Our First Major Snow

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…..in week three of January

I thought we were never going to need the snow shovel this year but a big storm has moved into the northeast of the U.S. and southern Ontario. Here in Toronto it’s been snowing all day but very lightly. I did sweep the snow off the porch and did one pass with the snow shovel over the sidewalk this afternoon.

Forty kilometres west of here in Hamilton it’s been quite a different story. Lucy, our daughter’s dog, had to make a path through about 10 to 20 cm of snow to find a place to pee. This photo was taken about six hours ago. I’m sure the amount of snow has doubled since then.

Hopefully I can get out tomorrow and get some of my own ‘snow’ photos. They’ll be the first this season but Toronto often gets bypassed by the bigger storms.

Art at Montgomery’s Inn

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….the new art season at Montgomery’s Inn has begun

Now that the renovations at the inn are 95% complete they are able to host art exhibitions in the Briarly Room once more. Just over two weeks ago I helped curate and install the art work of Shannon McManus.

Shannon is an abstract painter who uses different mediums on Terraskin and Yupo papers. In her artist statement she describes her work thusly: My abstract paintings depict visions of a natural world largely untouched by humankind. They portray the alchemic reactions inherent in stone, water, and earth; in decay, germination, migration and transformation.

Ten days after the installation the inn hosted the opening reception for Shannon’s show. It was very well received and close to 100 people showed up.

Shannon is on the left side of the previous photo.

Last April, Shannon was invited to display her work in China.

If you’d like to see Shannon’s work first hand you can still catch it at Montgomery’s Inn until March. For more information about Shannon and her art go her website here.

Friendly Friday Photo Challenge – Pathways

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…..thanks to Amanda from Something to Ponder About for hosting the Friendly Friday Photo Challenge

The pathways here are from the neighbourhood, at Highgate Cemetery in London, Kensington Gardens in London, an autumn path along the Lakeshore, a path through the garden at Montgomery’s Inn, a path to a neighbour’s house on Hallowe’en and a path through the woods when we were ‘hunting’ for the perfect Christmas tree.

It’s Fishy Friday

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…every Friday my husband draws a fish to send to our granddaughter

Here is this week’s creation.

When I posted this Winnie hadn’t seen it yet so I can’t share her reaction but when she saw the following picture she declared it was an Owl Monster.

Having Fun With Collage

Posted on January 18, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….turns out I have another week before the next lesson

I thought I would never be able to get all eight of my collage pages that Carla Sonheim assigned us to do before the next lesson. Well there was no new lesson this week because the lessons happen every two weeks. That’s probably why we’re given so many projects to do. There is, however, no pressure to do all of them but since I have the time now I went back to my sketch book and completed my fourth piece.

This one started with a stone monolith and I added an owl face from an Inuit artist named Laakuluk Williamson Bathory. I didn’t know where to go with this piece until I found a picture of a large snake. I decided to make this one fun so I added some speech balloons and small critters reacting to the snake.

More Interesting Characters

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….not sure if our granddaughter has seen these yet

My husband doesn’t always share his drawings with me but when he does I download them into my ‘Photos’. I know that tomorrow is suppose to be ‘Fishy Friday’ but I’m not sure if that’s happening. If it does I’ll make sure to pass it on to those of you who enjoy his work.

These three entries are a dog, a mouse and a bird. Not as colourful or quirky as some of his drawings but fun nonetheless.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Yellow and Blue

Posted on January 17, 2019 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge

I had lots of photos of yellow and lots of photos of blue but the two colours together proved challenging.

Looking Back to a Warm Autumn Day in Regent’s Park

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….another day in London

As the temperatures dip below freezing this week I long for the warm sunny days we had in London, England. On day seven we walked to Ottolenghi’s restaurant on Upper Street and purchased a picnic lunch for the four of us. Then we hopped onto a double decker bus and made our way to Regent’s Park.

Regent’s Park is one of the Royal Parks of London. It lies within north-west London. It is home to Queen Mary’s Gardens and the London Zoo. There are numerous facilities and amenities, including gardens; a lake with a heronry, waterfowl and a boating area; sports pitches; and children’s playgrounds.

One of the highlights for me was Queen Mary’s Gardens. I’ve posted numerous photos of the thousands of roses that have been cultivated her in previous posts. Here are some of the other lovely sites we enjoyed that day.

The park is also home to numerous events. When we were there we had a quick glimpse of the sculpture exhibit.

As you can see we were blessed with beautiful weather that day and every day up to this point of our trip. Unfortunately the next day the skies opened up and our trip to Brighton Beach was cancelled.

Good Morning Collage

Posted on January 15, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….#3 of 8

I’m not sure I’ll get to the other 5 pages before the new lesson comes up but there’s no pressure to do all eight pages. This new page started with the hand drawn coffee mug that I cut out. I then added the bowl of fruit and drew a table around it and the mug. I added the cloud shapes and placed the orange circle partially under the cloud to look like the sun was peaking out from the clouds. I added a small bird perched on the edge of the coffee mug and then I added line detail.

The last step was to add some colour with watercolour crayons and I drew in some plant material with my pencil crayons.