Kathy's Backyard

Country Primitive Sheep

2012-02-16T08:37:00.000-05:00

We have a new flock in town! Country Primitive sheep are joining the Funky and the just plain Country on the country decor wall plaques with hooks page over at my Art by KC site. They have a lot to bleat about - how they can help you keep things tidy back at the farm with a place to hang those little things that cause clutter. Somewhere to hang your keys, your tea towels, or even those hanks of wool you have to roll up in a ball.

Country Primitive Sheep - Wall Plaque

A great gift idea for the crafty person who knits or loves yarn. You are sure to bring a breath of the country into someone's primitive country home with these wooly friends.

Music for February

2012-02-14T13:20:00.000-05:00

Keeping in the Celtic theme beautiful I have chosen songs by Loreens McKennitt the Celtic songstress as my February music choice. She has the most fabulous voice and her music played on a mix of ancient and modern instruments is amazing.
The Lady of Shallott:

Another treat: The Bonny Swans by Loreena McKennitt

Celtic Boar Hand Painted Box

2012-02-10T12:07:00.000-05:00


Celtic Boar Hand Painted Box

I have just finished a new Celtic boar hand painted box in a different style than my classic masculine boar jewelry box. This one has a wild boar in metallic gunmetal paint against a blue background on the lid. The sides have oak leaves and acorns - favourite food of the wild boar - on the sides. Front and back have gunmetal chain link detail.

A rugged looking box for the modern day warrior, maybe a valentine's gift for the hunter in your life! The designs are burned into the wood before painting. The inner base of the box is lined with blue felt and the outside has been given four coats of acrylic gloss lacquer.

Celtic Boar Hand Painted Box

The Boar was a symbol of strength to the Celtic people. Warriors respected it's fearlessness and often wore amulets of the boar as protection. The bristles were always defined in the Celtic symbols as it was believed that the boar bristles carried an innate strength.

If the wild boar symbolized victory and courage to the warrior, the Celtic hunter certainly respected the boar with its cunning and ferocious nature. Their presence, once common in the British Isles and Europe, must have made a walk in the woods really interesting in early Celtic times.

My classic wild boar Celtic symbol for strength box a favourite country style, masculine jewelry box can still be made to order from my Art by KC website.

Book for February

2012-02-07T07:50:00.007-05:00

I was browsing in the local library in the art section the other week and came across a little book called Art and Fear Observations On The Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. The back cover describes the work as An Artist's Survival Guide followed by the questions: What is your art really about? Where is it going? What stands in the way of getting there? All questions I think most artists have asked of themselves, if not openly certainly subconsciously.

The book touches on assumptions about making art that puts the responsibility for doing so in our own hands. It discusses fears surrounding art making and what reasons we give for either continuing and becoming artists or giving up; fear, uncertainty, about ourselves and others.

The authors state "art is made by ordinary people". Yes talent plays a part but it is the perseverance of working through our doubts and fears, hard work, to become the artist. One passage that touches a chord:

".... expectations based on the work itself are the most useful tool the artist possesses. What you need to know about the next piece is contained in the last piece. The place to learn about your materials is in the last use of your materials. The place to learn about your execution is in your execution." This passage goes on and is quite liberating in its simple statement about letting your work be your guide and letting go of your fear.

The Backyard

2012-02-02T20:42:00.000-05:00

Cardinal in the Backyard

This winter has been the mildest I have experienced since coming to Michigan a decade ago. We have had snow but not on the usual 'Michigan snow' scale. The snow shown here at the close of January, making the cardinal puff up his feathers to keep warm, has disappeared. The temperatures showing on the thermometer the past couple of days have more in common to the start of spring. In Michigan the mercury doesn't usually creep up much above freezing before April.

According to Punxsutawny Phil this could all change. In case you hadn't heard it's Groundhog Day and Phil (the groundhog) saw his own shadow indicating another six weeks of winter. So maybe it's not quite time to pack away the winter woolies, snow shoes, mittens and shovels. Nature will do its thing!

Painting

2012-01-27T14:45:00.001-05:00

Acrylic painting - most recent painting off the easel

Last year brought new responsibilities; volunteer work at a hospital, job as art instructor at one of the drop in studios and shifts to work at LAA gallery. But lots of new friends too! No resolutions again this year other than to make the most of opportunities, work hard and try to improve my painting. Oh, and get out from the laptop and exercise more.

Yes, I am still bad with the time management thing! But now I have committed to participate in an art association I'm hoping that will keep me on the straight and narrow. Having exhibited in three shows now I am taking a step back to find where I'm going. To reassess what I want to paint, what I love about art.

Brush time - yes more time at the easel. Keeping to a schedule - work and life. Why are we so good at managing our time when going out to work or doing stuff for others? Or is it just me? Even the housework takes precedence. Perhaps I should build a shed in the backyard to 'go out to work' away from distractions.

Music for January - The Magic Flute

2012-01-26T08:00:00.002-05:00

Before Christmas my daughter showed me a clip of Simon Keenlyside in the role of Papageno from Mozart's Magic Flute. The English baritone of Keenlyside is brilliant and his portrayal of Papageno so humorous. The bird (and it's operator) cracked me up. Just watch the clip below:

After that I started looking for more excerpts from the opera. From the same production (by David McVicar, 2003) I found a clip of German soprano Diana Damru. Here she is as the Queen of the Night:

Her voice - absolutely fabulous! The drama and expression - I was hooked.

The story behind the Magic Flute is a comic fantasy of a prince on a mission to rescue a beautiful maiden, daughter of the Queen of the Night, and his ordeals along the way. Well that's the short version! A tale of myth, goodness and evil, magic and wisdom you can read more about on the Royal Opera House website.

Well lucky me - my daughter gave me for Christmas the DVD of this production! It's conducted by Sir Colin Davis with the chorus and orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Music not just for January.

Paintings in Art Exhibition

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

As well as having my animal themed boxes in the Animal Kingdom Exhibition five of my paintings are on show. The exhibition is open until February 11 at Gallery 194 in Lapeer, Michigan. The gallery is a beautiful space that hosts several exhibitions a year for the Lapeer Art Association.

Animal Paintings

Some of my older paintings and some new. A mix of acrylic, pastel and oil pastel animal paintings. It's a veritable zoo in downtown Lapeer!

Book for January

2012-01-24T18:29:00.000-05:00

This month I have been reading Hard Truth by Nevada Barr another walk in the park with Anna Pigeon, National Parks Ranger. Barr doesn't disappoint with this chiller - enough to make you think twice about camping alone.

This time Anna moves to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado taking up the post of district ranger. Soon after her arrival two of three children who had gone missing from a religious retreat in the park reappear. Anna's investigations into their disappearance follows a plot with many twists and turns and evil that will keep you from putting the book down until the last page.

Animal Kingdom Art Exhibition

2012-01-20T14:48:00.000-05:00


Hand painted Boxes In Animal Kingdom Art Exhibition

January is nearly over and this is my first blog of the year. A busy January for me with the usual family and volunteer work, trying to get some painting time in and a new job!

This is my second month as art instructor at the Wednesday drop in studio at the Art Experience. A great artist community where you can go paint, draw or create, get advice, feedback - or not - it's up to you. After spending many happy hours painting there I am pleased they asked me to work the winter season.

Ice Bear Hand Painted Box

I am also participating in the Lapeer Artist Association Animal Kingdom Art Exhibition at Gallery 194. Since joining the LAA in the Fall last year I have met some talented artists and made new friends. The exhibition runs until February 11. So you still have time to view some great art - and take a little bit of nature home too; all the artwork is available for sale.

Book of the month - December

2011-12-27T11:23:00.000-05:00

December and a return to a favourite author of mine - Rita Mae Brown. I am well acquainted with her Mrs. Murphy murder mysteries written with her cat Sneaky Pie Brown. A lovely collection of stories I discovered in my local library when first over here in America.

On visiting the library before Christmas there was a new Rita Mae Brown novel Murder Unleashed, front and centre on the 'new book' shelves as I entered the building. I Picked it up and read that it was the second in Brown's new series. Off to the fiction section I went and found to my delight the first book, A Nose for Justice.

Needless to say I checked out both books for a winter read. A Nose for Justice is my choice for December. I am now on to Murder Unleashed and loving the two characters King and Baxter; a German Shepherd mix and a wire haired Dachshund respectively. The stories are played out in Nevada this time; the Sneaky Pie mysteries are set in Brown's home state of Virginia.

The human characters include Jeep Reed who had flown as a Women's Airforce service pilot during the second world war, her grand-niece Mags, a handsome young Deputy Sheriff. The plot centres around sabotage of the water supply and the finding of a hundred year old murder victim on Jeep's ranch.

Brown's stories give an insight to southern society and manners, relationships between characters both human and animal. The animals figure prominently in these mystery series and are intuitively written and developed. Enjoy.

December Music

2011-12-24T14:43:00.000-05:00

Celebrate the Winter Solctice, Yuletide Greetings and a Merry Christmas to all. Remember our animal companions this time of year and keep them inside the home and out of the cold. Be the voice for animals whose owners don't care.

Music for December includes some classic oldies:

My Windows made the news!

2011-11-27T14:34:00.000-05:00


American Birds Window

Jacob Hunsanger reporter with the Lapeer Area View newspaper visited Gallery 194 after the weekend of the Holiday Extravaganza Reception. Hunsanger interviewed veteran members of LAA Judy and Dean Elkins about the Holiday Extravaganza exhibit.

Hunsanger stopped to talk with me about my artwork and my English origins. You can read about my windows and my fellow artists' work online in the Lapeer Area View.

Animal Dreams Window

2011-11-17T10:23:00.000-05:00


Animal Dreams Window

After many hours of painting I finished the Animal Dreams window. Each pane of the reclaimed window had many layers of glass paint applied to reach the depth of colour I wanted. Each pane is a little story of our dreams of animals and animals dreaming.

This window and others can be viewed in the LAA Holiday Exhibition at Gallery 194 in Lapeer, Michigan. I am pleased to be welcomed as a new member of LAA (Lapeer Art Association) and have my art accepted for exhibit. The windows and examples of my decorative boxes along with my fine art paintings are on display until December 24. All work is available for purchase.

LAA Holiday Exhibition

Holiday Extravaganza Art Exhibit

2011-11-12T08:05:00.000-05:00

Some of my paintings in the Holiday exhibit

Today the Lapeer Artist Association is holding a Reception 5 - 7pm at Gallery 194 for their Holiday Extravaganza Art Exhibit. All are welcome so bring a friend and view some great art and hand crafted gifts by local artists and artisans.

The place to buy one of a kind Holiday Gifts that will be treasured in years to come. Leave the big box stores behind and support small business. Fine art, photographic art, ceramics, designer jewelry, fabric art, wood art and hand knitted gifts - too much to list.

Book of the month - November

2011-11-10T07:56:00.000-05:00

Keeping in theme with the eleventh day of the eleventh month I have been reading the non-fiction book What It is Like to Go to War by Karl Marlantes. The author at the age of 23 in 1969 went to war in the highland jungle of Vietnam. During a thirteen month tour he experienced intense combat; killing the enemy and watching his friends die.

When he started his tour as a young, inexperienced second lieutenant put in charge of forty Marines he had been well trained for combat. But it is years after the fact that Marlantes recounts a candid account of his role as warrior and how he has had to deal with those experiences over the last forty years.

In What It is Like to Go to War Marlantes gives his personal experience of combat, the ordeal it is and how we might better prepare our soldiers for war. He looks at how warriors of the past were prepared psychologically and spiritually as well as in physical combat. How we can help the modern day warrior come to terms with the ordeal experienced in combat and slipping back into society afterwards.

Marlantes shares readings from ancient cultures, such as Homer and more recent philosophy and literature about humankind and warfare. I enjoyed his recounting of the dialogue between Rommel's panzer commander Hans von Luck and a CO of the royal Dragoons in North Africa during WWII. Can this 'gentlemanly' conduct and fair play exist in today's modern warfare? Is the 'code' followed in our warriors today? I believe it does and that awareness of common humanity exists.

I agree with the author that we should teach our children how to respect both sides of human nature. The need for restraint and when necessary force is 'the right thing to do'. Returning warriors should be shown compassion and given full support, however long it takes, to come to terms with their experiences in war. Respect is needed by society not shunning or looking away from the warrior in the returning man or woman. After all they stood in for us.

November Music - Remembrance

2011-11-08T16:08:00.001-05:00

A decade ago, in Great Britain, I was listening to a concert by youth orchestras; one of which my son was playing in. One final piece they played was by Gustav Holst and we, the audience, all stood and sang the words of I vow to thee, my country. Holst had adapted part of Jupiter from his suite The Planets to the words of this poem by Cecil Spring-Rice.

I remember being filled with emotion for my country, proud to be British. A beautiful piece of music and words that stir the patriot in us all. Here standing on American soil, proud to call it my home, the music still stirs. Who would have thought then, that ten years later I would see my son deployed on a second tour of duty with the US Marines.

This month we remember our soldiers - both sides of the Atlantic. Here in the USA it is Veteran's Day and in the UK it is Remembrance Day on 11th November. A time of reflection, to remember and give thanks to all our service men and women.

Thank you to all who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their brothers in arms, their home, their country, a noble cause. Thank you to all those who will return and carry the burden of having taken up arms on our behalf. Thank you.

