Purple Tastes Good

I gots learned... by a still life.

2011-02-21T15:07:00.001-05:00

So I'm finally over my sickness and have more energy to get stuff done; namely work on art and other various activities around the house one of which includes doing away with the hideous border wallpaper in the kitchen.

The Other Half and I are also getting ready to head off to Florida in a few weeks and we're trying to make sure that we have everything that we need since I am notorious for forgetting important items. In relation to that, one of the tasks I got done this week was book our car rental and I think it's fair to say that the Other Half is now more excited about that than the actual trip itself since I have supposedly rented us a Dodge Avenger. What I failed to mention to him was the fine print that said: 'Or vehicle of a similar class'... whatever that means.

I haven't done any more work on my equine piece but here's another one that I completed just before Christmas that I'm particularly pleased with:

"Simple Pleasures"

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

I have this vessel out on display at home and I've always loved it. Love the colour, love the shape, love the glossiness... basically I just love everything about it. This is the first time I used it in a composition and I can say with certainly that I'll use it again. Even though the composition for this is really very simple it made me appreciate the difficulty in getting things 'just right' in terms of placement and lighting. That said, I enjoyed the process since I learned something. Yes, I am trainable.

So, I also have a few other projects on the go and one Top Secret project that will remain in that state until further notice. If I'm feeling cheeky I'll be sure to drop hints every now and then just to drive folks mad with wonder.

Stay tuned! :)

Art vs. good weather

2011-02-06T15:34:00.000-05:00

Just a small update this time. We had some unexpected snow yesterday and I couldn’t resist taking the dogs out to play, especially since it’s been quite mild the past few days making it very comfortable for getting outside (even if I do still have a cold).

Still un-named...

Coloured pencil on Colourfix

I’ve filled in more of the background and punched up some of the colour on the horse and am letting it sit for now. I need to mull over exactly how I’m going to finish up the background and I also need to figure out how to push the values more to make them “pop”.

I have another work that I finished up awhile ago that I’ll share in my next post. So just a small update and if you’ll excuse me now I’d really like to take the dogs out again.

Toodles!

Cough. Ack. Patooie!

2011-02-02T16:25:00.000-05:00

Hi folks!

Sorry for the delay in updating. I've been sick the past few days and when my throat wasn't bothering me my body was aching and it felt like there was a troupe of dwarves performing a rendition of 'Riverdance' on my brain.

Good times, good times.

So below is part 3 of the yet un-named equine piece:

Still untitled and I'm open to suggestions...

Coloured pencil on Colourfix

I'm having quite a bit of fun with this one since, as I mentioned previously, it's been awhile since I worked on colourfix and to be able to whip out the yellows, oranges, hot pinks and purples at this time of year is always a treat! It's also been a good long while since I've done an equine piece and this particular one is just the thing I need to get back into it.

Oh, and here's part 4:

Really... suggestions for a title??

My apologies for the slight blurriness of this one but Gizmo, aka- the Thunderbolt Kitten, was milling about the desk and was knocking my pencils off and subsequently attacking them and carrying each one off to its imminent demise. If it were a mouse I wouldn't care but when the pencils go for about $2 a pop you better believe that the only demise they'll be meeting is from the wrath of my pencil sharpener.

So there's the update for now. I've had about 3 tablespoons of Buckley's, played with the dogs out in the snow (or "Snowmageddon" as one Kingston radio station referred to it), ate a piece of cheesecake and am now feeling significantly better and that my sickness is just about over. I'll have another update this weekend and perhaps even a rant over some of the idiotic things I've seen on the roadways as of late. After all, who doesn't love a good rant?

Until next time... :)

Yay Colourfix!

2011-01-23T17:14:00.000-05:00

So today's post contains the first 2 images of the other wip I have on the go. It's an equine piece and the reference picture is one that I've had for quite awhile... I just wasn't sure how to proceed with it.

Yet another un-named piece

11x14, coloured pencil on Colourfix

It's a pretty decent size, 11x14, and I'm using Colourfix for this one because 1- I seem to have an abundance of it hanging about and 2- I was initially thinking that I'd be doing a lot of layering for this one and, wouldn'tcha know it... I was right!

There was a piece I did a few years back, "Windy" (you can search for it with the search thingy on the side), that was a great learning curve for me in terms of incorporating more colour into my work and not being afraid of pushing the limits in terms of layering. There's a bit more of this piece below:

It's also been awhile since I've worked on Colourfix and doing this piece is reminding me how much I enjoy using it for certain works.

There's actually quite bit more that I've done on this piece but I'll hold off on posting more until later in the week. Two reasons: 1- I love keeping people in suspense and 2- I have a gimpy kitten I need to look after who is currently climbing on the desk and causing havoc in general, as kittens have a tendency to do.

So until later this week stay creative (and warm!)

Throwing caution to the wind

2011-01-20T07:18:00.000-05:00

So as promised here’s some of what I’ve been working on. Staying true to form, I have several pieces on the go right now since I get bored easily. ;)

I'm just going to post one since I have several shots of another and not a great deal of time to do this post. This one is actually an experimental piece in that the support I’m using is Masonite that’s been gessoed. I’ve tackled this particular subject before but I used oils and it was many years ago. I liked the image a lot but wasn’t quite sure if I was ready to try it in cp’s and what support I should use. Far be it from me to do anything easily so I figured why not make this as difficult for myself as possible and not only re-create the subject in cp's but also on a support I’ve never used before.

Untitled

Coloured pencil on masonite

So there she is in all her work-in-progress glory.

It's supposed to be the temperature of Hell freezing over this weekend (and by that I mean not even the dogs want to stay outside) so I'm planning on doing a lot of indoor activities such as art, reading and removing the hideous border wallpaper from our kitchen.

In my next post I'll have some pics of the other piece I've been working on and, if I'm brave enough and the wallpaper doesn't give me too much trouble in its removal, some updates to this piece as well.

I guess I could include the kitchen as a work-in-progress as well...

Blogging Anew

2011-01-15T17:13:00.000-05:00

Please disregard my last post since clearly I had lost my mind and had no idea what I was talking about.

So it’s a New Year and time for a new approach to things and a fresh start with life in general. The first thing I’d like to mention that’s going to change is this blog (hey, didn’t I say that before??)

What is going to change is the focus of my blog. While art is still going to be a huge part of it I’ve decided to “broaden my horizons” as it were and would like to include writing and gardening, an art form in and of itself (those that had followed me for awhile and know my love of diggin' in the dirt). Right now, unfortunately, life is too busy for me to work on art as much as I’d like to; but not busy enough that I can’t indulge in writing about some of the inexplicable things that happen to me over the course of a day.

The other thing that slowed me down was that my beloved computer finally had enough of my not backing things up and leaving files of a ridiculous size on its hard drive and, well… it died. Tragic, I know, but it happens to the best of us.

So, as it happens, not too long ago I acquired another computer and am now back up and running with memory out the yin yang! I still have to transfer some things (specifically images, which is why there aren’t any in this post) over from the old hard drive and get myself something to back up all my files. I consider my lesson learned.

So I haven’t dropped off the face of the earth, I’ve just been wandering aimlessly on its surface trying to figure out what to do with my blog. I’ve figured it out and hope that you’ll join me for the ride…

Quick Update

2010-07-15T08:36:00.005-04:00

Howdy folks!

Just wanted to let you know that I'm in the process of updating this blog to bring it into the year 2010 and out of the dinosaur age. You know, way back when in 2006.

Since moving the Other Half and I have gotten pretty much settled and I"m in the process of "cleaning", if you will, both the laptop and desktop as well as other technologies.

So as the Summer wears on stay tuned for a fresher looking blog and some new artwork!

There's the door, Winter.

2010-03-06T13:35:00.002-05:00

I'll be honest, I'd really rather be outside right now but before I give into temptation I just wanted to post a quick update on the ACEO I had on the go. Here it is:

"Daybreak" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It was fun to break out the yellows and oranges again, and this little work rekindled my love of flowers as subject matter. Not that I ever really despised doing them, but (and I'm sure you other artists out there would agree), after awhile of doing the same subject matter over and over again you get a little tired. Yes, it's true, even flowers can lose their novelty.

So, on that note, I have done what I set out to do and now I must get outside and indulge in the wonderful weather we're having.

Dare I say it? Is Spring actually upon us?

How did you spend your Saturday morning?

2010-02-27T16:27:00.005-05:00

The still un-named ACEO WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

I guess the real question that should be posed is: When was the last time that you made a snowman?

This was how I spent part of my Saturday morning because 1- it was snowing, 2- the dogs wanted to go outside and play and 3- so did I.

Mr. Snowypants

All in all I was quite pleased with him even though he has since suffered a collapse from the warm temps that came later in the day coupled with the rain. Let’s face it, it’s pretty rough being a snowman. Creating this fellow also reminded me of the fine art of snowman building.

Yes, there’s even an art to that.

You need to have a certain touch when getting those snowballs started and you must remember to rotate while rolling otherwise you wind up with a snow cylinder rather than a snowball. Also worth noting is that if you’re going to use sticks for arms and a carrot for a nose it would be best to put away dogs that like to chew on sticks and run around with them (Rosie) and eat carrots (Cutter). Also to demonstrate my artsy-fartsy-ness I shirked the ‘Frosty the Snowman’ tradition of using coal for eyes (mainly because I don’t have chunks of coal laying around) and instead opted for chocolate truffles.

Finally, I decided that since it’s the Olympics and Canada and the US men’s teams will be facing off in hockey tomorrow that it would be most appropriate to adorn Mr. Snowypants with my touque (acquired from a case of Canadian beer I might add) that clearly states where he is from and who he is. I couldn’t find a hockey stick so I had to settle for a manure fork. Oh well.

Oh, and yes, I am almost 31 years old and playing in the snow. GO CANADA!!!!

Salt with my foot would be fine, thank you.

2010-02-21T15:59:00.007-05:00

Methinks I spoke too soon.

So, apparently this week we're getting nothing but snow, snow and more snow. I guess you folks in the USA are tired of looking at the white stuff in places it shouldn't even be (no, not there... get your mind out of the gutter!)

ACEO WIP- Unnamed as of yet.
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

That said, after the wonky weather we've been having who knows how long it'll even stay on the ground. :/

So I've started a few more ACEO's and some larger pieces. Now, if I could just get around to completing one of them that would be super. I think I'm in one of those phases where I need to start a whole whack of art, realize that I have 53 pieces on the go and not one of them is done and then go through a period where all I do is complete pieces.

Yup, that sounds about right.

"Touch of Colour" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So, having said that I believe I should go work on some of said pieces. Back later this week with more art... providing we're not buried under 9 feet of snow.

Toodles!

Winter? What Winter?

2010-02-18T11:17:00.003-05:00

Well, so much for Winter.

Over the past few weeks we’ve had normal or above normal temps, sunny skies and only the occasional flurry or two. Normally I wouldn’t be complaining about this but we’re only in the middle to end of February and there’s still at least a month left of Winter.

"Dynamic Duo" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I know, you say :”Well thank goodness there’s only about a month left!” But wait, dear reader, this is a problem. Why? Because there’s hardly any snow cover (and the little snow we did get yesterday will have melted by the end of the day today) and I have Spring bulbs poking up in my front flower bed.

Spring bulbs!!!

That's right, even Mother Nature has had enough
of the piddly Winter we've been having.

I love flowers and I’m looking forward to seeing them again but they’re not going to last if they’re trying to come up now and we get a cold snap. I have yet to venture towards our larger pond where the pussy- willows live but I plan on walking that way this week-end to see if they’ve started blooming as well.

Oh, who am I kidding. Bring on Spring! Winter has gotten tired and boring (and really, what fun is Winter without snow to play in) and I’m ready to see some flowers and colour.

More art this week-end!

February already!

2010-02-15T14:51:00.006-05:00

A Happy New Year (albeit a bit late) and I hope that for everyone 2009 was a great year and that as we embark upon a new decade that 2010 promises to be even better.

I have some good and bad news to share.

Al Mansur Primo
Coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

First, the bad. My 2009 ended on a very unpleasant note when, two days before Christmas, my beloved horse very unexpectedly passed away. Al was truly one of a kind and I suspect it will be a very, very long time before I find another horse that can hold a candle to him. Shortly after he passed I wrote this small tribute to him because, to be honest, it’s hard to read what you’ve typed when you’ve been crying. :(

“When your time ended, my heart broke.

You are irreplaceable and will be forever loved. I miss you immeasurably and you will always be my “best guy”. Thank you for teaching me so many life lessons in your own life and beyond.

Many hugs, snuggles and knickers.”

I still miss him a lot and suspect that I will for quite awhile. That said, each day gets a bit easier and I hope that one day I will find another horse that I can find joy with.

Now I think it’s time for some good news.

"3 Times Tempted"
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

My art website will be updated later this year and since I don’t have a wedding to plan or school to concentrate on I will have more time to dedicate to my art. The Other Half and I had a wonderful honeymoon in Mexico and got oodles of pics, some of which I plan on using for a few pieces I have in mind.

So that's the news for now. I would write more but I have some artwork that's calling me! ;)

You know you're an artist when...

2009-12-04T15:19:00.004-05:00

"Green Grapes and Blue Satin" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

You know you’re an artist when:

- You giggle uncontrollably after receiving a book about Rembrandt with a portrait of him on the cover (and folks, he’s no Johnny Depp, so there’s really no reason to giggle).
- You refer to well stocked art stores as “Mecca”.
- You’re hanging out with friends and the topic turns to ‘tertiary colours’.
- You spend 20 minutes in the produce section of the grocery store inspecting each and every apple to find the best possible model.
- You can explain to people, in painstaking depth (more pain for them, not you), the importance of good lighting for taking reference photos.
- If you know when the scientific element “cadmium” should come in front of the name of a basic colour like red.
- You look at works from the Baroque era that feature nudes and think you’d look better if you put on a few pounds.

After Vermeer-" Girl with a Pearl Earring" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Yes, this is when you know you’re an artist. Gotta love it! ;)

FINALLY!!

2009-12-01T12:52:00.005-05:00

Yes, we finally got a sprinkling of snow. All I have to say is : "It's about flippin' time!"

Granted, these pics were taken quite early in the morning and the majority of this snow has since melted, but it was nice to finally see some of the white stuff on the ground. After all, it's December 1st and Christmas is slowly creeping up on us and I know I certainly wasn't the only one that was waiting on a bit of snow to add a little more to the Christmas spirit.

Heck, even the dogs were in a giddy mood:

Granted, much like people driving in the first snow of the season, they wiped out on more than one occasion but all in all they seemed to be enjoying themselves. Thankfully I did not share in their excitement of face-planting in the first dusting of snow.

Rejuvenated with a new sense of Christmas-yness (English teachers everywhere are cringing right now) I must be off to create a themed ACEO or two... which I will be more than happy to share later this week.

Until then, keep on art-ing!

The Joys of the Season...

2009-11-26T08:17:00.002-05:00

Back again for another posting and to share some art. Before I get started though I would like to wish our neighbours South of the border and very happy Turkey Day!

