A watercolor wash by Tina, of reflections in a winter pond.

               Drinking at the pond. By Heddy

Sketches by my talented, 7yr. old Granddaughter Reidun.

                          My goodness, I have not been here for a- l-o-n-g time! I became unwell in mid August, and have been running in and out of Dr. this and Dr. that's offices for many tests, also many trips to the hospital away in Penticton for Cscans and MRI's. It looks like they have found the problem and I will be looking at surgery in the new year, and that will fix me up back to normal!! Got my fingers crossed.
Meanwhile, except for Thursday Nite Art, I have been vegetating, laying about feeling sorry for myself (o-o), reading books, and snooping on Face Book, painting very little, time to wake up!!
I wish every one a MERRY CHRISTMAS! and hope we all have fun with our family's!  we have snow and it is cold here in the Samilkameen Vally. It will be our first White Christmas in a while, I only hope the sun comes out to make it look nice.
 The Art Club has spent the last few months brushing up on sketching, doing some Ink line and watercolor washes,  Here are some examples of our efforts!

Thursday Nite Art Club.

                 To-nite was fun, we finished our last effort in Chinese Painting. We did a painting including all 4 Gentleman, and added a fishing Kingfisher. Ha, ha, not too bad for first time. I will post my painting to nite, but I failed to get a photo of Tina's before she left for home. but they are quite similar.

                                   Kingfisher and the Four Gentlemen.

                                                     Close up of Kingfisher.

                           Next Thursday we are falling back to landscape painting and sketching, till then "Happy Painting!"

Thursday Nite Art Club.

             We have missed a couple of Thursdays at Art, due to members having summer visitors. That's fine, as visits from friend's and family are important to our life. I have been busy with putting away the produce from my garden for winter, but have still been able to find time here and there to do some painting, and think up new projects for the future, as we are just about at the end of the Chinese Brush basics. We should be all together this Thursday, and finish up the last of our lessons. There was a few lessons that were a bit unsuccessful as we did not have access to the proper papers (sizing) to get the right effects. Our closest art store is 50 miles away in Penticton, and does not have the variety of material we would wish. We will look into the stores in Kelowna, soon we hope, they have  Opus and  Michal's art store's there. They will have more stock, or will order for us.

                         Meanwhile We have been plugging along as well as we can, and I think we have done well with what we have, whats most important we are pleased and happy with our efforts and have learned a lot about brush work, that will fall over into other types of painting. 

 A beautiful impression by Tina, of flowers, seed stems, leaf's and buds. Color on a black ink background, and really making use of white space to great and delicate effect!! Well done Tina, a beautiful painting!

 This colorful group of flowers was painted on a pale color wash background. I enjoyed this composition!

And taking a break from Chinese style, but still using a Chinese brush, A little go at my Cone flowers blooming against my fence, with the neighbors Walnuts hanging over!

          So? what will next Thursday show us? I will keep you posted, meanwhile, KEEP PAINTING!

Thursday nite Art Club.

              We have been all plugging along in the book of Techniques of Chinese Brush  Painting, working on flowers and Plum Blossoms. To nite we got into color wash backgrounds, and one method is "Scrunching", where you literately scrunch up your paper, than smooth it out, it makes tiny, bold ridges in the paper which you swipe a brush loaded with paint across. the ridges catch the paint. It's for background, but we all could see possibilities, so we followed up on our ideas, and surprise, surprise, came up with nice complete paintings! We were all really pleased with our results.

                                            Tina's Pines and Peaks!

                                              My View in the Forrest!

                                                   Hedy's Flower Bed!

             Every one will be away next week, but the week following we will paint a picture on the blended color washes we also did to nite. It will be interesting to see what we will come up with next! Happy Holidays everyone!!

After the Storms

                  I have not been on the blog for some time, due to too hot to be in the house, ( I need a AC.) or it has been thunder and lightning. At which times I turn off the computer. The storms have been coming every 2 or 3 days, (severe electric) And in between the weather is HOT! like almost 100 degrees each day, so the garden is either cooking or flooding, what a crazy year for ex stream weather. Yesterdays wind and rain blew down a lot of branches from the willows, tossed a few items about the yard and made a mess in general. broke down some of my corn too!

                  But we are surviving, I have been dashing out in the evening, when cool and not raining to pick from the garden. I have peas, young carrots and little beets in the freezer already. I will soon be picking little pickles for dills, yum.

                  I have lost 2 art students for awhile, due to work and holidays, but Tina and I have been hanging in there with a couple of road trips to paint trees and flowers. Taking a break from Chinese Brush for a couple of weeks to enjoy our watercolors too.

                        Old Wood; Chinese Brush Painting.

