Odds and Ends

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 (loony)

These mini quilling pieces were done with 1/16" paper strips and were VERY difficult to do! I started making them because my blogging friend Nelvia McGrath - Nelvia's Blog  - suggested swapping ATCs. I have a few ATCs made but thought the one I chose for the swap needed a bit extra to make it more interesting - thus the quilling. Then a friend asked me to make her one so I did a few more but I was more than happy to get back to normal sizes for the Quilling Party.

my quilled card

I always forget how long it takes beginners to get their fingers working when learning how to quill with 1/8" paper strips; maybe next time I will start them with the 1/4" paper. At any rate, we all managed to complete a card during the party and the ladies were so interested that they plan to come for regular lessons to learn more. Unfortunately, I was so busy I forgot to take photos of their cards - sigh, when will I learn to have the camera in the room with me!

I have a number of projects in mind for the next while and, hopefully, I will have the time and the energy to do them. Then I will share.

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All Ready for Planting!

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 will take a while to get the job done and by the time I am finished the snow will be gone  - I hope!.

With all the garden work, I haven't done much art in the last few weeks but I did manage to do a bit of quilling. I am continuing to work with the alphabet and have completed the B, C, D, and R. The R was done for my sister who wanted the B and R for a wedding gift.

For the D, I was thinking about something boys might like, hence the dark background and the skull. I have to come up with more parent friendly images, like soccer balls and trucks - lol.

A few weeks ago, a local artist friend had a give-away on her blog. Win Dinn is a fabulous mixed media artist with a passion for colour. She is well know in our area for her unusual style and fun filled workshops. At any rate, back to the give-away - I won! I almost never win anything and I was thrilled to get one of Win's recent pieces.

The New Hood by Win Dinn, 2018

Win's 'wonky houses' will join two other paintings by her that I am lucky enough to own.

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Busy, busy busy!

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 sponsored in part by the Creston Arts Council. Although I did the workshop in acrylics I decided to do the demo in watercolours. I ended up having the grade 8 art class come and watch me for about 45 minutes. The demo was on Colour Contrast and I choose to do Value and Colour (hue). Here are the paintings I did.

BTW I painted these upside-down and holding my painting boards up so the students could sit while they watched me. The drawing were done ahead of time. It was an interesting experience!

I have also been busy in the garden, my little greenhouse, taking in some art for the museum gift shop, helping my husband with some tree removal etc. etc. etc. And I still have things on my to do list - like I said - busy, busy, busy.