Monet - Water Lily Pond

2011-11-07T15:50:00.000-05:00

Last month I had the chance to take part in another of Carolyn's evening workshops at the Art Experience. Of course I attended not wanting to miss seeing artist friends from the last workshop and learning a little about the life of Claude Monet.

Once again Carolyn had prepared a template for us to play with using the medium of our choice while she talked about the artist. The painting Carolyn had chosen was Water Lily Pond, Harmony in Green (1899). My version - in oil pastel is shown above.

Monet lived at his house in Giverny for over forty years and was as passionate about gardening as painting. He had an oriental water garden built across from the traditional flower garden. Monet painted over five hundred works of art with the gardens as subject.

Looking at paintings and photos of the gardens at Giverny, all the colour and changing light one can appreciate the fascination with painting nature. After scribbling colour on my paper from a photo reference I long to paint plein air and capture some of the mood and light that surrounds. Art will do that to you - make one aspire to do better.

Music for Halloween

2011-10-31T09:38:00.000-04:00

My music choice for October has to be Saint-Saens Danse Macabre as it is the month of celebrating magic, witches and all things spooky! This opus is based on a poem by Henri Cazalis on an old French superstition.

The opening twelve notes, bell-like, toll out the twelve strokes of midnight setting the scene. Enter the dissonant notes of the violin as Death leads the dance. The music carries you forward pushing and pulling you on. Chilling your very bones until the cock crows Night flees and skeletons return to their graves as the sun rises.

After all that exercise and excitement here is another piece by Saint-Saens from his celebrated music suite of fourteen movements; Le cygne (The swan) from The Carnival of the Animals.

A beautiful piece to calm your jangled nerves; an early recording of the celebrated Pablo Pascals and old silent film footage of Anna Pawlowa dancing from "The Dying Swan".

Book for October

2011-10-29T12:14:00.000-04:00

This month found me following the further adventures of Anna Pigeon the National Park Service ranger in Nevada Barr's "Blind Decent". "A thrilling subterranean adventure in the underground caverns of Lechuguilla, 'a monster man-eating cave in New Mexico's Carlsbad Caverns." to quote the description on the novel's jacket.

Thrilling adventure for Anna is the right description. Overcoming her claustrophobia Anna joins a rescue team to save her friend Frieda Dierkz. Barr fills her narrative with believable characters and stunning descriptions of an underground world.

Anna arrives at Frieda's side to hear her friend whisper the fall was no accident. The adventure is just beginning as we encounter not just the dark of the underground but the dark side of the human psyche. Good reading for a long autumn evening.

Art by Istvan Sandori

2011-10-06T13:48:00.000-04:00

I have long been thinking of painting my son again (subject of a previous diptych) in his role as a US Marine. Photos of him in the desert wearing his desert cammos, the sand, dust and military vehicles brought me back to the idea of incorporating images or symbols in the painting. Not using transparencies this time but painting images half in and out of the desert/canvas. A figure emerging from the desert.

A little while ago while browsing art on various websites I came across the work of Istvan Sandori for the first time. Talk about coming out of the canvas. His work is brilliant and speaks powerfully by what he says and leaves to the mind to interpret. See for yourself:

Fall Color Fest - Art Show Michigan

2011-09-28T07:45:00.000-04:00

Autumn is truly here and the leaves are falling. Want to bring some of that colour indoors to warm up your home when the trees are bare? Then visit the LAA Fall Color Fest where you can see and buy original paintings and pottery by local artists from Lapeer and surrounding areas in Michigan.

Come and visit this free exhibition and warm yourself with a veritable cornucopia of colour that the LAA artists have painted and created to share with the community. As a proud member of the Lapeer Art Association I can assure you that you are in for a treat - no tricks! See you there.

Music for September - Steeleye Span

2011-09-27T07:08:00.000-04:00

Last month I mentioned my being a fan of Steeleye Span and thought I would choose a couple of favourites - hard to do as I think they are all favourites! This one Fighting for Strangers by Steeleye Span off their Rocket Cottage Album is best heard stereo turned up! The lyrics are as poignant today as any day of battle in history.

Another great track from Steeleye Span's Below the Salt album is Royal Forester:

Enjoy these blasts from the past that never grow old.

Music loving deer!

2011-09-26T09:01:00.001-04:00

Celtic Stag - decorative boxes

The early Celts thought the deer to be the oldest animal and the stag was linked to Cerunnos, horned god of all animals. Cerunnos was also Mother Earth's consort and god of hunting and fertility. A messenger and guide to and from the underworld.

These boxes are decorated with stags drawn with a Celtic influence, burned and glazes of colour added allowing the natural wood grain to show. Raspberries decorate the side. Centuries ago raspberries were called hind-berries in the north of England; so named after the female deer that grazed on the woodland raspberries.

Well my backyard has been filled with deer the past month or so. No horned "gods" but plenty of spotted fawns and moms wandering in and out. They don't seem too scared but watch carefully as I come in and out the car to the garage door. No raspberries to munch but the crab apple tree is a veritable deer magnet!

One day whilst painting downstairs in the family room, classical music blaring out through the open window at the back of the house, I turned around from my easel to see a deer watching me paint. I thought the music would have scared it off. Obviously a deer of good taste - likes Vivaldi and Mendelssohn! Well the deer stayed a good few minutes after, perhaps she/he would like a portrait painted (smile).

Book for September

2011-09-20T15:26:00.000-04:00


Curl up with a good mystery!

This month my choice is a good mystery story by one of the best writers of the genre. The author Nevada Barr writes really good characters and plots in her Anna Pigeon mysteries. Anna Pigeon is a national parks ranger with a talent for sniffing out danger and solving murder cases in parks across America.

My choice for book of the month is Ill Wind by Nevada Barr. This story finds Anna Pigeon, parks ranger, newly assigned to Mesa Verde National Park. Stories of the Old Ones, restless spirits of the Anasazi, believed to haunt their homes they disappeared from eight hundred years before are blamed by some for strange happenings.

Illness, death and murder occur in the Mesa Verde and Anna is on the trail of the humans behind theses tragedies.She has some ghosts from her own past to lay to rest while solving the very real and dangerous mystery at the Colorado park. Nevada Barr writes full and interesting characters that will leave you wanting to read more stories about Anna Pigeon national parks ranger.

Autumn - a time for reflection

2011-09-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

Fruits of Fall

I love this time of year when summer fades and the warm glow of autumn is upon us. Especially since coming to America I am very glad to say goodbye to the heat and humidity. The fall colours and the golden light that bathes the landscape is just so beautiful for the artist to ponder on and paint. Nature's rich palette to explore and play with, paint your world gorgeous!

The children are back at school and parents have more time for pursuits other than entertaining the children! The time for enterprise and hard work - or that's how I see it. If not studying in college or other educational institutions it is a time for looking where you have been, how far and what you want for the rest of the year and into the next. Philosophically as well as physically.

I always feel excited when September arrives as crisp mornings and cool nights invigorate. A feeling of getting down to work and enterprise. An echo of times when we were closely attuned to nature and work, culminating in the harvest necessary to survive winter perhaps? Or the conditioning of years of back to school in autumn! Whatever, here's to a golden autumn, a time of achievement and reflection of all we are grateful for.

End of August Summer Sale

2011-08-17T11:35:00.000-04:00

Celebrate the last days of August by saving on your Christmas gift shopping. Yes that darker in the mornings, cooler in the evenings feeling is creeping up on us. Soon the schools will be back for the Autumn term.

Over at Art by KC the sheep are already in their wooly coats - at a Summer Sale Price you will like! Lots of other hand painted gift ideas for the Holidays amongst the pages. New items, note cards, prints and more coming soon in the Fall. Want something special hand crafting? Contact Kathy for your custom gifts early!

Stargazer Lily - Oil Pastel Painting

2011-08-16T20:57:00.000-04:00


Stargazer Lily - Oil Pastel Painting

Well I didn't work with oil paints on the unfinished vase of flowers last open studio. I started an oil pastel painting instead of a subject I have wanted to paint for a while; a close up of a stargazer lily. I used photos of a lily in my garden as my source. Photos of the lily my eldest son gave me on my birthday a few years back.

Stargazers are beautiful and exotic looking standing tall in the flower bed. The deep pink of the petals is not as deep in this photo as in the actual painting; or the green as bright. I took the photo in failing light and will have to retake photos to print from the original.

But I wasn't hanging around in the garden too long this evening as the mosquitoes attacked as soon as I stepped outside! It was all I could do to set up the easel, snap off a quick photo and run back inside slapping off the blood thirsty critters.

Well I got to use my oil pastels for the first time in a long while. Itching to do a close up of an Iris now! Must be the year of the flower for me as I have painted a few flower pictures in different media, usually I paint animals and landscapes. For oil painting class this week we are to choose our own subject to paint. Decisions, decisions .......

Music for August - Fleet Foxes

2011-08-12T09:07:00.001-04:00

Heard Fleet Foxes first a few months ago, introduced to them by my daughter. Haven't heard much on the folk scene for a long time. I am a die hard fan of Steeleye Span and still think nobody can touch them for original handling of early folk songs and their own eclectic mix - and the wonderful voice of Maddy Prior of course.

Having said that I heard Fleet Foxes White Winter Hymnal and was soon hooked. The track is from their debut album, the tune is so catchy it is hard to get it out of one's head. So be warned you will have this playing in the background for quite a while! But the beauty of this group's sound is their voices, their harmonies are brilliant.

Here is another track from their first album He doesn't Know Why. Go listen to the rest; tracks like Oliver James and Your Protector are just too good not to listen to.

This album takes you to another place - yes this was the other album I painted to over the holiday weekend along with Flogging Molly. I am sure after this you will want to hear Fleet Foxes second album Helplessness Blues.

Irises - Pastel Painting

2011-08-10T09:54:00.000-04:00

Irises - Pastel

Last week at the Art Experience during open studio I reacquainted myself with pastels. It's been a long time since I have done any pastel works and I do love the softness, the result is worth the mess I usually get into. I don't blend colour with my fingers, use only the pastel, but my hands end up covered - sometimes my face and clothes if I forget not to touch before washing.

Pastels are a great medium for travelling with, no brushes or water to spill, just remember some hand wipes if you don't want to colour the world. Second thoughts, colouring your world is a great idea - just keep it on the paper I think Mother Nature does a great job on her own!

The painting is on a green Daler Rowney 12 x 9 ins pastel paper, cool. My source was a photo taken of irises in my garden. A great warm up to the day followed by dinner with my artist friends before oil painting class. Last week we started our second oil painting, a seascape. The first, a still life of a vase of flowers, we were to finish at home and show tonight at start of class.

Oh dear, my flowers are still unfinished so guess what I will be painting during open studio this week - no it wasn't a question, smile. At least I will have time to paint which is great and painting with friends is a double bonus. Sharing and critiquing ideas always helps the creativity. Try it sometime, find a local group that meets to do art or crafts. Or if you have a space you can use - start your own artists community.

Dog Days of August

2011-08-05T13:05:00.000-04:00

Welsh Border Collie Leash Holder

The Dog Days of August are here! Well for some dogs .......... after the demise of the Greyhound the German Shepherd unfortunately met with an accident too. So I have just seven of these whimsical dog leash holders available at the moment on my website.

Chocolate Labrador Leash Holder

To view the other dog breeds available follow the paw prints to my dog leash holders page before they all go walkies!

Wire Haired Fox Terrier

Only one of each available as shown on the website. The dogs are crafted from salt dough and hand painted. Each plaque is sealed with a UV resistant acrylic lacquer.

Bookof the month - August

2011-08-03T10:36:00.000-04:00

Find a shady spot out of the sun and open a good book!

The book I am reading this month is by an author I haven't come across before; the book is The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff. A book of other or parallel worlds existing side by side with the everyday. The story is about a Family who work enchantments, or charms if you will, to influence the events around them.

The Enchantment Emporium starts with the Gale Clan in southern Ontario where Alysha receives a letter from her missing grandmother telling her if she has received the letter then her grandmother is dead. Also Alysha reads she has inherited her grandmother's store in Calgary.

The Gale clan is run by the "Aunties", who try to run the cousins lives too much in the opinion of Alysha, so she is ready to honor her grandmother's last wish and head out to Calgary to run her store and serve the community. She also hopes to solve the mystery of her grandmother's disappearance.

When she arrives in Calgary she finds the store is a junk shop of sorts with a lot more going on than is apparent on the surface. Also the community she will be serving is the fey community. Alysha finds herself embroiled in events of something happening in Calgary involving the magical community and wondering whether she will find out what happened to her grandmother.

What happens next I will leave you to find out with me as I start chapter six. So far the book is a light read with interesting characters to whisk you away to your midsummer adventure - if not a midsummer dream. Happy reading!

What are the Dog Days of Summer?

2011-07-28T16:49:00.000-04:00

The leg fell off my Greyhound !*? No I haven't another four legged companion - it was the leg off my salt dough Greyhound. I suppose I had better explain. I am making decorative plaques with dogs on to celebrate the "Dog Days of August". New country primitive gifts that will be available at Art by KC August for you to decorate your country, dog loving home! They come with a hook to hang a dog's leash or keys on.

Anyway, the Greyhounds leg fell off! Which was quite a blow after the time taken to model it, dry it in the oven - for hours - and paint the base coats. It did have rather fine legs (well greyhounds do) and I think the humidity in the house, the AC having packed in over a week ago, all contributed to its demise. If you love greyhounds take a look at this custom box I hand crafted.

