Child’s Play

…Charlie O’Shields from Doodlewash calls colouring with paint child’s play

This is day three from Sketchbook Revival. Charlie O’Shield is trying to get us to tap into our inner child. First I sketched the flowers with my fountain pen and then I added watercolour. The goal was to use only three colours and vary the intensity with water to create a range of shades.fullsizeoutput-7790

Finding Art in Sidewalk Cracks

….part of the Sketchbook Revival

On day one of Sketchbook Revival one of the two visiting artists was Carla Sonheim. You’ve heard me mention her many times on my blog because I’m constantly taking on-line classes with her. For this particular session, Carla had us look for animals or objects in a photo of sidewalk cracks that she provided. I’ve done this exercise many times with my students when I was teaching. It’s a lot of fun and it’s amazing how many different things people can find. Here are 3 animals and one person that I found in the same photo.fullsizeoutput-7781
fullsizeoutput-7780
fullsizeoutput-7782
fullsizeoutput-777f

Spiky Sculpture

can’t believe that March Squares is over on Sunday

Thanks Becky for hosting this wonderful daily challenge. I know you’ll come up with another great theme for the next one.IMG-1767

Played around with the settings to see if I could get more contrast. What do you think?fullsizeoutput-76ff

Crazy Hats, Wacky Welcome Mats and Fun Birdhouses

….all this and more at Canada Blooms

It was fun walking around the flower show. There were lots of unexpected displays like these unusual hats.P1070531
P1070539

I think my favourite display apart from the flowers themselves were these cute birdhouses.P1070533
P1070534
P1070535
P1070536
P1070537
P1070538
When I hear the term welcome mat I always picture something at your front door that you actually step on as you cross the threshold. These beauties clearly were not designed to be stepped on.IMG-1424
IMG-1425
IMG-1429

When Spring Can’t Come Soon Enough

….take a trip to a greenhouse, Botanical Garden Centre or take in the Canada Blooms Show

On Sunday, it had warmed up slightly but the sky was grey and dreary and it rained off and on. Not a nice day to walk outside but it was warm and fragrant in the Enercare Centre at the CNE where the Canada Blooms show was up and running. Going on the weekend is probably not the best time to go (parking is more expensive and I had to park in one of the satellite lots). It certainly wasn’t a cheap outing, even with the senior’s rate but being able to walk around and see all those beautiful blooms and get some ideas for landscaping my backyard was well worth the money.fullsizeoutput-76d7
P1070523
P1070524

P1070529
P1070530
P1070543
P1070544
P1070552
IMG-1422
IMG-1423
P1070559

Wacky Bird Wednesday

….’it’s a hummingbird’

dd5ade7e-0d3d-4ffc-bba4-2496b577d6ba

According to Winnie this is a hummingbird. It does have a long beak, I’ll give her that. We finally heard back on her reaction to this week’s Monster Monday. She declared that monsters visited her room and this one’s name was Fred.