Natural Beauty from St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy

... as seen from our windows up on the bluff,  

..  ever changing... ever awe inspiring...

there in the wide open sky and that amazing body of water...

Believe me when I say......   It takes my breath away...

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The Library

Early one morning

this past week

the sun shone in just right.

Ode To Crow

... My   Most   Favourite  of   BIRDS...

...may you live very, very, very long.

...this is a 4" x 6"  picture of a card  I made  and sent to a special friend... 

pen, ink and watercolor...

Just for fun, here are some of my past Art Crows... all clickable...

Crow 1

The Beloved Scavenger

The Calling Crow

The Watchful Crow

The Crow and the Water Jar

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The Girl From The Fog

completed about a month ago... lots of planning before that though... 

preparing the structure for the painting

Measures 8' x 10 '...  

Yes she's a big girl... 

 

John on his mission

 

 ...another little, side-line paint job.. 

These are the little wooden curves we built to go over the top of each window in the front doors...

...to give a lovely arched window effect...
...we used a few pieces of beautiful reclaimed 1/2 round moldings....

A Ball of Yarn and Knitting Needles

Recently I received an email from a customer who had been to the Bay of Fundy
and taken some of our work back with her to the States...
... she wanted to know if I made any earrings with a "Ball of Yarn and Knitting Needles"...
at first I hesitated... I hadn't done any like that....
a challenge ..
well, I could try.... why not...  may be fun...
Worth a try anyway... 

...after some experimenting...  and lots of bent and twisted wire....
I began to think of how I could do them...

These are some I came up with.. 

above... a antiqued copper ball with some little needles inserted through the ball..

... and a separate ball of yarn with two hammered, textured and antiqued longer knitting needles....

...a little dangly and made a nice little clink when you moved... sounded pretty.

She also wanted a pair that included a "Book and a Ball of Yarn" for a friend
who does podcasts of reading for Craft Lovers..

I liked that ...
...you get to do any Art or Craft Work that strikes your fancy and she will read to you...  

Just my thing...

I loved how they turned out and she did too...  I sure would love to see them being worn.   

  ... Sterling Silver and Copper earrings 

... top photograph background is Kaffe Fassett's "Glorious Knitting" Cover. 

I once knit that sweater from my handspun sheeps wool and Angora goats mohair that I  hand-dyed..it was rows of stars in changing colors...  

most amazing sweater I ever did.... wish I still owned it.

Earth Laughs In Flowers

FLOWERS ... are coming to life...

...the dark ones have carbon from fusing, the bright ones are waiting to be fused...

FLOWERS

 All... in... little... rows...

 But in this northern clime...

 Only on my workbench... for now...

It has been a cool spring.

...still waiting ...

for my earth dwellers to burst forth their faces... 

I think of rhymes...

Mary, Mary, quite contrary,

How does your garden grow?

With silver bells and scallop shells, (Fundy, you know)

And pretty maids all in a row.

*well not quite, but the Daffodils are trying... soon, yes very soon

... about 8" tall now and  a hint of yellow can be seen through the green*

... a little water may help.

The Flower and Watering Can earrings...

One of the fruits of our labors from this past work session.

... Handmade, Copper/Sterling Silver, textured, forged, antiqued... approx. 1 ¾" from the top of the earwire to the bottom of the earring.

...click to see more of our Whimsical Collection

* background for photographs from a marvelous old yellow-paged planting guide *

 "Earth laughs in flowers"  by Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882

Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me....

 

.sketches inspired by the stop-motion photography by Eadweard Muybridge,  1830 - 1904 ..... 

... my, my the things one learns when doing a little research... as I was looking up information on Muybridge's horse photography experiments, I found this......... 

"In 1874, still living in the San Francisco Bay Area, Muybridge discovered that his wife had a lover, a Major Harry Larkyns. On 17 October, he sought out Larkyns; said, "Good evening, Major, my name is Muybridge and here is the answer to the letter you sent my wife"; he then killed the Major with a gunshot. " 

...this incident obviously interrupted his photography work.......

.....yes, I know...  I'm sketching and playing in my sketchbook and looking up things on Muybridge when I'm suppose to be working....... OK......  back to the workbench.

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Texture

The character of surfaces ...
 elements transformed by time or manipulation...

flocked and gathered, gauzy fabric discovered in the ends-bin at a favourite fabric shop... 

an aged, rough, thick, salvaged  floor plank, now cut with a scalloped edge,
 serving  its second life as
the strength giver in an east facing  window seat in a corner of an upstairs room...   

the coolness and durability of  leather surrounded by fur and fleece...

...the interrelation of these elements stimulate the senses...

their surfaces draw one to touch... to linger... to feel... with  eyes, fingers and imagination..

abstract is real...   visually tactile...  satisfying on a gut level...

 discovering, assembling and working with these mostly found materials was exciting...

and when I have a chance to sit here, it makes me feel good.... and I remember the "Process",
my favourite part of creating.


