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365…038

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Have you ever had one of those days where things just seem to go your way?

Take my photo of the day, for instance. I was walking by the patio door and happened to notice a downy woodpecker on the veranda, eating the suet. I turned to get my camera but, just as I was zooming in, he flew away. BUT, he flew right back and landed closer and I was able to get a shot of him looking at the camera, which is pretty cool!

downy woodpecker on a branch looking at the camera
038/365 Photo of the day
Downy woodpecker
07 Feb 2019 ©WQuinn

It was a freezing drizzle kind of day, so I opted to stay home and telework (so blessed I can do this). I finished my day at 3:30 pm and thought it would be a good time to paint. Mom was also teleworking today and wasn’t finished her day, so I joined her at the kitchen table, she on one side typing away and I on the other side painting away.

My inspiration for tonight’s painting came shortly after finishing work. I happened to walk by the living room window and noticed the colours – which often happens…it’s the colours I notice, not the scene before me but the colours…and I just have to record them in some way. It used to be via a camera, but these days it seems to be with paint. There wasn’t a place for me to set up in front of the window, like I did for my painting of parliament hill, so I took a picture, then opened the photo on my laptop, using it as a guide.

landscape photo of trees and a field of snow is displayed on a laptop screen with a watercolour painting of the photo.
Inspiration for tonight’s painting of the day
07 Feb 2019 ©WQuinn

This painting came so easily and I enjoyed painting it so much. It’s one of my favourites and just might make it to the calendar for February.

watercolour painting of a landscape trees and a field of snow
038/365 Painting of the day
07 Feb 2019 ©WQuinn

365…037

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A lovely day today. It was cold. The sidwalks were ice and snow covered and difficult to navigate through, but all in all, it was a lovely day. I enjoyed the fresh air. I found it a little tough walking, but once I pulled my iPhone out and started to take photos, all thought of the conditions of the sidewalks slipped away and I just enjoyed the moment, the scenery and the fresh air.

It’s funny how the simple act of taking a picture changes your frame of mind, how you look at the world, at the space you’re in. For me, I see the beauty, the unique, the object standing out, screaming “capture me! capture me!”

This is what I captured:

photo of street light and sign for rue Vaudreuil in Hull, QC
037/365 Photo of the day
rue Vaudreuil, Hull QC
6 Feb 2019 ©WQuinn

I was in a spongy mood tonight:

Watercolour painting with a sponge, maybe, blue, green and beige
037/365 Painting of the day, 06 Feb 2019 CWQuinn

365…17

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Oh, it’s a bitterly cold January day. The sun is shining bright and it looks so beautiful out, but it’s deceiving! 😉

I chose to forego my lunch-hour walk today so I could paint my “painting of the day”. I have plans after work, which means I’ll be getting home pretty late tonight, and wanted to ensure I had time to paint.

This morning, as I was leaving the house, the sun was just starting to wake up. The sky was beautiful, dark blue high up, slowly gradating to a lighter blue. A sprinkle of yellow, followed by a trace of orange, flowed into a deep red at the horizon. The trees, fences, buildings were silhouetted. Jupiter and Venus were shining so bright – cold temperatures make for crystal clear skies! I was sorely tempted to run back into the house and grab my tripod to capture the moment. But, sometimes moments like these are meant for memories, to be cherished. Let’s not mention that I was already five minutes late for work…

So, when I started my painting, I had that morning vision in my mind’s eye and wanted to try to recreate it, at least the gradating sky and the silhouettes.

It’d didn’t quite end up like that, but happy accidents and all that 😉

watercolour painting of dawn sky, mountains, silhouetted trees
17/365 Painting of the day
Morning sky
17 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

And, for today’s photo of the day, I decided this was appropriate:

watercolour paints, paint brushes, painting, water container
17/365 Photo of the day
A work in progress
17 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

How to create fail-safes for those dark days…Day 1 of 30 days of Happiness

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Creativity is the calling of the soul

Day 1 – Fail-Safes

Think positive thoughts and positive energy comes to you. It’s a simple as that. When you’re happy and grateful the energy you’re sending out is happy and grateful and this energy attracts like to it.

That’s why it is so important to have fail-safes in place for those times when you’re feeling down. We all experience these times, but what makes us different is how we cope. For some the easiest approach would be to crawl back into bed, and say you’re never coming out; to pull the blinds down on all the windows, pull the blankets up over your head and cocoon yourself; to withdraw inside. It’s only natural, at this stage, to mentally list all the wrongs in your life; all the things that you don’t have but so and so does (keeping up with the Jones’ by comparing yourself to others and believing…

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