Back to the title - what are the Dog Days of Summer? I wasn't sure but I kept seeing events, dog shows, sales, etc. alluding to the phrase. I thought it might have some basis in history or myth. Apparently, I found out, it does refer to the "Dog Star", Sirius, in conjunction with the Sun during the hottest part of the summer. The ancient Egyptians and Romans called the period around the conjunction, twenty days before and after the "Dog Days of Summer".

Sirius is the brightest star we see in the night sky and the ancients believed, as it rose and set with the sun at this time, it added heat to the earth. The constellations today are not in the same place as the ancients saw them. Due to gradual drifting of the constellations over time the Dog Days now occur around July 3rd to August 11th.

So I have just eight Dog Plaques left to finish; a Golden Retriever, an Old English Sheepdog, a Dachshund, A Wire Fox Terrier, a Border Collie, a German Shepherd (of course), a Labrador and a Scottish Terrier. They make fun gifts for the dog lover who can't own a real one at the moment. One good note to end on; my DH fixed the AC just in time for the drying and lacquering stage!

German Shepherd Portrait - Charlie.

2011-07-27T09:27:00.000-04:00

German Shepherd Portrait - Charlie

Well I have finally laid the brushes aside. nearly four months after starting this German Shepherd portrait. But then it wasn't just any dog portrait - it was a painting of Charlie. I did go for stretches of two and three weeks of putting his painting aside as I had other works to finish in the time left between family and other life commitments we all have.

I have gone as far as I can with this painting and I will be painting Charlie again, sometime fairly soon I think. Next time without all the angst over missing my best friend and the inner critic that was far too present! Every painting is a step on the journey. If we are fortunate we keep on learning and perhaps bring pleasure to others with our art.

If you have ever owned a German Shepherd (we have had a few) you will know why it is so hard to say goodbye. You don't own them, they are best friend, guardian, faithful, fearless and true. Part of the family and big soft puppy all at the same time.

Enjoy today, don't stop learning, treasure your friends and thanks for stopping by.

How to stay cool ! Go underground?

2011-07-25T17:01:00.006-04:00


Chipmunk in shady backyard

I don't know how you are coping with the heat this summer, but here in Michigan we have been experiencing temperatures in the high 90s and one day it topped 100F with a heat index of 110F. I bet nobody across the Pond would think I would ever miss a British summer! No it doesn't rain all the time in England but there is some pay back to be "In England's green and pleasant Land" as Blake so eloquently put it.

Here my backyard is rather parched to say the least. My hopes for a wildflower garden seem to have gone by the wayside, excuse the pun. I planted a large amount of wildflower seeds, native to Michigan, over an area where the lawn doesn't do too well. I also planted another truck load of chamomile seeds in the hope of starting a chamomile lawn - a little bit of England - not a one!

I did have some little blue flowers come up along with the odd white or pink one. Only to have a groundhog came along and bite the heads off of them. One or two survive.

In one shady part of the backyard I came across the chipmunk in the photo at the top of the post. I caught him on camera when he came out from the bushes to scout the terrain from atop a shady rock. He seems to have fared better in the heatwave than our family - underground is obviously the place to live this time of year.

The air conditioner gave up the ghost last week just in time for the really hot and sticky weather here. I must say not much got done in the way of housework. I tried staying in the lower level of the house to do some painting and crafting. But most of the time it was just too hot for this Anglo Saxon and it was like living in a sauna.

At least we had power; some unfortunate people in SE Michigan suffered from power outages. No access to ice for drinks, food gone off in freezers and nothing to power fans with let alone AC.

Well whatever the temperature where you are stay cool! Don't forget your companion animals this time of year. They shouldn't be outside without shelter and, shade and an adequate supply of water. They are better inside with us. My old cat Willow has been doing a good impersonation of a fur rug usually next to me downstairs

I don't need to tell you pet lovers not to leave your cats, dogs or any animal in the a car even for five minutes or less. But If you do see an animal left in a vehicle call the police and/or animal organisation. Don't hesitate to save a life. Stay cool!

Anniversary of first Moon Landing - Apollo 11

2011-07-20T11:05:00.000-04:00

Image source from Free Images

This day 42 years ago man first set foot on the Moon. I think everyone must know the words uttered by Neil Armstrong as he became the first man to walk on the moon's surface: "That's one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind." In later interviews Armstrong said that the words were meant to honour the thousands of individuals that helped make the lunar landing possible and space program possible.

Command Module Pilot Michael Collins remained on the command service module while Lunar module Pilot Buzz Aldrin and Armstrong left for the moon's surface in the "Eagle". Armstrong and Aldrin spent a total of 21 hours and 36 minutes on the lunar surface.They explored the lunar surface, took photographs, collected samples, deployed scientific experiments and deployed TV cameras for broadcast back to Earth.

"Here men from the planet earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969 A.D. We came in peace for all mankind." Are the words on the plaque left by the astronauts of Apollo 11 on that historic day. you can find out more about the Apollo 11 mission on the NASA website.

Here is a video of that first Moon landing:

If you are interested in why we should return to the Moon Check out the discussion at NASA.

Book for July - Asimov! Second Foundation

2011-07-15T12:03:00.000-04:00

Issac Asimov - Robot and Foundation series

Asimov, Asimov and more Asimov! What can I say? he's one of the best, if not the best, science fiction writers of all time. I have read and re-read his books over the years and always found it easy to step into his worlds and find adventure and science that is fascinating and understandable. No cheap soap opera in the sky (as so many books calling themselves sci-fi are) from the master's pen.

Over the last couple of months I have read the Robot series (again) and re-aquainted myself with the Foundation series. If you have seen the film I, Robot starring Will Smith You owe it to yourself to read Asimov's Robot series about the first age of space exploration and robots with positronic brains. The film was good and had smashing special effects but it doesn't go where Asimov leads your imagination in his writing; a nice taster though!

My pick for July is Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov. Reading the Foundation series I found Foundation and Empire a bit of a slow read that picked up near the end, worth the effort, moved on to Second Foundation. The book is actually two novellas, detailing the search for the Second Foundation continuing from the previous two in the series.

The story follows the plan a scientist of the First Empire, Hari Seldon, devised using the mathematics of psychohistory. It involved the setting up of two Foundations at 'opposite ends' of the galaxy. The First Foundation was set up on Terminus in full public knowledge. The Second was set up in a secret location to guard the laws of psychohistory, which remain valid as long as they are not used to influence events.

Seldon's plan to shorten the period of chaos for mankind following the predicted collapse of the Empire was disrupted by the emergence of an unpredicted single individual; a mutant called the Mule. The Second Foundation continues the story of the Mule and his search for the location of the Second Foundation. The second part of the book introduces a fourteen year old girl Arcadia Darell and the search renewed by the First Foundation for the Second.

Confused? Sorry but I am not going to spill the plot. Second Foundation is full of twists and turns that you will enjoy reading for the first time. Definitely a keeper from the master storyteller!

Progress on Charlie's Portrait

2011-07-08T17:27:00.002-04:00

Charlie's portrait - nearly finished!

It was only when looking back through my blog posts I realised that I started painting Charlie way back in April. Here I am three months later and his portrait has still to be finished. Admittedly I did put it aside for a couple of weeks at a time between painting sessions.

Last week I changed his nose position again - his nostrils actually. I was quite pleased with the effect and had a couple of happy sessions over the holiday weekend. I worked on surrounding fur on face and neck, his ears and back to the nose. I started to feel I was making progress.

I enjoyed the painting for once, so much had been frustrating and holding me back. I think because I miss Charlie so much and he is an emotive subject. Oh, well this week I will be working on his cheek bones again. I don't know whether I will ever be satisfied with this portrait. But I at least got to a stage where I could see the end.

There is a little more work to do and then I think I can put it aside. Finished as far as this version goes. Yes, I will be painting Charlie again, only more relaxed next time and without all the angst. Or I hope I've got that out of my system - just the internal art critic to quiet!

July Music - Flogging Molly

2011-07-05T16:11:00.000-04:00

What to choose by Flogging Molly? I loved their albums Whiskey On A Sunday and Alive Behind The Green Door. They just keep getting better as they mature. They have a sound you can't resist and want to tap your feet or dance to. Their lyrics full of political and social comment are set to an original mix of traditional Irish and modern. Marrying Celtic instruments with guitar, punk, blues and rock that can only be Flogging Molly.

This month I am choosing their album Float as it accompanied me while painting over the holiday weekend and is stuck in my head! The title track:

followed by Punch Drunk Grinning Soul :

Hard to choose which tracks on this album as all are equally infectious.

Starry, Starry Nights

2011-06-29T11:17:00.000-04:00

Oil Pastel Van Gogh exercise

Starry, starry Nights ...... was the sound that greeted me last night as I walked into the Art Experience studio. Don McLean's Vincent from 1971 was playing in the background. I had arrived to join other eager students at a Van Gogh workshop presented by accomplished artist Carolyn Elston-Masnari.

What a delightful way to spend a beautiful summer's evening. The stars weren't out yet, but sunshine poured through the large windows of the studio. Perfect light for the activity to follow. Carolyn spoke to us some of the history surrounding the life of Vincent Van Gogh; his family, work , his illness and painting.

We learned that all his beautiful work was created in ten short years; two of those he dedicated to just drawing, so in eight years Van Gogh painted all his masterpieces that we enjoy today. Oh, and he cut off his ear lobe not his whole ear.

While Carolyn read excerpts from the letters Vincent wrote to his younger brother Theo we had some fun painting! Carolyn had prepared a template of Starry Night one of Vincent's more well known paintings for us to play with using coloured pencil, chalk or oil pastels. You can see my version in oil pastel at the top of this post.

It Is not too late to enrol in the Van Gogh and Matisse classes at the Art Experience starting next month. Where you will learn some history and complete two paintings bases on the style and technique of the artists. Visit the link for further details.

Tonight there is a free workshop: Do you want to paint in oils? More about that later! If you want to see Vincent Van Gogh's famed Starry Night follow the link and find out about his beautiful painting.

Amazing Artists

2011-06-28T15:43:00.000-04:00

Looking on the net today I went from a video article on Empty Easel to other videos on You Tube. From there I found a great site Painting Instruction that is chock full of e-learning videos for artists and people who like to create art. Definitely a site I will be revisiting as there are too many interesting articles to take in at one sitting.

One video I did watch I just had to share. It is about Wendy Artin an American watercolorist in Rome filmed in 2002. Her work is beautiful, see for yourself:

Glass Tealight Candle Holders

2011-06-24T08:44:00.000-04:00

Butterfly Tealight Candle Holder

Some more glass painting but on a smaller scale this time! A simple Butterfly Tealight Candle Holder painted with transparent colour and black "leading" with the look of stained glass. Below is a Dragonfly Tealight Candle Holder with silver "leading". Both shine with jewel-like colour when lit from within by a tealight.

Dragonfly Tealight Candle Holder

A touch of summer, the perfect accent to the country primitive home. A hand painted gift for the country primitive lover or to treat yourself. Available for purchase over at my site Art by KC now.

Polar Bears - Acrylic Painting

2011-06-22T11:49:00.000-04:00

Polar Bears - Acrylic Painting

Here in SE Michigan there are still rural areas not yet swallowed by the suburbs creeping outward from the cities. One such town, Ortonville, has a Farmer's Market June through September and on Friday nights they hold the Beets, Beats and Eats festival where you can listen to local musicians, sample local food, learn about sustainable living, recycling and helping the community. Or buy from local vendors, crafters and artists.

For the last five years the event has kicked off with an Art Contest organised by Portia Mahoney the owner of Art of Life in the centre of downtown Ortonville. Local artists may enter 2 dimensional art including drawing, painting and mixed media. I am delighted to say my painting of Polar Bears won second place in the adult category. You can see my acrylic painting (12x16ins on canvas) at the top of this post. I will have some note cards printed from the original available for purchase on my website in time for the "snowy season" here in Michigan.

Country Decor - Wall Plaques

2011-06-20T05:00:00.022-04:00


Country Primitive Wall Plaque

I love the English countryside and designing hand made gifts. So this weekend combining the two I made a country primitive wall plaque with some wooly sheep. I made one of these once for my friend's cottage back in the English village I used to live in. She was an avid spinner and knitter so she loved having a sheep wall plaque to hang her tea towels on.

Well these country sheep are quite refined "wouldn't I knit up a nice Aran Jumper" kind of wooly sheep. Not like their "outa the pen and over the drystone wall" BAAAAD sheep cousins below! Dyed in the wool sheep? Ha!

Funky Sheep Wall Plaque

If you would like some FUNctional art and are into a fun country home look, then pop over to my website for these country decor - wall plaques No room back at the farm? They make a great gift idea for that country primitive lover in your life. But hurry there is only one of each ready to ship!

Different Strokes - exploring brushstrokes in painting

2011-06-16T08:06:00.001-04:00


Acrylic Painting on Canvas

Every month the acrylic group on Wet Canvas has a "Different Strokes" event where one source photo image is given at the beginning of the month. Participants paints the source image using acrylic paint and everyone uploads their painting on the same day so not to influence each other; hence the different strokes.

I liked the source image for May which showed a girl standing on some wasteland / rural site looking down at a cityscape. I was struck by the scene of lots of little boxes (buildings) off in the distance and decided to experiment with painting the whole scene in "squares". Playing about with brushstrokes - expanding from my chasing puddles and brushstrokes used on my spooky church.

