! I did find some Moleskines in Newfoundland but the store didn't have the sketchbooks and the price was about 50% more than I paid for the book I bought on Ebay.

So it is here and I sit and look at it and touch it and am almost scared to make a mark in it. I want every page filled with perfection. Why? I really don't know. But I do and that means giving some thought to what I put inside. I have lots of sketchbooks filled with all sorts of trivia, good and bad and I like to be able to riffle through them from time to time and see what I did and why and how.

I will finish a final drawing before I start in virgin Moleskine. It is an imaage I started as a line drawing and then completed in ink and coloured pencil.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, moleskine, cats, pen and ink

Looking to the past

We seem to measure so many things by what has happened in the past, from music to clothing, to art. The masters of the craft are the teachers of technique and form and colour. I love to explore museums filled with old paintings and be amazed each time at how they were crafted in a time before cameras could freeze a moment in time and let you finish it in your studio.

Art Renewal Centre is one of my favourite sites to explore fine art. Reproducing master paintings or drawings is something many like to do for pleasure and to learn. Most reproductions are based on museum pieces and often completed in situ. For those concerned about forgery, the work of copyists is not forgery. For one thing, art enters the public domain if the artist has been dead for more than 75 years. For another, the work of a copyist must be at least one-fifth larger or smaller than the original work. Copyists who work in museums also receive an official museum stamp on the back of their canvases that certifies the work as a copy. Moreover, a forger would have to take great pains to make a copy that is indistinguishable from an original. He would have to paint on authentic old canvas, stretch the canvas on an authentic old frame and use authentic paint from the era to fool the experts. A different profession altogether! This site will provide further details into the art of copying a master painting.

This week the weekly drawing thread is based on a master painting. It can reproduced as a graphite drawing or further pushed into a painting. Mending the Nets, by Winslow Homer. Homer (1836 - 1910) was an American landscape, marine and genre painter. He was born in Boston, where he worked as a lithographer and illustrator. In 1861 he was sent to the Civil War battlefront as correspondent, his work winning international acclaim. After the war, he worked as both a painter and illustrator. In 1876, Homer abandoned illustration altogether to devote himself to painting. His chief inspirations were the American rural scene and the sea. His paintings are in leading museums throughout the United States.

Technorati tags: art, drawing, Winslow Homer, masters, painting