The Way Home
January 4, 2021
The Way Home
Many dreams I have dreamed
That are all now gone.
The world mirrored in a dark pool,
How unearthly it shone!
But now I have comfort
From the things that are,
Nor shrink too ashamed from the self
That to self is bare.
More than soft clouds of leaf
I like the stark form
Of the tree standing up without mask
In stillness and storm,
Poverty in the grain,
Warp, gnarl, exposed,
Nothing of nature’s fault or the years’
Slow injury glozed.
From the thing that is
My comfort is come.
Wind washes the plain road:
This is the way home.
Robert Laurence Binyon (1869 – 1943)
Binyon, an English poet, dramatist, and art scholar is most know for his Remembrance Day poem, ‘For The Fallen’, which reads in part:
“They shall not grow old, as we that are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning
We will remember them.”
Try A Little Tenderness
January 1, 2021
Daring to re-write Otis Reading’s hit song for this brand spanking New Year:
“A word soft and gentle makes life easier to bear,
You won’t regret it, people won’t forget it–for love is our whole happiness
And it is all so easy. Try a little tenderness.”
by Lance Weisser
Wishing you a more tender, gentle, and forgiving 2021.
All Hallow’s Eve
October 31, 2020
A reposting of a watercolour with an All Hallow’s Eve feel and flavour . . .
[available for purchase]
As evening grows deeper, they gather together to stand watch through the autumn night.
by Lance Weisser
[sold]
Autumn Wood
October 18, 2020
Painted thirteen years ago, this little watercolour conveys my personal appreciation for the moodiness every Canadian Autumn brings….
Aerosols
June 19, 2020
‘. . . in meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of minute liquid droplets suspended in a planet’s atmosphere . . . ‘ [wikipedia]
Watercolour is absolutely the perfect artistic medium for tackling the effervescent quality of–ahem–aerosols.
It being a rather challenging subject, more paintings featuring clouds are about to be attempted, and the results posted here in days to come.
Yay! Aerosols!
'Serenity now'
March 23, 2020
…..remember this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow_9MglZrhs
So now we’ve all been plunged into Seinfeld rerunland.
watercolour, Arches 140# Hot Press Paper, 16″ x 14″
by Lance Weisser
$150.00 (in 3″ mat)
$200.00 (matted and framed)
shipping not incl.
inquiries: weisserlance@gmail.com
True Lovebirds
February 14, 2020
It is only the adolescent Ravens who gang together in raucous, food-finding frat parties. Once they find their true love, Ravens are almost always seen in pairs, and stay paired with their one-and-only for life.
watercolour, 7″ x 10″, Arches 140# Hot Press Paper
by Lance Weisser
Maybe no box of chocolates for his soulmate, but one of those shrivelled crab apples would be at least a stab at making a Valentine’s Day gift.
A Plaid Christmas
December 26, 2019
My partner and spouse Raul loves Christmas the way all Filipinos love Christmas: he LOVES Christmas. In The Philippines, the decorations start coming out at the beginning of September. With no Halloween and Thanksgiving interrupting things, Christmas prep can start as soon as summer is deemed to be finished. In our house there’s a rule where no Christmas trappings can come out from storage until Remembrance Day. This year, at 5 am on November 11th I awoke to hearing the Christmas trees being freed from their storage confines. My weak attempts to postpone all this until after the Remembrance Day observances at 11 am, went unheeded.
This year it was a plaid Christmas upstairs, and a gold and white Christmas in the front alcove/entry downstairs, with a purple and silver tree in the rec room. Next year? Apparently we’re having a pink Christmas–but, pastel pink and dove grey. He can’t wait–but has to, life being what it is, lol. And now you know what all our storage space is crammed with.
BTW, all those gorgeously wrapped gifts under the trees? Empty. Every. Single. One.
Sentinels
December 19, 2019
It is something a fascination how one species of bird spends its nights, in comparison with another. What they all have in common is a desire to feel protected and beyond the reach of nocturnal predators, like owls.
