Pencil Shavings

Sundays

Sunday Mornings.  That's another thing to add to my gratitude list.

We've changed the way we work weekends around here, well I changed them.  Sundays used to be the chore day and I would be doing laundry from dawn to dusk then I would wake up on Monday feeling completely ripped off and even more tired than I was on Friday night.

So now Saturday is the “up and at ‘em” day around here.  Do chores, run errands, get the clothes clean.  Then Sunday mornings I wake up with very little on my plate to accomplish.  Get some groceries, go out for coffee, make a nice dinner (that will hopefully have leftovers for Monday) and get a handle on what has to be done for the upcoming week.  I also work on homework projects that might be coming due.

It’s still not a day of rest, but the mountain of housework and laundry are behind me so it feels like an easier ramp up to the activity of the week.  I think that making my headspace feel better helps the rest of me feel better too.  

Now if I could just get rid of the back to school plague my kids gave me this week everything would be great.

 

Her Master's Bidding

I am in that state between sleep and wakefulness, that time when I want to reach out to my dreams and pull them closer to me so I can stay sleeping a little longer.  But I know that can’t happen.

Intruding into my dream has been the rumbling sound of the morning in the form of my cat pacing around my sleeping body purring hopefully.  And now it must almost be time for the alarm to go off.  How she tells time is a mystery to me.  She has braced her front paws on my hip as if ready to shove me into the day as soon as the alarm sounds.  Her purr is mixed with barely audible chirps as if she is muttering to herself about this lazy chimp she has to rouse everyday to do her bidding.

And then there it is, music streaming from the tiny box on my dresser, calling me to my duties and yanking the last veils of sleep from over my eyes, and magnetically pulling my feet out from under the covers and setting them on the floor.

Still groggy I shuffle through the house.  The cat, though desperate for breakfast, seemingly has no qualms about tripping me, and potentially breaking me, as she winds her way between my ankles now demanding with loud meows.  Another reason to shuffle the feet.  

Coffee is ready in the kitchen, and my husband watches as I pour my first cup, ignoring the howling at my feet and the paws reaching up to try and open the cupboard herself.  One sip, a selfish act I suppose in the eyes of the furry. Then to work.  Fresh water and the opening of the can that sends her into agonized circles, turning around and around with the occasional paw poking up as if willing the food dish down by use of the force.

The plate is on the floor now and she gobbles the food down without so much as an acknowledgement for the creature that has delivered it for her.

Now, I turn slowly around the kitchen and start to make a plan for lunches for the rest of the family, and plan my day, while reaching for my coffee cup.  

And I notice the cat curling up on her cushion ready for sleep.... I place a toe on her hip and give her a nudge.

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.

 

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.

 

Small Things

This morning I did a load of laundry as soon as I got out of bed.  When it was finished spinning I lugged the basket of wet clothes out into the back yard.   

Standing ankle deep in clover, my feet wet with dew, I slowly hung the clothes on the line, much like my mother and grandmother did.  

This morning there is a faint smell of bacon coming from one of my neighbours houses, I can also smell something sweet and spicy, not quite like curry, coming from somewhere else.  The clover nearly over powers all these scents with it’s bright sweetness, sending clear signals.

The clothes occasionally flap when the breeze kicks up a bit.  The sound does nothing to stall the constant droning buzz of the big fat bumble bees that come to our yard. I’m careful of them, as they are working the same white and pink flowers that brush my ankles as I move down the line.

From the kitchen window I can hear the clinking sound of glasses and bowls being taken down from the cupboards by inexperienced hands.  My daughters are up and getting their own breakfast, it’s time to finish this up and get back inside, dry off my feet, and count my blessings.