"Pieces of Autumn" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So despite the warmer weather things around here are starting to get Christmas-y. I've done some decorating outside and this week-end the tree will be going up and all the other little holiday knick-knacks will be making their yearly appearance. Even with the joy and festivity surrounding holiday decorating though there is one gripe that I simply must get out of my system: Christmas tree lights.

Why is it that from one year to the next I cannot have each strand light up again? There always has to be that one trouble-making bulb in the middle of the strand that has to go out and then I have to spend about an hour of my life that I will never get back again trying to find the little bugger and replace it.
While this is happening, the cat if watching the strand of lights wriggle around on the floor and decides that the best thing to do is attack the strand of lights (while still plugged into the outlet, I might add) at which point I am forced to drop the lights and shoo the cat away. This in turn gets the dogs wound up and as they chase the cat around the house they race close to a box of glass ornaments that teeters precariously on the edge of the sofa. They have muddy feet from being outside so, of course, now I'm yelling at them to stop chasing the cat while at the same time cursing the fact that I'm going to have to mop the floor from one end of the house to the other.

Oh, those damn Christmas tree lights. Always causing problems.

"Before and After" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Anyway, I look forward to the fun and frivolity of decorating the tree this week-end, I'm sure it will be an adventure.

On a blogger- related note I have turned the comment mods off since I'm hoping a suitable amount of time has passed to discourage people from countries I have yet to visit from posting naughty links in the comments. So feel free to comment away.

Again, a happy Thanksgiving to folks in the USA... stuff yourselves with turkey for me! :)

I Just Need A Little Nudge

2009-11-19T10:39:00.005-05:00

How I spent my Monday Afternoon...

So it's almost Friday and when the week-end rolls around it'll be time for working on some more art and, hopefully, posting more works.

Lately it's been difficult to get art done because, as many of you know, life tends to get in the way of doing fun and enjoyable things and, as I mentioned in my previous post, because of the weather.

I hate to say this given the lousy Summer we had, but I'm kind of wishing we would have a rainy day or, even better, a snow day. While I generally enjoy getting outside in the cooler weather, for the most part this time of year always feels like a time to hibernate indoors and (for me anyway) work on oodles of art. Small pieces, big pieces, still life's, equestrian pieces or even reading some art history books. I've started on some pieces, the WIP's I'm planning on posting soon, and even started re-reading one of my art history books from university.

"Dramapple" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It's all very good and well, but I think I need that little kick from Mother Nature where she says: "Hey! Look at what I brought you... a snowstorm! Go ahead, stay inside and drink ridiculous amounts of hot chocolate and play with your coloured pencils. Have fun!

Oh, and tell your husband to get the snowblower warmed up because this one's going to be a doozy!"

Yup, that's what I need. And to remind the Other Half to get the snowblower tuned up. :p

Back this week-end with more art!

What time of year is it anyway?

2009-11-12T13:00:00.003-05:00

"Potential Candidates" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Hi there folks,

Well, Halloween has come and gone and we're well into November and you know what that means? We're being bombarded with commercials drilling "Jingle Bells" into our skulls and store flyers featuring images of over-indulged children surrounded by toys requiring every type of battery known to mankind and houses that look like one of the National Lampoon movie sets exploded.

Yup, as they say, "Tis' the season!"

Despite the aforementioned points, Christmas is one of my favourite seasons since I enjoy decorating the tree and making cards and eating massive amounts of butter and sugar... all of which I rarely do the rest of the year. AlthoughI suppose I could, but the neighbours would probably think I was even stranger than how I normally present myself.

This year, though, there is one thing that is greatly hindering me from getting into that Christmas-y spirit. The weather.

"Bowl of Good Taste" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

That's right. Autumn started off pretty darn chilly here in our neck of the woods and I figured that, much like last year, we would be almost knee-deep in snow by the beginning to middle of December. However, if things keep going the way they are, we'll be showing off our knees by the beginning to middle of December because it'll be so warm! The past few weeks, dare I say it, have been downright balmy and while most people seem to be enjoying it (myself included since I've been able to get caught up on my outdoor chores without dressing up like Natoonook of the North) I can't help but wonder... how do you folks in the Southern States do it!?

I mean, really, how on earth can you possibly get into the Christmas mode without cold weather and snow? Clearly you've mastered some kind of Jedi mind-control ability that the rest of us have yet to tap into.

If you wouldn't mind sharing your skills I'd greatly appreciate it because, starting this Friday, the barrage of Santa Claus parades in our area begins and I just think it's kinda odd that most kids might be in shorts and t-shirts drinking Kool-Aid rather than Winter coats and mittens drinking hot chocolate. Maybe it's just me though...

... right?

My Apologies...

2009-11-04T22:35:00.002-05:00

Hi folks!

Just a quick post tonight. Sorry about the comment moderation, but as of late (ie- the past few months :o) my blog has been getting spammed.

I'm trying to discourage it and, as such, have had to enable the comment mods... for now. Once I figure a sufficient time has passed (which, staying true to form, I will decide at random) I will remove said moderation and people can post comments again willy-nilly.

I hate comment mods as much as the next person ('cause really... who can read those 'word verification' things properly) but until folks from countries I have yet to visit stop posting free fornication links in my comment section they have to stay in place.

Stay tuned for later this week when I post more art and general banter! :)

An Imperfect Match

2009-11-01T15:43:00.005-05:00

Well howdy folks!

I hope everyone had a spooky, sugar- laden Halloween... I know I sure did! :p On top of that the clocks went back 1 hour which, although it totally screws up my eating habits, is nice for the extra shut-eye that we got. Having said that though I suspect over the next week I'll be waking up at 4:30 or so and saying to myself that I need to go back to sleep for another hour and that by the second week of this happening I'll be cursing the arse that came up with the concept of Daylight Savings Time.

Today I went grocery shopping and saw something that reminded me that I need to start bringing my camera with me again when I leave the house... because you never know what kind of oddness you'll come across in your travels.

"Glorious Gourds" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

While I was driving to the store a vehicle turned out in front of me and I couldn't help but notice the license plate that read "BAD2THBN". Sounds pretty tough, right?
Oh yeah, smack that vanity plate on a Viper or big ol' black pick-up truck with chrome grills or a vintage car that's been done up to the nines and you're rockin'. Those are cars that need a license plate that reads "BAD2THBN", especially if the guy driving it looks like Bill Gates because, really, who doesn't love a good dose of irony now and then?

"Potential Candidates" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

In this case the vehicle was a Dodge Caravan.

Yup, you read that right. A soccer wagon. I mean, it wasn't even red.

Folks, let this be a reminder that the pairing of vanity plates and vehicles is an art. You're cultivating an image and setting your level of cool. When you do something such as putting a license plate like that on a mini-van the only image you're creating is that of a person that wears a helmet... and not because you're driving fast, if you know what I mean.

I feel better now that I have delivered this Public Service Message.

Transmission over.

Back on track...

2009-10-25T19:33:00.004-04:00

"Autumn's Warm Welcome" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne
SOLD

Hi folks, I know it's been a very long time since I posted and I do apologize. I've been insanely busy and I think that my life may stay on a similar course until about mid- December.

That said, I am at least slightly more organized now than I was 2 months ago and I'm almost done school (yay me!) so I should have more time to post and work on art. I have to admit that I let quite a few things slide by the way-side this year but I'm going to shamelessly blame that on getting married... I had no flippin' idea that it would take up so much of my time and energy. :/

So where it stands at this point is that I'm not going to commit myself to any particular posting schedule for the blog but you can be sure that I will be posting more frequently now that I have my ducks in a row, eggs counted, chickens hatched or whatever other nonsensical analogy you can apply to this situation.

"Apple-solutely Delicious" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne
SOLD

Thanks to those folks that emailed me while I was on hiatus to chit-chat about life in general and art. Oh, and to harass me into posting again. :)

For those of you that are interested, I've decided to fall into the Facebook fray so you can find me there too, although the posts are much shorter (as I'm learning is the quid pro quo for Facebook) and I have yet to share my artwork there. I'm still a newbie though so we'll see what happens...

Stay tuned for more art. I'm getting much heavier into still-lifes and I've been working on a wicked cool piece for my brother that I can't wait to share... but since he's getting it for Xmas you'll have to wait until after that to see it. ;)

Really? 350?

2009-07-31T15:11:00.004-04:00

See? I told you I'd be back!

So today's post is Happy 350th post to me.

To be honest I didn't even realize it until I logged in and in the stats for my blog I noticed that my last post was #349. Yay observant me!

Anyhoo, here are a couple of updates for the two previous pieces I had featured here. Both of them have essentially passed what is fondly referred to in the coloured pencil artists world as "the ugly stage".

Freisian Stallion- WIP
8x10, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

True, every piece of art during its creation goes through an "ugly stage". The problem with coloured pencil, as any artist that uses them extensively will tell you, is that the ugly stage can last a long time. A veeeeery loooong time. In fact, it's often during these ugly stages that pieces get abandoned, like those errant single running shoes seen at the side of the highway.

Who gets so mad at their shoes, nay, a single shoe, that they feel the need to chuck it out the window while travelling at top speed in their vehicle? When they stop and have to get out do they regret throwing the shoe out the window? These are the questions that plague me... but I digress.

Silver & Cherries- WIP
11x14, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

So those are the updates for this week. My drooling ACEO isn't complete yet as I have another artistic project that I'm working on for my brother's abode. In typical guy fashion he has nothing on his walls and, as an artist, it pains me to think that there are nudist walls somewhere that are crying out for some decent clothes to wear. "Clothes", in this case, being art.

On that note I must go now and continue the noble quest of creating wall clothing. Toodles!

WIP's up the wazoo!

2009-07-28T12:58:00.006-04:00

Sorry for my disappearance into la-la land last week. Schoolwork took up more time than I had anticipated and then the Other Half and I were away this week-end enjoying the odd Summer weather we've been having.

At any rate, I'm back today (and later this week... really!!) with some more art.

WIP's to be specific. If you recall from the last post (you can look below, I'm not re-posting the same image, consarndit!) there was the large piece I was doing of the silver jug and cherries. Here is another update to the piece:

Silver and Cherries- WIP

11x14, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

As per usual, I've done more to this one than I'm showing for today only because 1- I'm on dial-up and there are only so many pics I can upload at any given time before I lose my mind and 2- I have another WIP I'd like to share with you, dear reader. :)

The other WIP would be this equine piece:

Friesian stallion- WIP
8x10, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

Again, I've done more on this one than I'm letting on but you'll just have to contain your excitement to see how it turns out. Think of it like one of those "The Be Continued..." episodes of a show that you're totally hooked on.

I've also got an ACEO on the go that I'll share later. I'd like to finish it up and do an entire WIP post for that one because it features food and I swear the reference looked so good that I may have drooled on it a bit.

Speaking of food, I may as well share that I've been typing the last half of this post with a banana in one of my hands. Yup, that's right, my talents aren't simply limited to art; I can type while weilding a banana as well. Will wonders never cease?

Until later this week (with possibly a drool covered ACEO) keep on art-ing!

Done with dimples... for now at least.

2009-07-15T10:10:00.005-04:00

"Lusciously Lit Lemons" ACEO

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

And there it is, my first miniature piece featuring some dimpled fruit!

Like I mentioned yesterday, considering this is the first time I've tackled lemons I'm content with how it turned out. Sure, I cheated a bit because half the darn thing is in shadow but I like to think of it as a baby- step towards including other interestingly textured produce into my artwork.

Having said that, the next WIP I have on the go is of a horse. So unless I include a carrot in the composition (highly unlikely) the only other piece I'm currently working on is another one that was left in limbo before my hiatus. It can be seen below:

Silver and Cherries WIP
Coloured pencil on Colourfix

I've actually gotten a bit more done on it than this but I'd really like to get this one wrapped up soon 1- because it's a large piece (for me) at 11x14 and would be the first large still life piece that I've completed and 2- it's been on my drawing table since the Winter and it's getting to the point where I'm almost certain that it's laughing at me every time I walk past it. Almost as if to say "Mwahaha! You'll never complete me and as such I shall inhibit your growth as an Artist for all eternity!"

Okay, so maybe that last bit was a bit over-dramatic but every once and awhile... I'm sure I can hear it snickering at me.

So, I've got a busy art, school and gardening day ahead of me and with a list of tasks lined up in front of me I feel I should get the rest of my day underway. You know, so my list of "things to do" isn't laughing at me as well.

Until later this week, keep on art-ing!

Dimpled fruit... yes, you read that right.

2009-07-14T15:37:00.004-04:00

Hi there, dear reader!

So I'm back again with an ACEO WIP. I told you I was itching to get back into doing art; and what better way to start than with a challenging miniature piece? I say this one was a challenge because, for lack of better words, I've never done dimpled fruit before.

That doesn't really sound right, does it?

Lemon still life ACEO- WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Anyhoo, this being my first foray into a still life with a dimpled fruit I decided on a nice reference pic featuring some lemons that I got from the artist forum WetCanvas!, although I can't recall the name of the individual that contributed the particular photo.

I think I find dimpled fruit to be a challenge because of the way I work with cp's. That is, I like to "block in" areas of colour and then start layering. When you have dimples and divets in things (not just fruit, although I can't think of anything else off the top of my head that presents the same texture) there are all kinds of considerations to make regarding lights and darks and sometimes, to be perfectly honest, that's just too much calculated planning for me.

Lemon still life ACEO- WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

That said, I was up for a challenge and since this is my first attempt I'm pleased with the results and hopefully I'll be able to start including all kinds of textured fruit now. Limes, oranges, strawberries, lychee fruit (okay, maybe not)... the possibilites are endless!!

This ACEO is complete but I'm going to leave you in suspense until tomorrow when I'll be posting again. Now if you'll be so kind as to excuse me I have a loaf of cinnamon zucchini bread that needs to make it's great escape from the oven.

Till tomorrow! :)

Here's Smirkin' At You Kid

2009-07-08T16:06:00.004-04:00

Welcome back!

Since I'm just getting started back up I'm going to share with you one of the ACEO's I left off with before I disappeared into Never-Neverland (aka- the Bottomless Abyss of wedding planning). This was the image I had left off with waaaaay back when:

Guess who...

In case you've been living in a vacuum, it's a cropped image of the Mona Lisa. I did a rendition of Mona way back in highschool, except instead of being on a small 2.5 x 3.5 " ACEO it was on a piece of plywood about 3 x 5 feet. Try wrapping your noggin around that one.

This ACEO has long since found a new home but for those of you just squirming in anticipation to see how it came together you can see below:

Yes, that is the bottom of a pen next to Mona.

"After DaVinci- The Mona Lisa" ACEO
coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Despite not having the pleasure of seeing this piece in person, I've always loved it for the expression on Mona's face. For a little tiddly-bit of history, this piece didn't come together for DaVinci so easily. Many moons after he completed it and us crafty little humans had developed the ability to x-ray things it was discovered that there were, in fact, several layers of paint and several subtle variations on Mona's expression. The ultimate result was this fine work of art featuring a saucy brunette with a quaint little smirk on her face.

