….thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts
Some of my favourite subjects for photography are bees on flowers and birds. I find photographing birds more difficult because I can’t get close enough with my iPhone and I need to use my ‘big’ camera with the telephoto lens. I don’t always have the camera with me because it is awkward and heavy but when I do it takes superior shots of birds.
…thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2023/05/24/weekly-prompts-wednesday-challenge-heirlooms/
During the Second World War my family on both sides lost almost everything, so there is very little in the way of heirlooms from my side of the family. One of the things that was saved and I’m not sure of the history was this old silver serving spoon with the family initials engraved on the handle. The bowl of the spoon is dented but I’ve always loved it and when my father was cleaning out his kitchen before one of his many moves I rescued it. No one else seemed to want it.
…close-ups by the water’s edge
…thanks to Sue W and GC for hosting Weekly Prompts https://weeklyprompts.com/2023/05/13/weekly-prompts-weekend-challenge-busy/
The last two weeks have been very busy for me, mostly with my art show. Preparing the art itself over the last two months has been a busy time but hanging the show, preparing for the opening, driving to the gallery six times to meet with friends, and then taking the show down and packing it up has taken up hours of time. Now I have to deliver the pieces that were sold. I’m exhausted but in a good way.
Of course life goes on in between trips to the gallery. I started baking again at the Inn, I played Bridge with a group of friends, attended a Zoom meeting for the Exhibition Committee at WAAC, paid bills and for three days in a row I helped prepare the lawn bowling rink to get ready for the opening of our season. Things that didn’t get done were housework, laundry and gardening. This morning I started to clean up the back garden and filled up one bag of yard waste. It’s a start.
…after three years
You might think that my ‘happy’ place would be my studio and you would be right but on Wednesday I returned to baking bread at Montgomery’s Inn after a three year hiatus, due to COVID. Three of us were back from the original group and one other staff member spent the morning prepping dough, heating up the outdoor oven and shaping the dough.
This week and next week we’re preparing bread, not to sell but as a trial run for the big event in two weeks when the Farmers’ Market goes back outside. Routines and procedures slowly came back to us as we went through the process. A few times we asked what some pieces of equipment were used for and we had to search the inn for some crucial items. When we couldn’t find them we put them on the list to purchase. Back in the winter the inn had a flood so we think that some things were thrown away.
In the end we successfully baked 30 loaves of bread that we gave away this week to the staff and some of the vendors at the market. We had a fun day and I think that all of us found our ‘happy’ place once again. Can you tell from my selfie?
…for my solo art show, The Joy of Making
It’s been a crazy two weeks and my show will be coming to an end on Saturday, May 13, 2023. I’ve loved every minute of it and thoroughly enjoyed speaking to my family, friends, fellow artists and total strangers who came to see the show. I’m sorry that I missed some of them because I couldn’t be there every day but I tried to get to the gallery if I knew someone was coming for a visit.
As of today, I sold 9 paintings, 81 photo cards and two rock weavings. Love those red dots. Yesterday I added two more paintings to the wall. I had every intention on adding one more painting when I put up the show but I ended up making two more. One is called Crazy Quilt, 8″x10″, framed mixed media and the larger one is called Nothing Goes to Waste, 11″x14″ framed, mixed media.
Love Those Red Dots
…my art has become all consuming
There are only two days left to my art show so things on my blog should be somewhat back to normal after this weekend. Normal? What is that? Here are a few trios for this week’s challenge.
…after a very successful opening reception
For some reason I have no photos of me at this show, unlike last year. More importantly though I have lots of photos of the actual room and how the art is displayed. Last week, on Tuesday, my husband and I made our way to the Womens’ Art of Canada building where two galleries are housed. I was in the smaller room, The Ruth Upjohn Gallery and in the larger gallery, Dignam Gallery, the Photography Show was being set up.
The actual hanging procedure of my art went reasonably well. The only thing left to do was have the labels made and placed next to the corresponding piece of art. Unfortunately the making of the labels was a bit more complicated than in previous years so the actual labels didn’t go up until the second day of the show. None the less, everything was ready to go for the opening reception on Saturday.
On the actual day, all my worries of driving there through the city and finding a parking spot were for naught. My neighbour, Mary, came with us and kindly volunteered to help set up the food and wine and serve during the show. She was a huge help.
The actual reception was hugely successful. More than 20 of my friends and family showed up and then the artists from the show next door and their guests made their way into my show throughout the day. The photography show was also part of the Scotia Bank Contact Show which had numerous venues throughout the city so there were a lot of people from the public who also attended the show.
At the end of the day I had sold seven paintings, two rock weavings and over 40 photo cards. The show runs till this Saturday so there may be a few more sales before all is said and done.
