I give you hints of colour...

I'm sure most of you know by now, that I really love winter and I like to go out and do some photography... Before I get to the "hint of colour" I just wanted to show you this, I went for a late night walk with Charlie to the park near our house. we had a nice snow storm last night and everything was again covered in snow and the sky was full with snow clouds that were hanging very low. And because of the clouds, the street lights reflect right off and it gives the night light almost a dream like feel to it.

And when the clouds are like this and its snowing, I use on my camera the Night portrait setting with flash (my camera: Nikon coolpix P500), I just think it gives that neat effect to the picture.
So hints of colour, most of this February has been under clouds during the day time (we haven't had many of those amazing February sun days that I really like).  However, grey, mud and slush can also have its beauty (in its own twisted ways of course, most of my friends think I'm nuts because I tell them it can be pretty too).  The only thing I don't like about this weather we have been having, its that when we come home from our daily walks, Charlie has dragged in half of the towns supply of salt, sand and mud in his fur.  But what I do like about this light, is that you can almost create black/white picture without having to use B/W film or photo shop the pictures.  And whats even more cool, is that you can create B/W pictures with only a hint of colour.  Okay don't laugh, to me this is neat!!

Like this weathered fence and gate, wood is all grey and there it is the hint of colour created with rust and moss.  When I was standing there taking these pictures, a man stopped in his car and asked me "what on earth are you taking pictures of...  its all grey and dirty"  So I told him and showed him, he didn't say much but thanks and drove on.  But two days later I saw him again and he told me he had to walk back and take a closer look and he said he sees it differently now "its not that ugly long row of grey fence any more...".

Rosehip, I love these berries and like this the most, all frozen and covered in frost.  Stems are grey and black, but the berries still have some colour left on them, and they look very pretty against the all the snow.

Or like these trees in a park, all frost covered grey branches and bark against the snow covered grounds, with little hint of green and orange moss on the trunks of the trees.

So that's my take on that : )  There was no paintings or sketches here today, I have been busy with getting a small commissioned job I got and been busy playing nurse again (this is after all the season for colds and flu's, and with kids in school = they bring home a lot of unwanted gifts)...  But in between all kleenex boxes, temperature taking and handing buckets here at home, I did manage to escape to the vernissage for the two art shows I'm taking part of.  It was a fantastic day and we had a great crowed that came to see the show, and I sold one painting (Peace), and afterwards I found out that I also sold a small painting at the store where my work is hanging. 

So with grey skies, slush, mud, colds and runny noses...  I think its okay to say, it has been a very good week in between. 

Happy weekend to you all!

A Valentine's Blunder....

Ohhh yeah, I did this time...  I bought the kids good treats {went all over town to find the right once}, put them in cute gift bags, then I gave them to the kids {oh and Mr B too got some too}...  Gave everyone kisses and hugs and told them how much I love them.

Everything was great and kids happy eating away on their treats {they didn't last too long}, then I sat down to take it easy {pleased with my self and happy to see the kids enjoying the day so far} read a few blogs and started to wonder why no one else was in the "Valentine's mood", I mean no one was mentioning anything on line, nothing...  Hmmmm, feeling a bit silly,  I google "when is Valentine's Day and it said February 14th... 

I was kicking my self, what planet was I on, really???!!  How could that slipped my mind and by 3 days.  I was talking to my self {uttering words to my self} and I turn around and my son looks at me with a grin and he said "Don't worry mum, its not easy getting old"   WHAT!!!  Old, I'm still 25, okay maybe not really 25 but I'm much closer to 25 than 100. 


Sweet treats {sketch in ink & water colours}

So today its Valentine's Day, and its been a great day...  Beautiful walk in woods with Charlie, baked some cupcakes, sketch with Lindsay and had a great conversation with Alexander about summer and camping {they are teens, so I'm happy to have any moment with them and while they still want to hang around mum} and now I'm sitting with Mr B in a coffee shop, sipping a nice latte and enjoying the calm.  Simple things, that's what it all is about.  I hope all of you had /have a wonderful time with the once that are near and dear to you. 

 I love this saying/quote and its so true {every day}

ENJOY

the little

things

in life

Because

one day you

will look

back and

Realise they

were the

BIG

things

February light...