Knowing that there were so many re-dos to this piece my own personal feeling on why he finally settled/ decided upon this particular rendition came about something like this:

DaVinci: I think I've almost got it. Yes, just a few more brushstrokes...
Mona Lisa: For the love of fudge, I sure hope so! How long have I been sitting here? I'm glad you've found me so inspiring and all but I have laundry to beat by the river you know.
DaVinci: ... yes, yes. It's.... almost... damnit!! No, I think I need to re-so it again.
Mona Lisa: WHAT!?! (insert several loud expletives here and imagine the Pope's hat popping off and spinning around like a whirlygig)

At that point I like to think that after DaVinci picked his jaw up off the floor he quietly made a few subtle alterations like changing Mona's mouth to achieve the somewhat smug expression we see today.

And thus ends this edition of Storybook Theatre. Do tune in on Friday when I give my take on just what Goldilocks was in fact doing in the 3 Bears' house.

Is it safe to come back out?

2009-07-06T13:28:00.008-04:00

Wow. It's been awhile, eh?

So the wedding is done and life has returned to normal... relatively speaking, of course.

In fact, I’m writing this post from the comfort of my kitchen table on my new laptop that was given to me by my awesome brother as a wedding gift (thanks Mike!!)

It’s fantastic because I can do computer stuff from anywhere in the house (the kitchen being my fav location so far) and I can look outside at the horses in the paddocks and make myself a sandwich at the same time. What can I say? I’m a wild and crazy multi-tasker.

During my hiatus I must confess that there were times that I really missed blogging. I enjoy writing and sharing my art and reading the comments that folks leave as well as the email I receive from folks that are perhaps too shy to post comments.

On top of not having the time I wanted to dedicate to blogging I didn’t get to do a lot of art either. I’ve been taking courses at the local college via correspondence so that’s taken up quite a bit of my time and there was also the Lilac Tea back in May which, I’m happy to report, was a great success.

Lest we forget, it’s also gardening season which as regular readers will know, next to art is a fanatical passion of mine. All in all, I’ve been very productive over the past few months doing non- art related things and because of that I’m very, very eager to return to my creative endeavours.

It’s just a brief post today to get myself back in the swing of all things having to do with wasting bandwidth. So, to leave off, may I present some pics of myself and my new husband (the last one is my fav because it looks like I'm harping on him ;) ). Enjoy!! :D

Awwww, that's so cute it's making me ill.

Oooh... purty!

What do you mean you're staying here to have a drink with "the guys"!?

Name that tune!

2009-02-18T15:44:00.003-05:00

"It's a mid-week day. A rainy day. Walk-a, walk-a, walk-a waaay!"

Really, bonus points for whoever can name that tune. Think waaaaay back to the decade of decadence, the 80's. That's the only clue I'm giving.

"After Boticelli- "Birth of Venus" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It is, in fact, a mid-week day and although not rainy Mother Nature has granted us some warmers temps and a weird concoction of ice pellets and light snow. I don't have much to write as I've been creatively sapped for the past week and a half, although I do have a couple of ACEO's to share, one above and one below.

"After Sargent- "Madame X" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I've got more of these Masters ACEO's I plan on doing since I'm really enjoying the challenge of re-creating famous works and giving them a bit of my own twist. I thought about turning it into a series titled "Tackling the Masters" but then I got a weird visual of me in a huddle with van Gogh and Mary Pratt about to take on Vermeer, Michelangelo and Emily Carr in an attempt to push them back past the 40 yard line. It was odd and yet slightly amusing.

Anyhoo, art mingled with sports aside, this week again has been filled with a ridiculous amount of running around and the Other Half and I are having guests this week-end so I'm quite sure that no art will get accomplished.
Next week might hold some promise though, but only time (and my energy level) will tell...

Yellow anyone?

2009-02-08T15:48:00.005-05:00

Let’s talk about van Gogh, shall we?

More specifically, let’s continue with the discussion from earlier about works that can cause grief. I debated doing this one... extensively. Despite being one of his most famous works, I am really not a fan of this one. I look at it and say ‘blah’. Even for me, who likes simple composition and uncluttered images, it’s about as exciting as a loaf of bread.

Also, there’s a lot of yellow. And not even a nice kind of yellow. It’s the kind of yellow that makes you uncomfortable. However, I shoved my dislike for this piece aside and decided that I wanted to tackle it.

Normally an ACEO takes me a couple of hours to do. This one took me 4 days working on it on and off. It's progress can be seen below:

van Gogh, "Sunflowers", Part 1

van Gogh, "Sunflowers", Part 2

"After van Gogh, "Sunflowers" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Let's just say I can understand now why van Gogh went off his rocker. Yellow. Orange- yellow. Yellow ochre. Canary yellow. Goldenrod. Deep cadmium. I mean, really, how much yellow can one person tolerate?

About half way through this one I almost tossed it into the fireplace but I'm glad I didn't. I knew I needed to persevere and get this one done... even if it meant that I was going to go crazy and eat my cp's.

Thankfully that didn't happen and this ACEO has found a new home. Doing this ACEO reminded me of a lesson I learned when I was seriously starting out with cp's and that is that coloured pencil pieces can have a very long "ugly" stage. I had forgotten this because I've been working on ACEO's for so long and they are generally done very quickly so if there is an ugly stage it's very brief.

This one was educational and I'm glad it's done.

This week is shaping up to be a very busy one for me so I don't know that I'll get to do another post until next week-end. Hopefully I'll be able to sneak one in but if I can't, until next week-end keep on art-ing!

Keeping my sanity... kind of.

2009-02-05T15:13:00.005-05:00

So the art is keeping me sane... who woulda thunk it?

That said, before my mini hiatus there I had mentioned that I wanted to discuss pieces that didn’t keep me so sane. More specifically, pieces that were difficult to get through for one reason or another.

To touch on this subject I’m going to use 2 ACEO’s I completed not too long ago, those being Vermeer’s “Woman Holding A Balance” and van Gogh’s infamous “Sunflowers”.

Let’s start with Vermeer, shall we?

This piece, while exciting, was fiddly in nature and also, because ACEO’s are so darn small, presented the challenge of getting the woman’s face in that space without it looking something akin to the female version of the Elephant Man.

Before I get into my ACEO trials and tribulations here’s a link to what the full original painting looks like:

http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/37/76837-004-D488CF6A.jpg

Now imagine cramming even a portion of that into a space 2.5 x 3.5 inches!

I liked the challenge that the aspect of teen-weeny spaces presented to me (so much so that I’m doing more of them) but I didn’t anticipate how much it would frustrate me.

Below you can see the stages of how this ACEO progressed:

Part One.

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Part Two, with some wonky lighting issues.

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
(Yes, those are some of my cp's the ACEO is sitting on)

Done!

"After Vermeer- "Woman Holding A Balance" "
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I think the biggest challenges I had with this one, aside from teeny-weeny faces, were making the balance obvious to the viewer and retaining that softness and dramatic value that Vermeer has in so many of his works. There was also the challenge of getting her hands to look like hands, rather than making it look like she’s wearing flesh coloured mittens, and speaking of flesh, there were issues I had with colour as well. I don’t often do portraits or works with figures so this particular piece offered up a few learning curves.

In hindsight I’m pretty happy with it but if I were to do it over again I would have given more attention to values and colour (in that order of priority) since in comparing the original with my ACEO the two main areas of focus, her face and hands, are lacking darker values in the ACEO which is part of what gives it that drama.

Since this post has already gotten quite long I’ll save van Gogh’s piece for this week-end. It’ll be a nice break for me to post again and I suspect that if I have to address two pieces that gave me trouble the sanity I’m trying to hang onto will fly right out the window. Although that would make for an interesting post, wouldn’t it?

Hectic!

2009-01-27T13:21:00.005-05:00

Hi there!

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth... at least not yet. The past 2 weeks have been very hectic as the Other Half and I had to move our wedding date from early October to June 13th. No biggie, who needs extra time to prepare anyway, right?

Needless to say, since I've lost 3 1/2 months of planning time (aka- 3 1/2 months of me being incapable of making a decision on what type of flowers to use, where the best pics will be taken, etc) this blog may only be updated sporadically for the next few months. Couple the rush on wedding stuff with the general chaos of life and that makes for a very busy Rita.

"Under Mom's Careful Watch" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

On the plus side, it means that the wedding will be done earlier and I can relax and enjoy my Summer without having to worry about dress alterations and seating arrangements and how to keep Al clean for photos and... well, you get the idea.

Guess Who...
ACEO, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

I've still been working on art, as you can see, but I suspect that much like updates on this blog that my output of art will slow down quite a bit too. I'm going to try and update at least once a week which may be just the thing I need to keep me same until June 14th. :D

Cherries and snow

2009-01-12T15:51:00.004-05:00

Well, we didn’t get that much snow on the week-end and after checking the forecast it would appear that it’s actually coming overnight and throughout tomorrow. Other than a few errands I have to run tomorrow I think I’ll be spending a good chunk of time working on art since I didn’t get as much done over the week-end as I was hoping to.

Despite time constraints over the week-end I do have this little ACEO to share as well as the beginning of an 11x14 piece I started.

"Red, red and more red" ACEO- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

"Red, red and more red" ACEO- Done!
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

For the larger piece it’s a re-do of an ACEO I completed last year. The original reference image is from WetCanvas! I believe. In the original photo there’s a lace tablecloth on the table and when I did the ACEO I omitted it but I’m considering including it in this piece. Since this is a larger piece it would be much easier for me to include the detail of the lace as opposed to the ACEO where I’m quite sure had I attempted to include the lace my eyeballs would’ve fallen right out of my head.

No title yet... WIP
11x14, Coloured pencil on Colourfix

The other thing I did with this one was use solvents for the background. I really wanted that solid black and since I’m working on Colourfix for this one I knew that no amount of burnishing would get me that solid black... not without waxy consequences anyway.

I’m debating whether I want to attempt using solvents for the cherries as well since I’m pretty much a newbie when it comes to combining cp’s with solvent. I may try a few test pieces to figure out how much manipulating I can do.

So that’s what I’m up to for now. If anyone out there has suggestions for using the solvents I’m all ears!

Pearls are a girl's best friend

2009-01-08T10:44:00.005-05:00

Since I haven’t done a post on this in awhile I thought I’d share some info on one of my Master study ACEO’s, this time with Vermeer and that saucy gal with the pearl earring.

I had contemplated doing this particular piece for awhile but because I’m not deviating from the originals in terms of colour, style, etc for this small project I wanted to do something a bit different to give it a different feel and to make it a bit more of my own.
To do this I decided against the typical portrait format of the piece being vertical and instead went for a landscape format. This meant that I had to crop the piece and this is where it got interesting because the original is pretty basic on it’s own so I didn’t have a lot to play with. Ultimately I found a crop that I was happy with and at that point the games began:

"After Vermeer- "Girl with a Pearl Earring" " ACEO
Part 1- Jeepers, someone needs to get out and get some sun!

Initially I had debated doing this piece at all because it’s a very well-known image and any discrepancies between my mini version and the original would be horribly obvious to just about anyone that hasn’t been living in a vacuum and also because I find I get bored very easily when doing “popular” images (this will be the subject of another post).

"After Vermeer- "Girl with a Pearl Earring" " ACEO
Part 2- Looking better, but some bronzer wouldn't hurt.

I think in the end it turned out pretty well and, as expected, I learned a few things from doing this one. First and foremost is that I’m finding that for any piece involving a portrait (or a piece where a human subject is prominent), regardless of the individual’s skin tone, working on a warm coloured support is best. I had a lot of difficulty achieving the warm skin tones form the original and it got to the point where I simply could not layer any more colour onto this ACEO. I also took a chance with the cropping and, if I may toot my own horn, I’m quite pleased with it. I get bored with seeing and doing conventional. Having said that, “conventional” definitely has it’s place, don’t get me wrong, but these mini studies are strictly for experimenting and finding out what I can and can’t do... and where I need more work. ;)

So here’s how she turned out:

"After Vermeer- "Girl with a Pearl Earring" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I’m happy, she looks happy (I think) and I even have another ACEO portrait study lined up from another famous fellow... but you’ll have to wait to see that one.

In keeping with my plan for the year I also started a large piece, an 11x14 to warm me up for something larger, and I’m hoping to have a few progress shots to share this week-end. We’re getting more snow so what better time to work on art, right?

2009: The Plan

2009-01-05T09:50:00.006-05:00

"After van Gogh- "Sunflowers" " ACEO
Part 1, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Happy New Year, dear reader!

So 2008 came and went and now we’re into 2009. This year is going to be particularly busy for me as I have my personal artistic goals to meet as well as obligations towards helping to make the 3rd annual Lilac Tea a success. This year also sees the ‘Art For Literacy’ program expanding into another local library, the Deseronto Public Library, and that means that there will be a show held there as well, the Harvest Tea, which is slated to be held in September. Busy, busy, busy!

Also, for those of you that have been following this blog for awhile know that I got engaged last year and the Other Half and I have decided on an Autumn wedding. It’s not going to be an over the top affair (that’s definitely not my style) but as I’m sure you understand it’ll still require some planning so that’s going to be preoccupying me this year as well.

Enough nattering, you’re here for art and I just happen to be an artist so let’s find out what tomfoolery I have planned for myself in 2009:

Artistic
- Improve my photography skills to take better reference pictures and images of my artwork. This is a carry over from last year but I’d like to work on that and becoming even more familiar with Photoshop.
- Do a large piece... nay, several large pieces. I feel that this is something I really need to do. I’ve been staying in my comfort zone far too long.
- Begin my equine still life series which I would like to consist of at least 5 pieces.
- Work on my understanding of composition. I think this will develop as I do more still lifes but I'm really not familiar with all the technical aspects of composition and if I really want to do some bang-up work I need to get a better understanding.
- Purge my older “What the Hell was I thinking!?” work. Some of the really horrific stuff will see the inside of the fireplace and the other works will go to eBay so I can pay for more art supplies. I do this from time to time but my intuition tells me that now is the time to really clean house so I can move forward.

"After Vermeer- "Woman Holding a Balance" " ACEO
Part 2, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Business
- Make more contacts within my local art community. This was on my list from last year but it’s a worthwhile goal and I think it deserves a place this year as well.
- Promote my studio/ gallery more via arts organizations, advertising and personal efforts.
- Prepare a portfolio for submission to a gallery. This has been in the back of my mind for awhile and I think I’d like to spend this year working on a solid portfolio to get into a gallery either later this year or early in 2010.
- Update my website. New images need to be put on and I need to do some re-shuffling to reflect what I’m currently working on and where I'm going.
- Update this blog. This one is kind of iffy because of the new format that Google has with it’s drag and drop widgets which, while convenient, is a bit buggy. This goal will be dependent on whether or not Google can get itself sorted out. If not, it's good ol' fashioned hand-coding for me.

So that's what I have lined up for this year. As always I'm enacting the "wiggle-room" policy because life is, well... unpredictable. Also, I really have no idea how much time is going to be spent planning a wedding as I'm blissfully ignorant of how much time and effort goes into this sort of thing. That said, having the guidelines above certainly helps and makes me accountable for getting everything done.

