Air Hog

Today Ron's brother and family will be heading home after lunch.

But, after breakfast Mark got to play with the Air Hog.

He was able to get many of the basic moves up, down and return, before the battery charge wore out.

We put it back on the charger so he could play with it again. In the meantime he packed up his belongings and get them loaded into the car.

By then it was charged and there was still time for him to play with it.

This time after going through a few of the things he had worked on earlier he was working on trying to get it to spin around him.

He didn't quite get it there completely before it needed to be recharged, but at least we know what we will be getting him for Christmas this year.

Well, Hello There

Today I am at KAGS for the still life class which features toys and stuffed animals.

I decided to do the lamb with its front legs hanging down below the riser at the back of the display, making it seem as though it wanted to meet the knitted toy elephant.

I put a few wooden blocks into the drawing near the elephant.

I may go back into the drawing and put the corner on the cloth covered riser.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

First Day of the Shades of Summer Art Show and Sale

It is going to be another hot 88F (31C) and very humid 102F (39C) day.

Today I opened the show in the morning and for the most part sat at my table at the back of the building near the door drawing.

I worked on this drawing of a stuffed toy bunny wearing a jacket in between talking with the people who came in to view the show.

Three original paintings were sold by Ron Desjardine and Sue Sydney, pottery was sold by JoAnne Connell Northey and small items were purchased from Diane Collins.

I would like to thank new collector Ms. Jade Viane of London, Ontario on her purchase of Boat 1 (see post on 07 April 2011) and Pastel Colours 2 (see post on 19 January 2017).


Peter Rabbit 1

The hours for our show are:
16 Aug 18 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
17 Aug 18 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
18 Aug 18 - 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
19 Aug 18 - 12:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

We look forward to seeing some of you at our show during the next four days.

Northern Lights - A Work in Progress

Today is another hot 91F (33C), hazy and humid 95F (35C) day and I thought I would do a little more completed on this painting that I have been working on for quite a while (see posts on 09 December 2010, 21 February, 29 May, 10 July and 29 August 2012, 25 May and 25 July 2016).

I started by putting in a base colour of burnt sienna and cobalt blue on the remaining rocks in the painting.













Then using a mix of French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson, I worked on the three main trees on the left side of the painting and started by getting the trunk finished on the first one, as well as some of the branches and needles onto the tree.

Next I worked on the dead pine tree and was able to get over half of the trunk completed.















I finished one of the small trees on the far shore of the lake and indicated the trunk of another of the background trees before adding some of the branches and needles to the last pine tree.

Now that Ron is up, I will put this painting away and I will post it at a later date once it has been completed.















It is nice having him home for an extra day and I had gotten him a little toy helicopter to play with in his "spare" time.

Fortunately, there was very little wind and in the afternoon after he had finished everything he wanted to do, he was able to relax and fly it on the front lawn.












Perhaps I will get him a larger one for Christmas or his birthday.

The Pit Crew

Last year, Ron noticed that our grandson Aaron was outgrowing his motorized Jeep and probably wouldn't be using it this year.

Since we had a small and very old Husqvarna lawn mower on which the deck was no longer working, Ron decided to work on it over the winter to give Aaron a "new ride" for the summer.

He took the rusted, old deck off first and then cleaned up the undercarriage, making sure there were no rough edges that could cause problems.

Next he bolted a steel plate across the speed control so that it could only go forward on the slowest setting.















From there he worked on the motor to make sure it was in working order and would start and stay running.















Next he fixed the two flat tires and then it was time to take it for at test drive to make sure there were no unforeseen problems.















And of course he found that when you got off the seat the kill switch wasn't working and the engine didn't stop running.

That took a couple of weeks until the part came in so he could fix that and finally get the lawn mower out of the shop and into the west barn stone room with all the other lawn mowers which were waiting for spring.

Finally, today is the day when Ron and Kyle handed the key to Aaron and took him down to the barn so will be able to drive his new "toy".

They showed him where the brake was and then allowed him to start it and he was able to drive it slowly out of the barn for the first time.















With his father and grandfather on each side of him, they left the barn drive and headed up to the main driveway for his first time of going up and down the driveway.















After the first turn up and down the driveway Kyle went with him and left grandpa to relax in the shade watching them.















On the way back just before turning around to go again, it ran out of gas so it was time for a pit stop to fill the gas tank. Aaron was standing by, watching them closely to make sure they were doing it right.

Once it was fueled up they tried to start it again but it just wasn't working.

While grandpa went down to the stone room to get the battery charger out Aaron and Kyle pushed the mower down to the doorway.

Aaron was right there watching how they hooked up the cables onto the battery and asking them questions.

It didn't take very long for the battery to charge enough so it started and Aaron was on his way once more going down the driveway.















This time it was grandpa's turn to go with Aaron and he asked grandpa if he could drive on the front lawn for a change.















Ron explained to him that when he went down the hill he had to go straight down and not go on an angle, as the hill was steep and he didn't want him to roll the mower over and get himself hurt.