I like to explore different styles; have painted pointillism in water colour years ago. But this is not a "square pointillism", not in the sense of colour mixing on the page. But an experiment in style of brushstrokes, in the way that artists might have a distinctive wavy or short signature brushstroke. In short - a bit of fun.

I used a flat brush and used the "squareness" of its shape to paint with. Yes, I know the neck of the guitar looks a little long, but that's how I intended it. The squares or buildings receding into the distance don't show up to well in the photo. but you should get the idea of man made development covering the landscape off into the distance.

Gift Idea for Dad or the Man in your life

2011-06-15T09:32:00.000-04:00


Celtic Stag Jewelry Box

Men are notoriously hard to buy gifts for - or they are in our family! After all the expensive tools, electronic gadgets, ties and shirts - do they really need (or want) more socks?! What other gift ideas are there? Jewelry, watches, cufflinks - some men still do wear them. Or you don't have the cash for that big box item but would like something unique, hand crafted?

Well why not a masculine jewelry box to keep all those stray cufflinks together and off the dresser? Or a decorative box to keep paper clips, postage stamps stylishly and safely in. Something that would look just as good on his home or office desk makes a great gift idea.

Celtic Bull Wooden Jewelry Box

Whatever the occasion you need a gift idea for, check out my website for inexpensive hand crafted gifts. Original designs hand painted on wooden boxes and more. Like country home decor and Celtic tales? Then visit Art by KC today.

Books for May and June

2011-06-13T03:46:00.001-04:00

Good Books!

In May I reacquainted myself with an old friend - Agatha Raisin. In case you're wondering, Agatha is the endearing character in the Agatha Raisin Mysteries from the pen of M.C. Beaton. I have read most of the stories but for some reason had missed the first two in the series. The Quiche of Death and The Vicious Vet introduce us to Agatha and her retirement from her successful London business to a quiet country cottage in the Cotswolds. Agatha soon becomes embroiled in a murder and sets about trying to solve the case.

Agatha is very much a believable character full of human foibles and eccentricities. A middle aged woman, wealthy by her own hard work, full of insecurities about age but with an indomitable spirit. One can't help sympathise and admire her personality. The stories contain good, amusing plots and narrative on village life and characters. M.C. Beaton is also the author of the Hamish Macbeth books.

The beginning of this month saw me turning the pages of an old classic; Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. A world set in the future where humans are genetically engineered to fit their "station in life" and suitably dosed with pharmaceuticals to keep any undesirable emotions or behaviour in check.

A Utopian society where everyone is happy with their lot and have "soma" to make sure no uncomfortable feelings intrude on happiness. An interesting if chilling story written in 1932 that doesn't seem to have lost it's thought provoking message over time. I won't spoil the story by revealing the plot but let you discover Huxley's Brave New World for yourself.

Spooky Church Painting

2011-06-10T10:07:00.001-04:00

Spooky Church - water colour painting

A few weeks ago I painted this church from a Wet Canvas WDE in water colours. The paper I used was from a 9x12ins Canson Acrylic paper pad. A budget paper the cover states is for use with acrylic, water colour and other wet techniques.

Well I tried to get the paint on there! The surface of the paper did have a plastic-feel to it and the paint just seemed to sit in puddles on the surface. I tried painting my "normal" brushstrokes but ended up splashing about in puddles of colour.

I carried on and when the paint had dried I added pen and ink. All in all I liked the effect caught in the sky and sometimes our mistakes surprise us! Who knows I may want to utilise the effect again. Chasing pigment, splashing with a brush is rather fun when you get over the frustration of it not behaving as you thought it would!

Music for June

2011-06-03T10:30:00.001-04:00

I have my son Joe to thank for hearing this month's choice as he posted it on his Facebook page. It's a piece by Bjork called Possibly Maybe. I haven't listened to her in ages and this was a great start to my day - thanks Joe!

Or you may prefer live at the Royal Opera House

I love Bjork's music and style - truly unique. I watched a TV documentary on her life and music back in Blighty eons ago, really interesting, would love to watch it again.

Drawing Class Stew!

2011-05-18T12:03:00.002-04:00

Drawing Class Stew!

It's been a while since I shared a recipe - or made a stew but it is May after all. One would think salad this time of year, but the temperature yesterday and the previous couple of days dropped to "~~Michigan~~ winter in May". In the morning I had participated in a drawing class at the Art Experience as I really want to brush up my drawing skills. I don't think you can ever stop learning (as long as you have a pulse) and had been looking forward to seeing things from a different viewpoint. I wasn't disappointed - had a couple of eureka moments - thanks Judy!

Anyway I thought a nice warming dish for dinner would round off the day nicely and cheer up the rest of the family bemoaning the disappearance of last weeks sun when we topped 82F. I raided the fridge and store cupboard for ideas and ingredients that wouldn't involve standing in the kitchen for hours. I came up with the following vegetarian recipe and named it after Judy's class, a nice finish to a productive day.

Ingredients: 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1 large onion, chopped; 3 large cloves garlic; 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely chopped; 1 inch root ginger, peeled and finely chopped; 2 medium carrots, scraped and cut into rings; 3-4oz mushrooms, chopped into chunks; 1-1.5 cups marinara sauce; 0.5 cup water; 1-2 tablespoons Tamari;15oz can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained; 8oz cubed seitan; 2 teaspoons dried thyme; couple large pinches mace; fresh ground black pepper.

Method: In casserole dish* gently fry onions, jalapeno, ginger in oil 5+ minutes until golden. Add carrots, mushrooms and garlic continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so. Add sauce, water, Tamari, mace, thyme, cannellini beans and season with black pepper. Bring gently to boil then simmer for about 1 hour on top of stove. Then add seitan and place in oven** for 20 minutes at 350F.

* Casserole dish that is safe on top of stove and in oven.
** I turned the heat off and left for short while before putting in oven with some jacket potatoes for the last 20 minutes of their baking time.
The liquid ingredients are approximate. I used some left over marinara sauce from a previous dish. This recipe is more about the "art" of cooking not an exact science; grin. You could use your own soaked and cooked cannellini beans, I was looking for speed!

The dish was tasty and the ginger gave a nice warming background note. The resident carnivore even considered second helpings. So a hit with vegetarians and meat eaters. Quick, simple, good inexpensive protein and satisfying. Would go well with pasta, your favourite grain or hunks of fresh crusty bread. Hope you enjoy.

How to paint a Hibiscus Flower - Mixed Media Art

2011-05-13T16:02:00.001-04:00


Painting of Hibiscus Flower - Mixed Media

The inspiration for this mixed media painting of a hibiscus flower came from a beautiful photo in last week's WDE on Wet Canvas. The flower petals reminded me of tissue paper and then I thought "Could I do a painting using tissue paper for petals?" Flowers are not my usual subject and I have always wanted to try mixed media.

I think my attempt turned out fine and I am looking forward to "mixing it up" with other paintings. I have outlined my steps to the finished painting below. So join me below in How to paint a hibiscus flower using mixed media and try your hand at your own flower painting; maybe from a photo or a flower from your backyard.

Sketch in chalk on canvas board

First step I assembled all my materials: A canvas board 14x18 (you can use any size you want); photo (or flower); chalk for sketch; white tissue paper; acrylic matte medium (for fixing paper to board); brushes; acrylic paints; water (rinsing brushes); good idea to protect work surface with plastic tablecloth/paper.

I sketched the outline of my flower, leaves and pot rim. I used yellow chalk in preference to charcoal; bright enough to see but would not leave black marks showing. I then brushed a flower petal shape with the matte medium and tore pieces of tissue paper in roughly-round shapes and placed them on the board. I kept layering the tissue paper and manipulating it into creases echoing the hibiscus petals in my source image adding more medium as needed.

Tissue paper petals in place!

I built up the tissue petals in order from back to front as positioned on the real flower. Tissue overhung the canvas edge but I left it so while still wet and started painting the background in with acrylic paints.

First stage of background painting

After about two hours I had the first layer of colour on the flower pot rim and background behind leaves. At this stage I left the medium to dry overnight. It perhaps doesn't take that long - just a couple of hours - but it was late!

First layer of colour on hibiscus flower

When the tissue paper was completely dry I trimmed off the excess paper from the edge of the canvas board and recommenced painting. Above you can see the first layers of colour on the leaves and flower itself.

Nearly finished before adding reproductive parts of flower

Quite a few layers of colour later and I am beginning to see the flower develop how I want it. I then took more tissue paper and shaped it into long pieces, round balls and triangular pads to represent the stamen, style,stigma, etc. these I fixed in place with more matte medium.

When dry I painted the central parts of the hibiscus flower and details in and around them and added final touches to the petals. The final painting you can see at the top of this post. Hope you enjoy it, more so I hope you try mixed media for yourself!

The painting took another 4+ hours (not including drying times) after 2 hour stage. Colors used: Naphthol Crimson, Alizarin Crimson, Phalocyanine Green, Ultramarine Blue, Cadmium Yellow (med), Titanium White. After a couple of days I sealed the entire painting with acrylic gloss medium. I used an inexpensive decorators bristle brush for applying medium - an old lid to decant medium into for application; I'm forever trying to recycle and re-use. A dollar store plastic table cloth protected my dining table and satisfied my aim for economy - more money for paint!

Music for May - Seth Davey/ Whiskey on a Sunday

2011-05-10T10:39:00.001-04:00

The other day in a phone conversation with my sister who lives in the UK, talking about family origins in Liverpool our home town, I brought up the subject of Seth Davey. It was a song I remember my Dad singing as he worked about the garden and house. I always assumed it was about an Irish man; as our family origins (and half of most Liverpudlians - smile) on our father's side reach back to the Emerald Isle. But Seth Davey was a real person living in Liverpool who died around 1905.

Apparently, my sister informed me, she had heard Seth Davey used to sit outside the Bevington Bush pub in the Scotland Road area of Liverpool in the late 19th century. Seth Davey was a Jamaican, ex-slave who had dolls that he used to dance on an old wooden board to entertain the local children. My sister had heard the song sung by the Spinners and I vaguely remember the record playing. I couldn't find a recording of the Spinners for you but found a version by this artist who goes by the name of threelegsoman:

As a bonus for May here is another song by The Spinners called the Ellan Vannin the connection being it is about the ship Ellan Vannin that sunk on December 3rd 1909 on route from the Isle of Man to Liverpool. Ellan Vannin is also the Manx name for the Isle of Man.

Oh, and for the my Michigan neighbours that don't see the connection between the last artist and this song - "the legs o' Man" are on the coat of arms for the Isle of Man. Three legs and the latin motto Quocunque Jeceris Stabit - Wherever you throw it, it will stand.

So some great folk music that my family has enjoyed and I hope you will too. A final thought - today's music is tomorrow's folk. There are many interpretations of songs and music as in this next clip by Thin Lizzie a blast from the 1970s with their take on a famous Irish traditional song Whiskey in the Jar:

My personal favourite is Thin Lizzie's from my teen years followed closely by The Dubliners from the 1960s. You may prefer Metallica in the 1990s - whatever just get down with some good music!

Backyard Visitor

2011-05-09T14:58:00.002-04:00


Bandit on the prowl!

We had a backyard visitor over the weekend. A raccoon prowling around the "bird feeder tree" - sadly a dead tree victim a couple of years back to emerald ash borer. It was a beautiful tree and all the birds flocked to its leafy branches where we hung bird feeders full of seed and suet blocks.

The feeder and suet blocks we still hang on the one remaining stubby branch of a once majestic green canopy. I suppose we will take down the remaining 12ft or so of trunk and plant a new tree sometime in the future. Looking at the serpentine canals on the surface after the bark fell off is rather depressing.

Anyway our visitor spent a few minutes sniffing around the base of the tree, standing up on hind quarters sniffing and looking toward the house. The raccoon then stood paws against the tree as in photo above before ambling off across the backyard. Obviously unimpressed with bird seed!

Painting Venice!

2011-05-05T09:15:00.003-04:00


Acrylic Painting of canal in Venice

Having taken a break from painting Charlie - as I seemed to be getting further from the finish line rather than closer! I have been doing some coloured pencil designs, pen and ink sketches and the acrylic painting above.

The source photo is from an old drawing event on Wet Canvas that I didn't have time to take part in then. But I always loved the coloured buildings and boats along the canal in Venice. So last week I took an 8x10 canvas board and had some fun with colour.

I painted in loose blocks of colour an expression of blue, spring skies, water and coloured boats waiting to transport one through the colour and light of Venice.
Enjoy the trip!

Book for April

2011-04-19T12:33:00.001-04:00

The book I am reading this month is The High King of Montival by S.M. Stirling the latest in his Change series. I first came across Stirling's work in The Protector's War part of the Dies the Fire trilogy; which I then read in chronological order. Swiftly followed by his Nantucket trilogy.

The Dies the Fire series is about a global change that occurs after an electrical storm over the island of Nantucket. All electronic devices and modern technology is rendered useless. A dark age covers the globe and many of mankind perish. The Change series is a series of adventures surrounding certain survivor groups who adapt to living - and fighting - using early technologies. The Sea of Time series covers the people on Nantucket at the time of the Change. The island is transported back into the Bronze Age and the survivors live out their alternate history cut off from survivors in the present time.

