Poppies

I love poppies. The fields back home where full of them in the summer, but here in the cement jungle there aren't any of course. On the way to Compostela there were many too, especially in the first part of the pilgrimage before reaching Burgos. These ones are from a photo found on the net:

Eagle

I found the photo of the bird in a magazine. I forgot to coat the nun with absorbent ground and the paint and pen did not stick to the page.

Feather

This is a page in the ROD journal. I love this journal, but it is not the best format for painting. MaryAnn does not paint in hers either...Anyway, the inspiration came from a photo on Alisa's blog.

New home

I have been busy looking for a new home closer to the city. I moved to the 'burbs 12 years ago only to realize that they are great places for families, not for me. I want to have easier access to services and activities without having to drive. Gas prices are taking all the fun out of driving anyway, not to mention traffic jams, crazy drivers and the famous potholes... The house I found is smaller, but it is close to a big park, bike path, metro, busses, and only 7 km from the Old Port. I can wak all the way there in the summer, have an ice cream and come back.

Now I have to sell my condo, which means I have to clean all the time and keep the artsy mess to the bare minimum. Not that I have that much time left to make stuff... Some of the found objects I collected for my journals ended up in the garbage when I cleaned up after the renovations. Older (and very ugly) journals had the same fate. This purging process will continue until I move and not only because I will have less space to store stuff, but also because I have to accept that I do not have the time to keep up with all the projects I'd like to do. For the next little while, I will concentrate on abstact painting ...at least that's the plan.

Failed experiment

A while back, I decided to try an experiment in altering papers. People do this by burying the papers for few months underground. I live in a condo, so that was not an option. I decided instead to leave the papers on the balcony over the winter. Same thing, right? Snow, rain, sun ... Wrong! I forgot to consider Canada's second national animal: the squirrel. My papers became a squirre nest... Imagine my surprise when the snow meted and I found my precious bag torn to shreads. I shoud have known. When I had a house, squirrels ate all my tulip bulbs. So there is goes - another failed experiment...

Trying ...

... to get back on track here, but it is hard. I am caught up in other things at the moment and I don't have the energy to make anything anymore. I do still putter around in my online classes with Julie, but I do not have anything finished. I tried my hand at a bigger abstract painting, but so far it is a total failure and I cannot seem to find a way to fix it. I am also trying to get a hang of composing abstract art and I must say that it is harder than I thought. I always assumed that abstract is easier, after all, one can just put stuff on a canvass in a more or less haphazard manner, call it something and voila ...That was until I got my feet wet and realized that there is more to it than meets the eye. But I keep trying...