After Aaron safely negotiated the hill and turned a couple of laps around the front lawn they headed up onto the back part of the track and went to the back bend before turning around and coming back.















Then one final trip around the front lawn and it was back to the barn.















But just before they mad it back to the barn it quit and Kyle pushed it into the west barn stone room.

Grandpa will have sorted the problem with it quitting by the next time Aaron comes up to play with his new toy.

Toys and Gift Wrapping - Three Works in Progress

Today I was in the Still Life class at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio in the morning and sitting the Gallery in the afternoon.

There were a wide variety of things to paint and I decided to do three small sections of the display.














Don't Drink and Drive 1

The first was of a bottle of wine, a small snowman, a teddy bear and a couple of toy cars with a gold ribbon running between them.














Gift Wrap 1

The second was of various gift boxes and bags with a roll of gold ribbon.















Santa's Bag 1

The third on was of Santa's bag filled with toys and wrapped gifts.

As more work is completed on each of the three paintings, I will post them at a later date.

More New Toys

I have always wanted to have a little trailer to put my gardening stuff in and pull behind my lawn mower to make it easier to work in my gardens which are located throughout the 4 acres (1.6ha) of lawn surrounding the house.















Especially when carrying buckets of water to the flower beds along the west fence at the entrance to the property and on the south fence where my arbour with my climbers are located and the hose is not long enough to reach so they can be watered.















Another thing I wanted was to have a small snow blower attached to the lawn mower so I could use it in the winter to clear out the small areas that the snow blower on Ron's tractor cannot clear and it would make it a lot easier than shovelling it out by hand.















Earlier this week when I went into Lakefield I saw a small lawn mower with a trailer and snow blower and I let Ron know that I have found one that was for sale.















Since I was at KAGS today he was going out to look at and it would make a very nice Christmas gift.















When I returned home from the Gallery Ron told me that he didn't get the lawn mower and accessories that I had looked at, instead I could go and look at what he found for me, which was in the shop.















Needless to say I was delighted with what I found there, which was a much newer and larger lawn mower and accessories. Ron will fix the flat tires on the trailer and get everything ready for me to use the snow blower for the winter.

My New Toy

Today I sat at Art on Kent in Lindsay, Ontario.















The Gallery will remain open until 08 July 2017 at the end of the "What's Your Canada?" exhibit ends.















When I returned home I found this in the driveway on the trailer waiting for me to go for a test drive.



















As much as I wanted to drive it today, I had brought supper home and after spending a busy day at the gallery all I wanted to do was relax with my leg up.















I will be happy when I can walk normally without the rollator walker and not get tired so quickly.















But tomorrow is another day and I will be driving around the property in my new toy.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

I wanted to do a little more work on this painting that I have been working on for a little while (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January, 22 February 09 and 31 March 2016).

I wanted to define the drawing a little more and drew in a couple more pussy willows, added more detail onto the lace so when I put in the shadows the patterns will be easier to follow.

Next I added the folds into the pant legs and defined the ribbons on the legs before I finished the bindings on the top and bottom of the basket.

First I completed the pussy willows stalks using burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue and the fluffs with raw sienna and a grey of burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue.

Using a mix of cobalt blue and Antwerp blue I washed in the base colour on the sleeves and pant legs.

While that dried I darkened the shadow on the left side of the face.

I painted the ribbons by the sleeve and the legs with cadmium red, cadmium yellow and alizarin crimson.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the sleeves, legs and added the highlights on the ribbons.

Thank you for taking the time to look at my artwork and I hope you will return often.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I pulled out this painting that I have been working on for a while (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January, 22 February and 09 March 2016).

First I worked on the slats on the basket with various mixes of  French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna trying to show a little of the wood grain on them.

While that was drying I darkened the shadows on the vest on the bunny with a little alizarin crimson.

Then I went back and worked on the weaving of the basket with mixes of raw sienna and burnt sienna.

Using burnt sienna, raw sienna and French ultramarine blue I started working on the shadows of the binding at the top of the basket.

I will post this painting at a later date once the basket has been completed.

Thank you for looking at my artwork.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

It is another warm, although overcast day with the temperature reaching 62F (16.7C). It won't be long before all the ice and snow is gone.

The cow birds have arrived and it won't be long before the grackles make an appearance, just a few more signs that spring is not far away.

Because it won't be long before the pussy willows are out, I decided to do a little more work on this painting that I have been picking away at each month (see posts on 27 May 2014, 06 January and 22 February 2016).

I completed the pussy willows that were already started and will decide what I wish to do with the rest later once more of the painting is finished.

Using various mixtures of raw sienna, burnt sienna and French ultramarine blue I painted the head covering.

Next I worked on the vest with alizarin crimson adding Antwerp blue into the shadows.

I painted the ribbon with cadmium red, cadmium yellow and aureolin and will do the ribbons on the lower sections of the bunny once I have painted the lace.

