Pencil Shavings

There Are Days

Today is another painting day for me, which is a joyous thing.  

I am by nature a lazy person, except when it comes to painting.  I have a way of managing to put everything else aside when I have a painting to work on. Everything except my children’s demands.  I just can’t paint when they are doing other things around me.  

It’s kind of like the phone ringing, and as soon as the sound is heard the children come running out from where ever they are hiding to ask me loud questions while I try to talk to the accountant or whoever is on the phone.  When I get my paints out and wet the paper my children suddenly appear, jostling my elbows, asking questions, sloshing juice in glasses precariously close to my paints and paper.

So these days are really nice, when the kids are at summer camp and I have space and time.

Unfortunately Mother Nature is turning out to be just as demanding and distracting.  Yesterday was so humid that my paint was drying in the way that I’m used to.  Actually it was hardly drying at all.  Today it is cold and rainy and I am fighting the urge to turn on the furnace, but have instead found fuzzy socks and long sleeved shirt (and a big pot of coffee.)

The worst part about spending all this time painting is that I can’t show you what I am doing.  This is a child’s portrait for a private client and I don’t have permission to post it, which, by the way, I totally support, but it does mean that I have no artwork in progress to show you.

But we both need patience.  I need to finish this piece and get it delivered, and then I’ll have something new to create and show you.

 

 

Today is July 23 (my independence day)

Today is the first day of summer camp for the kids so I have 5 days pretty much to myself to try and get some creative work done.  

The commission is my priority this week but in between, while the paint is drying, I’m hoping to to get some other things done too.

One of the things I’m hoping to get done is more work along the lines of this daisy that I painted last summer.  I have an idea for a multimedia piece that I think could be really interesting.  It will involve lots of experimentation and some construction.  

I’ll keep you informed of the progress as I go.

Oh and BTW this piece is for sale, if you are interested let me know. :-)

 

Away for a Little While

 I have been working away at a commission (which I cannot show you) so there will be a clear lack of art available for posting over the next week or so.

Also I am going to be going dark on the internet for a good-ish period of time (see above as one reason, but there are others as well).  Not to worry my shaky electronic friends, I will return before you know it.

In other news...

Strathmore has come out with these new sketchbooks with toned paper and I absolutely had to pick one up.  I am going to be trying it out soon and I hope to have a review for you about how it works.

You  may recall my search about a year and a bit ago for a nice medium toned sketchbook to no avail.  I hope that this one is good and it will solve one of the needs I have in my sketch kit.

Be good on the inter-tubes while I am away, don’t drink all the booze and don’t forget to walk the dog and clean up before I get back.

 

More Mail Art

Hey, the bills have to be paid!

And also Happy Birthday to one of my oldest friends (no, not old as in old) Kari. Thanks for everything.

Just For Fun

Yesterday my daughters and I went out into the world to leave some presents for strangers.

We left little notes of encouragement everywhere we went.  

We hid them in books, left them in sales racks, on bus seats, and on shelves.  Someone will find these notes and we just have to have faith that someone who needs a little encouragement will find one of them and be uplifted.

Perhaps someone will find one and want to leave notes of their own.

Maybe no one will find them, or no one will care that they got one, and if that happens then that’s OK too, because we loved making them and hiding them and it made our day one of the best days we had out together.

Being nice to others is a selfish kind of kindness, because it makes you feel so good inside.

 

Friday the 13th

I personally don’t harbour many superstitions. I think that Friday the 13th is awesome because it’s Friday! And really Friday is the best day of the week (although Sunday Mornings are way up there too).

Over on Google + folks have been doing some envelope art. So I decided that I would do some too. I drew this robot and his new friend on my phone bill envelope and sent it off in the mail. I have no idea who might see it in it’s travels. There was a time when lots of people would actually touch an envelope while it went through the system, but now so many things are automated that I wonder if any actual people will set eyes on this drawing, or if it will go through the entire trip unseen. It’s a possibility. But there is also a possibility that someone, maybe just one person, will see the envelope and smile. I figure that is good enough odds to go ahead and keep doing it. If nothing else it completely amuses my husband who thinks that I am crazy but in a delightfully wacky way.

An Open Letter to Stephen Harper, With Hope and Despair

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

I’ve been thinking for a long time about why I simply cannot support you.  It’s not that I am a “Liberal.”  In fact for years I was a conservative, I even had (and still have) a membership card.  Although my reasons for having those cards has changed.

