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 my Friends, to Thursday's Art Date (posted on Wednesdays)!! ππ Today our theme is Leaves and Branches! Poor Daffy, all of his hard work is about to be ruined! Bugs Bunny is such a stinker! π
I drew this bear in the woods as a private charcoal drawing lesson for my friend Nik's daughter, Lily. I felt it fit the prompt very well!
And look at 9-year old Lily's!!! She's an aspiring artist!!! (Photo permission by her mom and my friend Nik!) If you know any kids who would love to learn how to draw and paint, please send them over to Rain Frances Art For Kids YouTube Channel! ♥ If your kids or grandkids (nieces/nephews etc) have done my lessons, please feel free to send me photos so I can post them here and on Instagram if you wish! ☺ (rainfrancesartforkids@gmail.com)
Announcement: Many of you have participated in the now defunct Paint Party Friday. This was a weekly blog party where people could post links to their art - and there were no prompts to follow. From now on, TAD will be open to all forms of art. I'll still have the prompts available if you want to be challenged, but they are not needed to participate! If you know any former PPF-ers, can you let them know? Thanks Friends!
I've been busy planting my seeds! 500 of them are now sitting in my window. I did a little video, showing what I did! Gardening season has begun! I hope you are all enjoying good weather. We still have freezing nights, but winter is definitely gone, so I'm doing lots of work outside on my land.
I haven't been doing much cooking lately, but I did make Mushroom Burgers. I forgot to take a photo, here's an old one. These are so good! A great vegetarian alternative!
Of course, every week here has to include a homemade pizza! π I'm linking up with Kathy's Food Wednesday post today!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more artistic creations! See you soon!!! π π
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Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date: click on the links below for a description of the prompt and inspiring images!
This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! You can follow the weekly themes or post any art you like! π¨
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 will be available until the following Wednesday!
Welcome my Friends, to Thursday's Art Date (posted on Wednesdays)!! ππ Today our theme is Aviary! Daffy Duck is taking a much-needed vacation at the Aviary Suites and Lounge. It comes well-recommended, I hope he can relax a little! (Click on the photo to biggify the humourous font π)
This is my charcoal drawing of a Pterodactyl. At least I think that's what it is! It could be a Pteranodon. Am I impressing you yet lol? I just read on Google that the Pteranodon is often mixed up with Pterodactyls because they look alike, but Pterodactyls are smaller. Oh those flying reptiles!
Here's an 8-second video I took outside my window yesterday morning. The Grackles are back and IN NUMBERS. I believe this is called a Plague of Grackles? There are some Red-Winged Blackbirds in that group too...a Cluster of Blackbirds. There are a few Mourning Doves in there too, but not enough to consider it a Flight of Mourning Doves!
My kid's art channel on YouTube is slowly growing. I'm getting some nice feedback! Here is my latest lesson - How To Paint a Beautiful Sunset!
I made a bunch of hummus this past week! Here's a video showing you how to shell the chickpeas. I don't know why but YouTube won't let me embed vertical videos, so you have to actually click on the photo! I've been sharing videos on this blog for years, but I always have them as unlisted. Now all of the videos that have to do with cooking, baking, homesteading, gardening, cheese-making, pet care etc...will be public on my formerly empty channel Rain's Kitchen and Garden! Subscribe if you're interested!! ☺
This was the spread for our Easter dinner. VERY vegetarian-friendly. (I'm linking up with Kathy's Food Wednesdays for today's post!)
I made three kinds of hummus. Carrot Hummus, Caramelized Onion and Garlic Hummus and tomato and basil hummus. The tomato basil hummus was too runny though, so I won't share that recipe yet, I need to tweak it!
This all went so well with a fresh spinach salad, with Feta cheese, Kalamata olives and black olives. I made a vinaigrette with 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar, a dash of salt and 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil! Yum!
Here is the dessert spread! I couldn't help myself...baskets of Easter chocolate!
We had brunch one morning, and I made my Breakfast Burritos. We eat these at least once a week, they are so easy to make and delicious! I have mine with just the egg whites.
Gardening season is starting! I burned drainage holes into 240 of these little cups that I'm using to start my seeds! Stinky job, but I did it outside. I'll be starting seeds in my window this year. The shelves are up and I'll be in the dirt for the next few days. I have so many varieties of veggies, fruit, herbs, lettuces and flowers to start. I'll share all of that with you next week! ☺
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more "Aviary" creations! See you soon!!! π π
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Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date: click on the links below for a description of the theme and inspiring images!
This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! π¨
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 my Friends, to Thursday's Art Date! ππ Today our theme is Farm Life! Here's a different Looney Tunes take on today's theme! I painted the background with acrylics and used black paint for the silhouette!
This has been an exciting week! I took some time to draw a charcoal piglet! I haven't used my charcoal pencils in ages - I'd forgotten how much I love this medium!
I recorded myself drawing this baby pig! The drawing lesson is 90 minutes, real-time, if you'd like to follow along!
I have 10 videos so far! They are all very easy to follow, beginner-friendly for kids of all ages! I'll be uploading a new lesson weekly! Would you mind subscribing to my channel my friends? And if you know anyone who has kids who love to learn about art, drawing, painting and crafts...please share the link! Thanks so much! I just wanted to show you my Three Little Pigs! In this lesson, I show kids (and beginners) how to draw these pigs from start to finish, and I read the fairy tale too. I'm having lots of fun! From beginner art to charcoal realistic pigs...I think I found my calling! ππ
PS: I have all 10 videos embedded on this page on my blog if you want to see them, or just visit the YouTube channel! ♥
All of the furries in my family are finally okay...healthy and happy! I take Jack on a walk each morning down the road to see our neighbour's horses. I just adore these animals!