Lastly, I painted in the head with aureolin and raw sienna. A pale wash of alizarin crimson was put into the cheek area.

A black made from French ultramarine blue, burnt sienna and alizarin crimson was used to put in the eyes, freckles, whiskers and mouth.

I will post this painting at a later date once I have completed the bunny.

Bunny and Basket 1 - A Work in Progress

Today I painted with the Creative Arts Guild at the St. John the Baptist Anglican Church in Lakefield.

I pulled this little painting out that I had starting working on again earlier this year (see posts on 27 May 2014 and 06 January 2016).

I began by drawing in a few more pussy willow stalks and did a little more work on them.

With a pale wash of raw sienna I indicated the shadows on the head covering.

Using a mix of cadmium red and cadmium yellow I painted in the middle tone on some of the ribbons.

The vest was indicated with alizarin crimson.

I will post this painting again at a later date once more work on the bunny is completed.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork.

OSWOA - Rubber Ducky 2

I wanted to work on something that I could complete today and after going through a number of pieces I decided on this one of a rubber ducky that I has started last year (see posts on 28 March and 15 July 2014).

Using a dark mix of French ultramarine blue and burnt sienna I painted in the pupils of the eyes.















Using a wash of raw sienna I put down the under paint for the duck, leaving the whites of the eyes and painting around the bill.

With various mixtures of blue greys gradually the shading was put on the body of the ducky.

Finally the bill was painted using alizarin crimson, new gamboge, cadmium red and cadmium yellow.














If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

Bath Time - A Work in Progress

The temperature has dropped significantly from yesterday to 2F (-16.7C) and with the strong wind out of the east making it feel like -18F (-27C).

This is a painting I had started last year (see posts on 11 and 16 July and 28 December 2014 and 21 January 2015) and wanted to do some more work on the painting.

The towel was painted using various mixtures of Cobalt blue and French ultramarine blue.












Next I wanted to do more work on the duck and started by putting the shadows and giving shape to the toy with mixes of raw sienna and burnt sienna.

Once the paint had dried I applied a wash of new gamboge over the entire duck body and head.

I will post this painting again once I have completed the duck.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and look at the artwork. I hope you will return often.

ACEO - Happy Hippo 1

Today I wanted to finish is little piece that I had started a couple of years ago (see post on 17 November 2013).

I tidied up the arm and leg on the right side and added a little more hair on his head.

First I put down a wash of burnt sienna as the base colour of the wooden floor.

Then I added a little French ultramarine blue to darken the colour and using a dry brush I added in the wood grain using horizontal strokes.

For the background behind the hippo I used a mix of raw sienna and new gamboge.

Once the background was dry it was time to paint the hippo.  I started with alizarin crimson for the inside of the ears and then added a small amount of new gamboge to paint the muzzle. I then put in the mouth with alizarin crimson.

For the main parts of the body and the head, I used alizarin crimson, French ultramarine blue and a small amount of burnt sienna.

To the body colour I added a little more burnt sienna to darken the colour and painted in the hooves.

Using the hoof colour I made it almost black by adding more of the blue and burnt sienna and painted the hair, eyes, and nostrils.

With pure Antwerp blue I painted in the scarf.

Lastly, using cadmium yellow I put in the highlight on the hair and on the edges if the eyes.

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. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $20.00 and sold unframed.

OSWOA - Wanna Play?

Today we set up a show at the Purple Onion Festival held in Millennium Park in Peterborough.












We were fortunate in that we had gotten all of our paintings inside the building before it started to rain. I felt sorry for some of the exhibitors who had to go through high winds and a torrential downpour during the morning hours that caused a couple of tents to collapse due to the amount of rain that fell during a very short time and the high winds. By noon the sun came out and the temperatures climbed to 66F (19C) and the crowds came out to enjoy the Festival.














I would like to thank new collector Gary Smith of Peterborough, Ontario on his purchase of Autumn Birch 1 (see post on 14 July 2012).











This is one of the pieces that I took to the show that I had started in a Still Life class earlier this year (see posts on 27 March 2014, 31 July 2014 and 07 August 2014) and decided that I wanted to finish it as a companion piece for the one I completed a couple of weeks ago (see post on 07 August 2014).













If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.

OSWOA - What's New?

This morning I was at Art on Kent which is normally not open on Sunday, but they had the Doors Open Ontario Tour which was sponsored by the Ontario Heritage Trust where tours were conducted through many of the century or older buildings throughout the province.

Since I had a little time at the Gallery and wanted to finish this little piece that was started a while ago (see posts on 27 March 2014 and 07 July 2014) and would be ideal for a child's room.













If you would like more information about OSWOA please go to my post on 12 March 2010.

The OSWOA shown here is an original watercolour painting using Artist quality Winsor & Newton paint on 140lb. Arches 100% rag, acid free watercolour paper. It is priced at $40.00 and sold unframed.