Ramblings Archive September 2010

August 8, 2010

Today was one of those days where things didn’t go as planned. I headed off to town early to drop off my plans for new gallery signs at 8am.  Even though I called the company yesterday and they told me they opened at 8, at 8:15 there was still nobody around and I gave up and went onto item number two for the day.  I drove over to Pictou to collect some beach glass from my favourite (only) beach glass collecting beach.  The tide was high and my beach was covered with a foot of wet seaweed. Not to be deterred, I dug through it.  Little bugs filled the air and despite my perseverance only one small bit of green glass was found. Onto item number three; I was to meet with two artist friends to tour the Sobey Collection at Abercrombie. The friends didn’t show up and the tour was packed with tourists.  Our guide hustled us through the house with not enough time or space to really savour the art.   Despite that, I loved seeing all the paintings; marvellous, marvellous Canadian art.  I am on the acquisition committee of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and  I certainly would love to see this collection in our provincial gallery.

 

Eventually I found a field with lovely lighting and set up to do an acrylic painting.  It was going well even with the rain but then huge winds started and I reluctantly packed up and headed home.  I am still so new to acrylics that it’s exciting and also scary to try to capture beauty in this new medium.  Two weeks ago, I spent the week down at Port Joli with a bunch of artist friends.  I worked in acrylics for the entire week and I am thrilled with the new works.

Sep 4, 2010 12:24 PM

August 13, 2010

A wonderful glorious day.  When I awake, the light is strong and low.  The marsh, my marsh, is starting to go brown. Sunlight plays on the ochre and sepias  and  the intense green of the dyke.  The foreground of woods and field are dark.  Here and there, the sun catches bits of golden rod and on this Friday the 13, they are rods of gold.  The sky and bay are pale and still; a foil for the sizzle of early morning light.

 

I am always filled with creativity in the early morning; before I remember that it is garbage day or a meeting day or the house is a mess. This is a fragile special time.

 

MarshinthemarshemOur golden retriever, “Marsh” is named for the autumn marsh when all the greens are gone and both marshes match.  He delights in starting his day with a run to the bay; collecting sticks, stomping through puddles and lolling in the acrid mud.  Today I postpone his run because I want to catch my morning view in watercolours.  Perhaps I will do a larger painting in acrylics or oil sticks later.  I take Marsh outside, just for a minute, while the coffee bubbles through.  I am gob-smacked by the lighting on the grapes vines, and the white rockers on the kitchen porch.

                        our kitchen porchem

watercoloursketchout windowemI add a wicker table and a geranium in a deep blue pot and snap some photos. Then I add and delete drift wood, a sheaf of garlic and the Mandevilla.  I move the grape vine and the chairs.  I am in the moment.  The view of the morning marsh upstairs is completely forgotten. Eventually, after several dozen porch photos, I return to my chair at the bedroom window and do a watercolour study.  Already the light is higher but I remember the feeling I wanted to capture.


When these “spells” of glorious creativity hit, I am reminded of how wonderful and special life is.  Though it is often necessary to carry on with life as usual, it is a huge gift to just stop and bask in the ideas and images that are everywhere. For me, this is when I feel in tune with the universal life force; these are my god moments.

Sep 1, 2010 8:02 PM
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