Ravens and crows go the safety in numbers route, heading in groupings to mutually accepted trees, with crows being particularly fond of the-more-the-merrier approach, with sometimes upwards of several thousand roosting at one time. Ravens are less inclined to roost in gigantic numbers, and confine themselves to congregate with family and ones they’ve bonded with.
‘Nightwatch’
watercolour on art board by Lance Weisser
4.5″ x 7″ [sold]
Forest Eve
December 13, 2019
Growing up, our house fronted a very large and treed city park in Rochester, New York, a city which has always received a great deal more of its share of snow than most due to what is known as lake-effect snow, when moist air over Lake Ontario contributes to great snowstorms, and, to our delight as children, ‘snowdays’ and their resulting school closures.
We’d head to Seneca Park with our Flexible Flyer sleds in tow for entire days of weaving down between the pines and firs, avoiding known rocks, stopping just before plunging down into Seneca Park pond.
The admonition from our mother was, ‘just head home when the snow turns blue’. Blue snow happened around 4 pm, and we’d make it just in time to change out of frozen snow suits and hit the dinner table, our cheeks bright red, our legs and fingers still tingling.
‘Silence Broken’
8″ x 10″, watercolour on art board by Lance Weisser
part of ‘The Small Works Show’, Kamloops Arts Centre, Kamloops, B. C., Canada
Three Pines
December 10, 2019
Ponderosa Pine is everywhere in British Columbia, and one of the predominant pine trees across western N. America, including parts of the Prairies and Plains. It was originally named by David Douglas in 1829 because the wood was so heavy, and thus ponderous. Around here, the very long needles which can be found lying shed at the base of these trees are gathered up, washed and used to make pine needle basketry, an art developed by Indigenous peoples all over our region, and wherever this tree flourishes.
‘Three Pines’
watercolour on art board 8″ x 16″
by Lance Weisser
(for sale, framed and matted, contact weisserlance@gmail.com)
Life Partners
March 7, 2019
Ravens take around two to four years to mature and before finding their mate, hang around in teenage gangs according to some research, but once they do mate, they are monogamous and establish a territory for themselves.
I most often observe Ravens in our Interior British Columbia setting in pairs, unlike their crow cousins which gather in huge numbers.
by Lance Weisser
“The raven is symbolic of mind, thought and wisdom according to Norse legend, as their god Odin was accompanied by two ravens: Hugin who represented the power of thought and active search for information. The other raven, Mugin represented the mind, and its ability to intuit meaning rather than hunting for it. ” [https://www.whats-your-sign.com/raven-symbolism.html]
‘A Play of Jays’
January 13, 2018
We know the fun which comes from discovering how groups of birds are labelled and identified:
- a convocation of eagles
- a wake of buzzards
- a parliament of owls
- an exaltation of larks
- an ostentation of peacocks
Jays have two possibles–a ‘scold’, or a ‘play’–and given their feisty nature, both can be true at once. Here in Western Canada we have the Steller Jay, as well as the Whisky Jack or Grey Jay. Eastern Canada is home to the more familiar Blue Jay.
“A Play of Jays”, watercolour by Lance Weisser, 8″ x 30″, 140 lb. Saunders Waterford Hot Press Paper. Sold.
….Chickadee Miniature
April 21, 2016
This Winter along with the usual Mountain Chickadees at our feeders, we were pleased to have Black-Capped Chickadees as well. Coming from Eastern parts, they are the ones associated with childhood and so have a special place for me.
Right now we are experiencing amazingly warm temperatures–85F (30C)–and gardening is ramped up as a result. Dividing time between perennials and painting is a pleasure. As an Autumn and Winter person, I continue painting with that pallet of tones and colourations, and so ask you to cut some slack if/when I post snow scenes in April.
‘Pause That Refreshes’
5"x 7", Watercolour, Saunders Hot Press #140 paper
Cool Facts
- The Black-Capped Chickadee hides seeds and other food items to eat later. Each item is placed in a different spot and the chickadee can remember thousands of hiding places.
