2016 Peterborough Garden Tour

Today Cindy, Norma and I set up our display at Griffins Greenhouse and Garden Centre at 3026 Lakefield Rd., Lakefield, Ontario.














We were set up near the back of the grounds under a tent in among the beautiful flowers and shrubbery, close to the gazebo and the pond.

An added attraction on the other side of the gazebo was a group of Highland dancers who performed throughout the day, which also attracted many people.














We were fortunate to have an overcast day with the temperature at 77F (25C), without humidity and a mild breeze.

While I was there I took many photographs of the plants and displays of flowers in pots, some which were the living parts of metal sculptures scattered throughout the property.












During the latter part of the afternoon we had an unexpected visitor, a painted turtle who came out from the marsh, walked across the road and came into the tent to visit and enjoy our art show.

When he turned to cross the road again, Cindy picked him up and set him in the pond so he wouldn't get run over by a passing vehicle. I think he will probably join the other turtles sunning themselves beside the guardian of the pond, a large metal crocodile.












The gardens are a delight with many hidden treasures to be found in and among the plants; gnomes, elves and cherubs peeking out from between plants, a hidden waterfall guarded by sculptures of snails, toads and butterflies.














Wonderful wood carving of bears, raccoons and birds watching you from their hiding places in the shade of a tree, or peeking out from shrubbery. These are just a few of the many things you will find and I recommend that you take the time to visit Griffins and be enchanted by their gardens. I know I was.

School's Out I - A Work in Progress

We had rain last night and the power went out in the evening around 7:30 and didn't return until around 4:30 this morning. The rain, wind, heat 79F (26C) and the humidity 88F (31C) continued throughout the day.

I came across my slate that I use when diving and transferred this sketch that I did when I was in Roatan onto a piece of paper.

This landmark rock formation is at a decompression stop at 30' (9.1m) located between the Prince Albert wreck and the platform in the backyard of the CoCo View Resort.

While waiting there you are almost always guaranteed to see a multitude of fish swimming around the large sea fan.

I will post this sketch at a later date when I have tightened up the drawing of the fish and added the details of to the rocks and sea fan.

Thank you for coming to look at my artwork.

Countryside Art Group Blog - Show Updates

On the first of each month I will update the Countryside Art Group's blog with a listing of shows where the various artists in the Group are exhibiting their work.

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

Three Mountains - Nevada - Three Works in Progress

It is another day where they are calling for thunderstorms with the high heat 92F (33.3C) and the humidity made it feel like 108F (42.2C) and once again we are not getting any rain or stormy weather.

I pulled out these three sketches that I did while we were in Las Vegas a number of years ago (see post on 21 November 2014).














Early Morning Mountains I

I thought I would start by indicating the top line of each of the mountains that would be silhouetted against the sky.












Dark Mountains I

Then I added the some of the lines for the lower mountains below the high points.











Mountains I

I will post each of these paintings at a later date as more work on them has been completed.

Autumn Trees 1 and 2 - Two Works in Progress

Today I pulled out these two paintings that I had started while in Magnetawan ant the Knoepfli Inn (see posts on 20 October 2013 and 17 February 2014).

I worked back and forth between the two paintings to try and keep the background in the same colour range in case I wanted them to be made into a diptych.

I started by wetting the paper first and then brushing in the background with a mix of raw sienna and new gamboge.

While the paper was still wet I added a little aureolin into some of the lighter areas of the background being careful to blend the colors together.

Autumn Trees 1

In the darker areas I added in some cadmium yellow and a little more raw sienna, once again being sure that there were not hard lines.

Using cadmium yellow with a touch of new gamboge I dropped the paint onto the still wet paper in areas where I wanted to indicate leaves but not have them very detailed.

As the paper continued to dry, with a very pale wash of raw sienna I added a little bit of darkness into the bottom of the paintings.

I will post each of these paintings once I have started painting in the tree trunks.

Autumn Trees 2

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

Replacing Some of the Barn Floor

Parts of the barn floor in the mow are gradually starting to get "mushy" and Ron decided that before I fell through carrying a bale of hay to feed the horses, he would replace the floor.















He started by removing the panels covering the floor by the doorway.















Next he removed the first layer of the floor boards which showed signs of deterioration and these were put onto the trailer to be dumped as fill at the side of the track.















This was followed by the removal of the second layer of boards which were also put onto the trailer.
















He then squared up the edges of the opening in preparation to replacing the boards.















In the meantime I picked up all the small pieces of wood and took them out of the stall and they went with the rest of the boards onto the trailer.















Sepia 1

While Ron was covering the opening in the mow and emptying the trailer I thought I would start a couple of little monochromatic landscape paintings.















Sepia 2

I will post each of these paintings at a later date once they have been completed.

Bucking 1 and 2

Today I was watching a program on television about rodeo, cowboys, bucking horses and bulls.

It didn't take long before I had my sketchbook out and was doing some quick sketches.

I was able to get a little more detail on some of the horses when they showed the action in slow motion.

The amount of extension they achieve after they kick out when bucking just before their front feet touch the ground.

Bucking 1

It is amazing the power they generate as they twist and turn trying to dislodge their rider.

I decided to leave the rider out of the sketches and try to capture as much of the movement and the different positions the horse can get its body into as it tries to get rid of the cowboy.

I managed to get enough detail into the sketches to create drawings.

Bucking 2