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| An ever changing and beautiful river composition designed by Nature |
The reality is in spite of the fact I'm a 'retired' person and have been for as long as I can remember now...the picture of me in an office/work environment completely escapes me these days; although, as I watch television or a movie, I vaguely recall the process of rising each morning with the dreaded thought of moving through traffic and a multitude of people in order to be someplace at a certain time in order to gain 'some purpose' to my day. Ah, the pay cheque was definitely an incentive and if truth were known I did enjoy my work...the designing and drawing part of it (renovations and kitchen/bathroom designs); not so much the sales part, though. But those thoughts make me even more thankful and thoughtful today.
As I think back over the past five months I try to play 'catch-up' with my life to see what I've accomplished, to analyze whether I have 'gained' anything from my endeavours. At first thought I think that possibly there hasn't been much new or interesting that has filled my days but in actual fact that's not true. While, none of what I have done over these months has been earth shattering or particularly awesome or even amazing (like skydiving, climbing Mt. Everest, travelling to the unknown, etc.) I have managed to do things I like to do. So I think of these things and write about them today.
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| David talking to Alex and Joanna |
VISITING WITH FRIENDS: For Thanksgiving and again over the Christmas holiday we visited with friends, Catherine and Paul Harding, who live in North Bay and have a cottage on Toad Lake just south of there. We enjoy visits with them because when we are at the lake or at their house in town we spend hours near or on the water kayaking, swimming or enjoying long walks with our dogs. The outdoor life is the common denominator that we share and enjoy and we always spend time outside no matter what the weather. Of course, we missed not being able to see Alex and Joanna, who live in Vancouver, over the holiday season but we talked to them on the phone on Christmas Day and learned that they were well and happy...and they gave us, early and a little hush, hush, great news...they are to have a baby in the summer...our first grandchild!
Our Christmas visit with the Hardings was a little different this year because we normally are with my sister and her family but decided to hit the Great White North (North Bay) for a change and also we wanted to see Will, Paul and Catherine's son and his fiancé, Kat, whom we had not met before. Their other son, John, is in Germany but there was a telephone conversation with him so all was well there, too. We had a wonderful time, the weather, while sub-zero and chilly most of the time, was super and picture card perfect and our drive up there and back was beautiful. Fortunately, we managed to get back home to Peterborough on Boxing Day...one day ahead of a big winter storm that closed down many of the highways!!! Typical for Ontario!
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| Kat, Will, Grace, Paul, Katherine and, of course, Rachel |
PAINTING: Yes, of course, I still do that and always have a painting on the go; allbeit, I'm occasionally a slacker in this department and there are countless days that go by that I don't even pick up a paintbrush. However, as I walk past my studio each day I do see a painting on the easel and I do critique it so that the next time I approach it I do it with a 'new eye'. I've always painted that way. Oh I'd love to be able to whip off a painting in a couple of days or be so quick as to produce a painting in four or five hours but that doesn't work for me. I'd love to be less thoughtful about my painting and more spontaneous in my technique but I've tried that and I end up with more mess on my canvas than painting. So I continue with my methodical approach and my small paintbrushes and continue to enjoy my art in a way that works for me!
Here are the paintings I've managed to complete since the Summer. All of them are oil on 18" x 24" stretched canvas.
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| "CHICKEN LOVE" (inspired by a magazine about farming) |
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| SERENDIPITY (inspired by the song "A Man in a Raincoat") |
FLOATBOAT FISHERMEN (inspired by a photo Alex took)
I'm spending 'not enough time' in my studio; however, as I mentioned earlier, I have a painting on the go all the time and at the moment it is also the painting that I take with me when I paint with friends each Wednesday afternoon. We, Quadrangle (Fran Crowe, Averill Ambrose, Julia Cameron and myself), are having our third group show from May 24th to June 6th at the Kawartha Artists' Gallery and Studio, here in Peterborough, so we are all working towards that goal. The paintings I have included in this blog are all ones that will be in the 'Quadrangle 2013' show.
The painting below is my 'current' one and is on 16" x 20" stretched canvas. I had a few false starts with this one; however, I'm finally satisfied with the way it's going and am on my way to completing it.
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| UNNAMED (probably will be the title from a song) and UNFINISHED (How I love the sound of a Saxaphone! As I paint this I always listen to very cool, mellow jazz with Saxaphone being the prominent sound...very inspiring?) |
Beyond the paintings you see here I hope to have at least three, maybe four others completed and possibly one or two stone carvings as well. So you see I have my work cut out for me!!!! Yikes I've only got about 10 - 12 weeks to produce my work and have it ready for hanging and display!!!! I hope Spring comes early this year because I'll need some dry sunny days to get my carving done!