- Every autumn Black-capped Chickadees allow brain neurons containing old information to die, replacing them with new neurons so they can adapt to changes in their social flocks and environment even with their tiny brains.
- Chickadee calls are complex and language-like, communicating information on identity and recognition of other flocks as well as predator alarms and contact calls. The more dee notes in a chickadee-dee-deecall, the higher the threat level.
- Winter flocks with chickadees serving as the nucleus contain mated chickadee pairs and nonbreeders, but generally not the offspring of the adult pairs within that flock. Other species that associate with chickadee flocks include nuthatches, woodpeckers, kinglets, creepers, warblers and vireos.
- Most birds that associate with chickadee flocks respond to chickadee alarm calls, even when their own species doesn’t have a similar alarm call.
- There is a dominance hierarchy within flocks. Some birds are “winter floaters” that don’t belong to a single flock—these individuals may have a different rank within each flock they spend time in.
- Even when temperatures are far below zero, chickadees virtually always sleep in their own individual cavities. In rotten wood, they can excavate nesting and roosting holes entirely on their own.
- Because small songbirds migrating through an unfamiliar area often associate with chickadee flocks, watching and listening for chickadee flocks during spring and fall can often alert birders to the presence of interesting migrants.
- The oldest known wild Black-capped Chickadee was at least 11 years, 6 months old when it was recaptured and re-released during banding operations in Minnesota.
source: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-capped_Chickadee/lifehistory
…..Keeping Watch
April 7, 2016
Our little Gallery in the small city of Kamloops, B. C.’s historic Courthouse (1911) has a Featured Artist offering every month and May will be my month to put on a display of recent miniatures. So now it is a matter of working towards having a good showing.
“Keeping Watch”
watercolour on Saunders Hot Press #140 lb paper, 4″ x 6″
I can’t quite explain why it is that depictions of Ravens sell so well, but they do. So it is a pleasure to be able to comply and feed the need, so to speak. They are indeed a very symbolic and ancient bird whose fame is heralded in many countries and cultural legends concerning them abound.
Out taking photographs of them this week, I came across a pair whose size was truly astonishing and whose throaty calls echoed off the nearby boulders and across the wide Thompson River. Once that is accomplished, it is a matter of trying to place them in a scene which has definite mood and emotional impact.
….eggciting week ahead
March 20, 2016
Painting eggs is something of a little hobby which began almost 35 years ago when the process of the dyed Ukrainian eggs was intriguing from an artistic point of view–meaning, the way/how it was done, not the desire to become overwhelmed with making intricate geometric designs. So employing the method of using beeswax to wax over those parts of an egg one wanted kept white, then dropping the egg into coloured dye, again waxing over the area which would retain that dye’s colour, and dropping it into yet a different coloured dye and repeating the process until the entire egg was covered in wax.
At this point, the wax was removed by carefully holding it over a candle flame and wiping the melted wax free with a tissue. Once the wax was removed, the egg was blown of its contents and if being used as a Christmas tree ornament, a string was affixed to the top.
Here is an example…..
Quite a number of years later, the notion of doing away with the dye/wax method in favour of actually painting on the egg’s surface was experimented with. This was successful but a huge breakthrough occurred when moving from painting chicken eggs to painting duck eggs. A duck egg’s surface is not chalky like chicken eggs, but rather satiny smooth and extremely receptive to watercolour. This was discovered while staying in The Philippines, where duck eggs were easily come by.
Painting a duck egg would be done, then the egg would be spray-lacquered so as to protect and seal the watercolour-painted surface. Once completely dry, the insides would be blown out….
……and in honour of the 6th day of Christmas….
….which brings us to today and trying to replicate a moonlit rocky mountain scene on a duck egg purchased locally ($3.50/half doz) through craigslist and meeting the man carrying his trusty picnic cooler outside the supermarket:
A very Happy and Blessed Easter to all my blogging friends!
