Muskoka Impressions #2

One of my favourite photos from our week in the Muskokas. Here's 14-year-old Angus, a sweet little Westie, checking out one of the Mottled Ducks that hung out with us by the dock.

I tried sketching Angus and although these drawing aren't the perfect portrait of him, I like their looseness.


Richard snapped this of me while I was sketching the late-blooming delphinium.





My watercolours weren't as bright and vibrant as the real thing.



I swam with the ducks! They were curious about me and I tried quacking to get them closer but this was about as close as they dared.

Quick duck sketches. Mottled Ducks are related to the American Black Duck but lighter. Their feathers were really interesting up close.

I found these large duck feathers on the lawn on way to the dock. Fun to paint.

Muskoka Impressions #1

Richard and I spent a relaxing week in the Muskokas at his sister's cottage. Most of my time was spent sketching, reading, eating, and generally just hanging out.

We were lucky and somehow managed to pick the best week of the summer. Hot days followed by cool evenings. We swam and picnicked and enjoyed the waning days of summer.


The views were gorgeous and somehow begged to be sketched.


Depending on where sun and clouds were situated, the same view could change within moments.


And just a little to the right, the view was completely different.

Surprise Sunflower

Isn't this sunflower amazing? It's actually one plant but it has many blooms. It was a surprise when it came up in my vegetable garden this week. I hadn't planted it so it must've come from all the sunflower seeds I composted this past spring when I raked them up from under the birdfeeders. I guess this was one seed the birds didn't get.

Dunvegan Post Office

This fantastic Scotch thistle plant is about six feet tall and just going to seed, to the delight of the American Goldfinches (who eat the thistle's seeds and use the fluff for their nests). There were a bunch of these bright yellow birds in the bush as I went in to mail my letters. However, only one of them hung around for the photo op.

Delicious Gladiolas!

I love growing these magnificent flowers. They're so pretty, they almost look edible. These are sort of the colour of black cherry frozen yogurt...





These flowers look like apricots or blushing peaches...




These ones look a little like chocolate. In fact, as I recall, they were actually labelled "Chocolate" when I bought them. Pretty tempting!




And these are reminiscent of candy canes, don't you think?

Glamour Secrets 1957 ATCs

I did these artist trading cards a few years back and still love them. A friend was cleaning out a house and had a pile of trash (which I offered to look through before he tossed it). I salvaged a magazine from 1957 which ran an article on "Glamour Secrets for Girls" which I thought was pretty amusing (one particularly good one: "Maybe you can't be a raving beauty but you can have come-hither charm").

At the same time I found a vintage pamphlet advertising different hair colour. I put the two together and glued them on top of patterned wrapping paper. To complete the ATCs, I made tiny ribbons for their hair our of 1/4" velvet ribbon.

Nutmeg Asleep

These drawings are from a series I did of Nutmeg asleep. She's the perfect model as she can hold a pose for hours at a time.


Maybe next I should try drawing her while she's taking a bath?

Nutmeg Takes a Bath

I love watching my cats take a bath...here's Nutmeg performing her ritual.





Does this mean we are going to have visitors? Nutmeg's ready (although she'll likely be hiding under the bed)!

Cakes, Sweets and Stuff

I've been doing a lot of visiting and making lots of desserts. These gorgeous, blushing Ontario peaches were made into a fantastic peach cobbler.


This chocolate bundt is on its way to Jennifer's house in Prescott. How long do you think it will last with her 3 growing boys?


This abstract creation was "it's time to empty all the crazy chocolate out of your cupboard" cake. It looks kind of odd but there was not much left of it at the end of the party. And it made for great discussion.

ATC Quarterly #12

It's finally ready! ATC Quarterly has been printed and is ready to roll. It's a really good issue (if I say so myself), full of interesting stories. It never ceases to amaze me what people come up with and the creativity they put into their ATCs. Check your mailboxes next week. It should be there. And if you're not a subscriber yet, check us out at www.atcquarterly.com

My Mother's Spider

My friend Kate Strickland who writes Art Vein blog has started "Tool Tuesday" where she asks artists to post their favourite art tool. I'm still thinking about that one. But here's one of my favourite kitchen tools.


It's my mother's spider, which she purchased in 1950, the year she got married. I remember her making applesauce for us when we were little. She loved it (and so do I) because you can throw in whole (or halved) cooked fruit and run it through the spider. No peeling needed!


The wooden paddle (plus a little elbow grease) pushes through all the pulp leaving only seeds and skins behind, ready for the compost bin.


All that's left to do is pour the liquidy stuff into a jar, let it cool...


...mark it and put it into the freezer, waiting to be made into a lovely spaghetti sauce. It'll be a taste of summer when the snow's flying in January.

Flutter By...

I went for a nice, brisk walk along our busy road yesterday and on my way back, noticed a dead Monarch butterfly on the shoulder. I picked it up and loosely carried it home thinking it would be perfect glued to an artist trading card. I was designing it in my head.

I stopped for a cup of tea at a neighbour's and because it was so windy, brought the butterfly in with me and laid it on her kitchen counter. About halfway into the cup of tea, my neighbour said, "Hey, your butterfly is climbing up the TV!" It was alive! I picked it up and took it out the back door, wanting to set it on some flowers but instead it flew out of my hands and landed on a spruce tree.

I'm guessing that when I first picked it up, it might have been hit by a car and was just winded, lying on its side on the gravel. Then it got its second wind, once set inside and it recovered. My neighbour's theory was that it knew that I was going to varnish it to an ATC, so it decided it better get the heck out of there!

Ceramic Stuff

I hadn't painted kitties for a while and was inspired to do them on this unusual, cube-shaped creamer and sugar set.


While I was on a cat roll, I painted a few more cat faces, this time on 4.5" high mini-canisters and topped them with purple paw prints on the lids.


I just loved this vintage 15" x 10" platter from the second I saw it. It screamed "asparagus" to me. It's on its way across the United States as a wedding gift and I hope the happy couple use it for many seasons of asparagus to come...


Summer is watermelon time so I felt inspired to paint it on a plate. Looks refreshing, doesn't it?

Feeding Chippy

I've made friends with several chipmunks around my house this summer...


...and they love being fed peanuts.


Looks like this little guy is going to take flight!