Monthly Archives: February 2018

Share Your World – February 12, 2018

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….thanks Cee for hosting Share Your World

Are you a practical jokester?

I might take part in planning a practical joke but I’m not one to do it on my own. I’m all for a good laugh as long as no one gets hurt or no damage is done to property.

Who cuts your hair?  You, a friend, or professional.

I used to cut my children’s and my husband’s hair but I’ve always gone to a professional to get mine done. I’m very loyal when it comes to my hairdressers and I’m devastated when they leave the salon. If I know in advance where they are going I’ve been known to  go to the new salon even if it’s out of my way. Of course if they leave the profession I have to find someone new and it can take awhile before I find someone I like.

Did you have a stuffed animal when you were a kid, if so what kind?

I don’t remember having a favourite stuffed animal as a child but my mother told me that I had a beautiful teddy bear. When I asked her what happened to it she said it ended up in the kiddie pool and she threw it away. My mother did that a lot. If we stopped playing with something it went in the trash. She hated clutter. I did have a favourite baby doll that I named Dorothy and I think I had her for quite a long time.

What did you appreciate or what made you smile this past week?  Feel free to use a quote, a photo, a story, or even a combination. 

This past week I went cross country skiing with a friend and her daughter. I had a great time and it felt good to be in the outdoors for such a long time. After two solid hours of skiing we went back to the chalet and had a late lunch. It started to rain so we pulled out a scrabble game and played for about 45 minutes. By that time the rain had subsided so we went for a short walk and then it was time to board the bus and return home.

365 Days of Art – Flowers

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…..days 42 and 43

Yesterday I left the house at 8:00 in the morning and didn’t get home till almost 8:00 in the evening. I spent the day cross country skiing but almost five hours of my day was spent on a bus getting to and from the ski centre. On the way home I pulled out my phone and my sketchbook and looked up some photos I had taken of flowers that I thought might make good subjects for sketching.

It was pretty dark in the bus so it was a good opportunity to work on my blind or semi-blind contour drawing skills.

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Today I took those drawings and redrew them in a larger sketchbook, adding more detail and shading. With the rose I added colour with watercolours.

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Cee’s Odd Ball Photo Challenge – February 11, 2018

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…..thanks Cee for hosting this great challenge

Do you have an Odd Ball Photo to share.

I went cross country skiing today at the Kawartha Nordic Centre. If you happen to go there you might run across this guy carrying the Canadian flag. It was a great day!

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365 Days of Art – Pigs Three Ways

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….day 41

I love art work with pigs. I don’t know why but I’m drawn to pigs. I enjoyed the blind contour drawings of the cows so much that I decided to do some with pigs. Rather than show you all my weird blind contours I’ll show you the rough copy of a pig I did for scraping technique with acrylics.

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I found that the scraping technique this time around lost a lot of the detail of the pigs.

With the middle one I went back over some of the lines with a light green marker. I then decided to take a chance with a black micron pen I added some more detail to all three pieces. Should I have left them as they were? What do you think? I know how I feel about it but I wouldn’t mind your input.

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Cee’s Which Way Photography – February 9, 2018

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…..thanks Cee for hosting Which Way Photography

It’s a snowy day in Toronto and there are two more days of it to come on Saturday and Sunday. In many places you can’t tell where the path begins or ends.

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365 Days of Art – Cows Done Blindly

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…..day 40

In Carla Sonheim’s year-long class we were assigned to draw an object of our choice. The hook is that it had to be a blind contour drawing. No peaking at all. I did that with the first three and for number four I peaked a couple of times.

Then without looking at the drawings or the photo the drawings were taken from we had to draw the objects again on a larger piece of watercolour paper using ink with a dropper or liquid acrylic poured from the bottle (with a small opening). Before the ink or paint dried we were then suppose to lay two more colours of paint across the top of the paper and then scrape it down the page with a credit card.

The first attempt I did on a cold press watercolour paper and I almost lost the image completely. I switched to a smooth hot press paper and the image under the paint was stronger. The black ink on the second painting was overpowering and I much preferred how the red and purple inks turned out. Do you have a favourite?

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365 Days of Art – Chinese Brush Painting

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…..days 38 and 39

I started these late last night and then finished in the wee hours of this morning. So I guess that still counts as a painting a day.

I’ve always liked the simplicity of Chinese Brush Painting but there’s nothing simple about it. I can see why Chinese artists take years to master their craft. I took this book out of the library as a reference. It’s beautifully illustrated but I’ve discovered that I’m not very good at following directions from a book. I’m in too much of a hurry to take the time to read all the directions. I’m much better with a video demonstration but I did enjoy this process so I think I will go back and read some of the chapters.

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WPC – Tour Guide of Toronto

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….thanks to Word Press  for a theme close to my heart

People always ask me if I’ll move away from Toronto when I retire. I can’t imagine living anywhere else right now. I live in the southwestern area of Toronto more commonly known as New Toronto or South Etobicoke. I love being 15 minutes from downtown (depending on the time of day) and being able to take advantage of all the city has to offer. On the other hand, I feel blessed to live where I do. A century ago people used to travel to this neighbourhood from downtown because they had cottages here on the lake. A few of those old structures still stand today but they are quickly being eaten up by renovators who appreciate the value of the land.

My father recently moved back here after living in Oshawa for 20 years. He feels like he’s come back home. Nothing beats the view of the city skyline that I see everyday at the bottom of the street where I’ve lived for 39 years.

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I love the nature trails and beautiful parks that you can find all over the city. The big one in my neighbourhood has wonderful hiking and biking paths that wind through Colonel Samuel Smith Park and the Humber College grounds. Part of it is a naturalized area with a pond in the middle and Lake Ontario at the south end. We have more wildlife here than we do at my cottage. It’s not unusual to see coyotes, foxes, beavers, turtles, o’possums, racoons, skunks and the occasional deer. We have birds and waterfowl galore. In the summer many people come to the park to take advantage of the beaches that line the eastern side of the extension to get relief from the heat or to paddle or kite surf.

If you’re not into nature the city offers the best in museums, art galleries, aquariums, recreational sports and the best restaurants.