Catching Up

It is smoky here. Wild fires have blanketed the Metro Vancouver area (and many other areas of the province) in dense acrid smoke. The sky was yellowish on Sunday but the smoke is gradually dissipating here. It has been so dry this spring and summer and the risk of fire in the parks and forests is high and in many areas of the province it is extreme. Some fires are started by lightning but others are caused by people!

Here are some pictures I took before the "big smoke" when I visited Vancouver Island a couple of weeks ago. I was attending a painting course, and I have some pictures of that too.

Arbutus tree on Vancouver Island

Cormorant drying off after fishing

Flowers along the shoreline

 

Gull close-up

"True friendship multiplies the good in life and divides its evils. Strive to have friends, for life without friends is like life on a desert island...to find one real friend in a lifetime is good fortune; to keep him is a blessing."

Baltasar Gracian

 

 

I loved the way this flower is growing up through the pilings:

 

 

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of a continent."

John Donne

  

 

There was a waterfront park near where I was staying and got pictures of the resident heron in the evening (looks like a watercolour painting to me) and in the bright early morning light.

 

 I went for a walk around Elk Lake to relax after the first days painting; there was a tree growing out of a small "island" in the lake. I stopped to photograph a raven who seemed as curious about me as I was about him. 

 

 

 The painting course was called "Reflections in Still Water". The painting is not finished yet but here are some pictures of my painting as it progressed.

First we painted in yellow and red washes in to the reflection and water area.

 

After the washes were completely dry we added a blue wash to the water, I added a second blue wash to darken the bottom of the painting.

 

Then we started painting the boats above and below the reflective line. That is how far I got by the end of the two day course.

 

When I got home I spent another 2 days working on the reflections and boat details, it is not finished yet, I estimate I have another days work to finish it. I hope to be able to show the finished painting by next week.

A belated Happy Canada Day, I took the day off, so no blog last week. Here are a couple of pictures I took on Canada Day:

 



 A very happy dog!

Flying the flag with pride.

 

 

To return to the "smoke" theme, below is a picture of the sun yesterday afternoon trying hard to penetrate the smoke. 

 

 

 

Not to diminish the seriousness of the situation but it did remind of a favorite song from a long time ago. Here is a link to Deep Purple and "Smoke on the Water".

 





I have finished this painting of basil named "Emerald Beauty":



 

It is ink and watercolour, or mixed media.

 

 It is the latest of my Food cards, which include a recipe card using the pictured ingredient. What are the recipes for these cards, take a look:

 

View at:http://www.pswhimsy.com/food-cards-series-22.html

 

or all the food cards at: http://www.pswhimsy.com/food.html

 

Next week I will show the last food painting in the series of twelve.

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 Until next time...

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

happy Whimsy Wednesday

 

 

 

 

 

A little bit of this and that

Wednesday? Well a day early, because I made a scheduling error, oops.

Today I have a an assortment of pictures, some from the park and some from gardens in my neighborhood.

First here is a Great Blue Heron fishing. I watched it for a while and I think it caught a couple of small fish, I was not quick enough to "capture" that with my camera. They are amazing to watch, still for so long and then a blur of movement, so quick if you look away for a moment you will miss it.

 

"Blue skies smile at me, nothing but blue skies do I see."

Irving Berlin

 

It is so green and lush in the woods, I think some of the pathways may vanish under the vegetation. 

 

 

 

But there are also lots of berries, these early salmonberries, and lots of flowers on the blackberries promise a good crop of berries mid summer.

 

The Strawberries are ready early this year too, a favorite around our house.

 

This little fella was "just hopping down the bunny trail" and stopped briefly to see if I had a treat for him.

 

 

Another bunny, and there are lots of baby rabbits too.

 

 

 

 

These Redwing Blackbirds seemed to appreciate the handouts.

 

 

Reminds me of this tune: "Feed the Birds"

 

 

The park is full of wild roses and daisies.

 

Anyone remember making daisy chains as a kid?

 

This beautiful Dogwood, Dogwood is the Floral Emblem of British Columbia.

 

 

I haven't seen many white Foxglove flowers, I share this one with you.

 

 

Honeysuckle, also early to bloom this year.

 

 

 

This is a picture of one of my Honeysuckle plants, a favorite of the hummingbirds.

 

 

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I have an Art Show at Image West, and have been busy framing, labelling and hanging pictures.

 

Follow this link to see the images and location

 

 

I have started a few things this week but only finished one, and it is another food painting titled "Squashed":

 

 

Here is how it looks framed:

 

 

 

 It is the latest of my Food cards, which include a recipe card using the pictured ingredient. What is the recipe for this card, take a look:

 

View at:http://www.pswhimsy.com/food-cards-series-22.html

 

or all the food cards at: http://www.pswhimsy.com/food.html

 

Here are some other cards I have recently added to the site:

 

To see all recent additions and names and details follow this link:

 

 

http://www.pswhimsy.com/new-additions.html

 

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Until next time...

Thank you for all your kind comments on my last post.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

 

happy Whimsy Wednesday

 

 

 



Aflower!

The fields in the park are full of flowers this time of year. Daisies, buttercups, wild roses, lupins and many more. Perfume fills the air, I am thankful that I don't have pollen allergies because the air is laden at this time of year.

 

laburnum

 

horse chestnut

 

daisies

 

wild rose (deep pink, pink and white)

 

 

 

 

irises growing at the edge of the pond

 

 

 

roses, lupins and buttercups in the meadow behind the pond 

 

lupins

 

 

 

buttercups

No birds this week so far, I thought you would enjoy this video, "Starlings of Otmoor":

 



 



Something completely different this week in the painting department. It is a watercolour (14" X 20") of an old truck that I saw on Gabriola Island, I call it "Out to Pasture":

I am not completely sure it is finished, I might add some sheep in the pasture in the distance, or then again maybe not.

 

Thanks for stopping by, happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time,

 

Gillian