To Tatamagouche

 So made it north after the Big Apple. Thought I'd try and draw all the animals I saw whilst up there - was dying to see a moose and a bear, but no luck. Or thought I saw a moose, but have a feeling it was just a deer. Definitely saw a beaver though, very exciting swimming alongside the road in a ditch. And a porcupine. Dead one, but definitely a porcupine.... But by far the most exciting one was what we think was a snowy owl.  Just above my brother's field, circling the trees, huge and beautiful. My brother and girlfriend moved out there last year and have started a flower farm, beautiful place, all organic and free living. Check our their blog if you get a chance, great reading about all their adventures in setting up a farm in a totally new environment to them. I'm so glad we made it out there, and great to be able to contribute my lil bit to their cause!

 Tried to draw the dutch barns all over the place, but this was done from the train across to Nova Scotia, so they flew past, so, I know they look nothing like the beautiful dutch barns, but wanted to capture the feel of them surrounded by thick snow and the water and hills beyond them.

 Jamie and Fay collected their own maple syrup, so exciting going down everyday to see what was in the bucket. Took hours to boil it down to anything remotely resembling the stuff you see plonked down infront of you with your pancakes, but so tasty, knowing you've collected it yourself.

 So many houses had these little lighthouses in their gardens. Loved them. Only managed to get three of them, but they had all sorts of different shapes and sizes.

This was drawn at Peggy's Cove, a beautiful place, a mecca for artists the world over. Not a great representation this as it was drawn in what must have been -10 degree wind chill, so no feeling at all in my hands, or brain, but one day I'll return in the warmth. It has a great lighthouse, and the whole village has been built on granite. William deGarthe, an artist, lived there and when he was 70 he started carving out a 30m mural on this granite dedicated to the fishermen. Amazing piece of work, but 7 years later he died, not having finished it. Amazing dedication to work on something that consistently, to still maintain that vision after all those years.

New York 2

Loved all the different fire (?) hydrants I saw on my trip. Don't know what all the different colours meant, but I especially loved what looked like gold ones on Park Avenue. How decadent.

 Went to a Korean restaurant as we used to live in South Korea when I was a kid, so we wanted to try all the food we used to adore, and it was far better than I remembered. I'm afraid the oil pastels didn't even remotely capture the delicacy and beauty of the food we were served, but great tasting bulgogi and kimchi again. Yum.

 Drew these collection of people from our breakfast table one morning all walking past in their own little worlds getting ready for their day ahead.

Loved all the reflections in the glass. You would see hidden buildings reflected but you could never find the actual original building that made it.

Trump Towers to Tatamagouche

 So, I've been on a transatlantic whistle-stop trip around New York and Canada. A wee taster of two completely different places, both fascinating, and both great. Not nearly enough time spent in each place, but a good introduction to both brothers lives across the pond.

 So, a few drawings will follow in various posts. A sketchbook was filled in all of two weeks, but I won't scan everything. But here are two of the skyline from the hotel.

Loved the water towers that were all over the place in New York. Apparently they all have to be the same style, only one company makes them, just to keep the integrity of the New York skyline. You don't really notice them at first, but once you spot one, you start to notice hundreds all over the place, I just loved the patterns and uniformity they made amongst the totally different buildings.

What a turkey!

Loved drawing these turkeys. Could hardly walk under the weight of their own importance, all fluffed up and noone taking the blindest bit of notice. Never really noticed how beautiful their feathers were, quite subtle until you really look. Wish I had my paints when I drew them, but seeing as I was supposed to be working when I whipped my sketchbook out,  probably would have been really cheeky if I had done so...

Two gone and counting

So where have the past two months gone to? Gone far too fast, but must show I've been having far too much fun. Either that or just got too many things to do and not enough time.

So I'm back to doing my drawing calendar, did it last year sort of, but I tended to draw the days about a week or so later, and couldn't for the life of me remember some of the days, so its only a half filled diary. I've kept this one in the midst of my current sketch book, as last year I kept it separate and never took it around with me. If I can keep this years one going daily, as its always with me,  it would be great, then at least I've got a reminder in the years to come of what a crazy ol time its been lately.

Natural Geometry

How on earth do woodpeckers get perfectly circular holes? I've walked past this tree many a time and always marvelled at the perfect circles, so I finally decided to stop and draw it, and celebrate the clever wee elusive birds. Yet again the dogs waited patiently, well sort of. A stick kept being dropped at my feet at a not so subtle hint to get moving, stop drawing and start playing. One day I hope to catch a woodpecker on paper...

St Bride's Day

Heard when I got up that it was St Bride's Day, goddess of fire and light. St Brigid is said to have helped the Virgin give birth to Jesus - whence she is the protector of pregnant women and midwives. Her pagan namesake, the Celtic goddess Brigit, was also associated with fertility and childbirth. Her feast day, is also the Gaelic spring festival of Imbolc, On this mystic day adders were believed to abandon their winter lairs: and the oyster-catcher birds, called in Gaelic Gille Brighde, ' the servants of Bride', made their appearance, bringing Spring with them. We saw a huge flock of them in a field today, coincidence? Not sure if I can remember seeing them earlier this year.
So this first day of February, we were told it was a good day to sow some seeds, so our new propagator bed was put to its test and tomatoes were sown. Shame she doesn't guard against forgetfulness. Forgot to turn off the hose filling up the water tank in the greenhouse, so guess what is now flooded...