The Rest of the Story

 

It's been a while since my last blog post. I was telling you about the roadblocks I was putting in my own way. I had a project to do and I was procrastinating.

An acquaintance that I see occasionally told me about an art contest being put on by the Rideau Community Health Services. They wanted artwork that would help them celebrate and promote a welcoming, inclusive community. They mentioned such things as diversity, equality and advocacy . I immediately  had several ideas so I thought I might take a stab at it. This idea of entering contests is new to me this year, and while I never expected to win anything, it still gave me a target to aim for.

I would have told you all this sooner but I wanted to post the results. There were three prizes. I didn't win but I also have no idea who did. I even inquired about the results but got nothing but an automated response saying they received my message and would get back to me. They never did.  All I do know is that I am the only one who entered from this area. It would be really nice to see the winning entries but I will, at least, show you mine.  

I may not have won this contest but I feel like a winner anyway. I dared to do something I have never done before and am apparently the only person in a village full of accomplished artists who even submitted an entry.  I'm proud to have taken another step forward in my art journey, and I did have fun, once I got started.

Art and Found Day

Have you ever found a rock with something painted on it? You know, the ones you are allowed to pick up and take home.  They could be anywhere and you just accidentally come across them. 

Years ago, a local lady who made glass beads, decided to leave little necklaces around town for others to find. I found two but, to be fair, I decided to relocate one in another town.

Now I have discovered we are about to celebrate Art and Found Day on March 12.  Artists all over the world will leave something they created somewhere for someone else to find and take home. I want to take part and have encouraged some of my friends to get in on the fun too. I have been working on a painting of a friend's horse that I will place where, hopefully, it will be found soon. With any luck, the finder will share it on social media. I may drop more than one.  They may be just bookmarks. We'll see....

If this is of interest to you, go to www.artandfoundday.com to learn more.

Artificial intelligence

 

I just finished reading a book by JL Lycette called The Algorithm Will See You Now.  

This is a story about allowing artificial intelligence decide who can or cannot receive medical treatment based more on whether the treatment is good for the profit of the health organization than on what is necessarily good for the patient. It is also a book about human nature and the lies we tell ourselves and others. Would we really be any better at making these rational decisions than a machine? Read the book and decide for yourself. It's a good story. I received an advance review copy for free, and left this review in various places voluntarily.

Artificial intelligence seems to be everywhere these days. 

This morning I have already seen an ad for an AI app that will write stories for me. I'm not interested in that as writing is how I like to express myself. It wouldn't be my story if I let a machine make it up.  It does prove that the algorithms are at play though. Already my tablet knows I was reading and writing about this subject. Why else would this ad pop up, not once, but three times this morning?

I already have an app with AI doing my bidding. I can say "Hey Google" and have any question answered. It's handy to just be able to check the weather before I get dressed, check for any needed conversions or even find out how to use left over egg yolks without even having to type the questions in.  I really should use her more often. I know she's listening because Google will occasionally pop up on her own and ask, "How may I help you?" That normally annoys me but next time I think I will just have her tell me a joke or play a song for me. A little something to brighten my day never hurts.

And, in case you have not noticed, I have been using AI art work on my blog and elsewhere since the beginning of the year. My eldest son has been having a great time with it and since he introduced  me to it I have had it  generate a few images that were useful to me. Sometimes I use them to illustrate my story and other times I use them as a jumping off spot for my own art.  If you look at the AI pictures I have posted so far this year you can tell they are computer generated as they often have obvious flaws in them. Many artists are worried about AI taking over the art world. While it may come in handy for writing factual pieces, and coming up with pictures you cannot find by simply searching I do not believe the human aspect is something  that can ever be totally replaced in either the arts or medicine.  What do you think?

Just Start

Is there something you would like to do but think you can't?  Have you ever actually tried? Or did you try and not do as well as you had hoped and then just give up?

I remember seeing a painting of a dalmatian in a how-to magazine once that totally fascinated me. I was learning to paint but I didn't think I could ever do anything like that. I came across that old magazine recently and now that painting doesn't look nearly as intimidating as it once did. I've learned some skills.

I didn't use to be able to draw a decent stick figure but I have now been commissioned to draw two pet portraits just because I post what I'm learning on social media. If you want to do something you don't think you can do, take steps to learn how. Start today and just keep going. I know you can do it, whatever it is. It might take training. It might just take practice.  It might take luck or it could be that even your happy accidents lead to the success you weren't even expecting.

Sometimes something you do will lead you to do something else you had not thought of before, or it might even inspire others.  A new cyber friend of mine went out to take pictures of the new snow clinging to the trees.  She was disappointed later when she realized the photos were badly overexposed. We interact on a creativity page and she decided to share those shots after all. She ran them through a filter and was surprised by the truly lovely results. If she had just deleted the pictures without trying something new she would never have discovered how beautiful her mistakes really were.  And today, when I tried to take a specific picture, the angle of the sun was making it next to impossible.   I was inspired by what this lady had done and decided to see if I could turn an over-exposed picture into something beautiful too.  There are no mistakes, there are just opportunities.  

Go create some opportunities for yourself. Whatever it is you ever wanted to do, go take that first step. You may really love where it leads you.

Scribble Art

 For the past couple of years, I have taken part in Self Portrait Sunday. It is a group on Facebook where the only rules are to only draw yourself from a mirror or another reflective surface (no photos allowed) and you can only post on Sunday. Beyond that, any method or medium is fair game.

