Thursday, December 31, 2009

Making lemonade!

I don't think I'll be able to get a photo of my horse painting today. Tuesday would have been perfect - but a cold front came in and the house will be too dark again to take photos. It's not the only thing I want to take photos of - my purple African violet is in bloom and I believe it has hybridized with the white and pink one. The two newest violets have a delicate lacy white edge to their petals :-)

So instead I'll post two things that I'm quite delighted with. The first is belated, something that Marlene passed on to me, the Honest Scrap Award. I'll have to figure out how to get it in the sidebar :-)



The second is Mr. Muffin's whistle. He has been with us for about three months and is finally getting comfortable in our house. He's also whistling more and I was able to get a little clip. Isn't it adorable? His clipped wings are also growing out and he's so proud of himself when he can fly somewhere.



Tuesday, December 29, 2009

And it is done...

I put the final tweaks on my yellow horse painting this morning and when it's light enough, I'll photograph it tomorrow. It felt so good to mark it down as complete today in my sketchbook.

A few people have seen it in progress, and it's not a very complicated painting. The complications came from the horse's legs (which I'm still not entirely satisfied with) and the green colour field. The original green colour more or less cancelled out the darkness of the horse's legs, and it needed to be pushed back. It really killed me on Sunday to paint out the whole area including the horse's legs. Then I discovered that the distortion I was going for was part of the problem with the legs - I ended up mixing some light blue to slim down the rump. I spent all day painting on Sunday and I found myself mentally exhausted just from the sheer amount of thinking and problem solving required.

Monday was far easier - I touched up some areas and then gave myself some time to think about it. The colours I chose were based on Franz Marc's colour theories - some of you may recall that I wrote an art history essay on one of his paintings and this was inspired by it. He called yellow the "feminine principle" and I discovered it's very, very hard to paint around yellow, nevermind mixing up the purest shade of it. There are some areas where the colours vibrate against each other and I like that effect.

Hopefully by tomorrow I'll think of a catchy name for it. My husband suggested "Horse Dodging Laser Beams" and then threw in a few sound effects to boot!

Friday, December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas to All!







Christmas 2009

Last night when we returned from my husband's family's Christmas party (or gift war, more appropriately!) there were about half a dozen snow white rabbits all bounding around our front and backyard. They were really quite a site to behold, especially when one thankfully scooted out of the way of our car!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas today. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my annual Christmas picture done in time, but you can sneak a peek at it :-)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Merry Christmas Wild Bun Buns!

My goodness, it's a jungle out there and I wish people would chill. If presents mean more than your presence at Christmas, you may want to rethink the holidays!

I went out to the big box plaza near our house to buy a big bag of cheap bird food for the wild birds, and ended up spending $11 on a fancy pants bag of rabbit food as well. According to the package, it has all sorts of tastes and textures that rabbits crave and will satisfy their urge to forage. It's that fancy. The clerk at Petland was so kind when I mentioned that it was for the wild rabbits that she gave me the Club Pet discount. Now that's the spirit! "They're still an animal and they need to eat," she said.

I honestly don't know what the poor critters do in winter. Last night I came home to find them in the corner flowerbed making off with sprigs of millet for the birds! One was brave enough to stay behind and it looked like he had a little cigar in his mouth :-)

I also made it out to the PO Box and found it full of lovely cards. Thank you all so much! I hope mine arrived in time :-)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Chicken casserole, Mennonite style!

With craft sales almost overwith, it's fun to cook again. It's also fun to have food in the house - until yesterday we were pretty much down to Coke Zero and coleslaw in the fridge! Last night we had another recipe from the Mennonite Christian Home Cookbook. One of my Mission 101 goals is to make five recipes from this book, and this was #3.

This cookbook is a particular challenge because it was published over 40 years ago and some of the ingredient sizes have changed. It also has no pictures and little instruction. With most recipes you can guess how they'll turn out even without the help of food stylists, but these are real chin scratchers. Mixing mushroom soup, tomato soup, cream cheese and crackers together is not something you'll find in the average cookbook. It's also unintentionally funny - there are three recipes for ham loaf, but only one is called Delicious Ham Loaf. There are five recipes for chop suey, but one is subtitled "The real Chinese way" :-)

So it was with great intrigue that I combined celery, cheese, mushroom soup, chicken broth, crushed crackers and chicken in the casserole dish. I crossed my fingers that an hour later it would come out tasty; after many trips to the Country Cousins restaurant out in Linden I had great faith that there is no such thing as a bad tasting Mennonite meal.

