a little watercolor and felting this past while..

This week I redid a conk shell painting,made it pop a bit more as well I have been doing a few watercolors this past while and thinking little paintings for greeting cards . This little needle felted fisherman I finished up as well. I had the body made for sometime and just recently decided to make him a fisherman after finding the right props for him. That is always the way when it comes to my needle felted figures ,prop searching. A friend suggested making the Fisherman and maybe other felts into lamps, I like this idea, she is right gives the piece a purpose instead of just something to sit around, we all have so much stuff, maybe I should speak for myself, nah...everyone has too much stuff...but still I would be happy to sell anything to anyone who needs more stuff, how kind of me..gee I am funny today.

I have been trying to work on boat surfaces in prep for winter, unlike canvas these pieces must be prepared first outside and primed then stored for when I want them. Every fall I dig through my boat piece pile which is getting smaller every year, we not being the rock climbers beach combers we use to be in our younger more energetic climb and carry anything for miles years. Reminds me of our Little Tancook adventures with our Tankcook friends ,we would drive his old truck down to the far shore , so much fun driving over and through the woods and shore to then park and start walking for miles and miles ,dragging back some of the most wonderful treasured boat pieces to become some great paintings which are hanging all over the World,I am so proud to say and in most cases with the bigger paintings for sure I have met all those who bought from me and sometimes have been sent a picture of my painting on their wall, a very special feeling indeed. Thank you all for your support by liking what I do, you give me great inspiration.

This morning on my bike ride around 9AM I found the wind very raw but by the end of my ride I was stripping down ,just now I was outside and the wind again has a bitter feel to it, the Maritimes ...one needs to layer.

My plan in the next couple of days is to give some thought to needle felted Santa's, I am not doing any shows this Season but hopefully someone will find me here,otherwise I will be well stocked for next Summer, and fingers crossed we get another ferry out of Yarmouth and maybe see a few more Americans next year. This Summer I met a lot of folk's from here in the Maritimes and Ontario. The only Europeans really were friend's who have come back, years ago when we lived in Charleston we would arrive home days and have German and Swiss couples sitting waiting for us on our big rock out front, back then whenever out you would hear the German language , we made a lot of dear friend's over the years , some with their dream of Living in Canada came to be and others for different reasons had to return and sell their dream homes , many of them return for visits and we pray the few we have not seen in a few years will again bless our home with their company. And hopefully this ole World starts to come again to it's feet and people will be able to afford to travel. There were a few folk's this Summer drop by from the States ,again, some who we see every year but with this ferry issue or lack of the Cat Ferry we had way fewer then other recent years.

As an old Farmer friend always says"Better days ahead"

still trying to be a carpenter...

well here we have it, my latest carpentry cabinet making project, I am so happy with it and pleased that you can't see it all too up close.

For sometime now I have been measuring, looking , searching second hand shops anywhere to find anything to do just what this piece is going to do and that is be a place to store slippers and shoes and then be able to sit to put them on. Today is Chucks and my 28 th anniversary of marriage and I told him I made this for him, well yes I did :-) remember we have a puppy at times visiting, she will be here today ,little puppies like to chew shoes, she can't find ours now. This was made from a very old heavy door. I had to have Chuck do the skill saw work, I have a chop saw which I feel very independent with but this project needed a skill saw which I have no skill with. I was in great pain with my legs once this was finished, doing any work like this or housework ,painting walls is very hard on my Arthritic legs and feet, but things need to get done and one must find a way of doing it, pain or not. Easy for me to say it today after a pain pill and early night. Look out world, today is another day and well thanks to the rain this day I may be sitting in front of my easel reworking a Conk shell painting I am doing. I will share that with you as it progresses, right now I am in the ..just where to go with it stage.

As we all may ,I feel fall in the air and when that happens I get to nest building inside for Winter, so may take part of the day to putz around thinking... This home is wonderful but very small and one needs to be very creative when looking outside the box when putting furniture in, everything kind of needs double duty(purpose) for instance I use our African Drums as end tables, of course very protected from being damaged with cardboard and small braided mats for the drum tops. In this small home it would be interesting to have a professional take a look and see what they could come up with for space usage. Watching such shows like Oprah in the past and seeing what can be done with small spaces can be interesting and informative but when it comes right down to it and you live in it, common sense takes over. My problem is that I have gotten rid of a lot of big furniture ,tables ,treasures etc. when I moved here to a smaller home but sometimes one wants to keep things which our Mom's owned, the memories when I look at these things out weighs any inconvenience of too much stuff, so I must work with a few interesting pieces and fit them in ,some how :-)

has been too long ,its been busy

Buoy bowls to the right..

