Friday, June 20, 2014

Insect Studies


 or
"Tis the Season... and I Don't Mean Christmas!'

Cicada

Termite
Butterfly
Beetle
Phylum, Class, Order
Mosquito
Mayfly
Earwig
Caddisfly
Bumble Bee
Bug
House Fly
Flea
Hessian Fly
Grasshopper
Midge
Deer Fly
Fire Fly
Wasp Ant Bee
Dragon Fly
Stone Fly

Black Fly
Damsel Fly
Dobson Fly

I find Insects exceedingly interesting... especially in terms of drawing.. the good, the bad and the ugly.
...their structures, wings, antennae, eyes, legs, every part of them... pretty amazing...  so many tiny distinct parts.... like little patterns.....so much variety...

I mean, imagine if there were this many varieties of Human Beings.... Just Imagine... 
 but NO, there's only One of us.. all the same under the skin....  
when you think of it that way there is probably much more chance of survival for insects than for us human beings, as one deadly virus could wipe all of us out because we are only one species.

Insects have a definite advantage in the long run.
.. but till then, the birds, frogs and snakes can eat all the bad ones they want.

approx. 9" x 12", pen, ink, wash, brush in my sketchbook.
Gwen Buchanan, Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, New Brunswick, Canada

Thursday, June 12, 2014

One of a Kind and Very Limited Designs at Desideratum Art Jewelry


While looking through my jewelry storage drawers the other day, I sorted out a few designs from our  very Limited Art Jewelry collection to post here.
They were fun to do,  experimental and cool, and are not in our catalog... so no gets to see them...
 and where's the fun in that! ... so here they are.






If interested, would like a better close-up of a particular design or would like more information ... Contact me here or call... my contact info is on the right hand sidebar.
Hand made by John and me, from Sterling Silver and Copper
 at Desideratum Art Jewelry, New Brunswick, Canada

Friday, June 06, 2014

June - the Old Homestead Project





Feels good with everything greened up and the leaves bursting forth.
The apple tree has come out in full blossom.. looks so beautiful... bees were buzzing all around it.
When we walked around the property we discovered 2 more Apple trees not in bloom yet, an old Honeysuckle bush, Rhubarb, Lilacs, Chokecherries, Viburnum  and Wild Grape vines growing everywhere.

 The dogs came this time... they had to be shown their boundaries... they smelled the scent of squirrels and deer.... so we had to keep an eye on them.  There was an extreme amount of sniffing  and territory marking to do.
...although Toby did manage to head after and scare off a small herd of 6 or 7 deer grazing at our property border.


...and I found these old mason jars, 2 Safety Seal and 1 Ball wide mouth, embossed Made in Canada with wire and glass tops, back in the woods where they seemed to have dumped everything way back when.  I love exploring those places. You can see when things changed through time by what they threw out... "Out with the Old, In with the New"...now when we look back much of the old was better than the new.


 This tumble down shed has seen much better days and will have to go eventually.... actually it is sort of like a movie set because only this front wall and enough of a side wall is still standing to enable it to still stay upright at all.
...too bad cause it had been a cute little building in its time...that thick cluster of Virginia Creeper vines are just beginning to show their buds.



Everything good takes time, right.


Sunday, May 25, 2014

Inspired by William Morris











Nature based intertwining vines... I like how William Morris could take a few colours, 
and many times only one colour, black ink on white paper and create beautiful flowing patterns.
His influence can still be seen used as surface design on fabrics, wallpaper, books and much more.

approx. 8 1/2" x 11",  in my sketchbook, on heavy watercolor paper, using India ink, pen and brush.

Practicing at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

Sunday, May 11, 2014

Happiness

That is a happy dog if I ever did see one... smiling and kicking her feet up in the air.
.....................now what is that she is rolling in?

 and now a second happy dog rolling in the very same spot... 
guess that means that these 2 happy dogs will be sleeping in the garage tonight.

 I love it when the daffodils bloom.. it makes the garden look happy too.
I know it makes my spirits rise.

 After the dogs had satisfied themselves with their rolling we saw a flutter go by our heads up into  the trees. I searched the trees till I saw this little bird making herself very busy.

 As I watched I realized she/he was cleaning out a hole that a woodpecker had pecked in it.
She would peck away with her head in the little round opening and throw little slivers or splintered  pieces of wood out into the breeze.

 This is the first time I have ever seen this and I couldn't believe I actually was able to get some pictures of it.
I wonder if she is making a house or just searching for some insects that may have wintered there.

I love how Nuthatches face down the tree. So cute.
 She kept at her work without bothering with us at all. 

 She must have felt safe or maybe just very preoccupied...
 she is near the top part of this old dead birch.

 ... which is the tree in the center of this little grove. 
 It is always good to leave a few dead trees around for the wildlife. When Birch trees are young and growing they act as nurse trees for other seedlings and when they die they provide life for woodland creatures... it is good not to groom your surroundings too much.

 This Rhubarb pic was taken a week ago... it was big enough to pick some today... so I did.
 Spring tonic.
 Some daylilies that are naturalizing to a patch over by the old garden.

The  Mountain Ash buds are still swelling, but not leafed out yet.

 This young Spruce is still leaning over as a result of the Ice Storm at Christmas.  
I'll keep an eye on it to see if it stands up straight again.

 We always like to take a wander through this path  where the tree branches hang over head sort of like a tunnel.

 I was trying to photograph two Vultures that were playing on the sea currents but the sun got in my eyes...
 and I just got clouds.
 The Vultures would spiral round and round going ever higher and higher. They were so cool to watch... 
but I don't see them in this picture.

 I pruned the little Daphne bush a year and a half ago and it still looks a bit scraggly,
 but it is blooming more that it had been and the fragrance is out of this world.
 Of course I always have to linger over the finds from the seashore.  They make me happy...
better than rolling in the field.
 I see foliage from a few Violets, Forget me nots and and Cornflowers peeking out.
... and some of Toby's dog hair..
 After I trim his hair, I always toss it in the flower beds for the birds or even to supplement the soil. 

More new growth.
 Here is a little Lovage sneaking up in a new place near the patio door.

 ... the cheerleaders.

 The Lady's Mantle is spreading out..
 no chartreuse flowers yet but it is beginning to collect water droplets. I love when it does that.

 Looks like my garden is growing dogs too.  I swear she loves getting her picture taken.

 ...and more cheerleaders.

Hens and Chicks are such hardy little plants.. I really don't know how they survive.
... they are barely in any soil. They seem to flourish in just the pea gravel.

and last but by far not least even though he is the smallest, was the first Hummingbird to my garden just today. 
He has taken up his post.

******
A Friend Blogger Janice  from across the ocean, just sent me this really fun and very Happy Dogs video...
You have gotta watch it... it will make you happy for sure!!



Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick