Abstract Painting With Karin Husty

Posted on January 10, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….beginning with exercise painting using mixed media

My first painting was my name collage where I used collaged papers, acrylic paint, art Graf and white ink. For my second exercise piece I laid down colour blobs instead of paper to start my piece and then drew in random lines with my graphite crayon. I layered in more colour, using mostly Payne’s Grey, Azo orange and white. I dabbed on some cyan acrylic ink and stencilled in some dots and circles. Towards the end I scribbled random text over the entire piece using a 4B pencil and added some dark grey and highlights of white to complete the piece. Not sure that this is done. The next lesson will determine where I go with this.

One More Christmas Celebration

Posted on January 9, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….just when I thought I was done

I mentioned in one of my recent posts about Christmas that a very good friend of ours who almost always spends Christmas Eve with us couldn’t come over this past year. My daughter arranged for the three of us to get together last week for lunch.

I packed up all the gifts that I had for her, put them in my car and then headed out for Montgomery’s Inn where I volunteered to help put up an art show. I’ve never done a professional exhibit before and I found it exciting helping the artist decide where and how to hang her work. The artist’s name is Sharon McManus and I will probably share more about her work after the official opening this Saturday.

When we finished hanging all the pieces I made my way to Arlene’s place. We met in her condo where she still had up all her Christmas decorations, including her white tree that she’s had since the 60s.

Andrea arrived soon after and we all went down the street to the local Sushi restaurant. We toasted in the New Year with a little saki and warmed our tummies with a bowl of ramen.

When we went back to the condo and Arlene opened her gifts. She loves Henkel Trocken and it’s become a tradition to place a bottle in her Christmas stocking.

Before we left she made us coffee and we shared a muffin and some cookies. Andrea also taught her how to use her camera on her phone so we played around posing for pictures.

I think this is pretty much the end of our Christmas season, although my niece and her husband celebrated Orthodox Christmas a couple of days ago.

There are still a few remnants of Christmas around the neighbourhoods and some of the lights will stay up well past Valentine’s Day but for the most part the decorations are starting to come down and the greenery is starting to whither. Some people are sad that the holiday season is now over. As for me I’m looking forward to some rest and returning to a more normal routine of eating. How about you?

Wordless Wednesday – January 9, 2019

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Monster Monday and Tuesday’s Rabbit

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….as I promised

I’m happy to share my husband’s wonderful drawings that he does every day of the week for our granddaughter, Winnie. Monday’s always feature monsters and Friday’s feature fish. So far the rest of the week doesn’t have themes but I can see that changing.

Introducing Me Through Collage

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….my introductory assignment for my year long Collage class

Before we start our course we are suppose to create a collage with our name. Here is my assignment completed. I’ve also incorporated some mixed media as well to make it more interesting. I took some tips from my other class, Abstract Mixed Media, by Karin Husty.

Art From Another Corner of the House

Posted on January 8, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….even though I haven’t found time to make art in the last 6 weeks my husband has

For about a year now my husband has been making cartoon drawings every day for our granddaughter. Certain days have themes like Monster Monday and Fishy Fridays. For this past Christmas Winnie gave her Papa a set of markers so that he could add more colour to his drawings.

When I first met Kevin, back at University, he had just finished a graphic design program at his local college and he worked as a graphic designer for the Ministry of Agriculture. When he switched careers in his mid 30s I was a little sad that he gave up his art but his job was changing with the times and computers were the way to go in the graphic design business. Unfortunately the first computers were very expensive and with a young family to think about he switched careers and his artistic side was put on the back burner.

Over the year I’ve seen his confidence grow and his drawings are developing a unique style of their own. This past week he’s gotten a bit of a head start on his drawings and he’s created six birds and a rabbit. Winnie loves to name them or she asks her Papa to give them names, which she often declares are silly. Here are his latest creations.

I’d love to create a children’s book around some of these characters.

What Constitutes a Failure?

Posted on January 7, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….is producing 177 pieces of art in one year a failure?

Last year I had decided to produce one piece of art a day or at least work on an art piece every day for 365 days. I created my own personal challenge of 365 Days of Art. In the middle of November I stopped drawing and painting. Was I discouraged by the fact that I was very much behind my goal or was it something else?

I think that being so far behind was part of it but life just seemed to get in the way, especially in November and December. There were things that I hadn’t planned on like getting ill, my father going into the hospital, the plumbing breaking down and my sister coming for a visit. Then there were the things that just happen, like Christmas parties, concerts and trying to get ready for Christmas.

I recognize that all of these things are just excuses because I see people out there who manage to create a piece of art every day but I’ve decided that I should rejoice in the 177 pieces that I did create. Here are some of my favourites from 2018: IMG_0468 2.jpeg

So what is my art goal for this year? I will definitely continue making art but the question is how much and should I even put a number on it. What do you think I should do? I have some ideas that I will share later today.

Cheers!

Silent Sunday – January 6, 2019

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Sunday Trees – 373

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees

My neighbour’s tree is getting a trim. I watched this guy maneuvering his cherry picker for over an hour.

Digging up the Yard on New Year’s Eve

Posted on January 6, 2019 by Mama Cormier

….actually the neighbour’s driveway

A few days ago I told you about our plumbing problems that occurred on Boxing Day. Well our plumber finally arrived early in the morning on New Year’s Eve and I mean early. At 7:00 a.m. I woke up to the sounds of a shovel hitting the asphalt on my neighbour’s driveway.

I knew that Joe the Plumber was going to start as early as 8:00 but my husband and I and our neighbour were surprised to see him out there digging up the dirt by hand an hour earlier than expected. The sun had barely risen and according to my husband his truck was in front of our house quite a bit before 7:00.

In case you had forgotten we had water backing up through the sewer pipe every time we used the washing machine, the dishwasher or took long showers. When the camera went down the pipe we were informed that the pipe at the Y junction had collapsed and needed to be replaced. Only small amounts of water got through and all the waste materials were building up in the pipe. The unfortunate part of all of this was that the break was under my neighbours driveway.

After about five hours of digging by hand the problem was resolved. The broken pipe was removed and replaced with a new piece and the hole refilled. In the spring we’ll have to repair the asphalt on our neighbour’s driveway but for now it looks neat and clean. It was a very costly but necessary repair. What a way to end 2018 but we’re grateful to guys like Joe who come out to do that kind of work all year long.