Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Painter's Potluck



Yesterday afternoon, I had the privilege of hosting a last class potluck which, because of the rain, ended up just being a potluck. Lots of pleasant paint talk and paintings to admire and critique together. We come together and paint for so many hours but we are all so focused that we never have much time for socializing. This time we combined good food with good company. Thank you Catharine Gibbon for another wonderfully inspiring season.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Studio Sign



I painted the other side of the crib footboard. I'm hoping to put it out front to advertise the studio. These things are fun to paint since they're big and detail seems not to be important.


Enviroment by Mal Austen: God's enviroment places dew, light, sun, food and life cycles necessary for each plant to grow . He not only meets our needs but shapes our lives in extra dimensions.

Friday, November 25, 2011



"Aging: Plants have a life cycle, just as we do. Each stage brings beautiful new shapes and rich powerful colours. God loves and values life in all its glorious stages." Quote from Mal Austen

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Lilies from "de Zwaan"


I painted this piece on the back of an old crib the other night in order to make a" studio open" sign for outside, since I would like to have my studio open for the Christmas season.

These lilies were on the table for the whole week- starting as buds and coming into full glory by the end of the week and are from a foto taken on our barge and bike trip in the Netherlands and Belgium in September. They certainly perfumed the whole boat!

"Shape" by Mal Austen

"Every leaf and every petal is unique by design and is then changed by weather and time. But our changes are best coming from God's Spirit."

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Troy End of Season Cornfield



The painting from yesterday before the snow fell.

I found this lovely little book at "Value Village" which I bought for the stunning floral fotos. It's called "A Season of Possibilities" by an Australian Mal Austin. On the first page of his book he makes comments about some Artistic principles which are profound enough to pass on to you.

"CLOSE UP: God is a God of details. Look closely and you will see beauty in every feature. Don't be afraid to draw close to God . Beauty increases in closeness."

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Quarry Water



We painted today-believe it or not-outside. I had the back doors of the van open to give some protection from the wind. We were in Troy, on a little dead end laneway with a spectacular view. Mine was limited to what could be seen from and around the back doors. I will make a foto of the painting tomorrow. This was done in North Flamborough at the same time last year. The location was an old gravel quarry with crystal clear water. The enthusiasm gets to be a little dampened when frostbite sets in.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Barn



We're off to an all girls weekend(Mother and Daughters) in Thornbury.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Late Fall Sunlight



This subject was on the other side of the road with the anemic winter sun shining through the trees making lovely shadows. There has been some lovely work painted here by other students in the class. The familiarity with the subject helps, I think, since this is the third time at this location. The location was changed because of hunting season.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Beverly Swamp Nov.








We had another lovely afternoon painting along Middletown Road. Finally, I got to try the moving water-what a challenge! The quality of this photograph of the painting isn't very good. May have some time to improve on it tomorrow. The light was slipping through the trees and creating that special late fall atmosphere.

Monday, November 14, 2011

She can now see!



Check this out. A Quechua women receiving new glasses. She commented:"Hey, I can see you!" One of the many pairs of glasses MMI sorts by prescription, donated by Americans and Canadians. You know, the boxes you see in Doctor's offices and at optometrists, where you put those old glasses. Yes, they provide better vision for thousands of poor around the world!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Waiting



When we arrived at the clinic with the bus the people were lined up outside the building meant to be the clinic-some waited overnight to be first in line. Many would have to wait for hours to go through the process and most were very patient. A couple of women walked 7 hours through the mountains to have their eyes checked or see a doctor. They asked if they could jump the queue because they were afraid they would not be able to make it back home before dark. The patients were just like us North Americans in that they would get very annoyed if someone got ahead of them. But they were okay with this one exception.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Pictures from Peru




Last week we flew to Cuzco, Peru and spent three days ministering to the poor in the slums of Cuzco and then two in the country where we saw many indigenous Andean people. Most of them spoke Spanish and Quechua but some of the older people could only speak Quechua. This meant that often we needed two interpreters to translate from English to Spanish and then from Spanish to Quechua. There were lots of eye problems. A couple of older women walked for 7 hours to get to the clinic. It was a humbling experience. Do we appreciate our blessings?




Thursday, November 3, 2011

"Beverly Swamp # 2



This is the second painting done last Tuesday. The other side of the road. I worked on it a bit in the evening while the feeling was still fresh in my mind, Now we're off to Peru for a week. Will try some sketcing in my spare time.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Beverly Swamp Willow




We had a lovely afternoon painting on Middletown Road. This time we enjoyed sunshine and the colours are soooo different and the painting experience is much pleasanter! The old willows are all gnarled and tentacley(is that a word?) Initially, one really needs to decide what to edit with the myriad of branches and stumps that seem to pop up everywhere the eye roams. It's a bit overwhelming, but fun. I saw some beauttiful work done by fellow artists in the same location. We were standing along the road and got many curious looks from passers by!

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

First Frosty Morning



This morning I experienced the beauty of the frost on every blade of grass and spent flower-until the sun warmed the world.