I've been so busy that I haven't been cooking much - can you believe it? Food being my favourite thing in the world lol! But I did find time to sneak in a pizza!!
Most dinners have been quick pasta dishes - I'm very happy I canned all of that spaghetti sauce last month!! I'm linking to Kathy's Food Wednesday post! I have monthly shopping today and I hope to have more time in the kitchen this week, so stay tuned for some fun new food ideas next week!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more "Farm Life" creations! See you soon!!! π π
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Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date: click on the links below for a description of the theme and inspiring images!
This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! π¨
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 my Friends, to Thursday's Art Date! ππ Today our theme is Mermaids and Water Creatures! I asked Bugs Bunny if he would pose as Poseidon, the Greek God of the Sea - he was a little reluctant because he had to show a lot of skin in this drawing! I think he spent some time at the gym to prepare!
I pulled out a watercolour painting I did back in 2016 of a Sea Horse. I love the colours in this one!
I also tried my hand at some more 3D art. I'm not too sure how 3D this looks, but it's definitely a shark! I drew this with ink and graphite.
My latest #Shorts video is up on YouTube! ☺
Some fun news! In the next few weeks, I'm launching a new channel - Rain Frances Art For Kids! I've made a few videos and sent them out to a friend who has young kids for feedback. I'm now in the process of setting up the channel and creating art lessons! I'll let you know when it's up and running!
Baby Oscar had to go back to the vet. He was having trouble peeing again. The photo on the left shows a large amount crystals in his urine, poor baby. He's on antibiotics again and we have switched him to a Urinary formula diet. He's slowly getting better. Otherwise the rest of the family is happy and healthy!
I tried a few new dishes this week! Cauliflower Casserole. This was absolutely delicious! It fed us for 3 suppers!
Fried Tomatoes with Dipping Sauce. We had these with the leftover casserole. These are just so delicious, nice and crispy! You can't use soft tomatoes though, I usually use green tomatoes for this, but the tomatoes I had were not ripe at all and worked perfectly!
And of course, I need at least one pizza each week!
I made a Key lime pie too. I crushed up Graham crackers and mixed in some melted butter for the crust. (10 minutes at 350F) And I used a packaged pie filling from Shirriff. It was actually quite yummy! I have tried to make Key lime pie from scratch but Key limes are rare in these here parts!!
This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! π¨
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 my Friends, to Thursday's Art Date! ππ Today our theme is Unicorns! I drew a scene from the Looney Tunes' "What's Opera Doc?" short film from 1957. Although the horse in this short isn't a Unicorn, I took creative license! π
From Wikipedia: "The story features Elmer chasing Bugs through a parody of 19th-century classical composer Richard Wagner's operas, particularly Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung), Der Fliegende HollΓ€nder (The Flying Dutchman), and Jac TannhΓ€user. It borrows heavily from the second opera in the "Ring Cycle" Die WalkΓΌre, woven around the typical Bugs–Elmer feud. The short marks the final appearance of Elmer Fudd in a Chuck Jones cartoon."
Here's the "What's Opera Doc?" short from Vimeo...I love this so much, it's brilliant - the art work, the ironies...as a kid I cried at the end of it!
I have a new #Shorts video up on my art channel!
Here's my ink and graphite Unicorn. These creatures always look a little sad to me.
Here are some foodie photos, as I'm joining in on Kathy's Food Wednesday party! I mentioned last week that Alex and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary. Well this was the spread!
We had a cheese platter with my Homemade No Knead Bread. None of this cheese was my homemade stuff...I need to find time to start cheese-making again!
And finally, store-bought, yeah...store-bought...oh Rain... "Tuxedo Cake"...wowsa...that's a moist chocolate cake with layers of chocolate and white chocolate ganache. It was heavenly with a little Spumanti bubbly!
For St-Patty's Day I made some Irish Coffees.
It's been another busy week! I FINALLY got my new roof!!! It's tin and the colour is Coffee Brown! I qualified for some government assistance for this roof...that's why I've been waiting patiently since last July. I'm so relieved it's finally done - every time we had a wind storm, I would find shingles all over my property!
Jack and Baby Oscar are fine now! They both responded very well to their treatments and they are good as new! ♥
But now Dana has issues. He's licking his belly raw. He has a history of licking his belly when he feels stress. We're trying to comfort him as best we can but I'm sure the pet losses of late have affected our furries as much as it's affected us. What do you think of his new orange soft collar? So much better than those plastic ones! This is keeping him from licking and his hair is starting to slowly grow back.
We got him a big pack of cat toys to try to keep him busy and let his stress and energy out in a healthy way. The cats love these, especially the shiny foily ones! Jack loves the feathers on the stick too, he can chase that forever! I'll try to get some videos for you of them playing, it's really cute!
That's all for now folks! Please check out the link widget below for more "Unicorns" creations! See you soon!!! π π
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Upcoming Art Dates For Rain's Thursday Art Date: click on the links below for a description of the theme and inspiring images!
This art date is all about creating. You can showcase your paintings, drawings, photography, sculpting, baking, poetry...whatever you like! π¨
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).