Recently I followed a 30-minute demonstration by Dena Marshall on Etcher about how to draw a dog using a scribbling method. My results turned out better than I expected so I tried another of one of a friend's dogs. I admit I did revert to hatching partway through both drawings because neither of those dogs had curly hair and I didn't want them to look like they did. I decided to try again with my self-portrait this week. I may need a bit more practice with this technique but I find it fun and rather freeing. I like to work with a pen, and if you are scribbling you don't need to worry so much about putting a line in the wrong place because you can just scribble over it anyway. There is a 90-minute workshop on Etchr later this week that I might just have to look into.

 

This is the dog I learned how to draw in 30 minutes.

And these are the drawings I have done on my own since.

You Never Know What Life Brings

A long time ago I learned that every decision you make will affect the rest of your life. Some decisions are difficult, some are easy. Some bring you trouble, some bring you success, and apparently some bring you family you never knew you had.

I don't know what made me decide within the past couple of years to try to draw. My high-school art teacher told me I had no talent for it, so I stopped even trying more than 55 years ago.  A funny thing happens as you age. You no longer care how good you are at something, or what others think of your efforts to do things you enjoy. For instance, I sing when I'm among other seniors. I doubt that I can carry a tune, but seniors don't make fun of each other the way kids do. I'll get up in front of them and talk too. I don't know if I make any sense when I do that as I don't write out a speech first, but for some reason it doesn't make me nervous anymore. And so, now I also draw and post the results on social media for all to see. I did that all through the month of October for Inktober. The rules said to draw something every day in ink and post it online no matter how it turned out.  I got lots of support, in most cases, and it gave me confidence to continue.

This is where the decision to take part had an effect. Someone I didn't even know liked my drawings enough to reach out and ask me if I would draw their dog. I basically said it would depend on the photograph. After a week or so she sent me a few photos to choose from. Most of them had the dog in the distance, and I could have gotten off easily doing one of them, but I wanted her to be able to recognize her pooch. So, I chose a picture that was more of a close up, but it was really hard for me to see certain key parts of it, like the eyes, and the ears. I ran it through my photo editor a few times until I thought I had some idea of how to attack it. Then I told her I'd give it a try.

She had offered to pay me, so this would have been my first commissioned work. But I didn't know how to charge for that. I have sold photographs and paintings in the past, but I figured a commission is likely worth more, since you are trying to make someone else happy, instead of them just finding something you have already done that they would like to take home. I sent out feelers to people who have done commissions and got a lot of advise.  A common theme seemed to be that I should charge by the hour a fee of  at least minimum wage, for however long it would take me to draw the subject and then add on the cost of my supplies. They also insisted that I should get half before I even began. Well, I had no idea how long it would take, and so I didn't know how much half would be either. Worse than that, since I'm new at this, I wasn't even sure I could produce a dog that would be recognizable to the owner.

Coming up with a price and taking anything up front was causing me to stall. I wasn't comfortable with that at all. I asked questions while I was thinking about it. I asked what kind of dog it was as it looked like it might be a poodle cross of some kind. It had the curly hair, but didn't have as pointy a snout as I'd expect a poodle to have. It turned out to be a purebred Parti Poodle. I'd never heard of those before, but it at least gave me something to look up online if I needed to clarify the shape of things. I asked how big she wanted the drawing and she left that up to me, as long as it was at least 5 x 7. I asked which of my Inktober drawings had caught her eye enough to contact me for this job. There were, after all, various styles done with all different kinds of pens. She just said she like my drawings. I decided ballpoint pen would be the best choice, for this particular dog. I told her I had to get some better paper as I didn't want to just do it in my sketchbook. That was really just another stall tactic.  I went off to look for some hot press watercolour paper and had decided I would draw the dog as an 8 x 10 since I knew how to price a photo at that size, so I at least had a base number to work from.  I found a pack of mixed media boards that said they were good for crisp smooth lines. I'd never worked on such a surface before, and they were 9 x 12 but I bought them anyway.  She seemed happy with my size choice.

That's when I made a whole new decision. I had been enjoying the whole process of drawing everyday until someone mentioned a possible payment. As we had not discussed that further and I really didn't want to bring it up again, I decided I would just do the job for the fun and experience and accept whatever I was offered upon delivery. I could have just mailed it, but I wanted to see her face when she saw the drawing as I hoped to be able to tell if she was happy with it or not. We arranged to meet.

When she arrived she was not alone. She had a sister with her.  As I mentioned previously, I had never met this lady before.  I did know that we were related in some way though but I didn't know she had a sister. Automatically, I got another relative!  It seems that while they also knew we were related, they didn't know exactly how. Once I verified who their father was I was able to explain that my uncle was their grandfather, and while we had all met this man at some point in our childhood, none of us ever knew him well. We had a lovely visit, and I do hope to see more of them in the future.

I believe the drawing was somewhat recognizable, and accepted by the new owner. My decisions all worked out in the end. I was rewarded with a bag of expensive goodies, I earned valuable experience, and scored a couple of new cousins.  Not bad for having a bit of fun and learning a lot in the process and all because I made the decision to start drawing again after so many years.

Even a Bad Reaction Can Be Good

I'm taking part in Inktober this year. I couldn't have done that in the past as I never could draw, but I've come a long way in the past year and I figured that Inktober would be great experience. For those of you who don't know, Inktober requires you to draw something in ink every day for the month of October, and post it online. Well, therein lies the reason for this post.

A long time ago I explained to someone who commented on something I had written that it really didn't bother me that he didn't agree with what I was saying. All that mattered was that he took the time to have read it, and then let me know by voicing his opinion.  Everyone is entitled to their opinion, I feel, and I accept that it might not necessarily agree with my own.  If what I write elicits a response of any kind, I'm thrilled. It proves I've done my job well.

