Settled in the Maritimes of Canada, surrounded by the forest and Acadian Mountain Chain, I live a simple life of gratitude. This blog is a journal of my art, food, furkids, garden, home, my life and my thoughts. Thanks for reading!
Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Weather and Weather Lore. Bugs Bunny was having a great time singing in the rain for this week's art date!! I drew him with Sharpies and Prismacolor Pencils, then added the rain effect with Photoshop.
After a violent storm at sea, a three-hour tour turned into a 15-year shipwreck for Gilligan and the rest! 😊 I drew Bob Denver with ink and graphite. I loved this tv show!
Here's one of the many silly scenes from that show!
Kermit the Frog drawn with Prismacolor Pencils. I remembered Kermit singing the song "Rainbow Connection" and since a rainbow is a phenomenon of weather, I think it fits the theme!!
Here is a cute little video of Kermit singing that song in the swamps!
One of my favourite scenes from the Wizard of Oz is when Dorothy looks out of her window during the tornado and sees her nasty neighbour turn into a witch! Actually this scene really scared me as a kid! I drew it with ink and graphite.
For the Weather Lore portion, I chose Red Sky At Night, Sailor's Delight, drawn with ink and graphite.
And finally, a little snow! This is my charcoal drawing of The Snow Queen. I was inspired by Tilda Swinton's portrayal of The White Witch in the Narnia movies.
My latest art tutorials are up on my YouTube channel! Click on the images above or the links below to check them out!
Also, I have started my spiritual channel on YouTube, Spiritual Rain. Many of my friends know that I don't follow any particular religion or spirituality, but I do love the earth, nature and the seasons. I read Tarot cards and try to work a little magic into my days! This is what my channel is all about. I will be adding a new video every week. I hope that you enjoy it, if it's your cup of tea!!
As for food, I have been so busy with the videos that I've forgotten to take foodie photos! Once I get into a proper schedule, they'll be back!! Here's a little pasta dish with fresh fettuccini!
Here are Charlie and Jack, enjoying a walk in the fog with me! All of the pets are happy and healthy!
I won't be able to join link parties for a while I think! But I would like to highlight two lovely ladies, Eileen from Eileen's Saturdays Critters and Angie from Mosaic Mondays. I've been participating in their link parties for quite some time and I met so many beautiful people that way! Please visit them! 💗💗
LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOU MAY BE NEXT WEEK'S FEATURED ARTIST/BLOGGER!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more "Weather and Weather Lore" creations! See you soon!!! 💗 💗
Click on the links for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).
Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Ditches and Holes. What a way to travel, burrowing through holes in the ground! Bugs always forgets to take that left turn doesn't he? Poor Daffy Duck isn't too happy about getting lost!
My latest art tutorials are up on my YouTube channel! Click on the images above or the links below to check them out! I'm starting to do more "talkies" rather than just time-lapsed videos.
When Marlene first came home with us in 2015, she STUNK. Stunk like skunk. Yes, she'd been skunked and it took a few months for her to "de-stinkafy". Once those skunks spray the animals, not much can get rid of that "fragrance". We tried home remedies, a product called Skunk Off...and they masked the smell, didn't get rid of it completely. Marlene STILL sticks her nose in holes, ditches and drain pipes when I walk her...
Eyes and Noses
Life is so busy! I'm working very hard on my YouTube art channel and I have a spiritual channel in the works as well. I have a huge list of house things to take care of before winter! Have I mentioned that I just love where I live??? The people here are so nice and the area is so beautiful and quiet. I feel like moving to New Brunswick was my destiny...to find myself, heal from past wounds and live a life of gratitude and joy.
On the food front, it's been lots of leftovers, frugal meals like pasta and sandwiches...and one day of decadence. Baked Camembert in puff pastry. Oofa. Of couse it's one of my Cams...the many benefits of cheese making! 😁
I also made this Key Lime Pie. I found the recipe on Taste of Home and it was really easy and delicious! I'm going for simple recipes these days!
How could I get a portrait in this week's theme you ask? Well, how about a Black Hole? In a few Star Trek episodes, there were mentions of Black Holes...and impressive synonyms like "Black Planets", "Parallaxes" and "Quantum Singularities"...I'm not a big trekkie but I did read this on a die-hard fan forum!! Here is Mr. Spock from the original Star Trek Series (IMO the best version of Star Trek!). I went for a minimalist charcoal approach for this portrait. I recorded this tutorial in real time and it's scheduled to be uploaded on my YT channel at the end of August.
Photo: Space.com
Speaking of space!!! If you can get yourself to an area that is free of city lights and street lights, the best time to see the yearly Perseid Meteor Showerswill be overnight on the 11th of August. The showers are happening now, but you'll be more likely to see them overnight on that date as they are at their peak. I watch the skies every August and seeing a shooting star is very magical! I'll be up on my roof watching the skies next week!