But I had second thoughts as I dished out the casserole. To be honest, it looked like barf on a plate. The diced cheese had melted and was suspended in little globs in the mushroom soup while the celery bobbed up here and there. My husband looked down at his plate and I recognized that look of fear and disappointment from the orzo loaf disaster years ago. He didn't say anything but politely dug in. To our complete surprise, it was amazingly delicious! I don't know how, I don't know why, but it just was. That's the magic of Mennonite cooking, I suppose! I could see substituting pork chops next time.


Chicken Casserole
Submitted by Mrs. Ben Barker, Rich Hill, Mo.

1 large hen cooked and removed from the bone (I used raw chicken breasts)
1.5 cups diced celery, cooked (I left mine raw - it was fine)
1.5 cups diced cheese (I used cheddar)
1 small onion (oops, realized I forgot this!)
1 tsp salt (omitted because I used salted crackers)
1.8 tsp pepper
4 cups chicken broth (I actually used two due to the size of the dish)
4 cups crackers (I actually used two due to the size of the dish)
2 eggs, beaten (omitted because we don't eat eggs)
1 can mushroom soup (left unprepared)

Arrange chicken, crackers, cheese and celery in layers. Combine eggs, broth and mushroom soup and pour over chicken cracker mixture. Bake at 350 for 1 hour.

I actually cooked mine for about one hour and fifteen minutes. I just realized that there's a typo - while onion is mentioned, it's not in the instructional part. I assume that you would dice the onion.

Monday, December 7, 2009

Spirit of Christmas Treasure Hunt

Regrettably I can't participate in this month's ACEO Treasure Hunt, but my friends still are! Carole is the next blog in the loop. You can still comment here to have a chance to win. Please visit their blogs and find out how you could win an ACEO - a collectible art card.

My friends are:

1. Carole

2. Pam

3. Marlene

4. Kathy

5. Allie

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Christmas Card Call!

Like everything else this year, I'm a little behind...but better late than never!

Would anyone like to exchange Christmas cards? A lot of people don't think that one should have to ask for a card, but I don't know where a lot of people live...and sometimes people move as well! If you would like a card, just leave a comment on LiveJournal. They are all screened, so only I can see them :-) You can also email me too at calzephyr@gmail.com

If you would like to send a card, you can mail it to my postal box at:

Christine Bennett,
PO Box 97014,
Calgary, Alberta, T3K 0P2
Canada

My last sale is this weekend - I think having a sit down and writing cards will be a good way to unwind afterwards!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

November, November!

Nothing consumes my life like craft sales - I have two more left to go to and then that's a wrap! I have tried spring and summer sales, but Christmas always seems to be the best time for me. I wish it could be a little more spread out! In addition to my figure drawing class on Tuesdays, I saw the dentist, went for a sleep apnea test and saw a preview showing of New Moon this past week. And still managed to make up and package some new cards. Whew!

Our sale on the 14th couldn't compete with a sunny November Saturday (still no snow here, as of this morning anyway) and it was very slow. By contrast, this weekend's sale was amazing! The crowds never stopped bustling and it was over before I knew it.

As much I enjoy the sales, I am looking forward to the day when I can just hunker down and draw or paint and have more interesting things to say!

Monday, November 9, 2009

I have a winner!

Congrats to Audrey! Give me a shout at calzephyr@gmail.com and we'll see about getting a prize to you :-) Thanks to everyone who stopped and commented. I really appreciate and it's nice to know that others like my work.

One of the reasons I like Livejournal better than Blogger is that I can reply to each comment and I always feel weird about adding a "lump" comment at the end of the post. I'm hoping to upgrade cameras next year - my current outfit is quite better than the average point and shoot - it's not quite an SLR - but feels like the training wheels ;-) My Canon PowerShot has served me quite faithfully over the past two years and I think it will always have a place in my heart!

I did really well at the first craft sale of the season - just four more to go! We were at a benefit for Servants Anonymous, which is a great organization to help vulnerable women get off the street. Thank goodness for these angels!

Monday, November 2, 2009

November ACEO Treasure Hunt!

This treasure hunt is actually pretty neat and I thought I would have to bow out of it at the last minute. For the past week and a half, I had a doozy of a cold!

This month's theme is "Fabric of Our Lives". Comment at least once at each of the 6 blogs by November 6th at 12am EST. Each blog is giving away a prize, but to be eligible to win, you have to comment in each blog! Here's how the loop goes:

Carole, Pam, Marlene, Kathy, Allie, Me!