There is something very special about the sunlight in February (if the sky is clear : )

The sun feels closer and warmer and there is that small hint of spring in the air, yet its still very much winter.  My favourite time of the day is in the late afternoon when she sun is lower and the shadows turn blue against the snow.  These sketches I made one day down by the Ottawa River and where there is lot of nice paths and green space {not so green this time of the year} to walk in.  They are all quick sketches as it still cold enough to freeze my fingers and the water colours on to the paper where acting a bit funny.  I had a small Strathmore Drawing paper pad (its a bit off white coloured paper), Staedtler triplus fineliner pen (and it says "dry safe" on it but its not) and my watercolours. 

Down by the river is a big area where the ice huts are for ice fishing, you can see the Gatenaue Hills, Quebec in the back ground/other side of the river.  The two blue squares I made are for writing I will do later, maybe give a try on some poetry (I'm only learning about poetry now).

Two different styles to draw and paint the trees and the small blue spots below on the paper, are from when I lost my balance and paint went all over the place (sure beats yellow snow, lol)

One of my friends made fun of me when I was crying for snow and couldn't wait for the winter to come... And he said to me "I'm sure you will have a different tune of it in February" But here it is, and I love it!!!!

Ha, so there!!!

Quiet day for me...

 Sunday after we had spent time with the kids down town, I got a day to my self and it was really nice to just do something I like to do (don't get me wrong, I had fun with the kids day before).  But some days we just need that "Me time".  So Mr B, dropped me off at the museum of Civilization (its on the Quebec side and this is the view I had of the Ottawa parlament buildings from the museum).  At the museum I first saw a new exhibition of "World Religion" "God(s)", it was interesting and I love learning about all the different kinds of religions there is.  And I did a little bit of sketching. 

I really liked this wood carving (of Jesus), its amazing how its made.  The person who carved it left the bark on some places and its very rough yet the colours of the wood makes it warm looking.  The Sculpture of Buddha is in bronze, and this one is such a neat contrast to the wood as it has a lot of fantastic looking details on it.  The I walked around the rest of the museum and sketched.  Afterwards I walked cross the river to the down town Ottawa area, and the weather again was wonderful, and I took again lot of pictures. 

Then I ended up in a coffee shop, and I got a fantastic seat for an artist and especially if you are an artist who liked to watch people and sketch them.  It was a bar counter that faces out to the street, and right in front of it is a bus stop and along with it tons of people waiting for their ride.  I went through two coffees and one good sandwich (couldn't let go of the seat : )

And here is another sketch, its the bridges that conects Ontario to Quebec. 

Winter in town

Last weekend we spent a lot of time down town Ottawa, and its winter festival time. First we went for a nice walk along the Parlament buildings, looked at the view and enjoyed the really nice weather we had (not too cold or not too warm, just "Lagom").
After our first walk, we went to see a Northern Lights trade show and performance .  We watched drum dancers (I only got one sketch in this day), and heard throat singers and also heard a really good native Inuit metal band.  Lindsay really liked the music,  and two nice ladies beside us heard her cheering and saw me drawing (I know, what a pair we are) and they took us back stage and we got to meet the drum dancers and the band.

Afterwards we walked down to the Rideau Canal, where the worlds longest ice skating rink is open during the winter festival "Winter Lude".  The part you see here is right down town and its packed with people and the the rink stretches all long the canal (I think its about 5+ km long). 

And there is tons of different programs, music and food all around the city and the canal.  And we of course had to get one treat "Beaver Tails", yep, good old crispy on the outside and mushy on the inside Tails with a nice sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar mmmmmm... 

Lindsay couldn't wait to sink her teeth in to her tail : )  Its a good treat, but something you can only eat once a year (it loves to hit the hips after). 

It was a perfect day and evening, I only got one sketch in, but got a lot of pictures. After we enjoyed all the festivities down town, we walked (worked of the tails) and enjoyed the lights around town (its really pretty with all the different colour lights and the snow on the ground).  Perfect time!!!

One is in and one not so much...

Well, here is my two pieces that I put in to the annual juried arts exhibition, and this year the theme was/is "Mix of Emotions".  This one below, is a mixed media piece and its more abstract.  The title of the piece is "Winter Blues" and most people (well about 99% of everyone I know), think winter blues is negative, depression and very dark.  However, for me winter blues means something totally reverse to that, to me its that one very short moment when day and night meets...


"Winter Blues" (True Winter Blues),  in Mixed Media

Makes no sense?  well you see, when the sun goes down and the night sky creeps in, there is this magic light that covers everything that has snow on it.  And it only lasts for a very short moment, everything turns this beautiful and dreamy shade of blue.  And all that cold and frosty, looks warm and comforting.  Its the time you stop and just breath, enjoy the view and then when its gone as fast it came...  Then you go and sit back, sip tea and enjoy the warmth of a nice blanket. 
In Finnish its called "Sininen Hetkinen" and in Swedish "Blåa Stunden"  Brings back a lot of memories from my childhood days in Scandinavia.

