Marching Forward

February ended with some very interesting weather as you will see below. 

First day of Spring is only three weeks away, thank goodness!

“If winter comes, can spring be far behind?”

Percy Bysshe Shelley

White and wet day at the beach, no picnics today!

  

 

 

 

thought this looked a little like a turtle head

 

not many critters around

 

 

is this why they are called Snow Drops?

 

Crocuses bravely coming up through snow too!

Hen and Chickens plant doesn't seem to mind the weather

 

 

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Fun Saturday at Gallery 1710, Flora and Fauna Show and two artists in the gallery sharing their work. I was docent and despite the crazy weather we had quite a few visitors in to see the show and talk with the artists.

Darlyne's creations from polymer clay and paverpol.

 

 

 

Robin's watercolour pet portraits

 

 

More artists demos on March 4 and 11 (12 to 4 pm) at Gallery 1710

 

 

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New Show

 

I have 22 paintings at RiverHouse Restaurant in Delta for the next couple of months,

 here is a sample of some of the paintings. 

If you are in the area why not drop by for a look and something to eat.

 

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In the Studio:

 

First shells and then coral hearts

 

 

 

 

Now I am  working on a series of stumps from the forest around Shannon Falls, here is the first:

 

 

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A couple of things I thought were funny:

 

 

 

 

 

... and finally a new word:

 

 

Well that is all for this time,

happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

Gillian

Marching Along

 

As we March toward Spring
a little madness
here and there
 helps the time to pass!

I am a member of the South Delta Artists Guild and Gallery co chair and our new show "March Madness" has just started (on until March 27).

https://southdeltaartistsguild.com/show

The show name is not inspired by sport but by the Mad Hatter's Tea Party from the "Alice in Wonderland" story. 

Since I have spent quite a bit of time recently on this I decided to feature it in this months blog.

The hats were out, in the display and atop heads. Here are a few pictures from our demo day:

This is a top hat I made from papier mâché: 

It's always tea time.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland began as a story told to entertain three little girls on an afternoon trip in a rowboat. One of the three, ten-year-old Alice Liddell, asked to have the story written down, perhaps she was the inspiration for “Alice”.

The book commonly called Alice in Wonderland is an 1865 English children's novel by Lewis Carroll (a pseudonym of Charles Dodgson) in which a young girl named Alice falls through a rabbit hole into a fantasy world of anthropomorphic creatures. The original book included 42 illustrations by Sir John Tenniel.

Alice journeys down the rabbit hole into a world of wonder where oddities, logic, and wordplay rule supreme. She encounters characters like the grinning Cheshire Cat, who can vanish into thin air, the cryptic Mad Hatter who speaks in riddles and the harrowing Queen of Hearts obsessed with the phrase "Off with their heads!"

How did the Mad Hatter get his name?

The name the Mad Hatter and the phrase "as mad as a hatter" relate to the 19th century use of a mercury-based compound in the making of fine hats.

After long-term exposure, hatters would often develop symptoms of mercury poisoning, such as tremors or mood-swings: thus they would appear "mad" to others.

Me (in the hat) and Lea Price and the take home tea we offered:

Susan in a great hat!

Judy in a hat:

Deborah in a fascinator:

Hats as 3D Art:

Mad Hatter

Mrs Hatter

love this quote:

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My paintings in March Madness show:

(all are varnished watercolours)

Wind Swept

Back to the Earth in SGang Gwaay

Dancing Tree

Sun washed

Cat Whimsy

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News from my Studio:

New Watercolours:

 

Paisley Watcher (varnished)

Shell Blues

I will be mounting this one and varnishing it

More Shells coming too:

At the Tide Line (Watercolour) is finished (I think), shells at the tideline with a few water bubbles after the tide has receded. 

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Art Videos:

In the Age of Recycling - Cutlery to Artwork: 

Video from South Delta Artists Guild demo day:

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and lastly a bit of music:

Jefferson Airplane - Go ask Alice

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That is all for this week,

 happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian.

February - feathered greetings

Feathered February greetings. 

Who doesn't like small birds, and who isn't tempted to feed them?

Many parks warn people not to feed the birds, but at Reifel Bird Sanctuary they sell suitable seed and encourage visitors to feed the birds. Both the visitors and the birds seem to love it.

 

The black capped chickadees know a good thing when they see it and eagerly cue up to be fed.

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately they move so quickly a few of my pictures are out of focus.

 

The golden-crowned sparrow prefers to retrieve seed from the ground. These birds are very well camouflaged:

 

The junco is a ground feeder too and quite a shy bird.

 

 

 

The redwing blackbird cannot be described as shy. This fellow below has a spectacular set of epaulets.

 

 

They are gorging at a feeder but I have seen them take food from an open palm.

 

In the photo below the male is in the centre of the picture, the female is off to the right.

 

Here is a closer look at the female:

 

 

and a couple more pictures of the male:

 

 

And finally the rufous-sided towhee, a ground feeder and

 

 

not so well camouflaged against this background; love the bright red eye.

 

So you want to feed the birds this winter, what should you offer them?

 

"Most birds that visit backyards in snowy weather thrive on seeds, since insects and fruit are harder to find naturally during the winter.

The best foods to offer birds in colder weather have a high fat or oil content that will provide abundant energy for winter survival."

 

http://birding.about.com/od/birdfeeders/a/winterfeeding.htm

 

Nutritious winter foods for birds include black oil sunflower seed, hulled peanuts, thistle (nyjer) seed, suet, peanut butter and white millet seed.

News from my Studio:

New Watercolours:

 

Paisley Watcher 2: (notice the cobwebs)

I am still working on this one, Raven Watching:

RECENTLY SOLD:

"Orca"

(ps Happy Birthday Kathy)

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Final Thoughts:

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That is all for this week,

 happy Wednesday, with whimsy,

 

Gillian.