The last thing I'm toying with is doing less art fairs and instead concentrating my efforts into getting into shows held at galleries. The reason for this being that I think it helps beef up my artistic resume and, let's be honest folks, the economy is going in the pooper and to put that much time and $$'s into a show where I have no guarantee of even making my booth fee back is just plain silly. I'll still do some fairs this year but in the interest of my sanity and bank account I'm going to be very selective as to which ones I participate in.

So there's the plan for 2009. Can I do it? Only time will tell... ;)

Good- bye 2008, Hello 2009!

2008-12-30T11:13:00.004-05:00

"Cherry Bowl" ACEO

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Hi there, dear reader!

Well, 2008 is coming to a close and the New Year will soon be upon us. I hope so far you've had wonderful celebrations with family and friends and that you're all ready to ring in the New Year tomorrow night. I have lots of plans for the coming year and next week I'm going to be sharing some of those plans with you because, really, if I don't list them for the world to see I may just conveniently "forget" about doing some of them. :)

So, with a party of my own to get ready for tomorrow night I have to go and start getting the house tidied up which, if you could see the amount of firewood bark Cutter has spread around the house, is no small task in and of itself.
I hope you'll come back next week when I plan on posting my 2009 Artsy- Fartsy plan and until then may we all bid farewell to 2008. See you next year!

"Farewell 2008" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

How'd I do?

2008-12-19T09:53:00.005-05:00

"Cool Reds" ACEO

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So today is the day of the end of the year review. We’re having a nasty snowstorm today so I guess I couldn’t have picked a better day to plunk myself down in front of the computer and do this. Below I’ve listed the goals I set out for myself as I divided them between artistic goals and business goals:

Artistic
- Continue my focus on incorporating more colour into my work
- Continue my focus on pushing values
- Have two separate projects involving studying one of the Masters. I’ve already picked out the two I’d like to study and when I’d like to do them so stay tuned for more info!
- Do a really large piece (large for cp and myself anyway), something 16x20 inches or larger
- Concentrate on creating pieces with more dynamic composition
- I had fun in 2007 with using watercolour pencils in some of my pieces and the effects it gave me so I’d like to try and work them into more of my pieces for 2008 so I can become more comfortable with using them. That said, getting my hands on some Neocolours would also be a viable alternative.
- I also had oodles of fun doing still-lifes, presumably because they were a nice break for me from doing animal pieces and commissions. I’d like to make a point of doing more of them in 2008 with the intent to create a series of equine based still-lifes (the series goal may carry over into 2009).
- Improve my photography skills to take better reference pictures and images of my artwork

Business
- Make more contacts within my local art community
- Become more active in the local arts organizations I am a member of which will include attending meetings, gallery sittings, etc.
- Be more organized in my book-keeping (remember, I said it makes me grumpy)
- Be more disciplined in my use of time
- Make my art fair booth more professional looking and start to keep a journal of viewers comments and what other artists are doing in their booths in terms of set-up, display, functionality, etc.
- Set up a daily checklist for myself during the work week with daily goals (a small white-board will be a wise investment)

"Rising Wind" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I think overall I did pretty good. The things that I didn’t accomplish are doing a larger piece and I really didn’t use my watercolour pencils at all this year because I simply didn’t see the need to with the pieces and supports I’ve been working on. I also haven’t been very good with my book-keeping but, to be honest, that I didn't keep up with that one isn't really a big surprise to me.
I would’ve liked to be more active in the local arts community than I was but I did manage to attend some show openings. I also improved my photography skills but I would’ve liked to spend more time working on that aspect of my plan. I can justify calling it a success because I became more familiar with Photoshop which, of course, helped with editing my pictures to make them of a better quality.

So that’s the review for 2008. I think I can pat myself on the back rather than slap myself on the wrists and I hope that I can avoid buggering up my back again in order to make 2009 a very productive year.

My blog will be quiet all next week as I have lots of pre-Christmas planning and then, of course, the big day itself. I suspect that there will only be one other post before the year is out as the Other Half and I are entertaining friends over New Year’s and we have to get ready for that as well.
So, with that in mind I hope that you have a wonderful Holiday, dear reader, and I’ll check in with you before the year is out. Have a wonderful Holiday celebration and keep on art-ing!

I'll pass on the brussel sprouts.

2008-12-18T12:15:00.004-05:00

"After van Gogh "Gauguin's Chair" " ACEO

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

What is it about the Holiday season that brings out the best, worst and most odd in people?

Let me explain.

I think the best of a good number of people comes out this time of year because 1- they’ve managed to live through another year and 2- they’re just jovial with the idea of being able to eat lots of food with butter and not think about the consequences until January 1st of the following year. And by calling it “the following year” it just sounds soooo far away.

The worst of people comes out when looking for a parking spot at the mall at 1:00 in the afternoon on a Saturday. Don’t even get me started on this one because stopping your vehicle and actually taking time out of your life to yell at someone, and possibly causing a heart attack for yourself or the other person, is just pointless to me... and downright stupid even if I do say so myself. And I do. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

After Vermeer- "Woman Holding a Balance" Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Then there’s the most odd.

The other day I went grocery shopping (why is it that so many of my mind boggling experiences happen while grocery shopping) and of course I was subject to the obligatory pre-Christmas crowding. Okay, I can take that and because I’m feeling jovial about eating butter- filled cookies I can even take the child in the other aisle that’s screaming like a banshee and the mother that’s doing nothing about it. It’s the Holidays... maybe Mom ate too many butter- filled cookies and simply doesn’t have the energy to deal with the little ankle-biter.

Anyhoo, after getting the things I needed and going through the check-out I was happy I had lived through another year of grocery shopping. I made my way to the truck and on the way I passed a grumpy elderly couple who were bickering over the proper way to pack the trunk with groceries. ‘I hope the Other Half and I don’t end up like that.’ I thought to myself and popped open the trunk.
Just as I was finishing unloading the groceries from the cart into the trunk and after listening to Happy Hannah and Chipper Chuck I heard this:

Chipper Chuck: “Did you remember to buy the brussel sprouts with butter?”
Happy Hannah: “No.”
Chipper Chuck: “Well, why not?”
Happy Hannah (quite a bit louder and bordering on yelling): “Because they give you gas!”

Good thing I wasn’t drinking anything because at that point it would have come out my nose... and all over my neatly packed trunk of groceries.

Apparently tis’ the season of love, brotherhood towards fellow man and brutal honesty.
Speaking of brutal honesty be sure to stay tuned, dear reader, because tomorrow I do my end of year review. I hope you’ll stop by again and see if I did well or did myself in... only tomorrow will tell!

Don't just sing for supper, yodel for it.

2008-12-16T13:39:00.007-05:00

Vermeer- Part 3

"After Vermeer- "The Milkmaid" " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Welcome back, dear reader!

So there she is, the yodelling milkmaid.

Despite taking on this project at the worst possible time of year I must admit that I'm enjoying it, contorted faces and all. The Vermeer ones are much more time consuming but I'm learning quite a bit from both his work and van Gogh's. I've been able to boil it down simply to this: the van Gogh pieces loosen me up and the Vermeer's make me rein everything back in again. Plus I'm getting to analyze VG's colour use and Vermeer's ability to play with light.

So, for the next 2 pieces I've decided on I picked "Gauguin's Chair" by VG and "Woman Holding a Balance" by Vermeer. I can already hear myself grumbling while doing the Vermeer. :)

While I've held off on starting the Vermeer I have started (and almost finished) the van Gogh. Here's parts 1 & 2:

Van Gogh "Gauguin's Chair"- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Van Gogh- Part 2

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

Truth is, this one is pretty much done. Between cleaning up after Cutter (there's pieces of bark all over the house), trying to get regular chores done, Christmas preparation and the general hooplah that constitutes living on a farm (Oh good! The water trough for the horses is frozen!... and here comes the hay wagon!) I'm surprised I've been able to get anything done with this project. Tis' the season for too many things to do and not enough hours in the day.

Speaking of getting things done, I'll be doing my end of the year wrap up later this week. I'll have a look-see at the plan I set out for myself at the beginning of the year and see where I stand now. Now if you'll excuse me I have dogs and cats running both willy and nilly through the house and in keeping with what I've learned from the Vermeer piece I must "rein them in".

Toodles!

From Holland to Quinte Region

2008-12-11T15:33:00.004-05:00

Hi there, dear reader!

So the van Gogh ACEO is done and can be seen below:

'After van Gogh- "Irises"- 1889'

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

The colour is a bit wonky on my monitor compared to what it looks like in "real life" but who knows... maybe that's what it looks like in person! Someone needs to fly me to Holland so I can go to the van Gogh museum and find out. It would all be in the name of art history and studying the Masters, I swear.
This one was oodles of fun to do and I must admit, much more relaxing than the Vermeer which is on the cusp of being done. I suspect I may be doing more van Gogh studies than Vermeer...

"The Calling"

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

On a local art note, my piece "The Calling" (seen above) can be found at the Belleville Art Association Gallery for their end of the year 'Artist's Choice' show. There's a gallery hop taking place today until 8pm and there are 5 galleries in total that are participating. However, if you can't make it out today the gallery will be open on the week-end and during the week so I invite you to stop by and see some of the excellent work that Quinte artists have on display.

That's all for now. I'm going to post the last stages and the final of the Vermeer ACEO soon.

Really. I will.

The Two Dutchmen

2008-12-09T14:01:00.007-05:00

So I'm back and, as promised, I have an update with my "end of the year let's see if I can cram more work into my day" ACEO project involving van Gogh and Vermeer. The two pieces I chose for my foray into this mini project were van Gogh's "Irises" and Vermeer's "The Milkmaid".

I chose the van Gogh piece because this was the poster I had hanging in my bedroom for eons when I was a little girl. I loved the image then and I still love it now. The Vermeer piece I chose simply because I love the pure white of the milk that the woman is pouring. Yup. That's really the reason... simple, I know.
I'm just doing little segments of each piece and I've left some things out of each one that are in the original segment that I chose. Just for fun I'm not going to tell you what I left out and we'll see if anyone can figure out what it was that I removed.

Enough babbling, onto the art:

Vermeer- Part 1

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

After doing the initial laydown for each one I took a deep breath and wondered what I had gotten myself into. Oddly enough, despite the intricacy of the van Gogh piece it's been the easier of the two to work on. I suspect that may have something to do with the fact that it's oodles looser than the Vermeer. The other challenge I've run into it that in terms of colour I have no idea if they're like the originals. I'm work from my computer monitor so I'm playing it by ear.

Vermeer- Part 2

Oddly enough, when I started working on both of these I realized I had chosen works with similar colouring. Blues and yellows.
Both artists were taken with that particular colour combination and van Gogh himself had actually seen "The Milkmaid" and, upon seeing it, remarked what a talented artist Vermeer was and that he enjoyed his use of colour. I often wonder what Vermeer would have said about van Gogh's work...

van Gogh- Part 1
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes

The van Gogh ACEO will be done by the end of today and then I need to get the Vermeer done so I can start on another 2 pieces. At this point I'm not thrilled with the Vermeer because, quite frankly, I've made it look as though the poor woman is yodelling while pouring the milk. I don't think Vermeer would be impressed.

van Gogh- Part 2

So that's where I'm at so far. I don't know how many of these I'll get done before the month is out but I'm hoping for quite a few. I'm also hoping I can throw in a few other artists to give myself some variety and to get more ideas for projects I'd like to do next year.

Speaking of next year, I'll be doing my end of the year wrap-up next week where I review my 2008 plan and slap myself on the wrists for what I didn't accomplish. Join me in the fun and frivolity, won't you?

The Last Show... I mean it.

2008-12-03T13:51:00.005-05:00

"Luscious" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Howdy, dear reader!

So I've started working on some van Gogh and Vermeer ACEO's and all I can say is: Woah. Harder than I thought it would be.

Not that I'm pompous enought to think that I'd be whipping off ACEO studies of Masters works but let's just say I'm encountering more *ahem* "learning opportunities" than I had expected. I'll be doing another post on said learning opportunities later but for now I wanted to bring something else to your attention.

"Liquid Red" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Monday December 8th from 1-3 pm I'll be participating in a 'Christmas Tea' over at the Deseronto Public Library. This is an extension of the 'Art For Literacy' program that we're hoping to get started in Deseronto since we've had success with the Lilac Tea over at the Tyendinaga Twp. Public Library. So, if you're in the area and want to get in the Holiday spirit, see some great art (and buy some to boot) and support the 'Art For Literacy' program just stop by and see what's happening.

Back later this week with my ACEO studies!

Because I don't have enough on my plate

2008-12-01T11:08:00.006-05:00

"Happy To See Snow" ACEO

Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Happy December, dear reader!

Well, it's the last month of 2008 and I hope you're gearing up for Holiday festivities and giving some thought to what you have left to complete artistically before the year is out. For myself I'm hoping that I can get a lot accomplished this month. Perhaps you'd like to know more...

What I wanted to concentrate on for this last month of the year in conjunction with my van Gogh/ Vermeer project was completing a bunch of ACEO's that are essentially studies of their works or small portions of a given work that interest me.
I came to the decision to do this after reading several books on both artists. Each have works that I absolutely love and both their styles, while quite different, appeal to me equally. Van Gogh has got colour coming out the yin-yang and a lot of his work uses colours that rarely see the light of day in my own palette. Vermeer has the lighting quality in his work that I think is absolutely stunning and is probably going to be a challenge to pull off in coloured pencil (as I found out with the snowman aceo above).

Quick and dirty sketch of a portion
of Vermeer's "Saint Praxedis"

I also have quite a few pages of my sketchbook filled with "studies of...", like the one above. I enjoyed doing them and they didn't take up oodles of my time to get done and with each one I think I learned a little bit more... or at least I'd like to think so. That's why I think ACEO's will be ideal to do because, let's face it, the year is almost done and I can get more ACEO's done than I can larger works which means I'm increasing my opportunity to learn more.

Cherry ACEO WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So that's what I have planned for this month. I think it's do-able and just for giggles I may do some study ACEO's of other artists just to keep it fresh.

You know... because I don't have enough on my plate. ;)

Storm? What storm?

2008-11-30T14:57:00.002-05:00

"Young Un' " ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Hi there, dear reader!

I was planning to do an art post today but instead I'm spending the day getting ready for a supposed nasty Winter storm coming our way that was not in the forecast yesterday. Both wood boxes are empty, I need some things from town and the horses need new shavings in their stalls in case the weather gets bad enough that they need to be kept in for the night.

So, since I've read that this storm is supposed to last into tomorrow that means that I'll be doing my post tomorrow. If you want a heads up it's going to concentrate more on Vermeer and lighting. So stay tuned, dear reader, because there's lots to share!

The dog ate my spare time.

2008-11-24T13:34:00.004-05:00

Hello dear reader!

My apologies for my absence this past week and a half but I'm blaming it on him:

He's a 12 lb. Aussie shepherd fuzzy ball of spazz and he's the newest addition to the zoo that is our home. His name is 'Cutter' and he's a smart little thing as he demonstrated his ability to grasp the concept of 'sit' very quickly and also figured out exactly where the dog cookies are kept (although I think Rosebud gave him a hint).

I've still been working on art, albeit much slower than I was, and am hoping that an art post is possible this Friday or Saturday (hmmmm, I seem to recall saying that before).