…. mackerel sky
January 29, 2016
There is an Old English saying about weather which goes: “Mackerel scales and mare’s tails make tall ships carry low sails”. ‘Mackerel scales’ refers to Altocumulus clouds which (to some) resemble the markings on the sides of mackerel. ‘Mare’s tails’ refers to Cirrus uncinus clouds which–according to the saying–must, like mackerel scales, indicate strong winds, though the two types wouldn’t likely appear together in the same sky.
The subject is taken from a view of the British Columbia coast, beaten down by the effects of storm after storm. Having lived on Vancouver Island at one point, the weather forecast for the most northerly tip seemed to nearly always call for wind and rain which made me thankful we lived on the most southerly end. We received quite enough rain as it was. However, seldom was it ever a pelting, all-out soaking torrent–which made local people say to tourists complaining about the constant drizzle, “Yes, but it’s a dry rain.”
This was painted on treated illustration board.
…. Tranquille Creek Gorge
January 21, 2016
The watercolour video demonstrations of David Dunlop are challenging and yet simple. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lgtg-Adql1Y&index=6&list=PLtEJwQmsB7SvVg8C4J2c4LDijerH7SSKF (I tried to embed the video itself in this post, but WordPress thought otherwise). But here is the blurb describing it….”Emmy Award winning David Dunlop takes you to his Connecticut studio to demonstrate a two minute watercolor, used as preparation for an oil sketch or to explore ideas“.
Mr. Dunlop is an artist/teacher from Connecticut, whose manner when teaching is inspiring and animated. He is a great follower of descriptive, energetic Masters like J.M.W. Turner and Winslow Homer, and seeks to employ their methods, while demonstrating their techniques.
The video cited above challenges painters to do two to three minute painting sketches, which convey the movement and mood and spirit of the subject, without stopping to think and rework. In an effort to ‘do’ and not think, the subject chosen here is a favourite–a place about 20 minutes from our house–called Tranquille Creek Gorge.
Mr. Dunlop’s videos are quite dynamic and aimed more at oil painters a bit more than watercolourists, but full of very encouraging lessons because of the force of his optimistic personality and sense of fun. They are well worth watching, for those who enjoy painting as a means of expression.
….composition exercise 2
January 17, 2016
Continuing on with an attempt to test out the compositional dictum known as ‘the rule of thirds’, which was conceived and named by John Thomas Smith in 1797 :
“. . . Analogous to this “Rule of thirds”, (if I may be allowed so to call it) I have presumed to think that, in connecting or in breaking the various lines of a picture, it would likewise be a good rule to do it, in general, by a similar scheme of proportion; for example, in a design of landscape, to determine the sky at about two-thirds ; or else at about one-third, so that the material objects might occupy the other two : Again, two thirds of one element, (as of water) to one third of another element (as of land); and then both together to make but one third of the picture, of which the two other thirds should go for the sky and aerial perspectives. . . “
To illustrate its basics…..
Once again, this is the drawing I did initially, to put this into practice….
And this is the first go at painting the scene….
And now today, here is the progress so far, attempting to locate some visual interest at each of the four intersections within the piece, the barn being the first and the pine being the second and the creekbed being the third…..
The darkest darks and greatest contrast will remain with the barn, for that is the intended focus for the picture, when completed.
The ‘rule of thirds’, as stated above, holds that generally two-thirds of a landscape be devoted to the sky, with one-third given to the land below (the sky being such a vast and dominant feature). In this case two-thirds is dedicated to the land and a very high horizon means that the one third is devoted to the sky area.
….snow
November 25, 2015
We received about 12cm overnight and now everything’s white, with temperatures starting to drop to around -10C (16F) under strong winds.
The birds are in the branches of the large Red Maple just beyond our big front window–at the four hanging feeders and suet cakes. We get mostly goldfinches and house finches, chickadees, juncos, nuthatches, flickers, clark’s nutcrackers, pine siskins, ring-necked doves, occasional pileated and downy woodpeckers, grosbeaks, stellar’s jays, magpies, ravens, white-crowned sparrows, and when it gets really cold the sweetly-blushing redpolls come down from the Arctic (but not likely until January or so).
