Set Fire To The Rain

April 21, 2023.Reading time 2 minutes.

The war in Ukraine continues, and from the comfort of my sunroom, I still do what I can to help. Today, I am waiting on the arrival of our fourth family – two brother-in-laws, whose dream to land in Toronto, find work and lodgings, and then bring over the elder’s wife and child, proved unattainable. […]

What’s New?

March 31, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Dabbling with AI to create new images: Created a book nook from my granddaughter’s March Break project. Transforming an ink project into an acrylic painting (no AI involved): Newest addition to my life is an art room! (For Lens-artists photo challenge: new experiences)

Art and Grandchildren

February 26, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Family Day weekend – a holiday here in Canada – I invited three of our granddaughters to stay over. My son had visited weeks before and set up an art studio for me, complete with his leftover paints and canvases, so I asked if the little ones would help me organize it. 10 year-old Sloane […]

Sunflowers and smiles

January 23, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

A local craft shop owner makes votives in yellow and blue with sunflowers on them and all proceeds go to Ukrainians. A BC retailer saw her work online and ordered 100 candles, selling them at $5.00 each. Ryan Reynolds saw the effort and doubled the intake. She sent much of the proceeds to a non-profit […]

Last on the Card for 2022

January 1, 2023.Reading time less than 1 minute.

One last sunset and a year end doodle for Bushboy’s Last on the card challenge.

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 […]

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 […]

Wild

I am wild horseforest dwellercare not for civilitynor staged antics Can I behave?Not if reigned in –spirit, unharnessedattuned to grace. (Art my own)

Mature Love (haiku)

A Question by Robert Frost

“A voice said, Look me in the starsAnd tell me truly, men of earth,If all the soul-and-body scarsWere not too much to pay for birth.” Effort, it seems to me, is what makes gain so sweet. Moving has stretched us beyond what we thought we were capable of, but never have we doubted our purpose. […]