The Absence of Art Posts

….from both my husband and me

Has the well of creativity run dry? Have we run out of art supplies? No, none of that is true.

During the holidays making art was difficult because we had the house full of family. Even after they left it took awhile to get our Mojo back. Then the accident happened. Ten days ago my husband, Kevin, fell down the stairs at home and broke his hip. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance and the next day they did a hip replacement.

The amazing part of this story is that his operation was new and his recovery time is much faster. So fast in fact that they sent him home the same day of his surgery. They got him out of bed one hour after his operation and had him walking and climbing up and down stairs. After that they said he was good to go. Everything our friends who’ve had hip surgeries told us to expecthad didn’t apply to Kevin. No restrictions as to movement and his physio is taking place at home.

We set him up in the basement apartment because everything is at his fingertips. He has a walk-in shower with grab bars, a kitchen, TV and new bed. Climbing stairs to come upstairs is not recommended for another week (although I caught him going half way up the stairs to retrieve some mail). As a result I’ve been cooking all the meals (he can do toast and snacks) and all the running around for meds, food and other necessities, such as a new laptop for his business. Needless to say I’m finding it difficult to find time to do my blog and make art.

Kevin was very impressed with the nursing staff a Toronto Western and saw some of the abuse they have to endure from disgruntled patients. He wanted to do something special for them so he made a painting for them. I brought his art supplies to the basement and this is what he made.

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With Valentine’s Day close at hand he also got busy and made a card for the family.

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In New Brunswick, our Miss Winnie was busy making Valentine’s Day cards for every member of her class and she personalized each card by drawing something that the child likes or has an interest in. Luckily she only has 13 classmates.

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Cee’s Mid-Week Madness Challenge – Words With the Letter V Anywhere in the Word

….thanks to Cee for hosting CMMC https://ceenphotography.com/2022/01/26/cmmc-january-alphabet-letter-v-anywhere-in-the-word/

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Vine tomatoes
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Poison Ivy
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Violet Hydrangea
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Vines
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Vampire Winnie
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Autumn Leaves
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OliVe and SeVin
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Autumn Ivy
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Mourning Dove

Child’s Play 1

….adding to Sevin’s watercolours

After my granddaughter and her family went back to London, England, I discovered that they left behind a number of things, like toys, gloves, snacks and Sevin’s artwork. We had already taken our favourite piece and framed it but there were five more left behind. Rather than throw them away I decided to take them and add marks with black and white ink. Here is the first one that I worked on.

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Some of the pieces that were left behind
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After I added white and black marks with ink

Whatever is so Lovely Challenge – Week 2

just discovered this challenge ….thanks to XingFu Mama for hosting https://xingfumama.blog/2022/01/16/whatsoever-is-lovely-challenge-2022-week-2/

Seeing I missed the first week of this challenge I’m going to post photos from the last two weeks. I met my youngest granddaughter for the first time over the Christmas holidays. On January 8th our son, daughter-in-law and Sevin returned to London, England after spending two weeks with us. The first two photos show Sevin just before she left for the airport and sleeping on the plane.

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Winnie showing off the outfit that Oma and Papa sent her for Christmas. Sadly they didn’t make it to Toronto this Christmas
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An exceptional meal that Kevin prepared for me on Saturday. I’m such a lucky girl.

Painting With an Almost Two Year Old

using watercolour

Over the holidays our granddaughter from England came for a visit with her parents. When Winnie, our first granddaughter was very young I used to frequently see how much direction she would take when we did art together and I was always surprised at how much she would remember from one visit to the next. As she got older she wanted to be the one giving directions and we had to follow her lead when we did art together.

On this recent trip, Sevin’s parents asked me if I would do watercolour with her. It was a medium that up to this point they hadn’t tried with her. I wasn’t sure if she was old enough but I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained so after spending a week with us and becoming more and more comfortable with us we set up a painting station on the dining room table. Mama and Papa went out for a walk and Sevin and I started the painting process. We taped down the paper and I tried to teach her how to wet the brush and dip it into the paint. She loved making puddles on the paper and seeing how the colours reacted with each other. I talked about how red and blue make purple (two colours she gravitated to the most) and how we should clean the brushes between colours. It didn’t always work but when one painting was done I quickly removed it from the board and taped down a new piece of paper. We did this as least five times.

While we painted, her grandfather came along and joined us. It was a real family affair. After some of the paintings dried I showed Sevin how to add more marks to the painting, using crayons. She has a nice swirl technique that she added to one of the paintings and it ended up being the painting we matted and will probably frame. When her parents returned from their walk they were most impressed with what Sevin had accomplished and I think they may try this when they get back to London.

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Sculpture Saturday – Taking in Art at the AGO Before the Lockdown

last Tuesday, Brendan, Sevin and I decided to go to the AGO

When I booked the tickets I knew that Tuesday would be the last day before another lockdown here in Ontario. Frankly I was quite surprised at how many people had the same idea, especially since it was a Tuesday and many people were back to work, mostly remotely, but none the less there was a bit of a line-up to get in even with timed tickets.

I really wanted to see Picasso’s Blue Period but Sevin was not really into this show so we walked through quickly. Hopefully I can go back when the lockdown is lifted.

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One of my favourite areas of the AGO is the Galleria Italia with its floor to ceiling windows and beautiful wooden arched beams. I thought Sevin would enjoy this more and of course she found a seat to sit in right away. Since COVID the cafe in the galleria is closed and the tables have been removed. In its place a number of bronze sculptures are prominently displayed.

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Sunbird II by Soral Etrog, 1962
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Andrieu D’Andres by Auguste Rodin, 1888-89
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Eustache de Saint-Pierre by Auguste Rodin, 1887
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Fisher-boy Dancing the Tarantella by Francisique-Joseph Duret, 1883
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Thursday Trios – First Trios of 2022

after a trip to the ROM I was delighted to find these trios

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A Trio of Toy Teacups
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Miniatures
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A Display of COVID Masks
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Bonus – three t-shirts that my daughter in New Brunswick made for Winnie

If you have any photos of trios, why not join the fun and post some on your blog. Copy my link and post it into your blog and I will get a pingback. I promise I will get back to you. Apologies to those who posted over the holidays. I’ve been very busy with family and have not been on the computer as much as I normally am. I’ll get to your comments shortly. Happy New Year, everyone.

Pull Up a Seat at the ROM With Sevin

….thanks to XingFu Mama for hosting Pull Up a Seathttps://xingfumama.blog/2021/12/31/pull-up-a-seat-photo-challenge-2021-week-53/

Last week my son and I, along with my granddaughter took a car ride to the Royal Ontario Museum. My son really wanted to see the Photography exhibit and I knew that Sevin would be less than impressed. I was, however quite surprised when I saw how easily she amused herself. It wasn’t the photos that caught her attention but the chairs that were placed throughout the exhibit.

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Sarah and Duck

….replaces Sesame Street

When my kids were little they were allowed to watch Sesame Street. Not only was it educational but it also gave me a bit of time to myself while the kids were entertained. Things are not much different today except that there is way more variety and kids’ shows can be viewed on tablets and phones as well as TVs.

Now that our granddaughter from England is here visiting us we have discovered that she loves Peppa Pig (as did her older cousin at the same age) and Sarah and Duck. Whenever she gets a bit cranky, out comes the phone with the downloaded episodes that Mama and Papa preloaded before they arrived.

Last week when the family went out for a walk, Kevin went to his drawing table and drew Sarah and Duck and pasted it to the front door. When she returned home this is what she found.

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