And what can you win from me? I'm going to to give the winner their choice of photo ACEO from the four below. Photography is near and dear to my heart, I sometimes tell people that my camera is my best friend (next to my wonderful husband of course!). It's my eyes and my memory. Here's a little patchwork of favourites:











I love to travel. This face is from a statue at Hoover Dam, Nevada. Travel is the best way to understand others, I think.

I adore birds, but maybe you already knew that :-) This is Mr. Jill. I love that I have this to remember him by.

I live in a beautiful province - Alberta! It has sky, mountains and prairies that make my spirit soar.

Flowers - I love them. The crocus has only ever bloomed once, but I'm optimistic about it every spring.


If you have questions about the treasure hunt, please email me and I'll be happy to answer! Remember that you have to visit the other blogs in the hunt for a chance to win - Carole, Pam, Marlene, Kathy, Allie. I will pick a winner from those that complete the loop.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Just a little sun, please?

If only my inner sunshine was enough sometimes! One of the realities of living in a less than sunny place is the lack of sunshine! I really should invest in a couple of indoor lamps for photography. I ordered two plastic heads to display my hats on, and this post would be full of hat pictures if the weather had only co-operated. When the sun did peek out from behind the clouds on the weekend, it wasn't for very long. Today a cold front swooped in. Brrrr! I'm hoping the robin that is tootling about our neighbourhood knows it is time to head south now!

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

For the birds!

This is my new feathered friend, Mr. Muffin.




Muffin


He is a giveaway cockatiel that I picked up two days after picking up Mr. Jill's little body from the vet. It breaks my heart that Mr. Jill isn't here - he was such a playful budgie - but unfortunately they are poorly bred and don't often live long. Muffin is the kind of bird I have wanted my whole life - friendly, tame, a whistler and a clown.

I have to admit my previous budgie, Moxie, came very close to this. I often told people that Moxie was the most perfect budgie ever! It's been over half a year and I still miss the pretty little guy. Bonding with birds just isn't the same as bonding with another pet. Pet birds have to choose you, you can't force your affection on them. Again, it's true of any pet, but birds tend to have greater self-preservation than dogs and cats. For a bird to step up on you takes a lot of trust.

Although I have loved horses all my life, birds come such a close second, if not first at times. It kind of makes me happy that they're a trendy subject right now - especially since they are also one of the most visible forms of urban wildlife out there. Here's to the birds!

Monday, October 12, 2009

I have a winner!

Congratulatons to pinkglitterfae, who won the "Odd Angles" ACEO Treasure Hunt! Wow, I kept typing "Angels" there for the longest time. It was so much fun - I'm looking forward to next time. Maybe I'll have more ACEOs to choose from then.

Right now I'm taking a life drawing class on Tuesday nights at the art college. I'm hoping to have some nice nudes by the end to include in my college application portfolio. Drawing a person from life is so much different than a photograph.

Oh, and yes, I hope any Canadians out there have had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend! We have a touch of snow here that I'm hoping won't last long - my father in law has been busy building us a garage, and he's so close to finishing. Sometimes it's a tough race beating Old Winter Man winter!

Sunday, October 4, 2009

My First Treasure Hunt!

Well, I'm so excited about today! This is my first Blog to Blog Treasure Hunt! It's such a fun idea. Would you like to win this "Odd Angles" ACEO? Read on below!


Odd Angles


For every comment that you make on the Treasure Hunt posts from Monday (today) until midnight EST on Friday, October 9th, your name will be entered in a drawing to win a free ACEO IF you complete the Treasure Hunt loop by visiting all of the participating artists. You have a chance to win a free ACEO from me and one from each of the other participating artists by participating in this Blog to Blog Treasure Hunt. Cool huh?

ACEO stands for Art Cards Editions and Originals. Some of you may know that I love making these little cards up and have them for sale on Etsy and Artfire. Occasionally I do swaps too! They are trading card size, 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches (6.4 cm x 8.9 cm). They're fun to make and collect - learn more about them at this website.

Here are the Rules for my Treasure Hunt:

1. Complete the loop of all participating artists to qualify for the drawings. Here is a list of all of the participating blogs for The Odd Angles Blog to Blog Treasure Hunt:

Kathy ::: http://www.tapestry316.blogspot.com/
Pam ::: http://alwaysartistic.blogspot.com/
Carole ::: http://readingsully2.blogspot.com/
Marlene ::: http://marlenes-musings.blogspot.com/
Allie ::: http://www.allieart4children.blogspot.com/

2. Leave a comment at each blog so that we know you have completed the loop.

3. Each comment you make on the different Treasure Hunt posts at the different blogs will give you another chance to win a free ACEO!

