Christmas snow and trees...

 

I'm sure I'm not the only one saying this

but its been pretty busy around here.

This the season for it.

 

Found little time today to paint something small

Something I saw while we were out driving and at the same time both Mr B and I said

Next year we'll get a real tree.

 

 

A few days ago my son and I went down town to do a little Christmas shopping,

in between running about we stopped for a treat, good old beaver tails.

 

 

We have had a few smaller snow storms go through here,

and there is nothing better than just head out and enjoy it all.

And my son, although 21 he still likes to shake a tree and get snow all over him...

So glad the kid within him still stays strong.

 

 

Love the woods this time of the year, so does Charlie.

 

I really wish all of you will have a wonderful Christmas season,

have a safe and happy holiday.

 

Merry Christmas & God Jul

 

 

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Santa Lucia, winter foxes & Christmas time...

water colours and ink

 ~ Happy Santa Lucia ~

Today in Sweden and all the other Scandinavian countries Santa Lucia is celebrated.

People gather together in churches, schools and homes, singing and lit candles and with that they eat sweet saffron Lussebullar {Lucia Buns} and other treats.

Its time to share light and joy of the season

{if you like you can see a beautiful Lucia choir in Sweden HERE}

I done a little bit of decorating and some art work {seen above and below} 

But today I woke up early before sun came up, Charlie and I went for a walk in the woods and even if it was dark still it was very cozy and we heard foxes somewhere near by.

After our walk we came home and I lit some candles, played some Swedish Christmas music and then I baked some saffron cupcakes {gluten free} so I can take to my daughter who's still in the hospital.

Sure miss having my little girl here, but she's getting so much help right now and thankfully hospital is close to home, so I can go there often to see her.  Yesterday we read How Grinch Stole Christmas together, always a great fun to read with her.  And today we're going to celebrate Lucia.

Here are a few small sketches & drawings I have done of Foxes

{used different media, ink, water colours, china marker and pencil on different kinds of paper}

Happy Santa Lucia and Happy Winter to all of you

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Sketching, lazy beach moment and wild yarn stuff...

I said in my last post I would show you my sketches from when I went to the farms, so here they are...

Its not too many as it was very hot in sun that day I was out and I did also photography 

and checked out all the different stands for goodies to bring home.

A few days later, I saw a young woman with a pretty summer dress

and it looked so cute with her flat shoes.

Yesterday I went for a drive after dropping my daughter off at respite care.

I hate the thought of having to put her in care so I can do things or get a good nights rest,

I wish I could enjoy these things with her more than what we can these days.  

But I have to count my self blessed to be able to get a break once in a while, so I can draw and

being able to catch up to very much needed sleep.

Any how, I ended up on two beach areas along the Ottawa River.

Enjoyed the lovely day, the view, the breeze, water and of course a nice cup of tea

My trusted Charlie of course by my side also enjoying the breeze.

Below a few pictures I took while down there.

Love the sight of sail boats, and even if they were way out there I could hear the young sailor students sometimes {they were from a summer camp program} laughing and having a great old time.

Great sounds of summer!

Also saw some wild life, of course the famous Canada Geese, dragon flies and even a pig in the tree...

If you know the grand mess the geese make, well all I can say is that its good pigs cant fly!

{just climb trees...} 

And I leave you with one more picture,

I have taken up a new sport, not cricket but rather the wild game of crochet...

I'm not sure why, but I wanted to try out something new again

Bought some yarn and a crochet needle, hook or what ever its are called.

Looked at a few pictures and got going on it, very addictive I have to tell you,

and I have no idea what to do and I'm sure I have broken every crochet rule there is.

But this is what I did so far, the other piece I did look {and I thought I was making a square}

ended up looking like a misshaped bacteria or germ, so I didn't take a picture of it.

Happy Weekend everyone!!

Enjoy the beautiful weather, create and try out something new

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Ugh serious painters block...

Oh boy, this painters block is really getting on my nerves, I feel almost like this very dry spot I found during my walk yesterday...  It was strange, among fields full of green grass and huge selection of wild flowers and lots of birds singing, I found this.  Dry to the bone spot with nothing but this sad little grass thingy growing out of one of the cracks.  I have ideas and things I want to paint and draw, but nothing came come up to the surface and out on to the paper.  Grrrrr!!!!

 Never less it was a beautiful walk and it was first day of summer (summer solstice, Midsommar), got home with some flowers I picked, cleaned the pool...