Well ,yes I have been tardy about writing this past while. I have been busy painting ,what I call "Buoy Bowls" I will keep you in suspense right now and will post a photo of them once Chuck finishes varnishing them. There have been a few folks dropping by but right now with school back in session ,everyone says how quiet it is. This will change for us here in the Maritimes when our Autumn leaves begin to turn their wonderful reds, yellows and oranges ,that's when we will see our visitor's back.
As well as my "Buoy Bowls" housework has been on my mind ,getting things done for the winter season which is right around the corner, I am so sorry to remind all of this but like the old saying goes "Make hay while the sun is shining" comes to mind.
Back to my art, I am feeling a bit crazy and different ,I feel like this winter I want to really throw my talents to the wind and do something that is truly out of the ordinary for me...(abstracts) yes, I have thoughts in my head, magic to unleash, feelings which are screaming to be put to canvas to see just what happens. I believe I will be guided in some way by maybe something that has been stirring in me for sometime now, keep checking back to see just what will transform from these ideas which right now are still in my head and heart waiting to materialize.

These two Crows joy are possibly my next painting.

Donation to the SPCA

Today I passed over a check to the local SPCA animal rescue which was kindly donated by Lynn and Dean Dennis owners of Garrison Hall Retirement Residence Fort Point Liverpool NS., they bought the portrait of their English Bull Dog "Emma" I had done ,as I said in my previous blog installment Emma always puts a smile on my face and when I lost my Eddie this Summer ,well I needed a smile, knowing well that I would be donating this painting in memory of our Eddie but at the time not thinking of who all would be interested in an English Bull Dog portrait if you did not own one. Me on the other hand loved having her hang here for the short time she did, I think she adds happiness to a room with her charm and warm colors. She now hangs in one of their guests rooms and I hope they enjoy her. So Thank you Lynn and Dean for I am sure this money will be used to help hopefully many of our four legged friend's for years ,indeed ,they are our devoted friend's and I encourage all out there to do what you can to help in no matter how small a way.

Here is a photo of one of the SPCA's unfortunately too few volunteers Jocelyne receiving the check from me and another picture of the portrait of "Em's".

I just finished a portrait of a cat "Tryna" I am sharing a picture of the painting and the photo I did it from with you here now because her Mom has already seen it via email and I am shipping it to her very soon. Our Dear pets , they should and are so loved by us.I will leave you with that, for right now I do not want to end my good feeling glow with the thought of how some people treat our friend's, animal or humans.

Be nice and share for we can't take any of it with us, we must leave what good we can in this Universe for those left behind to then share and leave with those they leave behind, and it goes on and on and on.

Queens County Beaches

I am still working on and thinking of our white sand Beaches. Here is a barrel lid painting of Summerville Beach from a photo I took last Sunday. As well a photo I was given on Sunday from my brother, someone found it and thought he would like to give it to me, gee Thanks, for I completely forgot and dare not look in the mirror for with shock I may forget again and I would not want to do that after seeing this, for I was cute , back then :-) weren't we all? LOL

Even though we have not travelled far from home these past few Months I am still really enjoying the Summer, I am riding my bike a lot and meeting very nice people. I mention this all the time because I so Love people and I have had some really great Folk's come through my door . Years past we were always travelling in our Charleston later years all over the Maritimes doing shows ,some smaller but our share as well of those 4 day shows which are wonderful for the adventure and meeting so many people out there. These days I must either get out which really does not happen or try and entice them to drop by my Gallery here in Liverpool.

I have been painting my little heart out ,working on finishing up commissions and this past Summerville painting. I have two meetings this week with clients regarding commissions coming up. After these are completed my plan is to do a series of local Beach scenes, see how quickly the sand and salt get back into your veins ? Yes it has always been there but was drying some until I wet it again with these recent Beach visits. Beach Meadows is next on my list and I can see a couple of these paintings in my head as I type.

When I was a baby I was told I slept in a small crib in a tent on Summerville Beach, today you are not allowed to camp on the Beach, so I am happy to have done that and have the memories. I was talking with a Gentleman younger then me who's family camped with us way back when the other day and we were remembering stories from the past on that white sand Beach.

As a growing teenager I would arrive on the Beach sometime 6 AM mornings and do yoga ,I remember one early Morning later years when Mom had the cottage , I went down on the Beach to do my Yoga looking out unto the ocean , watching the sunrise in the sky, feeling the warm early morning Summer heat ,in my bikini, looking so fit when I tried a split and because I was on sand I slid all the way down into my split, not that I had planned to go quite that far, well when I managed to get to my feet again I had hurt my groin and could barley walk back to the cottage and Mom, God rest her soul was concerned but looking at me she burst out laughing because she was always warning me to be careful with some of these moves , well she was right that day, I was walking in pain for a couple days for sure.

