Back at last

First a preview of what I have been up to in the studio:

 

More on these to come but first news and a few photos.


Well I have recently had surgery on both my eyes and the difference is dramatic. I thought I was just having trouble with seeing close up, but now that I have had surgery everything has crisp edges again and I can see to read and paint. Hooray!

What was the problem???

Well when I had cataract surgery just over 2 years ago I didn't expect the cataracts to come back, and that is essentially what happened.

This is my distinctly non-medical explanation: some cataract tissue remained in the eye when the new lens was implanted and over time it grew to obscure the back of the artificial lens. The problem is corrected by a laser which "drills" about 100 little holes in the tissue clouding the lens and voila I see almost 20:20 again. Almost instantly.

It is an outpatient procedure and I was fine to take the bus home, I spent the entire trip reading the back of the bus ticket (tiny print) and all the signs along the way. What joy!

Here are a few pictures that I took recently of some fall sites or is that sights?

 

A perfect fall day at the beach and in the park.

 

 

Time for a look around...

 

 

Grooming time at the pond...

 

 

 

Time for a bath...

 

Who you looking at?

 

Mirror, mirror.... now that's better

 

This little fellow was so cute... 

 

and stopped to have a good look at me... 

 

 

maybe, just maybe ...

 

 

no I don't think so ..........

 

 

then realizing that I had no food to offer and was off

 

 

I have been fairly busy with a couple of projects recently:

 

First a new website just for my art at www.gillianolsonart.com 

Second an Esty site to sell digital downloads of some of my work at https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/pswhimsy?page=1#save

 

Check them out and let me know what you think.

 

 

So I gave you a preview of two paintings and without further ado here they are:

 

 

First a poured watercolour of a Venetian mask called "Carnival 2"; this one is sold, thanks J

 

 

Second a watercolour painting of a statue seen in Italy last summer, I call him "The Professor":

 

You can see more details on my new art website (link above).

 

Well it is nice to be back, that is all for today, thanks for dropping by and happy Whimsy Wednesday.

 

Gillian







 

Peanut Gallery

Peanuts have been very popular with the birds and critters at our place, so much so that I went out and got the large economy size bag.

First there is this handsome Stellar Jay. You may recall that he likes to check out all the peanuts in the tray before he chooses the "one" he wants.

 

Apparently he has made his choice and then show us his beautiful belly as he departs.

 

There are a number of squirrels, at least 3 different ones, that are also very fond of nuts; actually any kind of food will do for squirrels. There is one black one ...

 

and a couple of gray ones, one much larger than the other.

 



Then there is the crow, waiting patiently, not a squawker, he just hangs around and waits for peanuts or .......

 

He doesn't care where I put them, in the tray, on the lawn, or on this garden lantern; it's all OK with him.

 

He always eats the nuts, sometimes close by and sometimes flying away with them.

 

The Stellar Jay will eat the nuts first thing in the morning but most other times he hides them for later. I don't have a picture but last week I noticed him down on my lawn rearranging the fallen blossoms off my Camilla tree; later when I investigated there were nuts under one or two of the fallen blossoms.

 

 

The Jay also hides nuts in my planters, which explains the scenes below.

 

He digs and digs and digs getting quite filthy.

Occasionally he took a break and looked around, confused, where has it gone?

Then, has he found it?

Yes ...

and off he goes with his prize.

I had cleaned up that planter to put flowers in it, but maybe I'll just leave it, the squirrel show is quite funny!

On the topic of squirrels, I did get a painting finished this week, and yes it was of a squirrel. This is a watercolour that I have named "Do I Smell Peanuts?". It is inspired by a picture that my friend Judy took. Thanks Judy.



This one is sold already so no new post this week on my art blog.

Thank you for taking the time to stop by, I hope you have enjoyed my "peanut gallery".

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ..................

 

 

Seedy?

We celebrated the Thanksgiving Day weekend enjoying the beautiful sunny, warm Fall weather and hosting dinner for friends. A belated Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers.

Maple samaras

Seedy has a few meanings.

To paraphrase Merriam Webster (Merriam Webster.com):

Seedy is an adjective, pronounced sē-dē, meaning

1) containing or full of seeds <a seedy fruit>

2) inferior in condition or quality: as (shabby, run-down <seedy clothes>), somewhat disreputable (<a seedy district> <a seedy lawyer>)

3) slightly unwell (debilitated <felt seedy and went home early>)

The "Online Etymology Dictionary" (© 2010 Douglas Harper) has this to say about the origin of "seedy":

"1440, "fruitful, abundant," from seed (n.). Meaning "shabby" is attested from 1739, probably in allusion to the appearance of a flowering plant that has run to seed."

But being "seedy" is the end of a successful cycle in the plant world. I find it interesting that something so positive botanically can come to mean almost the opposite in the non-plant world.

So today I am celebrating in pictures, a seedy and wonderful end for these plants:

Virginia Creeper with berries

Fuchsia with "berries"

?

Tomatillo

Clematis 

Berries, seeds, nuts, hips and samaras are the start and the end of the plant life cycle. Every year in my garden I have a number of plant "volunteers", plants that appear and which I have not seeded. They are seeds from a previous season or seeds that grow from the compost layer that I add to the soil. Among this years "volunteers" or "surprises" was a tomatillo plant.

Rose hips

"The rose hip, also known as rose haw or rose hep, is the fruit of the rose plant, that typically is red-to-orange, but ranges from dark purple to black in some species. Rose hips begin to form after successful pollination of flowers in spring or early summer, and ripen in late summer through autumn.

Rose hips are used for herbal tea, jam, jelly, syrup, soup, beverages, pies, bread, wine, and marmalade.  They can also be eaten raw, like a berry, if care is used to avoid the hairs inside the fruit." (Wikipedia)

One single late bloom on my clematis and seed heads.

Wispy clematis seeds

Late season strawberries

Hover fly visiting strawberries

Echinacea seed head

Asparagus "berries"

Not "seedy" yet but I couldn't resist this Tansy

Sweet peas and pea pod

Mature pods containing sweet pea seeds

I don't know what the small berries or seeds below are, similar to but much smaller than a horse chestnut pod.

Thistle down or thistle seeds

Lupin seeds

Lady bug on Echinacea seed head

Underside of fern showing seeds or spores

Blackberries

Thistles kissed by dew

Almonds

Seed head on Vicar's Mead

Salal Berries

Acorn

I thought this grass looked a lot like "sparklers" partly burned down.

Laitrus seeds

One thing is certain though, these creatures think "seedy" is a really good thing - it's their Thanksgiving feast.

I hope you have enjoyed my quirky look at "seedy".

Here is a painting that I finished this week, it is titled "Putting on a Show". It is a watercolour of a Hollyhock that I saw in rural France and photographed.

I had a bit of difficulty getting my husband to stop so that I could take some pictures of this flower, but I'm glad he did stop, I am really pleased with the painting.

Lastly, I apologize for being largely absent from blogland this past week, but I have been busy updating my website. I changed the content, the order, some of the names and the prices and I added a "New items and Specials" page to the gallery:
http://pswhimsy.myshopify.com/collections/new-items-and-specials/

I am glad you stopped by, I love your comments and feedback.

Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ..............