daily sketch: 30 March 2007

Last Light, Petit Passage... a new ATC

Trying to catch up on my ATC project, I made this last night and finished it up this morning.

Last Light, Petit Passage, ATC 2.5"x3.5", watercolour on watercolour board.

Aberlemno Stone Spiral rock carving - finished

Taa daa! After about 1 1/2 hrs last night, she's done. The outside circle is 7.5 cm in diameter, I've photographed the stone with my chequebook to give a better idea of the size. It was challenging to work with such small lines so close together, but I'm very happy with the results. I think I'll have to go the the beach today for more art supplies. ;)

spiral stone work-in-progress

I'm working on my second stone, and thought I'd post work in progress images to document how I'm doing this.

The spiral design I'm using for this one comes from the famous Aberlemno stone cross. I've used the pattern in paintings before, and I'm excited to be rendering it in the medium it was meant for.

Here is a photo of my set up:

Following my crude little green numbers, I'll walk you through. #1 is the original line drawing. What you can't see is that the back of the paper is covered in a layer of red pastel dust. Previous to this photo being taken, I taped the pasteled pattern to the stone, and traced the lines. When I lifted the paper, the rock looked as shown at #2. You can (kind of) see the red lines on the stone. Next step is to use a pigment pen to trace the lines on the stone, so then I can wipe off the red dust. #3 are my mask and goggles - sexy I know, but I don't want stone dust in my lungs or contacts. #4 is my trusty dremel tool, along with #5, my diamond bits. And #6 is the toothbrush I use to keep the rock dust/water gunk off the stone so I can see what I'm doing.

And here we are after about an hour of work with the dremel. Getting there, but still at least another hour on this one. This was a challenge, as I didn't know if I could work this small... if your monitor is set like mine (800 x 600), then this photo is about life size. The spiral design is about 8 cm across.

I'll post again when I finish.

my first stone carving!

Here it is! I am so excited about this, and can't wait to do more. The knot is around 6cm x 6cm, and took about 4 hours to complete.

stone carving

My first foray into stone carving. I'm doing it the easy way, with a Dremel. I'm actually surprised by how easy it is... the tool cuts the stone like it's sinking into warm butter. It's very fun, and kind of magical to see hard stone yield to me. I'll post this again as soon as I finish it.

daily sketch: 19 March

Two quickie sketches from the WetCanvas scavenger hunt: the first as a challenge to draw from an unusual/diffucult perspective. I found it hard to pull off, and didn't quite get the shape of the pot right. Practice, practice!

I'm very excited about something new I'm working on, and I'll get some photos up soon. My mom and dad gave me a dremel and diamond bits for Christmas, and I'm just getting around to trying it out. I'm carving beach rocks- I played around with a few of the bits today to see what variety of line I can get, and then I carved a freehand triskele knot, with interlacing. I'm excited about this new technique, and I'm getting ideas about things I can try...

daily sketch: 18 March 07

Well, after a whole bunch of slacking off and avoidance for a while, I'm back to the daily sketch thing. I just haven't felt motivated to create much lately. So now that I'm broadcasting it out here on the world wide web, I have to do it... ;)

And so: where I like to sit and read. Note the lovely window trim moulding newly installed by hubby and friend.

celtic whale #2

Celtic Whales #2

watercolour, ink, and metallic gel pen

ATC size, 3.5" x 2.5"

march break and a dream come true

I hate blogger today... it's eaten my posts three times already. Each type I re-type, the post becomes shorter...!

We had the kids in Halifax this week for the March school break.
On the way there, we hiked at the Blomidon Provincial Park. The view from the top of the look-off was brilliant. The red cliffs of Blomidon tower over the mudflats of the Minas Basin stretched out below. The flats are mirrored in the green rolling fields of the Valley.

In Halifax, we saw some giant robotic reptiles, played at the Discovery Centre, swam for hours at the hotel pool, and had a ton of fun.

I also was able to fulfill a lifelong dream of mine. I've been fascinated with ancient Egypt since I did a project in the fourth grade. My only tattoo is of my name in hieroglyphics. I've always wanted to go to Egypt, and failing that, to at least see Egyptian artifacts in real life. I got my wish. The Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is hosting a travelling exhibit "The Treasures of Ancient Egypt" from the Museum of Fine Art in Boston. They are the oldest Egyptian artifacts in North America.

I was surprised by how emotional I felt seeing the display. For me, the most moving was the display of a mirror, a kohl pot and stick , and cosmetic pots. I caught my own reflection in the mirror, and immediately felt a connection spanning across space and time to another woman just like me 4000 years ago.

I was also blown away by Graeme Patterson's installation Woodrow. The installation speaks of the death of rural Canada, and features large models of decaying landmarks of his once-thriving, now nearly deserted hometown in Saskatchewan. The models feature small video displays with his own stop-action animated short films and robotic figures. My favorite was the church with an elderly lady playing organ upstairs while two old men bowl in the basement. They were mesmerizing and my kids were really excited about them.

Hiking at Kejimkujik

We drove to Kejimkujik National Park yesterday for a 7 km (5 mi.) hike. I love Keji - I camped there often as a child with my family, and spent weeks there every summer. I love canoeing to the wilderness camping sites on the islands, and I love hiking the extensive trail system.
My favorite hiking trail is the Hemlocks and Hardwoods trail, a loop through one of the few remaining pockets of old-growth forests in Nova Scotia. 350 year old hemlocks tower above to a thick, green canopy. Within the forest, it seems to be perpetually twilight. It is a totally magical and otherworly place. I would love to visit in the winter, but it would have been a 15 km. or so hike... so maybe some other time.

The trail we did yesterday was Peter's Point, a trail we just did in September. In the winter, the dirt road leading to the parking area for this trail is closed and groomed for cross country skiing, so that makes for a longer walk than in summer. There was 5 or 6 inches of snow in the forest. The trail follows a point of land out into Kejimikujik Lake. The tip of the point, at the trail's end, is just a short skip across water to a small island. The point shelters two sandy beaches, one facing north, and one south. It was beautiful to witness the blanketed hush. Beech and Pine

Frozen Lake


Towering Pine

Twilight brook