4. The Treasure Hunt will work a little differently at each artist’s blog, so be sure to read each blogger’s Rules Post very carefully.

5. We would all LOVE if you visited our shops and blogs to see more of our artwork!

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me and I'll try to answer the best I can. Thanks so much to the above ladies for letting me play in the Treasure Hunt!

Your next port of call on the Blog to Blog Treasure Hunt is Carole. Visit Carole's delightful and fun blog here and then pop by Carole's Etsy shop here.

Happy hunting!
Christine Bennett
calzephyr@gmail.com

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Prairie Harvest Sale!

The Etsy Alberta Street Team has been busy crafting a fall sale! 60 shops from the Etsy Alberta Street Team are participating in a team sale from October 3 - 9, 2009. Check out the list of participating shops! My special is free shipping to any Canadian address.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

A few photos from Spruce Meadows

One of Calgary's true gems is the Spruce Meadows equestrian facility. Not only is it open all year round, the grounds are absolutely beautiful and so well maintained. During the larger summer competitions such as the North American and Masters, they go all out with carriage rides, mounted regiments, a marketplace, dog agility, live music and lots of food! It's a place you can take the whole family, even if they don't like horses.

Somehow I missed out on all three major events last year, and I was sorely disappointed when I couldn't make the last one, the Masters, which is always held in September. As I recall, I was horribly sick. Spruce Meadows is also a great photo taking opportunity with different riders and breeds about. My family and I caught the tail end of the Battle of the Breeds like we usually do - for some reason we can never figure out when it begins! But every visit is guaranteed to yield lots of reference photos and horse magazines!

Here are a few of the better photos - this was my first time really using the action and sports features on my camera. I think I could have stood railside all day, just trying to get down the perfect tracking. And naturally I could have done that because I love horses so :-) Please join me on Flickr if you're not already my friend there :-)



Practice ring
Originally uploaded by Calzephyr


Monday, September 7, 2009

New artwork...

Whew, yup, this blog is still on. I tend to update Livejournal a lot more because I find it easier. As usual, it's horse of course around here! Click the thumbnails for larger images.

The one on the left is for sale on ArtFire while the one on the right is for sale on Etsy.



Pegasus ACEOs


Prismacolor ::: 2.5x3.5" ::: August 16, 2009


This was a picture I did for an art exchange.






And this one is very special, it stars two horses named Sunny and Sabre from Sylvan Lake, Alberta:




August1, 2009 ::: Pencil crayon and PanPastel ::: 9.5x13"

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Modern Art, I Get It Now!

This appeared in LiveJournal, but I thought I would post it again here. My final exam is on Tuesday and I wonder how I procrastinated without the internet back when I was going to SAIT in 1995-97!

The trouble with living in the future is that one can't fully appreciate the past - we're too sophisticated, too informed and too accepting now. It's easy to shrug and say "This art is crap!" but a lot of modern art, at the time it was created, was amazingly new and different. We've had about a hundred years of psychoanalysis, for example, but a hundred years ago it was amazingly revolutionary. As artists broke away from conventional art styles (or, like Salvador Dali, used them to display his bizarre imagery), each step was shocking in ways an audience these days can't appreciate. Jackson Pollack, for example, was hailed for his displays of individuality in a time when Communism seemed a threat. I try to put myself in the place of a viewer from the past, but the excitement and wonder just isn't the same.

Just one more lecture class and then the final. Our essays are handed back on Thursday. We've steamrolled through so many "isms" - Orphism, Expressionism, Post-Impressionism, Symbolism, Surrealism - that I feel like I'm going to come down with some sort of "ism" myself!

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Paisley Peacock ACEO

Just a little guy that I have been wanting to finish up for a while. Another Mission 101 thing done too! He's also for sale on Etsy. Click for larger.


Paisley Peacock

June 6, 2009 ::: Prismacolor Marker ::: 2.5x3.5"

Sunday, May 24, 2009

More School Stuff

I'm almost at the halfway point of my class and it has been so intriguing. I wish it could go on forever. There is so much to learn and I'm only scraping the surface. I was really surprised by how much of my second class was made up of Japanese art. One thing that people forget is that art doesn't occur in a vacuum. When the first Japanese prints were exhibited at the Crystal Palace in London in 1851, it ushered in the era of modernity and Western artists began to borrow Eastern elements depicting time and space. Similarly, Japanese artists gave perspective a shot as well as shadows and value. It was such a fascinating class - the differences are obvious, but sometimes one doesn't know until someone tells you!