"Pear Pair" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

What I can say with certainty is that there won't be a post before Friday as the Other Half and I are celebrating Christmas on Wednesday with my family since my parents and Grandmother are off to Arizona on Friday for the Winter. Really, they couldn't have picked a better time to go either since the weather is going to go from crappy to really crappy this week.

"Red on, and in, White" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

We're having the festivities here which means tomorrow I'll be spending the day cleaning and scouring the house for any little "Christmas presents" that Cutter may decide to leave behind for family members to step in. This would include pieces of bark (that resemble little puppy doodles) that he pulls out of the wood-box.

So, with that in mind, if you'll excuse me the little devil is waking up from a nap and that means it's time to pee... for him, not me.

I'll be back later this week!

The Second Last Show...Really!

2008-11-12T09:46:00.004-05:00

"Ghostly" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Welcome back, dear reader!

Today's post is going to be short. I've committed to doing another show on Dec. 8th at the Deseronto Public Library as an extension/ expansion of the 'Art For Literacy' program and I have another show, Home for the Holidays, at the Empire Theatre in Belleville this coming Sunday that I have to get ready for.

I want to thank everyone that came out this past week-end to the Melrose Show not just for stopping by to say 'Hi' but also for supporting the library. The raffle items did very well and lots of money was raised so it was a great success.

"Scrumptious" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I don't want to promise anything but I'm hoping that on Friday or Saturday I'll be able to do another post relating to my van Gogh/ Vermeer project and the joys of living with a pack rat.

With that in mind I should return to working on my art and getting ready for the show this Sunday. Here's to hoping I can get myself organized and another post lined up for later this week so until that happens, keep on art-ing! :D

Melrose Show and Sale

2008-11-07T13:00:00.003-05:00

"Ravishing" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Hi there, dear reader!

Just another reminder about the show I'm participating in this week-end at the Melrose Recreation Complex. The show is running both Saturday and Sunday from 10 am to 4 pm and there's going to be a variety of artists and artisans with their work on display. There's plenty of parking, a raffle taking place and it's a great venue to get started on Holiday shopping.

If you're in the area be sure to stop by and say 'Hi' and, of course, feel free to do a bit of shopping because in doing so you'll be supporting local artists and artisans as well as the Tyendinaga Twp Library.

On that note I'm off to finish getting my things together and until next week keep on art-ing! :D

I'm Wonky

2008-11-04T16:02:00.006-05:00

That’s a word, right? “Wonky”? If not then I’m sorry if I’ve offended anyone that is more grammatically enlightened than myself.

"Plentiful" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne
The image is clearer but the light is blown out, why is this ACEO mocking me?

If I may be so bold, I’d like to officially declare once and for all that I hate Daylight Savings Time and, in this case, the lack thereof. On Saturday night before heading off to bed we had to set the clocks back an hour because the calender told us to... and the newspapers... and every other form of media the Other Half and I were exposed to this past week-end.

Setting the clocks back isn’t as bad as setting them forward but the result is that sleeping schedules are thrown slightly out of whack and, worst of all, I’m really not sure when to eat. Well, I should say that I know when to eat but at the times that I’d normally eat my body is telling me that I’m waaaaay off. It’s very frustrating and I know that for the next 2 weeks until I get used to the time change I’ll probably be spending a good deal of time talking to myself essentially wondering out loud why I don’t just move to Saskatchewan and save myself the trouble.

"Reserved Intensity" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

On a completely unrelated note does anyone else find it ironic and somewhat cruel that there's a candy store located just steps away from the Weight Watchers office/ store in the city closest to me? Maybe it's supposed to be a test of will power... yeah, that must be it.

Second Last Show

2008-11-01T10:25:00.004-04:00

I hope you had a spooky Halloween dear reader!

With that behind us I feel that it's now safe (and appropriate) to mention that next week-end I will be showing and selling my work at the Tyendinaga Township Rec Hall as part of the Melrose Artist and Artisans Show. There will be 22 artists and artisans in total and the event runs both Saturday and Sunday from 10 am - 4 pm.

"Plentiful" ACEO- I'll post a better pic later
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

If you happen to be in the area and want to get a head start in your Christmas shopping be sure to stop by (the Rec Hall is located at 363 McFarlane rd) to see the work on display. The bonus to this event is that a portion of proceeds go the the Tyendinaga Twp Public Library so not only will you be supporting local artists you'll also be supporting literacy in our community as well.

I just wanted to mention it and just inc ase you think you may forget about it between now and next week-end don't worry, I'll be sure to mention it again next week! ;)

Of Art and Aneurysms

2008-10-30T14:26:00.004-04:00

Well hello there, dear reader.

Grapes and Pears ACEO WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So my artistic saga continues and I'll be honest in saying that when I started this whole van Gogh/ Vermeer project I didn't really have a highly specific outcome in mind. I just knew that I admired the work of both and that I hoped when all was said and done that I'd be a better artist for it. When I started I also had no idea that at this point I'd be having a hissy fit over trying to get the best lighting to take a picture of a rose and little glass bluebird.

"Symbols of the Season"
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I love doing still lifes now (something else that has come as a big surprise) but trying to set up my own compositions is causing that little vein on the temple of my head to pop out and I'm getting kind of snarly over the whole affair. My biggest qualms are coming from lighting issues and that my camera is "out of date" despite being only 3 years old.

I've searched high and low on the Internet for tips, tricks and any other general information I feel will be useful. I've managed to rig up a box that I use for setting up my still lifes and it allows me to change background fabrics, fiddle around with the depth of objects as well as the height of objects. However, the lighting is *ahem* lacking something to be desired... as in: it's crap.
So I ask, dear reader, do you have any tips on lighting for still lifes? Is there a better time of day to be taking ref pics? Is an overcast day better than a sunny day? Anything, anything at all... I'll try it. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

So there's my plea for help. I'm going to go work on some more art now, maybe a horse or wildlife piece because they're not causing my blood pressure to rise exponentially.

Also, be sure to have a Happy Halloween tomorrow filled with all kinds of sugary, spooky goodness. I'll see you in November! :D

Princess for President?

2008-10-27T15:23:00.003-04:00

With the US elections coming up and with us Canadians having just finished up our Federal election a few weeks ago I felt that sharing this story would be appropriate.

It’s fair to say that voting is a very important task, some people taking it more seriously than others. Folks all over the world vote for various things but without a doubt voting for the leader of one’s country is pretty high up there in importance. Imagine if you had really strong feelings about the candidates up for election, knew who you wanted to vote for but then went to the polling station and were told you couldn’t vote. You’d be pretty darn upset, right? It’s our right to vote and each and every member of society should exercise that right whenever possible.

"To the Core" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Now imagine the day that you get the voting registration cards for your household in the mail only to realize that not only has the government done their duty of issuing each legal member of the household their voting card but apparently they expect the race to be so tight that they’ve also issued a voting card to your goldfish... who happens to be dead.

This happened to a family in the US not too long ago and the funny thing is that, as far as they’re aware, the dead goldfish hasn’t been pulled from the voters list. While I didn’t get the entire story the registration error occurred when the goldfish, whose first name was “Princess”, was used on some type of formal documentation the family needed. What type of document and what it was used for I’m not sure of, but I must say that I find it kind of sad that they know nobody other than their goldfish to use as a reference. Much like a telemarketing list the name and address of “Princess” was added to a mailing list and the rest is history.

Why is it that I have a hard enough time getting a government worker to call me back regarding tax papers, they can use satellites in space to hone in on a specific street in a bustling metropolis, one needs half a dozen forms of ID to get a library card and yet a dead goldfish is being issued a voting card?

I dunno what else to say but... happy voting!

Sssssh! There's an Artist at work.

2008-10-24T13:33:00.003-04:00

"On the Prowl" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I’d like to talk today about working environments if I may.

For many an artist I think it’s no big secret that music can play an enormous role in how well we work, what our colour choices will be and that music can be a source of inspiration, just to name a few things. Many artists will readily profess to the need to have music playing while they're creating if nothing else than for keeping them awake while they work on that huge expanse of clear blue sky.

I’ll be the first to wave my hand in the air enthusiastically to say that music is a great motivator and, for myself, a source of great inspiration. In fact, I’m planning a series or works I’d like to do based on music, although my ideas are still very much in the works so I won’t say what musician it involves or what the project entails... I need to keep you in suspense for awhile yet. ;)
Having stated the above I wanted to share that the other day I worked in complete silence aside from Sushi, the retired barn cat, running through the house like an elephant. I had turned the ringer off on the phone and, in truth, the radio was already off, the batteries in the remote were dead and I was too lazy to get up and turn it on manually.

It was some of the most focused work I had done in a good, long while.

I just wanted to share that with you, dear reader. It was a very strange experience for me as I can't recall the last time (or if there's ever been a time) when I worked in complete silence. Just thought I'd mention it because, well, you may want to try it one time if for no other reason than just to see what happens. ;)

Keep on art-ing!

I'm up and running

2008-10-22T13:44:00.003-04:00

Well, no embarrassing stories to tell and while I suspect that there may be a few embarrassing pics floating around I have yet to find them. I was rather busy on wedding day but I know there were many people armed with cameras and once I find out who has the most embarrassing pics you better believe I'll be more than happy to post them... unless I'm in them, of course. :)

"Signs of Autumn" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I have some excellent news to share and that is that my website is up and running again (thanks Mike!) and can be found at www.ritawoodburne.ca. My e-mail address has also changed to rita@ritawoodburne.ca so if you have e-mailed me in the past 2 weeks or so and haven't heard back please re-send the e-mail to the address above and I'll get back to you ASAP. I'm not ignoring you... honest.
The reason for the name change (from .com to .ca), and the reason the first site went down, was that it had been taken over by a squatter. Said squatter wanted/ wants $250 to get the domain name back which tells me that they are blissfully unaware of just how much of an income artists actually make. My brother has been in conversation with said squatter and I told him to pass along the message that if the squatter would like to purchase some art, $250 or more, I will be more than happy to buy the domain name back.

Lesson learned. Don't let your domain name renewal lapse.

The funny (and not in a 'ha-ha' way) thing about all of this is that ultimately this frustration and aggravation all goes back to Bell. It's a long story but if you've been following this blog for any length of time you'll know that Bell has become the never- ending thorn in my side. *sigh*

Oh well, all has been resolved and I once again have a website. I've also been churning out a few more ACEO's and I'm finding I'm really getting into still-lifes... but that's for another post. So stay tuned, dear reader, for another art update shortly!

October is a busy month (who knew?!)

2008-10-15T07:04:00.003-04:00

Hi there, dear reader!

"A Warm Welcome" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Just wanted to pop in to show off some art and to let you know that I will be MIA this week as I have several tasks that need to get finished up and, more importantly, I’m the MC for a good friend’s wedding which is taking place this Friday.

I've got a fair bit to do before the end of the week and, in staying true to form, have grossly underestimated how much time I really needed to get everything done. Good thing I work well under pressure, eh?

"Bowl With Rainier Cherries" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So, with that in mind I will sign off now. I'll be back next week with more art, more frivolity and with any luck some embarassing wedding stories to relay (and if I'm really lucky, embarassing pictures as well!)

Toodles!

Turkey week-end... and some art!

2008-10-10T16:09:00.005-04:00

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving week-end, dear reader!

Today I’d like to touch again on my van Gogh/ Vermeer project if I may.

Lately I’ve been pondering what it is most I admire about both of these artists and how I can incorporate those things that I admire into my own work. Also, I’ve come to the conclusion that I could study these two fellows until I’m blue in the face and still feel like I have miles to go. So, with that in mind I’m going to put it out there that I’ll continue to study these two artists until the end of the year and then it’s time to move onto another project.

"In His Glory" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So with van Gogh I think I’ve made it quite clear that I love his use of colour. Bright, bold, smack- you- in- the- face kind of colour and that’s what I was hoping to get from studying him. I think I’ve made pretty decent progress in that regard as I know that now when I’m working on a piece I consciously make an effort to put in that little bit more in terms of colour. Playing around with complementaries and values in colour has been fun and using colour to convey the mood of a piece has been an interesting challenge as well.

With Vermeer it wasn’t quite as clear for me what I wanted to gain from studying him. After considering it further it hit me like a milkmaid with a full loaded pitcher of milk: his dramatic use of lighting and his uncluttered compositions.
Some folks like the ornate, overdone, visually jumbled compositions like those that can be found with many of the Renaissance artists. Gilded this and sumptuous that and for some of them just throw in a frolicking, androgynous lute- playing minstrel for good measure.

No thanks.

I’ve always loved compositions that are captivating in their simplicity (by the way, another Dutch artist that did this that I also drooled over was Carel Fabritius). Give me a few subjects, no more than I can count on one hand, and some fantastic lighting and I’m hooked. Vermeer did this time and time again and while some of his works are busy in terms of composition there’s still something about even those works that keeps me hooked.

"A Pair for Pie" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I suspect that because I’ve started with Vermeer later in the game that it’ll still take some time for me to really figure out ways to incorporate what I admire about his work into my own work. I’ve also just started doing my own still life references and, um... yeah. It needs some work.

With that out of my system I wish all the other Canucks reading a very happy Thanksgiving full of turkey, stuffing, pie and good times. Until next week (and after the tryptophan wears off) keep on art-ing!

One thing after another...

2008-10-08T15:42:00.004-04:00

"Basket of Temptation" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Howdy there, dear reader!

Well, I was going to do a post yesterday but unfortunately because Bell is run by complete morons (and I'm on dial up) that didn't happen. I'd like to turn this post into a rant but I'm not going to because "hump day" is coming to an end and the week-end will soon be in sight... and it's Thanksgiving week-end here in the Great White North to boot! I can just taste the turkey, stuffing and pie already....

Speaking of Great White North, we had our killing frost yesterday and now whatever was left in the garden is looking limp and pitiful. I'm kind of kicking myself because there were some coleous plants I wanted to bring inside to over winter but I was too late, I mean they call it a "killing frost" for a reason. Oh well, what can you do?

I've got lots of art laid out in front of me that needs to get done and I'd really like to get more done before daylight disappears and I'm stuck with icky lighting from bulbs. As an aside, if you're trying to access my website it's down. As in, it's gone. I'm not really sure what happened but my brother, who normally tends to the technical nitty-gritties of the website, is looking into it. When it's back up and running I'll let you know, dear reader.

So until later this week keep on art-ing, I know I will be!

It's Getting Chilly Outside

2008-10-03T14:55:00.003-04:00

Today was the first day that it really hit me that Summer is over and Winter is on it's way. Although it was sunny it was a very blustery day and there are lots of leaves flying off the trees even as I type. To put a positive spin on it I did spend some time outside tidying up the garden and when I felt a chill in my bones (aka- arthritis flaring up) it was time to head inside and work on some art.

I've mentioned previously that it's usually around this time of year I start to get a hankering for doing still lifes and lately I've been doing quite a few, even taking a stab at doing some of my own compositions. One of these still lifes, in a fledgling phase, can be seen below:

"Basket of Temptation" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It's farther along than this but I'd like to save that for another post and touch again on my van Gogh/ Vermeer project (no, I haven't abandoned it).