For day six of Inktober the word prompt was "drooling".  My initial idea was to draw a drooling dog. Some sort of hound was what I had in mind, but most of the pictures I found were of other dogs that I thought might be more difficult. They either had more wrinkles or more hair to deal with. Then I got the bright idea of  drawing some guy drooling over a pretty woman. I set out to find such pictures and had no problem coming up with one I really thought I could handle. It was a man in a suit and it was done in cartoon style. So I set out to basically copy that. I managed to make him heavier though and when I got to the tie part, I had this notion that he needed a different head. I flipped though a bunch of pictures and found one with the head in the right position and proceeded to draw that onto the shoulders of the guy I'd already started. Well, he was supposed to be drooling over a pretty girl so then I went in search of one of those. The first one I drew was more in line with what I had in mind. She was a blonde, curvy bombshell.  But I had not placed things on the page properly so I started over and ended up with a different girl. Oh well. It was getting late and I decided to add watercolour to this drawing rather than trying to shade it all in with ink.

Once I was finished I posted it first on Instagram with the appropriate hashtags, like I was supposed to. I shared it to both Facebook and Twitter.  I also shared it on a separate Facebook page. Later I saw someone requesting people to post their latest watercolour works on another group page and I dropped it in there. While there was no problem anywhere else, a major controversy broke out on that new page.  Many people on all three pages saw the humour in the post and poked the Laugh button. But on the new site, there were a few who were either angry or just plain upset when they spotted this drawing. I sat back and watched as they all argued among themselves.  I didn't feel the need to defend myself from what they were reading into the image. I didn't think of it as a political statement. Some of them definitely did. It's a scientific fact that it's normal for a man to drool over a pretty woman. The assignment was drooling. That's all I was thinking.  But the controversy went on all that day and into the next.  Actually, out of the 108 responses (so far) on that particular page, less than 10% had any kind of problem with it, but even that number surprised me.

Guess what, people.  Just like with my writing, I'm not bothered by this. It tells me these people not only didn't scroll past my drawing but that it actually created a response in them. People were either loving it, or telling me off. That's cool. I got a reaction either way.   Isn't that what art is for? My poor little drawing was an amazing success.  I made people feel something and respond to it. I have never referred to myself as an artist in the past, but I'm certainly feeling like one now.

Here's the sketch in question.

Not All Hearts and Flowers

A couple of weeks back I mentioned that I had joined a group that was sharing cards (mostly Valentines) during the month of February. We were not allowed to post them before the end of the month in order to insure that we didn't spoil the surprise for anyone. Well, the month is up and though Valentines Day is long past, I do feel the need to share these lovely cards with you.

This is my second exchange, and I am finding I learn new tricks with every card that comes in. One of these is actually a small painting of a rose tucked into a slit in the top of the card so that it is framed within the card itself. I think I may have some of this sort of card around here somewhere as I remember sending family pictures as Christmas cards like that many years ago. I'd forgotten that such cards even existed. In the picture I'm sharing you may also notice that I have actually framed one of the cards myself. It was just the right size to fit into a frame I picked up at IKEA recently, and because it features teapots, I now display that one in my kitchen. A lady from Mumbai, India sent cards featuring hand painted scenes from her city, complete with a note inside explaining what the picture was. The one I got featured Marine Drive, also known as the Queen's Necklace because at night the lights look look like a string of pearls from elevated points along the road. Another cleaver person managed to tie Valentines to the Olympics, which were happening this same month, by simply turning one of the rings into a heart. That is so clever. I would never have come up with an idea like that!  A more classic one came from the only person who had also been in my last exchange group. It featured a cute bird with hearts for feathers and was made even more special with a good sprinkling of glitter.

I made some cards too, of course, and mine are totally different from the ones I received. In fact, my own cards are not even all the same style or medium either as I was experimenting with alcohol inks and a stamp I carved. Then I "found" flowers on another one, used a pinched toilet roll to stamp some hearts, and even did a bit of line drawing.  It was great fun. The only thing they had in common was that I was going for reds and pinks.

I even hunted out some more flowers and made a birthday card for a family member while I was at it. It's just plain fun to find things in random patterns.

I can hardly wait for the next exchange. It will have  a spring theme and take place in April.

Spreading Peace and Love

I see people checking my page, and I know I haven't posted in a while. The things on my mind lately can't really be posted publically. At least not the full story yet, in any case.

I have been having adventures with printers lately. For the last year, every time Microsoft updated Windows 10 they screwed up my printer. I've had a few words with Microsoft, but that was only because they popped up on my screen one day asking what I thought of Windows 10. They even went so far as to list some possible problems and ask if I was having any of them. Well, yes MS, and I tried really hard to tell you, but there does not seem to be a place to report such things, except to your virtual assistant. The problem with that is that if the problem has not been reported previously (which, as I said, isn't possible) the assistant cannot help either.  But obviously, you are aware that Win10 is capable of making peripherals inoperative since you had that problem on the list. Do something about it, and do it quickly! I have some big print jobs coming up and I don't  trust you not to update at just the wrong moment.

On a more fun note, the Christmas card exchange I got in on was such a success that we have decided to do another exchange for February. I've found it much easier to design cards this time. At Christmas, it felt like it had all been done before, and fresh ideas were hard to come by. February has lots of holidays and even if I just go with hearts and flowers for Valentines Day, I can come up with some cute ideas all on my own. In the process, I've discovered a few great techniques that I'm sure I'll use for years to come.  Part of that is because I have not always been able to simply print designs from my sketchbook as some do, due to the problem mentioned above. I was forced to create all new hand-painted cards, but now I'm actually glad of that.

