Black and White

I don't often see black flowers but these deep purple iris buds appear almost black. I saw them while out walking one evening and was so taken with them that I returned with my camera the next day.

In our neighbourhood there are gardens in the middle of traffic circles and in traffic calming bulges; I don't know who takes care of them, but I for one enjoy the beautiful displays and send my thanks.

The dark buds burst into deep purple blooms:

 

 

 

 

 

White flowers aren't rare but I will share a few favorites from my garden.

 

Peonies with little slashes of red:

 

This one looks like a face to me:

White roses:

 

 

White Foxglove:

 

 

From Roy Orbison`s "Black and White``:

 

 

 

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ART NEWS:

I have been working on something black and white, it is an ink and watercolour work and not finished but here is a teaser:

 

The black part is ink and I am painting a few of the shells.

 

 



I am happy to say I am almost finished my triptych, I just have the varnishing and framing to complete. It has been a big project and one which I intend to include in a solo show in September, more about that later. I had to use my wide angle lens to get a picture, so without further ado here it is:

 

I am calling it "Village People", watercolour on paper (24" X 60").

 

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Here is a little art video treat for you:

 

 

 

That's all for this week,

 

wishing you a happy Wednesday, with Whimsy,

 

Gillian.



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



 

 

April Showers

April weather can be quite a mixture, and this year we have just about everything from rain, hail, wind, snow (on the mountains) and then some glorious sunshine too. After a recent heavy rain the sun came out and I captured the raindrops.

I was reminded of a childhood rhyme:

Itsy Bitsy Spider

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout

Down came the rain and washed the spider out

Out came the sun and dried up all the rain

Nnow the itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again!

The amazing flower below is a Fritillaria:

"Fritillaria meleagris is a species of flowering plant in the family Liliaceae. Its common names include snake's head fritillary, snake's head (the original English name), chess flower, frog-cup, guinea-hen flower, leper lily (because its shape resembled the bell once carried by lepers), Lazarus bell, checkered lily or, in northern Europe, simply fritillary.
The name Fritillarea comes from the latin fritillus meaning dice-box, and (possibly) referring to the chequered pattern on the flowers, though this derivation has been disputed. The name meleagris means ‘spotted like a guinea fowl’." (Wikipedia)

April Showers (Al Jolson lyrics)

Though April showers 

May come your way, 

They bring the flowers 

That bloom in May; 

And if it's raining, 

Have no regrets; 

Because, it isn't raining rain, you know, 

It's raining violets. 

And when you see clouds 

Upon the hill, 

You soon will see crowds 

Of daffodils; 

So keep on looking for the bluebird, 

And listening for his song, 

Whenever April showers come along. 

So judging by the amount of rain we have had here lately, there should be a wonderful array of flowers coming our way in May.

Quite an assortment of birds in the garden this week too

I did not manage to get the goldfinches, crows smashing peanuts, or hummingbird with something caught on its beak with my camera, but I'll leave those to your imagination.

A new watercolour ("Japonica"), inspired by a picture I showed on the blog a couple of weeks ago.

For more information on this and other works follow this link: GillianOlsonArt.blogspot.ca

That's it for this week, happy whimsy Wednesday, thank you for stopping by, until next time ..................