joyful paintings

Mixed Blessing

2009-12-13T11:32:00.002-05:00

There's nothing as quaint and Christmas-y as strolling through the historic downtown of many small towns like ours, enjoying a dusting of snow, twinkling lights and storefronts offering the scent of cedar boughs. For nearly two decades, I've been hearing this common December lament from merchants on the Main Street - "If we don't get snow, we won't get Christmas shoppers."

Well, we asked for snow - and we GOT IT. Today marks day seven of shovelling snow, and on Friday alone we saw nearly three feet. It was up to my knees in the driveway, and if it hadn't been for my neighbour Wayne and his snowblower, my car would still be stuck in there.

Schools were closed for an unheard-of three days in a row, and most of the town was shut down on Friday. Our mayor even declared Huntsville an emergency area, and asked people to stay off the roads.

The snow on my deck is up to the railing. I guess we won't be using the BBQ any time soon. If I knew just where to dig to find the bird feeder, I'd fill the sucker up for the poor birdies...

OK, now I feel bad. That will be my next outdoor chore, right after I dig out the driveway. AGAIN.

Must admit - it sure is pretty. And that is the real blessing.

Goodbye Old Man

2009-08-09T10:41:00.000-04:00

There are probably other things I should be doing right now, but my morning routine is a bit out of kilter today. For thirteen years, I heard the same song pretty well every morning - "Good morning world! This is MY house! Who are YOU? Is that a squirrel I see? MY HOUSE! - huh? Oh okay, I'll be quiet... ahem... MY HOUSE!" The song was sung in Doggy of course, and I never realized how much I'd miss it. This morning there were no wet morning kisses, or slobbery knee-nudges, or the customary conversation that goes something like "You know the routine - Mommy puts the kettle on first, THEN Archie gets his kibbles." Right about this time of day, I should be listening to the rhythmic serenade of doggy-nap snores - a sound that was both comical and comforting. There will be no more bi-annual "I could knit another dog from the hair I swept up yesterday" stories, or "Hand me the masking tape, Archie gave me hugs on my way out the door" comments. No more "I'm sorry I'm late, Archie went walkabouts" excuses. I already miss the tick-tick-tick sound of his footsteps which meant he heard a package of people-food being opened. And I'll miss his faithful anticipation that I'll drop something not-kibble into his bowl when I cook dinner tonight. He was as much a part of my daily routine as I was a part of his. His face & voice always said to me "You're home". Goodbye old man - a lot of people got to love you over the years. Thanks for loving us back.

we're out there!

2009-07-11T11:04:00.000-04:00

This is just the beginning, folks. On July 2 a great article on Huntsville appeared in the Travel section of The Toronto Star. There's also a brief video highlighting our Group of Seven Murals. Guess how excited I was to see my own Bell Box mural in the highlight! (the pink sunset one). This video was taken before our current Mural Festival began, so no new images. Here's the article - Huntsville has summer down to a fine art Please ignore the music... we're in fact NOT hillbillies. With Huntsville's hosting of the the 2010 G8 Summit approaching, you'll see us in the news more and more.

rain and paint...

2009-07-01T10:58:00.000-04:00

The Group of Seven Outdoor Gallery in Huntsville is growing... in spite of the weather. This week, 7 new murals - one each dedicated to the original Group of Seven members - are being added to the 40+ murals around our town. The link above will give you the scoop on which images we're re-creating and who's responsible for making it happen. But Mother Nature - may she bless us and keep us safe - is giving new meaning to my favourite saying "If you want to hear the universe laugh - announce that you have a plan." With only two days of good weather followed by four days of intermittent to heavy rain, our skills and patience - and especially the paint - are truly being tested. < < This is John Kuna transferring A.Y.Jackson's image onto the signboard, which has already been attached to the wall of Loui's II Restaurant. It's about 11pm, and the overhead projector is on a scaffold in the middle of West St. John uses thinned Yellow Ochre paint to draw in the shapes. Gerry Lantaigne holds the ladder for David Flett, who draws in the "puddles" of colour on this Varley image, using pencil. We all have our favourite methods of doing this - when Gerry suggested that I would stand on the ladder like Dave to draw out my image... I politely declined and offered to use a grid instead. That way I'd be safe on the scaffold, thanks very much. By the second day, my mural's outline and some of the main areas are blocked in. And at the end of the third day, murals by Marc Sorozan and Michele Van Maurik are well underway. Looking good! >> But that was the day the rain started. Sunday morning I rushed out to buy a tarp. I know, it sort of defeats the idea of being on display while we paint, but I was more concerned about the acrylic paint. My Frank Johnston is Shrouded in plastic now, and it's rained off and on for 5 days. The paint on my mural hasn't suffered any ill effects, nor has Tim Webb's Harris (image to come). But I wish I could say the same for the others. Michele, Dave and John have had their murals moved indoors to Trinity Hall - the gymnasium at the United Church (we thank you!!). After some damage control (sanding down areas where dried paint had blistered from the rain getting under it), the mural project is back on track. Well, nearly. Gerry's Community Mural on the steps of the Town Hall is on hold for now, 'til the weather breaks which may not be until Saturday. Mother Nature - we bow to your whims. We know you could have dealt us much worse than this (I won't say what, and I don't even want to imagine it!). Wish us all fair weather!

the learning curve

2009-05-21T16:30:00.000-04:00

Every day is a learning day for me. And not just in the spiritual sense, which of course is true as well - but also in the "learning about stuff" sense.

Oh, how I love learning about stuff.

I love learning about things like salamanders. I looked that up today because I felt the need to identify the visitor in Naomi's basement. Hey Nom - the yellow spotted salamander eats bugs - you may want to keep it for a pet.

And I just had to look up what balloons are made of to see if Col's idea of painting on/with/inside a balloon is feasible... sadly, I don't believe it is... cool idea, though...

I googled centipedes 'cause we had a real BIG one in the store a while back... but don't worry, we haven't seen him for ages.... *shudder*. He also eats bugs...

<---- MUCH smaller than actual size!!

I even found a site that tells you when & where one can see the aurora borealis just because I'm completely fascinated with them. *WOW*

One fine day, I was driving back from Madawaska through Algonquin Park and saw some crazy clouds that looked like flying saucers. Honest, they did! My camera had been acting up, so I have no proof other than my word.

But while searching for cool cloud pics to paint, I discovered such a thing as Lenticular Clouds which helped me stop questioning my sanity (for now).

For more awesome cloud images, check out a site called The Cloudman

Now there's another curve looming ahead, and I hope it's not too steep - but the learning part will be an exciting challenge.

On June 8, I will be travelling to Kingston, ON where I have been invited to visit the Tri-Art paint manufacturing facility. The nice folks there are going to teach me all about their artists' paints & mediums - so that I can go forth and spread the good word by teaching others about it.

How cool is that?!! That means I'll be part of Tri-Art's Education Program as an instructor, and, if I make the grade, I will soon be available to teach Tri-Art demos and workshops. Oh, I'm pretty pumped, that's for sure. I've been on the phone & trading emails for the past few months with Steve, Connie & Catherine - they sound like a great bunch and I can hardly wait to finally meet them all in person. I've had some experience teaching over the years, and the most fulfilling part of teaching is that I learn just as much as the students learn. It's just one more reason to say "Gawd I love my job!"