Postcard from Hamilton

Three Paintings from "The Egg and I" where we had breakfast this
morning in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

Be back Tuesday, no comments 'til then.

Adventure: Courting the dangers of risk-taking

I've hitch-hiked back and forth across the country, walked alone for
weeks through the wilderness and climbed tall, icy cliffs at night,
putting myself at risk and at times exhausting myself. Because in the
end I succeeded, those events were adventures and I the adventurer.
If I had not succeeded they would have been failures or worse. I
could have died or been severely injured. Few adventure stories are
written about failed adventures. Not that anyone wants to write
adventure stories about me! LOL! :-D

I like to embrace an element of risk, though these days, my
risk-taking takes different and milder forms than hitch-hiking alone
across the country. Today, my small and somewhat stupid* risk was
trying a new** art technique, drawing with ordinary Crayola crayons
on heated paper. But my instructions weren't good. In fact, they
were pathetic.

I had beginners luck with the first one (not shown because it was a
card for Biker Buddy)--it came out pretty good. By the time I tried
the second one(the first here), the burner (on my stove) was too hot
and the crayons melted terribly. Although some of the strokes looked
like brush strokes, some looked like messy finger painting. I wasn't
happy.

In the third one (second here), I turned the burner down, and at first
it worked well (the tree trunk and orange leaves), but then it got too
cool and began to resemble a normal crayon drawing--not what I
wanted, I wanted the painterly look.

These are both failures. Normally, I would toss them out, but today I
wanted to show them because I wanted to discuss the importance of
failure in the learning process.

If we never take risks, we rarely improve much. If we never fail, we
don't learn as much as we might learn from our failures.

I want to try this again and see if I can get the temperature right.
I used a pancake griddle and the griddle was too small for the paper,
which caused it to wrinkle and make unnecessary marks. I could use
smaller paper or try a cookie sheet. Also, a better quality paper
might give a better result--this was simply computer printer paper of
the cheapest variety.

I'd like to try again, but not today, too much to do. This was my
little break from work, but it gave me a sore back. AK. I wonder if
they make temperature-controlled heated easels, LOL. Maybe I will go
back to other art forms! This sounded inexpensive and potentially fun.
It eats up crayons much faster than just coloring with them, though!

The first picture is from the "Illustrate the alphabet" assignment from
Monday Art Day. In case you can't tell, S is for Sad. I will not get
my alphabet done in time and in fact, prolly won't enter at all. Now
that's sad. Sort of. In the grand scheme of things, well, it's a
paper cut I guess.

*stupid because I have too much to do to be farting around!
**new to me; I've never tried it before.

PS. Piano Boy just got home from school and Biker Buddy is still at work, but we will be leaving shortly for Hamilton--as soon as Biker Buddy gets home.

Headed Out

We're leaving today for Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. We'll be back
Tuesday. If I am able to get on-line, I may send a virtual
"postcard."

One of the nice things about Hamilton is the waterfalls and
cliffs--it's right on the Niagara Escarpment, so this huge cliff runs
right through it.

Have a great weekend.

I am a Goddess!

Dr. Joy Barredo has invited me to contribute to her The Goddess in You Website. I am Painting Goddess, a Photography Goddess and a Poetry Goddess. Yay me. Woohoo! LOL! (Click image to view larger or see it at the site.)

Preparing for my art exhibit at Westcott

I have had six of my pieces accepted at the Westcott Gallery in Syracuse, NY. These are prints of the six paintings, framed and ready to go. Nearly ready. I have to put hanging hardware on and fill out paperwork and pack them up. Click image to view larger. I left it large so you could see it the details if you are interested. Sorry about the reflections. :-(

The show runs November 15 through December 31, 2007. If you happen to be in Syracuse during that period, the gallery is located at the corner of Westcott Street and Euclid Avenue. Upstairs in the Westcott Community Center, which used to be a fire station. Entry is free.

Wordless Wednesday

(click image to view larger)

BOO! (Happy Halloween!)

Have a great day and a great evening! :-D
(click to view larger.)

Y is for YELLOW and for YOU

I love yellow--it's such a cheery color. Of course, I don't want to be a yellow-bellied sap sucker (otherwise known as a wimp) (But I am, sometimes, anyway!). I like yellow warblers in the yellow birches. When I was doing my horse research in Idaho, I had a hawk next above me and a yellow warbler nest in the same tree! YAY!

I like YOU, too, if you're here reading this, because otherwise, why would I bother? THANKS! :-D

I like yummy, yummy is a pleasure to eat.

I like YAY! That means something has happened worth celebrating. I like YEBA because that means I am celebrating with my Filipino friends. Yippee and yahoo are good words too.

I like yoga and do some every morning and sometimes other times.

I like youth and wish I could stay young (fat chance). I'd like to grow younger physically but keep the accumulated wisdom (hah).

I love Yellowstone National Park. What a great place, especially off-season!

I like the Y-chromosome for giving my a foil for my double X.

I like Yahweh and Mrs. Yahweh for being so loving.

I like reading about the medicine men of the Yaqui.

This is page 2 of my 26-page meme on things I like with letters of the alphabet backwards. If you join me, let me know so I can read what you wrote. I am way behind on my email and commenting so be very patient 'til I get caught up.

Happy Halloween

Little Sketch by me. Hope you have a great day and a great evening!

Nashua Creek

Biker Buddy and I often walk along Nashua Creek, which runs through the center of Belle Isle. Yesterday was rainy and windy, but we went anyway and were glad we did. The wet leaves were all saturated (with rain and color) and the wind was exhilerating. We had a great time.

See two sets of four more pictures from this outing here and here. Click images ot view larger.