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.

Black Cat on Fence Rail 1 and Witch's Kitty 1 - Two Works in Progress

While going through a folder of small paintings I came across a drawing that I did in a Still Life class at KAGS a long time ago of a black cat (see post on 12 December 2014).

Since it is Hallowe'en, and we are getting the usual rainy weather, although this year it is also very windy (21mph (34kph) winds and gusts up to 31-37mph (50-60kph) it seemed fitting to do some work on it.

First I cleaned up the lines on the stuffed cat wearing the witch's hat.

I wanted to see how Antwerp blue would look as a background colour for a painting of a black cat.

So, on a small piece of paper I did a quick drawing of a cat sitting on the top rail of a fence.

Next, I applied Antwerp blue into the background.

Black Cat on Rail Fence 1

Once the paint was dry, I put a cut out of black paper over the cat drawing and I was pleased with the colour contrast.















Witch's Kitty

It didn't take long for me to wash in the background behind the cat wearing the witch's hat.

I will post this painting at a later date as more work on it is completed.

Thank you for looking 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.