Blowing Kisses 101
The title pretty much says it all. Both my girls love to blow kisses.
They especially love it when you catch the kisses they’ve blown to you.
This is an original mixed media ACEO on 100% rag paper.
Summer Grin
This is a new ACEO I did today. Even in this heat I managed to get a little bit of work done.
I love this cheeky grin. This summer, I feel like I have watched baby Scarlett turn into little girl Scarlett.
The Pear Tree
We have the most amazing pear tree growing in our back yard. I get real pleasure looking at this tree that we planted, only three years ago, in a yard that had nothing (and I mean NOTHING) in it. Not only has this tree tripled in size but it has fruit for the first time! This in EDMONTON! Truly amazing. This painting pays homage to our pear tree. The fruit hasn’t really made it to this size but one can dream.
Winter Birch
I did this original mixed media ACEO on 100% rag today. I just love this vintage coat. It reminds me of a movie I saw set during world war ll. The boy in the movie was running through a forest of birch trees, there was snow on the ground and of course, the movie was black and white. Don’t ask me where all that came from. The picture looks nothing like it but it must have been the feeling it evoked in me. Anyway, I did a large version of this one a little while back and have wanted to paint it again ever since.
Every Girl Needs A Big Hat
This is Scarlett looking less like a baby and more like a girl with attitude!
This is an original mixed media ACEO on 100% rag paper.
The Water Lilies Keep Me Cool
The water lilies keep me cool
They bob around my floating head
My hair mimicking pond weeds
I feel the little fish bump up against my legs
A dragonfly lands on me
Perhaps he thinks that I am a log or even a flower
I am so still
Maybe he is kissing me
So very gently
As I lay here
Drifting
Victoria Rain
This is an original 2.5″x3.5″ mixed media piece on 100% rag paper.
I guess Victoria was on my mind today. I miss it, what can I say …
rain and all.
The Orange Peeler 2
This is an original mixed media piece on 100% rag paper.
I had this little painting taped down for ages. I needed the the drawing board so I decided to finish it and I am glad I did. Poor little neglected painting.
This painting is of Scarlett peeling oranges. I have done several versions of this subject and am working on a large canvas of 5 Scarletts peeling oranges in a row. I call it The Orange Peelers or The Orange Peeler Factory. It all started when I discovered that by giving Scarlett a bowl of tiny oranges to peel I could buy myself at least 20 – 30 minutes of free time. This was an event to remember and to even document! HA!
Wishful
This is a 2.5″x3.5″ original mixed media painting on 100% rag paper.
We had to make a hard choice today. We’ve decided to not go to Victoria for Christmas. I know it is the smart choice but it makes me a little sad. This painting is of Imogen who is already thinking about what she wants for Christmas and even warned Scarlett (the two year old) about Santa’s ever watchful gaze during a melt down she had today about getting dressed!
What is Imogen she wishing for? A basket for the front of her bike. Decorative and practical.
It is only mid summer so I am sure there will be plenty more wishes by December. Geesh.
The Bearded Lady
Continuing the Circus theme. This is an ACEO of a bearded lady. I actually don’t know if this woman (?) was in the Circus. I found this photo online and thought I’d do a little painting of it. I just don’t know … she really does not look like a woman. But then again, what would I look like with a big bushy beard?
Another Still Moment
I did this ACEO today of Scarlett. It is another study of a moment when my two year old was unusually still and contemplative. A moment to celebrate.
In The Wings
Yesterday was Imogen’s novice ballet recital. She did a great job. Some of the older girls were so beautiful dancing their solos. I got all weepy about it all and then right in the middle of the show, everything was stopped and a teacher came out carrying a sobbing little girl. Her parents were called and when she saw her Daddy approach the stage her little body shook and she sobbed even harder with relief. That was just too much for me. Tears were streaming down my face. It would have been very embarrassing if it hadn’t been so dark in the theatre.
This multi media piece is called “Waiting”. I did it a little while ago. This is what I wrote about it at the time:
How much time does a dancer wait in the wings? Certainly more time than actually dancing. I am sure it is true of a lot of things but I am so intrigued by the world of dancing right now that I couldn’t help but paint this.
Nanny Makes It All Better
I did this mixed media ACEO today. It is of my daughter Imogen having dirt brushed away from her face. I just love this image. It really illustrates the love between a child and a caring adult. We don’t get to see Nanny as often as we would like but when we do, she really can make it all better. ( That goes for me too!)
A Still Moment
This is a painting that I just completed of Scarlett sitting at the dining room table. She is so still and at peace, not at all like her normal two year old self. There was just a beautiful stillness at that moment that I wanted to try to capture.
Wishing
There is nothing wrong with a little wish now and then. There is the star wish, the fountain wish, the birthday wish and of course, we can’t forget the wishbone wish. I’ve wished for plenty of things in my life. The only problem with wishing is that we are always to the future, which kind of implies that we aren’t enjoying the right now. I think that my next wish will be that I don’t wish anymore because I am just enjoying right now too much to even care.
Singing The Blue Pencil Blues
OK, I admit it. My attachment to my blue pencil is a bit on the fanatical side. It could be even considered a crutch that I should just let go of. Perhaps, but I want to let go of it at my own pace, not be forced into it. OK, OK, I have had this pencil for several years… OK, more than several, probably about twenty. Did I hear a gasp? Yes, I have had this pencil for over twenty years, but let me explain.
When I was about twenty I found this amazing set of coloured indelible pencils, in the box at a second hand store. They were so beautiful! They were old when I bought them. I’d say from the 50’s. I used them a little then. Once in awhile. I was in college and University during this time and was more into ink, conte and charcoal for my drawing class and acrylics for painting, so they just sat in my old tin box of art stuff. Over the years I did occasionally use the light blue for preliminary sketches but the rest just sat untouched for the last twenty years.
Flash forward twenty years and I’ve been doing this mixed media stuff like crazy and using this blue pencil in every single piece. A couple of weeks ago I was sharpening it and I forced myself to face the fact that I was going to need to find a replacement pencil, knowing full well that it was going to be pretty much impossible.
Did I tell you about the colour blue that this pencil is? The most beautiful peacock blue you have ever seen. When I was sixteen I had a friend that dyed her hair this colour. Amazing while it lasted. (Not unlike my pencil). When I wet it, it becomes the perfect shadow on skin. I looks so beautiful as a line drawing. It doesn’t even need anything else. It is perfect in the nude. And Because it is indelible it comes through when you paint over it. It is Perfect. It is perfection. Why, oh why do they not make it anymore?
I did look on the web and I found these vintage pencils for sale at $2.50 each (not including shipping). ACT NOW! LIMITED STOCK! So, of course I bought 12! I know. Freak. I couldn’t draw every day for the rest of my life and use up all 12 of these pencils. What was I thinking? They came the other day and they are not the same blue. Not even close. I am so sad. I guess I better suck it up and figure out some new technique to try to get the effect that I like but I don’t think I will be able to walk into another second hand store or pass a garage sale sign without my heart fluttering with the hope of finding replacement for my beloved blue pencil.
Circus Images Dance In My Head
Circus images are swirling around my head. This story is slowly writing it self and I am being very cautious and very attentive, trying to listen carefully to the direction it wants to go. It is an exciting process. What is going to happen next?