I'm linking up with these wonderful bloggers today, or at least trying (!!), please visit them for some really interesting posts! And why not join in on the link parties? You can meet some really nice people!! 😊
This week's highlighted artist/blogger is my friend Sandy from Messy Sketches All Year Long blog! Sandy is a lovely artist, this is just one of her many beautiful paintings. Please visit her blog! 💗💗 You can find her on Instagram here!
LEAVE A COMMENT AND YOU MAY BE NEXT WEEK'S FEATURED ARTIST/BLOGGER!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more "Ditches and Holes" creations!
See you soon!!! 💗💗
Click on the links for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).
Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Musical. One of my favourite musical movies is The Sound of Music. I grew up watching this movie! It was on TV every year around Christmas time and I never got tired of it. I think I fell in love with Christopher Plumber in that movie! Bugs Bunny had a great time singing in the mountains while posing as Julie Andrews! 😊
I'm just as happy as Bugs is today because I had my first Pfizer vaccination on Tuesday! My arm was very sore and my lower left eyelid started to twitch like crazy for about 3 hours (so annoying). Yesterday my upper lip went numb for an hour and I felt like I'd taken a few Valiums, sigh...very heavy head, dizziness, white pasty tongue...cotton mouth...my body doesn't like this chemical injection! But you know what? I'm on my way to being safe and I will endure the second shot next month and possible side effects for that reason. 😊 Please get your vaccination and always wear a mask, Covid is not gone yet.
In June we had the theme "Jump!" and a few of my friends mentioned that they always think of that Van Halen song when they hear the word Jump...This is for you TB, Aimeslee and Traude! I haven't done charcoals on white paper in a long time, but decided to try it out again - here is David Lee Roth for this week's musical theme. I don't know what's bigger...David Lee's hair or his ego lol! What a great entertainer!
Here is the video for Jump by Van Halen. It's so much fun! 😊 Eddie Van Halen (r.i.p.) is so cute in this...the drummer is Eddie's older brother Alex, you can definitely see the family resemblance!
Speaking of Eddie Van Halen, here he is in ink and graphite. He has great eyes and a very unique smile. That smile can light up a room. Love that rock and roll hair!!
Another musical movie that I really loved was Grease. I saw it in theatres and it was so much fun! Here is John Travolta in ink and graphite. What a character he played! I loved that story so much that I went to the staged show when it came to Montreal in the 1990's. Adrian Zmed played Travolta's role of Danny Zuko. Besides seeing Shakespeare plays and Death of a Salesman in high school, that was the only "Broadway" play I've ever seen.
Here's the scene in Grease where John Travolta and Olivia Newton John sing "Summer Nights" - one of my favourite scenes!!
During the summer I try not to use the oven as much as possible so we've been eating lots of sandwiches. This is my favourite, a CLT (Cheddar, lettuce and tomato).
I'm happy to announce that I have two more art tutorials up on my YouTube Channel! Click on the images or on the links below if you'd like to see them! In the Annie Lennox video, I have Jack with me during the introduction! 😊
Feeling Ducky Lately! (photos taken by me from 2015-2019)
This week's highlighted artist and/or blogger is my friend Louise from Standing Into Danger blog!! 💗 Louise and I have a special bond, we both have a pull to the Fundy Bay and the Maritimes of Canada. She is such a lovely person who is not only a geologist (OMG SOOO cool!), but a well-traveled lady about town, a pinball wizard 😊 and a talented writer and photographer! The photo above is part of her contribution to last week's theme of "Your Favourite Decade"...it's of her lovely mother who taught her some amazing life lessons! Please visit her blog!! 💗💗
I'm linking up with these wonderful bloggers today, or at least trying (!!), please visit them for some really interesting posts! And why not join in on the link parties? You can meet some really nice people!! 😊
Click on the links for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).
Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Your Favourite Decade. Without a doubt my favourite decade was the 1980's. Bugs Bunny is doing his best Jane Fonda impression this week!! I was totally into the aerobics craze, I had every one of Jane Fonda's workouts and did them daily!
I created this collage of just a few of my favourite music artists from the 80's, can you name them? (Answers at the end of the post!)
Those were the days when I was in high school and beginning university. I loved the music, I loved the fashion (at the time!!) and I loved going to clubs and dancing the night away. I moved out on my own and worked my way through university as a bartender in some of the trendiest bars in Montreal (Sir Winston Churchill's Pub and Alexander's for those who might know them). Does anyone else relate to this decade like I do?