  And before heading out to get some goodies for Midsommar celebrations {me and some dear friends would get together and have some good drinks and treats while basking in the sun, and a good thing we ended up doing just that as the grey skies and ran returned today}. Standing there looking in the pool, a small and I mean a very small wave of inspiration hit me... I ran in to my studio and painted this or more like finished it (the blue dripping was already there), I don't know why and how it all came too after looking teh pool for an hour, maybe it was sun spots.  Who knows, but I thought about flowers floating in water and this is what came out of that.

Funny, there it was and gone as quick as it came and I'm back to feeling like a dried up mud spot, crickets playing in my head and the paint brush in my hand may as well be chopsticks as I don't have sushi to pick on...  What to do with this?  I don't know, but I do hope it all comes back soon because I need to draw and paint again. 

Help!!!!  Photo art and sewing can only keep me going for so long.

 

It was a lovely day yesterday, super day for Midsummer and being with dear friends, and being hit by one little wave : )  Happy Summer everyone!!!



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I think it's here...

ink and water colours on water colour paper

Yes, it must be!  Because snow is melting, mud all over, bits of dead grass is peaking out from under the snow and the driveway is clear...  Oh and some of the birds have come back from their vacation down south, and we have had two days of sunny days, blue skies and it has been above +4c {+7c if you stand out on the deck right next to the wall}.  And one very clear sign that spring is here, is that I have to wash Charlies paws every day after our walks.

And Easter is here, lovely Easter and how I love this season and in a way to me Easter is more of a beginning of the year that new years.  Everything is taking on a new life, animals return and wake up, plants start to grow and things feel fresh and light {people look happier, everyone venture outside, breath and enjoy the sun}.  I also like to bring in traditional Scandinavian Easter decorations to our home, and one of my favourite is the beautiful coloured feathers on branches.

New times and now I feel more motivated to do things, and its things that I have been putting off for many reasons through the winter months.  Last week was a great example, our daughter and our dog were sick and my foot was busted...  Now colds gone and foot feeling much better, and huge thank you to all of you who visited and left comments and sent emails.  So now feeling better, we have been out and about and included a visit to the library and I think I might have found a bit too much inspiration, lol, as I pretty much emptied one whole section in there. Oh I forgot to add the three novels I'm reading too right now.  Lovely and fun stack never less.

Question, is it possible to have too much inspiration?  All I'm saying is that I always have a ton of ideas for art and decorating projects, a handful on the go and lots I want to do. 
And some times I hit the wall and I need inspiration to be able to let all that stuff come out of me and down on paper or canvas.

Just some paint on my water colour pallet and below is a design idea I have been wanting to do, been stuck in my mind for months and now finally out on paper.  Still work in progress.

And I finished a small painting for an upcoming art show, will post that later.

'Break Free'
ink on Strathmore water colour paper, cold press

And I have done some spring cleaning in my art portfolio blog, and I don't know how I have been able to miss this, but so many people have left comments in there and I feel terrible that I never noticed them before now.  Read them all and really thank you so much for all your comments in there, thank you it totally made my day and I will check in there for now on : ) 

You can click here to take you to my other blog.

Happy Spring & Happy Easter

everyone, I hope you find lots of new inspiration, colours, light and warm weather... 

Kiss winter bye bye and say Hello spring!!

 

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Spring yet??... Not so fast!..

 

I guess the pictures speak for them self, spring is nowhere in sight

{in the news they said we might get another 2 cm of snow...  Ugh}. 

No spring outside, so we brought it inside!

 

Last year it was in the +20c, green grass and buds starting to open in the trees

I made lots of ice tea for cooling us of.

This year my ice tea is cooled of in the snow banks,

so at least this snow is coming in handy with something : )

 

I guess with weather like this its okay while we have had to spend a lot of time inside...  My daughter has again not been feeling well and our dog Charlie has a cold and on top of it I did number on my foot while getting ready for a half marathon I wanted to do this coming May.
One sleeping, one sneezing and one hopping about, we're a sorry sight I tell you.  But we do the best with what we have {or dont have}, while my daughter is resting I paint and play on the computer {also doing laundry and cleaning around the house, the two less entertaining things to do when I get a break}...

                                     Played around a bit with colours and my tree paintings.

And I'm not sure if I posted one of these ladies before {the one on the left hand side}

Been making other once in the same style.

