Delighting in food & friends
Over the past week, I’ve had the opportunity to host a couple of dinners and have loved cooking for our friends! Today, I started with just some zucchini that I picked up from a local farm – a yellow and … Continued
“How I Spent Labour Day” by Donald Duck, 1931
Today in Canada it is Labour Day, a great excuse to have a long weekend in September. Four years ago, I wished so much that I was in labour, being five days overdue with my first baby, largely so that … Continued
Birds take flight
After working on these small canvases for a number of years, I put the finishing touches on them last year. I had been working with that predominant colour since about 2004, as seen in my soybean painting. The colour, as … Continued
What I Am Into This Month – August 2011
Following suit, linked to Megan at SortaCrunchy, I will sum up my August. On My Nightstand: While I didn’t actually read Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, or even read it in the past five years, I lived it every … Continued
Creative process: mixed media painting
I just picked up this canvas that has been gathering dust downstairs, and again wondered, “Is this finished or not?” To give a little background on this piece, it actually disguises a painting underneath that I gave up on, and … Continued
Making things: bean bags
For my daughter’s upcoming 4th birthday, she asked if we could have a carnival, inspired by the one her aunt recently organized for the kids at our family reunion. What a simple, fun party that would be. Her favourite games … Continued
Summer on the farm
This summer we vacationed at my childhood farm in Southwestern Ontario, along the shore of Lake Erie and nestled in by a hedge of field corn, overgrowth, humidity, and the intense, throbbing hum of cicadas and crickets. People are often … Continued
mother-daughter drawing club
I’ve been thinking more seriously about actually working on an illustration portfolio for children’s books. Tonight, my daughter (who will be four in September) and I were working on some drawings together. She has been putting me to shame with … Continued
For Grandma
I’ve been thinking about my Grandma a lot this week, Grandma Duck (nee Monica Gertrude Colby, Sept. 2, 1920), my last remaining grandparent. We grew up next door to each other, on the farm in Ontario, so we spent a … Continued
A letter from 1924
I have a box of old letters that I occasionally look through when working on mixed media art. I found this one, written by my eight-year-old Great Aunt about my Grandpa Donald (then 4) and my Great Grandmother. It’s just … Continued