Thursday Art Date: The Big Screen

Hello Friends, 😊

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is The Big Screen. One of my favourite directors is Alfred Hitchcock; and one of my favourite actors is James Stewart. Mr. Hitchcock directed Mr. Stewart in the amazing movie Rear Window. Bugs Bunny insisted on posing for this tribute to the big screen!

When I came up with this theme last November (2019!) I didn't realize how much fun I'd have with it! I hope you will have fun too. What are your favourite Big Screen movies and who are your favourites actors/actresses?

I love Westerns! The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is by far one of my favourite Westerns. In fact, it's categorized as a "Spaghetti Western" because it was filmed in Italy. The director, Sergio Leone is known for his close-ups. I decided to draw the three main characters this week for The Big Screen.

The Good: "Blondie" played by Clint Eastwood (Clint was at his best in these Spaghetti Westerns)

The Bad: "Angel Eyes" played by Lee Van Cleef. (One of my favourite actors that I refer to as "swoon" worthy!)

The Ugly: "Tuco" played by Eli Wallach (He is a villain and the comic relief)

Sergio Leone was also very big on the "Mexican" Stand Off at the end of his films. Here is a two and a half minute clip of the end of the movie with the close-ups and stand-off that inspired my drawings. (Don't watch it if you intend on watching the movie!!!)

Another wonderful actor who I adore is Edward G. Robinson (see?) 😊 Mr. Robinson was not only a great actor, he was a lover of the arts, a connoisseur of Fine Art who collected many beautiful and rare paintings. He was also an accused Communist during the black-list era - the Hollywood/political version of a witch hunt. Boo.

He starred in many of my favourite films. I drew this picture with ink and graphite as he posed for his role in Little Caesar (1931) He was often type casted as a gangster - which I find funny because he's so eloquent, soft-spoken and sophisticated!

Daily Art!! I'm participating in Alexandra's Instagram drawing challenge called The 25 Days of Christmas Doors. I decided to do 25 days of Looney Toons Christmas Doors.  Here are the first two, Speedy Gonzales and Henery Hawk. If you have an Instagram account, why not join in?

The dogs: Charlie, Marlene and Jack (hidden under the pillow!)

Oscar and Jack - back to back keeping each other warm during a nap

I ordered these stickers to put on my cheeses! Aren't they cool?  😊

I'm linking up with these wonderful bloggers today, please visit them for some really interesting posts! And why not join in on the link parties?

Friday December 4th: Paint Party Friday
Saturday December 5th: Eileen's Saturday's Critters
Monday December 7th: Angie's Mosaic Mondays

That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more The Big Screen artwork! 

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December 10th: Next Thursday's theme is Cubism. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

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! Also, if anyone adds a link that has nothing to do with the art date theme, it will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

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Thursday Art Date: You As A Superhero

Hello Friends, 😊

💛HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO MY AMERICAN FRIENDS!!💛

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is You As A Superhero. I admit this was a stumper for me...not for Bugs Bunny though, he always imagines himself as Carrot Man, protector of all carrots.

What a week! 💗 I'm sorry dear friends that I've been unable to visit your blogs in the last week - I will have more time this week! 💗 Charlie had her usual allergic reaction and her face swelled up so we didn't get much sleep for a few days while the Benadryl kicked in - it's some kind of insect bite that gets her every time. 

Charlie is fine now! Here are Marlene, Charlie and Jack, watching me eat crackers in bed! (Yes, they got some too!) I had some stomach issues for the last few days that kept me pretty much grounded...and I'm not a good patient. I hate being idle! 

I had my monthly shopping trip in the big city last weekend, that's always exhausting. Saint John is the city where I shop here in New Brunswick and they have now entered lockdown because of so many new cases. I'm very thankful I got my monthly shopping done before that happened.

Our roof started to leak so Alex had to go back up there and patch a few areas - which was difficult in -10C weather! (I'm happy to say we don't have snow yet!!) The fridge we bought in July has been malfunctioning for months and FINALLY after 9 weeks of argument, the company Midea (<-- Boo To Midea!), will respect their warrantee...and only because I was smart enough to record my phone calls as I caught one of their reps in a lie. Why must a person have to fight companies like this?? Their excuse was that I paid with my credit card and that it "likely" wasn't paid in full. Give me a break! How could they even know if my credit card had already been paid off or not? Anyway, we are expecting our new fridge today.