I decided to focus on 80's music for my art this week. Here are The Blues Brothers in ink and graphite. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi created these characters in the 70's but the movie came out in the 80's. I love this movie and every bit of music in it! I admit I haven't seen the sequel that Dan Aykroyd made in the 2000's with John Goodman. Maybe one day I will but it's hard to replace John Belushi. Here's the trailer for The Blues Brothers.
My newest art tutorials are now live on You Tube! Thanks SO MUCH ♥♥♥ my friends for supporting me on this new venture!! If you'd like to see the videos, click on the above thumbnails or on these links:
Annie Lennox in charcoals. The Eurythmics were fabulous and Annie is gorgeous! There was not one song that this band put out that I didn't like. I had quite long hair during the early 80's and I used to tease it à la Pat Benatar. But when I saw Annie Lennox in the "Sweet Dreams" video (here's a link to the video), I chopped it all off, shaved it short and coloured it bright orange!! I would bleach it all out every month and try a new colour. My poor hair back then...
...but at least I didn't sport a mullet!!! 😁 Though technically the mullet became popular in the 80's, I think the most famous mullet-wearing country boy was Billy Ray Cyrus during the early 1990's!!
Michael Jackson in charcoals. I actually saw Michael Jackson live in 1985 in Montreal at the Olympic Stadium. It was part of the "Victory Tour" he did with his brothers. It was fabulous. Those were the days when you camped out in front of the ticket agencies to ensure you got good seats! I remember staying up all night outside The Bay store in downtown Montreal where they had a ticket booth. That concert was a very precious memory for me!
My friends and I loved the Thriller song and video. I especially loved it for the dancing but also because Vincent Price voiced a creepy poem in the song. I admit it...I learned the Thriller dance and could wow my friends with my Jackson-like moves!!! 😳
Here's the video for Thriller!
Another great product of the 1980's was Spinal Tap. A parody rock band created by Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer - all great comedians and musicians. My favourite Spinal Tap song is Stonehenge. 😊 The movie is hilarious, most of it was improvised and there are so many great actors in it. Rob Reiner plays the director who interviews the band throughout this "mockumentary"...or rather, "rockumentary" as they say. 😊 I have a copy on DVD and watch it regularly for a laugh! Here's the link to the trailer.
Let's see some critters! I put up two more hummingbird feeders in hopes that I will attract many more hummers! For now it just seems like there are only one or two who regularly visit. This one decided to sip from all three, I guess to compare which one was the sweetest!
This is a photo from a few weeks ago. My dog's perspectives of how they saw the Fundy Bay. The myth that dogs can only see in black and white was disproven years ago. According to Penn State University, it is biologically proven that dogs can see just as we do. I'm glad to know that! 😊
The weather has been really hot and humid. A few drinks on a hot night is such a treat. Here I made a ginger ale, Limoncello and red Vermouth cocktail; and a lovely Sangria made with red wine, brandy, 7up and citrus fruit!
I made another SUPER EASY Tiramisu. I have issues with egg yolks. The creamy custard of a traditional tiramisu is called a sabayon and it typically consists of around 6 egg yolks. I can't handle that, so I looked for a substitute for the sabayon - vanilla pudding. Worked perfectly! Here's the recipe!
I think I outdid myself....I made a Camembert Poutine!!! Using my Cams of course!! It was SO good. I followed my basic Poutine Recipe, but instead of the red wine gravy, I used my Chicken Gravy and topped it with pieces of Camembert. Seriously indulgent and decadent!!
This week's highlighted artist and/or blogger is Tracey from New Beginnings..Creating in my Corner blog! 💗 Tracey is such a creative artist. This is her journal painting from last week's "Mornings" theme. Tracey has a sweet little pup named Freya who is adorable! She's a very busy lady and I'm so happy when she graces us with her artwork here at the art date! Please visit her blog! 💗
Answers to my 80's collage!
1st Row: Freddy Mercury from Queen, Morten Harket from AHA, The Weather Girls, Weird Al Yancovic
2nd Row: Robert Smith from The Cure, Slash from Guns N' Roses, Olivia Newton-John, The Beastie Boys
3rd Row: Hall and Oates, Patrick Swayze, Cyndi Lauper, Boy George from Culture Club
4th Row: Axl Rose from Guns N' Roses, George Michael, Billy Idol, Tone Loc
I'm linking up with these wonderful bloggers today, or at least trying (!!), please visit them for some really interesting posts! And why not join in on the link parties? You can meet some really nice people!! 😊
Click on the links for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨
Don't forget to add the URL link to your post (not your blog) to the link gadget below to share your wonderful creations! Please revisit to make sure you don't miss those who join in a little late! All spam and non-related links will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).