The High King of Montival concerns the first new generation after the Change and follows the character Rudi after his search for the cause of the Event on the island of Nantucket. The story is about his return to the Pacific Northwest and a region named Montival. Battling against the legions of the Prophet.

Stirling writes an interesting post apocalypse history in these books. His characters are pulled from the military and factions that use their beliefs, interests and practical knowledge to advantage. Strong characters in their thinking and intellect and/or physical strengths that pull together the remnants of the human race in shaping a new order from the chaos. Well worth a read if you can cope with the cruel and ugly side of mankind bared here.

What is Art?

2011-04-14T07:13:00.001-04:00

I have long been a fan of Neil Park's Wallace and Grommit and Creature Comforts from Aardman Animations. I love all the different British dialects that their characters have - a taste of home for this ex-pat!

I found this "What is Art" short film where Americans are interviewed about their perception of art. Just brilliant!

Dog Portrait

2011-04-13T11:10:00.002-04:00


German Shepherd - changing jaw

The other day I got to change the angle and position of Charlie's lower jaw - slightly. I thought it angled out too far to his left. I also darkened the eyes slightly and painted out the muzzle, just leaving sketchy lines for his nose. I have started lightening colour around muzzle up against the cheekbones.

The difference in angle may not be so obvious at first glance as the photo in my previous post is slightly angled - smile. Ho hum, lots of painting to do!

April Music

2011-04-12T10:42:00.001-04:00


Ludwig van Beethoven

My choice of music this month has to be Beethoven's 1st Symphony. Last week I had the pleasure of hearing said symphony played by the GVSU Early Music Ensemble under the direction of Associate Professor Pablo Mahave-Veglia. Great performance!

The Ensemble perform pre-classical music using period instruments or modern replicas. Their performances are enhanced by historically informed study and performance practice. The sound is different to the modern day symphony orchestra.

I recommend listening to the symphony played on early instruments. Hear it as Beethoven intended - you won't be disappointed. Here are a couple of links to get you started:

Dog Portrait Progress

2011-04-04T17:47:00.002-04:00


German Shepherd Portrait - after first few stages

After blocking in the background and some of the base colours of Charlie there have been several changes just to get to this stage. I feel there is a lot more work to do yet to the finished stage.

At one point I narrowed the width of his face, especially on his left side. The detail of the ears where they join the side of his face, cheekbones under the eyes, markings around eyes - all have gone through various changes.

As I have worked around the face I kept looking - and learning - various features I was not happy with or improved on. I have been working the odd hour here and there over the last couple of weeks. At one early point I didn't have time to return to it for a fortnight.

After an hours work today I came away in frustration knowing what I wanted to do but needing to step back. Giving up is not an option - I will paint Charlie and I will do a half decent portrait; it's just frustrating sometimes connecting brush with brain - smile.

Painting a Dog Portrait

2011-04-01T11:24:00.002-04:00

Charlie

I'm painting a dog portrait at the moment. Not just any dog but Charlie our German Shepherd who passed away over two years ago now. He is sorely missed so it is a bit of an emotive subject to paint. I thought I would paint him "full on" as in the photo above, all big beak as my husband says.

A difficult pose perhaps to try and capture the three dimensional quality of his muzzle coming out of the canvas. But I am giving it a try and would love to do our beautiful Charlie justice. I started off sketching a rough outline to transfer to canvas. I am using a square canvas and acrylic paints.


Sketch of German Shepherd - Charlie

I have started the painting and it has been through several changes of head width already, ear fur detail where join lower face, etc. I am sure I will be changing and adding more as I go. Painting progress so far in next post. Have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Johann Sebastian Bach

2011-03-21T14:51:00.001-04:00

I couldn't let today go unremarked - Johann Sebastian Bach's Birthday
- born March 21 1685 - his music is still magnificent.
I am not going to say anything more - just invite you to listen!

And Listen some more ......

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Mr. Bach

Spring Sale!

2011-03-19T16:46:00.002-04:00


Trillium in spring

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and I'm hoping we have seen the last of the snow here in SE Michigan. It certainly has been warmer the past few days. The snow has finally melted from my backyard and the north facing front - always the last to thaw in the neighbourhood.

So to celebrate spring - the Vernal Equinox I am holding a sale on my website starting tomorrow March 20 for one week only. If you like hand painted gifts that are one of a kind visit Art by KC and get 20% off all in stock items.

But Hurry sale ends Saturday March 26!

Music for March

2011-03-14T15:44:00.001-04:00

My music pick for March is actually two pieces of music! They are two sublime concertos for violin. I have a recording of Yehudi Menuhin playing both these pieces on EMI Classics. I couldn't choose between them I love them both.
The first is the Felix Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in E minor,Op.64 and the second is Violin Concerto No.1 in Gminor Op.26 by Max Bruch

To hear the third movement of the Mendelssohn click on Itzhak Perlman
For Bruch another link to Itzhak Perlman playing the first movement Allegro moderato

My favourite period in classical music has always been the Baroque, but I gladly step into Romantic classicism with the music of Bruch. I also found out that Max Bruch born in Cologne, Rhine Province (1838-1920) spent three seasons (1880 - 83) as conductor of the Liverpool Philharmonic Society in my home town! A little before my time - smile. Bruch wrote over two hundred works including three violin concertos. It is his music for the violin that is most well known.

Felix Mendelsohhn (1809 -1847) another German was a talented composer, conductor, organist and pianist. His works combined Classical with the early Romanticism. He also visited Britain - ten times. One piece I am sure you have have heard by Mendelssohn is the "Wedding March" from his suite of incidental music to Shakespeare's a "Midsummer Night's Dream". It must be one of the most played.

This wasn't meant to be a discussion about composers, but I hope after listening to a taste of each concerto played by one of the greatest violinists, you will listen some more. Enjoy!

Help people and animals in distress in Japan

2011-03-13T10:13:00.002-04:00

Wondered what you can do to help the people of Japan after the devastating earthquake and tsunami? Well here is one way I found that combines helping people and highlighting the fantastic job working dogs do. This asks no money of you, just a click on Facebook.

For each person who 'likes' the Facebook page of Dog Bless You, a philanthropic multimedia project to champion the selfless acts of animals, a dollar will be donated to help finance the use of search and rescue dogs that are so critical in disaster situations like what's happening in Japan right now.

This dollar-per-like donation will continue for 10 days, however, if 100,000
people "like" the community page by Sunday March 13, 2amEST, Explore has vowed to double the amount to $200,000.

See Charlie and Lucky announce this awesome opoprtunitiy below, and then go like the page as soon as possible to lend your support!

Printing with Foam board - Celebrating International Women's Day

2011-03-11T10:27:00.001-05:00

Print of Woman - first pull

Another Tuesday at the Art Experience earlier this week had the girls and I trying out printing techniques. We were wondering what subject or theme to choose when Ester reminded us it was International Women's Day. So what better to express artistically and celebrate than all women around the world!

Colette and I based our designs on an Art Nouveau image of a woman; a stylised bust on a column with arms full of fruits and flowers. Ester chose an image of an Asian statue to base her printed design on.

Colette had tried her hand at lino cuts a while back at another studio. But today we were going to try printing from foam board. Many years ago back in Britain I had bought some foam board from an art supply store just for the purpose and shoved to the back of a cupboard after one use! Here is my board after pulling two prints:


Foam board after "cutting" and printing

You can use old foam plates as well; this in fact is what Ester and Colette used from the studio's recycled supplies, the curved rims removed leaving a flat base. The design is "cut" into the foam with a blunt stylus, or in our case ball point pens and coloured pencils. A dull knitting needle could be used to good effect probably.

First I drew a design on paper and placed it over the foam base and pressed hard with a ball point pen. The indentation was not very deep and I went over the faint lines on the foam with a white coloured pencil making deeper grooves. I applied water soluble yellow ink with a brayer and then placed my paper for printing on over the foam. Next I burnished the surface with the back of an old metal tablespoon (substitute for Japanese burnisher).

When I had firmly burnished the whole surface several times, overlapping strokes in a circular motion, I pulled off the print carefully from one end of the board. I placed the first "pulled" print to one side and applied my second colour (red) to parts of the foam board and repeated the pulling process:

Print of Woman - second pulling

The prints I then decorated further by hand. To the First yellow print I added stamped designs Green and gold ink with brush and dip pen; expressing one woman's wish for all women friends to have a fruitful, fulfilled life. The second print I added red and black ink with dip pen; honouring women and just how powerful women are.

The foam board is not brilliant for detailed work but is a good - and inexpensive way to experiment with printing methods. Foam plates are easily available and you don't need a brayer or special printing inks. Colette applied her colour with a brush and used acrylic paints. Anyway have some fun printmaking!

Book of the Month - March

2011-03-02T15:25:00.001-05:00

This month we have a change of author and a "comedy of manners". I am reading or should I say re-reading after many, many years The Cat Who Walks Through Walls by Robert A. Heinlein. A fast paced book that starts of with the character Dr Ames, one of a number of aliases, sitting waiting for his dinner guest Kim Novak to return, in a restaurant on the space habitat "Golden Rule". During her absence Ames is joined by a stranger who is killed right in front of him after he has told Ames that he needs to kill a person called Tolliver.

The plot then takes Ames and Novak on a journey to Luna picking up a criminal who failed in his mission of engineering Ames arrest on the way. While on Luna Novak claims to be one of the original members of the heroes of the Luna Revolution. Ames thinks she is delusional as she looks somewhere between thirty and forty years and to have been born then would make her over a century old.

Still pursued by unknown assassins they are rescued by an organization lead by Lazarus Long. The plot continues with an attempt to rescue a sentient computer called Mike. Time travel and a cat called Pixel all add up to an intriguing and amusing story. The cat doesn't enter the narrative until near the end. Reading other Heinlein novels featuring some of the same characters may give the reader a more cohesive plot. For example: "Stranger in a Strange Land" and "To Sail Beyond the Sunset".

Harbour Painting in Watercolour

2011-02-24T08:57:00.003-05:00


Water colour with ink painting

Harbour watercolour painting 14x10 ins is from a Wet Canvas weekend drawing event. The silhouettes drawn in brown ink using a brush before adding the watercolours.

Drawing inks contain dyes and don't have the same lightfast properties of pigmented colour; making work with these inks unsuitable for display in lighted areas.

Paint Create Communicate

2011-02-22T17:22:00.001-05:00

Acrylic painting - interior still life

Paint, create, communicate - the sub heading or idea behind Kathy's Backyard. As I have said before there is nothing like creating something and sharing ideas. Paint is just one form of communication.

Wet Canvas is a great place to meet and share ideas with other artists. Once a month on the acrylic channel there is a "Different Strokes " event. The host chooses an image for everyone to paint; everyone posts their work on the same day thereby not influencing each other.

The result is a wide variety of styles, composition and colour of the same subject. It is exciting to see just how big a variety. The subjects posted may not be something you would choose to paint left to your own devices; so setting another challenge.

My offering for February is shown above, pop over to Wet Canvas to see the rest of the beautiful paintings and the original photo. Feel like painting with acrylic? Put your brush to canvas, paper or other medium of choice and have some fun in March.

Little Bits of Art - Bookmarks

2011-02-18T12:18:00.003-05:00

Bear and Fox Bookmarks

I have been experimenting with coloured pencils and thought I would start off with some small sized art to get in the mood. I did a couple of simple designs with colour and ink. Just the right size for bookmarks when they are laminated.

I then tried more realistic designs. I love the rich shading you can get with these coloured pencils. These are Prismacolor, a gift I have had for quite some time and wish I had tried sooner. Coloured pencils eat up the time due to their physical size in comparison to painting with a brush but well worth it I think.

Yes, definitely hooked - off to try something bigger. These little bits of art will be available for sale soon on my website.

Art Attack ! at the Experience

2011-02-15T16:13:00.002-05:00

Tuesday already and another session at the Art Experience. Ester set up a still life of a plastic jug, a tall glass storage jar and a white pottery bowl. The jug and storage jar were colourless. This week Colette joined Ester and I in our "let's focus" group and a couple of busy and happy hours commenced as we attacked the subject with enthusiasm and colour!


Still Life in Oil Pastel

Well, you can see my attempt on black paper above. We chose oil pastel as the medium this week. Oh alright, after I pleaded we use oil pastel, as I said how I had carried mine around with me the past couple of weeks and hadn't had a chance to use them! Colette was a real sport and swapped her chalk pastels to oil after I arrived and ended up with a super mixed media sketch on white paper. Ester went with black, a different style and colour added to her background.

The sun was shining through the windows behind the subject from where I sat; moving round from the left hand side to centre and much stronger as time moved on. I marked where the light hit the base box early on in my sketching so not to be confused when adding highlights and shadows. Their position changed quite dramatically in a short space of time.

Not hard to understand Monet's returning to the same subject for a few minutes over several days when painting plein air; to have longer to paint with the same light. Nor is it hard to feel his passion for painting one subject in different atmospheres or seasons. The possibilities of producing a different mood or painting all together as the light changes might be infinite. One could never run out of inspiration or steps on that path of learning we all walk.

Bookof the month - February

2011-02-14T16:46:00.001-05:00

After reading the Little Country by Charles de Lint I thought I would try another of his. I liked the Little Country but thought it had more promise than substance. The character Jodi in the other realm seemed more substantial than Janey Little. Maybe Janey seemed shallow in the author's way of making the "unreal" or imagined more real than the world we live in; or I just disliked the character Janey.

