Category Archives: Art

Time for New Beginnings

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…..I’m not a believer in New Year’s resolutions but I have set a challenge for myself for 2018

With all that went on last year in my personal life I felt that my art suffered. Once I stopped teaching I found little time to pursue my art. Ironic isn’t it that retirement was the reason for not making art but rather than go into all the details as to why that happened I want to focus on the now and how that will change.

Recently I complained to one of my followers that I couldn’t find time to make art because my studio space was still in a shambles from the renovation. This very wise woman suggested that I take my sketchpad and just start drawing anywhere in the house. So that’s exactly what I did and when everyone had gone to bed I would open my book and start making marks. Then I added some watercolour. I’m loving the process and have decided to make art every day, even if it’s just a doodle.

I started the challenge on New Year’s Eve. Here is my first piece of art made on the last day of 2017.

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I will try to post a work of art every day or if I start on something larger I will post the progress on a daily basis.

 

Trying to Get Back to Painting

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As some of you know, we’ve gone through some major renovations in our home. Last May my 91 year old father moved in with us but before that was possible we had to create an apartment for him in our basement. That meant moving my husband’s office (he works from home) from the basement to the the second floor where my art studio used to be and moving my art studio to the far end of my bedroom.

I managed to rearrange some of my art and actually got it up on the walls but I had boxes of paper that needed to be shredded and filed. My art supplies are in piles all around the drawing table and the drawing table is covered with more art supplies and my computer. I’m purging my closet of clothes I don’t wear anymore and some craft supplies that I will never use.

A few weeks ago I got my filing cabinet built and I’ve been slowly filling it up with only the essentials. I’ve literally shredded enough old bills to fill five recycling bags. I’ve bought a new desk from IKEA and now I need to assemble it. That’s my next project. Once that’s done I’ll have a new space for my computer and writing supplies and a new surface to sew from. Wish me luck. I’m hoping to get this all organized before Christmas.

Do you have a renovation that’s keeping you from doing what you love to do? Maybe you have some tips to share with those of us who are struggling to get things done. I don’t know what my excuse is, especially since I’m retired.

The Mighty Charles

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….Charles is a wild born western lowland gorilla who resides at the Toronto Zoo

Charles turned 45 this fall and has sired 15 offspring while living at the Toronto Zoo. He came to Toronto in 1974 when he was only 2 years old. In the 90s he created quite an uproar because he wouldn’t interact with offspring that weren’t his own and wouldn’t allow the prodigy from other gorilla groups to socialize.

In order to allow the others to interact Charles was sent away for a brief period of time each day in solitude. In an effort to keep Charles contented during these intervals away from his harem, he was given access to large sheets of paper and non-toxic coloured paints. His painting were sold for $400 to $1000 a piece and the money raised ($37 000.00) was used for a new gorilla exhibit. Check the link below to see some of his work.

Charles the Painter

On our visit Charles rested comfortably at the base of the enclosure looking over his harem and the other families. He is clearly the dominant male there. The other large silver back males have to be kept away from him. When his own male offspring reach maturity they have to be sent away so that father and son don’t fight each other for control of the harem.

As Charles watches the females guard their offspring and the young ones climb and play with each other.P1050110P1050109P1050106P1050105

WPC – Scale

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scale
[skāl]

NOUN
scales (plural noun)
  2. the relative size or extent of something:
    “no one foresaw the scale of the disaster” · “everything in the house is on a grand scale”
    synonyms: extent · size · scope · magnitude · dimensions · range · breadth · compass · degree · reach · spread · sweep
    • a ratio of size in a map, model, drawing, or plan:
      “a one-fifth scale model of a seven-story building” · “an Ordnance Survey map on a scale of 1:2500”
      synonyms: ratio · proportion · relative size
    • mathematics
      a system of numerical notation in which the value of a digit depends upon its position in the number, successive positions representing successive powers of a fixed base:
      “the conversion of the number to the binary scale”
    • photography
      the range of exposures over which a photographic material will give an acceptable variation in density.

      This week’s theme for WordPress’ Photo Challenge is scale.fullsizeoutput_7198P1040183IMG_3468fullsizeoutput_7731fullsizeoutput_7751fullsizeoutput_7758IMG_3791

    • This last shot was taken by my son on his way back from Chicago to London. The island at the north end of the shot is Christian Island where our cottage is situated.

Ink and Toilet Paper Art

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…..that’s right, toilet paper

As part of Carla Sonheim’s on-line class, 365: 2017 Year Long On-Line Class we were shown how create drawings using liquid ink and toilet paper. First you fill a dropper with ink and then use it to draw an object. The lines will be thick and thin and sometime bubbly. Once the drawing is complete (the simpler the better) you take one ply toilet paper and place it carefully over the drawing. Let the ink absorb through the paper and then remove it. You should notice that the line quality of the drawing changes. Once it has dried completely the fun really starts. Using a fine tip black marker you can now add details to your drawing. If you have a white gel pen you can also play with it by adding detail on the black lines. Here are some of my creations. I warn you that this can be very addictive.

Art – Liquid Drawings

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……what are liquid drawings you ask?

This was a technique introduced to me by Carla Sonheim that I loved doing. First you tear up some paper into an irregular shape, then you find a subject to draw and finally you draw that object (bicycle, glass bottles, butterfly) within the edges of the torn paper. You literally make the object take on the shape of the paper. Try it. It was fun to do.

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