 

 

I know this picture is not as good

but here is one of a little girl and her telephone

 

And that's about it from this end, blue skies for a little while and I thought maybe, just maybe they were wrong at the weather channel and it wont snow.

But just looked out and clouds are rolling in fast...  Grrrrr!!!!

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Little bit of inspiration...

 

 Here is the painting I have been working on since my last post, I thought I was done.  But now after a long look at it I have come to the conclusion that its not, far from it, so then I put it aside and then this happen {below}. Winter came back in full force, we got pounded with a lot of snow, ice, rain and more snow and we ended up with so much that if more comes on top of this, we have no idea where we would stick it...  And ever since that snow storm it has been nothing but grey and over cast days, it got cold again and the poor sun has not found away to shine through. 

Everyone needs some sunshine each day, right!?

Even though, I still think it looks pretty when its snowing and everything is covered in fresh snow.  But no light and no sun shine for days in end, I really needed some inspiration. 

And I found it right here on the table, my new cutting board/sheet and some water mixed with watercolours, a surface all soaked in soft and light colours.

{I like working, drawing on top of this surface} .

 

Had some fun with different inks, acrylic inks and watercolours.

 

'When Fireflies Plays'

 

Here's to inspiration, sunny days and light!

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Bark, Bark, bark!!!!!

Gorgeous day today and it feels like spring is just around the corner...  But then I heard the news and a snow storm is heading this direction, I love winter, really I do, but even I have had enough.

However, back to this day and what a fantastic walk I had with Charlie, we walked two different trails and I was taking pictures of trees {need inspiration for different textures and colours} and while I was busy shooting away like a mad fashion photographer Charlie was happy barking and running around after squirrels {lucky for them he cant see well, yes our baby is going blind but his sense of smell and hearing is all top notch}.

I love how different kinds of bark look and feel, brilliant textures and I think {if I'm not wrong} I spotted four different kinds of birch trees.  One of my favourite birch is the silver birch and paper birch, picture above however is not only of birch but there is maple and pine and one that I cant put my finger on, but its pretty.

After our walk, feeling all refreshed from the beautiful weather and all that fresh air, I sat down and drew a little bit and started this.  I'm not sure I like where its going so I have to see if I will keep working on it.  On the side of the paper is a dead branch of an apple tree, although in my mind its not dead in a least bit as it has all kinds of moss and fungi growing on it.  Love the teal coloured tree moss, wish I knew the name of it.

And below here is a picture of a birch tree and look at that great bark and how its naturally all curly.

And I saw this dried up leaf and the colour of it is so beautiful and it looked fantastic when the sun was shinning on it, it was not really the typical autumn orange but rather a yummy terracotta colour.

Okay, back to painting and then its art meeting tonight, will be interesting listening to the guest speaker who will be talking about framing do's & dont's and how to do a good frame work on a smaller budget... 

Happy Tuesday everyone!

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The forest path vision...

Beginning of this week I posted about a walk I had in the woods, and how amazing the sight was and ever since then that picture has been on my mind a lot.  And one thing that I really wanted to do, was to put that on canvas in a great crazy abstract way.  Play with the oils or acrylic paints and colours...  But my work space is still under lock down due to this great cold spell we have going through, so the thought of me making a great mess will have to wait.  And again, this is so painful!!!!

{I know, nag, nag, nag... 

But, but, but!!!}

 

I miss making a mess, I miss painting...

 

Of course I have painted, but compared to how I like to create, this way I have to paint right now is okay, but I don't enjoy it like the other way...  And I just had to find away to start liking this more than I have so far, because winter will still be around for a bit longer {month or two, give or take}and nothing I do can change mother nature. 

 

And that vision from my walk in the woods was just coming back to me, but how can I create that with water colours or ink, it just would not have the same feel to me like it would in oils or acrylics.

But then, a little miracle fell in to our letter box, a cd I had ordered a while back.

It was a cd that I wanted after I heard two songs, searched around a bit to find it {no one here in our town was selling it}, finally found it and Ta Da!!  It came. 

Have you ever had music or anything else that just gave you that perfect and wonderful moment of feeling of air and fire and inspiration? 
I love working to music, and this music in this cd sure brought it all back to me. 
And I finally felt okay to sit down and start to draw, and one thing grew after the other and this is my vison on paper.  Mind you, this is totally only a sketch to me and I will paint this as soon as there is any hints at all of spring and warmer non frosty weather.  Oh boy, I cant wait!

