Tag Archives: # yyc

Reprieve

LadybugWhite Sunlit

Fall Equinox has arrived. And the sheets were over the gardens a couple before that. When I went to cover my plants I noticed my neighbour had already covered his tomato and pepper plants. Only in Canada!

hh-blackDespite evening frost we now have nice temperatures returning in the day time. We have had a heat wave with 33C yesterday.The Farmer’s Almanac predicts another cold winter.

The late spring which materialized was identified in advance, yet I really hope they are wrong this time. Still reeling from last winter. The long term forecast is calling for snow next weekend, and I am really hoping my black hollyhocks bloom before then. Better yet would be a change of forecast.

I planted these black ones two years ago, and they only come up every two years! This will be the first time I have seen them bloom. Mine are late bloomers much like me, they because of the large pine trees in the yard, and I do not have an explanation for me.

Sunflower and skyI drove past a house yesterday where I had been meaning to take pictures. They have a collection of the largest sunflowers.

By the time I arrived the wind had just begun to pick up. The bees were swirling around. I did manage to take some shots. Sunflowers are majestic and that is apparent when you see their massive stalks swaying in the wind, petals flashing.

red-sunsetThe sky has been a glowing red from the controlled burn in Kananaskis and I hoped to catch the sunset on digital. This one was taken outside my workplace. Since equinox I have noticed how the sun seems to be setting more rapidly.

I tried to make it to the west side of the city on Friday night, but the traffic has been so heavy. New construction zones pop up daily at random. Everything seems to take twice as long.

Crop circles in Alberta! Have a look here;
http://www.shrinesandsacredsites.com/

Not sure which planet has been so bright, but I suspect it is Jupiter, and it certainly has a presence. Now as I write this the moon is just rising shining in my west window. A pot of chicken curry on the stove, melding with the early fall smells. Now I am off to the studio to do a bit of painting.

Late Summer Light

mountain bird sunset

Saturday was a lovely day to go to Nosehill Park and capture the sunset. I needed to blow some cobwebs out of my head, and so off with camera in hand I went. The light was so interesting and follow the light is just what I did. Wouldn’t you know, when the time came to depart-I realized I was on the wrong side of the ravine. I hadn’t even realized how far I had travelled.

sillouhetteClearly the flip-flops I was wearing were not going to take me down the ravine and up again, so I had to take the long way around. Fortunately I had taken note of the airport tower as a landmark, which turned out to be the first told me I was off course and helped me to locate the car. My ankles scratched and ravaged from the thistles the feeling of the wind through my hair, absorbed in nature and in my glory. The beautiful shots I got was the bonus. This one was lucky timing.

This coming weekend is the East side Studio Crawl, and the artist run gallery I belong to is part of that annual event. The East side, is the original downtown area of Calgary, and many Galleries and artist’s studios are in the area. This is you chance to see a variety of art work and many artist studios.

fields-of-gold

Some of my work will be on display for this coming weekend and throughout the month at ArtPoint, and at Euphoria Cafe in Crowchild Square I also have some art for about a month.

Beautiful fields of gold at sunset. I want to squeeze every drop of summer that I can. The rain today felt lovely, reviving and now the sun is shining. We have a frost warning for tonight. Time to get the sheets out for the hollyhocks, some of which are yet to bloom. Off to the studio to paint, before a new week begins.

I Adore Hollyhocks

I adore hollyhocks and some are in bloom throughout the neighbourhood. These are favourites of mine, truly heirloom variety. The bees were lovingly surrounding them and burrowing in deep, covered in pollen. The delicate yellow seemed to best loved by the bees, not pale rosy coloured ones, which are equally as beautiful. Perhaps a more exquisite flavour was what drew them.
yellow hollyhocktwo bees

hollyhocks-heirloom

I hope the plan will include an Indian summer. Seems we have not had much summer at all. Perennials planted previous years supplied some blooms to enjoy. That has been the extent my garden this year and was certainly worth the effort.

stretched canvas

stretched canvas completeWell yesterday it was time to get busy. Outdoors in August, as you can see I need a sweater. Brrrr … I am still waiting for my hollyhocks to bloom. And frankly they look too frightened to come out of their coverings!

A chill has settled into the air. The day before I in the yard with the cats, wearing my down-filled jacket, whilst they ran around in their little fur coats. Even the birds have begun to stuff themselves.

My art show at ArtPoint is coming up in November, and I now must set my plan in action. This was a huge canvas to stretch, approx six feet by 4 feet and I had been meaning to tackle it for ages. The stretcher frame was gifted to me, and the old canvas had to be removed to give way to a new one.

With such good construction it was worth reusing. Reuse-recycle! It is huge-barely got it into my studio. I am hoping it will be the signature piece for my show in November, unless that is too large an undertaking for this upcoming show. Let’s see what transpires.

Sunday Concert in the Park

tompkins-park-bandstandThis was the stage I playing on this past Sunday right in the heart of Mount Royal on the Red Mile, where the heartbeat of Calgary lives.

Unfortunately no shots of me playing. I did one set on guitar and one on keyboard. A very relaxed enjoyable experience with a receptive audience.

The weather held up but if not, I still would have been fine in this lovely gazebo!

Green Fest continues in Tompkins Park every Sunday all through the summer.

tompkins-parkrestroom

 

 

 

 

People wandered through, and visited the various vendors selling their wares. This is the famous automated restroom. Apparently when your time is up the door slides open. Too dubious for me to test out.

brown-eyed-girlsOf course I cannot go anywhere without snapping shots of flowers when the opportunity arises.

I have made a Artist Page on Facebook for my creative pursuits, so if you are on FB come by my page and become a fan!

The Perseid meter shower peaks tonight, so don’t forget to make a wish when you see the falling stars.

Abstractions

Last night in the throes of one of Calgary famous March blizzards, I stayed cozy by the fire resting with the cats. The yard has filled up with white, and the north side of trees and buildings are now lined with sticky snow. There was much shoveling to do today and now the wind is beginning to pick up.

Ego abstract paintingEgo 8 X 8 $120 @ ArtPoint

ArtPoint opened it’s Members Abstract Show last night, which will be on for the entire month of March. I knocked off four small abstracts as an exercise to loosen up and get back in the flow.

Experimenting with no expectations to interfere with the process can be fun, a return to basics. When I was teaching myself to paint I had done several pieces that were abstract.

Blue abstract paintingThis was the first one I did. It starts with a simple idea, yet once begun it takes on a life of it’s own. Like unwrapping a present, the results can be astonishing.

Blue 10 X 10 $200 @ ArtPoint

Being a member of an artist community can be stimulating when circumstances arise which allow for new challenges. All we experience is a building block for the next step in the continuing process. Should be interesting to see what turns up next.