painting – Creativity is the calling of the soul

365…184

Published on July 3, 2019July 3, 2019 by WandaLeave a comment

Wednesday, 3 July 2019

Another hot and hazy summer day, but not a lazy one! A pleasantly busy one.

I’ve taken on an exciting design project at work with one of my favourite clients. It promises to be a busy, productive and creative summer. I live for these types of projects.

Today is my sister-in-law’s birthday and we went out for supper to celebrate. The Rockcliffe Boathouse Restaurant. It’s at the bottom of a steep, narrow road just off the George Etienne Parkway (if you’re anything like me, you might know it as the Rockcliffe Parkway…not sure why they have to change the names of roads!) right at the Rockcliffe lookout. I’ve always wondered what was down that road. Now I know!

A lovely restaurant that floats on the water. The food was very good, as was the white wine! Mom and I arrived early so made our way down to the water to tip our toes in it. She loves the water – may have been a mermaid in another lifetime – and I thought this would be a great shot. I’m happy with it and she gave her blessing to be photo of the day.

Woman at riverside — 184/365 Photo of the day, 3 July 2019, ©️WQuinn

I remembered my paints today but worked through my lunch hour. It was almost 4 when I remembered I had a painting to do. I took a ten minute break – wellness/zen break – and painted a cute scene.

At first I had no idea what to paint. I started with a blue sky and wanted cumulus clouds, then I added three layers of mountains and the rest just followed nicely!

Watercolor landscape painting — 184/365 Painting of the day, 3 July 2019, ©️WQuinn

365…30

Published on January 30, 2019 by WandaLeave a comment

Had a bit of a slip on the ice this morning…who am I kidding, I went down like a ton of bricks! Glad I didn’t hit my head, and except for a few sore spots, I’m right as rain.

Went for a walk at lunch. Decided to head up to the Culture Trail (Sentier Culturel) to see what it looks like in the winter. Much to my surprise, the iconic Chez Henri now houses a Boston Pizza!

photograph of Boston Pizza signage on the old Chez Henri building in Hull (now Gatineau) Quebec, Canada. — 030/365 Photo of the day
Chez Henri/Boston Pizza
30 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

I opened Instagram this morning and was surprised to see a photograph that looked very much like several paintings I have done over the years. Paintings, I’ve painted from ideas in my mind’s eye, of sky, sea and beach. The photo, taken in Florida by a local photographer I follow on Instagram, was so familiar I had to look at it a few times. It was sky, sea and beach!

So, for tonight’s painting, I decided to paint that same scene, at least my interpretation of it, using watercolour paints. I tagged the photographer to let them know their photo inspired me. I love it when things like that happen 😉

watercolour painting of sky, ocean, beach — 030/365 Painting of the day
Sky, Sea, Beach
30 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

365…19

Published on January 19, 2019 by WandaLeave a comment

Brrrrr! Another cold day! Didn’t go out but got lots accomplished inside. More decluttering going on – this time the kitchen! A bag and a couple of boxes full of Tupperware, containers and dishes we no longer need will be making their way to Value Village in the next couple of days. So much purging going on, not to mention reorganizing. It feels great!

I decided to try light painting tonight – something I’ve been wanting to do for some time. Light painting is a photography technique where you set up a “scene” or an object in a dark area – pitch black is best, then “paint” the object with light from a pen light (or small flashlight) while the camera’s shutter is open for a small period of time (10 or so seconds.)

I have this really cool Christmas decoration I purchased this year. It’s an old red truck with a tree in the back. I just love it. I decided to paint it with light. I borrowed by Mom’s black jacket, placed it in my closet as a background, then put the truck on it. Set up the tripod and camera, grabbed my small flashlight and started experimenting. I took 15 pics and there was one I really liked where the truck is quite bright, especially the front, but the background really shows through. This was my second favourite and it’s today’s Photo of the Day.

red truck with christmas tree in back — 19/365 Photo of the day – light painting
19 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

One of my favourite paintings I painted is a sunflower on a mottled green and blue background. I painted it years ago using acrylic paints. For today’s painting of the day, inspired by that painting, I created something similar but with watercolours.

watercolour painting of three sunflowers — 19/365 Painting of the Day
Watercolour – Sunflowers
19 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

Tomorrow night is the lunar eclipse. I’m hoping the sky will be clear here so I can get some shots. It promises to be cold and there’s nothing like standing in the freezing cold, in the middle of the night (early morning) taking shots of nature at her finest!

365…11

Published on January 12, 2019 by WandaLeave a comment

11/365 Painting of the day
11 Jan 2019 ©WQuinn

It was sunflower kind of day 😉

and a mourning dove for the potd. This little guy has been hanging around the yard for over a week. He’s alone and isn’t overly shy. I was thrilled when he visited the back veranda where I have lots of bird seed, and a large window to take pics! I’m not overly happy with the bluish tint and normally would have tweaked it a little in Lightroom before posting, but I’m trying to improve my photos without post-production.