the days of cold

 

home again, where the grass is greening and the days are rather mild 

I look at the weather for the north and the bitter cold has only now begun to ease... if you can call -23 an easing

the shock of the change never ceases 

when unpacking my art supplies today I spent some time looking at the last few works I did there...

on the Friday before my departure I met up with a friend to make paper - we used cotton linters and I had gathered some more pine needles as I wanted to do a free-pour with the pulp and emboss it with fresh pine needles

before I went to her house I made cranberry scones to have with our tea and as I was packing up my supplies to head to her house I noticed I hadn't washed up the plate I put the frozen cranberries on to thaw... a nice-sized puddle of juice had pooled near the rim so I grabbed a nearby tiny pinecone and a piece of cotton paper made in our previous session and quickly did a text block using the acorn and cranberry juice

one of the final prompts for my sketchbook work was "something to let go of"

on that particular day it was -36 with a fierce wind and I was feeling disappointed at how few walks I had been able to take... I didn't want to leave feeling that way so "letting go" of that seemed a good idea

worked in layers, first with a graphite pencil and small text, rubbing that back, then again, and again... that was followed by somewhat larger text, this time with a charcoal pencil layered over top and more rubbing back

the final few layers were with an ever-increasing size using a 1.0 felt-tipped Calligraphie pen with a chisel nib

I love the tangle of it, perfectly expressing the mixed emotions of the moment

on my last full day, a final walk by the river and noticed this jumble of ice the wind and current had formed

fractured and layered, the bright blue-green deeply colouring the ice shards

zooming in over and over, this was my favourite 

my finishing prompt was "inspired by a walk in nature"

a different calligraphy pen this time, one that runs beautifully with a light brush of water

at first I found the purple a bit alarming but after a minute it began to grow on me

it was a good four weeks, plenty of time for reflection and thinking about what's next, learning more about what matters and what doesn't

feeling ready to dive in

take care,

Jillayne