So this month I am reading Spirits in the Wires by Charles de Lint and finding it a very good read. The story is full of interesting and/or quirky characters not to mention an interesting and quirky plot. De Lint merges old half remembered folk tales, legends and the internet and knits together different realities. All interwoven with love stories and the choice between what is right and wrong in the choices people make.

I have also been listening to an audio recording of his Dreams Underfoot a collection of short stories set in and around Newford, as is Spirits in the Wires. The stories are a blend of this world and others just beyond our perception. The subjects covered are not pure fantasy but deal with the homeless, the mentally ill and forgotten, abused children as well as love stories. The stories leave you a little more thoughtful about what is, what may be, and what we are capable of.

So I think there will have to be two Books of the Month for February, both by Charles de Lint: Spirits in the Wires and Dreams Underfoot. One of the most poignant stories from Dreams Underfoot is "Our lady of the Harbour" a retelling of Hans Christian Anderson's story of "The Little Mermaid". Whether you like urban fantasy, fable, really good story telling or need to be reminded of what the human spirit is capable of; you will find something to satisfy between these pages.

Still Life - Charcoal

2011-02-09T12:05:00.001-05:00

With a couple of hours to spare this morning I pulled out the charcoal again and set up a still life with two blue glass bottles that usually sit on the kitchen window sill. The wine bottle emptied many years ago I kept for the colour as I did the smaller bottle. I love the blue shadows that spill across the counterops and floor when the light shines through them.

I set the bottles up on a white napkin placed on a table and practiced. I should do this everyday - draw or paint that is but sometimes the rest of life gets in the way.

Still Life - Charcoal

Charcoal Drawing - Still Life

2011-02-08T15:00:00.001-05:00

Charcoal Drawing - Still Life

Another fun Tuesday session at the Art Experience with Ester and Hattie. When Hattie and I arrived at open studio today Ester had already set up two still life subjects to draw or paint. We decided on the tin cans and brushes, I thought capturing reflections would be a challenge. We'll save the maracas for another week Ester when we can dance around the tables!

There was certainly music in the background, a popular classical CD - and yes, Vivaldi's Winter! All we needed to decide on was the medium we were going to render our still life in. I persuaded the use of charcoal as I had not used charcoal above once and I thought let's stretch ourselves.

I told them that my eldest son Joe had drawn a huge still life of a horse's skull in charcoal while still at school. That he had told me that you can put down a background in medium tones then add darker and pull out lighter tones with an eraser. Sounds straightforward - smile.

So firstly we did a quick sketch of the whole grouping in our art journals. Yes, between drawing, smudging with fingers (no tortillons handy), darkening and trying to pull out lights with a putty eraser a lot of enjoyment was had in seeing where charcoal could take you!

Still Life - with cans

I soon realised that even with fine sticks of charcoal it would be better controlled if drawn on a larger scale. Trying to work the putty eraser into a fine enough point to lift out highlights is an art in itself! So after the first drawing of the still life with cans above, we did a second charcoal drawing of one part of the group.

My second drawing, a blow up of one can is shown at the top of this post. I really enjoyed working with charcoal and can't wait to explore the possibilities of playing with light and dark. What a great way to spend a cold Michigan winter's day! Turn up the Vivaldi and pass the charcoal please.

Music in February

2011-02-07T14:02:00.001-05:00

My pick of the month for February is Vivaldi's Winter from his Four Seasons concertos. An apt and maybe obvious choice you may think on looking out any window in SE Michigan right now, but that is not the only reason. I chose it because even nearly three hundred years after publication The Four Seasons still evokes strong feelings. Hearing a new (to me) recording is refreshing and inspiring.

Driving on Saturday to the local stores to pick up groceries, not the most exciting of trips, I switched the radio on to pass the time. We are lucky to have three stations that play classical music in my listening area. As I tuned in a crisp sounding version of Vivaldi's Winter was playing.

The Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi is on my all time favourites list, as I am sure it is for a lot of people. Vivaldi composed several hundred concertos but The Four Seasons must be his most famous. One recording I particularly like (and own) is the EMI Classics: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

Anyway, the Winter I was listening to whilst driving had a new and exciting sound. The music went perfectly with the shivering cold and white snowy weather here. It is amazing how music can set the mood and raise your spirits. A dull shopping trip turned into a musical journey through a white and beautiful winter. I just had to find out who played the piece.

Back home, as soon as I had unpacked the groceries I found the morning's play list online and discovered it was performed by the St Paul Chamber Orchestra with violinist and conductor Pincha Zukerman. I had so enjoyed the music that I have ordered the CD and can't wait to wait to find out if the rest of the album sounds as good.

In the meantime here is a taste of Itzhak Perlman performing Vivaldi's Four Seasons: L'Inverno / Winter. Zubin Mehta and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra accompanying. Do You have a favourite orchestra or violinist performing the Four Seasons? If so do share!

Painted Glass Window - Birds

2011-02-04T09:03:00.001-05:00

Here is the second window I painted with an American songbird theme last summer. It is an old reclaimed wooden window frame with four panes of glass this time.


Painted glass - window with songbirds

This window has been cleaned up but no attempt to repaint the frame, retaining the original brass fittings and its antique charm. Each pane has a different American songbird painted in a stained glass style. Below with the window held against the light from a window you can see the "textured glass" effect painted around the birds. The frame appears dark in this shot.


"Stained Glass Window"

The panes contain an Easter Bluebird, a Black-capped Chickadee, an American Goldfinch and a Northern Cardinal. All beautifully coloured birds with equally beautiful songs. The birds are regular visitors to my backyard. The Bluebirds are a welcome presence in the local state recreation area, flashes of blue threading amongst the trees even during cold winter.
If you are interested in purchasing this window you can contact me from my website.

Groundhog Day

2011-02-02T09:04:00.002-05:00

Happy Groundhog day! Well any self-respecting groundhog is still hibernating tucked up safe in its burrow. I mean look at the weather outside:


The backyard after the snowstorm

OK only about eight inches of snow fell last night, not quite as bad as predicted. But added to previous falls we have about a foot of snow on the ground, deeper in some places due to drifting from the strong winds last night - and it is still snowing! So, as I said in my Backyard Visitor post, leave those poor groundhogs alone and let them sleep - there is nothing for them to eat out here!

This is the same part of the backyard last July. Plenty of green munchies for Mr. G:


The backyard in summer

So Happy Groundhog Day and if you don't have to go out then do like Mr. G - hibernate. Please remember our domestic companions and bring them indoors. Outside is no place for dogs or your cat. If you see or think you see pets left outside without shelter, please speak up for them and tell the appropriate authorities. Be the voice they don't have and save a life!

Still Life Pastel with Pumpkin!

2011-02-01T16:14:00.002-05:00

Another day at the Art Experience with Ester and another "let's focus and draw session"! Thought I would go today as the snow wasn't too bad this morning - if bitterly cold. It might be my last trip out in the van for a couple of days if the promised snow storm hits tonight. Reports of up to a foot or more of snow has been forecast.

Anyway today we picked a couple of items laying around on the studio shelves and wipped out our pastel sticks. We both used black paper 12x12 ins in size. I used SMi square artist pastels; they were recommended by the local art store as inexpensive but fair quality pastels, a set of 24. They are not as soft as my Winsor & Newton or Rembrandt, but not as hard as Conte Crayons.


Still Life with pumpkin

With just a couple of hours we only had time for a sketch and I didn't have time to work on the bottle or shadows as much as I would like. It was more an exercise to practice drawing skills - in colour. It was "an art" just trying to draw finer details with fat sticks as I did not have any pastel pencils. Must do it bigger next time if using just sticks. The wooden mug needs more work to do it justice.

An enjoyable morning and home before the snow that the cold wind promised. I hope Ester will post her drawings from these sessions as she has quite a different style - and they're lovely. I am always open to C&C and loving my eclectic art education and exploration. Uh, oh the snow is arriving - stay warm!

Animal Dreams - Owls and foxes

2011-01-29T10:47:00.003-05:00

The owl chosen for this pane is the Barn Owl the most widely distributed species of owl worldwide. In Britain over the last century as rough grassland disappeared, barns were pulled down or made into dwellings, occurrence of severe winters and prey becoming contaminated with rodenticides the barn owl population has seriously declined.

I remember conservation groups and the local zoo in Cheshire running programs to encourage installation of nesting boxes for barn owls throughout the county when living there ten, twenty years ago. It is thought there are only four thousand breeding pairs left in Britain; around one hundred in Cheshire. If you would like more info on the barn owl in the UK then visit The Barn Owl Trust. Here is the owl pane so far with the first layer of paint in the sky and more layers added to the owls:

Barn Owl - Painted Glass Window

The second pane I have worked on this week is the "Fox Dreaming". Again I have just started layering the evening sky and adding more layers to the fox and hens. The fox is asleep dreaming of earlier nightly escapades chasing his dinner - or maybe they are the restless dreams of a hungry fox!

Fox Dreaming - Painted glass Window

The fox is found in many folk tales from around the world, known for its cunning and almost magical ability to whisk chickens from the hen house. More likely due to the farmer's neglect to lock up at night, or the disrepair of hen houses allowing easy access rather than an appearance of our mystical friend Reynard.

Music in January

2011-01-26T15:41:00.001-05:00

My tastes in music, as well as books, leans to the eclectic. Everything from Baroque, Classical, Folk, Rock, reggae and yes even Pop. If I was to choose an artist for January it would have to be Adele. A friend shared a link to her single Rolling in the Deep and I am glad she did! Adele has a great voice and I can't believe I haven't heard of her before - shows how out of touch I am with the Brit scene, she has even toured over here in the States.

The track is from her new album "21". After hearing her other songs such as "Chasing Pavements" and "Home Town Glory" I think I will be listening some more. The genre of her sound is credited with blues, soul, pop, jazz and country influences. All of this is true and more Adele is an original. I particularly like the Rolling in the Deep - Acoustic version. Nice to hear some one that can perform as well live as in the studio. I'll let you decide.

Animal Dreams - Wolves and Night Mares!

2011-01-21T13:23:00.002-05:00

Finally got back to painting my Animal dreams window! Snatched a couple of hours last weekend and a couple more this morning. The progress so far:


Wolves and night Mares - painted glass window

I built up several layers and colours for the outcrop the wolves are standing on, the wolves, the horses and iridescent paint in the moon,. For the night sky I tried to express movement of the horses through the stars as they gallop through the night bringing dreams, passing through other worlds. Wolves for me, epitomize the notion of family. The Celts didn't get it wrong when they saw wolves as the symbol for loyalty and devotion.

When I have finished the window I will put up photos of it with light shining through it as well as propped up against a white wall as here. Painted glass windows look their most beautiful with sunlight streaming through them. I don't think the colours or "sparkliness" of the paint shows up so well here.

Magical Hares - stained glass window

There is still a lot of work to be done on the Hare window pane. Hares have featured in many mythologies through the ages, not just Celtic culture. The first full moon after the vernal equinox is considered a Hare Moon. Early cultures saw a hare on the moon's surface, the pattern in its topography, which can be seen as it approaches fullness. There are tales of hares moon gazing!

Still Life Drawing

2011-01-18T17:06:00.002-05:00

Today I returned to the Art Experience after a lay off of several weeks for one reason or another. It was nice to meet up with some of the "Tuesday crowd" at the open studio again. I had contacted a couple of the regulars the previous evening to see if they wanted to set up a still life with what we could find in the studio and draw or paint it.

I thought it would focus our skills and be fun to see the different styles we would all bring to the project. I suggested we could all use the same medium, say water colour, then switch to a different medium for the same subject. It would be a good learning experience to bounce ideas and techniques off each other.

I decided to do a pencil drawing along with Ester, as I really need to hone my drawing skills (or lack thereof). Our two approaches were quite different; Ester drew with a hard pencil while I went for the Bs! Hattie decided to paint the still life in acrylic. Time went quickly and we packed up - loosened up if not finished! You can see my attempt below:


Still Life Pencil Drawing

We worked in our art journals - something that Sue at the Center started me off doing last year. Mine is sadly replete with blank pages, something I hope to remedy this year. I think we will be setting up a still life studio again soon, great practice and good fun sharing technique and approach.

If you are interested in journaling, dropping in to "open studio" and just doing, or taking an art class visit the Art Experience website or visit them on facebook where you are sure to find something to spark your creative side!

Book of the Month

2011-01-17T14:02:00.002-05:00

Considering this blog is sub titled "Paint, Create and Communicate" I thought it about time I discussed some of the books I read. How long have you got? My tastes in reading, as in most things, is eclectic. I read everything non-fiction from science to history to the natural world; everything fiction from science fiction to detective stories to literary works oh, and everything in between!

I have read so many books in the past I quite often pick one up from the library these days and get a few pages in and realize I must have read it before. There are some books I have purposely re-read, like Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings"; I must have read that at least four times, but not for many years. I liked the films they made of the Ring series and thought they did a good job - which isn't always the case.

It is hard to include in the film version of a book all the saliant events from a story and still be true to the original text or satisfy all the readers. Obviously a few characters and events went by the wayside with Lord of the Rings and the Harry Potter series. But on the whole the films stand up well on their own account, in my humble opinion.

There is something about books however that nothing and I mean nothing can replace. Films are all very well, but you do not step into another world as one does with the written word. It doesn't matter whether it's the fictional future of Isaac Asimov or Arthur C. Clarke; Tolkien's Middle Earth; Macbeth's castle as written by Shakepeare or Elizabeth Gaskill's Cranford one is transported there and can live those pages. That is if the author is adept at their art!

