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.’

Chasing rainbows

There was a partial rainbow over the barn today, that wonderful illusion of colour and form. Like most illusions it is shortlived, but I did manage to photograph it.

I have been trying to find time today to do some drawing and have made the beginnings of a horse portrait. It is of Lady, the horse that was sold this summer and it is on a larger scale. I am determinedn to get out of the tiny sketch book rut that I have fallen into. I needed the freedom of using my entire arm in drawing. So the draft of the master drawing for Lady is on 18 x 24 paper. I have some large sheets of Stonehenge that I bought in Toronto last year that I may transfer the image to or perhaps onto watercolour paper. However that would mean a trip to the store as I don't have any watercolour paper larger than 16 x 20 right now.

The daylight goes so fast today that it is dark before I realize it and I haven't taken a photo of the drawing so far. Tomorrow. I was busy make knishes today. They didn't turn out to be anything like the ones I had seen, but they tasted good and that's all that counts.

Technorati tags: rainbows, drawing, knish

Traditions

Sundown tonight marks the start of Rosh Hashannah, the start of the Jewish New Year. Whether Jewish, Muslim, Buddist, Catholic, or atheist, it doesn't matter to me, as I'm not one to participate in religion for a variety of reasons. As a base, all religions hold to similar beliefs of faith, trust, love and betterment of the individual through betterment of others. What separates most religions are the rituals around holidays, either in religious ceremony or in the traditions of eating specific foods, but even then there are similarities of ritual. Family, friends, food, ceremony.

Because it is the Jewish New Year, and because I'm always curious, I learned a new word today. Knish. It is one of the foods associated with Rosh Hashannah and I'm dying to make some as they sound fabulous. No, I don't want to adopt a religion, but I do want to explore and taste the foods that surround the different holidays and cultures of the world. So if I can I'll be trying my hand at making knishes this weekend.

According to Wikipedia a knish is:

an eastern-European Jewish or Yiddish snack food. It is a dumpling covered with a dough shell that is either baked or fried.

Like many Jewish foods popular in North America, knishes were created by eastern European Jews who wanted to add some variety to their humdrum diets. By wrapping dough around kasha (buckwheat) or potatoes they made something new and interesting out of rather mundane ingredients. All inexpensive items, they were staples of the peasant diets. As is common across the world, these inexpensive items are what became traditional foods full of wonderful memories for future generations.

Shona Tova to all those who celebrate the holiday.

May your best day of last year be the worst of your next.

Technorati tags: rosh hashannah, knishes, traditions, jewish

Venturing out into the world

My blog has been accepted into the Blogburst network. Pluck's BlogBurst network is an opt-in aggregation and syndication service that brings high-quality, topical blogs together with high-traffic web sites. With BlogBurst, bloggers gain visibility, audience reach and traffic through placement on major online publishers and media destinations in real time.

This is another step towards revitalizing my career as an artist once more. Getting my name out into the world, as well as my work does take time and a lot of hard work. Its a full time job in its own right to make the rounds of stores, vets, shelters, shows, breeders, etc etc, to place a seed of thought about portraits in the target groups. Today I created a full page list of people and avenues that I should pursue to make contacts. I need to take a week off just to do that!

Connections in print and in person are time consuming and expensive in some ways, but I'm hoping they will pay off.

Today I approved the proofs of the limited edition prints that I am producing and they should be ready in the next few days. Then time for more marketing. Its also time for developing a website to promote portraits and prints. Time, time, time...

Abandoned

This image was taken deep in the woods along a rough trail behind my house. It is an abandoned truck frame left in the depth of the trees years ago and now nature is reclaiming it as her own. The blue paint was startling against the greens and browns of the trees. It must have been there for some time and you have to climb over stumps and wrestle with trees to get close to it. I never understand why people dump vehicles in the woods, they are an eyesore most of the time, but nature softens the blow a little with vines and leaves and branches and makes nests for small animals. Perhaps it evens out the harm to some degree.

I am waiting with bated breath for some final proofs from the printer on a variety of archival art papers that he has so that I can give the go ahead to print a limited edition series of the negative space drawing that I completed for Mike Sibley's class.

