Day 27 – Favourite Toy

Posted on April 29, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Leanne Cole for hosting the 30 Day at Home Challenge

All my favourite toys from childhood are gone. I once asked my mother what happened to our toys and she very matter of factly said that we weren’t playing with them anymore so she threw them away. I remember being somewhat shocked but on the other hand my mother did not like clutter and the decorations around the house were very minimal.

Decades ago I started collecting teddy bears. The collection grew very quickly when people learned of my new found hobby. Many of those bears have been put aside and only my favourite are now on display.

Words of Hope and Love

Posted on March 30, 2020 by Mama Cormier

A very good friend of mine who lives alone has started a project that involves all her friends. She recently asked us to all create ornaments with words of inspiration written on them that she could hang on her white Christmas tree. She still has the white lights on it and she thought it was the perfect back drop for her tree of Hope and Peace and Love.

Her original idea was to cover it with ornaments in the shape of moons, suns and stars. We were all given carte blanche and the only caveat was that they not be too big and that there were personal messages written on them to send out to the world.

My whole family is getting involved but I think I’m the first to complete the task. I decided to show you my work in the form of a video with music in the background. I learned something new today as I have never done anything like this. Now I’m hoping I’m able to send it out to you.

Art on the Beach

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….art installations on the rocky shores of Lake Ontario

Much of the beaches in Col. Sam Smith Park in Toronto are man made and made with landfill. Large of chunks of concrete and rebar and lovely old bricks line the shores of the park and the lake. Over the years people have lined up the bricks and laced them onto the rebar to create interesting sculptures. A couple of weeks ago during one of my walks along the beaches I noticed this interesting sculpture made with rebar and bricks.

Yesterday I took a similar path when I went for my daily walk and specifically looked for this same sculpture. As with most pieces of installation art in nature it was no longer there. I did see another piece that I think was mostly created by nature but it did seem to have some human involvement.

I was inspired to try my own hand at making a piece of sculpture with found objects. The rocks and bricks had such interesting colours and had been worn smooth from the crashing waves. In the second photo you can see that I used bits of wood, seashells, speckled stones and a piece of scrap metal. Can you see the face?

Getting Back to Art Making

Posted on March 21, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…there are lots of free tutorials on the internet

Sometimes you need to start small to get back into the groove. With Covid-19 and self isolating there is only so much cleaning a person can do. I managed to clear away enough clutter from my art table and I tuned to Sketchbook Skool’s free classes called the Drawing Party.

Today I did the first two classes. It gave me just enough inspiration to get my creative juices flowing. The first lesson focused on laying down shapes of colour and then adding detail with black ink. I pretty much followed Danny’s lead but I can see doing this on my own. For the colour I used my chalk markers and Artist Loft markers.

The second class was all about slowing down and drawing lots of detail. My subject was a dried up hydrangea.

What is the Prettiest Cookie in the Whole World?

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Judy for posing this question

Judy from Life Lessons posed this question on her blog yesterday with a photograph of one of my favourite cookies. I told her that it would be hard to beat. On my walk today I ventured into my local Polish deli and found some interesting cookies on the shelf. Don’t worry there weren’t more than three customers in the store and we all kept our distance from each other.

I think the packaging was almost prettier than the cookie but they did taste nice with a cup of tea.

On the Hunt for Joy Challenge – Week 9 – Shop Your Home

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Cee for hosting On the Hunt for Joy‘

“Shop your Home” simply means finding things in your house that bring you joy. Here are a few things that bring joy to me.
In the mix are my paint brushes, my teddy collection, my old nutcracker that needs gluing and my books.

On the Hunt for Joy Challenge – Week 7 – Make Yourself Feel Small

Posted on February 21, 2020 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting On the Hunt for Joy Challenge

What makes you feel small? Standing under a very tall tree, sitting inside a very large church, looking up at a dinosaur or sitting in an oversized chair?

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Adding Music to my Creativity Experience – Day 23

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Rainee for introducing me to the 30 Day Creativity Challenge

Last week I started piano lessons. I have a beautiful baby grand piano sitting in my living room that no one has played in almost 20 years. Last year I had it tuned but I finally found a piano teacher who comes to my house for 40 minutes on Thursday mornings.

Gerry is also teaching my neighbour across the street and that is how I got to meet him. Little did I know last week that I would be starting my first lesson the same day. I am a complete newbie and he’s started me on scales and reading simple music. Luckily I know how to read the treble clef notes and I know where middle C is. I’ve been a good girl and have practised every day. I even went out and purchased some beginner piano books from our local thrift store.

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Anyway I need to warm up before he gets here this morning. Wish me luck.

Day 21 of the 30 Day Creativity Challenge

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Rainee for hosting the 30 Day Creativity Challenge

Last week I had an opportunity to go to the McMichael Gallery in Kleinburg and see the Maud Lewis show. I’ve been interested in her art and life for a few years now but have never had an opportunity to see her work up close and personal. To be honest I was always a bit curious about her success as an artist because her work is so simple and somewhat primitive.

Maud used to sell her work to tourists who would buy her pieces for $3.00 to $5.00 and later she got as much as $7.00 for one of her oil paintings. She used to paint right from the tube and never mix her colours. This was very evident when I saw her work last week. The colours are very bright and fresh and the scenes of the countryside in Nova Scotia are delightful. I can now understand why the public liked her work so much.

Anytime I go to an art gallery I’m inspired to make art. Here are a few of her wonderful works of art. The larger pieces are done on wooden shutters.

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On the Hunt for Joy Challenge – Week 2 – Say Cheese

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Mama Cormier

…thanks to Cee for hosting On the Hunt for Joy Challenge

People are such hams when they get in front of a camera. It doesn’t take much to get people to smile but sometimes you find yourself saying ‘say cheese’. It works about 90% of the time……