Quickie

Watercolour sketch, art journal

Watercolour sketch, art journal

A quick watercolour sketch of some of the flowers cascading from the flower box on the railing outside.

Irresistible

Pencil, art journal

Pencil, art journal

I can’t resist a pretty pear, as you might have noticed. My mum thought this one wasn’t attractive enough to be a still life subject, but I begged to differ.

Woo hoo!

“Little Black Dress”: cut paper collage and watercolour, art journal

“Little Black Dress”: cut paper collage and watercolour, art journal

I made a New Year’s resolution to lose 30 pounds, and today I declare success. Now I can once again rock my little black dress. All I need is a haircut and somewhere to go!

Berry Nice

“Strawberry Trio”: ink and watercolour, art journal

“Strawberry Trio”: ink and watercolour, art journal

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! (Well… second-most wonderful, maybe. Peaches-corn-tomato season still to come!)

Out and About

“Barn at the Bend, Wooler”: ink and watercolour sketch, art journal

“Barn at the Bend, Wooler”: ink and watercolour sketch, art journal

Today I went for a drive to explore some of the quiet country roads north of here. I parked at the side of the road to sketch this with ink, and added some watercolour when I got home.

Lovely Lilacs

“Lilacs for Edna”: watercolour sketch, art journal

“Lilacs for Edna”: watercolour sketch, art journal

I have never seen so many lilacs. There are banks and banks of them around here, everywhere you look. I have been cutting bunches of them for my mum, who always has fresh flowers in the house.

A Change of Pace

“The Willow at Kingfisher Cove”: watercolour sketch, art journal

“The Willow at Kingfisher Cove”: watercolour sketch, art journal

I am currently staying with my parents, who live on the Bay of Quinte near Trenton, Ontario. This willow tree is a prominent feature of the view from their back deck. After a hectic couple of months before moving here, I feel like I’m on an extended vacation in this pretty setting.

Anti-social media

“Complicit”: magazine collage, art journal

“Complicit”: magazine collage, art journal

For a long time I have been wanting to quit Facebook, on principle. What I learn about that company seems to get worse by the day. Now some of its employees are protesting and resigning. Although it can be a useful and enjoyable platform on a personal level, the damage it has caused, and continues to cause, is too high a price to pay, in my opinion. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has far, far too much power.

Trump, using Facebook as one of his most powerful tools, will burn his country down, given the chance. I believe we will one day learn how Facebook was weaponized by Russia and other countries to subvert American democracy… and this is only one of the travesties and atrocities it has facilitated (Brexit and the genocide in Myanmar come to mind).

As a visual artist, I am told that it’s necessary to be on social media. Instagram is the platform of choice for art, but it is owned by Facebook. Is it a necessary evil for artists? I hope not.

I resent that we have all been roped in to this toxic relationship. I don’t want to be a part of it any more.

Black Lives Matter

“The Snake”: magazine collage, art journal

“The Snake”: magazine collage, art journal

Trump is fond of reciting the lyrics to a song called “The Snake” during his political rallies. “You knew damn well I was a snake before you took me in.” He is ostensibly referring to immigrants, but he and the venomous white supremacists that he enables and promotes are the real poison.

'Tis the Season

“‘Tis the Season”: watercolour, art journal

“‘Tis the Season”: watercolour, art journal

In Toronto, I loved going to the farmers’ market. Here, I can go straight to the source. A farmer’s stall north of Trenton/Belleville is selling freshly picked asparagus. We had it for dinner with Beurre Blanc (#itsaDeborah) — delicious!

Back again

CAA Magazine Challenge, magazine collage, art journal

CAA Magazine Challenge, magazine collage, art journal

After a week of no art of the day (or any other kind of art) because of being too busy with moving and then too tired, I resumed my project today with a CAA Magazine Challenge… and I was very challenged. I finally came up with this: it’s a bit discombobulated, a bit topsy turvy. A reflection of how I’m feeling these days, maybe?