Schoolhouse Dreams
January 21, 2012
My mother taught one room school in Rosetown, Saskatchewan, in the ’30s. There was such an age difference between herself and her sister that my Aunt ended up being her student. When my mother had no choice but to keep her after school for talking back, that was the beginning of a lifelong distance between them. They got along–don’t get me wrong–but they weren’t ever the best of friends.
The notion of a one room school has always been appealing to me, personally. I would have bloomed in such a setting, and benefited from having both older and younger learning their lessons in the same room at the same time–(though probably not if the teacher had been my mother).
This painting, entitled ‘Schoolhouse Memories’ is based on a dream I had not long ago, of heading towards a building like this, in a setting like this, on a warm day at dawn, yet never reaching the front door.
It was in the Federation of Canadian Artists’ Open Show in April of 2010.
Paint-off Challenge
January 20, 2012
A few years back I belonged to The Artists’ Studio, and the twenty of us each submitted a favourite photo which we thought would make for a good painting. Those twenty photos were then subjected to a voting process whereby a single photo would end up becoming the subject which all twenty of us would base a painting on.
So–one photo–twenty artists–twenty different paintings based on the same photo. And the winning photo was taken by a Member of The Artists’ Studio of The Icicle River in Levenworth, Washington, U. S. A.
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studio challenge poster
And here then, is both the photo and my treatment of it . . . (but I addded a couple of hikers and a little dog just for interest) . . .
- photo and framed watercolour
Third Beach
January 19, 2012
Ten percent larger than New York’s Central Park, is Vancouver’s Stanley Park–1001 acres of enormous cedars, Totems, hidden pathways, creeks, ponds, ocean views, as well an amphitheatre and The Vancouver Aquarium. It was named after Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada in 1888 (and also the person who donated the famous Stanley Cup for the emerging hockey teams of the day to compete for). Lord Stanley became the first Governor General to visit British Columbia when the Park was being dedicated.
This painting was done on location within the Park while sitting on one of the many available sand-encased logs. The spot is known simply as Third Beach, and looks out towards a very distant (not always visible–and not in this painting) Vancouver Island.
'Third Beach, Vancouver'
It took most of the day, and while there a baby seal washed up on shore. Being tied down to all my spread-out gear, I called out to those closest. Mobile phones weren’t as prevalent then as now, and it took the gathering crowd quite a while before attendants from The Vancouver Aquarium came to rescue the little guy. They have an adoption program which results in a release later on after the animals have matured.
Great Nephew II
January 17, 2012
About the scariest thing in my younger days was our basement, which featured a gigantic coal-fed furnace complete with horrifying facial qualities. The grill was its mouth, and I went down there only to fling my soggy snowsuit over one of its tentacle arms in order to then put on a freshly-dried suit. Once done, I’d try not to peek at the flames licking at the hideous mouth as I raced back out into the snowball fight du jour.
Tied for second in the scary department was the black-and-white-filmed 1951 classic “A Christmas Carol” starring Alistair Sim, (whose facial qualities were probably borrowed by the designer of the furnace grill). It was back then a relatively new movie and always gave me recurring nightmares.
I happened to be taking a few snapshots when the older of my two Great Nephews was watching that very same 1951 “A Christmas Carol’ in 2006. Up till then he wasn’t allowed to see it (which restriction I wish my own parents had imposed on me), so this was his very first glimpse at Jacob Marley screaming his way through Scrooge’s bed chamber walls.
'Marley's Ghost Makes an Appearance'
His Aunt and Uncle are obviously ‘Christmas Carol’ vets, regarding the shrieking spirit as ‘just an undigested bit of beef’.
This painting was juried into one of The Federation of Canadian Artists’ Open Shows a couple of years ago. The words ‘Open Show’ indicates that the show is open to all qualifying artists across Canada.
Great Nephew
January 16, 2012
One of my great nephews, at three years old, was particularly creative. You didn’t want to be assuming anything past 5:00 a.m., when a peaceful house usually meant he was in the scrap-booking room or the pantry; and there were things going on involving lipstick and cats, or crayons and clothes dryers. This particular watercolour was done on Arches 140 lb Hot Press paper. It is intentionally given a light treatment because the day was such that the sun was near to dazzlingly intense.
Here’s a random moment between takes when he’s on the loose at his brother’s birthday party. His sapphire eyes are looking around at what might next need destroying before it’s even been unwrapped.
He’s one of the most delightful children I’ve ever known–but I was very happy to have been only the Great Uncle (and not the parent) when he was three.