Any how, Winter Blues, didn't make it in to the show (maybe if the jury had heard my artist statement, they would have understood the title more and the thought behind it...  Or maybe one of them were fighting their own winter blues...   Who knows). 
But not all so blue and not everything can make it... 
However, my other piece "Struggle" made it and its in  Yeahhhhh!!!!

"Struggle" water colour & Ink

If you have seen some of my past work, then you might have noticed that there is few things I love to paint and draw...  It is barns and umbrellas, so I tried to think of an emotion that is a struggle, and why not fighting Mother Nature.  You just never know what she will hit you with and many times its hard to fight back.  But you can fight and it might be a hard struggle at times, but if you hold on you might just make it (kind of reminds me the nasty thunder storm I had to live through last summer while we were out on a canoe trip, it scared the living lights out of me (no pun intended). 

The Mix of Emotions" exhibition will open up on February 16 at the Trinity Gallery, Shenkmans Arts Centre.

Happy first of February everyone!!

This is how...

I got some comments and emails in regards to my post of the Queen Anne Lace painting I'm (still)working on, and I'm more than happy to tell you how I paint this way.  And thank you so much for all your words and questions, love reading them all...  One of the questions was "how do I put the outlines in and what colours do I use".  I paint most of these is acrylics, and its all about layers...  In short, I never end up with what I intended in the beginning.

First of all, I never use black, I know they come out looking black in pictures, but they are almost always in very dark blues, or grey.  I mix my own blacks, from mixing blues with browns, and it all depends on what kind of dark grey or blackish colour I want.  There is only one place I use black and that's when I paint the sides of my canvases.

The first step is for my paintings is that I paint on a back ground in a colour (reds, greens or any other colour), and I like to work with a acrylic paint that has dried up a bit, this gives the paint a nice texture on the canvas (as acrylic paint tend to stay flat other wise or without any other extras in it).  Then I again paint another layer (lighter or darker of same colour or something in that same side of the colour wheel, I hope that makes sense).  When I'm happy with the back ground, I then rough sketch (paint) my subject in again a dark blue, green or other colour.  Then I start to work on yet another back ground, now kind of softening the lines I sketched in.  This back ground colour is different from the previous colour, so it has contrast (and I let some show through).
 

After I'm happy with the back ground, I start to work on the main lines of the object (and in this case its the dried up flower head of Queen Anne Lace).  And I keep going on back and forth until I'm happy with it.  Here below you can see more of the back ground colour and the out lines (you can see there is different colours, red, orange and brows, all coming through the blues, teals and creams on top).

And here's another photo of Queen Anne Lace, and its again in the dry winter stage. 
See, Queen Anne Lace is a beautiful delicate white flower in the summer, and it really does look like lace.  And I had questions about the flower I had posted, how could this be that flower (it looks nothing like it does on line if you look it up).  But I live in Canada and like in most Northern snowy lands like Canada.  This flower looks wonderful, white and delicate in the summer months.  But when fall and winter hits, the flower dies down and only the dry seed pods are left.  I find the dried up flower (and so many other seed pods and plants) in winter looks as beautiful, different, yet very beautiful. 

Dan from Dan's Canvas read my post and he used the picture I had left for anyone to use (I wanted to see if anyone else would like to draw or paint it, would be fun to see). 
And Dan did and he drew from the picture.  And he did a fantastic piece and I think he did it in watercolours, check out his link, he's a great artist from Florida (no snow there : ) 
There is a legend behind the name of this flower, and I think its really sweet and I love hearing and learning about these things.  The story behind this one is, of Queen Anne who was very good at needle work and she created beautiful lace.  One time Queen Anne was working on her lace, she pricked her finger with the needle and a small drop of blood fell on the lace.  See, if you look very closely in the centre of all the white flowers, you can find one very tinny single flower that is red (some are darker than others, some even so dark red it looks like its black) and that's her drop of blood. This is the story behind Queen Anne Lace. And so I leave you with that and with this picture below, little different from what I posted last.  But its for you, if you wish you create one of your own, or just enjoy the picture.

Enjoy!!  And try not spill any blood while creating... 


Dried Queen Anne Lace flower, Free image