Retired I

Today Ron had to go to Toronto and I went along to keep him company.

It is nice that he is doing the driving and I have time to take photographs and do some sketches.















This is one of the drawings I did while near Peterborough, of an old truck in a field.

I may use this one to work up a painting at a later date.

New Exhibit at A Place For The Arts

Today I am sitting at A Place For The Arts in Bancroft, Ontario.

It was a fairly busy day, with many of the people who came in were there to see the new exhibit which was hung yesterday.

Next week the Christmas decorations will be set up along with the lights and ornaments hung on the trees.

This time my art is scattered throughout the Gallery, some on the main level and the others in various sections of the Annex on the upper level.

One of my paintings was placed in the Annex with another one which also featuring birch trees.

On the panel to the left of the entryway to the Annex was a small grouping of three of my paintings and the one of the teddy bear had a red bow placed on it to match the bow on the bear.

Another of my paintings was in the back section of the left Annex together with works by a couple of other artists.

On the main level my large painting was hung in a space by itself.

If you have a chance please, come out and enjoy the show. Gallery hours for November and December are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday.

ACEO - Frozen Lake 2

It won't be long until there is snow on the ground, so I thought I would finish this painting that was started quite a while go (see posts on 24 November 2013 and 30 December 2017).

With a mix of raw sienna and French ultramarine blue I give a little bit of detail to the tops of the trees in the distant shoreline.

Next, I brushed in a few shadows across the snow with Antwerp blue.

Mixing a green of French ultramarine blue, Antwerp blue and raw sienna, I put the needles on the pine trees.














Next I added little burnt sienna to the needle colour and painted in the branches and tree trunks.

With mixes of burnt sienna and raw sienna I put in the grasses and growies poking up through the snow.

If you would like more information about ACEO please go to my post on 11 March 2010.

The ACEO shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. or 300lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

Fire

With the high today, reaching a balmy 32F (0C) and up to 2" (5cm) of snow coming down, it was going to be a fairly busy day.

Starting off with my annual dentist appointment first thing in the morning, then running a few errands before going to a doctor's appointment.















From there a late lunch with friends, followed by more errands before heading for home and making supper.

I thought I would make the first fire of the fall and relax this evening with a nice mug of Ovaltine.

Fire

Today, after supper while I was babysitting my grandson, he brought out his and my drawings of Fire that we had started during the summer (see post on 02 August 2019).

I was very surprised to see that he had kept them and wanted to finish them.

We worked on putting in the flames with red, yellow, orange, blue, green and purple until the area of the fire was completed.

Together, we decided that it would be better if we did not try to put a dark background behind the flames.

He asked me if he could keep my drawing and I was happy to give it to him.

The End of the Elm Tree

Today Ron decided it was time to cut down the old elm tree that died earlier this year from Dutch Elm Disease.

The tree was over 100 years old when we purchased the property in 1978.

It continued to flourish and provide a look out post for the male North American Kestrel while his mate first nested under the eaves and then once we closed the hole, in the hawk box on the side of the house.

During the winter a wide variety of birds would pause in its branches to rest between trips to the feeders or be there in the morning waiting for me to fill the feeders.

Last year, in the early summer I was saddened to see the leaves on the western side of the tree wither and drop to the ground and it continued until by the fall the branches were completely bare.

In the spring only a few of the branches on the east side of the tree had leaves and by the summer they too, had withered and fallen to the ground leaving nothing but bare branches.

He first mowed the hay in the area where he was going to drop the tree to make it easier to cut the wood and load it onto the trailer.

Then he started by making the beginning cuts to the tree so it would fall where he wanted it to land.

It took some time to do as elm is a hardwood and this tree had a fairly wide base.

At this point I went down into the front field to take photographs of the elm as it would fall to the ground.

It didn't take very long for the once majestic tree to make its downward descent to the ground.

Now it was time to start the labour intensive work of cutting the branches into manageable lengths and loading them onto the trailer to be unloaded and then stacked along the fence line behind the barn to age for next year's firewood.

This will be our project for the rest of the day and probably continue until the end of the weekend.

But by that point we should also have the trunk cut up into manageable chunks and stacked to be split next year when it has dried.

My job while he is working on the larger pieces will be to clear the area of all the smaller branches and bundle them together for kindling.

One thing I do know is that I am going to miss seeing the elm tree each time I look out the living room window.

28th Annual Christmas at Presqu'ile Arts and Craft Show

I was going to go to the Opening Night Celebration of the 28th Annual Christmas at Presqu’ile Art and Craft Show, but with the windstorm and bad weather the power to the park had been knocked out and the opening was cancelled.















So we decided to go today to see the exhibit.














I had already been warned about how long the lines can be and to arrive early.















Ron of course, didn't believe that in the middle of the week it would be very busy, so we finally arrived around 11:30.















The line looks deceiving until you realize that once inside the tent the line snakes from front to back a couple of times so more people can be in under shelter in inclement weather.

I stayed with Ron until he was inside the tent and then I went to sit on the benches near the entrance to give my leg a rest.

A little over an hour later we were able to get into the building.

The wait was well worth it.

There was a large selection of art in watercolour, oils, mixed media and acrylic. Sculptures could be found made of clay, wood, wire and stone.

There was a variety of handmade Christmas decorations, jewellery, stained glass, quilts, as well as maple syrup, chocolates, and other edibles, just to name a few things.

If you haven't made it out to the Christmas at Presqu’ile show held at Presqu’ile Provincial Park, at 328 Presqu’ile Parkway, in Brighton, the last two days are 09-10 November 2019 from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Buckhorn Artists' Group Blog - Show Updates

I have updated the Buckhorn Artists' Group blog with a listing of shows some of the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work in during the month of November.

If you get a chance come out and visit them at one or all of the shows.

Confirmed Shows for 2019-2020 - November

This is a listing of confirmed shows that I will be exhibiting my artwork at this year and into next year. I will update the list as more shows are added.

A Place For The Arts, 23 Bridge St. W., Bancroft, Ont.
24 Sep - 17 Nov 19
19 Nov 19 - 16 Feb 20
01 Jul - 03 Aug 20 Solo Show in The Annex
05-31 Aug 20 Buckhorn Artists' Group in The Annex

Presqu'ile Provincial Park, 328 Presqu’ile Parkway, Brighton, Ont.
02, 03, 06, 09 and 10 Nov 19 28th Annual Christmas at Presqu'ile
10 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The Douro-Dummer Library Art Gallery, 425 Douro Fourth Line Road, Hamlet of Douro, Ont.
08 Jul - 27 Aug 20 The Buckhorn Artists' Group
Opening Reception 10 Jul 20 from 7-8 p.m.
05 May - 30 Jun 21 The Buckhorn Artists' Group
Opening Reception 07 May 21 from 7-8 p.m.
05 Jan - 30 Mar 22 The Art of Daniel Marlatt and Susan Sydney
Opening Reception 07 Jan 22 from 7-8 p.m.

I look forward to seeing you at some of these shows.