"After the Cake"
North American Robin (Turdus migratorius)
January 15, 2012
Pushing my cart into the supermarket yesterday I almost ran someone over. I’d jerked my head around to make sure I was seeing correctly–there in the middle of the aisle was a big fat display of this year’s new vegetable and flower seeds!
I mean to tell you, it is -10C, and snowing out there right now like it’s just going to keep on all night, and they want me to start planting seeds?
So okay–in the spirit of all that, raise your glass. Here’s to a touch of Spring . . .
"Juvenile North American Robin"
Bulacan Backyard
January 12, 2012
In 2003 I visited The Philippines after meeting the person online who would turn out to be my partner and husband. This part of the country is just outside Manila in the Province of Bulacan (the word ‘bulak’ means cotton, which there was quite a bit of when King Philip of Spain took over the islands in the 16th century). The little barangay (community) of San Jose is part of the larger municipality called Plaridel.
In the yard of the family I was staying with in San Jose were all kinds of trees and plants. This was to be the first of three visits I made over three years until I brought my partner to Canada in 2007. He is now an LPN in a geriatric facility here in Kamloops, and a Canadian citizen, and has come to love our -20C winters and +40C summers. We were married by my Pastor sister in 2008 in Clearwater, B. C., at a beautiful resort there.
This painting was done while sitting on the porch, and reminds me of that first, personally-momentous visit over eight years ago . . .
'Bulacan Backyard'
Miniature Watercolours
January 4, 2012
I usually spend my painting days alternating between very large watercolours and tiny, intimate pieces. The miniatures sell exceedingly well, for after all, even if collectors truly can’t fit yet another painting on their walls, there’s always room for a wee one on a table, desk or mantle.
It’s birds which often become my subject of choice because many species are small and lend themselves well to the petite oval frame, or tastefully-tiny square. It’s such a joy depicting the finches and juncos I glimpse just beyond our living room window, attacking the feeders, nudging each other aside in order to get at the goodies.
"a gathering of miniatures"
Here’s a close-up of a landscape based on our British Columbian, mountain-surrounded Interior:
'A 1" x 2" Kamloops Alpine View'
A bit of New York
January 4, 2012
I was raised in Rochester, New York, and then later on the New York / Vermont border. At some point we had occasion to visit the town of Saranac Lake, New York, which hosted the 1980 Winter Olympics and much earlier in its history was one of North America’s best known tuberculosis sanatorium locales. Patients went there to receive plenty of sunshine and fresh air.
Kamloops, British Columbia, my present home, was also chosen as a prime location for a TB sanatorium and it was located just outside the city limits at Tranquille, B. C., beside Kamloops Lake. The air here is dry, without even a hint of humidity in the Summer and bracingly-cold in the Winter.
I loved staying in Saranac Lake that one week in January. The lake itself was completely frozen over, with a fresh layer of snow and a blindingly-bright sun.
'A Frosty Saranac Lake, Saranac Lake, New York, c1989'
One Room School
January 3, 2012
Not far from Kamloops is the lovely rural town of Pritchard. On Duck Range Road was an old one room schoolhouse that was ‘adopted’ by a local farmer who had attended it as a boy and hoped some community-minded group would see to its preservation and restoration.
Unfortunately, that never happened and in the summer of 2011, it was finally knocked down. Although this painting takes some liberties over the school’s original setting, the rendering of the building itself is true to the way it looked. It was hung in The Federation of Canadian Artist’s Open Show in The Old Kamloops Courthouse, and was a favourite in a fund-raising draw for The Federation.
"One Room School, Duck Range Road, Pritchard, B. C."
Fort House
January 3, 2012
Kamloops (a native word meaning ‘the joining of two rivers’) has evolved from an c1812 outpost of The Hudson’s Bay Company and an early Railroad and Gold Rush centre into the largest city in the Thompson-Nicola Region of British Columbia’s Interior.
One of our most distinctive houses situated near the North Thompson River, was built in 1907 for a farmer, Archie Davis, who had purchased land originally belonging to Fort Kamloops. It sits at the corner of Fortune Drive and Fort Avenue, and is simply referred to as ‘Fort House’. No longer in the Davis family, its acreage has been reduced to a lot-sized yard, and its classic box design has been altered so that now it is a rooming house with various entries and stairs added.
Wanting to depict it as it once was, this painting imagines a moonlit night with one lone window indicating activity, perhaps Archie Davis preparing to get up–pre-dawn–to attend to his animals and daily chores. It was purchased almost as soon as it was displayed, by a young couple who have a fondness for this familiar Kamloops landmark.
"Up Late"
weisserwatercolours 