We’re back in lockdown here in Ontario so all family visits are discouraged. I have a bag full of chocolates and eggs for the Easter egg hunt I had planned and I purchased more decorations and some wooden bird houses for a painting activity that I wanted to do with the family. My husband is trying to make me feel better by saying that none of that stuff will go bad so we can do this in May.
The one bit of good news that I got today was that I can get the vaccine on April 11. Yahoo!
Another trip to a conservation area with a waterfall.
Last week we took a drive to Halton Hills. We had to make a reservation and we were quite surprised at how many cars were in the parking lot for a Wednesday afternoon. The hike started with a steep climb up a rugged path but this was the most difficult part of the hike. After that the paths were wide and relatively smooth.
It didn’t take too long before we heard the sound of rushing water.
As the sound got louder the we noticed that the water moved quickly and before too long we found ourselves at the top of Hilton Falls. This waterfall is 10 metres high and at the base are the ruins of a 19th century sawmill.
The conservation area also has great picnic sites right by the falls and when COVID is over the fire pit will probably be open to the public again.
After our lunch we headed back on the path that we came on but there was a fork in the road and we headed toward the reservoir.
All in all we had a wonderful day. On the way home we took a side road instead of the highway and were impressed with the beautiful countryside so close to the city.
“Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will become the brightest gems in a useful life.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
I love this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. During COVID so many of us have had more time on our hands because commuting was no longer necessary to get to and from work because we were able to work from home but how many of you made use of that extra hour or two to do something for yourself. I’m painfully aware of this after I spend too much of my day binge watching TV.
One of the best things that my husband and I have done since January is to put aside one day a week, in the middle of the week, get into the car and drive somewhere where we can be in nature and go for long hikes and not worry about crowds of people. We’ve had a wonderful time and each week we become a little more organized. This week we even packed a picnic lunch and some weeks we had dinner cooking in the slow cooker so that when we got home dinner was ready.
Here are some of the wonderful places we have visited since January. These are our ‘brightest gems’ in our lives this year.
In one of today’s Sketchbook Revival classes we meet Tamara Laporte. I’ve watched some of her classes before but I think this is the first time I’ve completed an assignment. It was a lot of fun and I think I may go back to her site and try some more.
This owl was first sketched with pencil and then watercolour was applied. Along the way marker, ink, pencil and acrylic paint pens were used to add detail.
….on day 2 of Sketchbook Revival we meet Leanne Oliver and Sarah Matthews
Leanne walked us through an exercise she calls Cracks in the Road. She loves to make marks in her paintings and she finds that this process helps her with her art. The steps involved wetting some watercolour paper and adding a little bit of neutral acrylic paint over part of the surface. Then she took a charcoal pencil and drew lines from a photograph of cracks in the road. Then she wet the lines so that the charcoal would bleed out a bit. After that she took Gesso and applied a coat over some of the areas and while it was still wet she went over the lines again but this time with pencil. Then she added some colour using a soluble coloured pencil or pastels and more water.
The whole process was a lot of fun and I can see how I might use this technique in my next painting. Here are the two samples that I did.
Sarah Matthews is a print maker and she makes her own stamps. I thought I had a block of material to carve into but I’ve either used it or couldn’t find it. I’m hoping to order some more so that I can try her art lesson at a later date. Stay tuned for that one.
Today was another beautiful day in Toronto; sunny and warm (for March) and the paths and roads were dry and clear of ice and snow. I was in search of the red tail hawk that I saw last week but I saw no signs of him. Instead I spent the two hours taking photos of trees, squirrels, broken bits of picnic tables, stadium lights, fences and birds. On my travels throughout the park I came across some lovely sculptures a statue and a memorial stone cross.
Today in High Park the squirrels were out and about, running up and down trees and through the tall grasses. I had my telephoto lens with me and was able to capture these beauties.
I haven’t worked on any large pieces lately. My focus has been mainly on drawing in my sketchbook. I signed up for two classes. One was with Lewis Rossignol called Sketchbooking and the other is a two week class with Karen Abend called Sketchbook Revival. The latter is a free set of classes with 27 artists that each give a lesson that takes about 30 minutes. Sketchbook Revival is free and you can still sign up. https://www.karenabend.com/sketchbook-revival-2021/
Lewis’s focus is on being loose and not too precious with your sketchbooks. In fact he encourages you to mess up your pages a bit so that it is easier to start drawing. He likes to work in ink, pen, and pencil and he uses collage to add interest and balance.
Here are a few of the sketches that I did after watching his lessons.
I will post my art from Day 1 of Sketchbook Revival in a post tomorrow.
On our outing last week to Niagara Falls I noticed a grand building high up on the cliffs and my husband told me that it was Oak Hall. Once we explored the falls, the river and Dufferin Islands we got in the car and drove up to the top of the cliff to take a closer look.
Oak Hall is a 37-room, three-story Tudor-style stone mansion that was built in the late 1920s for mining tycoon Harry Oakes. The Oakes family lived there for six years before moving to the Bahamas. Oak Hall was purchased by the Niagara Parks Commission on May 25, 1952 and for a few years, it housed displays by the Niagara District Art Association. Oak Hall currently houses 23 offices, meeting and storage rooms. Displays of Niagara Falls art and the furnished rooms are still open to the public.
The house overlooks the Niagara River and the Dufferin Islands. I can only imagine that it is a lovely place to sit in the summer while enjoying the view.
Last week we took another day trip to take in some more waterfalls. We headed toward the Niagara region where the world’s most famous waterfalls reside, the Horseshoe Falls and the American Falls wihich make up Niagara Falls.
The falls are fed by the Niagara River and the force of this powerful river and subsequent falls powers a huge section of Ontario and New York State.
Niagara Falls is not the tallest falls in North America but the width and volume of water that flows over the edge makes it the largest falls. Worldwide it is only the ninth largest falls but it is probably the most famous of all the falls and the city is considered the honeymoon capital of the world.
Mama Cormier 