september painting and tapestry

                                       

                                        A little painting blossomed out of this past weekend.

I took a one day workshop in acrylics at the Haliburton School of the Arts with Debra Jackson to get me started again as I have been away from acrylics, and more especially oils, for too many years.

The next day I visited local artists Wendy Moses, famous for her wildly coloured abstracted flower paintings in acrylic and Pat Fairhead, known for her traditional watercolour landscapes that are becoming more and more abstracted, as they displayed their work on our local artists' studio tour.  It was great to see these 2 wonderful artists in their environs;  very inspiring.

All good wishes to those of you who have neglected their joy for fear of getting started.

We must embrace our so-called mistakes as stepping stones to future rewards.

...................................................................................

It has been a difficult blogging week for many as Google sorts through their improvements that end up complicating things for those of us who were already struggling with this wonderful gift.  But I'm one of the lucky ones who has a "techy" in the family and...

So, a little late, a little out of order, I now offer you my pictures and thoughts once again.

These next shots were taken on September 19, a precious week of nature's beauty, bittersweet in its ephemeral way, every day a difference however subtle.

                                                                        
                                One last hurrah from the mushroom world;  this is the biggest one yet!



And I know this is insane that I should continue to feature mushrooms but I find myself in the midst of mushroom heaven and never knew it til I wandered, senses heightened, with the camera.

This crinolined beauty has fallen over and shown her exquisite secret.

Everywhere a tapestry

I'm drunk on the beauty

So, need I say that I'm happy to be back to this wonderful creative outlet.   I hope you are having a wonderful autumn.  Good-bye September.



bracebridge fall fair 2010

Yesterday was a glorious day for the Bracebridge Fall Fair.   I can hardly begin to tell you what joy I got from being there.  There are so many pictures I would show you but I have reduced them to a few favourites:

           Wally said I was like a little kid enjoying it all so much...

  I couldn't wipe the smile from my face.

First we saw the bunnies.

This little girl set the tone for the whole day rejoicing as I did.

She was so excited to see real bunnies that she clutched her own bunny to her with great glee.

The cows

 the pigs

 the goats

the geese

the fantail pigeon hiding behind his chest

Marcel, a 4 year old Percheron,  made shy with me.   I imagined I could see a knight riding him probably because I just finished reading the story of  " Tristan and Iseult ".  Percherons were, indeed,  knights' steeds because they could carry the weight of a knight in armour.

Magnificent Clydesdales nap leaning their heads into the trailer while their handlers take care of the details.

This little girl reminded me of my own love of horses throughout my childhood as she rode her magical steed.  See the delight in her face?

Is it my imagination or does every little girl love horses?

or not

And then there are the little boys who can make their fun with anything.

I loved it all

I love these exquisite potatoes

and these jolly little beets with their top hats

and this most amazing kohlrabi that Wally says looks like a tropical fish.

We couldn't have had a better time.

  Wally said this pioneer cabin is about the size of the one he built for himself.

  He gestures about  'here'  where he built his sleeping loft.  Oooh, I'm so jealous!

By contrast the midway was noisy and exciting with all the exotic smells of a carnival:

candy floss and deep fried doughnuts,

 poutine (the classic Canadian treat of french fries smothered in cheese curds and gravy...YUM!)

  and an old childhood favourite:

A crazy joyous day of  Fall Fair fun complete with a country/gospel band and juggling and  encounters with old friends and acquaintances and chats with grizzled farmers and a blacksmith whose accent could pass for Charlie Farquarson's ( the Parry Sound sage alter ego of comic Don Herron).  We saw tandem teams of draught horses striding in unison, and a mixed bag of horses and riders, experienced and not, racing around pails and back across the finish line.  I patted a docile bull and delighted in watching the geese drink by raising their heads to swallow.  I watched the sheep farmer spin wool and saw the firemen race each other up a spiral ladder.......   

                                                                             and so much more....

Of course, you probably had to be there.....

 I hope you got a vicarious taste of my lovely day.

All good wishes for magical days of your own.

Just call me the mushroom queen; well, not really, because I know nothing about wild mushrooms except that they are bountiful in the forest and along my walkway, and I am compelled to record them like these beauties:

3 little ladies in their scalloped lace petticoats

a bold and poisonous toadstool disguised as a jolly clown

an inverted umbrella collecting drops of water

All the photos in this entry were taken on September 13, a beautiful autumn Monday that unfolded in the strange otherworldliness that beautiful autumn days can do.

Despite growing out of bedrock this sturdy Maple continues to grow strong and steady in our backyard casting the wonderful long shadows of an autumn afternoon.  This picture doesn't show it, but it must be 40 feet high!  And what an ominous slant.... yet, still it holds firm.

Later that night we went out for a bite to eat and saw this amazing sunset across the parking lot that cast its red light across the lower clouds picking them out across a vast expanse.  Such are the gifts I received that day.

Let us be open

to what is good and right in our lives,

 that is bigger than us and our cares

 and release ourselves

 to the greater plan.



I'm ba-ack.  Thank-you for waiting for me.  I hope all is well today on our little planet and no one has had to suffer unduly.

I've been thinking a lot about limitations.  There are a few more than usual  in my acquaintance right  now  who are undergoing some kind of physical duress, and with it,  the emotional attachment to their physical pain and/or limitations that keeps them from doing or being what they would like.  Each of us,  regardless of our situations in life,  is limited in some or many ways by all kinds of things:  our bodies,  or as one friend calls them, "our earth suits",  are just one example.  This is inherent in being human.   I  find that when I trap myself in a way of thinking that is fearful and unimaginative,  I am most limited,  and flounder for a while until I remember that I am the author of my own script.

 "Where there is a will there is a way"  is one way of looking at ones problems or "challenges",   but I often find that orchestrating solutions is not always as satisfying as it is cracked up to be;  that with one horizon met,  so looms another,  sometimes more difficult one to achieve,  bringing up a whole new set of reactions.  As I watch the world speeding by from the  (for now)  safety of my country home,  I marvel at the complicated and stressful lives we are convinced are "normal" and "right",  and I think that sometimes withdrawing,  or better still  'being with'  rather than  'attacking'  the problem at hand is the better choice:  action through non-action. 


A few days ago I had the opportunity to view a short film that threw my life into perspective in the midst of busily washing the kitchen floor in preparation for a friend's visit.  I hope it will do the same for you

http://www.flixxy.com/hubble-ultra-deep-field-3d.htm

When in doubt of my own abilities to find creative solutions, I turn to old stand-bys that work as a catalyst to bring me into my centre, my source of truth and love.

This pen and ink and watercolour copy I made of Beatrix Potter's little mouse from The Tailor of Gloucester is an exercise in centring.  One is compelled to measure space and colour and tonal value, etc.  by eye,  an intensive business that exacts concentration and intention.  I  found myself so busy with it that I could  no longer see the whole picture til I came out the other side. 

All learning is incremental and forces a new horizon as we catch up to the old.  And of course, it wouldn't be so difficult at times if we weren't so consumed by our limitations.  I can only imagine that we are here to learn how to find our joy, and then share it with others.

 With patience,

most especially with oneself, 

 we can, 

 in time, 

 reach goals

we never thought

 possible.