 ...my Best to you All....

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Self-Portrait Linocut by Beck

I love Black and White...   I love Faces...  and I love the strength of these lines..

This is one of my favourite artworks....  It was done by my daughter, Rebecca.  

This piece hangs where I can see it when I enter the house... 

She stares across the room towards the front door... watching all who enter.

... rather like a Guardian...

 She hangs just above the steel wood rack ... the fuel for our homes hearth...
...perhaps she guards over our warmth too...

...oh and along with John who keeps the wood rack filled and the fires stoked.

Linocut self-portrait approx. size 6" x 9"...  

Antique frame 15" x 17".. used as I found it, chips and all... I like things that show their life ... 

...Hornet's nest and tiny bird nest on twig hang above.
... the heavy duty 5' tall wood rack, John made.

Rebecca lives happily in Saint John, New Brunswick with Stephen, Hannah, Callum and Ben... my darlings, All. 

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Nuthatch by Max

...click to enlarge...

The Red-Breasted Nuthatch has returned... to the feeder and to my wall...  I love these little guys... and I love this drawing.


Pencil drawing by Max Ackerson, my son......   showing the characteristic large head, short tail, sturdy beak, strong claws and the solid eye stripe of the  sitta canadensis...   total frame size 14" x 17"...


...link to a past post on the White Breasted Nuthatch...

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In My Heart of Heart

 

Shakespeare wrote...  

"Give me that man

That is not passion's slave,

and I will wear him

In my heart's core

Ay, in my heart of heart,

As I do thee"

Hamlet, Act 3, scene 2

emotion...... passion..... love....  is there a man without it?

...my valentine to you...

The color of Love...    The shape of Love....   The feeling of Love... 

A Day for Love... 

A welcome pause, for a little passion....especially in our cold northern climate 

...seems like the perfect time.

   

 Hold your heart in your hand and offer it to your beloved... your dear one... your sweetheart... 

Red, Hearts, Hugs, Love, Passion, Cupid, Valentine, Lips, Kisses, February 14 ...

 Love your Valentine

 

 

Our Salute to the day...  and all year round...  Copper Hearts... created from solid 14 gauge copper.... dangling from Sterling Silver shepherd hook earwires  and jump rings ...  airy and light.

Size of heart is ¾"... Total length of earring from top of earwire to bottom of heart is 1½".


DESIDERATUM Art Jewelry, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada
$18.00 pr.         ....if interested,  Contact me here

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Well........ You've Gone and Stuck Your Foot in It Now

Feet sketches...........     for when they get the best of you. 

...crow quill pen and ink and watercolor wash,  inspired by Leonardo da Vinci's work... in my sketchbook

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This Could Be True

Quote by Henry David Thoreau...

" It is only when we forget all our learning,

that we begin to know."

...paperwork, watercolor and hand bound book by me.

To 2011

 

A whole new year ... 365 blank days... just waiting for us All to fill them up....

and we always do,  no matter what... fill them up to brimming without even trying.. 

 ...like magic ..Time is...  

a world going round and round...

 sunrise, sunset... 

repeat... repeat... repeat..............

... tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock...

We raise our glasses to the New Year  and to You, 

with wishes of Happiness, Hope, Strength and Inspiration 

...and many Good Things to come your way.

Give it your all... 

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

..."the toad, the rat and the mouse" ... pen, ink, watercolor.. approx. 7" x 8",  in sketchbook


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Journey with the Stone Wall

                                                                                                                                                          an update...

Looking down the finished staircase at the very back of the small north sideyard 

..but before this happened......  much manual labor...

*warning*...  it is rather long.... with lots of pictures because I  love stone... and the process of creating... ...they click to enlarge..

 They previously resided in the backyard of a large, to-be demolished very old structure in the center of the village about a km. away.  Well... we simply hate to see durable, natural materials go to waste and the owner agreed to us carting them off... so the journey for these stones began a new life.

The weight of the stones dictated that John could move only a small number of them in each trailer load, so as not to break it, as we had done one other time in our excitement to bring something home that was being thrown away... 

Trip after trip, he made... up and down the street, till he had lugged enough back to do the job.

...then figuring out the staircase ...digging and manipulating...

an exercise in which rock goes where first... 

 

...shovels full of gravel behind them for extra drainage...

 

..initial shaping and placing .............   and with the rock borders

 

I like it... no...   really... I love it!!! ... it's fun.

the stone steps are about 2' wide,

but it's the staircase to nowhere just yet... 

...finished and looking out towards the road...

 and back again... we plan on shaping the soil above the wall next spring...

this side is about done...

 

Then....  across the back and around the bend...

 

curving up to the left side corner of the deck...

... a  just right size deck...  

and curving down again...

 

Time to put these tools away.

This is how it began

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