Lately we have been looking at German art up to World War 2 with a brief detour to Soviet propaganda. It's fair to say that Hitler set the design world back a good few years. In fact, there was one class where Bozenna used the word "degenerate" to describe every work. San-serif fonts, anything modern and not like "the old way" was considered degenerate. As a result, many German architects and designers, like Mies Van Der Rohe, brought their style to North America as it was hard to find work in Nazi Germany.

I'm almost finished my research paper on Franz Marc. I think it's going to be quite enjoyable...I just need one last paragraph, then fix up my citations.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Me, My Mess and My Model Horses!

I'm having almost too much fun making movies now. Here's one from a few weeks ago as I aim to clean up my downstairs work area. I'm hoping that organized will equal productivity, especially as I have a contest deadline coming up. Eek!





Sunday, May 10, 2009

Back to School!

I was a woeful ball of nerves today until I actually got to class. I was walking around in pointless circles trying to remember if I had forgotten anything, and then even catching the train caused some anxiety. As Calgary Transit is a relatively poor system of public transportation, I just couldn't trust that it would get me there in time. I work just down the road from the art college, but on Tuesday mornings I'm on the opposite side of the city.

I think I'm going to like this class! There is only one assignment, a research paper, and there were lots of good topics to choose from, but I think I'll take "Option 2" and pick a painting to write about. I could pick a Eugene Delacroix or a Franz Marc - they render horses so lovingly :-)

One of the reasons I'm so enthusiastic about this class is that I think it will answer a personal question for me - "How the heck did we get here?" Modernity spans 1851-1933, or perhaps even 1945. Although there really hasn't been a time when humans have not been under stress, this period was particularly stressful due to industrialization, war, political changes and changes to the social fabric. It's going to be a fascinating journey!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

A little slice of my life!

Enjoy, and please don't make fun of my Canadian accent :-)



Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Just Ducky! (or, Foiled by Fowls)

Today my camera and I went for a walk up to the creek in hopes of finding some photogenic specimens. The creek's banks are relatively unsafe, so I positioned myself on the bridge. The bridge was the site of a shoulda coulda woulda moment a few years ago. It was duck stamp perfect - a male and female duck floating between snowy banks, with just enough grass sticking through to mark the coming of spring. Argh!

I was just about to move on when I saw a drake riding the swift current from the north, and then I realized his mate was just underneath the bridge.


Female duck


This is the only shot of the female that I was able to get. Great camouflage, eh? She was so close and apparently too close for another male's liking. He shot out of nowhere and practically landed on her tail! She and her mate took to the sky and several times they tried to land in the same general area, but this male was not going to have any of that! It was absolutely thrilling as they flew over me :-) Maybe I'll have better luck next time. This is her mate below. I was able to get three pictures of him before the second male came back around. I didn't know ducks were that territorial.


Male duck

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Happy Easter! Happy Spring!

I went walking this morning after Easter services and it seems spring is most definitely here. There's a little green in the irises, the birds are working double time it seems, and the last of the snow is gone. Winter, I banish thee!

I don't have any Easter art, which I should, but I'll share this whimsical entry for the ArtFire ACEO Guild's monthly contest - "April showers bring May flowers". I think I achieved the childish and whimsical look I wanted.


ACEO challenge

2.5x3.5" ::: Marker ::: April 12, 2009

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Birdie Going-Ons

Spring is trying so hard to appear. There are green shoots on the laws, a little bit of green to one of my irises...I'll have to check the buds on the lilac bush.

This sparrow had the right idea - just one of the better shots of some sparrows I took March 21st. I wish they hadn't been up so high! They were so busy building their nest before the big spring blizzard.





And speaking of shooting birds, I had one of those great shoulda woulda could moments last Saturday. The day before was beautiful and sunny and it occurred to me that this was the kind of day I should take my camera with me to work. But in the morning rush, it was left on the kitchen table. I was running late and I hoofed it down to the main drag as I had missed all the express buses through my neighbourhood. As fate would have it, the best opportunity I had ever had to take a photo of a robin was presented to me. He (or she) was sitting in a bare tree on the outside branches and really close to me! They sat there very still for a long time, just enough to get a few shots off. It was the kind of picture that wouldn't have had the house in the background either.

