Merry Christmas

Here are a few of the Christmas cards I sent this year. I made them on my press by simply rolling printing ink on some natural (and fairly flat!) winter greenery.

If you celebrate, have a wonderful Christmas!

Newfoundland and Labrador. Majestically modest.

As I am not a writer, there is no way for me to convey, in words, the feeling I felt while traveling across the rocky island of Newfoundland for 10 days. Continuously impressed by the strength and texture of the scenery and by the warmth and unpretentiousness of it residents, I can only share a few of my 700 photos and encourage you to plan a visit to this most wonderful Canadian province.

Right Brain? Or Left Brain?

I was going to tell you how right- or left-brained I am and why I have to sometimes force myself to let go when creating. But I got distracted learning about what characteristics come from which side of the brain. According to an "online" test, I discovered I am 52% right brain and 48% left brain. I find this all very amusing.

Nevertheless, the following photos show some of my latest watercolour monoprints. When I created these I really tried not to plan or overthink it. They were exercises in play. Which is good for my right brain. Or left brain?

This one welcomes some mixed media or collage.

Illustration Friday - Safari

This is a quick watercolour monoprint I did for this week's Illustration Friday. The vehicle, tree and giraffe were drawn in with watercolour pencil crayon after the based coats had dried. I think the composition would have accentuated the wide open space, and have been more effective, if I had a wider plate to use.

Emerging Group Art Show

The annual Emerging Group art show opened today at the MacKay Art Centre in Unionville. Three years ago this show was organized by Judy Livingston, an established watercolour and acrylics artist, as well as an enthusiastic art teacher. This year, with some guidance from Judy and her husband, Mike, the show was produced by a committee made up of five of the show's participants. So far so good.

The piece I entered into the exhibit is called Spring Returns. It is a watercolour monoprint with an additional ink drawing. At this time of the year we are waiting for the brown of winter to be replaced by squeaky, green, spring leaves. The inspiration for this piece is that spring will eventually return, and, even on the old, weathered trees will we soon see renewal of life and fresh, new leaves.

Illustration Friday - Journey

Travel from "here" to "there" with many stops in between. That is my idea of journey and I illustrated it with the above suitcase dotted with old-fashioned travel stickers.

Illustration Friday - Bottled

This is my contribution to this week's Illustration Friday challenge. I used my Baby Richeson Press to create this watercolour monoprint. I added some ink keylines around the bottles to highlight them a bit more.

This photograph shows the first "round" using masks to create the monoprint. Which version do you like better?

Here is a detail. I wish you could see it in person!

Too Intense: kaleidoscopes and ice

I have another app on my phone which brings me pure, intense visual joy. It is a kaleidoscope app which constructs endless combinations of colour and line.

It is amazing that I have only taken photos of about 20 and not more.

Looking at these images is undescribable to me. It is a physical experience. Maybe it is like walking into a chocolate shop with rows and rows of delicious chocolate available for you. Or, like visiting a bookstore, old or new, with books you have never seen before. Or, the view from the top of a mountain or inside a cathedral. See, even my examples are trite.

And, it is not only the bright, symmetrical, computer-generated images that can move me to tears. The photos of ice below, taken by my husband while he was skating on a natural pond, also put me in awe.

Illustration Friday - Layers

The subject LAYERS intrigues me. This is my contribution to Illustration Friday. I like the idea that things are not what they may seem. You need to dig through the layers to fully understand something. And, when you think you have hit the core another layer will surprise you.

Found: Brian Wildsmith books on my shelf

Detail of Brian Wildsmith illustration from Professor Noah's Spaceship

Every once and a while I remind myself to move away from my computer screen, and the world of beautiful, inspirational blogs, and go look at the books on my shelves.

Last week I found our (my husband's and my) copies of Brian Wildsmith books. We have each had these illustrated gems since we were children. The earliest one was published in 1970. According to his website he has illustrated over 80 books. Please visit the following links for wonderful interviews and more information about him. I could not do this prolific, British illustrator justice by giving small biographical details in this post.

Interview by Madelyn Travis here.

Interview by Susie Mesure here.

Turning the pages of these books I was awestruck with the intense and seemingly theatrical illustrations. The colours, the lines, the shapes, the textures. Wow! Below are a few detailed samples of his illustrations.

Detail of Brian Wildsmith illustration from The Circus

Detail of Brian Wildsmith illustration from The Circus

Detail of Brian Wildsmith illustration from Professor Noah's Spaceship

Detail of Brian Wildsmith illustration from The Rich Man and the Shoe-maker

Detail of Brian Wildsmith illustration from The Rich Man and the Shoe-maker

An Esty first for me...

It was a quiet Saturday morning.

A little newspaper reading with my cup of tea.

Some hemming and hawing going on here and there.

Then, "ding". Email.

Oh, what's that, I wonder.

Ahhhhhh, orange and blue items. I love orange with blue. Scroll, scroll.

"Oh, my gosh!! Oh, my gosh!!" My young daughter rushed to the scene thinking something was wrong with me.

"One of my pieces is in an Etsy Finds email!" Wow!

That changed the day.

Thanks for post, Etsy. Thanks for the visits, everyone.

Mini kaleidoscopic creations

For someone like me, who loves pattern and repetition and collects kaleidoscopes, the iPhone app SpiraSketch is pure pleasure.

I get giddy when, with a few strokes on the screen, I can create a symmetrical design with up to 24 reflections. Do I "draw" a straight line? curly line? Which direction do I go? What colour palette should I choose?

Here are some of my favourite designs I have saved.