Also, there is some creepy stuff going on here which has been hogging too much of my time and comfort. Some of you may remember my neighbour's house burnt down in August. Same neighbour rebuilt. Now he is harassing me. After talking with neighbours, the truth has come out that he's a known peeping tom and a pervert. Every woman in the area has had to deal with either his peeping or him staring at them. I'm being stared at. And he doesn't stop, I even told him to stop looking at me, put up my hand and shouted "stop!" and he just stared even harder. He walks towards me very slowly like he's trying to intimidate me too. I told him if he came anywhere near me, I would have my dogs attack him. He's such a creep. We spoke to the police and they warned him and told him if he ever sees me out walking, to turn around and walk the other way. Alex is glued to me wherever I go now. We were out walking the dogs and the perv took one look at Alex and ran away, so we hope he continues to heed the constable's order. The guy must be in his late 60's and has a hard time walking so he's not a physical threat, just a creep - but then...history proves that violence likely escalates with predators, so we are even considering a Peace Bond (the equivalent here of a restraining order). We ordered better trail cameras and we're testing them out for security. 

I'd much rather live amongst wildlife than humanity at times...I'll keep you all posted. But I refuse to let anyone control me through intimidation and fear.

Anyway, onto the Superhero! Sometimes I feel like Jack thinks I'm his Superhero the way he looks at me! I did save him from the shelter life, so it makes sense! 😊

I adore my Jack!

If I were a Superhero (not only would I wipe out all perverts from the Earth)...I'd save every dog who has been abandoned, who is homeless and who lives in a shelter. To me, dogs are the perfect pet and best friend, so loyal, so sweet, so trusting and so much fun...all they want is a lots of love, lots of food, exercise and a home. I wish I could give them all a home, here with me!

In the last week, I made two of our favourite cheeses: a wheel of Jarlsberg and two wheels of Camembert  (they are producing that lovely white mould as they age!). I have more cheese making to do this weekend too. I also managed to can 35 Mason jars of pizza sauce, salsa and spaghetti sauce so we're set for a few months. 

For one of our dinners, I made a Mexican Fiesta with Breakfast Burritos, Mexican Rice and Loaded Nachos. One night we had Mushroom Burgers and fries. Otherwise it was leftovers!

I'm linking up with these wonderful bloggers today, please visit them for some really interesting posts! And why not join in on the link parties?

Friday November 27th: Paint Party Friday
Saturday November 28th: Eileen's Saturday's Critters
Monday November 30th: Angie's Mosaic Mondays

That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more Superhero artwork! 

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Vincent Price - one of my favourite big screen actors! (Watercolours 2019)

December 3rd: Next Thursday's theme is The Big Screen. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

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! Also, if anyone adds a link that has nothing to do with the art date theme, it will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

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Thursday Art Date: Antique

Hello Friends, 😊

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Antique. Bugs Bunny kindly posed for me and even asked one of his sheep buddy's to sit in on the photo shoot. Mr. Sheep used to work on the set of The Flintstones. (If you're familiar with The Flintstones cartoon show, you might get my humour!) The spinning wheel was invented in the 1000's AD; it's definitely an antique yet still used today - in fact I know some Bloggers who use them, one of whom is Yarrow over at The Woodwife Blog.

The radio was invented in the late 1890's. Frankenstein's Monster and his Bride love to spend a romantic evening at home, listening to music on the radio and dancing The Tango. The Tango originated in Buenos Aires in the latter half of the 1800's. The Monsters themselves are antiques...Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818.

Speaking of radio, I love radio broadcasts! I wish I could have been around to listen to them live, but You Tube does the job now. The first radio broadcast, a Christmas Concert, hit the airwaves on Christmas Eve in 1906. 

Alex and I listen to Old Time Radio shows from the 1930's through the 1950's every night during dinner. Our favourites are the comedians: Jack Benny, Bob Hope and George Burns, who all worked for NBC during those decades. Comedy was so much better in those days - in my opinion! And so was radio...when you listen to a radio comedy or even a thriller like Suspense!, your imagination activates. Television is wonderful, I love movies...but radio is really a one of a kind listening experience. 

Critters: My "little" girl Charlie. She's a very smart husky, she knows her left from her right. Alex taught all the dogs to give either the left paw or the right paw. It comes in handy on walks when their leashes get caught up under their legs!

Some foodie highlights this week were cauliflower and green onion quiche, baked Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce, sugar pie, baked rigatoni and smoked Cheddar fondue. To answer a question I've gotten often...we do eat healthy too! 😀 I just highlight the cheesy-comfort foods here on my blog. I don't find it interesting to photograph my broiled fish fillet with steamed asparagus!

On days when I'm feeling overwhelmed or tired, Alex takes over in the kitchen. He makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches, using Old Cheddar and Parmesan petals. When he called me for dinner, I was welcomed with this lovely meal! He made fries and ice cream sodas too! Real diner food!