It pushed me outside my comfort zone but that push worked and helped me overcome my fear/dislike of complex backgrounds. By breaking them down into manageable pieces, they become almost soothing to complete.

The prints are my first venture into this side of art and I will consider carefully where to market them. They are a change from my usual animal and people drawings and I plan another few similar drawings before winter takes the depth out of the grasses and weeds. Then again, the starkness of crisp grasses and snow could be interesting also.

Technorati tags: limited edition prints, weeds, woods, abandoned

Living in the moment

By nature I am not a trusting person, yet on the other hand I am too trusting, almost naievly believing that people I meet are genuine. Unfortunately, I still am left in an amazed state when people let me down for reasons unknown. I'm sure we are all like that to some degree. Some react more strongly than others. I guess I'm somewhere in the middle, and veer to the extreme from time to time.

Memory triggers more memory and even now I can clearly recall words or actions from years, tens of years ago and they come back as fresh as if it was minutes ago. I can recall every thought, word, movement, every expression passing over a face with clarity. That can have good aspects and quite bad ones too. So it pays for me not to think too hard or recall too deeply.

Maybe living in the moment does have its benefits, but I always cast an eye to the past and one to the future and sometimes miss the present.

Goals

It is their goal. The top of a manure pile outside the back of the barn. The geese make a beeline for it most days and whoever gets to the top wins it seems. Its a good vantage point and the 'maturing' pile gives off warmth and provides a great place to hunt bugs for the lowly chickens who are relegated to the bottom of the pile.

It has been a whirlwind weekend and I haven't stopped for a moment to catch my breath. I have rushed from supply stores to pet stores to promotion events and feel as if I'm making a dent in my goal. What is my goal? I want to get back into the business of making portraits - both people and animals. After a 'break' in art for a long time, I was triggered by a number of things to get back into again.

I have forgotten however how hectic the pace can be in moving towards it and in achieving the goal - and I am not at the age when it came more easily and recovery from effort easier too. But its slowly coming together.

Yesterday I did a four hour stint at Pooches in the Park. It was a beautiful early autumn day. I set up a table in Bowring Park and displayed portraits in pencil, pen and ink sketches, watercolour and coloured pencil as well as a portfolio of previous work, brochures and plenty of conversation. People seemed genuinely interested and I believe that some commissions will be done because of it and due to the fact that I will give a percentage of my fee to Beagle Paws, the charity sponsoring the event.

Between conversations with people and dogs, I drew - what else but a beagle? I find it a little difficult drawing with many people stopping to comment and having to fight wasps who wander in to see as well, but I did get some preliminary layers down and will continue with it when I can. I must create a couple of horse portraits and some watercolour portraits as well to use as show pieces as I'm lacking in those right now. I'll reach my goal. It just takes time.

Technorati tags: art, portraits, dogs, goals

Commissions and charity

Commission a professional portrait of your pet and support a charity at the same time!

I will donate 10% of the final fee from commissioned pet portrait work to Beagle Paws. Simply mention Beagle Paws when you place your order and know you are helping a local organization.


Contact:
Jeanette Jobson
Tel: 709 437-6562 709-746-9968 (cell)
Email: jjobson@nl.rogers.com

Illusions

It's all illusion: the illusion of space, the illusion of mass, the illusion of light. The illusions go on and on, there is no limit to the number of illusions you can come up with. (Joseph P. Blodgett)

I had a person tell me recently that they enjoy my work and that they were in awe of what I could create on paper. I tried to explain the reality of the process, but they were firm in their belief that I have some internal gift that allows me to turn paper into art.

We all have the ability to draw and we have all drawn as children, but somewhere after childhood, the ability or interest seems to get lost or is dampened by unkind comments or comparisons by ourselves to others and we abandon drawing.

Yes, there is an illusion in art. It is in the eye of the viewer. They see, they believe. The blue of a bug's wing or the blue of a skyscape, where is the difference? The viewer sees transparency, or lack of colour, in an insect's wing. I see blue or grey or whatever colour the wing lies over. The finished result is transparency. Illusion and truth. It depends which side of the paper you're on.