                When it's hot we paint flowers. these are my Cone flowers by my fence, with walnuts hanging    over from the neighbors.

          And when it's stormy, I'm stuck in the house, so why not paint the storm?

       Will try to get back on here sooner than this time, meanwhile "Happy Holidays"

Spring Flowers!

                     In spite of the rainy, cool and cloudy spring, the backyard still sported quite a few lovely flowers. I took a few photos of the ones I like the best.

                                                     "Ivory Tea Rose"

              "My Amber Rose" in the Mock Orange bush.

         And the very beautiful Mock Orange Blossoms, that fill the yard with their wonderful orange fragrance in the evening time.

         The Honeysuckle is just starting to bloom, the Hummingbirds love it. as they have been more or less dependent on the feeder this slow spring.

              Bye for now! I hope you are also getting your share of spring photos for your albums.

Thursday Nite Art Club.

                 The Forth Gentleman; Plum Blossom!

                        We had a fun nite Thursday, learning to paint Plum Blossoms, which can be used as cherry, peach or apricot blooms. My granddaughter joined us, and what is it about kids? They catch on so fast, I'm afraid she showed us old girls up! Ha ha. So we ate pizza and painted and this is what it looks like;

                      I have to confess that my students keep me busy, practicing beforehand the next weeks lessons.  You see I am just learning the art of Chinese brush painting myself, (and I have to look good for my students!)  But like any good teacher, my greatest joy, besides the great fellowship; is seeing those students who surpass the teachers efforts, and show great promise! I am lucky to have two of them!

                       So next week I have to show them how to join their blossoms onto the branches, and here is one of my efforts;

                           Peach Blossoms with Butterfly's

                    I chose Peach because I like the color, and when done I was looking forward to the Dancing stroke, used for a multitude of flowers, also butterfly's. Well I just had to try them and I'm pleased with the results, so I go whole hog and and paint on a backwash- background too! what do you think for a first try?

                 Hopefully I will have some nice ones to post next week from my star students. Meantime have a good week and  "Keep on Painting"

Thursday Nite Art Club!

                                
                              Sprayed Backgrounds!


                    What a fun nite, we reviewed (painted) the bamboo and the orchid and used a spray bottle to mist in the background. we placed a cap where we wanted the moon in the background to keep the white. It really gave us a nice perspective. Next week we are moving on to Cherry Blossoms. Painting on the rice paper is so different, but is so adaptive to different techniques with great effects. we still look like grade one, but with each repeat performance we are starting to look better with our form.  We are starting the blossoms at the same time the cherry crop is coming ready to pick, so that will be fun inspiration! :)

I am Back! *_*

             It has been a while, so have lots to catch up on. Have been busy with spring cleaning, inside and out, got the garden all planted before the rains started, it all sprouted up ok.

                 Had a week or two in May of sunny weather that blessed the spring flowers!

                 Enjoyed two field trips with the Art Club, Tina and I went to sketch and paint the Red Bridge at Keremeos.

                          And the next time we went with Heather also, to visit the Art Gallery at Princeton, and to cruse the back Hedley Hwy, to enjoy the river, hills, wildflowers and stopped to look at the pictographs.

                                  I also finished up a couple of souvenir art objects for my good friends, who went on a trip to N.S. last year

                                   The Art Club continues it's studies of Chinese Brush painting, there is sure a lot to learn with this style, lots of discipline. 

                       The Third Gentleman: Orchid .

Rain, Rain Go Away!!

      
           It's been hard to get anything done in the yard or garden what with all these wet days. The grass will be a foot high before it drys out, if not worse. But every thing does look so green, clean and fresh! I hope the bees got into the fruit trees before the cold rain started. The blossoms look wonderful anyway, and I am surrounded by Does apple trees in full glory!  the sun did get out on a few breaks, so I could run out to capture some blooms before they are gone. I hope you enjoy them! Rain or not the Backyard is looking good!

Thursday Nite Art Club!

The Second Gentleman:  Chrysanthemum.

The symbol of autumn, embodies optimism in the face of adversity!

We had a lot of fun starting on this next lesson. We use black ink or water color for practicing the petal, leaf, and stem strokes. It was a short nite so we didn't get to the colors. The thin stems seem to be the hardest to get control of, but Tina did very well, so I'll post her test runs. Hopefully we will get the other half of this lesson finished next week.

Thursday Nite Art Club.

                               Assembling the Strokes.

Bit of a slow start, what with missing last Thurs. Still working on The First Gentleman: Bamboo. this week we worked on Leaf Strokes and twigs and added them to the bamboo stalks. Getting better  at brush control all the time. one more week on this, and we will move on to the Second Gentleman: Chrysanthemum!

A Sunny Week in April

                                    SUNSHINE AND NEW LEAVES!