I'm being asked to share what I'm doing on Facebook, but there are members of the group I'm sharing cards with on there, and the big reveal isn't until the end of February, so I don't want to spoil any surprises. Also, since I expect to reuse some of these ideas over time I don't want my family and friends to end up receiving something they've already seen online either.  I can show you the cards I received for the Christmas exchange though, from others around the world.  There are so many different styles. Some people had their paintings printed as cards while others painted each one individually. One lady even made the paper she painted hers on and another printed her cards but created the linocut for her prints herself.  There are so many talented people out there.

Creating and exchanging cards with people throughout the world is not only fun but a great way to share peace and love.....which is what we are doing for Valentines Day.  I hope this gang continues this practice for a few more holidays.

Extra Fuel On My Fire

 As if I didn't have enough to do at this time of year, I had to add fuel to the fire by taking a card making course at Sketchbook Skool. No, it's not one of those ones where you cut and paste one piece of paper onto another, or stamp the words. It was a two week course on how to use your own art to design and create greeting cards good enough to send out into the world, not just to your friends and family, but maybe even to the card publishers themselves.

I got one week into it, when, of course, someone decided that it would be great if we held a holiday card exchange. About 150 of us sent off our addresses to someone willing to divide us into groups of six, with people scattered throughout the world. The cards have to be in the mail by December 10th in order to be sure they reach some of those destinations. That meant I had to suspend my class and get to work on the cards for this project. I'm sure they would have turned out a lot better if I had been able to finish the class first, but I'm learning new tricks with each one that arrives in the mail. Oh, this is great fun!  Everyone has their own style and ideas. I can hardly wait to see what a Christmas card from Australia looks like. They are in the midst of summer there and, as I hear it, often go to the beach for Christmas day.  I do hope she doesn't make me one with a snowman on it!

I was also able to rejoin the art explorations with the group at the library this month, after not being able to attend the past couple of months. This time we learned about portraits and drawing faces in general. We did it in stages. First we were to draw a blind contour. That's when you look at the picture you are copying, but are not allowed to look at the marks you are making on the paper. You are also not supposed to lift the pen from the paper. It's easy to get lost and have to backtrack, making all kinds of wonky lines. The results can be rather interesting. After that we had to do a quick sketch, taking just two minutes to get the face onto the paper. Those were our warmup exercises before taking our time to try and draw the face we had chosen. I was introduced to conte pencils and now I want some!

Not long ago this sort of exercise in the presence of others would have had me panicking, but one of the other courses I took this fall had me sit really close to someone and stare at them while drawing a big face and then add a little body on whatever space was left on the paper.  I got my grandson to "help me with my homework" and he liked the results well enough he wanted to take it home. 






Shortly after that I captured the face of a total stranger, at a bit more of a distance. He didn't know about it until I showed him later.

A friend saw these and wanted in on the action, so she posed for me too. None of these faces are realistic, but they are still faces, and they are recognizably human so I'm happy with that. Besides, they were just fun to do.

Maybe I should try to draw Santa's face sometime soon. I really do have to get back to that card making course. I still have a week's worth of lessons to get done. What I've learned so far is that you don't have to be able to draw really well to make beautiful greeting cards. Simple designs and lots of colour work well. I may have to take up calligraphy next though.

Oh, that reminds me. I still have to send cards to the usual people on my Christmas list, and write at least a note to go with several of those. So much to do. So little time. But I'm sure it's the same with you, even if you aren't silly enough to add card making classes and extra projects to your chores at the busiest time of year. Let's take a deep breath and get the work done without adding any more logs to the pile.

Whatever It Is, Just Do It

I'm almost finished my urban sketching course. I have definitely fulfilled my New Years resolution to take my art more seriously, and I'm sure I've improved at least my drawing a lot this year. It hasn't really given me much time to paint very often but I did learn to use watercolour in a looser style.

Back in February, I tried to draw the house across the street. I used a method called contour drawing, where you follow the outside lines and then fill in the middle with details. I found that method works pretty well for some things but it wasn't working at all well for that house. 

A couple of weeks ago, during this Urban Sketching course, I learned a new method called spiraling, where you pick a starting point and draw outward from that in an ever increasing
spiral. I was interrupted by a major downpour but as you can see, my drawing of that same house improved greatly over just a few months.

This course often had you drawing in public too, as I mentioned a month ago.What I've learned at this point is that that's not nearly as scary as it sounds. People either ignore you completely or stand inside your picture frame and teasingly wonder out loud if you are going to include them. I even had one guy offer to park his snazzy car where it could be added to the picture. I actually thought that would be a good idea, but he didn't do it.

All during these warmer months while I've been out of my house drawing in various place only two people have actually come right over to have a look, and both of them were very kind and complimentary.

I joined a group of local sketchers that met once a week this summer and even they don't really make a point of checking out what the others were doing very often. Everyone was busy doing their own thing. I'd like to get that point across as the group actually had 60 members, but very few of them could get themselves to come out and draw with us. The others obviously wanted to or they wouldn't have joined the group in the first place. They were too shy, or perhaps felt they weren't good enough. Hey, I certainly don't have a natural talent for this stuff either, but it was just plain fun.  You can't get better at something if you don't at least try to do it more often. I hope some of those people see this and understand that they won't embarrass themselves as they won't be attracting nearly as much attention as they imagine.

There are a lot of things many of us would like to do and don't because we're afraid of looking foolish. I know I've said this before, but other people really don't pay that much attention to you at exercise classes, dance groups, drawing classes or anything else. If they are there, they are busy learning or exercising just like you are. They don't have time to look around and make notes on who is screwing up. And, as I found, when I sat and drew all by myself in public places, most people are too polite to just barge into your space and check out what you are up to. I'm not actually getting braver, I've just found out there is nothing to fear.

