Pause for Art

May 13, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

For the first time in weeks, I took a break to create. The volunteering threatens to be all-consuming, but I am determined to find balance. Weeks ago, when I started this venture, I was hoping to connect one displaced Ukrainian family with a host family in my area. Quickly, the requests poured in and soon […]

Photo Play

April 1, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Introduced my granddaughter to one of the photo apps I’ve been using and gave her my phone. Within minutes she created the featured image, speeding through the app as if she’d been doing it forever. Not be outdone, I borrowed the photos she’d taken of herself and created this: Not quite an April Fool’s joke, […]

Drawing Sunflowers

March 18, 2022.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I find my ability to concentrate is lessened by the heartache of what’s going on in the world, and even here at home. I need a focus to calm and carry me through, so I’ve decided to learn to draw sunflowers. Sunflowers, whose symbolism is now so vividly connected with hope and resilience. Here’s where […]

Making space for introspection

February 2, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

Culling through old journals, and blog posts has me feeling introspective. Pausing and processing. I feel change tugging at my edges. Time to rethink the purpose of this blog. The camera has been tucked away until warmer weather and better health permits more exploring. In the meantime, I’m studying the art of drawing and playing […]

Old Dog, New Tricks

January 26, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

This old dog is determined to learn something new, so I’ve been practicing drawing faces. If nothing else, it’s fodder for laughter. The featured image is me, sans lunettes. I ran it through a digital filter to de-emphasize the amateur quality. The drawing below is my husband from a photograph. When I showed it to […]

Mucking About

January 5, 2022.Reading time 1 minute.

The original photograph was dull – a cloud of crows dispersing at my interruption – and I almost tossed it, till I saw an hint of possibility. Played with the colours, added filters to give it a painted finish and found a graphic of a man holding a camera. Et voilà, my dull birding photo […]

Art Break

December 8, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

The more I create, the more I mourn what I missed all those years that I thought I didn’t have a creative bone in my body. Now I climb over mounds of doubt, clearing paths to forge ahead. I hit roadblocks where all I see in my art is what is lacking. At these times, […]

Last of March

April 2, 2021.Reading time less than 1 minute.

Last of March, camera and cell photos for Bushboy’s challenge.

A Child Glows

September 8, 2019.Reading time 1 minute.

Child,delightful youth,my heart’s jewel,you are light-bearer,hope for the future – antics haphazard,laughter contagious,spreading joy,sparking imagination – I pray that your spiritremains joyously vibrant,that reality dawns gently –polishes the radianceof your glow. *** I wrote A Child Glows in November of 2018 in celebration of my granddaughters. I have edited here, slightly. Image from personal collection. […]

Creativity Is A Blessing

July 18, 2019.Reading time 3 minutes.

Ideas follow me around like little children tugging on my pant leg, begging attention. I’ve been brushing them aside, too unwell to give any them any energy, but with summer’s arrival and pending visits at Grandma’s camp, I push myself to get out the paints. Untrained myself, I watch videos to gain knowledge and inspiration. […]

Blossoming

It may be foolish of me, at my age and in my current condition, but I hang on to the hope that the pain of this effort is leading somewhere: renewal, new purpose, or at the very least, a blossoming.

Monday Mood: Stretched too far

Saturday we packed up the garage (with help). Dusty, dirty, and exhausting. Sunday we attended and then hosted a farewell party for our Ukrainian roommate, who is going back to Ukraine despite all our protests. Yes, two separate gatherings. Heart wrenching. This morning, we visited our new apartment building to get set up with a […]