September 2017 – Painting to see : Peindre pour voir

:: Ottawa and its’ lovely trees ::

2017-09-302017-09-30by Jane Hannah6 Comments

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.
Now, of my threescore years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.
And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.
— Housman

Had a fabulous time in Shari Blaukopf’s “Painting trees” workshop today in Ottawa. It was a short workshop, 3.5 hours and perfect! My husband walked the whole time through the beautiful streets of Ottawa and bought some food at the Byward Market and I painted the city’s beautiful trees. Wow! Shari mentioned, quite a few times, that when you paint trees you have to leave them alone after awhile and not fuddle too much with details… I tried my best not to, and hardly did I swear -))) We went straight to paints, without any ink or pencil lines… cool.

We also received beautiful presents from #Winsor&Newton too. Watercolour tube paints, a paint palette and some info. Very nice indeed.

Paper: Handbook Field Watercolour Journal
Colours: New Gamboge, B. Sienna & French Ultramarine
Location: Plaza Bridge, Ottawa, Ontario

Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

:: Friendships ::

2017-09-182017-09-18by Jane Hannah3 Comments

A friend is not to be found in the world such as one can conceive of, such as one needs, for no human being unites so many of the attributes of God as we feel our nature requires…. We have therefore a circle whom we call friends, giving a name to the whole, which perhaps in its singular occupation might be used for the combination. Out of the whole circle we may make up a single friend. We love them all but we love the union of all better.
— Maria Mitchell from Brain Pickings

This weekend I went to the funeral of a friend that died in a car accident — none of this his fault and of his better half of 43 years, Monique. He died instantly and she made it safe & sound physically, the mental challenges will take awhile. You wonder then about what friendship means and in hindsight, I have to say that he was a true gentleman! He was somewhat of an introvert, intelligent, curious and respectful. I remember at some point when I was perhaps 19 years old I had drunk too much alcohol at an open-air concert and I had fallen asleep on the grass. He stayed next to me through the whole time, accompanying me when I had to go to the toilet, again when I was wondering what time it was. He stayed next to me, making sure that I would be ok. Thank you Jacques for caring!

When I found out that he had died I was waiting at Gatwick Airport for our plane and time expanded in a second and then collapsed in the following second. Every time that we had met over the years, for parties, for supper, for a swim or just walking on the street, these memories came charging back at me. These memories expanded and punched me in the gut. I could see all of them through some warped timeline. The last one was very sad. Will miss you…

Paper: Moleskine Sketchbook
Colours: Q. Gold, B. Sienna, Pyrrol Crimson & Indanthrone Blue
Location: Looking out of the window at my house in Rigaud, Québec, Canada

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Musings & Thoughts, Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

:: Rien ne se perd, rien ne se crée, tout se transforme ::

2017-09-102017-09-10by Jane Hannah16 Comments

There are moments in our lives, there are moments in a day, when we seem to be see beyond the usual — become clairvoyant. We reach then into reality. Such are the moments of our greatest happiness. Such are the moments of our greatest wisdom.
— The Art Spirit by Robert Henri

As Fall is approaching here, the leaves are turning a golden hue with some bursts of oranges and deep purple… it is already starting here. The peak of the season is usually near October 15th here in southern Québec, and this date varies with the latitude that you are living in. A book that I often delve in is The Art Spirit as it is profoundly spiritual in an artistic sense. Henri must have been a wonderful teacher, and I do hope that some days, a very few perhaps, I might inspire my students as Henri inspires me!

These flowers were photographed by a famous writer here in Canada, Kim Thuy and she won the Giller prize for her book Ru. Her first photograph were of these flowers in their fragrant bloom (which I have posted before), and the second photograph is the flowers with the petals falling… I thought that it was appropriate with our imminent fall season. She mentioned this quote to me when she sent me the second photograph. “Presque arrivées à leur destination”. Well said Kim! This painting is part of the next exhibit that I will be taking part in November 2018 that is called Square Foot Exhibition. All are welcome. #squarefootexhibition2017.

Paper: Fluid 100
Ink: De Atramentis Document Black
Fountain Pen: Carbon Desk Pen EF
Location: Reference photograph here in Rigaud, Québec, Canada

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Sketches / Drawings / Paintings

:: Square Foot Exhibition 2017 ::

2017-09-022017-09-02by Jane Hannah6 Comments

« Là où va la main, l’œil suit;
là où va l’œil, va l’esprit;
là où va l’esprit se trouve le cœur;
là où se trouve le cœur est la réalité de l’être,
le siège de l’âme. »
— Abhinaya Darpana

I am in the process of preparing some cards for this exhibit that will be taking place on Saturday November 11, 2017 in Senneville, Québec. Everyone is invited and this is a fabulous event as it is a fundraising activity for the Old Brewery Mission and an Art sale. I know that it is still far away calendar-wise, but add it to your agenda — I would love to meet some of you! I have one drawing that is ready, more to come at some later point in time -)

Je suis en préparation pour une nouvelle exposition qui va se tenir le samedi 11 novembre 2017 à Senneville, Québec. Voici un aperçu et j’espère que vous allez aimer et j’aimerais bien que vous puissiez y venir pour nous voir. C’est aussi une chance de donner au Old Brewery Mission dont une partie des ventes bénéficiera. Une belle cause pour des gens qui en ont bien de besoin.

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