….once Kevin is inspired to draw or paint something he can’t seem to stop
I love Kevin’s new challenge starting this week, Funky Frog Friday. When he knew how much I love his frogs he surprised me with my own special Valentine frog. He also surprised me with a special Valentine’s Day dinner that was delivered to the door.
….no it’s not a new painting or anything art related for that matter
Many moons ago I used to enjoy working on jigsaw puzzles. Over the years my youngest sister has kept up the tradition of putting together puzzles and lately my daughter and daughter-in-law have taken an interest in jigsaws. They brought a puzzle of the moon this past summer up to the cottage which turned out to be pretty much impossible to assemble.
We have a games store in our neighbourhood so I decided to try and help them stay in business and I purchased a 1000 piece puzzle and a mat. In the meantime Andrea and Josie have purchased more puzzles and we’ll probably swap when I finish this one. Kevin started the puzzle with me by finding all the end pieces but I’ve pretty much put it together so far on my own. I have to admit that it is pretty addictive and I have to pull myself away just to get to bed before 2:30 in the morning. Luckily I have not where to go so I can sleep in.
Here’s my progress so far.
….thanks to Becca Givens who hosts Sunday Trees but is temporarily on pause https://beccagivens.wordpress.com/
…thanks to Dan of No Facilities for hosting Thursday Doors, https://nofacilities.com/2021/02/04/author-author-thursday-doors/
On Wednesday my husband and I got in the car and headed north west to Halton Hills and the Limestone Conservation Area. The conservation area is an extension of the Niagara Escarpment and three trails run through it. One of the trails is the Bruce Trail. The highlight for us were the Lime Kilns that once produced limestone blocks in the 1800s and ceased production in 1917.
This time of year the trails are not maintained and can be somewhat treacherous because of the ice. This was especially true near the stone arch bridge. A new bridge has been built parallel to it but the steps were very icy and it took me quite some time to safely navigate this slippery slope. I thought that the barrel style structures were a different style of kiln but after doing some research I discovered that these building were the powder houses where the explosives, used to blast out the limestone, were stored. Black Creek is the waterway that surges under the bridge and with the snow and ice I found the setting very picturesque.
In the town of Limehouse sits an old church which is now the Limehouse Memorial Centre. Limehouse was first settled in 1820. By the 1840’s limestone quarrying and “burning” of limestone in kilns to make lime, had begun. The Grand Trunk Railway built its line through Limehouse in 1856 which required 200 workers and their families to settle in the area.(from Wikipedia)
Today about 800 people live in Limehouse. There are several farms in the area where racing horses and wild boar are raised.
…over the years I’ve played with one-liner portraits with limited success
One liner portraits literally involves drawing a face without lifting the pen off the paper. After doing that I added detail with paint and more mark making. These were a lot of fun to do and are somewhat similar to Picasso’s abstract portraits that made him famous.
….thanks to Frank from Dutch Goes the Photo for hosting the Tuesday Photo Challenge https://dutchgoesthephoto.net/2021/01/26/tuesday-photo-challenge-all-you-need-is-love/
I love the theme this week. Love does make the world go round. What do you love? Here are some of the things that come to mind for me.
Being surrounded by water year round.
My husband and how he makes me laugh and for all the wonderful meals he cooks for me.
My family and the joy they bring from near and far.
For some reason the photos I have of my sister who lives in Calgary would not allow me to post them. I miss her terribly.
I also love to walk in nature, take photographs and make art.
…a monster with a comment about Monday’s
….two more intuitive abstract art pieces in my sketchbook
I’m experimenting with my intuitive paintings in my sketchbook. I find I’m less inhibited and am willing to take more chances with my mark making and use of colour than I would be if I used a good sheet of watercolour paper. I will definitely go back to watercolour paper at some point because the quality of the paper makes a difference to the final outcome as well.
...thanks to Sandy this week for hosting the Friendly Friday Challenge https://thesandychronicles.blog/2021/01/29/friendly-friday-challenge-special-treats/
I have quite the sweet tooth but mostly for cookies or cakes. I’ve never been one for candy, other than chocolate. My husband also has a sweet tooth and he has asked me not to bring any sweets into the house for awhile. If I have one cookie he’ll eat three.
For the challenge this week I’ve gone back into the archives to search for special treats. I soon discovered that not all yummy pleasures have to be made with sugar. Fresh strawberries and homemade pizza are always special in our house.
…thanks to Jez for hosting Water, Water Everywhere #61, https://jezbraithwaite.blog/2021/01/25/koi-pond-water-water-everywhere-61/
On the weekend my husband and I took a drive to Ball’s Falls in the Jordon Valley. It was a perfect day, brisk and sunny. I met Kevin 48 years ago and I’m pretty sure he’s been telling about Ball’s Falls for the same length of time. Well he finally took me there and I wasn’t disappointed. I love most waterfalls and in the winter I particularly like them because of the ice that forms from the spray.
Ball’s Falls is situated on the Ball’s Falls Conservation Area and is named after the family that lived there in the 1800s. In an earlier post I wrote about the heritage site that is connected to this area. The falls helped generate enough energy for the the grist mill to make flour until the water flow diminished to the point where it wasn’t feasible to stay in production. Today the mill operates on day a year, using electricity to mill flour for a festival.
Mama Cormier 