A belated October post

So very belated...

Summer's End & Puppies

I was out at Patti's with Bean yesterday and we got to play with her puppies, Zoey and Vinnie who are the cutest curly-haired mops ever.

Portrait wrangling is a challenge with two puppies and a Bean.

Ms. Zoey

Vinnie licks Buddha's face.

Fall colours starting early - from my hike with Bean this morning.

Another kind of still life

"Still life" outside my studio

Still life

Patti inspired Barb and I to try our hands at still life photos. I used my phone and Instagram to get this one. :)

Instagram fun

After a not-great day: art to the rescue

I drew a doodle of my prancing Bean and carved it into a stamp a few days ago. Then I used the stamped image to make a stencil, and unleashed both stamp and stencil on my journal this afternoon after I got home from some un-fun familial duties.

Full spread in my medium sized hemp journal with the carved stamp above

Detail from the right-hand page

The Ditherer & Instagram nonsense

The cover of my latest art journal - The Ditherer

From my Mill Hill hike this morning

From my Matheson Lake hike last weekend

Sushi in the window

Playing with my phone

A few weird WiPs.

This and that

I've been arting a lot, but it's all rather personal and I'm not sharing. Have a random photo dump instead.

Twilight lantern in the art room

Bean and kiddo on the Ridge Top Trail

Rhodo, of a variety I've never seen before. It's outside my art room and  is easily 8ft tall.

East Sooke

Also East Sooke

Again with the East Sooke.

Mt Wells hike

Mt. Wells has an amazing view from the summit, which is surprisingly quick to hike up, considering it's 352m or so. Very steep and I was pondering the wisdom of carrying both the Nikon and my cup of Timmy's when I really should have had both hands free. But no falls or broken bones, so I got to enjoy my coffee and muffin with the following.

There was a whole field with these tiny moss flowers but we stayed on the trail like good hikers.

It started out nice and shady.

Once we lost the cover of the trees it was reeeeeally warm.

That's Mt. Baker in the background... we waved hello to the U.S.

Bean, one hot dog. He drank a whole litre of water to himself  on the hike.

Settling in

I have new space... it's just for arting. It's small, but filled with windows, surrounded by huge cedars and ancient rhodo bushes and it's mine. MIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNEEEEEE! Muahahah!

An in-progress shot.

Making art in there is wonderful, though I get the occasional furry lap-leech interruption. The kitties looooove all the windows and so I have to keep most of the sills clear or I'll just end up picking stuff off the floor all the time. My grandfather's desk fits in perfectly. My new house is vintage (and dinged up) 1947, so it matches all the 40's and 50's (also dinged up!)  furniture I have which I inherited along the way from my grandparents and their friends. 

In between all the work on the new place I've managed to get in to my new studio and make some shit.

The latest carved stamp: Urchin

I went hiking on the Barde Knockie again, went further than before and found The Milky Way which had an odd pumping station with fabulous graffiti.

Fabulous graffiti in the middle of nowhere.

And this is a phone photo from downtown. I love the cat-like pattern of this concrete wall and have since I was a kid.

Hoping that with things calming down I can get back to some regular blog posting. Paint-stained fingers crossed. :)

In between packing and cleaning and more packing and more cleaning...

Fun with Instagram and my phone camera

Bean wonders if flowers are in fact cheese.

A white rose in Devonian Park, left at the bottom of a huge tree

A grey and church-y kind of day.

Her Royal Sushi-ness.

Fun with art journals

A flying grannybug and her prey.

Watercolour sketching

Carving, waterfalls and apple blossoms

Carved lily inspired by Barb's photo

Chocolate Lily - flower & photo courtesy of Barb

Easter Weekend

I am kicking myself for not taking the Nikon with me today. I wasn't expecting to discover a new trail, which is actually a very, very old trail. Can't believe I was born and raised here and hadn't heard of the Barde Knockie Trail before. It was apparently cut through the forest by Sooke settlers in the 1850's and is one of the oldest BC trails still in use. It was amazing and I'll have to go again soon with proper equipment.
So instead of amazing Barde Knockie photos, here are a few pretty Devonian Park photos, the cover of my latest little journal and an Easter imposter.

No, I'm not giving you the easter baskets. You're fooling no one!