Author Archives: Jane Hannah

I lost my job as an art salesman. It was the customer’s fault. He wanted to buy the wrong paintings.  — (Vincent van Gogh) This is Labour Day weekend and it’s a 3-day weekend which permitted me to draw today… … Continue reading →

“You need a village, if only for the pleasure of leaving it. A village means that you are not alone, knowing that in the people, the trees, the earth, there is something that belongs to you, waiting for you when … Continue reading →

     Just for today I’m going to try to make a better painting. We’re not talking Sistine Chapel here, just a piece of joy begun and ended between sunup and sundown.      Just for today I’ll be happy … Continue reading →

In considering lines as a means of drawing, it is well to remember that the line practically does not exist in nature. It is a convention we use. — The Art Spirit by Robert Henri For those of you who … Continue reading →

Grandpa was a carpenter, he built houses, stores and banks, he chain-smoked Camel cigarettes and hammered nails in planks. He was level-on-the-level, shaved even every door, and voted for Eisenhower ’cause Lincoln won the war. — John Prine Sounds like … Continue reading →

Afoot and light-hearted I take to the open road,  Healthy, free, the world before me,  The long brown path before me leading wherever I choose.  Henceforth I ask not good-fortune, I myself am good-fortune,  Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone … Continue reading →

Cast shadows provide an object with roots and stability and keep it from floating in midair. They are an important structural unit. They help describe the surface the object rests on. — David A. Leffel I have not been painting … Continue reading →

All is lovely outside my house and inside my house and myself. — Winslow Homer I decided to play with flat washes today and here I went… but how could I just put in a sky and not put in … Continue reading →

I see and write things first as an artist, second as a woman, and third as a New Yorker. All three have built-in perspectives that aren’t neutral. — Laurie Anderson I met up with the Montreal Urban Sketchers yesterday at … Continue reading →

On Sunday July 8th the Montreal Urban Sketchers  have been invited to a Picnic Vernissage Day at Stewart Hall’s Cultural Centre in Pointe-Claire. Stewart Hall is situated in a gorgeous historic mansion and is a unique cultural venue located on the bank of Lake Saint-Louis. It is an absolutely stunning spot to … Continue reading →

“Accept everything which happens, even if it seem disagreeable, because it leads to this, the health of the universe.” — Marc Aurelius I had a glorious day today with a walk in the forest with my husband and my dog, … Continue reading →

In the morning the sea is dead calm and at noon the winds start picking up — thanfully I might add as it is very hot here — but not too hot for my taste. For this painting I decided … Continue reading →

Sorry for the second repost. We arrived yesterday in Bucerias, a small town north of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. We have a small kitchenette and we went grocery shopping this morning, and it is quite wonderful to stay here as … Continue reading →

We arrived yesterday in Bucerias, a small town north of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico. We have a small kitchenette and we went grocery shopping this morning, and it is quite wonderful to stay here as we are right in front … Continue reading →

Start to paint seriously the moment you pick up a brush. If you begin by painting carelessly, with slapdash strokes, you’ll find it difficult to move into more careful painting. Nothing delights a student more than to draw with a … Continue reading →

Little drops of water, Little grains of sand, Make the mighty ocean And the pleasant land. Thus the little minutes, Humble though they be, Make the mighty ages Of eternity. — by Julia Abigail Fletcher Carney Today it is Mother’ Day … Continue reading →

      Well we got no choice All the girls and boys Making all that noise ‘Cause they found new toys Well we can’t salute ya Can’t find a flag If that don’t suit ya That’s a drag   … Continue reading →

Alive without breath, As cold as death; Never thirsty, ever drinking, All in mail never clinking. — The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien One of my previous students posted a photograph that she took of one of her irises last summer and … Continue reading →

This thing all things devours; Birds, beasts, trees, flowers; Gnaws iron, bites steel; Grinds hard stones to meal; Slays king, ruins town, And beats mountains down. — The Hobbit by J.R.R.Tolkien riddle I don’t know why I love painting in … Continue reading →

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.” — Plato As today in Rigaud it is a rainy, cold day the idea of going out for sketching is not … Continue reading →