MY SPIRITS NEEDED A LIFT

I was greeted by this Northern Flicker as I got out of my car.

This is part of the garden. My neighbour graciously offered me to come over any time to photograph her flowers.

Dahlias galore!

All shapes, sizes and colours.

I had never seen one like this. 

I have been feeling very down the past few weeks - sad, angry, frustrated at all the "development" that is going on in my area. There is even a movie being filmed on the property behind Bruno's field. The script calls for fireworks to be set off between 8 PM and midnight, so I will have to have Bruno tranquillized, and I'll spend the night out there to make sure he is all right. This is NOT my idea of country life at all. I am sadly thinking I will have to move somewhere quieter - not sure where. Anyway, I really needed some peace and beauty, so I went over to my neighbour's farm. They have a huge garden - some vegetables and some flowers. It was a glorious respite!

Thank you for dropping by, and I hope you enjoyed the flowers as much as I did!

GRISWOLD, THE GARGOYLE - it would have worked well with a better paper

Griswold, my model

Drawing, using grid

Photocopy made so I could keep track of all the masking and pours of colour

First mask and pour - maybe a bit heavy-handed with the paint. I used quit. sienna, quin. violet and indanthrone.

Second mask and pour

Third mask and pour

This was a second painting I did of the same drawing. I wanted to be able to show my students the stages of masking and pouring in a single class, and for that I needed a second painting. Here, I removed the masking [no easy feat]. The background was a simplified outline of Notre Dame. Looking at the painting now, I sort of like it - may give it another try in the future ... on a good paper!

I had tried a paper other than Arches, a paper that very well suited my style of painting involving multiple very wet washes, and leaving the masking on for several days. The paper I used for the gargoyle just did not work for me - the washes and pourings of colour did not flow as nicely, and the masking was a bugger to remove. It also left some slight staining on the paper. So ... back to Arches!

Thank you so much for dropping by!