At this time of year it also hits me, as I'm sure it does many others, that the year is almost over.

Where the heck did the time go??

Who knows, but what I do know is that now is also the time that I'll be reviewing my artistic goals for 2008 for the last time and see what I accomplished, what I haven't accomplished, what can be abandoned and what can be carried over into next year.

So this week-end I'll be doing just that and more. I'll be giving thought to what I'd like next year to look like and I'll be making a mini plan of attack for what I can accomplish during the remainder of this year.
As a sneak peek for a series of ACEO's I've been working on that are pertaining to my van Gogh/ Vermeer project I offer up this little diddy:

"Midnight Wind" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Have a super week-end, dear reader, and enjoy the fine weather while we can. Until next week!

A New Blog

2008-10-02T17:30:00.005-04:00

Hi there, dear reader!

Just a quick post before I do a "proper" post tomorrow.

I wanted to let you know about the blog for 'Art For Literacy' which is the program that supports the Tyendinaga Township Library literacy programs and is the reason for the Lilac Tea Art Show that we're holding every May (applications for the 2009 show are coming out soon!)

The link for the blog can be found here and I encourage you to comment on what you see there and if you happen to be in our neck of the woods feel free to stop by the library to check out the 'Artist of the Month' that is being featured in the Gallery room at the library, you won't be disappointed.

Oh, and Regina, here's how that ACEO turned out:

"The Pumpkin Patch Gang" ACEO
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Keep on art-ing... and reading folks! :D

It's Nice To Unwind

2008-09-30T15:05:00.004-04:00

Well, I have to say that my trip was a much needed one and the weather was fantastic for almost the entire trip with the exception of this past week-end. That said, it certainly didn’t dampen (Hardy- har, get it? ‘Dampen’? Yeah, that was a really bad pun) the trip on the way back to Boston to visit my brother.

I got some awesome pictures and thanks to all the hiking we did up and down mountains my leg muscles are screaming bloody murder at me. What more could one ask for in a vacation? Not much, I suspect.

Autumn ACEO WIP
Coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

While in Boston we made a trip to the Dick Blick store which I affectionately referred to as my trip to “Mecca”. I picked myself up a set of 36 Coloursofts and have yet to stop drooling over using them. I had already purchased some open stock pencils to test them out and after drooling sufficiently over them decided it was high time to pick up a proper set.
In New Hampshire I bought a few things, including a bumper sticker that says “My Australian Shepherd is smarter than your Honor Student”... mainly because it’s true. I don’t normally adorn my vehicle with stickers because when they eventually have to come off they leave that sticky goo behind that requires sandblasting to remove but this sticker was one that allowed me to be smug without having to open my mouth... and that, dear reader, is a most excellent thing.

I also got to pet a moose:

Just call me Dr. Doolittle

Yup, that’s right... a moose!

Okay, it’s actually a wooden moose and I suspect that with my recent encounters of the wildlife kind that I wouldn’t be too keen on walking up to, let alone petting, an animal that could take my head off in one clean sweep. They’re cool from a distance though...

So that’s the ‘Readers Digest’ version of my trip. There was a lot more fun and excitement, including seeing a well dressed man in a Mercedes picking his nose, and I have oodles of pictures that have potential as art material. Most importantly I have great memories and got the rest I needed to fire up the old burners again for doing more art.

My battalion of coloured pencils and I have some work to do... ;)

Bon Voyage

2008-09-18T13:34:00.004-04:00

"The Autumn Barn" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Welcome back, dear reader!

I just wanted to give you a heads up that this will be the last post for about 2 weeks as the Other Half and I are heading off to New Hampshire in a couple of days for a week-long vacation with a stop in Boston on the way back to visit my brother.

We’ve been looking forward to this trip for some time now and I can’t think of a better time of year to visit a state like New Hampshire (we’re staying in North Conway if you want to get particular) so we can enjoy the scenery and weather. We’ve got lots of outdoor activities planned and I’ve cleared off the memory card for my camera and picked up another card just for good measure because I plan on taking oodles of pictures.

So, with that in mind if you’ll be so kind as to excuse me I’ve got more chores than I care to count that need to get done before we’re off on our big adventure. Until our return, keep on art-ing!

Where the Wild Things Are

2008-09-17T08:28:00.004-04:00

What was it I said in a previous post? The fun (or was it weirdness?) never ends for an artist living on a farm? Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was something like that...

What also never ends when living on a farm with woodlands is the endless sightings of wildlife and close encounters of the heart-pounding kind. However, this time there were no mylar balloons involved, I’m happy to say.

"The Last Bale" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Let me preface this post by saying that I love wildlife and getting up close to an animal, particularly one that you wouldn’t normally be able to, is exciting and educational as long as you exercise caution and don’t do something stupid like try to pick its nose. That said, when the animal itself takes the liberty of coming closer to you with very little hesitation it can be a bit nerve wracking to say the least and that educational experience can quickly turn into an event that results in one having to change one’s pants... if you get my meaning. So here’s where my tale begins...

On Monday morning Rosebud and I were out walking in the woods as we normally do. We made our way back into the hardwoods and as we were rounding the corner to head back I heard some rustling over the fenceline. I looked over and through the trees I saw a tawny coloured animal and I remember thinking to myself: “Oh look! A baby deer! Awww, isn’t that adora... wait. That’s not a deer...”
It looked at me and I realized I was looking at a coyote, a rather large coyote, with a rabbit hanging out of it’s mouth. Yum.

"Arctic Gaze"
8x10, coloured pencil on Mi- Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It was at this point that Rosebud also saw the coyote and decided that it might be a good idea to chase it at which point I yelled at her resulting in her stopping, the coyote running and then her wanting to go after it again.

Apparently this coyote was hell bent on getting to the other side of the property because it back-tracked, hopped over the fence line towards us, went back over again when Rosebud went after it again (which is odd because she’s about half the size of the coyote) and then finally just when we thought it had high-tailed it out of there it crossed about 6 feet in front of us. And again... Rosebud went after it. I, in turn, went after Rosebud yelling her name and to “... get your fuzzy little hiney back here! That doggie isn’t for playing with!!”

After our exciting excursion through the woods the rest of the day was, at best, uneventful if not simply downright dull. Since then we haven't seen anymore coyotes although we have heard them and just earlier this morning the radio reported that a black bear had been spotted a few towns over from us.

Yup, the fun and excitement never ends...

Mmmm, eggplant!

2008-09-14T08:58:00.004-04:00

Hi there, dear reader!

Autumn is creeping up on us and if it ever stops raining for longer than 24 hours it would be great to go out and enjoy the colours and crisper weather. That said, Autumn also means that it's time to start cleaning up the garden and make use of the abundance of produce that comes from that clean-up (and no, I'm not sick of zucchini... yet.)

"When Summer Meets Autumn" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

This year I grew eggplant and, to be perfectly honest, for the better part of the summer I didn't think I was going to get anything from the plants because of the cool, wet weather and also because due to my back injury a lot of my planting took place about a month behind schedule. Eggplant takes a bit longer to grow than most veggies and it looooves warm, humid weather so this Summer it fell short of a lot of the requirements for successful growing. However, much to my surprise towards the end of August I noticed that there were little eggplants popping up all over the place and last week we enjoyed the first of those little eggplants.

Now I don't know a lot of eggplant recipes and I'm contemplating trying to make baba ganoush but in the interim (and because there was only 1 eggplant that was ripe at the time) I figured I'd try out an appetizer/ side dish with the one that I had. It was super easy and if you like eggplant or want to try it out here's a recipe you may enjoy:

Eggplant & Tomato "Sandwiches"

1 eggplant, sliced into 8 1/4" pieces
1 tomato, cut into 4 slices
4 slices (or rounds if available) of mozzarella or provolone cheese
1 tbsp basil (or fresh basil leaves if available)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Pre-heat BBQ on lowest setting.

Take 4 slices of eggplant and lightly brush 1 side with olive oil. Place tomato slice, sprinkle of basil (or 2 fresh basil leaves), slice of cheese on top of each eggplant and season with salt and pepper. Place another eggplant slice on top and secure with a toothpick.

Brush top of eggplant "sandwich" with olive oil and place on grill. Flip carefully after 10 minutes and brush other side with olive oil. Cook another 5-10 minutes, remove from BBQ and enjoy!

These were really easy to make and even the Other Half, who isn't a big fan of eggplant and tries to avoid eating tomatoes because they upset his stomach, hoovered his back and asked if there were more.
Depending on how hot your BBQ runs you may want to keep an eye on them and if you don't have a BBQ I suspect they would turn out just as well in the oven but, again, you'd have to keep an eye on them to make sure they didn't burn and all the cheese doesn't melt out.

So there you have it. Some art and a recipe!

I enjoy eggplant and I'm glad I wound up getting some from the plants even if they are smaller than usual. My next food-related project: Operation Baba Ganoush.

Transmission over.

Pastelbord loves me... it loves me not.

2008-09-09T17:17:00.003-04:00

Ah the joys of Pastelbord, it’s a nice support, it doesn’t require glass for framing, it comes in a variety of coloured grounds to save artists some of the value work and, really, who wouldn’t feel just a little hoity- toity drawing on something that’s made with ground marble. I mean it just sounds fancy.

That said, the stuff is driving me nuts. My love/ hate relationship with this particular support is going on much longer than I had hoped. Take, for instance, my first few experiences working with Colourfix. At first I really didn’t care for it at all and then after doing a few pieces on it I’ve not only fallen in love with working on it but I daresay I’ve become horribly addicted to working on it (although not for everything). Colourfix grew on me much the way that nice little vine- type plants like Morning Glories grow on trellises. Pastelbord, on the other hand, is growing on me in the same way that mold grows on bread that’s gotten too old.

My biggest qualms with it are that I’m an artist that works in sections rather than from left to right or top to bottom. This means that at any given time I may need to rest my arm or hand over a section of my work and with Pastelbord I find that when I do this I’m lifting off not just a small portion of my work but a whole clump of it in a puffy coloured pencil cloud. It’s ticking me off to say the least. I’m also finding that, unlike Colourfix, I can get quite a few layers down but not oodles of layers. Oh, and by the way, here’s where my Scottsdale rider is so far:

Scottsdale Western Rider
11x14, coloured pencil on Pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

With all my frustration with Pastelbord you’d think I’d have given up already but alas, not so. Why? Because I’m really, and I mean really, stubborn. That and after having several pieces of glass break en route to art fairs I’m really keen on being able to frame something without glass. I hate that shuffling, scratching, clinking noise that you get when unpacking art that has broken glass.

So here’s my appeal to artists that use Pastelbord on a regular basis:
How do you get around pigment lifting off the surface aside from being really, really careful? Fixative? Mylar/ vellum sheet? Voodoo magic? .... or are you just really, really careful? Also, is there a trick to getting lots and lots of layers down the same way you can with Colourfix?

I feel like I’m missing something here, some kind of trick to working on it and like I mentioned before, I’m stubborn so I’m not about to give up anytime soon.

Happy Labour Day!

2008-09-01T11:58:00.006-04:00

Happy September, dear reader!!

As I mentioned in my previous post I intended to be lazy. Quite lazy, in fact, since this is the last real ‘Hurrah’ of Summer before weeping children head back to school and the population in general in my neck of the woods starts getting ready for the on-set of cooler weather. (Must stack firewood, must stack firewood...)

I have spent my ‘laziness’ being rather productive, relatively speaking, in creating art and starting some new pieces, finishing off older ones and coming up with new ides for “works-to-be”. One piece was of a fox kit that I posted earlier in one of its beginning stages as you can see below:

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

And here is where that piece is now:

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

There’s still some work to be done on it yet, that’s for sure, but I feel pretty good about where it’s going and I suspect that I’ll be able to wrap it up this week.

Another piece I’ve started is this one:

Scottsdale Western rider
11x14, coloured pencil on Pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It’s (obviously) in a very rudimentary stage at this point and it’s featuring a rider and her horse from the Scottsdale Arabian Show that took place back in February this year. It was a really nice pose and I had to chuckle to myself because the Arab looked so Quarter horse-y in all the Western gear, the only thing that really gave him away was that he didn’t have that tell-tale QH rump on him. This piece is on pastelbord and since this post is long enough already I’d like to leave my next post to talk about the love/ hate relationship I’ve developed with this surface and make my plea to other artists that are using this surface.

So there you have it. Regular readers will know, Autumn is my favourite time of year, not just because of the colours, which tend to be just scrumptious I might add, but also because this time of year always seems to feel like a “New Year”. So stay tuned because I suspect that with a bit more free time on my hands and the prospect of me returning to my original intents with my art that some interesting things are sure to come.... :D

Art and alien space pods

2008-08-28T08:30:00.006-04:00

Nope, I haven't dropped off the face of the earth... at least not yet anyway.

The past couple of weeks have been hectic and as the last of the lazy, hazy (or in our case cool and soggy) days of Summer come to a close I realize how much prepping we still have to do before Winter. After all, the paddocks won't seed themselves and firewood isn't going to cut and stack itself.

The Women's Art Festival went well and the weather held out despite some dark, threatening clouds that rolled in mid-afternoon. Then last week-end the Other Half and I were off camping with friends. Getting any amount of art done has happened at a glacially slow pace, although I do have this to share:

"Enlightened"
5x7, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

There's a weird glare at the bottom part of the picture which I apologize for, I'll need to get a better pic of it later. I also have a couple of WIP's on the go and I hope to post them this week-end since it's a long week-end and I intend to be as lazy as possible before the Fall rush of chores begins.

Also, because things aren't weird enough for me on a regular basis here on the farm let me share with you with my story of discovery...

So last week Rosebud and I were walking through the woods. It was a nice sunny day and we were enjoying our morning constitutional and as we wandered here there and everywhere I can recall thinking 'It seems quiet... too quiet'. After all, it's the woods, there's usually leaves rustling, birds chirping and crazy squirrels chattering away as we walk past them.
As this thought crossed my mind I remember feeling somewhat anxious, as though something wasn't quite right. So, with that feeling of uneasiness coming over me, Rosebud and I started to head back. We were on the homestretch and as I rounded a corner approaching the surface ponds I saw something that darn near made me require a change of pants. It was this:

Oh yes, a scary mylar balloon. Except this balloon (which measures a good 2 1/2 feet in height I might add) still had enough helium in it that it was standing upright.

So there I was, standing in the woods with my heart pounding and face to face with what I initially thought was some type of alien space pod. Then I realized it was a smiley face mylar balloon and I was even more frightened because, really, who the Hell expects to see a sunshine smiley face balloon staring at them in the middle of the woods. Not me, that's for sure.

After I figured it was safe to approach the balloon and there weren't any booby traps set out to ensnare me I picked up the balloon and took it back to the house with me because I can only imagine how the horses would've reacted had they seen this horse- eating monster in one of their favourite snacking spots.

So there you have it, the fun and weirdness just never ends for an artist living on a farm. I like to think of it as my own little 'The Gods Must Be Crazy' experience. Better a mylar balloon than a Coke bottle, 'cause the balloon makes for a much better story. ;)

Back on the long week-end!

Hurrah!