Mid Year Report

Happy Canada Day Everyone!

Here we are at mid-year and I have to wonder how you are all doing at keeping your New Year's resolutions. I called them New Beginnings this year and had three of them on my list. I'm not doing so well with the weight loss and tidying but I'm certainly having a great time keeping the third one. That's all about furthering my art.

I have gone out of my way to make sure I learn new things this year. As I've told you I took a course through Sketchbook Skool called Drawing Without Talent and really enjoyed it. I was so pleased to see a definite improvement in just a month's time.

Then I got involved with a group that met at our local library once a month. I was introduced to a lot of new mediums while we set about creating an art project for Canada's sesquicentennial. The work was all photographed and printed on shipping labels that were then stuck onto a map of Canada in a way that corresponded to the regions. The map was unveiled this past weekend with just some of us in attendance.

In the meantime, I took on a five-week course at Sketchbook Skool that, among other things, had me go sit in a public place and draw what was in front of me. I had never done that before and I thought it was great fun. It will be my new summer pastime. In fact, I just got invited to join a local group that would be doing just that each and every week throughout the summer months. A year ago I never would have considered accepting such an invitation but the Sketchbook Skool courses have given me the confidence to jump in with both feet.

I stopped by the Sketchbook Skool closed Facebook page to tell them about it. I was excited by this new opportunity and wanted to thank them.  They put out a weekly bulletin in video format for the students and they even mentioned me in that (from about the 1:20 to the 2-minute mark). While Dean of Students, Morgan Green, managed to put her own spin on things what she said rang truer after I actually experienced my first session with this group.

We met in a local park where there are all sorts of sights worth drawing. I expected everyone to gravitate toward something of interest to them, but they all clustered around two picnic tables. I stayed close to them but sat off to the side where I had a better view of a suitable subject.
I like to draw in pen and then apply a watercolour wash. I forgot my watercolours at home but did have my watercolour pencils with me, and a water brush, so I used those. One young gentleman was interested in this process so I showed him how it worked. Me! Not only was I exposing my scribbles to a known artist, but actually showing him how to do something! I'd certainly call that progress, wouldn't you?

Now, if I could just do so well with the tidying and weight loss...... Maybe another new beginning is needed for the second half of this year.

What have you accomplished so far this year? Or do you need to begin again too?

Making My Mark

I don't seem to be painting much recently.  I'm busy learning how to draw. Or perhaps I'm learning I always could draw and I'm learning that perfection isn't that important.

I previously told you about a little course I took called Drawing Without Talent through Sketchbook Skool. I was delighted with the results and wanted to learn more.  Danny Gregory had taught me that drawing with a pen would make me commit to my lines and I would, therefore, be more careful about where I placed them.  But that little course did not teach me how to shade with a pen.

Sketchbook Skool offers a variety of multi-week courses that have as many different teachers as they have weeks. I enjoyed the Drawing without Talent class so much I wanted to learn more.  Just as I was struggling to choose which course to take next they came up with a brand new one called Exploring. They claim they will only offer it once. It's a five-week course with five different teachers, and the very first one was Danny Gregory, teaching hatching and cross hatching.  Just what I needed!



Shortly after I signed up for the course I noticed an old friend on the Sketchbook Skool Facebook page. I mentioned that I'd just signed up for Exploring and she told me she had taken a course through Sketchbook Skool once but was very disappointed. She said there was "too much teacher info and not enough teaching."

I quickly discovered she was right.  Danny didn't break down the hatching process into daily lessons as he had done with the previous course.  He showed a lot of his own work, did one little demo and then gave us homework. That was not at all what I expected, and I told them so when I was offered a chance to give feedback.  I made a similar complaint at the end of the second week.  But then something magical happened.

I really enjoyed doing the homework for the second class, which basically involved drawing outside. I'm now looking forward to doing a lot of that this summer. I made some major mistakes on that homework assignment, but I like the overall idea so much I'm planning to rework it and use the image on a t-shirt or something. The next teacher actually reinforced that idea and showed us images could look whimsical and unreal and still be effective.

The fourth instructor gave us homework that sent me into a tailspin as it was a long, involved process of creating a concertina style sketchbook and then filling it with a particular theme.  I turned to the Facebook page and confessed that I was procrastinating because the mission seemed impossible to me. The monkey had me firmly in his grip.

The monkey refers to the little voice inside your head that tells you that you can't do something, or if you do, it's just not good enough.  (Check  out Danny Gregory's book Shut Your Monkey).

The Facebook gang encouraged me, shot the monkey and told me to put pen to paper and get on with it.  I did and felt a great sense of accomplishment when I was done.  Once again I discovered I really enjoyed the process.  I'm learning I can draw for the sheer joy of it and it doesn't have to be perfect. When I draw with a
pen I may make a few mislines but they are not mistakes.  They are simply part of the process and I can find ways to incorporate them.  I've also discovered that a bit of colour goes a long way to distract the eye away from these spots otherwise previously thought of as errors.

So while the Exploring course was not at all what I was expecting, What I got out of it was far more valuable than techniques on how to draw well. I gained confidence and the ability to accept whatever I create as just part of the learning process. No matter how good you are at something, there is always more to learn. I learned to play and regained the joy of making marks on paper. I had that in my youth before some high school teacher found a way to spoil it for me. Somebody should have shot......er, shut that monkey!

Slowly But Surely

How are you doing with your New Year's Resolutions? I didn't actually make any, but I took the opportunity to get a fresh start on several things around here. So far, I can't say that I've been doing so well, except for that first week.  Statistics show that 92% of people drop their New Year's resolutions before the end of the year. Many of them do within the first month.

