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

 

 

 

 

 

On the water

The summer is a great time to be on the water!

In the summer we visited friends on the southern gulf islands, here are a few pictures taken from the ferry. The sun was setting, the sky was clear, what could be better?

 

Off the ferry and on island time for a few delightful days...

 

Canada Geese dining on eel grass and... 

 

 

a raven surveying its territory.

 

 

sail boats...

 

canoes...

 

 

ferry boats and kayaks

 

 

all offer their own perspective on the water.

 

 

But surely this is the best view ... through a child's eyes.

 

 

 I have been absent from blog land for a while, the summer has been beautiful, offering many other distractions, but it is time to check in again.

I have been having trouble with my eyes, nothing that can't be fixed, but it has been affecting my ability to see close up. Computer screens and telephone screens are the worst, so I have been avoiding them.

You may recall that about 2 years ago I had cataract surgery on both eyes, well my eyes have recently developed a film. My left eye (my reading eye) is much worse than my right so I have scaled back on my reading and computer work because of problems with eye strain and headaches. I have an appointment with my eye surgeon in a few weeks, but until then I may be limiting my computer time and in favour of painting.

Speaking of painting here are two on the "water theme". Both are inspired by pictures that I took in Venice last summer and both are watercolours.

The first is "Reflections of Venice", 14" X 20":

 

The second is "Little Red Boat", 14" X 20":

This is not the best picture, I took it inside with artificial light, I will take a better one and repost it at a later time.



Thank you so much for dropping by and thank you for all the wonderful comments you have been sending my way.

 

Until next time, Gillian