The same is true of non-fictional books. We can be transported back in time to the days of our forebears historical events such as Samuel Pepys recorded in the 17th century. Or enter the laboratories of Marie Curie and Sir Isaac Newton. Scientists through the ages have been able to go on to further knowledge because their predecessors faithfully recorded their discoveries.

You get my point? I love books! To return to the purpose of this post I thought I would share my latest choice of reading matter, a fictional work "the Little Country" by Charles de Lint. It is the first work I have read of his and I am about two-thirds of the way through. The book takes you into the real world and things magical in Cornwall. The story centers around Janey Little a folk musician who comes across a manuscript in her grandfather's cottage.

The story is of a book within a book and the mysterious overlapping of other worlds with the here and now that occur on its reading. So far it is an easy and enjoyable ride of fantasy, mystery and magic. So I nominate "the Little Country" as my book of the month for January.

If you have a book that you think would be a good read for February or any other month for that matter, leave your suggestions in the comment box for this post. Or if you want to join in the discussion of this book I would love to hear your views. Just don't let the cat out of the bag on how it ends, I need a couple of days to finish it!

Birds in the Window!

2011-01-13T12:07:00.001-05:00

As promised here is one of the bird windows I finished last year. It is an old reclaimed wooden window frame complete with its old brass fittings. I cleaned it up before painting but not too much so it retains its shabby chic charm!


Birds Painted Glass Window

When I first came to America I was amazed at how colourful the garden birds were compared to those in Britain. In this window I painted a Blue Jay, an American Goldfinch, a Tree Swallow, a Baltimore Oriole and a White-breasted Nuthatch. All these varieties of birds have visited my backyard at various times except for the tree swallow; I usually see them in Bald Mountain Recreation Area.

I used a transparent textured paint between the birds, foliage and tree trunk. You can see the effect better in the image below. The first image was taken with the window leaning against a white wall.


Garden Birds Decorative Glass Window

The image above was taken while the painted glass window was held against one of my house windows. As there is half a foot of snow outside and it is still snowing conditions were not exactly favourable to taking a photo outside. So the frame appears very dark in the second photo.

I love the birds that visit my backyard and enjoy painting them. I hope you have enjoyed viewing my paintings. I always welcome feedback!

If you are interested in buying this window please contact me through my website.

The window measures 26wx30h inches. It would look great filling a space in a dividing wall as an interior window for example.

Animal Dreams - Start of Painting

2011-01-11T15:26:00.002-05:00

I started painting some of the animals with transparent glass paint; five hours of painting time so far. Making sketches, then cartoons and transferring designs with "leading" onto the glass in the previous stage probably took twice as long. There are four layers of colour on the owls, two on the hares and foxes and three on the horses. There will be quite a few more layers of colour to get the desired depth I want.

Animal Dreams

I chose to paint a barn owl as they look all white and ghostly when in flight. One is sitting on a tree stump holding his supper - some poor field mouse - while the other soars against the moon- filled sky looking for prey. Owls are Celtic symbols of wisdom and patience. Swift and silent hunters believed to be guides to and through the underworld. More about owls as Celtic symbols and the story of Blodeuwedd.


Barn Owl

The horses I am going to paint in iridescent colour; sparkling night-mares amongst the stars bringing dreams. Are you ready to ride with them to other worlds?


Night - Mares

Horses were very important to Celtic culture. Essential to the Celtic peoples mobility, status and survival in a very harsh world. More about the Celtic horse and the very famous Uffington Horse on my website.

Painted Glass Window

2011-01-07T11:48:00.001-05:00

In the last few months of 2010 I painted some more reclaimed old window frames. Two have American songbird bird designs on in stained glass style; I'll put up photos in the coming weeks. A third has animal designs I had long wanted to do for fun and is a work in progress.

The window frame has eight panes and a different animal depicted in each. I call it "Animal Dreams". That is dreams we have of animals and animals dreaming. I said it was fun! The window has some of my favourite animals outlined in gold "leading" and I will paint with transparent colour leaving brushmarks on the glass.

Animal Dreams Painted Glass Window

Leading stage before painting

I will post my progress as I paint and the story behind each window pane or Dream!

A different style from when I try to emulate the look of traditional stained glass construction. You can see examples of those in the earlier posts Midsummer Dream and Windows of Opportunity and Glass Painting class

No Resolutions?

2011-01-02T11:01:00.004-05:00

This year I am not going to make any resolutions other than try to do better! Not necessarily a bad girl last year in keeping them, ha! But I know I can do better. That said I found an interesting article on the Care2 site that I think is a "doer" for everyone. Having a Goal rather than a Resolution.

I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of setting goals, if it is one you really want. If you know what you are aiming for you stand a better chance of hitting the target, right? Yes, we need to review and assess whether we are still on course for our goals, but the focus is on getting there not the " I'll have to give up....", "no more....etc" the benefit rather than the denial we sometimes associate with the words "New Year Resolution".

Back to the Care2 article by Diane MacEachern author, Big Green Purse: Use Your Spending Power to Create a Greener, Cleaner World, Big Green Purse Diane advocates using your spending power to bring about change in our lives and the Earth. Let big business know what we want in goods we consume. Make manufacturers listen to what we want to buy and how it is made. Demand greener products that are safe for us, our pets and good for the Earth.

Let us vote with our feet - walk away from manufacturers that don't apply safe / greener practices and use old methods and use toxic ingredients. Setting a goal how we spend our money, buy a greener version of what we already buy. Our dollars will determine what and how to make the products we need.
Check out Diane's article for a brighter greener world this year!

Best Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

2010-11-05T09:48:00.006-04:00

Last December I wrote a post about how to slice bread or rather how easily I'm distracted while doing routine tasks. When one remembers to put in the yeast my recipe really does make the best wholewheat bread yet. I have this on good authority from my; " I don't like wholewheat" dyed in the wool white bread only husband; my sons high school friends who would bid fries and pizza for their sandwiches; any other person who I've made a sandwich for.

Best Wholewheat Bread

I have tried lots of recipes for wholewheat bread to make in bread machines but they all turned out a bit dense - even with the yeast. After a few trials I came up with a recipe that produces a lighter and satisfying wholewheat loaf that my husband and whole family eat. No white flour is used to lighten the texture! I have used many bread machines over the last nine years from Sunbeam to Breadman to my current model a Panasonic SD-YD250. So here is my recipe I created and meant to share last year.

Best Whole Wheat Bread Recipe

Ingredients: 3.75 cups Wholewheat flour; 0.25 cup wheat gluten; 2 tablespoons organic flax seeds; 2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk; 2 teaspoons salt; 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1 tablespoon honey; 1.75 cups water; 1.75 teaspoons dried yeast.

Method: Put ingredients into machine in order they are written. In my bread machine the yeast goes into a separate auto dispenser in the lid. Depending on the make of yeast you may need up to 2 teaspoons full. Again depending on machine you may need 0.25 - 0.33 cup wheat gluten.
I select the whole wheat setting, large size. I usually leave the crust setting at medium. Press the start button and come back a few hours later for really good tasting -and a lighter - wholewheat bread.

Get creating and make yourself a healthy and flavoursome sandwich this weekend. I would love to hear how the recipe turns out for you. Share your best sandwich fillings - I'm always looking for inventive vegetarian fillings!

Mink? Fisher? Weasel?

2010-11-01T09:41:00.006-04:00

First day of November and 30F in my backyard. But what a beautiful morning in Bald Mountain, the Lake was covered in mist; ice as thin as lace between the weed at the lake's edge. Off in the distance the six swans we have been watching all summer (cob, pen and now full grown cygnets) were floating gently heads tucked into plumage. A little closer a gaggle of Canada geese seemed a little more active. We watched a V wave head towards us made by a muskrat I presume, a common site early morning.

Most of the trees are bare now, autumn came in a riot of colour and it seems over all of a sudden. The strong winds last week had a part in that I think. Each season has its turn and we now have a palette of muted browns, greys and dull pinks as green and scarlet fade. Across the road from the lake where a brook runs under the road into the lake there are tall marsh grasses where lots of red-winged blackbirds congregate in the summer.

The water level is lower than normal in both brook and lake. This morning on a spit of land by the edge of a brook was a dark, seemingly black, weasel type creature. It remained for a few moments before disappearing into the water. I am pretty sure it had black fur but it may well have been very dark brown - just wet. From its size - which I must admit I'm not very good at judging - I think it was a mink.

Mink by brook

As usual when I'm tripping over wildlife I didn't have my camera with me. Nothing guaranteed to empty a park like having my camera handy, ha! So I quickly sketched the scene from memory with my Conte sticks/pastels. Weasels tend to be lighter brown with a cream underbelly, Fishers are quite rare and much larger; so I think I can safely say I saw a mink. If you have any sightings of mink or other mammals please share!

Black Cat Hand Painted Box - Halloween Gift

2010-10-29T09:00:00.008-04:00

It's the weekend! Not only that it's Halloween and a good excuse to celebrate and have fun, (as if I needed an excuse ) dress up, dress down or just get into the spirit - pun intended - and eat out with friends. You really make a holiday of it over this side of the Pond.

I remember as a child, back in Britain, playing "bob apple", eating toffee apples and reading ghost stories by firelight but not really dressing up. That was many moons ago. Things had changed a little by the time I had young children; they liked to dress up and did go "trick or treat" once. The American influence via the movies I think. But the decoration of houses and yards in America is definitely a treat for the eyes!

I heard lots of ghost stories and tales of witches back then and of magical animals. I love animals and painting them. So it was only natural that I would paint a lucky black cat - amongst others. So if you are looking for a Halloween gift idea I may just have the one for you! Follow the text link under the Black Cat below to find your Halloween gift and read about some of the mystery surrounding our feline friends!

Black Cat Hand Painted Box

Whether you are dressing up or not this weekend, have fun with friends. Oh, and don't eat too much candy now will you?

Empty Nest

2010-10-28T09:35:00.004-04:00

Well I don't know about you but I seem to have arrived in October straight from July! Well August was very busy running around sorting my daughter's entrance into university and all the travelling, interviews, paperwork and shopping involved with that. Glad to say two months later we have one happy girl settled and enjoying college life!

Hardly time to ponder how I would cope with the empty nest when my best friend of over 40 years arrived from Britain. Three weeks of September filled with great times around Michigan and lots of time sharing interests in crafting and painting. Yes I was out to lunch September!

So it's back to painting and sorting out which direction I'm going in with the next chapter in my life. Definitely time to explore art and finally try out all those ideas I have wanted to paint on canvas - and paper. My website is in need of sorting and promoting and I really should be looking at networking more in the real world as well as in cyberspace. Hey ho, bring it on November.

Backyard Visitor

2010-07-29T14:24:00.008-04:00

Mr. G

Meet Mr. G he (she?) has been a regular visitor to my backyard the last few months. Today he actually came within shooting distance of my zoom lens. He started off staying at the back of the yard initially, then into the middle. One day I saw this "huge thing", as it seemed to appear in comparison to the usual squirrels, running up the trunk of a tree. It was Mr. G - or one of his mates.

Until then I hadn't realised groundhogs, or woodchucks to give then their other name, actually climbed trees. Well they do and they're pretty fast at it too. Mind you Mr.G is a fair size so he probably has to have a fair lick at it to obtain any height.

Mr. Groundhog

How did he get that big? Well I can tell you - he eats his way around the garden, literally. To be honest I knew absolutely nothing about groundhogs until arriving in the States. Then the only thing I heard about them was the myth surrounding the practice of dragging one of the poor creatures out of their holes and seeing if they could see their own shadow, what!?

Lets face it this is Michigan, it's only February and winter can extend into April. So anyone in Michigan can tell you "Yes, at least another six weeks of winter!"
Let the poor creature sleep - there's nothing to eat but snow!

Great Resource for Artists

2010-07-27T21:42:00.005-04:00

There are a few places on the web that I visit on a regular basis. One place I actually subscribe to weekly emails from is Empty Easel for the wide variety of articles they publish. Everything from featured artists, tutorials, business advice and so much more that is useful to anyone interested in or doing art.

There really is something for everyone at Empty Easel whether an artist or if you just like to view or buy original art. The site is chock full of painting tips, advice on selling art and artist reviews. One of the tutorials last month was a gouache and India ink technique by mixed media artist Joanie Springer. The article was interesting and used a technique I had not heard of before.

After reading the article I visited Joanie's site and really liked her work. Particularly "Earth Deva" it makes me want to experiment with collage! I loved the colour and brushwork in her pet portrait "Hogging the Bed". Check out her site Art for the Soul of It she works in a variety of media from acrylic to oil, ink and mixed media. Joanie is just one of the artists whose work I have enjoyed after subscribing to Empty Easel's free weekly e-newsletter. I recommend you visit Empty Easel too I don't think you will be disappointed.

Lighthouse Painting

2010-07-21T07:36:00.006-04:00

Yesterday I visited the Art Experience after a layoff of two weeks due to other commitments. A two weeks of no painting on canvas, but painting some picture frames that I had designed and burned for a customer in Britain. It was nice to get back to the easel.

It is particularly hot and humid here in this part of Michigan and the paints practically dried as they hit the canvas, air "like soup" didn't translate to moist paint on canvas! So I thought I would loosen up and experiment with some acrylic gloss medium mixed with my acrylic paints to extend drying time and add some texture.

