It has been a very strange and unsettling summer so far.
I never get a lot of visitors to my home gallery as we are 1km off the highway but this year has been the worst since I opened. However, for the first time I had some locals stop in for a mini lesson and the Watercolour Painting Party I blogged about last week.
The Saturday Afternoon Summer Art Market that I have organized has also been a bit strange. Every Saturday we set up and wait, and wait, and wait for visitors. We have done a lot of promoting on social media, put out rack cards and posters as well as some big signs at the venue but our efforts have been mostly unsuccessful. Visitor numbers and sales have been disappointing but we keep hoping things will improve.
The unsettling part has been due to the fire situation in BC and the high temperatures.
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looking south across the flats |
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looking west across the flats |
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There have only been a few small fires in the valley and they were quickly handled by the local fire departments and wildfire crews. The closest major fire is about an hour away across the lake at the top of a mountain. It is not endangering people or homes but it is very hard to fight because of the terrain. The biggest fires are many hours away from us but the smoke from all these fires makes its way to our area and makes life difficult. That is what you see in the above photos - there are mountains behind all that smoke haze - and that is what we have been living with for weeks.
We finally had some rain yesterday and a bit today, as well as cooler temperatures although we need a whole lot more of both.
I haven't been doing very much art (too busy organizing things I guess) but I have managed to get a few things done.
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#1048 - Rough Seas - unframed 8 x 10 acrylic on canvas board |
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#1044 - Still Life with Blue Vase - unframed 7 x 10 watercolour |
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#1049 - Dragonfly with Camellia - 5 x7 matted to 8 x 10 quilling and watecolour |
One last thing - we have a new resident in our yard. Some people regard little guys like this as pests but I am have a good time watching him scurry around the flower beds and pots.
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enjoying the seeds from the Amaranth Velvet Curtain | |
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Thanks for stopping by - I hope you will let me know how your summer is going.