I love this 7" tall daisy pitcher.
This large serving bowl has the faces of eight different cat faces...
...all in different colours.
Here's a shorebird serving plate, reminiscent of the sandpipers and culews that folks might have seen on their ocean holiday this summer.
I made this teapot for my friend's daughter who enjoys a cup of peppermint tea each afternoon.
We ended of our week-long vacation in the Muskokas by driving through Algonquin Park...
..and making several stops along the way.
A heavy mist was in the air as a yellow canoe skimmed the water.
A tourist from Vancouver, BC took this shot of us. Great backdrop. Great vacation!
A few other things that I sketched while on vacation. There were acorns all over the stairs and deck to the water, courtesy of a large oak tree and some busy chipmunks.
Some nice-sized twigs were lying on the ground, probably knocked down by an eager chippy or two.
A fantastic, water-worn stump, was sitting on the edge of the dock. I think it could've been drawn a few more times from various angles. Pretty neat.
Remember Barney Google? (Google for short!) My blue folk art cat, named by my sister Marcia (because he has "googly" eyes) is in cyberspace today. My friend Julien, who is an incredibly talented artist and graphic designer, authors a blog called "View from the Zoo" and put Google in today's entry. Click here to check it out. Thanks Julien!
On our only rainy day of the holiday, I decided to have a mini-vernissage. I made 2 invitations (one for Richard, one for his sister Annie) cut from the (now empty) box of pastries from Henrietta's Pine Bakery.
I exhibited the watercolour artist trading cards I had painted of Lake of Bays.
It's the first time I've ever had 100% attendance at a vernissage. Actually I did better than that. Angus, the dog, was in attendance as well and shared some of the cheese that was served. A good time was had by all.
While on holidays in Dwight, Ontario, we stopped in at Henrietta's Pine Bakery, a wonderful old-fashioned place. Lots of really tasty bread...
...and incredible pastries.
Your choice of a moose or bear gingerbread cookie with chocolate dipped feet...
...or perhaps a snowball? In the end-of-summer heat, it's a reminder of the weather to come.
How about a whole (cored), baked apple surrounded in delicious pastry, dusted with icing sugar?
A reminder of the annual Christmastime return of the Nutcracker Suite perhaps?
Or choose a classic Canadian buttertart...
...or the soon-to-be classic, decadent Muskoka Cloud.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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").
Maybe next I should try drawing her while she's taking a bath?
Does this mean we are going to have visitors? Nutmeg's ready (although she'll likely be hiding under the bed)!
