I'd like to thank the academy....

Exciting!
I'm the featured artist on the Nova Scotia Come to Life website! Thanks:)

In other news, I just saw Alice in Wonderland. I LOVED it, the imagery is beautiful! It is a feast for the eyes. 3-D makes it so alive. Very inspiring:)

Clocks spring forward this weekend! Lovely light in store for us.

the things you see, the people you meet...

Isn't the bloggy world wonderful!
I've met such neat folk, learned great things, been inspired to do cool stuff and look what I just won! I was visiting a new blog, Kirsten's Kitchen and left a comment for her and voila I was inadvertently in the running for these bars and won! I love Bumblebars. Thanks so much!!
Not only did I win ....... they were hand delivered, so I invited Kirsten in for tea and met her sweet wee daughter Leeluu. What a lovely visit. Kirsten is a vegan chef who has been in Nova Scotia for just a year now. She lives way across the bay from Peggy's Cove, sort of......

World's Most Dangerous Hike

This is so cool. I remember getting an email once with a picture in it and thinking that can't be real! Where is it!? Well, Robin Esrock went one step farther. He searched it out and made this video! I have collywobbles just looking at it. I am not good with heights. Wish I was.

Another day by the sea....

Oh my, we had a reprieve from the weather this weekend! The sun came out to play so I jumped in the car and took a quick drive to Peggy's Cove. It is only forty minutes away. I've been there a bazillion times but it never fails to calm me down and fill me up!

I've taken so many taken so many pictures here, it is fun to try and see something new to capture. Familiar subjects but different light, new angle, etc, etc.... There are some great wee houses dotted here and there on the granite. Clustered around the harbour. Some of them are now bed and breakfasts.

I am delighted with the response to my Spring photo e-course. Sensational Snap Society! Thanks so much. It was a terrible time to announce it, on a Saturday morning but I was excited and I am not the greatest with withholding good news! If I've got something to share, I have to do it right away! I think it is going to be fun. I've been puttering away with ideas and format etc. for ages but finally got the oomph to get it done and out there! I hope you will join us. I do have a student rate so please email me if you need it:)

Ahhh...........

Sensational Snap Society!

Ta da! I am revealing my new project today!

I have put together a really fun photo e-course for you! I have been thinking about doing this for a long time and have finally got it all organized. I just finished Maddie's e-course and enjoyed it so much I thought I had best roll out the wee one I've had in the works for ages. This will be a lighthearted project for you burn off some of that Spring Fever! I know you will enjoy it as much as I will !

Welcome to the Sensational Snap Society!
Do not fear, you don't need fancy cameras or technical knowledge. You just need some imagination, a set of eyes, a camera and an internet connection:)
I am so looking forward to this!
Please feel free to pass the info on, repost if you can, I would appreciate it:)

the Sensational Snap Society

This 6 week course starts on Friday April 2nd and runs until May 7th.

This e-course is a fun guided photography romp. No technical "know how" will be imparted, no technical "know how" needed:) We will have weekly assignments that are interesting and creative. You are going to see the world around yourself a bit differently.The mundane can be exciting. Art is everywhere. Snapping is fun.

An assignment will be given once a week with discussion, there will be a midweek check-in and... we have a "private clubhouse" to meet, hangout and get to know each other in the forums. Also, we have a private group gallery where we share our weekly photo assignments. Participation is voluntary. If you want to follow along quietly that is perfectly fine:)

At the end of this e-course everyone will definitely have some sensational snaps and maybe a few new friends! The goal is to have fun, make your camera a trusty companion, and develop a wider appreciation of the visual feast around us!

What you will need:

camera (any kind will do)

high speed internet connection

a willingness to take lots of pictures:)

The cost of this course is $38.00 US
I wanted to make it affordable so more of you could participate!
See you soon:)
REGISTRATION and more details are here

whee

Ah those were the days. No i-pod, cellphone or tv. Just a stick and a hoop and we're set to go!
I've been working on fun project for you. It is taking a lot of my time at the moment but it will be worth it!
Ah it's Friday, and a blustery one at that. March is roaring in like a lion.

a bit of this and that

Coffee , muffin and the Globe and Mail. A quick pick me up after running some errands the other day. Stopped in Local Joe's instead of going straight home like I usually do:)

Friends of mine have taken off on a magical trailer ride across the United States. You can read about their adventures here on their new blog...... I can hardly read it for growing little green horns:) Never Late , Never Lost

Also... I just found these guys. The Hairy Bikers! A cooking duo on BBC. I found snippets of their shows on YouTube. I'd love to see more of them:)

you just never know....

A few weeks ago I received an email from a teacher at Asa Adams School in Orono, Maine asking if she could use some of my art as a teaching tool for her kindergarten class. Of course I said yes! This is the blackboard with the examples she wanted to use and a picture of me. ( Ack, it is my "before" pic...I am still on my fitness program, slowly but surely) ......anyway........I digress......

They studied my series of baby animals and their mothers. The kids learned about me, folk art, Nova Scotia ,which is very close to Maine, and how I used color/texture/overlapping in my paintings. They looked at "Baby Chick and Mom" specifically.

After working on their paintings for the last two weeks, Kendra their teacher, sent me these pictures today. They just put the biggest smile on my face after the trying day I had struggling with my own painting.

Don't you just LOVE them!! Well done!

Cheep cheep!

Evening Sail

original available on eBay

Spent the day working on this. Tried a darker blue, gives it a more dramatic feel I think. It is fun to play around with new colours. I do tend to stay with the same palette.

Watched the Gold medal hockey game last night and wow, was it exciting. I am not really a hockey fan but this was wonderful game play. Sidney Crosby got the winning goal for Canada in sudden death overtime! He is a local boy and all of us Nova Scotians are mighty proud of him.

magic cottages

After yesterday's post I thought I would go back to our regularly scheduled programming. I just love these cottages, they are part of a wee row of houses near the Brig 0 Balgownie in Abderdeen. Very old. My mother grew up next to them and I have spent many happy hours wandering around the neighborhood.

They all face the river Don and there is an ancient public footpath that meanders along it.

They are delightful and I never fail to get inspired, wanting to create some of their magic in my own home.

We are about to get pummeled with another storm. So glad it is going to be rain. I have painting plans today.Hey, it's the last day of February!