2008-08-16T07:43:00.004-04:00

Just a note for those that are following me along in my artistic journey, you can feel free to journey with me to Kingston this Sunday (tomorrow) where I’ll be participating in the Kingston Women’s Art Festival. Oodles of fantastic artists, live music, a silent auction and one big “Hurrah!” for women in the arts... do you really need more of a reason to attend?

The event is being held from 10 am-5 pm at City Park in Kingston (between Bagot and King Streets) so if you happen to be in the area be sure to stop by and say ‘Hi’ and, of course, feel free to buy some art. ;)

"White Wonder" ACEO
coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

FYI- Admission is free to this event and 20% of all the artists’ sales are donated to support many women’s counselling and service programs so it’s definitely worth attending. Hope to see you there!

Head for the hills... the zombies are coming!!

2008-08-14T17:36:00.007-04:00

I know, I know, I’ve been MIA...but for good reason...

The other day over on her blog, Greywaren Art, Maggie posted her thoughts on the potential of a zombie attack and whether the artist side of us carries over into the wee hours of the night. More correctly (I hope, and please correct me if I'm wrong), are you an artist through and through? Regardless of whether you’re awake or not, selling your art or not, beginning artist or seasoned veteran? Are you being true to yourself?

"Enlightened" WIP
5x7, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

This was something I’ve been thinking about a lot over the past few months and most especially when I injured my back and was forced to do nothing but lie on my stomach and stare out the window and watch the world go by. I also did a lot of reading on art history and interviews/ articles on contemporary artists as well. Life got in the way of me pushing forward with my art in a gung-ho kinda way and, to be honest... it was probably for the better.

I've pulled an about face and decided to focus a lot less on selling my art and instead have shifted my focus on developing my skills and style. For me to do that I need to set the business side of being an artist aside and I need to just focus on my art and, as I posted in the comment section of Maggie's post, to Hell with the rest of it.
Now, potential collectors don't go tucking your cheque-books away just yet. I'm still selling my art in art fairs and, if the Universe unfolds as it should, by next year it'll also be in galleries but I'm cutting back on commissions drastically. I simply have too many projects of my own that I want to explore and my free time to pursue those projects has become very limited as of late.

So basically what you see here and on my website (which should be updated soon) is what I'm doing and I'm shifting into purely visceral mode with my art. It was what I did when I was younger and didn't have a care for anything else except doing exactly what I want... and when I was doing that I was happy as a clam with legs.
Yes, I'm regressing and taking a child-like approach to my art again and quite franklyI can't wait to see what happens. I'm sure I'll return to an artist/ business person approach to my art eventually but for the forseeable future this is what I need to do... zombie attack or not.

The ABC's of art...so far.

2008-07-30T19:41:00.002-04:00

I would be remiss if I didn’t share this with you. Over at Lisa Bachman’s blog, The Studio News, she has undertaken the task of re-defining the alphabet for us artists. Earlier in the year she started a series of sketches related to art and the alphabet and while I suspect she did it for her own enjoyment it has clearly taken on a life of it’s own and has become thoroughly enjoyable for those that visit her blog. She just completed the letter ‘R’, a letter of the alphabet I’m quite partial towards. ;)

Instead of sharing my own art today I’d like to direct you to Lisa’s art because, truly, this is a project worth sharing. You can find ‘A’ through ‘R’ on her blog, here. While I’ve really enjoyed all the sketches so far I’ve got to admit that “Boss of the Block” for the letter ‘B’ has been my fav so far. I knew a few Mom’s like that when I was growing up...

I was waiting for ‘Q’ and wasn’t disappointed when I saw what she came up with. All I can say is I gotta get me a bottle of Quink... if nothing else but for the sheer amusement of saying the word “quink” over and over again.

Quink... I love it.

So it rained a bit...

2008-07-28T14:53:00.002-04:00

"Dancing in the Dark" (working title at this point)
11x14, coloured pencil on Pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Okay, actually, it rained a lot. And thunder... don't forget that as well.

The week-end was a bit of a bust you could say. When you're holding an outdoor art fair at a Provincial Park where people are generally staying in structures that don't have solid walls they're not particularly inclined to buy art.

Lack of sales aside I still had fun and got to see folks that I hasn't seen in awhile, do an interview for a paper covering the show and also got to meet some folks that had seen my work in other venues and proclaimed they were "fans". That's pretty darn neat if you ask me.
The Other Half and I also got to do some camping and get some nice shots of animals and unusual mushrooms. One of them looked like the ones that Smurfs would live in but, alas, I saw no evidence of Smurf habitation in said mushrooms.

After all the excitement of the week-end (and vain attempts at staying dry) I'm very tired and have oodles of laundry to do. We also have to set some things back up, like the canopy, so it can dry out or it'll be growing mushrooms on it... and I sincerely doubt I'll find Smurfs in those mushrooms either.

So stay tuned for later in the week when I get back to van Gogh and Vermeer and why I've decided to study both of these Dutch Masters. Keep on art-ing!

And we're off!!

2008-07-24T15:27:00.007-04:00

Well, in the interest of not rushing through my van Gogh/ Vermeer postings I’ve decided instead to do a gardening post. The Masters took their time, I think it would be in my best interests to do the same in studying and posting on them.
Also, the Other Half managed to get home early because we're having/ had some severe thunder and lightning storms come through the area and operating heavy machinery in those kinds of conditions is a no-no.

This summer has been a bit different than we’ve had for the past 2-3 years. We’ve has lots of rain (which is a relief when you’re on a well) and the temps have been erring on the side of cool-ish. My kinda Summer.

With that in mind it’s fair to say that it's been super for the good ol’ veggie garden. This year I decided that despite the Other Half’s distaste for them that I would grow green beans because I sure do love them. I built myself 2 little tee-pees and planted my bean seeds and waited for them to grow.

They started out innocently enough. The little beans poked their way through the soil and their little tendrils started to climb and climb... and climb some more. Then they kept climbing and they didn't stop, in fact, they still haven't stopped. If you don't believe me, look below:

And the mighty bean sentinels tower over their garden keep...

Fortunately, mammoth, out of control bean plants also yield lots and lots of beans just like these ones:

Mmmm, bean-y goodness.

At this point the plants have twined around the eggplant, the zucchini and the sunflowers that surround them. I'm pretty sure if I had planted the tee-pees about 2ft closer to the house they'd have started growing up the walls and by the end of the Summer we would have been held captive in the house by bean plants gone wild.

So there you have it. Me, I'm off to pack up the cooler, finish loading the truck and off we go. Just in case you're hankering for some art though here's the fox kit WIP. I've gotten more done on it than this but I'd like to keep you in suspense, dear reader, until I return from the Bon Echo Art Show. :D

Fox Kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I know... you're just dying to see how it turns out.

Only a few days left...

2008-07-20T10:19:00.004-04:00

So today’s the week, Bon Echo is fast approaching and I basically have today, Monday and Tuesday to get myself organized. The Other Half figured we’ll have to pack most of the things up on Wednesday since we’re heading up on Thursday after he returns from work... and he’s even so excited about it he’s going to try and leave early from work (a thing unheard of during the busy Summer months!)

Fox kit, WIP
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

I still have 1 piece I’d like to finish up (pictured above in all it’s WIP glory) and a few ACEO’s I’d like to bring as well. The ACEO’s aren’t a big deal since I can just bring them with me and finish them up at the show which makes for a super conversation starter with potential buyers. I’ve already spent a good portion of the day digging out my display racks, the covers for said racks and making sure that I have all the hardware I need for setting up the racks and securing my work. I’ve also been re-packaging my cards into the outdoor friendly packaging of plastic sleeves. That task in and of itself has proven to be interesting because the sleeves I ordered are a rather snug fit for the package of cards and more than a few expletives have been uttered in an attempt to get them in without giving myself multiple paper cuts.

Trials and tribulations aside I really have to say that I think outdoor art fairs are great because it always seems as though there’s a sense of camaraderie amongst the artists showing their work. If one person’s display topples over there’s always at least a few artists that will rush over and help them. If someone needs to attend to the call of nature their neighbours at the show will be more than happy to watch their booth (and if they’re really good they’ll make a few sales for them too!) Most importantly they can sympathize with you if you’re a newbie to the whole art fair thing and, as has been my experience, everyone is more than happy to share their experiences with you with some of those learning curve stories being very funny.

So with my busy schedule ahead of me (and the possibility of a trip to the store to buy some band-aids) I will have to go. I still have stacks of cards to package up and, of course, the piece above that needs to get done. Throw some housework into the mix and it’s a wonder if I'll even have time to eat or sleep before Thursday arrives and we’re off and running.
In anticipation of the hectic rush I’ve already started to prepare another post on Vermeer and van Gogh that I’m hoping to post on Wednesday evening or Thursday afternoon before we leave, so be sure to check back later in the week for that post and to see if I’ve completely lost my mind by then.

Toodles!

Throwing Vermeer into the mix

2008-07-11T07:00:00.010-04:00

What the heck is it about Summer that makes things slow to a snail's pace? I'm not really sure, but after this Winter I'll throw my hat in the ring for saying that any excuse to be outside is a good one. I'll also say that Blogger's image uploading system was seriosuly lacking in co-operation earlier in the day... but I digress. With all that in mind today I'll do a brief overview of Vermeer's history so that either this week or next I can talk about why I'm combining van Gogh and Vermeer.

Without further ado...

"Woman in Blue Reading a Letter" J. Vermeer, c. 1662

Vermeer was born in 1632 in the city of Delft and up until the time he married in 1653 there isn't a whole lot of information about him, not even any clear indication of whom he may have studied under. His parents, Reynier Jansson(F) and Dignum Balthasar(M), were considered lower-middle class by today's standards and both were not particularly well educated. They worked very hard and despite this it seems that Vermeer's family was in constant debt. This may have something to do with the fact that Vermeer's own grandfather was a counterfeiter (who was arrested and convicted, I might add) and his grandmother ran illegal lotteries. It has been indicated in a few sources that it took well over 15 years for the debts from Vermeer's grandfather alone to be paid off.

Hardy the stuff of fairly tales.

"The Milkmaid" J.Vermeer, c.1658-1660

After marrying Catharina Bolnes there are many more records of Vermeer's existence as he became a professional artist and was actively involved in the local art community. It has been indicated that although Vermeer didn't enjoy widespread fame (nor wealth) from his painting during his lifetime he was a well-respected individual and held a head position in the local art and artisans guild on several occassions.
Vermeer and his wife had an unusual family situation in that they lived with Vermeer's mother-in-law, Maria Thins, as well as their children (they had 11, four of whom died in infancy or early childhood) and a maid. It was also unusual in that Vermeer married 1- outside of his social class and, more interestingly, outside of his religion. His family was predominately Protestant and his wife, Catharina, was a Catholic. This was very unusual for the time considering the religious hooplah taking place in that region at the time and also because it was the husband (Vermeer) and not his wife (Catharina) that was adopting a new religion in order to fit into/ be accepted by the family.

We're not here to talk about religion though, we're here to talk art.

"Woman Holdng a Balance" J.Vermeer, c.1664

With Vermeer there's lots to talk about and I suspect in the interest of not taking oodles of time I'll let you ponder (and drool as I have) over his art and think about why I've combined him and the absinthe- imbibing wonder in my studies. They're both Dutch, but that's as far as I'm going at this point.

Discuss. ;)

Excitement? Here?

2008-07-08T18:03:00.005-04:00

So you came back to find out the exciting news, eh? Well, here it is...

I’m going camping this week-end!!

Okay, no, that really wasn’t it (although I am excited about going camping this week- end, what with me being a tree hugger and all...)

Okay, the real exciting news is that the Other Half and I became engaged as of June 18th.

Really!!! :D

So does this mean I have to start calling him the Significant Other Half? Does this mean I have to change my name? Does this mean I have to start thinking about the potential cost associated with having an open bar at a wedding with people that are predominately Irish?

The answer to the first two are ‘no’ but the answer to the last is a definite ‘yes’.

We’re very excited but intend to enjoy our engagement for well over a year as we haven’t set a date, but do know that we’d like an Autumn wedding. That gives me enough time to train my dog, Rosie, to carry flowers without dropping them and I also have to figure out a way to keep Al, my horse, clean until after wedding pictures have been taken. The cats have indicated that they have no desire to participate in the wedding itself and instead will contribute by keeping the property blessedly free of rodents... and for that I thank them.

She's female, her name's 'Rosebud', I think that's really all
the qualification she needs to be called a "flower girl"... right?

Mr. Al Mansur Primo... if there's a mud puddle to roll in, he'll find it.

So that's the exciting news. Pretty exciting, eh? I thought so.
I'll be back later in the week with an art update and more on Vermeer!

Oh those artsy- fartsy Dutch people

2008-07-05T12:34:00.005-04:00

"Beyond Black & White VI" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

The other day I picked up my art from Greystones in Bon Echo and I must admit that I’m glad to have “the kids” home... my studio walls look full again. It was also nice to travel up there and stoke those fires for getting excited about the Bon Echo show which is coming up in less than 3 weeks!

Since I’ve been on hiatus for the past while I’ve been working more on my van Gogh project and I’ve also incorporated another artist into the mix for my studies. As I mentioned at the beginning of the year in my Plans for 2008 I was hoping to study 2 Masters this year making them 2 separate projects. However, if you’ve been following along in my adventures in art, you’ll know that I decided to extend the van Gogh project throughout the remainder of this year and I’ve also decided that I’m going to study my second Master in conjunction with van Gogh. The other artist I’ve decided to study is Vermeer, yet another Dutchman with a rather colourful family history. Although I’m not going to touch on this until next week or the week after (‘cause there’s a whole lot of information to cover) I just want to give you a heads up and let you know that I haven’t forgotten about my project. Heaven forbid!

If you want to get a head start on reading up about Vermeer here are some links you may find interesting and if you really don’t feel like reading at least you can look at and drool over his art:

Wikipedia's info on Vermeer

Essential Vermeer

WebMuseum info on Vermeer

Until next week, keep on art-ing!

PS- I also have some very exciting news to share with you next week... but you’ll have to wait until then to find out what it is! ;)

Happy Birthday!!

2008-07-01T14:06:00.007-04:00

Today is July 1st and that means it’s Canada’s birthday. Folks across the country will be BBQ-ing, going to cottages, having picnics and family get together’s, attending community events that may feature music, art and various kids’ activities and invariably for many people the night will end with a spectacular fireworks display.

Wandering through the "Back 40"

Canada is a super place to live and I wouldn’t trade living here for anywhere else in the world. From an artists perspective Canada is a veritable gold mine of inspiration with it's magnificent natural spaces, oodles of wildlife and ever changing seasons. If you don't believe that the appreciation for this great country extends from one ocean to another here's a list of just 100 reasons us Canucks love our country:

100 Reasons to love Canada

An old barn on Bronk Rd. in Corbyville

So Happy Birthday Canada, 141 years old and still looking good! ;)

My view when canoeing through Murphy's Point Prov. Park

More than a pretty picture

2008-06-24T14:12:00.006-04:00

"Beyond Black & White V" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

So my back is getting better by the day and I’m not going to say anymore lest I jinx my recovery (because I really am that superstitious) and thanks again to everyone for their well wishes!