I went to the same spot the next morning, but it had been snowing softly and was pretty overcast. It was fact, treacherously slippery with the new snow and I fell backwards near the back alley. I couldn't hear any robins, just sparrow morse code and the honking of returning Canada geese. It was all for naught too, as I had forgotten to load the memory card!

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Spring! Is it here at last?

Happy spring! Here's to crocuses, bunnies, lambs and things! We've had a hard winter here with few chinooks - the warm winds that blow through here - and surprise flurries like no tomorrow. I suppose weather is relative, really, because it was not as cold as some parts. Apparently today we're going to get a spring blizzard though.

Here's our new bird feeder, taken a couple of weeks ago during one of those extra snowy days. The old one was plastic and battered from several years of being in the wind. Our part of town is really windy, sometimes we'll get gusts of up to 90km/h or more. For you non-metric folks, that about 55mph or more. It finally cracked enough to be useless. This cedar one is pretty solid and loaded with two packs of suet. I haven't seen any birds at it yet...but then there haven't been many birds around. This happens every year - they seem to hunker down somewhere for winter, but when spring and summer comes, they empty the feeder daily!

In the past the feeder has attracted house finches, sparrows, pigeons, mice, wild rabbits and an orange tabby cat! Last month I saw magpies for the first time in our neighbourhood and I'm pretty sure I did hear a chickadee near the bus stop. All it takes is one bird to tell his birdie friends and we're in business!


Our new bird feeder

Friday, March 20, 2009

Recent ATC Swap

I haven't done a swap in ages, so I was thrilled to do one this past week with my friend Sighthoundlady. I drew her character, Inga:



Inga the Prehistoric Horse ATC



And this should look familiar to my friends, it's a purple My Little Pony!



MLP ACEO Art card
by =sighthoundlady

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

New Horse ACEOs

It's been ages since I did an Illustration Friday entry. Last week's word is "breezy" which makes me think of horses and blue! It's also another chance for me to do some papercutting. I want to do this horse in other colours, especially since I have some new X-acto blades. Nothing is worse than cutting with dull blades!


Breezy
March 5, 2009 ::: Watercolour and paper ::: 2.5x3.5"


Here's one in brown and orange as well.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Dramatic White Tulip

Today has been a rather trying day. One of my budgies, Moxie, passed away on Tuesday after a long illness. My husband bought me some white tulips on Monday, and today I spent some time photographing them. This was my favourite shot out of all of them.


Dramatic White Tulip

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Thing A Day 2009

This is another Mission 101 thing...but I'm really excited about Thing A Day 2009! The goal is to create something and post it to their blog every day in February. The website to sign up is here and hurry, registration closes on February first! Pictures from last year's Thing A Day by me can be seen here on Flickr.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

Speaking of winter blues...

Here is a blue birdie friend I don't see a lot of around here! The original is for sale on Etsy. It's also something I can cross off my Mission 101 list :-)


Blue Jay ACEO

January 18, 2009 ::: Pencil crayon, PanPastel, Micron Pen ::: 2.5x3.5"

Winter Blues

It's funny how something can always be there, but you don't notice it until a certain age or time. This winter I'm really noticing the colour blue. Maybe I first noticed it when I was working on a painting at the back of the house where the patio doors are. It's a great place to work because it gets lots of light all day.

And for some reason this year, in my 31st year of life, I noticed how rich the colours were and how quickly they changed within minutes. All the luxurious shades, from navy blue of 6am to the mellow coolness created by an incoming cold front. And then the process repeated itself as night fell.

Now the days are starting to get longer bit by bit, and I regret not trying to take a photograph of some trees by the bus stop. Due to cold weather and harsh road conditions, the bus was late and my mission was too important to abandon and retreat to the house. With just a little slit to see out of, I considered the trees carefully, noted their shape as they bowed towards each other as if a pair of lovers. The light blue snow contrasted nicely with their dark shapes, which were still strong against the early evening sky. I must capture this, I thought, but I didn't make it back out there with the camera. Now that wonderful light won't happen again for another year. But there's always next year.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Boss Goose!

Generally only the best photos of mine go on greeting cards, but I put fun ones like this on Flickr:

Hmm!

So I guess the best I can do right now is point to the right and say "here's my five latest Livejournal posts!"

I'm surprised by how hard it is to be in so many places at once on the web. I wonder sometimes if someone is visiting one of my haunts and forgets where they saw something. I didn't think of that as a liability, hmm!