Today I'm linking up with some lovely bloggers, please visit them for some very fun and interesting posts!

Friday November 20th: Paint Party Friday
Saturday November 21st: Eileen's Saturday's Critters
Monday November 23rd: Angie's Mosaic Mondays

That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more Antique artwork! 

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Rain the Super Girl!! (I had fun at the insertface.com site!)

November 26th: Next Thursday's theme is You As A Superhero. If you find this a challenge, just use "Superheroes" as the theme. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

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! Also, if anyone adds a link that has nothing to do with the art date theme, it will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

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Thursday Art Date: Points and Dots

Hello Friends, 😊

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Points and Dots. Isn't Bugs Bunny a stinker? I asked him what he thought of my art date theme and all he could do was point and laugh...sigh, no respect!! 😊

I tried my hand at "pointillism"...and I have to say, I was not a fan! Maybe I just don't have the patience to paint individual dots ...anyway, my watercolour leaf was my attempt; and I made a version in black and white in photo software to gussy it up.

My ink and graphite Lucille Ball. She had a signature polka dot dress that she often wore on her tv show. She was so funny!

My favourite critter: Jack. We adopted Jack from a shelter over 5 years ago. We estimate his age at about 14 now. He's such a character and fits nicely with my theme this week because he's a pointer/hound mix. And he has a pointy head!

My charcoal tribute to Jack. 💕

Mr. Big Mouth.

Isn't this fun? I did a few 3D Trick Art tutorials! Vamos Art You Tube Channel is where I found the tutorials. Maybe I'll make the 3D art a theme for one of next year's art dates! What do you think?

And I thought getting my ears pierced hurt, this trick art is a little painful... 😃

Today I'm linking up with some lovely bloggers, please visit them for some very fun and interesting posts!

Friday November 13th: Paint Party Friday
Saturday November 14th: Eileen's Saturday's Critters
Monday November 16th: Angie's Mosaic Mondays

That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more Points and Dots artwork! 

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I remember my grandfather having a lovely antique secretary's desk. I always wanted one and am on the lookout for a used one if I can find it! I did this quick sketch with ink and graphite.

November 19th: Next Thursday's theme is Antique. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

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! Also, if anyone adds a link that has nothing to do with the art date theme, it will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

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Thursday Art Date: Looking Down

Hello Friends, 😊

Welcome to Thursday's Art Date, today our theme is Looking Down. Tweety Bird is looking down at Sylvester the cat...who thinks he will finally outsmart the little bird! Not a chance!!

I was listening to David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and got inspired to do this watercolour of North America. I guess this is kind of what an astronaut would see looking down from space! Here is David Bowie singing...I love this song:

John Wayne looking down from a mesa in the movie The Searchers, done with ink and graphite.

Marilyn Monroe, looking down (charcoals). Sad lady. 😢

My Critters: Dana and Oscar looking down at me from their loft - yes, they have their own loft, we call it the Cat Loft!

This is what I call my "Tradesman Lunch". I usually make this type of lunch for any tradesperson who comes over to do a day or two of work - must feed them! 

Lunch was chicken salad sandwiches, CLT's on toast, Pinwheel Sandwiches (made with my Homemade Cheez Whiz), dips, chips, pretzels, olives and cheese slices.

Hatch Door Renovation:

Alex and I hired a nice man named Doug, a retired carpenter, to build us a hatch door and staircase that will link the main house to the basement. The only way to access the basement before was to walk around the house to the basement door in the backyard. Our washer and dryer are in the basement, and there was NO WAY I was shlepping through snow to do laundry! The last few months it was tolerable, but we decided to do this just in time for winter. Alex helped Doug and they did a fantastic job! All that's left to do is to build a pulley system to help lift the hatch door, stain the stairs and handrail, and get some carpeting to cover the hatch door to help with insulation. We are SO pleased with this project. Next task is the chimney!

Today I'm linking up with some lovely bloggers, please visit them for some very fun and interesting posts!

Friday November 6th: Paint Party Friday
Saturday November 7th: Eileen's Saturday's Critters
Monday November 9th: Angie's Mosaic Mondays

That's all for now folks! Please check out the link gadget below to see more Looking Down artwork! 

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My points and dots watercolour of Jack (2019)

November 12th: Next Thursday's theme is Points and Dots. Click on the link for ideas and inspiration! Remember it's all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! 🎨

Thursday Art Date With Rain. Click on the link for a description of the art date as well as a list of upcoming themes. 

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! Also, if anyone adds a link that has nothing to do with the art date theme, it will be removed! The link gadget expires Friday at midnight (EST).

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