Well, injuries aside, the past little while has been very productive for me in terms of art and some good news to come my way is that “Mystic” sold at the Expressions show and I was mentioned in several articles both in print and online publications regarding the show. (Insert me tooting my own horn here.) I have to admit that while I was happy it sold I was also a little disappointed.

Let me explain.

"Mystic" was a piece that I had completed fairly recently and, quite frankly, I was rather pleased with how it had turned out. I've always relished in the knowledge that I'll be able to spend some time with my work since art, being what it is, doesn't exactly have a rapid rate of turn-over. I get to appreciate it, study it, think about what I may have done differently and, ultimately, get better from spending time with any given piece of art I've done (while also working on other pieces, of course). In this case it was quite different as I had barely framed the darn thing before it was out the door, hung in the gallery and someone had bought it.

I guess that's what I get for wanting to be an artist that shows and sells their work, right?

"Beyond Black & White III" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Now I hate to get all sentimental about it but let's face it, I think whether you're in the business of selling your art or not, that it's very possible to become emotionally attached to a piece. I'm happy that "Mystic" meant enough to someone else that they were happy to buy it and hang it on their wall for the world to see but at the same time I can't help but feel that I needed to spend some more time with that piece. What would I have learned from it? I'm not really sure... I'm just glad I got as many pictures of it as I could!

So is it just me or does anyone else feel the same?

Thwarted... by my spine.

2008-06-17T12:36:00.003-04:00

"Beyond Black & White II" ACEO
(sorry about the crummy pic)
Copyright Rita Woodburne

What was the title of my last post? “I’m Back!”?

Yeah... it should’ve read “Oh, my back!!” I’ve been KO’d by a back problem that hit me the day before the Lilac Tea, which I was unable to attend because I decided spending the afternoon in the ER at the hospital would be soooo much more fun... not.

I’m still not functioning properly but I’ve gotten a lot better since it hit me. The physiotherapist says I’m a “fast-healer” which is good (at least that’s what I’m assuming) and figures it’ll be another 2 weeks before I can walk and sit with little difficulty. So please, until then refrain from inviting me to go swing-dancing... ‘cause it ain’t happening.

On the plus side it hasn’t hindered me from working on art and I’ve gotten a few projects out of the way and some more ACEO’s done so it turns out there is a silver lining, albeit a small one, to being gimped up for the past 3 ½ weeks.

"Vantage Point" ACEO
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Also, much to my amusement I’m pretty sure the cats think I’m one of them now. I came to this conclusion as I had adopted the lifestyle of spending most of the day lying around only to get up to get something to eat, go to the bathroom and bathe. I also came to this conclusion because of their incessant meowing at me in an attempt to communicate their displeasure at me taking up their sleeping space. That’s changed now, of course, since I’m much more mobile than I was even just a few days ago.

Although it’ll be awhile longer before I resume regular posting you can rest assured, dear reader, that regular posting will indeed return eventually.... think of all the art and gardening I have to catch up on. So if you’ve e-mailed me recently and I still haven’t gotten back to you this post is also to let you know that you’ll be hearing (or is it reading??) from me later this week since I can now sit long enough to work on the computer a bit.

Last but certainly not least, I wanted to give my sincere thanks to those who’ve called, e-mailed and stopped by to wish me well and for a fast recovery because it seems like all the good thoughts are working! Keep ‘em coming... if you wouldn’t mind! ;)

I'm Back!

2008-05-23T11:33:00.003-04:00

VanGogh project daisies, WIP

5x7, coloured pencil on Colourfix

Wow, have I been on hiatus or what?

So this Sunday, from 1- 4 pm the Lilac Tea takes place at the Tyendinaga Twp. Public Library. I’m very excited to see what kind of turn out we have and what responses we get from the artists who are participating in the show. Over the past week I’ve been toodling away with finalizing the artist brochure and getting some signage ready as well as making sure I’m not scrambling at the last minute to get my art show “stuff” together.

Taking part in and helping to plan an event like this is very exciting for me because 1- I’m anal about planning things and love to see things go off with very few hitches and 2- anything to do with promoting fine art and literacy is always worthwhile in my books regardless of where it takes place. If you happen to be in the area, or are looking for an excuse to go on a country drive, be sure to stop by and see the fantastic art that's going to be on display and meet the artists!

Cynthia, if you’re reading this, I’d love to help out next year because now all the surprises are gone and I’ll know what to expect! ;)

Next week I'll resume with regular posts and more updates on art and gardening. Until then though the remainder of today and tomorrow is going to be spent getting everything together that I need for the show on Sunday. Oh, and in case you're wondering how the above piece is coming along for my VG project...

"Catching Some Rays"
5x7, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

... it's done!!

Overall I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out and the Colourfix gave me a lot of flexibility for layering that I didn't have with the Mi-Teintes. Any comments? Crits? Can't get better without them.

So until next week have a fantastic week-end!

2008-05-09T20:28:00.004-04:00

Untitled
8x10, coloured pencil on pastelbord

Hidy-ho there, dear reader.

My apologies for my absence this week but first Blogger decided it didn't like the idea of me posting and then I was swamped with art related tasks such as getting some artist promo material ready for the Lilac Tea, which is only 2 weeks away I might add, and picking out pieces to head up north to be displayed at Bon Echo on top of my growing pile of works-in-progress that are screaming at me to be completed. I'm doing this on top of all the regular day-to-day tasks involved with living on a farm and tending my veggie garden.

Sound hectic? You bet, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. ;)

On a lighter and more exciting note I'm pleased as punch to share that not just one but both of the pieces I entered in the Quinte Arts Council "Expressions" show, you can find out which pieces I entered here, both garnered Honourable Mentions from the jurors. Oh yes, I'm just grinning from ear to ear.

So I do beg your pardon but I need to get back to work. I'll be posting this week and next but it will be sporadic... just thought I'd let you know so you don't think I've dropped off the face of the earth.

You know, because that sort of thing happens so often to artists. ;)

Can't wait to plant?

2008-05-03T15:29:00.007-04:00

This past week here in Ontario we experienced a bit of a cold snap so it really wasn’t ideal for any type of outdoor gardening. The past few days have hinted at warmer weather and we’re getting oodles of showers so things have really started taking off. Me, I’ve been tending to my seedlings and now that the weather is turning favourable again I’m getting ready to plant a few things outdoors. Although the veggies I’ll be planting are quite tolerant of cold weather (peas, parsnips, carrots and lettuce) today I want to touch on caring for plants that aren’t so hardy when colder weather strikes unexpectedly.

Even veggies, such as eggplant and tomatoes, need TLC.

For gardeners in Southern climes this isn’t so much of an issue, although it could be with very sensitive plants such as tomatoes or melons, but for us folks farther North we tend to get a little... *ahem*... anxious when there’s even a hint of warm weather and all planting sense goes out the window. “It’s May 3rd and mild,” we cry “surely it’s time to plant everything outdoors!!”

Um...no.

For those of us in zone 5b and surrounding areas the real marker for planting is the second last or last week-end in May, a time when the majority of risk for frost has past. That said, there’s still the possibility of an odd night-time frost and in true Canadian weather form there’s always the risk of unseasonably chilly temps both day and night. Sure, you may have planted your veggies out in the garden but you’ll still need to protect them for a few more weeks until they become hardy and really establish themselves in the garden.

One way to do this is to invest in a Wall-O-Water or construct some type of covering for your plants to protect them at night. A Wall-O-Water is made from plastic and consists of several tubes that you fill with lemonade...kidding, you fill them with water (just checking to see if you’re paying attention). They stand a little over 1 ft tall and when each of the tubes is filled up it closes in around the top of your plant. This traps in the heat and protects the plant from cold air and wind. They’re handy and re-useable from year to year.

A Wall-O-Water.
Re-useable and great for folks that are just itching to plant
something outdoors when it's still to early to do so. ;)

Since Wall-O-Water aren’t exactly cheap and easy to come by you can also use a large plastic pop-bottle, milk jugs with the bottoms cut off or even cardboard milk cartons, all of which would be placed over the plant and pushed into the earth slightly to stabilize them. It’s the frugal gardener’s way of doing things and a great way to recycle. :)

In this gardening post I’ve kind of gotten ahead of myself and so next week I’m going to talk about the steps you’d take before planting outdoors to prep your plants for the potential "big chill". So until next week have fun art-ing and playing in the dirt (but not at the same time unless you’re into that sort of thing).

Even More Flowers and a Horse

2008-04-30T09:48:00.004-04:00

Hi there, dear reader!

So today's post is going to be an update of my second attempt at the daisies for my ongoing Van Gogh project as well as another older unfinished piece I dug out in an attempt to re-work. But first, the daisies:

Van Gogh project daisies, take 2. WIP
5x7, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

Up to this point I've really only filled in the base colour for the stem, petals and underside of the flowers. This is the same thing I did with the first daisy piece but I find now that I'm working on the Colourfix I feel less anxious about making alterations as I go. As I mentioned with the first daisies, Colourfix is much more forgiving than Mi-Teintes when it comes to layering and fixing mistakes.

That said, the only problem I can see at this point with this piece is the background and that expanse of blue sky. Seeing that Colourfix is a sanded surface it's worth noting that from time to time you come across little sections that have a bit more grit to them than other spots. As a result you get chunks of pigment that come off the pencil and aren't as easy to remove. I'm not sure how I feel about a sky that could be described as "chunky". However, I haven't gotten to that stage yet (it's slated for this week-end) so I'll just have to wait until then to see if I can pull it off.

Now the other piece I yanked out was a horse I started last year, sometime around June or thereabouts. I had a sampling of pastelbord at the time and was still getting comfortable with using it. I got the horse outline down and started filling it in and then...I got stuck. My steam for it ran out and I put it in an envelope and forgot about it. I came across it again last week and figured I'd take another stab at it and, of course, I forgot to take a pic of it before I started to re-work it. So this is the point it's at now:

Untitled (for now at least)
8x10, coloured pencil on pastelbord
Copyright Rita Woodburne

It needs colour and value and "oomph" (that's a technical term, I'm sure of it). I'm going to take my sweet, dandy ol' time with this one because I'm not really sure where I was trying to take it in the first place... but that's what happens when you squirrel a piece away for close to a year before looking at it again.

The weather is supposed to be less than accomodating for outdoor activities this week-end so I'm hoping to get some of the many works-in-progress I have on the go wrapped up or close to it. I've told myself I can't start anything new until I get at least 3 of them done so with that in mind, I'm off and art-ing.

Back later in the week with some more on the gardening front!

I'm In!

2008-04-27T08:07:00.004-04:00

Hi there, dear reader!

Well, after my hectic week of creating artwork, gardening and framing I'm back with a post to share some great news. First, I'm pleased as punch to report that both "Mystic" and "Sun Seekers" were juried into the Quinte Arts Council's Expressions Art Show yesterday. This show can be difficult to get into because of the sheer quantity of entries (Quinte Region being very artsy fartsy and all) and also because of the high quality of work being entered. It's a difficult job for the jurors and I don't envy them one bit.

"Mystic"
8x10, coloured pencil on Colourfix
Copyright Rita Woodburne

"Sun Seekers"
5x7, coloured pencil on Mi-Teintes
Copyright Rita Woodburne

The show itself runs from May 1 - 30 and the opening reception is this Thursday, May 1st, from 6- 7:30. If you happen to be in the Belleville area during the month of May I highly recommend stopping by the John M. Parrott art gallery and visiting the show.

My next piece of good news is that I'm also happy to report that from May 15 to Jul. 3 my work will be on display at Greystones, the gift shop in Bon Echo Provincial Park. I'm very happy about this since my work will be there for not only the official season opening of the park, which happens during the May long week-end, but also for the start of the "summer rush" which happens as soon as kids get out of school at the end of June. Folks that know me are quite aware that I have a long-standing love affair with Bon Echo as it's one of my absolute favourite parks and also where I was inaugurated into the world of outdoor art shows.

So there you have it. I'm still working on my second set of daisies (as well as a host of other work) and later this week I'll be back with an update on that piece. I'll also be doing a gardening post later this week since the weather is getting warmer and things are growing left, right and centre. Until then keep on art-ing!

Thanks Earth

2008-04-22T14:07:00.003-04:00

Daisies WIP on Colourfix, 5x7
Part of my Van Gogh project

Happy Earth Day, dear reader!!

Being a tree-hugging, berry-picking, hippie Liberal this day is very important to me. Our planet is very special, we require it to sustain our lives after all. I was going to do a big post extolling the virtues of our planet and a whole host of other things (mostly having to do with art, gardening and appreciating nature in general) and then I realized that I have to get two pictures ready for jurying on Saturday and I haven't even picked out frames for them yet.

I need to get me a day-timer.

That said, because this day is important to me I'm still going to do part of my original post which was to include some things we can all do to help good ol' Earth:

1- It's been pointed out many times before but let me beat you over the head with it again: walk, don't drive, whenever possible. I know it seems obvious but it kills me when I see people driving from one end of a parking lot to another just because they're too lazy to walk. It makes me want to invest in spike strips that I can carry with me wherever I go.

2- Turn out the lights (the party's over...) Awhile back many of us took part in an "Earth Hour" in which all we simply did was turn off the lights for 1 hour. The amount of energy that was saved was phenomenal. One hour folks, that's all it takes and think of what could be saved in 3, 4 or 5 hours!

3- Repair it, don't throw it away. Many folks adhere to the logic that if it costs more to fix something than to buy it brand new then do so. This is fine for things such as older appliances or vehicles, for instance, that probably aren't very energy efficient anyway. However, when you purchase an item and after a few months it's not performing as well as it used to or has clunked out altogether invest the dollars in getting it fixed or repaired instead of filling up landfills with "like new" throw-aways.

4- Make one or two trips, not eleven or twenty-two. For folks in the city this one isn't such a big deal because most amenities are within walking distance but for those of us that live in the country or in developing suburbs making a trip into town is making a trip into town. Make a list, check it twice and then check it again to make sure you haven't forgotten anything. Making multiple trips into town (assuming you're not Amish and travelling by horse and buggy in which case you're probably not reading this blog either) causes more pollution that we would care to take responsibility for. On the same token, make sure your vehicle is in good working order by checking tire pressure, getting regular oil changes, etc.

Lastly (and obviously)

5- Reduce, re-use and recycle. Consuming more that we really need is something the majority of North American society is guilty of. A way to change this is to figure out uses for things that you would normally toss in the garbage or recycling. Margarine and peanut butter container? Use them for storing other items such as screws, nails, elastic bands, twist ties, etc. Water bottles? If I do wind up buying bottled water (and it's not often since I have yet to grow a third eye or extra limb from tap water) I use them over and over again for carrying juice or more water, and why the heck not? Check yourself when you go shopping and ask yourself if what you were planning on buying is something you really can't live without and if it is something you need what type of packaging the items come in. Do you need to buy something that's been hermetically sealed then packaged in a 1/2" thick box with styrofoam peanuts? I think not, unless it's a vital organ.

So go forth, dear reader, and hug a tree and thank the Earth for letting us live here. Me, I'm going to go do some outdoor sketching and play in the dirt. Back later in the week with more art and until then have a Happy Earth Day!