the things I forget...

these quiet winter days... so few distractions

I find myself sinking deeply into felt memories... how the cold looks I remember well and over the past few years being here during the winter has certainly helped reinforce that

how it felt was a different story; there just hadn't been this kind of cold during all those visits and now in the thick of it, I find myself remembering the feel of it  how much the two are intertwined

seeing the whipped snow and ice crystals blow about the air is one thing, feeling it on your face at -35 with a wicked wind chill is quite another

it feels as if you're skin is burning and freezing all at the same time

the mountain tops,  heavy with deep white snow are enveloped in a misty haze... blowing snow, as much up there as down here... stunning against the blue of the sky

with all the snow dust in the air you'd think to see only crystal diamonds blowing about yet when the sun is shining they take on a golden hue, warming in look but definitely not in feel

I've taken a few walks on calmer days but mostly time is spent indoors

enjoying my daily prompts, here are a few from the last while...

below, "looking through a window or door"

again, the living room windows to the forest behind on a sunny day

the greens enlivened by that dancing golden light

I used masking fluid, to hold on to more of the white than I usually seem to be able to

a tangled forest

the prompt below was for overlapping shapes

text from my course was an easy choice

some overwriting

over and over and over again in black

a section with light grey Graphik marker

another using leonardt calligraphy nib with black ink

and a small patch of pale, pale blue watercolour paint

and finally, "winter light"

easiest one of all, I knew all I wanted was the thin-stretched blue of the sky with the gold dust sparkling through the sunlit air

ideally this would also have some crystal-diamonds but I haven't figured that out yet

I may settle for a spatter of white watercolour

I'll ponder that as I stay out of the wind

take care,

jillayne

paper and ink...

ice crystals shimmer thickly in the air...

 dancing in the sunlight as the wind swirls and whirls them round and round

the effect is magical, though it does make me want to stay inside where its toasty warm

inspired by the motion, I picked up a plastic fork, dipped it into a dish of black ink in front of me and did some swirling and whirling of my own

not an easy tool to master but such great fun to try

I'm in the midst of a course on using text as texture with Claire Benn and Take Two where we are encouraged to use, among other things,  found objects such as forks and other oddments to see how they might work as a writing tool

on a walk to find a twig or two I found a good-sized branch torn off a tree during a recent windstorm

clinging to it were several tiny pinecones

fragile, hard to hold but oh so effective

this last one is a favourite - a broken popsicle stick,  any long splinters cut back to create a somewhat "even" rough edge

for the the upper version the stick was dragged to form the letters, in the lower, it was used to stamp them

another thing gathered on that same walk was a few small clumps of long thin pine needles

a paper-making date with a good friend yielded the sheet below

the needles were scattered over the couching sheet and the freshly pulled sheet of pulp was pressed upon it, drying under weight overnight

the result is light and delicate with strong impressions of the needles, clearly visible from each side

so, a paper and ink week

lots of trial and error, experiments galore and a few wonderful outcomes 

take care,

Jillayne

found in the backyard...

early January was lovely  

slow time, quiet days

I spent the first few reading a small stack of newsletters from various artist's in my inbox awaited me - one, from Carolyn Roberts, a beautiful painter in the UK contained a free gift: a pdf file of 30 days of prompts called

"Sketch, Snap, Repeat"

small noticings inspiring quiet work, nothing taxing, just looking, seeing, and recording in a way that suited you

I immediately decided to do it but saved it for my time here in the Yukon

at first I thought to make it about river but it's not possible to get there everyday so instead I chose the view out my daughter's living room windows, out into the backyard and greenbelt beyond

a most inspiring view

the black lines of the deck railing are the first thing you notice, then the mass of trees... somewhere in the midst, a chain link fence

I'm not quite up to date but getting there... the Little Miss broke her foot and with a cast on, couldn't go to daycare... instead, we spent our days colouring, doing puzzles, and playing endless games

they're off on a warm winter holiday now and I have the house to myself... all the art supplies I brought are laid out on the kitchen table and I'm ready to work

the first thing is to catch up with the prompts

the first prompt was "lines"

and circles:

neither of these spreads is finished yet but you'll have an idea of where I'm going with this... so little done,  yet I'm already feeling the value of taking the time to look and think and record

and with these long pages I can include a lot of information and have a play with some of the more interesting ideas that come of it 

so, a beginning

from the land of ice and snow

and sun

a thin winter sun that creates the most beautiful softly diffused light when there's ice fog

a non-cold-fearing friend took this photo during a recent spell of -45 and colder weather, the ice fog shrouding the land, temperatures too cold for the sun to have much success at burning it off

photo - C. Young

she also took the one below after it warmed up several degrees - she knows how much I love the dark open water contrasted with the snowy banks and frosted branches

photo - C. Young

and she very kindly lets me play around with them using various editing functions and using them in my work in any way that fits my needs

its the next best thing to being able to take them myself!

now that my feet are firmly planted in the land that made me I will be spending as much time out and about as I can

filling the well

take care,

Jillayne