So Much Happening!

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 to promote tourism and art sales so I am hoping that this summer will be better for my home gallery. I hope you will have a look at this web site and let me know what you think. And, if you share the link with your friends that would be even better.
Creston Valley Kootenay Lake route

The local Arts Council has worked with the Chamber of Commerce and we once again have a public gallery space in the Chamber building. There is also a small Gift Shop although it is only open a few days a week and is manned by volunteers (like me).

Every week they get more art brought in and from what I have heard they are running out of space; we have so many artists here it doesn't take long to fill up a small space!

I have a Watercolour Painting Party planned for this coming Saturday and the following week I will be painting in a garden during the local Garden Tour. For the garden tour I have made up a few of my Cool Ties some with new designs using stamps from Art Foamies

art foamies

for the man in your life

for everyone!

I will also display some cards, my quilling and some small paintings - I might get lucky and actually sell something!

This summer I will have a few pieces of art in two different shows at Centre 64 in Kimberley BC. This entails a four hour round trip drive to deliver the art, another trip to see the display and then a third trip to retrieve the art - this for each show. I will be going up tomorrow with a friend to see the current display which is called Artrageous and I hope to take lots of photos to share.

And, finally, the surprise! We bought a new car! Bob saw a review for this vehicle and wanted to check it out and we ended up the proud new owners of a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle). Talk about a surprise!

It looks like the summer will continue to be interesting and busy - I am just hoping for time for art!

Thanks for stopping by!

Almost Over

It is so hard to believe that summer is almost over: the time seemed to speed by while at the same time it seemed to be crawling. The heat, the smoke, the lack of visitors to my home gallery and to the Summer Art Market have all contributed to the strangeness I have felt all summer.

I have been spending what leisure time I have had doing some quilled paper and watercolour pieces. I find both aspects soothing and relaxing.

#1050 - Filigree Flier

#1051 - Filigree Rufous

#1052 - Filigree Fantasy

#1054 - Filigree Fantasy #2

I have been sticking with hummingbirds as my subjects because they suit the lacy looking I am going for and they sell very well - everyone loves hummers! I have, however, been taking some liberties with my colours - at least I have never seen a purple and orange hummer - lol.

I have been thinking about my plans for the Fall and trying to get things organized for a few Watercolour Painting Parties. I am also hoping that some of my students will be coming back to continue their lessons but I expect I will have to wait for the weather to get cold before that happens. I was pleasantly surprised last week by an email from Cheryl asking if I could fit in a lesson on the weekend. I did of course and we both managed to finish a pretty decent painting. Here is mine!

#1053 Deep Fuchsia - 5 x 7 watercolour

On a non-art note, a few weeks ago I got a new camera as my old favourite finally gave up the ghost. The new one is a Canon PowerShot SX420 15 and it is working great! Although I mostly use the camera to take photos of my art, it works super taking pictures through the windows of the critters that visit our yard.

baby turkeys

deer and fawn in my back yard

fawn

These are some of the joys of living in the country in the middle of a forest - life is good!

Thanks for stopping by and please leave a comment.

Half Way Through

It is hard to believe that we are half way through the summer - where has July gone?

I look back and don't feel that I have accomplished much this month. I feel that I have been very busy although I am not sure with what! I have spent a fair bit of time taking care of my flowers because it has been so hot. I have also been busy with the Saturday Afternoon Summer Art Market; planning what to take, organizing other artists and artisans and trying to promote the venture.

I have painted a few more turkey feathers and figured out a couple of ways they can be displayed. And, here is a picture of one of the visitors who leaves feathers behind for me to paint.

The framed feather and the one in the stand are examples of how people can display the feathers - I think both look good.

I also managed to get a quilled piece done and was lucky enough to get a request for it the first day I posted it on Facebook. It will soon be making its way to Australia to a cousin-in-law.

#1045 - Pastel Hummingbird

The warm weather has really increased the fire hazard in our province and there are a number of fires burning although nothing too close to us. However, the smoke from fires hundreds of miles away still makes it way to our area. That, plus the threat of fire has, I believe, kept tourism down. I am keeping my fingers crossed that August will be a better month with more visitors and more sales - and cooler weather.

I would love to see your comments and how is your summer going?