hOMe ...

"The inner walls of a home

are threaded with the textures

of one's soul,

a subtle weave of presences"

-John O'Donohue-

"Maybe

 the desire to make

 something beautiful

is the piece of God

that is inside 

each of us.

-Mary Oliver-

"Art pierces opaque subjectivity,

the not seeing of conventional life,

and discloses reality"

-Langdon Brow Gakey-

I am forever in awe of birds. Everything about them draws me in . . . from their song, feathers, nest building abilities. . .  their resilience. This past summer, we saw so many unusual birds in the garden who to our delight became familiar with our presence and in turn became very tame. A pair of yellow finch and trio of blue jays were very comfortable eating beside us as we had our morning coffee, and evening meal on the deck. What an absolute thrill to see birds this close up. 

Looking around my studio, I can see the influence they have on me and my art.  Canvas's of all shapes and sizes pay homage to them in one way or another. A nest * eggs * feathers * . . .  Pieces  of linen have needle punch nests and I have combined twigs and bark and found feathers . . . Beautiful quotes that mention Sparrows have  been handwritten on snippets of paint splattered paper from my art table ... words that touch my heart . . . 

"And she moves among the sparrows,

and she floats upon the breeze.

She moves among the flowers

she moves something deep inside of me"

-Nick Cave-

"Because nothing should be wasted

in a world

where Sparrows work hard

to prove there is enough"

-Gary Soto-

Happy Wednesday

d x 

Hello October . . .

Happy 1st day of October ... 

There was talk of a frost but thankfully that didn't happen. I have seeds to collect, and plants ( Coleus and Geraniums)  to take out of their baskets, re-pot and winter over.

The feeders have all been given a good scrub and getting ready for cooler weather feeding.

Along with the woodpeckers, we've had a pair of Flickers in the garden daily. They've provided endless entertainment as they twirl around the trees gathering bugs :-) 

Oak trees and Acorns - bliss!  I can never resist gathering acorns and will have bowls filled with them in no time.

The cosmos are still blooming in our garden ... lots to still cut a few for inside

The colours of Autumn take my breath away!

Outside decorating has been completed with the exception of our large wooden scarecrows that still sit in the attic ... they will come down this weekend. 

Hope you are enjoying this beautiful Autumn day!

Have a wonderful weekend.

D x

 

Weekend memories ...

We were lucky to have wonderful weather all weekend long.

On Saturday, it was our Art Show on the beach, and we arrived early, found a beautiful tree and view of the Lake and set up our table. It was wonderful to chat with fellow artists , some I had already met before during the three weekends we participated in Burlington Artscape Leaf Fundraiser for Joseph Brant Hospital.  Lynda Jones who co-ordinated the event, had a multi-generational tent with original art pieces created by herself, her husband Dennis, nephew and daughter Tracy who brought along her guitar and played beautifully throughout the afternoon.

Mid-afternoon my family surprised me with a visit :-)  and we ended the day with Hutch's fish and chips and ice cream for desert, making it a truly beautiful day!

On Sunday, we celebrated a family Birthday at one of our favourite parks.

During Covid, we've been getting very creative and family picnics have been one way we can all be together, keeping a safe distance ... picnic tables ... blankets spread out ,,, all our favourite foods ,,,, 

So lovely to have everyone together ~ our kids, their significant others, and grandsons  ... and of course... grandpups! 

Our newest grandpup who we are lovingly referring to as "baby Archer" melted our heart

Axel is our son Alex's  black labrador retriever and an absolute gem. We even managed to get some time to ourselves with him and went for a little walk through the park! Archer loved this park and most weekends were spent there with him so it holds lots of wonderful memories. We've never had a puppy, all three of our labs were adopted at older ages... but we couldn't help but see all of them in Axel. 

Welcome to the family sweet Axel xxxx

 

Writing the Rollercoaster ...

Back in March, I read about an idea for an upcoming book regarding the impact Covid 19 had in our local community paper. There was a request for submissions of stories and poems, a way to share experiences , and I thought what a fantastic idea this was! 

It was to be called Writing the Rollercoaster and was the brainchild of Lynda Simmons and Sylvia McNicoll. I mentioned it to my daughter Kate who is a wonderful writer and author herself, thinking I too would submit  a story.  I knew exactly what/who I would write about .  At this point it had only been a few weeks since we lost Archer and emotions were raw.

The submission deadline date drew closer, my daughter asked if I had sent mine in yet as she had already sent in her 2 submissions, a story and a haiku.

 I had tried, unsuccessfully,  to get any thought down on paper without breaking into tears and putting the pen down thinking I would try again later. This was very unusual for me. I love to write and my only issue with writing in the past was keeping the word count down as I tend to get too wordy :-) 

My family asked more than a few times "Have you sent in your submission yet Mum?"  They understood of course that I was having a hard time with this one. Remembering those last few months/weeks/days with Archer, his love of life and taking in every last drop of it, well ... it is very hard to write when your eyes are clouded with tears that are dropping on the paper like rain cloud puddles.

