Cherry blossoms

I have been on the Island several times in the spring and one of the things I always hope to see is the cherry trees in bloom. The trees nearer the middle of the Island where we are staying are not in bloom. and I was thinking that I would not see them. Our trip to Victoria was a wonderful surprise I had no idea it was that much difference in the climate on the Island it appears that the southern end of the island is 2 weeks ahead of the Parksville area.

Residential School Church

Driving down a windy backroad we came across this church and it took my breathe away. All around the church was a cemetery filled with wooden white crosses. Hundreds of white wooden crosses many not readable any more but most recently repainted. It was a powerful scene and I would have liked to have spent a lot more time there.

Take a sea cab to lunch

Our travels today took us to Nanaimo where we took a long walk around the harbour and saw a beautiful seaside park. The sun shone and I even got a touch of sunburn. Then we boarded the luxury ferry The Island Mist and ferried 10 min across the harbour to the Dinghy Dock Floating Pub,Where we enjoyed a nice lunch on the patio with exceptional views of the water and the mountains across the island. We saw an authentic pirate parrot perched on the shoulder of a guy who along with his enormously bearded friend looked more like a pirate than anyone I've ever seen.

No Time For Foreplay

Shelley and Sheldon were like two ships passing in the night. Little did they know that the night was going to last so long. What began as young turtle love is now Shelley snapping at Sheldon to "get off my back!" Ha I just heard Eric Clapton in the background. "slow hand"

The Encounter

Vancouver Island day one

The top image is one that I took of a young guy at the skate park at the beach in Parksville.

Way to go Dylan. Nice to meet you and your girlfriend Christy.

The bottom image was taken when we got to the ferry terminal in Vancouver . We have always driven onto the ferry so walking on gave a whole new perspective. I wonder what these ladders are for?

Snowbird

I am posting this a 1:20 am but I have not been to bed yet so technically this is my post for yesterday. Today I noticed that the snow birds that have been around all winter are now in big flocks. I think that means that they will be migrating soon. And this is good news for us according to Anne Murray's song. I have seen snow birds my whole life and because they are so flighty all I have ever really noticed is the flurry of white as they flutter across the sky. I was amazed to really notice that they are not white at all but many colours and I even noticed some with yellow . When I really take time to observe I always learn the most surprising things.

Watercolour

Pears are a subject I never tire of exploring. They were a sweet surprise to me when I tried a fresh one from the fruit truck as a young woman. Until that time I had only ever had canned or the rock hard ones with the long shelf life. Growing up in the isolation of northern Alberta had its benefits , but lacked in others. So anyway this painting is done with watercolour on paper. I did it as part of a teaching exercise, but one of my students and fellow artists loved it, and bought it. I was quite happy with the way I depicted the colour in the light that I saw bouncing back from the pears to the tablecloth.

First Day Of Spring

Each year I try to go out on the first day of spring and take some photos. This year I did not make it so I am posting a pic that I took another first day of spring. this is the creek that is at the end of our property. The tracks are those of deer, beaver, coyotes, and all sorts of other critters. I wish spring this year was this far along.

Pears

Nothing excites me more than trying a new medium. Pears have been a frequent theme in my artwork and the thought of trying a familiar theme with a new material seemed inspiring to me. After I did this little study I knew that I would be using oil pastels again. Hmmmm I think I may bring them out right now.

Mixed Emotions

I went to the store today and in the post office I saw this bike. At first I wondered why a child of this size would be out on her own and why she would leave her bike. And then it crossed my mind that it was probably some hoodlum that took her bike from her yard and threw it in the snow. Then I felt happy that some good person would pick it up make a sign for it and leave it in the post office for her. Well who would have thought going for the mail could be so emotional. What do you think happened ?

Cattle day

March is a fickle month one moment it can be snowing like mad and the next it is sunny and a seemingly perfect day to sort cows. The pic above shows a true working dog. Mick always has a watchful eye to see if there is anything he should be doing. Maybe there is a stray cow that needs chasing. All I know is that I am grateful for his help all the time as he makes the job so much easier. I'm glad the calves are off to town.

I'm waiting for flowers, until then I guess I'll have to enjoy the pics that I have taken of flowers. The pansy is one of my favorites. Its a very old fashioned flower that just never seems to go out of style . Im not sure if it's the cheery kitten faces or that they are so hardy . I have seen these sunny little flowers poking out of the snow.

White on white

The blowing snow outside has me inside again. I have always been excited by white on white paintings and photos. So I thought I would set up a still life of white dishes, and see what I could come up with.These are some of my results. As you can see I got differing results from one set up. I like then all for different reasons.

Bubbles In The Tub

This piece started out as an experiment in encaustic painting processes. The support for this painting is a piece of plywood 6x6 add to that layers of melted pigmented beeswax. In between layers manipulated with a brush, heat gun, or by scraping away or allowing the wax to run. This particular method has very unpredictable results allowing a great deal of creative freedom . Once I had decided what the blending of the wax suggested to me I further enhanced the piece with as much control of the media that I could. The result is one of my favorite works and hangs in my kitchen to remind me to be playful , joyful and kind to myself

Today I went outside with the notion of getting out while it's "nice". I was not prepared for the wind and as a consequence came back in after 20 minutes. But all around me I saw the signs of spring. Water was dripping and a few birds were making some housing starts. This frisky little guy sat in his lofty perch scolding us. Mick is a patient guy and would have waited all day if I had wanted to stand there . But he is loyal too and wanted to be wherever it was that I was going.

Painted

The weather has gotten snowy again and rather than feeling depressed about it, I decided to pull out some of my old favorites. This young lady was attending a face painting workshop at the Beaverlodge Cultural Centre. Isn't she a beautiful work of art. RRRRRRR

Heavenly Taste Of Spring

Today I made a much needed trip to town.The weather has been so bad and I have been needing a sign of spring for so long that I decided to visit the greenhouses. It was so nice with the sun shining in and plants all around you could just breathe in the life and I felt so happy.

Signs Of The Times

This sign is at the end our road and it usually is about 7 feet to the bottom of the sign from the ground . Even the roadsigns are starting to get overwelmed by winter.

This sign was alongside a winding driveway. "Martha I'm thinkin those twins aint so bright. Might best put up a sign."

Catnapping

These photos are ones that I took while Oink was having a catnap in our livingroom window. They are a few of the 100 photos that I took of her in an hour. Amazingly enough she changed positions about 40 times in the hour. I can totally relate to this group of photos, especially now that the weather has turned bitterly cold again. Give me a sunny window , Please!

From The Beginning

This is one of the few pics that exists of me as a baby. I love the smile on my face. I wonder who that smile was for ? Who was taking this picture? Was it Mommy,Daddy or some other relative?
Or could simply be the euphoria that only a cookie can create?