I certainly haven't done much art since my last blog almost a month ago as I have been too busy with my garden and my flowers.  As well as taking care of the flowers in all the pots and in the garden, this year we decided to enlarge the shade bed in the front yard. We get mostly moss and weeds in this area because of the lack of sunlight and the fact that it is very close to the forest. I think it will look super once it is all finished. We also added more gravel to this side at the back of the house and for the same reasons. I still need to get some perennials in both of these ..read more

I have actually done a few paintings in the last few days. Saturday my friend Carolyn and I set up to paint as part of the 'entertainment' for the Garden tour.  Neither of us painted the garden - lol. There were really too many people walking around and we would have been in the way. I just did a quick painting of the valley view that I have done many times before. I was also jumping up all the time to show and explain some of the items I had on display for sale, so my painting was done in spurts. #1106 - A Misty Day in the Valley - 5 x 7 watercolour While I was painting in one g ..read more

I missed a day in the consecutive quote challenge but I am not sure that any one is getting notices of my posts so it probably isn't a big issue. Before I get to the quote here are a few photos of recent visitors to my yard. This photo was taken from inside the house with the zoom out to almost maximum as the deer was at the back of the yard at the edge of the forest. This one was taken with less zoom so you can get some idea of the distance. The deer stayed for about an hour around lunchtime. When she left Bob notices that her udder was full so we weren't too surprised after dinner to see ..read more

No art today, just some photos of some of the flowers in my garden. Most of the annuals haven't come into their own yet but the perennials are doing just fine. I often wish that many perennials would bloom all season instead of just in the Spring. It would be lovely to have the colour and the scent of Peonies all summer long. I bought a few Fuchsia at the garden centre this year. I liked the pictures on the info cards in the pots but was still surprised when the plants started to bloom. It is hard to tell from photos but the blossoms in the first two pictures are huge - what a surpris ..read more

I have a couple of chores this week that will require me to think and make decisions First, a friend and I have been asked to paint in a garden during Saturday's Garden Tour and they have suggested that we have some items on display for sale. What to paint? What to take for display and sale? How bad will the mosquitoes be? Why did I say I would do this? - lol! Delphinium Delight - 8 x 10 mixed media Foxglove Fantasy - 8 x 210 mixed media I decided to make a few of my quilled/watercolour pieces featuring flowers and garden friends. These are small enough that I can keep the ..read more

I have been continuing to do some drawing while I am at Art Club; not every week but often and I thought I would share. Sea Serpent - pen with watercolour This is one I really enjoyed doing and so I decided to paint it. Painting was a bit of a challenge as the drawing is just on sketching paper. I am still using the Medieval Fantasy book but I think I will be trying some new subjects next time. Here are a few more from that era - lol. quick sketches I took a fair number of photos when my friend and I went to the Artrageous display in Kimberley. It is a juried show with cash ..read more

Life just seems to be full of chores, events, activities, opportunities and surprises. The chores, of course, are house and yard work which never seem to end when you have a home in the country. Here are some pictures taken from inside the house. front yard back yard I have all my flowers planted and am just waiting for some heat to make them pop. We are surrounded by forest here so we have lots of quiet and privacy with occasional visits from various wildlife. Deer - April 2018 Turkeys - June 2018 There are a few new ventures in my area that are designed ..read more

I haven't been doing much art lately as I have been too busy with yard work and getting my flowers planted. Today was the first time in over 2 weeks that I picked up a brush and, of course, I painted another scene of the Creston Valley. Cloudy Skies over the Valley - 7 x 10 watercolour I haven't been completely without art in the last few weeks; I have done a few bits of quilling in my spare time. And, I gave a small Quilling Party on the weekend. Mini hummer and flower with buds an ATC with the mini quilling more mini humming birds and a Canadian dollar coin ..read more

It is always a chore but I finally have my garden and my pots ready for planting. waiting for the annuals most of my pots all ready for plants in the greenhouse more in the greenhouse I think I will have enough plants! So everything is ready and I hope to start planting tomorrow even though there is still snow on the mountains. Our weather has been pretty good and the forecast is for more of the same so I am going ahead in spite of local lore saying we should wait. I have some arthritis in my hands and I can only work for less than an hour so it ..read more

It is that time of year again when there is too much to do and not enough time. Most of last week I was writing up some history notes on artists that used to belong to the Creston Art Club. The local Arts Council and the Focus on Youth committee are putting on a display this week: Artists in our Community - Past, Present and Future. I offered to collect and take charge of paintings by a number of artists, hence the history notes. Here are some photos of the show. I had also volunteered to do a demo at the show based on the workshop I took last year that was ..read more