WALKING AND PICTURE TAKING: In between my painting I spend a lot of time outdoors walking with David and Rachel, or sometimes just with Rachel. Walks are time consuming things, but like golf in the Summer, I wouldn't stop for the world because the exercise and fresh air is SOOOOO GOOOOOD! While I'm on these excursions, and we have many different places that we walk, I like to take in the scene around me and almost always have my camera at the ready! I miss our walks on days when the weather is so bad that it's uncomfortable to walk or on days that it's too icy and dangerous under foot; however, they are few and far between so we celebrate every day that we can with an outing!
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| I can never tire of taking photos of the rivers and streams |
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| ...or the beautiful winter shadows, |
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| ...or the colours and collages of nature. |
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| My version of a crocheted Rachel without the bushy tail!!! |
I find that it's quite an adventure going into the wool/yarn departments of the big box stores or the specialty shops because it's just like going to the market! There are so many colours, textures and weight types of yarn that it boggles the mind. I love that the industry has come up with such wonderful varieties of yarn...a wonderful medium to express yourself with. I just may give up my stone carving altogether and start making yarn sculpture instead...although, I know that would never happen! I could NEVER REALLY GIVE UP WORKING IN STONE but it's strictly an outdoor thing because it's so messy so I'll definitely explore the yarn thing more!
Within the next few months I intend on resurrecting my quilting skills as well so that I always have some 'dry/clean project' in my lap that I can be working on in the evenings. Television is great but it's better when your hands are busy, too.
I've made numerous quilts (hangings and bed-sized) but that was over 25 years ago and none of them were for us so maybe it's time! I've started to collect ideas for appliqué designs so maybe a quilt or two will show up in this blog one day.
BEYOND THE ABOVE MENTIONED FOR HEALTH AND SPIRIT: Since golf season ended many, many months ago I have tried, as we all should, to stay as physically active as I can. I do this to ward off arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome and any other malady that I know is inherent in me! I'm not particularly good at it since I can easily, like all of us, procrastinate and then my time for 'doing' is gone and another day goes by that I haven't done what I said I was going to do.
Prior to Christmas I started to do YOGA again (had a false start about five years ago) and this time it makes sense to me and while I haven't incorporated it into my life on a daily basis I do go to the Humanistic Yoga Centre here in Peterborough twice a week. Yoga not only is helping me physically but it is making me feel more grounded and freer. It's hard to explain really but I now understand why those that are truly 'into' yoga became hooked in the first place. It's a wonderful way of 'letting go' of all the 'baggage' that one carries around in their head, 'baggage' that ultimately makes your body suffer!
Through Yoga I've learned how important paying attention to your breath is. We tend to hold our breath, or not breath properly when we do the most mundane of things which causes us to be tense and feel pressure in our bodies...even people that are retired feel stressed during certain periods of their daily lives...it's not just people who work or have heavy responsibilities. A disagreement with a relative or friend; difficulty finding a parking space; a leak in the faucet, a cat that's driving you crazy by going in and out all day; the knowledge that someone you care about is ill and there are no answers for them, a needy person that leans heavily on your friendship and advice who is a major worry to you; worry about your children and how their lives are going; pain and depression of separation or death of a loved one!!!! We all have these unbidden stresses...sometimes can be so small and merely annoying but are nevertheless...stresses!!!!! Sometimes we're not even aware that we're stressed until a muscle starts to scream or our back becomes stiff or our head aches. I've only just, at 66, begun to understand this 'bottled up stress' thing and am now learning to 'let it go' with each exhalation so that with each inhalation I can be refreshed and ready to cope better...in a more upright and balanced manner. It's all very refreshing and calming when you actually think about it! Breath is free, so we should use it well, we should allow it to reach every area of our body from the top of our head, through our heart center, to the tip of our fingers and our toes. Not only do we need breath to LIVE, we need it to feel ALIVE! Don't hold it! Enjoy it!
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| INHALE AND FILL EVERY PART OF YOUR BEING WITH GOODNESS EXHALE AND RELEASE ALL THAT IS NEGATIVE WITHIN YOU. BREATH WILL SUSTAIN YOU! |
The bonus from doing these things...Enjoying Friends, Painting/Creating, Yoga, the Y, and Everything Else In Between...is that the winter months become interesting and each day holds something to look forward to. It's hard to believe that February is ebbing! Spring can't be far away!
I'm heading to the Y for a swim now...I've written more than enough for today! For all of you that have had the interest to read through this blog...ENJOY YOUR BREATH, ENJOY YOUR DAYS, ENJOY YOUR LIFE and BE HAPPY!
Until the next time, Cheers to All!
Angela
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