In the end, I gave up trying to write anything down on paper and went to the computer, into my email, pressed "compose" and just began clicking the keyboard and before I knew it "Silver Linings" was ready to submit.

This project came at a wonderful time for me as writing Silver Linings was so cathartic.  Being able to put down thoughts was a much needed release.

A few weeks later I received an email saying my story was one of 50 chosen and would be included in the Writing the Rollercoaster anthology.

This past weekend was the book launch party.

Each author received 2 copies of the book in an adorable book bag.

The event was catered with a wonderful Food truck and Ice cream truck, Coffee and Tea bar.

There were snippets of stories from the book scattered all around so you could walk and read ... 

I'm page 65

And such a thrill to share this exciting moment with my daughter!  Both her submissions were included also. Together, Apart told of our strong family bond and everything we do to make sure no matter what, that never changes. 

 And the very last page of the book, is her Haiku :-) 

Thank you so much Lynda & Sylvia for this amazing project & book launch and Congratulations!! 

Monday moments ...

Happy Monday, the start of a brand new week.

I started my day as I normally do - lemon water * meditation * time on the mat * journaling and  a  lovely early morning walk .  When I returned home, it was breakfast - also the "usual" of oats/fresh fruit/nuts and almond milk and then a long anticipated phone chat with my daughter who had been away on holidays in Nova Scotia with her partner and their dog Harry,  so there was lots of news to catch up with!

This beauty was the first thing I spotted as I walked upstairs. Enjoying his own breakfast in the trumpet vine! Every time we've seen a Baltimore Oriole in our garden, they have always been splashing about in one of the birdbaths. I thought he looked absolutely striking - the orange of his feathers with the orange of the trumpet vine. 

My camera was packed away in it's bag and in the cupboard and I was sure that once I managed to get to the window he would be gone, but as luck would have it, he was very busy looking for bugs and was there long enough to snap 3 photos. Then I slowly walked away from the window so he could enjoy his time in peace.

If you're a snail mail lover like me, I've made 2 card sets and added them to the shelves of my Etsy shop (link is in the side bar).

One is Woodland Animals - Autumn Sparrow * Autumn Hare * Woodland Nap

and the other set 

is a collection of Nests ;-) 

Barn babies * And then there were three * Out of the Blue

Left blank inside for your own sweet sentiment to let someone know they are on your mind!

"All the arts we practice are apprenticeship.

The big art is our life"

-M.C. Richards-

 

Burlington Artscape Fundraiser . . .

 ~Woodland Wanderer~

27. Woodland  Wanderer - SOLD 

By: Deb Dunn

I began by writing my thoughts in pencil. The words, emotions, gratitude, forever with the paint. Even though we live in an urban area, we are surrounded by the untamed beauty of nature. Central park is a juxtaposition of activity and serenity.

***

I hope Woodland Wanderer brings much joy and peace to the space it now sits in.

Much thanks to the purchaser for supporting this wonderful Artscape Fundraising Event for Joseph Brant Hospital. We received both our Covid Vaccines here and are very grateful to  the staff, volunteers  and doctors who made it possible! 

***

The 1st of 3 outdoor Burlington Artscape Fundraising Event exhibitions (August 8, 15, 22) starts *tomorrow*.

Sunday August 8, from 10am - 4pm at Grace United Church, Burlington, Ontario.

Come out, tour the "leaf walk", meet and chat with the artists and see all 50 unique leaves in person!

I'm looking forward to doing that myself :-) 

The leaves are available for purchase (although some have already sold) for $750.00 with 100% of the proceeds going to Joseph Brant Hospital.

I will be there beside my leaf Woodland Wanderer ~ if you stop by,  I'd love to chat ~ please say hello xx  

Cover Artist

 ~After the frost~ 

As soon as the risk of frost is over, I love to sprinkle saved seeds from the year before randomly all through our garden beds. While I will keep some seeds to themselves, I prefer to mix them all together.  I especially love the surprise of not knowing what plants will pop up where. 

Morning glories are especially wonderful for this and we have found them in the most unexpected, wonderful nooks and crannies in the garden! Like I mentioned in my last post, this is the time of year when our garden takes on a bit of a "wild" look and this is one of the reasons why ;-) 

After the frost is a painting filled with thoughts of   walking through the garden, clippers and basket in hand, snipping random flowers and buds. 

I am absolutely thrilled & honored to have After the Frost as the Cover Art for the June/July 2021

issue of The Country Register of Ontario.

Thank you so much to publisher Harriet Ramos .