I think that the reason why I cannot get behind you is that we are so very different in philosophy.  I will submit that we have many things in common. We are both parents, both married to exceptional spouses, and both love music.  In fact I think that our musical tastes are quite similar.  We both have a deep belief in this country, although our beliefs about it are not the same.  You believe that Canada is country that was broken and needed to be fixed, while I view Canada as being extraordinary until you started to fix it.

However I do think that our differences might not be insurmountable. 

I believe in being a force for good in the world.  I know it’s a bit of a cliched phrase that likely gained popularity with Oprah, but I think that it is a true one (and that is probably the reason it is a cliche). I am not an influential person.  I have very little in the way of personal power.  But I do believe that the small amount of power that I have is created by doing good.  I believe in being heroic in my efforts to love, to give hope, to be generous, to lift up, to protect and to encourage.  I practice every day small acts that I hope leave a ripple of goodness in my small pond of influence.  I honestly thank the people who serve me.  I genuinely interact with people I meet, even if they are strangers to me.  I try to do something unexpectedly nice for someone every day.

I do believe that the Canada that existed when I was a young woman was a force for good in the world. We were peace keepers, not war mongers.  We were welcoming to those in need, not suspicious and aloof.  We gave generously to those abroad and at home, without spurious moral conditions.

The Harper Government has become synonymous with pettiness, meanness, narrow vision, and a callous disregard for anyone who doesn’t “believe” what they do.  We have lost our reputation in the world for being good.  Simply good.  

Mr. Prime Minister, how hard is it to be good?  How difficult is it to be a force for good in the world? Is there some way that we can elevate ourselves to the stature that we used to have for being decent, caring, and generous?  Will there be a time in our future when our young people can once again sew the Maple Leaf on their backpacks and be assured of a warm welcome where ever they go?

I encourage you, Mr. Prime Minister, to embrace the idea of being a force for good.  I encourage you to look beyond the next election cycle, and instead look deep into the future and decide if the the decisions that you make today will make the world a better place for your grandchildren.  I implore you to look beyond the idea of making a quick buck, beyond the idea of a strong currency, or being a “player” at the international table, and instead look to your legacy as the Prime Minister who turned Canada into the envy of all nations.  A nation known for having the best science, the best education, the best healthcare, the greenest environment, and equality for all citizens, rich poor, old or new, and in giving those citizens the ability to attain all of these things.

I know that you are a very smart man.  I know that you can make Canada the envy of the planet.  The question is, Mr. Prime Minister, will you be a force for good?

Signed with hopefullness,

Kathleen Ralph

 

Thoughts on Commuter Sketches

I like doing these stippled (dot) drawings.  I like drawing on the train. I was showing my drawings to my friend and she said that probably one of the good things about drawing strangers this way is that the pressure of getting a likeness is off.  Which is true.  While I do like to make to make them as accurate as I can, since I finish them later in the day they must veer away from a true likeness because memory is a tricky thing.

I love the layering of the dots to create the image  I start with something really faint, just the main landmarks of the face, and some indication of lights and shadows.  Then I keep building to add shadow form.

 It is also a really meditative process, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking of the image exactly, I have thoughts about making areas darker, defining shapes, but the stippling is a slow process of just making one tiny mark after another and that frees up my mind to wander.  And the places it wanders to are sometimes surprising, and inspiring.

 

Baby Bunny or Midnight Marauder?

Right after the Hailstorm Apocalypse last week we found a young bunny in our backyard who had been (I believe) separated from his family.  So he(she?) has been living in our backyard eating our clover and running, terrified, every time we step out the back door.

 Now it has come to my attention that our beet, carrot and sunflower sprouts are being consumed by something rodent like.  Could it be our baby bunny (it is a rabbit after all and a growing one), or is it the field mice that have made a network of tunnels under out back lawn?  Or both!!!???

 Anyway, it’s time to break out the chemical warfare.... cayenne pepper.  And hope that they don’t like spicy food.

 

Lazy Summer Day

It’s been a reasonably good day.  I’ve had a backyard full of kids for most of the afternoon, running through sprinklers and eating ice cream.  I don’t mind, at least I know where they all are (even as I watch my frozen treat supply dwindle).  The reality is that I remember spending hot days running through sprinklers when I was a kid and I like making that happen for my kids too.

We went to the farmer’s market today and loaded up on peas, cherries, strawberries, cheese, bread, and organic steaks that we grilled up tonight.  I also spent a little time finishing up a drawing I started on Thursday (holy cow that week went by fast)  He’s not done, but he’s about as close to done as I want to take him.

I am so tired tonight.  We had a busy day yesteday and I didn't sleep well last night.  Now that it is quiet at home I'm fighting to keep my eyes open.  Sometimes it's best to just give up the fight.