This past week I pretty well goofed off.  I did clear out some clutter from a few areas, but never actually finished any of them. One end of my computer desk got cleared, and a working space on my studio desk got cleared so I could have a spot to make a bigger mess with paint and/or inks.  I did manage to sort through and file the bills and other papers in my inbox and filing slots, and I also got my business books to balance for year-end (on the first try too!) And just like the two desks, I have half a closet all cleaned out and vacuumed.  Half a job doesn't sound good, I know, but half a job certainly gives me the incentive to finish what I started.  Each half job happened because I was looking for something, which just proves I need to reduce the clutter.  Now I'll be looking to finish those jobs.  That's a goal, right?

I have been a bit more successful in the art department.  While my drawing class could have been finished within a week, I've been stretching it out, so that I don't feel rushed. It's been fun as I had to draw something complicated upside down, and draw something specific from memory and draw something else without looking at the paper at all. How any of that can turn out better than if I just tried to draw it the usual way, I don't know, but almost all of it did.  Apparently, I have to let go of the idea of what I'm trying to draw and just follow the shapes.

I remember doing an ink and wash years ago. My instructor wanted to challenge me and stuck a picture of a chipmunk on a stump in front of me. I sputtered, "But you know I can't draw," to which she replied, just make marks. Make more marks in the dark areas, and fewer marks in the lighter areas." I had no faith in that but somehow ended up with a chipmunk on a stump, without actually ever drawing a chipmunk or a stump.  I guess I just have to get out of my own way and connect my eyes to my hand and disengage the brain that is busy trying to make sense of it all.

In the meantime, I've found a Facebook page that teaches all the steps involved in mixed media. I've been interested in that for a few years now, so I'm working my way through the video morsels they offer that teach even the most basic of techniques. This will give me a good kick start on creating new works of my own as time goes on. Since the morsels are done on small notebook pages, they don't take long.  Sooner or later, though, I will need some stencils, which is something I don't currently have. I think I'll try making some of my own though. That could be fun.  

There's the problem right there.  I'm playing instead of working. I got all the Children's Fitness Tax Credit recipes done for the karate class though, and will install my tax software this week.   I will finish the three spaces I started. I need the studio desk for all this artwork.  I need the computer desk for the upcoming  tax season, and I definitely need my side of the closet cleaned out. If I start by getting rid of all the clothes that no longer fit me there would be a lot more room.  But wait....I did manage to lose another pound so maybe I can save some money and fit into those clothes yet.

So, as you see, I have not yet dropped my New Years Res.....er.....New Beginnings. I've slowed down a bit, but I'm still working on them.  What about you?

Fresh Start - Week One

New beginning number one (art) is going to interfere with new beginning number three (losing weight). I have now signed up for an online art course, and between watching videos, and following links and doing assignments, I find myself firmly planted on my butt.  That's certainly not going to reduce the size of it.

For new beginnings number two (de-cluttering) I'm following the Home Solutions  Declutter 365 web page that breaks things down so you have a 15 minute mission to accomplish each day.  My first 15 minute chore went on for half an hour and still wasn't finished because my step stool had mysteriously disappeared over the holidays. But just the idea that it took that long to clean off, (and clean up) my kitchen counter meant it really needed it.  Yet I know my counter is much neater than some I've seen, so if you haven't done yours yet, get to it! Start at one end of the counter, take things off to clean under them. Sort through that stuff and put things that don't belong there away, or get rid of them.

After cleaning and decluttering surfaces, we have now moved on to the drawers. A couple of years ago, when I cleaned out my over-stuffed utensil drawer, I put all the useful things I don't tend to touch into a box and took them to the basement. If I found I needed something, I knew where to find it. Anything left in that box now will be disposed of. I suppose I should have done that sooner. This time, when I did that drawer, the only things I found that I felt I could remove, were a handful of plastic straws. They got moved to my studio, as now I like to blow paint and ink around to create interesting abstract designs.

The drawing course is a lot of fun, and not too hard, even for me.....so far, anyway. It's called How to Draw Without Talent, and I found it at Sketchbook Skool.  Some people are very talented. I think they inherit it from someone and are able to translate the world around them into some form of expression the rest of us can only marvel at. I may have some talents, but drawing is not one of them. It has taken me a long time to be able to paint pictures that I feel are good enough to even give away, but I've been working at that for years. I can't draw, according to instructor Danny Gregory, not because I don't have talent, but because nobody has ever taught me any of the basic skills. Yes, I can see, but I can't translate what I see to paper. I hope this class, or klass as they call it, will change all that.

Danny says learning to draw is actually easier than learning to drive. Well, I can't drive either, but then, I've never actually tried to learn how. This week I have learned the basic components of drawing.  I took steps to learn to copy lines, curves, angles and spots or circles. Instead of drawing actual things, I had to try to duplicate abstract patterns containing these elements. It wasn't easy, but it was fun. I had trouble with just one of them and thought I wasn't getting the angles and perspective right.  But when I looked at it the next day, I saw exactly what I had left out, and fixed it with no trouble at all. That gave me the confidence to try to duplicate an ad that had come in the mail. I don't think I did too badly. So already this course is working. 

Danny makes us draw with a pen, so that we will commit to our lines. That makes it even scarier for me, as I know I can't erase even the most glaring mistakes. I did this one with a ball point pen so it doesn't show up as well as I would hope, but I have just purchased a couple of nice new black pens to work with in the future.

So, to summarize week one: I'm learning the basic skills behind learning how to draw; the kitchen is looking neat and tidy and I've started on the drawers; and I've somehow lost three pounds, but that may be because I've been too busy to snack.  Hey, whatever works!

