It's beginning to look...

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas with decorations showing up in

the woods and in parks, seemingly random acts of decoration, but someone has taken time

and care with them.

Thank you, I am sure they bring smiles to a lot of faces.

This one takes advantage of a rather odd shaped tree and was about a 1/2 mile down a trail and

took planning because whoever did this needed a ladder.

..and a battery pack.

This tree is decorated every year in December and then the decorations disappear again in

January.

Here's a look at the whole tree.

Of course nature provides beautiful decorations too,

...and occasionally even building materials for winter fun.

These children are taking full advantage of a snowfall (taken last winter).

This is one of "our" Anna's hummingbirds that visits feeders each day throughout the year

 

and provided inspiration for my Christmas card this year:

"Santa Anna" (a watercolour)

May the Christmas season fill your home with joy,

your heart with love,

and your life with laughter.

Merry Christmas!

Well that is all I have for this week, hope you are all keeping well, take care of yourselves,

Happy Whimsy Wednesday,

Gillian 



A bit windy lately?

We have some had some strong winds lately blowing over trees and downing power lines. We lost power but luckily only for about 12 hours.

Here are some pictures I took on a windy day earlier this month. We were on a Ferry travelling between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo when I got these pictures of sailboats enjoying some very good winds.

The temperature was hovering around the freezing mark so I hope they were dressed warmly. Brrr....

 

These boats were sailing in Howe Sound to too far from our starting point of Horseshoe Bay.



 

It must have been a pretty exciting sail, the boats moving and a really good clip and tipped over a bit further than I would be comfortable with were I in their positions.

 

Luckily I was on the upper deck of a large, very stable ferry.

 

I this one I managed to catch one the small ferries just emerging from a sheltered cove.

 

A thrilling day!

 

Is this sailboat in trouble?

 

I don't think so, even though it looks as if there is a boat approaching to check. 

 

 

Just a change of tack (coming about) I think because below all appears to be well.

 

 

I took this picture partly because I thought the beacon on the shore looked like a person standing at attention watching the action.

 

 

That's all the boat pictures I took, my hands were getting too cold so I went inside and had a nice hot cup of tea.

 

Once we arrived at our destination, Fanny Bay, the ocean was smooth as glass. That is Chrome Island  in the distance, looking like a sailing ship travelling the coastal waters.

 

I have been working on Christmas presents and commissions recently so I thought I'd share a negative painting exercise that I did recently.

 

What is negative painting? Painting with a bad attitude? No, actually negative painting (or negative space) means that rather than painting the object itself, the painter creates its shape by painting around it. 

 

After splashing different colour washes and some salt on my paper I waited for it to dry and then "imagined" some holly emerging:

 

 

 

... so I thought maybe a bit boring, so this is the same painting with a "palette knife effect":

 

 

... and a stained glass effect, thought this was particularly appropriate at this time of year

 

.. and finally I added a zoom burst effect.

 

 Which do you like best?

 

Well that is all I have for this week, hope you are all keeping well, take care of yourselves, it is a busy time of year, it is important to save yourself some "me" time.

 

Happy Whimsy Wednesday,

 

Gillian

 

 



Seasonal colour

The days are getting shorter, and it has been dark and rainy lately, so when it stopped raining recently I went out looking for colour. Here is what I found:

Not sure what this bush is but the leaves are spectacular this time of year.

Crab apples I think ...

Again, not sure what this is, but I loved the blue sky in the background, a rarity this time of year.

 Hydrangea turned deep red-purple:

Again I am not sure what this is but it adds a splash of colour.

Holly

A beautiful splash of colour in our neighbours garden:

Red Maple, the last leaves are still clinging to the tree and here are catching the late afternoon light.

A friend showed me a large patch of mushrooms growing in her neighbourhood. I took these pictures on my phone.

This mushroom is found in fairly large groupings. There were about a hundred in the area where I photographed these.

 Amanita muscaria, is a stunningly coloured mushroom; it is generally considered poisonous, but is eaten in parts of Europe, Asia and North America after parboiling and deaths from eating it are rare.

Amanita muscaria is noted for its hallucinogenic properties, with its main psychoactive constituent being the compound muscimol. 

They also appear to be very strong: able to supporting a car in this picture.

Magic mushrooms indeed, I think I saw a fairy or two peeking out from between the mushrooms, but they are camera shy, so you will just have to use your imagination.

 

The last patches of colour are birds. This hummingbird (Anna's) was swooping at me and scolding me for being too close to the feeder in my back yard. He should have figured out by now that it is me that fills that feeder.

There are a lot of birds at the feeders now including Towhees, with their bright sides and eyes, but they have been too quick for me to get a good picture, so I have included this picture I took in the summer instead.

I have a picture in the current exhibit at the Federation of Canadian Artists' Gallery on Granville Island until November 25, 2012. Here is the link to the exhibit.

The bright colours, especially the reds and greens to me are a reminder that Christmas is not too far away. I have been working on my card stocks for the two Christmas Markets that I will be at, the first is this weekend (November 18) and then two weeks after that (December 2). Both are at Delbrook Community Centre, here are the days and times (I am in the gym both times, table on the right as you enter):

2012 DELBROOK CHRISTMAS CRAFT FAIR AND MARKET
Saturday November 17th 10am-4pm
Sunday November 18th 10am-4pm
Saturday December 1st 10am-4pm
Sunday December 2nd 10am-4pm

Anyone who is thinking ahead to Christmas will find some new cards and some old favorites on my website right now too.

Here are the new ones:

"Christmas Cactus"

"Holly Time"

And here is another new card and an old favorite:

"Nutcracker Sweets"

"Three Wise Crackers"

There is a special offer too, get one free card when you buy four cards, follow these links:

New items and specials and my full selection of Christmas cards in Greeting and Celebration Cards.

Well that's it for this week, hope you have enjoyed my look at colour.

Thank you for dropping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next time ............