 

The pictures I took of it turned more yellow than how it really is, its much softer and you cant see it here but there is a sun, but I found it hard to create the sun and how it was trying to shine through the clouds and how its glow made all the little snow flakes look like sparkles floating in the air.

 

Pictures above are after I added the blue tones to the snow, below is before I worked on the snow.

 

So, I think I will try working on it a bit more.  But most of all, I'm so glad about that moment in the quiet forest, a path that I have walked so many times before made me stop this time and just stand there and capture that most amazing mental picture and feeling.  I'm happy about new music that made me feel it and see it all over again, and for bringing me inspiration...  And its okay to work this way : ) 

Here is to great moments and inspiration!

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My art for the show...

The word finally came in and this is what made it to the juried show that I tried for this year.
"Passing By", its a ink and water colour painting 12 x 8. And I was not going to put this one in for it and only changed my mind in the last minute.

"Passing By"
water colour & ink

And here is the two paintings that didn't make it, but no worries, I have two other shows coming up and they will do fine there. Tell you the truth, I'm just happy I have been able to finish some paintings during this time, that has been the best winner for me in this case. 

"Oak Town"
Printing & water colour

And this one, I had to put in two pieces here as its a bit odd size to take picture of and when I worked it in to photoshop it became too big and I gave up after a while trying to shrink it...   Arrrrr, arnt machines fun when you need them...
 

I had a lot of fun working on this one, I was using the stamps I carved out and doing things in layers.  I used two different kinds of ink, one of them are acrylic ink { I have a bit of a love and hate relationship with that stuff}, water colours and sandpaper...  Yep, sandpaper, it gave the surface a really neat texture to work on (although you have to be careful or you can make the paper far to sucker happy when it comes to water colours, not good).

So now on to next project, or should I say projects...  I got my plate full, but that's what keeps me happy and I rather be busy than not.  And wonderful it feels when the sun stays up longer each day and even with this cold snap that we have right now {-34c in the wind}  I have been able to get out and get some good vitamin D in me...  Yesterday, I sat out back on a lawn chair, few blankets and a very fluffy warm jacket and hat {lets not forget sexy long pants, wool socks, double mittens and my artic boots}. 

Sipping tea and watching the birds visiting the bird feeders,  I might try that again tomorrow, will see.

Here's to happy sunny winter days!  Stay warm

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Cold January mix...

Very, very cold here!!  But I love this and everything about winter {anything but slush and ice rain}, and today was a fantastic morning for a long walk in the woods -20c with windchill it was -28c.

Didn't have my camera with me again and boy do I wish I have {picture above is from last Sat}, I don't know how to tell you how it was and I wish I was good with words a poet or something.  But it was cold so everything had this frost look to it, the sky was in a soft pale yellow hue with the sun trying to peak through, all the trees in soft browns and greys and the land was covered in fresh snow.  And on top of it all, it was snowing with these tiny snow specs that looked more like pixy dust as they glimmered from the sunlight that got through the clouds.

To me, heavenly!!!

And here at home and while trying not to fall in to the cabin fever mood, my daughter and I have been having fun putting splashes of colour here and there.  She made this little flag garland that I tied on to two chop sticks and I put them in the pot that holds one of our hyacinths that are finally in bloom. 

I have been busy with different upcoming art shows, but today after my walk I sat down first looking through a magazine for ideas for my work space, studio...  Igloo {yes, its still very much frozen and shut}.  So many great ideas for storage, wall colours and lots of other goodies and there is one thing that I cant wait for when it comes to my space and that's for spring to arrive. 

But for now its our dining room table and that's fine.  And while fixing my lunch I noticed the little rosehips we bought for Christmas are still hanging on, well almost, and I loved how the berries casted shadows all over the white pitcher.  So I put my work stuff aside and I drew and painted for just the heck of it.  Felt great!

But now, back to work and get things organized and sorted {didn't know how messy things got around here...}  This painting below is one of the things I'm handing in to one of the upcoming art shows/displays.  I think I posted this one before, not sure, but here it is.  Its a mixed media piece I did for a different art show many years ago.

"Concrete Jungle" 30 x 30, mixed media

Felt good to just do something that I didn't plan for, relax and enjoy the beautiful sun that's pouring in through the windows. Now, I'm going to clean up and then maybe get some work done again.

Happy Tuesday everyone, stay warm!!!

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