How are you doing with your project?

New Year, New Beginnings

Happy New Year everyone!

At this time of year many people start making resolutions. I'm not going to do that, as promising to take a firm course of action would only set me up for failure. Instead, I've got some new beginnings to make.

The first is that I want to explore my art a little more than I have been the past couple of years. I am looking into a few courses that might help with that, and I have subscribed to some interesting U-Tube channels, that motivate me to just play and try things. You may get to see some weird stuff this year, but I'll try not to bore you with everything.

The second thing is my usual, declutter project. I start the year off like this fairly frequently. As we start to put away Christmas stuff (okay, so I have not done that yet), I get the notion to put away other stuff as well.  Stuff is something I have a lot of, and it tends to accumulate in messy piles here and there. Home Storage Solutions puts out a this guide each month on what to declutter and when.  I've followed it on numerous occasions in the past, and will be doing it again.  It's a good kick start, if nothing else. Their plan is never overwhelming as it breaks things down into small jobs that often aren't meant to take more than 15 minutes.

The third thing I want to do is to take another stab at losing some weight. I like to believe that a little extra weight at my age is probably a good thing. It gives me something to fall back on if I become ill.  Today I weigh in at 160 pounds, which is a bit too much for my 5'4" frame. I have sore knees and feet, so less weight would likely be helpful with that.  I have no intention of trying to get back to what I weighed in my youth. I was way too skinny back then, despite eating everything in sight.  I would, however, like to fit into at least last years clothes! I got a shock recently when I was going to a dance, and found I didn't have a dress that fit, where normally I have a hard time deciding which one to wear. I refuse to go out and buy a larger size, so I will work on slimming down, and then reward myself with a nice new outfit.

I plan to keep you updated on how things are going from time to time. Maybe I can inspire some of you to some new beginnings also. I'd love it if you shared your ideas and accomplishments on any of these subjects, or your other goals throughout the year.  Let's do this together. Start fresh.

While my Muse is on Vacation

Apparently it's been a month since my last blog post.  Perhaps you have all given up on me.  I thought I'd better pop in to let you know I'm still alive.

Recently I've been watching a series of videos by Koosje Koene on Art Therapy for the creative block she has been experiencing.  It had not occurred to me that I might be suffering from the same problem.  I used to write newspaper columns and really hated having a deadline.  I took up blogging so that I'd have a place to say what was on my mind without the pressure of having to force it. If you look back over my previous posts you'll see that I normally post about once a week. That's not because I sit down to do so, but because something pops into my head that I want to share.  That hasn't been happening lately.

Maybe I have been suffering from creative block and just didn't realize it.  Or perhaps my muse has just gone on vacation for a while. She certainly has not been whispering stories in my ear lately.  But I have not been as upset about it as Koosje. I don't like to force things.

Creative people have to create, however, and I've been doing that in other ways. I noticed poppies showing up all over Facebook right from the beginning of November.  It made me want to try to paint some of  my own. I had painted poppies in oils in the past but thought it might be fun to experiment a little. 

I've never painted with knives before and thought I'd give them a try.  This quick little acrylic was enough to let me know I will be using knives a lot more often in the future.

 The other thing I've been playing with a lot lately are alcohol inks. (When people hear me say that in person they frequently ask me what I'm doing with alcoholics!) I don't have much experience with the inks yet but I have learned that while I may have an intention, I do not have the control.  Actually, that's what makes them so much fun.  I'm enjoying the experience of being freed up by what the knives and ink produce just as blogging has set me free from deadlines.




This past weekend I was in Hull, Quebec for the 25th anniversary of Capital Conquest.  That's a major martial arts event with instructors from all over the world.  Though I was only there as a spectator while my hubby taught a seminar on self defense using a cane, I was invited to take part in a little calligraphy seminar going on in the hallway. I was introduced to several styles of pens and got to experiment with each one.  I can tell you now that I will be writing again soon, but it might be with a pen created from a pop can.

Inspired by Nature and Art

At this time of year there seems to be a lot of artist studio tours.  I usually manage to get to see  some new art while this opportunity is presenting itself.

Merrickville has an an artist studio tour the last weekend of September and the first weekend of October. The tours in Prince Edward County and  in Cornwall happen at the same time as the Merrickville one. I've been to the tour in Prince Edward County twice, and this year I finally made it to the Arts and Apples tour in Cornwall.

Merrickville becomes a very busy place during their tour, which is why they extended it to a two week event. The studios in the Cornwall area, by comparison, seemed almost deserted. Yet the artists were thrilled to have had as many as 75 people stop by. We only got to a few Cornwall area studios this year but found the artists there very friendly, and more than willing to explain their work. I will definitely go back another year, starting perhaps at the opposite end of the tour, so that we are more in the country. One of the things I love about such tours is exploring the back roads and seeing new sites.

I did, of course, check out at least 13 of the Merrickville artists on their final day, even without leaving town. It's always fun to see what the people I know have been up to, and how far they have come with their art over the past year.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we went to one of my favorite tours, up in the hills beyond Perth. I've told you about this before, in 2013 and 2014. It's such a beautiful time of year to drive those roads, art, or no art. There is even an area called the Field Work Project, where artists do installations in the wild.  We made a point to stop by and see the Eyebox, which is actually a Camera Obscura created by Franc van Oort.  When you step inside, and close the door, the light coming though the lens in one of the walls of the box projects an upside down image of what it's facing on the opposite wall. You are, in effect, inside a giant camera. The whole thing is on a turn table and you are able to crank it in a complete circle and see the view from any angle.  I heard it might actually be moved to one of the locks near Burritts Rapids next year, if all goes according to plan. I do hope it does as I'd like to experience it again, and perhaps take my grandsons to give them some idea of just how a camera works.