Occasionally we see a Northern Pygmy Owl which swoops in on the dining lot, lighting on a branch like a handful of fluff with alarming eyes and causes the rest to take off like an explosion. They are one of a few daylight-hunting owls, and for two or three days following, the feeders remain untouched, the memory of that fist-sized, feathered-danger keeping everyone away.
In honour of the occasion — the advent of real Winter — a wintry watercolour, not unlike what the countryside looks like presently. The subject no doubt wishes the wind were less than it is….
….but imagine the pleasures of fireplace and toddies once he gets back.
It’s an old painting–6 years–and approximately 8″ x 10″ on my favoured Arches Aquarelle Hot Press 140# paper. It took approximately 30 years to finally discover the right paper, having gone through all the choices of surface, weight, paper-maker (brand), and so on. Were it to be done again, the figure would be altered some, as there’s something anatomically odd about it.
….a little nuts
November 20, 2015
Quite some months ago I asked Jackie of ‘Lost In Thought Photos’ (https://lostinthotphotos.wordpress.com/) for permission to do a miniature based on her wonderful photograph of a little tree squirrel.
Jackie very kindly agreed and emailed me back a very fine image of what –based on its colouration– appears to be a Fox Squirrel, which, even the most hardened rodent defamer would have to be a little nuts not to admit is cute.
Here’s how they are described in Wikipedia: “. . . Fox squirrels are strictly diurnal, non-territorial, and spend more of their time on the ground than most other tree squirrels. They are still, however, agile climbers. They construct two types of homes called ‘dreys’, depending on the season. Summer dreys are often little more than platforms of sticks high in the branches of trees, while winter dens are usually hollowed out of tree trunks by a succession of occupants over as many as 30 years. Cohabitation of these dens is not uncommon, particularly among breeding pairs. . . ”
Besides their cuteness, it is charming that they are non-territorial, and have been known to share their homes. That is certainly not true for a great many squirrels, who seem to busy themselves hurling insults and chasing rivals all day long.
Hunting for frames is fun, losing myself in one or some of our ten or so 2nd hand stores, and recently resulted in this very nice (likely faux) leather 5″ x 7″ one for $.75. It allows this little painting to sell for $35.
Our little Gallery keeps 20% commission. So many thanks to Jackie at https://lostinthotphotos.wordpress.com/ !
blue moon
July 4, 2015
Because watercolour basically amounts to taking white paper and staining it with various colours by way of a brush and water-activated pigments, the possibility of texture using a buildup of paint, gesso, gel medium and other ‘helps’ available to painters in acrylic and oil just isn’t there. IOW, in classic watercolour technique the word ‘impasto’ doesn’t exist.
Some painters get around this disadvantage by way of collage, and apply watercolour to glued on tissue and similar textural material…..
“Forest Forager”, watercolour and collage by Shari Hills, source: httpwww.drawntothevalley.co.ukartistsdetailshari-hills
Here, the painter, Sheri (Colours by Sheri), used ‘delicate papers’ as a glued foundation to provide textures which then received watercolour paint to complete the effect. On her site she describes how she also has used organic leaf material at times.
“Winter’s Chill”, watercolour collage, Colours by Sheri, source: httpwww.coloursbysheri.comcurrent-series.html#sthash.aUBXtd8f.dpuf
If this method is used, painters are required to identify their medium as ‘collage’, or ‘watercolour collage’ if entering the piece in an exhibition or juried show. Such work falls outside the accepted boundaries of what constitutes a ‘watercolour’.
In order to remain within the rather strict boundaries painters cannot have more than one third be of another medium or it then becomes a ‘mixed media’ work or ‘collage’ or ‘gauche’. Gauche is watercolour which uses white tempera paint, and thus is opaque, not transparent. Of course, that is perfectly well and good. Every painter does as (s)he is led to do.