There is no illusion in the image here. It is a northern goshawk that took one of the chickens in the yard. It had been around for months trying its luck and even flew right into the barn after the chickens at one point. This day, its luck was in and it caught a bird. The hawk is large with about a 3 foot wingspan. They are beautiful birds, even if it did take one of the chickens. It 'cloaks' its prey when eating, to hide it from others. The photo was taken with the zoom on the camera so its a little out of focus, but does show the size and strength of the bird.

Technorati tags: illusion, art, goshawk

Giving back

Sometimes life has a way of picking up speed and moving ahead as if a secret plan that you didn't really know about starts falling into place. That is what it feels like this week.

The start of the drawing class, building my portfolio and today a chance to make some more contacts through a dog-related event on Sunday. There is a rescue organization that I wrote about awhile ago called Beagle Paws that I know of and have, indirectly used, having found a few beagles wandering into my land. They have a no kill policy and rehouse beagles to good homes. I will set up a table at their event on Sunday afternoon - Pooches in the Park - and display some of my animal portraits along with the usual brochures and information. I will also provide coupons that, if presented at the time of commissioning a portrait, will ensure that Beagle Paws receives 10% of the proceeds. I haven't decided on the final timeframe for this venture, perhaps a couple of months leading up to Christmas.

I work for a charity and know how hard funds are to come by, so doing this, even if it may be a small amount of money that is generated does provide something and I know it goes to a worthy cause.

To amuse myself between talking to people on Sunday I will be drawing a portrait in either derwent drawing pencils or coloured pencils on site. It will highlight beagles - the stars of the show and people usually find it interesting to watch the progress of a portrait and I DO need to do something while I am there.

I have completed the line drawing for this image and will transfer it onto Stonehenge paper tomorrow, then start the sculpting on Sunday. The photograph of the master drawing is awful and its dark and I couldn't be bothered to start up the computer that has the scanner attached. Next scan will be better - I promise!

Technorati tags: art, dog portraits, beagles, Beagle Paws, Pooches in the Park

Gardeners

We can think of ourselves not as teachers but as gardeners. A gardener does not 'grow' flowers; he tries to give them what he thinks they need and they grow by themselves. (John Holt)

Tonight I completed the first night of teaching my basic drawing class. I believe that it went well. Laughter, work and listening took place on both sides and to see the 'aha' moment when the concept is realized is magical.

The quote above is quite true. I simply provide the tools and theory, the individuals themselves, learn, absorb and create with their own style. So as a gardener and a teacher my aim is to continue to provide what I hope they need and sit back and watch them grow.

These columbines are likely one of my favourite flowers in the garden. To me they resumble 5 birds gathered round a fountain or feeder. The white against the green of the leaves of the sweet cicicely made a perfect image.

Technorati tags: art, teaching

Florence

The name makes you think of a soft spoken female form in white, lingering over the beds of soldiers, but this Florence wasn't soft and thank heavens she didn't linger too long. Hurricane Florence which battered the Bahamas earlier this week, meandered its way up the eastern seaboard downgraded to a tropical storm and stopped for a little visit on the southeast coast of Newfoundland. Even the ducks didn't want to go out in the wind and rain this morning.

The art of education

There was a beautiful sunset tonight with the sky almost on fire. It is the calm before the storm literally as Tropical Storm Florence makes its way towards the east coast with heavy rains and winds up to 130kph predicted. The sky shows a very different picture tonight but I'm sure it will change before dawn arrives. While I'm not a sunset person, the drama of this one struck me as being unique and begged to be captured.

I will embark on my first teaching experience in a long time on Thursday as I take a small group of people through their beginning steps of drawing. It is exciting and frightening at the same time. I have so much information in my head that I hope I can get out the relevant points that will help them move towards their goal of seeing, and producing art.

I was browsing online and in my reference books to provide the best information and exercises that will provide interest, test skill levels and increase their understanding of the theory and practical aspects of making marks on paper as well as being a thoroughly enjoyable, addictive experience.