Artist studio tours inspire me to try new things. I used to just look and see what I liked, but now I try to figure out how some things were done, and then go home and see if I can come up with that sort of effect. After the past couple of weeks, and several tours, I think I have enough ideas to keep me busy until springtime.

Carving Out a New Hobby

This week I learned a new skill, and had fun doing it.

Local artists Holly Dean and Laura Starkey are putting on a series of mini 2 hour workshops, and I decided I wanted to get in on one of them.

I became interested in multimedia art a while back and looked into purchasing some interesting stamps to add to what I was doing. I found the prices to be rather high, especially since I wouldn't want to use just one or two stamps in too many pieces.  That would become rather boring, I thought. I considered carving my own, and actually came home with a blank 4 x 6 inch carving block from DeSerres one day, but I never did anything with it. This mini workshop was just what I needed to give me a kickstart in that direction. Holly and Laura taught me how to design, and carve a stamp all by myself.

First we were introduced to our cutting tools, and got to make various marks on scraps left over from Larry Thompson's Lino cutting, just to get the feel of things.  Of course, being the klutz I am, the first time I tried to change a blade, the whole tool assembly fell apart, and I quickly pushed the pieces over to the instructors to be put back together.  After that Laura decided she should teach us how to fix our tools if that sort of thing happened again.

Upon looking into the cutting tools available, I found a set that includes a little wooden dowel. It seems that using the blades often pushes them more tightly into the handle, and instead of risking cutting yourself, or having the whole assembly fall apart like it did for me, all you need to do is shove the dowel up through the handle to help push the blade out.  That was a definite selling point for me as I didn't find the blades easy to change.

After our practice strokes we were all given a couple of feathers which we could use for inspiration to make our first stamp. That was fun, and I learned a few tricks along the way working out how to accomplish what I had in mind.

Then the moment of panic arrived. We were given a blank similar to the one I had purchased months previously, and told to trace it on a piece of paper, and draw what we wanted to cut our stamps to look like.  We could cut the blank into smaller pieces if we wanted.  I was tempted to do that as I was still feeling the need to practice, and making more than one stamp would give me time to improve my technique.  But what do you draw when you are surrounded by artists, and don't think you draw well?  A moment of panic set in until Laura walked by me and suggested I had several interesting patterns right on the shirt I was wearing.  As my mind has gone as blank as the block in front of me, I took a look at my shirt. The patterns all looked pretty complicated to me, and I tried to draw a few of them on the paper provided.  I knew time was limited, so I set out to reproduce the picture of a bird on the blank, and started to really get into the process.

While this is the first time I've cut stamps, I think they turned out rather well, and know I'll be using them. Already I'm starting to see all kinds of designs in my day to day world that are calling out to me to make them into stamps. I think I may have a new hobby.

Maybe you would be interested in some of the workshops these ladies provide. Check them out at Artsy Life Workshops.

Spring Means Arts and Crafts Shows

On the weekend we went on one of our little rambles.

First we went to the Ernst & Young Centre in Ottawa for the annual Originals Craft Show. We used to go to this show all the time, but apparently we have not been in the past four years, since one of the venders told me they had been at that location that long.  I'm sure we had never experienced the show there before.  Another reason I'm sure I must not have been lately was that everything was new to me, other than one or two crafters and the Manitoulin gourmet food producers from Hawberry Farms, who make the jams and dips, etc. the only other person I recognized there was John Shae. He's one of my favorite area artists, and we seem to find him everywhere we go.  Of course, seeing all new (to me) vendors just made it an even better show as there was lots to explore and be tempted by. 

There was a man from the Gaspe region who creates marvelous boxes with little drawers, as well as the most fantastic bird houses I've ever seen. He does it all with driftwood he finds at the beach.  No two pieces are alike as the wood dictates what he does with it. Then there was the lady who sews purses, or bags, that are designed to carry your iPad as well as your usual purse stuff. I bought a purse big enough to do that last year, but these were made of denim and weighed next to nothing. That's a plus point right there!  Some of them had sayings embroidered on them in either English or French. They were totally washable too.  I was very impressed with her designs.  And nothing is as fascinating as Birchbark Poetry....pictures Mother Nature paints on bits of birch bark, found, preserved and framed by  Galyna Kovalenko, Elena Galiamova & Stalina Roubinova.

I'm always on the lookout for sauces that you can pour over ice cream or cake.  Hillshire Farms used to have them, but they don't anymore.  I found some wonderful ones at the Originals Craft Show containing maple syrup, butter and honey.  Some even had sea salt added, which seems to be the latest fad in foods.  I tasted a couple of varieties and picked one out. It was so good!  It is my usual method to tour the room and then go back and pick up what I decide to take home, so that I don't spend money at one booth, only to discover something I'd rather have further along.  I fully intended to go back for this marvelous concoction, but my hubby discovered some Verbena Blue Jam from the Tangled Garden  and didn't hesitate to pay for that then and there. I knew I was not going to leave without the Crab Mousse from the Little Shop of Lobsters. Since it was pretty pricey, I ended up leaving without the carmel sauce after all. 

On the way home we stopped at Manotick, for their Art Association's Brush With Art Spring Show and Sale. It was a little difficult to locate, but once there we viewed the work of 65 artists.  I enjoyed the works of Douglas Laing and Joseph Coban, both of whom were new to me, as well as many others. I could not leave without one of Bonnie McQuillan's delightful cat magnets. The are the size of a post card, so they are meant more for display than to hold things in place. This is now on my refrigerator, and makes me smile every time I enter the kitchen.