What a wonderful weekend, temps into the 80s. the birds are busy looking and building nests, butterfly's abound, love the fresh new greens of the new leaves. Apricots, Plums, Peaches and Cherries are in full bloom! and yes the wasps and mosquitoes are appearing, but the Bees are happy! Just waiting for that first Thunder Storm, its been so warm. All in all it looks wonderful in the lower Similkameen!

The art of Chinese Painting! Thursday Nite Art's and crafts.

         Yes, Tuesday nites got moved back to Thursdays, I find it better when I don't have to go to the Learning center the next morning for my computer class.

        We have started the Art of Chinese Painting 2 weeks ago, Its a lot of fun to learn the different techniques. we are getting through the basics, and are on the first gentleman-"Bamboo". You might enjoy seeing some of our first efforts! *_*

"April Showers"

                                              Digital art by J. Wornell

April Showers have arrived,

Turning the grass bright and green,

Popping up the May  flowers,

And everything looks bright and clean!

Life is fun in my Backyard !

Easter was fun, I caught my granddaughters first successful ride on her bike on video. Can you believe she rode for 2 or 3 miles after this, without one fall. she was so happy she insisted on riding her bike the 1 1/2 miles to school the next morning, with dad riding escort of course. Her big smile says it all!!  Life in the country is grand! We also enjoyed a lovely sunset the evening of Easter Monday. the Backyard is looking good!

The grass is getting green!

The yard is starting to look good. the grass is greening up. Granddaughter set up her Croquet game, and we have enjoyed a few rounds. we are almost finished the leaf burning and enjoyed a wiener roast!

March,"Out Like a Lion"

           The weather has been so blistery this last week of March, I have not gotten much done in the yard or garden. The little birds enjoy the extra goodies at the feeder until their natural feed appears. I caught a pair of House finches looking in the eye holes of the skull hanging on my back wall. So to amuse myself in the goofy weather I knocked together a rustic bird house from some scraps of wood. I put it in this corner they seem to like. Now I will have to wait and see if they find the new addition and approve it. *_*

Arts; Tuesdays

We started sketching last Tuesday. Sorry we have to cancel to nite, but will be back on track next week. How ever I did finish my charcoal and color pencil landscape. A hard try at shadows on snow in winter. I enjoyed working at it! *_*

So! my page is changing. I am moving the Garden" to it's own blog as there is too much to crowd into this "newsy" page. And I think "Paint and Photos" will fit better together, as a pair. I snapped a quick pic of the sunset today, first nice one this spring, hoping for many more. Here it is!

March, 15th.

                                 March is living up to it;s reputation in the Similkameen. Princeton is still enjoying snow, and the lower end here at Cawston is receiving windy snow and rain squalls. the temperature is swinging between freezing at nite and some day's as high as 60f. most day's are around 45f.

                                 Still raking my 1/2 acre of leaves and willow branches and pruning. When the wind is down I get to burn trash  unsuitable for the compost. (big branches) One nice thing is the leaves go into the compost good and wet, so they will break down faster. 

                                  The House Finches are back, they add a splash of red about the bird feeder. The Oregon Joncos have been here all winter. Today was the last day at my school, so I;m ready to get in full gear in the yard, during spring break! 

                                                      Till next time, Happy Spring Cleaning!! *_*

                             

March, 10th.

               DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME! Now we will have more evening time, the garden will get more attention around here. Housework and school takes up most of my day, so getting out after a early supper is my way of relaxing from the days chores.  Still cool, and some rain and snow squalls, but warming up to 60f some afternoons. I see the grass greening where I have raked, and the willows are getting that fresh yellow look already. Here in the Similkameen valley that means hurry up! stuff will be sprouting soon. I heard the Sand-hill Cranes calling high in the sky today, a sure sign of spring. So get busy with the plains and seeds, because things move fast once it gets rolling. I don't have a green house yet, but you who do are likely busy with trays sprouting already. My garden is small now there is only me at home. so I like to plant directly into the soil. I do buy some plants like peppers from a local greenhouse, Organic for sure. Hope to see you on the HOME page again next week, meanwhile do drop into The Garden Row, I will try to post garden tricks daily *_*.

March!

So here we are folks, I always think of the windy month of March as the front door to spring, and a new season. So here I am trying again to get this blogger under control so I may give and share our ideas on the garden, photos and art. feel free to drop in I'd love to share your views and news, in this beautiful world we live in.

It's now time to look to our garden tools and get at any repairs. Finish the pruning, and yard cleaning. get ready to plant or thin and transplant bulbs as soon as the frost thaws and the ground is turn-able

Also good just to get out and shake off the winter blues, with fresh air and hopefully sunshine!.

                                     See you next week! *_*