While looking for specific education sites on line I found the following which were beneficial and are geared to answering questions and providing information on teaching art.

TeacherArtExchange, is an online community of teachers and learners. You'll take part in conversations through e-mail about art education with colleagues from across the United States-even around the world. The archive can be accessed without subscribing to the Art Exchange.

The Incredible Art Department has a list of forms, templates, lesson plans and ideas for art classes. Many are aimed at school levels but can easily be adapted to adult classes too.

Yahoo Art Sites

Discovery School. This site hosts a list of links to all sorts of art related sites.

Teacher Tap: Internet Resources for Fine Arts

There seem to be as many resources as there is time to search for them. For now I will take my own experience and ability and feed it to those who are willing to learn. It is an exciting time.

Technorati tags: teaching, art, teaching adults, art resources, teachers

Creatures of habit

The turkeys were given ears of corn to amuse them. As well as a big red ball. Turkeys, while not the brightest creatures, are very curious and love to peck at things. In their enclosure they now have a feed sack stuffed with newspaper that hangs up and they love to peck at it. The large red ball is pecked and pushed around all day and now the corn is the curiosity of the day for them. It is viewed with suspicion at first, but soon becomes the flavour (literally) of the day. Creatures of habit do enjoy change if they are confronted with it in close quarters.

In a conversation with my mother tonight the conversation rolled around to her living alone and the approaching winter and the price of oil and home maintenance, etc., etc. So I broached the subject of her moving into an apartment to remove the more stressful elements maintaining a house alone at 82.

She is interested but we have gone down this road before and she always changes her mind once I have some appointments set up to view places. She doesn't like change in any form and the prospect of living in a supervised apartment building doesn't appeal to her for reasons beyond my understanding.

My mother has decided that there is an apartment buiding close to where she now lives that she would like to go. Again, there is no logic in this as she doesn't have a great love of the area or even have many friends in this area of town. Even shopping that she does is at the other end of town. But she's a creature of habit and we will go through the dance of talking and looking and thinking and then most likely she'll bow out once more.

I understand wanting to remain in your own home as along as possible. But what I don't understand is not wanting safety,security and peace of mind that comes with someone else looking after the day to day details of living. Then there are her two cats which she won't be parted from, no matter what. She can barely look after herself let alone them, yet resolutely hangs onto that thread of independence - and the cats.

So I will enter the dance once more of finding apartments, setting up appointments, coaxing this woman as I would a small child, with bribes of treats, to go visit the apartments and most likely she will refuse again.

She is the ultimate creature of habit and never ventures outside her comfort zone. Not even as a child can I remember her doing so, not in a work setting nor on a personal level. But dancing the dance is part of the habit too, so I'll indulge it. It might be my turn one day.

Technorati tags:creature of habit, elderly, apartment, turkeys

Confusion

I brought some grain to the wild birds at Quidi Vidi lake this mornings. As I stood at the edge of the water and threw a handful of grain onto the shoreline, it was like a wave of humanity moving towards me as first pigeons, then seagulls and finally ducks swarmed towards me. It reminded me of Trafalger Square in London where I had taken my daughter when she was small. The birds there literally covered us trying to steal a piece of grain. Quidi Vidi was like this, but with the addition of seagulls who are loud and aggressive.

The pigeons were agile and completely covered the ground, mixed into the water's edge with ducks of all sizes and shapes. A lone goose patrolled the shoreline staying out of the fray and not interested in any food offerings, preferring to herd smaller ducklings into order.

My luxury find of the day was fresh figs. Its so rare to find them here that I snapped up a box of them then took them home to play with light and colour for future drawings and painting and ate 3 in a row! These are Brown Turkey figs from California and they taste divine.

Finally, I added more layers to the dog portrait and tried to adjust the nose level which was off a little. I'm still working on the it and the background as well as building the fur. Coloured pencil isn't a fast process but this seems to be moving along.

Technorati tags: ducks, quidi vidi, seagulls, figs, art, coloured pencil, dog, portrait