‘Moonrise’, watercolour on art board, 19cm x 24cm, (7.5″ x 9.5″)
Personally, like writers who enjoy the challenge of staying within the bounds of iambic pentameter and composing 14 line sonnets, being ‘confined’ to the rather strict parameters of traditional watercolour is rewarding. These protocols include reserving paper to serve as white in a painting (such as the moon in the above example) — and the white of the paper is what brings life to the pigments laid over it. And it means having to discover ways of creating texture which, in the end, remains just an illusion.
twilight time
June 26, 2015
DUSK HAS ALWAYS BEEN a magical time for photographers and painters alike. Exemplifying this is John Singer Sargents’ famous work, ‘Carnation, Lily, Lily Rose’ . . .
He would work on the piece by running outside every evening at that magical time to take in the effects the setting sun created in his garden, and add more detail to this wonderful painting–and did this over an entire year, between 1885 and 1886.
It borders on fatuous to have a Singer Sargent and something of mine on the same page, so please refrain from making a comparison. Rather, note along with me that regardless of who is photographing, painting in oils, watercolour, or pastel, trying to gain an understanding of the effects of the setting sun continues to be a worthy and challenging pursuit, no matter which century we happen to find ourselves living in.
“Winter Sun”, watercolour, 20cm x 30.5cm (8″ x 10″), art board, unsold
heatwave relief
June 24, 2015
IT IS BARELY PAST the first day of Summer and temperatures here in Southern British Columbia, Canada, are scheduled to climb to 40C (104F) and stay there. It is feared the heat and drought affecting California is heading North, Along with such heat, thunderstorm probabilities rise, and they become fire starters. By August there’ll be what weather reports term ‘local smoke’–a haze hanging over everything–accompanied by the sound of helicopters and planes working to douse flames in affected regions close by.
My favourite month is November. It is both an exciting and contemplative month–exciting because any day, any moment I might step out to feel those fortifying winds suddenly becoming the first snow squall. Contemplative, because the fog rising from the closeby Thompson River mixes with wood stove breathings and the last of the leathery oak leaves falling to join the others, invites thoughts on things ethereal and eternal.
“Logging along Jamieson Creek Road”, watercolour, 20cm x 25cm, (8″ x 10″) Arches Hot Press 140 lb Paper, unsold
As a child, there was nothing more beautiful than what I called ‘purple snow’–that snow which signalled to us that we’d best take only one more turn sledding down Dead Man’s Hill (many years prior, legend had it, a man went down its twists and turns standing on his sled and smacked into a maple–back in the old days, when men apparently went sledding). Purple snow meant dinner. Purple snow meant finally discovering just how cold our digits actually were– thawing under a running cold faucet–pins and needles hot pink cold.
And even now, there is nothing to me more beautiful than purple snow. On this 40C second day of Summer, all I can say is, Lord get us through to November.
mountain pine
June 20, 2015
In January 2011, a Pacific ponderosa pine in the Rogue River–Siskiyou National Forest in Oregon was measured with a laser to be 268.35 ft (81.79 m) high. This is now the tallest known pine. The previous tallest known pine was a sugar pine.
Ponderosa Pine photo by Jason Sturner
The needles are harvested by First Nations and other local artisans, then washed and woven into Ponderosa Pine needle baskets . . .
(photos: PineGardenBaskets, Etsy)
The mountain pine beetle is just over six millimetres long (about the size of a grain of rice). But the tiny forest insect has infested huge areas of mature pine around the interior of British Columbia, causing colossal amounts of damage on B.C. forests.
The beetle likes mature pine and mild weather. Because B.C. has more old pine than ever before, and has had several consecutive mild winters, mountain pine beetle populations have exploded to epidemic levels. (source + photo: Government of British Columbia)
Here in Kamloops, B. C., even pines growing in people’s yards get ravaged–as much as in our great forests. It is a helpless feeling, yet more and more innovative products are being developed from pine beetle timber.
Below is the Richmond, B. C., Olympic Skating Oval, totally made from pine beetle-killed timber. The wood has retained all the pine beetle bores and markings, and has been acclaimed as a ‘truly majestic work of art and design’.
photo: Architectural Review
‘Mountain Pine’, (study), watercolour, 15cm x 36cm, 6″ x 14″, Arches Hot Press 140 lb. Paper, unsold
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