Paint Party Friday - Week 35 - I've looked at clouds....

from both sides now...
From up and down, and still somehow,
It's cloud illusions I recall,
I really don't know clouds, at all.
(Joni Mitchell)

I've been thinking about clouds. And painting skies. Some of you PPFers paint the most amazing skies! I think this is a skill I want to learn. So here is my attempt at painting clouds...doesn't make for a very exciting journal page/painting but it takes practice, right? I tried these in my Walking in my World journal, using watercolours and some acrylic white paint for the clouds.

Clear sky with a few clouds (poor scan...)

Unusual cloud in Orlando (which always seems to have the most amazing clouds...)

Do you have any tricks for painting clouds? Want to share your secrets? 

Have a great time at Paint Party Friday!

Autumn at Creative Tuesdays

At Mr. Toast's Creative Tuesday, the theme this week is Autumn. Walking on a cool Autumn day, I thought the best image for me was a single beautiful fallen leaf. The colour and variegation in this one fascinated me and I thought it would be perfect for the theme and to do in my Walking in my World journal.

It's been a while since I've been able to play along on Creative Tuesdays and today is another busy work day. I look forward to visiting you all when I have chance but it may be later rather than earlier... See you soon!

Paint Party Friday - Week 32 - More "Walking in my World" Sketchbook

Thank you all SO much for the lovely healing comments last week - you brought tears to my eyes! THANK YOU! I am now more my normal self - back to work AND (more importantly?) back to painting! (At least in my Walking in my World sketchbook.)

A few months ago I made ( and then painted in my sketchbook) an inukshuk that I made off Bate Island in the middle of the Ottawa River. I set a little goal for myself to take photos in all seasons from the same spot and this little island is perfect. It has parking and great scenic views! I went down to the water to see if my inukshuk still stood. No. While it was gone there were numerous others - some much more elaborate so I photographed many and so far have tried to paint one for you (and my sketchbook)...

This inukshuk looks almost like he's surfing!

Last week Sophia was showing and telling us about a beaver who was staring her in the eye, no beavers for me this visit - just a big bold black squirrel at eye height on a tree!

What's up?

Here are more photos of inukshuks from the river - don't be surprised if you see more painted versions here at some point! Have a great time at Paint Party Friday!!

Closest to shore...

Six here!

Quite a balancing act!

Great backdrop for this one...

Non-traditional...

An inukshuk family!

Another six!

How did the builder get out there without getting his/her shoes soaked? Wow!

And last - the one that started them all! My simple inukshuk from the summer when it stood alone. Now long gone or re-used...

Hope you enjoy walking in your world.

Hugs!

EVA

Paint Party Friday - Week 30 - Autumn Leaves

I missed you all you PPF partyers last week! (Though I did have a great time at my conference.) Do you ever find that after you are away for some reason, that it is especially hard to get back to painting and creating? I sure do! I almost thought I'd miss two weeks in a row...

On a quick walk though I found some pretty leaves and thought I'd paint them in my Walking in my World sketchbook. Great colours here at the moment! 

I painted this vertically but...

I might prefer it horizontally. What do you think? 

And should I add some pen work to the watercolour, I wonder?

I'm hoping to get more work done on my starfish and would love to have it done by next week - it's Thanksgiving (long) weekend here in Canada so there is a chance (if all the chores don't overwhelm me).

I look forward to visiting everyone and seeing all your painting efforts. I've missed you!

Paint Party Friday - Week 26 Who lives here? WimW Journal

I'm back from Victoria, leaving my daughter behind to start 2nd year university. (Sob - bittersweet.) Where do the years go? While we were there I didn't have much time to paint, so this week I thought I'd show you another page from my Walking in my World journal. 

This year I have seen 2 fascinating hollow trees on my walks - still alive and prospering. This is one...

Who lives here?

I wonder. It looks like it would make some fairies a great home! Do chipmunks reside within? Or maybe this is the tree that Alice fell into?  So magical to see such a hollow tree.

Hope you all have a great time at Paint Party Friday. I will try to be more timely visiting this week (though I am writing a paper so I may be focused on that... then again, I may need distractions because of that...)

Paint Party Friday - Week 24 - Walking in my World

Happy Paint Party Friday! The summer is almost over here and back to school season is fast approaching. Next weekend I will be away, taking my daughter back to university in Victoria, B.C. Not sure if I will have a post then or if I will have to sit out my first PPF. We'll see. 

This week I'd like to show you a few more pages in my "Walking in my World" journal where I am trying to capture sights I have seen while out for a stroll. Last week was based on the rocky river bed and this week, the sandy beach!

Shadows in the Sand

Tracks in the Sand

Beach Bonfire

I hope you have a great last week of August and a fun time at PPF! I look forward to seeing your paintings!