She and I every spring would go to the Cottage and spring clean, so much sand the dead flies. It was so cozy there,the two bedrooms were stuffed with beds and when it came time for bed we were just like the "Walton's" the walls were so thin , sometimes we would lie there and talk and giggle through the walls until sleep caught us and took us into a dream world of sand and surf dreaming of tomorrow and another day in our Little piece of Heaven. Speaking of sand , back then, there was no bath tub or shower at the Cottage and we would go to what was called "Bear Hole" which was a swimming hole up the Broad River which flowed into the Ocean in Summerville. There were huge boulders , wonderful rocks to lounge on in between swims in this natural swimming hole. The water was deep , warm and brown in color. We always would wash our hair there and your hair would be so soft and your skin felt silky after washing off all the sand and surf in this wonderful place .It has been a few years since I walked to Bear Hole , I believe I will again some day soon and maybe I will be inspired to do a painting of our dreamy swimming hole sometime in the near future.

Well I must go and get my day on, another beautiful day in Nova Scotia.

beach day today

I have mentioned before how I send people to our near by to die for beaches, meet this young couple ,Gabe and Teela who came by my Gallery one day last weekend , I then directed them to Carters Beach to actually run into them at the Beach later that day myself, I love meeting people and it was so special to see them again and take their picture at the beach , come back sometime ,all of you , make my day, visit me again. Return to our little Paradise we call Queens County.

Well yesterday Friday was another busy day here with company ,very special company ,our wonderful neighbor from Charleston, a little younger then us ,this lady is a gigglier and we had some good ole times when we lived next door to each other, we laughed many times over the years and spending time with her brings back all those memories of those great years in the Country, on the Medway.

As well yesterday I had a group of folks drop by and first off all I saw were Tattoos and then to my surprise there was our Darling friend from way back who had a lot of pain with a sick child for sometime, who I am so happy to say is doing well today and has grown into a fine young man. Her sister and Mom were with her, as well as her son and nephew.

We puppy sat all week and it kept us busy and was funny watching the goings on with Belle..."Lookin for clues...lookin for clues" "what is this and can I get into it?" "Oops, she caught me" "Who's shoe?"

We are headed for Summerville today for a family BBQ, I will be taking some photos for future paintings, it should be a great day, it will be a great day. The above Beach photo is of Carter's where the brook runs into the Ocean , you can see just how warm the water looks there and is.

meet who has been keeping me on my toes all week

Meet......Miss Lou Lou Belle purebred Border Collie who is simply too cute . Belle belongs to Ann and Brian who I mentioned in a previous blog posting lost their dear Gracie just weeks ago now, just after we lost our Eddie. They had to fill this sad lost hole in their hearts with Puppy energy unlike us they decided not to wait and here we have Belle, who is a wonderful young Lady, she was born in May and besides looking for a bit of puppy mischief once in awhile she is a gem who we are happy to puppy sit while her Mom and Dad go to work . Being still so young she comes here to Taylor Day camp where we romp, play ball and have our pink belly scratched all day. She lays beneath my feet while I paint and gives still her sweet puppy breath kisses. As well as our sometimes adopted Laura who is here quite a bit, between these two four legged friend's we are finding it easier without our Eddie.

Also here is a picture of Emma the English Bull Dog I just finished sitting in her "Peeps" car, my she looks like she fits in there like a glove..this Girlie has class. She came to visit us with her Dad to take a look at her portrait and right now they have her painting at their house and are looking for a perfect spot to hopefully hang her for all to admire. She is a Dear older Lady "Miss Emma."

I just finished a commission on canvas of Carters Beach but until I hear from my Client because this painting is a gift , I can't share it with you just yet but I will soon. It had been so long ,shamefully I say since we ventured to Carters Beach, typical locals, live right on the Beach but never actually go there, yes I will make a point of taking time off and going more often in the days to come. Since last there the Beach has changed some because of bad storms so it was due time I get there and take some new photos ,which is exactly what I did and I have some wonderful shots for future paintings, I was inspired beyond believe with this visit to Carters on such a great day. I have been sending people to Carters many times over the years and just recently . I was telling a mom and son about it the other day, folk's visiting from away and the phone rang yesterday ,they called to ask again how to get there, yesterday was a wonderful day and I hope ,well I should say, I know they had fun and I bet they found some shell treasures.