Shortlist

In an attempt at making a more achievable list today's will be shorter.

1. Paint

2. Read at least one Megan Lindholm story.

3. Walk dogs.

4. Smile.

oh and 

5. Make list.

And meanwhile, as the sun comes up on a new day, serenaded by blackbirds, I have been hanging work in The House of Golden Dreams, artwork from Starlight Sailor.

Feeling a strong need to draw today.

Things to make me smile.
1. It is snowing and so quiet that I can hear each flake as it falls.
2. Orange cats fluff up in the cold and look brighter, like flames, in snow.
3. The house is warm, with a coal fire glowing, still burning from yesterday.
4. I have time to draw and too many ideas.

 

 

 

List 12

make list in attempt to organise day
measure paintings for Lyn
stretch paper
pack and post polar bears and ravens
think about last painting in Icebear
knit
hang some work in The House of Golden Dreams
stay away from facebook
make fire and stack logs and order wood
watch birds fly 
and take a good look at the wonderful tricksters from Anchorage on this link from Val
find out which way the wind is blowing
southerly

List 11, in no particular order of importance.

pack painting and books for Erin
Pack Walking the Big Cat painting
packed and posted and on the way to Scotland
stretch paper
knit
make supper
blog the rats
draw out last but one spread for Ice Bear
When does a deadline become something else? I have until the end of Feb to get the art to the publishers so that the book can go to press and be published this year.
investigate flotsam and jetsam
post painting for Erin

Over the hills and far away......

 

 Walked away from work and off onto the hill on a misty moisty morning. Cold wind and dogs full of delight. Cold, sun veiled in low cloud, wind sharp and biting.

No one about for miles, but then we met Jetske and Sarah on horseback.

Homewards we wandered past the blind eyed windows of the ruined cottages at Maes Y Mynydd, so still, so cold, so full of stories.

Back home again I hung  prints from The Seal Children in The House of Golden Dreams.
 

List no. 9, a somewhat prosaic collection of things that need to be done.

1. Make list
2. Hang work in The House of Golden Dreams
3. Pack picture ready for delivery from The House of Golden Dreams
4. Pack dragons for Hertfordshire
5. Stretch paper
about time too. I usualy stretch my paper onto a wooden board, not a drawing board from an art shop as they are so expensive, but some fairly thick plywood taht I have scrubbed first. I use wide gum tape and before I start sretching I get 4 pieces the right length. Then I shut myself in bathroom with paper, board, tape. I have to shut myself in otherwse I have cats supervising me. I soak the paper under the bath tap. You can soak it overnight to ensure that the maximum amount of water has gone into the paper, but this is a bit purist for me. Then I hold the paper by one corner to drain off the excess and when it is just drip drop dripping I lay it on the wood, trying to lower it on so as not to trap air pockets. Then starting with a long side I use dampened gum tape to stick it down. Then I leave it, flat, to dry. Most times it works ok. It is a chore but it means that the paper stays flat when the painting is dry.
When it is dry I brush off the cat hairs and scribble and colour in all over it.
6. Walk dogs along the beach, morning, evening
7. Paint

A parcel from The House of Golden Dreams, waiting to be delivered.

Woodsmoke on butterfly wings.

At night, in The House of Golden Dreams, while cats curl in sleep and storms rage outside, if you listen with your heart and ears you can hear

wolf breath

paw pad

dragon stir and shake

hares dance

bears claws on wooden floors

sometimes the beating of angel's wings, but rarely

a cello playing

the hush wing brush of a barn owl flight.

In the air there is a scent, of angels? Honey? Lilies? Fresh baked bread? Wild heather and honeysuckle mixed? Woodsmoke.

Yes, woodsmoke on butterfly wings. For somewhere in the night time gallery a woman dances to the music of dreams, slowly, in a dress that is a gathering of butterfly or moth wings. She is not alone. Careful paws wrap round her close but gentle, so as not to damage the dusty wings that clothe her.

Woodsmoke on butterfly wings.

Juxtaposition on a buffalo day

Walking today, the song of lapwings on my right, the song of the sea to my left, buffalo in the fields, a raft of scoters in the sea and a seal. And the cold is back, and I have a fire blossoming in the wood burner.

Playing with words and drawing a hare. There are three big drawings of dancing hares now. I wanted to see how different the drawings would become if they had a different partner. Although the photographs are not very good as I can't get both good enough light and far enough away they do give an idea of how the dance changes. Would love to do a whole room full.

The new hare looks much more flirtatious when partnered with the old. She has the old moon in her eye.

( if you click on the link to the lapwings there is a sound file so you can listen to them too)

A tidy corner

Some days are a struggle. This one started off in such a beautiful way and I was so full of good intentions until migraine got in my way.
The House of Golden Dreams has been growing, and in between headache and sleep I managed to find a space to hang the Winter Feast painting, home from the Christmas window of Rhosson House Gallery, which has now closed.  Winter Feast needs to be hung as the frame is hand gilded and so it needs to be cared for with kindness. A dancing hare drawing waits to be finished, my head, which still hurts when I cough, is full of rhyme and nonsense, and a dragon's story. Tomorrow is another day.

Egret

A wish, desire, a prayer, a hope, a heart-song, lifting into the light, flight.

Multi tasking.

Lapwings outside calling in cold twilight. I have walked on the beach at low tide with small puppies, a new edition to the pack, a curious selection of motley mongrels ( and their owners ). I have painted, and I have hung some drawings in the hare room at The House of Golden Dreams. Meanwhile there are paintings and a drawing on its way to John Foley at The Imagine Gallery on the other side of the UK.

What I haven't done is look at the two emails from my accountants. Tomorrow.

 

Moments of peaceful solitude, with cats.

Awake early I sit for a while, watching the fire wake from warm slumber to dancing blue flame. All is quiet, but for the singing purr of two cats curled on my lap, a clock tick, the metal heating as the firelight grows. Inside my head rhymes. The Hart, he loves the high hills; The hare, she loves the woods; The knight loves his bright sword; The lady loves her will. Medieval, romantic.
Today there is not enough snow to stop the children going to school. Tom has an exam, seems a little worried by it. I want to paint, draw, stack more of the logs delivered yesterday, walk dogs and work on the walls of The House of Golden Dreams.
Cover of Judy Dyble's cd looks good.