Paint Party Friday - Week 23 - Walking in and Rocking my World

Thank you all for your wonderful comments last week on my heart shaped rocks! I think it is so cool that so many of us enjoy beach-combing and especially finding interesting rocks! Fabulous!! And even funnier some of the places you find heart shapes in nature or as "gifts' from pets! Great comments! LOL

On our road trip last weekend, I took my paints, waterbrushes and some photos that I have taken on some of my summer walks with me. I started sketching and painting in the car (as a passenger!) and am now almost halfway through my 30  page "Walking in my World" journal. 

Here are a few more on the rock theme:

Another heart shaped rock (@ 12 inches across) in the river - too big to bring home!

One of my silly/fun goals this summer was to build an inuksuk in the river, using river rocks... and I did! Such different rocks were there and the top one was of a much darker kind than most.

Hope you have a great weekend and a wonderful time visiting all the Paint Party Friday participants!

Paint Party Friday - Week 22 -Artist's Way Journal page and Frame within a Frame

Not the most productive painting week, I'm afraid! Oh, well. At least I have one thing to show for PPF!

I love finding heart shaped rocks! Two!

Over the summer I have slowly been working through The Artist's Way and I am now on Chapter 6 where one of the exercises is to go rock hunting and find 5 (ish) stones that you like. (I'd started ahead of Paula and Ileana et al and haven't really been talking about it much here so far.)  While I am having a bit of a love/hate relationship with this book, I am still working through it with a friend. I finally figured out where in town I might possibly find some nice rocks and went on an Artist's Date looking for some to take home. And I thought it would be fun to paint them too! (Not part of the exercise.) It's always a thrill when I find heart shaped rocks. 

And speaking of heart shaped rocks.... I noticed that Kat at Kat Eye View, for her Exploring with a Camera series this week, has the theme of a Frame within a Frame. It made me think of this photo I took in Mexico through rough coral. 

A few minutes later I found a big heart shaped piece of coral just as a bride and groom were walking by! So I gave it to their parents (the bride and groom had gone on already) to give to them.

I'm away this weekend so I probably won't be visiting until after Tuesday but I will try to visit you all then! Have a wonderful weekend and a great Paint Party Friday!!

(P.S. My ICADs this week are mostly zen doodles and aren't painted - I'll post them when I have more free time.)

Paint Party Friday - Week 17 - More Sketchbook and ICAD

A beautiful summer week (yay!) and I did get little bits of painting done. Still no canvases but more index cards for my ICAD project and a journal page for my Walking in my World Journal.

My favourite this week - the night's sky...

Remembering sunsets on water...

A fanciful night moth...

Some of my yellow begonias (poor scan).

Thinking about Carola's Owls.

Just playing with watercolours...

In my journal, I tried to capture a squirrel that was as fascinated by us as we were by him!

Ruth (my daughter) wanted to try her hand too - at drawing only NOT painting she said... and hers is so cute!

Squirrel by Ruth

I hope I will get the acryllics and the canvas out if only for a small one this weekend. I seem to get distracted every time I try!

Hope you have a great time at the party and I look forward to dropping by for a chat and to see your painting (and/or your ICADs)!

Paint Party Friday - Week 15 - Sketchbook and ICAD

This week I had hoped to paint on a canvas but alas, no progress. I did paint in my "Walking in my World" sketchbook/art journal and on some index cards for my ICAD project. It has been a busy week for many reasons but at least I played with paints a bit before it got out of control! 

Index Cards:

Inspired by my Daisies...

By my Pink Daisies...

Looking up through my grape vines at the blue, blue sky...

And some of my sketchbook/art journal pages (pre-writing...)

A groundhog enjoying the lovely day

Fallen Feather

Did you have a productive and fun week? I hope so! I have guests visiting until Saturday so it may take me awhile to visit everyone - but I will eventually! Until then, have a very happy Paint Party Friday! 

Sunday Sketches - The Canada Geese go for a Stroll

I have finally started my new sketchbook/journal "Walking in my World" based on things I see when out for a walk and loosely inspired by Julia Cameron's Walking in this World: The Practical Art of Creativity. I haven't really started the exercises in this book and guess I won't for awhile as a friend wants me to do The Artist's Way with her, so that will come first. In the meantime though I will go with my interpretation of the title and sketch things I see when walking.

This week I had a lovely walk around a small island in the middle of the river. Lots of ideas for further pages! To start off, here is a Mother (Canada) Goose and her chicks walking in their world... for Sunday Sketches with Sophia at Blue Chair Diary.

watercoloured

original sketch

new sketchbook/journal cover

Hope you have a great Sunday! I look forward to visiting you!