Two Blue Vases

I found two of these Romanian-made pottery vases and wasn't sure what I'd paint on them. Flowers from the garden seemed a natural...

...but then again so did a series of mischievous cats, like my own, who try to knock down a vase full of flowers.

Inspirations

Now that my garden is flourishing, each week brings a new inspiration. Two sides of a vase were inspired by my small yellow and purple flags blooming in the garden; the other two sides from the magnificent bearded irises pictured in a brochure I received the day I was painting. Nutmeg's presence is always an inspiration...

Poppy Power

I bought these poppies from a discard table at the end-of-season a few years back and wasn't sure what colour they were or how they'd grow.

The salmon-coloured blooms at my front door look like crepe paper flowers. They are huge (about the size of my hand) and look great with a backdrop of pink lupins growing from seeds my dad brought me from Nova Scotia many moons ago.

Bawk-Bawk

Don't you just love this set of chicken soup bowls? Totally silly.

And wouldn't these be fun with a matzo ball floating above them?

Chocolate Birthday Cake

My friend Lis baked me a fabulous chocolate cake for my birthday. The neatest thing was that she spelled Happy Birthday Ronna out of toasted slivered almonds. The other great thing? It was absolutely delicious!

Happy Birthday to Me

I've always loved June 10th! I've had some fun e-mails, great birthday cards, and singing phone calls. Tonight Richard and I are heading into Ottawa for a bite to eat and to see Sex and the City, a flick I really want to see.

Oyster Plates

On Saturday, Richard and I went to the fantastic town-wide yard sale down the road from us in Vankleek Hill called Trash and Treasure. There certainly were tons of both. In all our meandering, I found these two oyster plates. The coloured one has an old marking on the back (not sure what it is). The white one has no marks. (And no, I'm NOT going to paint the white one--yet). I did some poking around on the internet and there is actually an Oyster Plate Collectors Society out there. Who'd have thunk it?
I've sent pictures of both these plates to them to see if they know the age or value of either. I just like them. Oysters anyone?

A Little Piece of Oregon

I bought the seeds for these enourmous lupins on my first trip to Oregon about 6 years ago. They plants are just magnificent. I have another large patch in the middle of my field and several other plants scattered around the garden. They remind me of my connection to Oregon and my good friends who live out there and the great times we've shared.

Fish Dish

My friend John in Oregon suggested I paint some fish. I found this lovely shaped platter and thought it was perfect for a rainbow trout. What do you think, John?

My Busy Workshop

I feel like one of Santa's elves. The painted ceramics I showed at Art Fayre produced several commissions! Here's a baby bowl for 1 year old Maya.

Her sister, six-year-old Abby is getting this flowery plate. I hope they enjoy them.

Checker Cab Plates

I got a few of these plates from a friend who was getting rid of them. Could I use a few white plates that had a couple of small black squares around them? That was the challenge! Here's what the plate looked like before I got to it...and after.

And here's a close up of the finished plate. What fun.

Bright, Sunny Days

Yesterday was sunny and bright. A cool breeze was blowing, the scent of balsam poplar and lilacs in the air. And lily of the valley too. Always reminds me of my grandmother who wore 'muguet des bois' perfume.

Ceramic Updates

The ceramics were flying yesterday. I was volunteering at Art Fayre at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan and almost all my stuff on display is sold (only the big dipping platter remains). I also got an order for another asparagus platter; someone took my name to make a special order and to come see what stuff I have; two gals were both interested in buying flower teapots, much like the sold one on display; and I sold 3 tiles in the Museum gift shop. Today I am painting more tiles, especially the Scotch thistle. It's a popular motif and might just become the Museum's bestseller!
The plate and mug above were done as a special order for a birthday gal who loves cats. Hope she loves this set.

Busy Weekend Stuff

It rained all day Saturday and looks like rain again today. The Art Fayre was a success with tons of people choosing to be indoors. There was a "doodle table," where folks could sit and doodle on a huge piece of white newsprint. And there were real, live artists there, demonstrating their craft (watercolour painters, people building pop-ups, etc.). I'm back there today as a volunteer for a couple of hours, in case anyone has questions about any of the artwork.
The artichoke server above was one I wanted to put in the show, but I kind of missed the deadline to add it to my stuff.