The only time I had used a medium before was the soft gel medium when making acrylic transfers. Below is the little 8x10 ins painting of a lighthouse set back in trees and scrub. A photo taken of a lighthouse a few summers ago was used as my source. A not very good photo - so plenty of room for artistic license.

Acrylic Painting of a Lighthouse

The gloss medium did allow a little more time to play with the paint. I used Liquitex acrylic, Basics and some Liquitex Heavy Body which I'm gradually replacing the Basics with. The medium allowed brushstrokes to show more in the painting. Unfortunately the nice texture in the sky doesn't show too well in the scanned image above.

I did find if I added a little too much gloss medium the it was hard to add more pigment until dry, giving a transparent, sparse covering. This might be useful for certain effects at another time, but as I was looking for thicker, brush stroked texture I soon learned not to be so heavy handed with the medium!

I am sure I will have fun trying out gloss medium to obtain different effects. I am just starting to use acrylic mediums, so lots to explore. I would love to hear about other artist's use of acrylic, so if you would like to share your "experiments" drop me a line.

Morning Caller

2010-07-07T08:18:00.005-04:00

I have many many visitors in my backyard coming in through the wetland scrub behind the house. I have the bald bushes to prove it - the deer obviously were not content with the deer corn this winter! We have a resident rabbit (s?) that hardly moves when we pull up in the drive, birds on the feeder, the occasional fox and coyote, raccoons, possums, skunks, squirrels and of course chipmunks!

Much to my husband's chagrin the chipmunks run up the extension pipes on the drainpipes of the house, dig tunnels all over the lawn and too close to the house for comfort. Willow our cat will sit for hours under the tree where they have the main exit holes to their labyrinth. Well today one came calling at the front door. I happened to look through the window and saw the cheeky critter sitting up on his hind legs on the door step.

So I grabbed my camera as I don't often get the chance to see one up that close. He was down on all fours by this time and seemed quite unperturbed at my being within three feet of him. I tapped on the glass and he took off post haste. Well I love watching the wildlife but I really do not need any more house pets!

Midsummer Dream - Painted Glass Window

2010-06-24T12:02:00.006-04:00

The longest day of the year has been and gone and some bright spark said to me it's only six months to Christmas. Really, thanks. Anyway I thought it a good time to review how the year has gone so far. Have I stuck to my resolution made back in January? My promise to myself to manage my time better this year and be more productive on the art front?

Well looking back I seem to have started off well with a several pastel and oil pastel paintings. I did a few paintings with glass paints on acrylic sheet. I painted about four acrylic on canvas and have another waiting to be finished. Painting got put on the back burner when working for Artunes.

I did start an art journal and managed all of two pages one day!
Of course I recently painted the diptych of my son for the Healing Power of the Arts Exhibition. Every moment not ferrying my daughter around I spent painting that. I have been burning and painting picture frames and a tray.

I purchased some old glazed window frames earlier in the year and painted one - I have all kinds of ideas for the rest, should be fun!

Four Seasons PaintingPainted Window - Stained Glass Style

Each pane of the window represents a season. For spring I painted pearlised blossoms against a blue sky, I know better days are ahead when I see the blossom break out in my backyard! For Summer I painted a yacht on the water with a splendid sunset in the background. For Autumn I painted colourful leaves floating on puddles of rainwater swirls formed from drips off trees. Finally winter is represented by a bare tree, stark against the snow and wintry sky.

Well my "dream" or plan for midsummer is to get back on track and paint some more. I have all kinds of ideas I can't wait to hit the canvas with. This week's been a little hectic preparing for my daughter's graduation party tomorrow and an art show on Saturday at Canterbury Village.

Next week I am privileged to be the "Artist of the Month" for July at Orion Township Public library. If you are free pop along for a visit and see some of my paintings. Have a great weekend!

Artunes Re-visited

2010-06-21T19:27:00.022-04:00

I thought I would put up a few more photos - as promised - of the Artunes fundraiser for friends and sponsors.

Here is my booth Art by KC looked after by my daughter Holly and my friend Hattie.
It was due to them both that I was able to display my work as I was so busy organizing and looking after others at the event.
Thanks girls. The strange headgear Hattie is wearing was made by SueBeeDoo; along with the balloons peaking out from the canopy roof - remnants of swords and head gear worn by Joe during a sword fight with Hattie! Well you're only young once - or is that let's not grow old!

Also a big thank you to my eldest son Joe, who stayed until midnight with me, helping and clearing up; my husband for ferrying people around and bringing us pizza!

Here is Sofia looking rather sad after the rain chased away the crowds. Sofia had worked so hard organizing theater, actors, playwrights, costumes, rehearsals, props - wow! She is such an upbeat gal I was sorry not to catch her smiling. Wouldn't have wanted to do Artunes without you Sofia!

Here is Sue from the Art Experience who manned their tent for part of the day along with Bean.
Their team and supporters brought along paints, paper and all kinds of fun stuff for kids to try out - and the rest of us young 'uns.

As you can see Sue likes to try out all kinds of surfaces to paint, ha! No seriously, Sue does some fantastic art journaling trying out all kinds of techniques. If you have the chance check out one of her classes at the Experience. Bean, apart from being an all round fun girl is an accomplished poet.

Here are Holly, Bean and Smoky - the most photographed - Bear on the planet looking cool on a hot day.

You can just see the BoRics tent behind them. The BoRics people from Lake Orion came out and gave people haircuts, donating all the takings to the charities.

The State park personnel of Bald Mountain Recreation Area were great, making sure the park was in tip-top condition for Artunes. The Oakland County Parks donated the use of their stage for the event and Lake Orion Township donated certain fees so Artunes could happen!

Here Gloria and her husband Ed are enjoying the sun - finally. At one point earlier in the day they had to cover up the display as it rained so hard.

Gloria makes beautiful gift baskets for people, you can order them from her Loving Inspirations website. She will put together a basket for you, the size you want for any occasion.

Lisa and Annette brought their Sacred Sisters booth to Artunes. Sacred Sisters have a store at the historic Michigan landmark, Canterbury Village in Lake Orion. If you are in the area pop in and see the great collection of art and crafts they have for sale - including my hand painted gifts!

Many artists, vendors and restaurants turned out to support Artunes in their fundraising for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Institute and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

To all who stayed through the rain and to all the visitors -
Thank You.

How to make Acrylic Transparencies

2010-06-18T10:31:00.019-04:00

As mentioned in my last post I have been experimenting with making acrylic transparencies to use in my artwork. Basically transparencies are made by transferring an image printed on paper to an acrylic medium; then removing the paper to be left with a transparent acrylic image. The image can be used to overlay on a painted background or other artwork / images.

I had read that transparencies could only be made from prints off a photocopier and it wouldn't work from images printed on ink jet printers, the type most of us have at home. So I determined to test that theory! Also that when applying the medium several hours drying time between layers was needed.

First I printed images onto plain paper from my Canon MP980 and found that the ink came away with the paper, leaving wishy-washy images on the acrylic. So I then tried making them from glossy photo paper - success! The only slightly fugitive colour was the red, but otherwise they were fine. I used photo paper from my local dollar store as well. My method is set out below.

I covered my work table with paper and gathered up supplies and tools: waxed paper to rest photos on that I was making transparencies from; soft gel gloss acrylic medium; a sponge brush to apply the medium with; a spray bottle of water; my fingers!

First I placed the photo to be treated face up on a sheet of wax paper to prevent gel from adhering it to the work surface. Then I applied a thin coat of the soft gel medium with a sponge brush. I allowed the gel to dry for a couple of hours and before repeated twice more. The first and third coats I applied length-ways; the second cross-wise.

When the gel was completely dry I placed my photograph face down on some wax paper and misted the back with water. I then scratched the damp surface with my fingernails, alternatively wetting and scratching the paper.

I rubbed the dampened paper with my fingers pulling away the paper backing from the acrylic coated photo, repeatedly dampening and rubbing. A slow process but not difficult. Just be sure not to stretch the acrylic transfer you have created; as more of the paper is removed you will begin to see the reverse image of your photo.

As you can see here my main tool is my fingers. I have read that some people abrade the back of the photo with sand paper at first. I found if I dampened the paper sufficiently my fingernails did the trick and then I rubbed the paper away with my fingers.

It takes a while, don't give up! When you think all the paper is removed from certain areas and you can see the image; allow it to dry for a little while. You will probably find that the image looks "misty" or has a white appearance again.

These are fuzzy bits of paper left behind that became transparent when wet. Just mist with water again and start rubbing. This may take a few attempts. But after a lot of rubbing you should have a nice acrylic transparency of your original photo. Turn it back over and you have the image "right way round" to use in your art journal, your paintings, collages and other artwork.

I think it is fun to do and opens the door to new creative effects. I will save work that I will use transparencies in for another time. So have fun and let me know if this "how to" was useful to you, I would love to see what you do with your transparencies.

Brother in Arms - Acrylic painting

2010-06-17T15:25:00.013-04:00

One of my favourite places, the Art Experience Inc., is co-hosting an exhibition with The Orion Art Center over the next two months. The exhibition is The Healing Power of the Arts, a collaboration between the two non profit organizations to bring attention to the importance of art and creativity in the healing process. Be it recovery from physical or mental illness, substance abuse or just coping with the day to day stresses of life, it has long been recognized art can play a big role in recovery.

I decided to enter last minute with a diptych, two paintings of my son, that represent his role in the military and his plans for the future. He is a Lance Corporal in the US Marines. I thought of him as a "Brother in Arms" both to his marine brothers and to his siblings and mates at home.

The time I started painting I hadn't heard from my son for a couple of weeks. The last telephone conversation we had was from the "bus stop to Afganistan" - his words not mine. All I knew was that he was probably going to be in Kandahar the next day. I am very happy for him that he is doing something he really wants to do and support him fully in his decisions. The fact that I worry about him is my problem, but I still worry.

Looking through photographs taken since his school graduation I found many of him arm in arm with friends and family. Likewise images taken with his marine brothers where they would be holding on to each other after a run through mud and river, etc.

The first painting I did portrays my son as a young marine graduate fresh out of boot camp in stylized pose in full military regalia. The second was painted using photographs taken of him on leave just before deployment, on a family and friends night out. The act of painting focused my attention on him, his hope and aspirations for his future reinforcing my love and pride for him.

So that's my little bit of therapy. Originally I was going to incorporate transparencies of photographs into the paintings. In fact I spent days making, scrapping and re-making transparencies. At the end of the day I thought they didn't add to the diptych. Maybe I'll use them in an art journal at a later date. The paintings are displayed side by side not staggered as on this blog.

All the extra work was not wasted - I learned a lot about making transparencies and what paper to use! I think with art we are always learning and don't ever stop - learning that is. I hoped to express the life and vitality of my son, his role in an honourable profession. All of us are there with him in the portraits, he truly is a "Brother in Arms".

Semper Fidelis

After Artunes

2010-06-16T08:07:00.014-04:00

After a long absence from writing I thought I would share some of the reason for that absence. Artunes took up a great deal of time helping plan and execute. It was all for a worthwhile cause so that's alright!

It was fun on the day - though it looks like Smoky the Bear was in a huff with Dennis the park ranger here. Perhaps over artistic differences in picture composition. Well Smoky was definitely the most photographed celebrity at the event!

Here are a few other celebs - we have SueBeeDoo the Clown who volunteered her time for the day and is a whiz at making balloon animals that kids at the event loved.

Tony Metro our guest MC is behind the camera taking a photo of me taking photos of him. Gwen a fellow committee member who organized the fashion show stands behind Tony.

Tony and SueBeeDoo were great pros on the day and it was a pleasure working with them. Again Tony gave his services free for Artunes. He is a comedian, entrepreneur and all round great guy.

Here are another two of my fellow committee members - Chizzy founder member of CCAN and Dave by the information tent. Artunes is Chizzy's brainchild and Dave the artist coordinator.

My role in Artunes started out recording meeting minutes and liaison with local businesses. But all our roles sort of expanded over time. I got to work with some great people on the committee: Sofia who did an awesome job organizing theater productions and coordinating the fashion show with Gwen; Aaron organized the Bands line up; Charlene - Mrs. SE Michigan - attended in a smashing gown and organized the 10K Run.

The weather wasn't exactly on our side we had torrential rain for the first part of the day and I am sure it kept a lot of visitors away. At the end of the day we had a reasonable turn out for a new event and raised some money for the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Not to mention everyone there saw some great artwork, heard some good bands and had a great selection of food on offer. My thanks go out to all the artists, vendors, musicians, people who volunteered their time, the park personnel, fellow committee members and of course the visitors.

Talking of music as well as the great Bands on the main stage we were treated to a performance by the local high school orchestra in the theater pavilion.

Lake Orion High School Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Mrs. Staniszewski played for Artunes before going off to another volunteer gig in the town. A big thank you to these very talented young musicians. They definitely gave a "touch of class" to the event!

I shall save some photos for another day. It's back to the easel for me now with new projects. I have just spent the last couple of weeks painting a ditych of my son Ben for The Healing Power of the Arts Exhibition. More of that in my next post.

Artunes on the Mountain - Spring - CRAFTSU: Buy and Sell Crafts

2010-04-22T17:16:00.002-04:00

Artunes on the Mountain - Spring - CRAFTSU: Buy and Sell Crafts

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