Showing posts with label quotes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quotes. Show all posts

Monday, March 02, 2020

Just For Fun Art

Love this quote by Douglas Malloch so I did a drawing . 8 1/2" x 11" pen, watercolour
it was given as a christmas gift

playing around with Origami... little turtle... 
fun and sure takes some fiddling to get those folds.. need more practice

a host of whimsical beings in my sketchbook, 8 1/2" x 11" , pen and watercolour

doing my paperwork practice... origami kangaroo from brown paper.
and an occasional game of chess, man, do I need practice to remember how each character can move

And...my tattoo artist son, Max, working on a huge fantastical Wolf charcoal drawing. 
He is never without an art making instrument in his hand

Hope you are all doing some enjoyable creative pastimes and letting it carry your imagination away.
Cheers, from Desideratum

Friday, November 16, 2018

Living in The Studio


A shot of the end of our kitchen.. we use it more like a studio, being as the house is so small... Everything is stacked up to the ceiling.   Brought one of the kerosene lamps out just in case the power goes out... I want to be ready... but right now I am enjoying the light being reflected off the snow.. altho I am not crazy about snow, by any means.


We had our first fire of the season back on Oct. 11. felt really good too.. had a little fire on most every day since.
 It has become cold very early this year... feels like we are going into our next Ice Age right before our eyes. 


Had the 2 cds. of firewood stacked outside and drying since early summer.. this is the wood for next year. mostly maple... we have this years wood already dried and stored inside.. we always dry our wood a year ahead if we possibly can... That is the woodshed John built last summer... sure is nice to have a real woodshed now instead of the Hobbit hut we had the first year here. that year it was stacked outside with snow piled all around it and John had to dig down to it every time we needed some.. looked like he was crawling into a igloo to get it on his hands and knees.. was not fun... good exercise tho, if one wanted to look at it in a positive way.


This stack of 2 cds was put away in the woodshed at the end of October.. that is late for us but it was not an especially good drying year. but John had it covered with two old sheets of tin roofing which let the air thru and kept it pretty well dry... all in now!!


Been playing around in my sketchbook this year during our sabbatical.


Oatmeal Brown Bread with raisins, sunflower seeds and flax... Love having time to make bread for us all.. it has been so many years since I have bought bread from a store, I can't remember. I always make 2 batches at a time and divide each batch in 2.. makes it easier to store and keeps it fresh as I put the other 3 in the freezer and then I don't have to make bread for a few days.


in the side field the milkweed is gently spreading its seeds... little parachutes flying everywhere.


Planted the garlic on Oct.22... later than last year.. was waiting for the ground to dry up a bit as it was a rainy Oct.  ...managed to plant over 100 cloves, double what I put in last year .. had to sacrifice them from the crop I grew this year.. sure hope they grow. 


to finish up I covered them with a thick layer of straw.  


I store them in a net bag I crocheted last winter.. this type is called Music and they are the best tasting garlic I ever had.. got the original bulbs from a garlic farmer not far outside Fredericton.


The birds are liking the sunflower seeds in the feeder outside my studio window.  We used another old piece of tin roofing to make a roof for the feeder, to give the birds a little shelter while they treat us with their beauty.. usually a big fat gray squirrel is sitting in there.. 


The snow is coming down out there right now and amounting to quite a bit. 


Still making a few earrings or posting some designs that have come to light after searching around in the backs of the jewelry storage cabinet... 


These sold in minutes on our FaceBook page soon after I posted them.


"Square Spiral" earrings, solid copper, antiqued with sterling shepherd  earwire... approx 7/8" across and 1 1/4" long. $25. pr.




"A little Medieval"... hammered shaped Sterling with African Turquoise... approx. 2" long .. handmade at Desideratum studio. $25. pr. 


If interested in any of our earrings please send us a message on our right sidebar. 

Well looks like winter has come early.. Hope everyone has a cozy place to curl up and stay warm.. till next time, Cheers, Gwen at Desideratum Art and Jewelry



Saturday, November 24, 2012

Cat 2

"Watching for the Dogs"    by Gwen Buchanan
approx.  6" x 7" charcoal, pastels on brown paper


"Cautious, like crossing a wintry stream,
Watchful, like one facing danger on every side,
Ceremonious, as one who pays a visit,
Yielding, like ice beginning to melt,
Genuine, like a piece of uncarved wood,
Open-minded, like a valley,
And mixing freely, like murky water. 

Which of you can assume such murkiness,
To become in the end still and clear;
Which of you can make yourself still,
To become in the end full of life?
Those who possess this Tao do not try to
Fill themselves to the brim,
And because they do not try to
Fill themselves to the brim,
They are like a garment that endures
All wear and need never be renewed."

 Ancient writing accredited to Lao Tzu,
 It is debated whether he was a man or men or a Philosophy...




Daybreak this morning from the studio




...Blooming Cornflower by our front step on November 24 ... hardy little plant, self-seeds too


Our dog Pirate, whom cats should be warned of... with the CornFlower in mild temperatures by the Bay of Fundy today. All the leaves have fallen now, only the evergreens give color in the forest and bluff-edge.


at Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, NB

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Hand # 10

Wait and Listen......  by Gwen Buchanan


"Dost Thou Love Life?   Then do not squander Time;
 for that's the stuff  Life is Made of."
Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790....   American Scientist, Diplomat, Publisher



Approx. 5" x 7"  pen, brush, Red Earth FW acrylic artists ink, inspired by Leonardo Da Vinci's drawings
 created at Desideratum Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Lily

Lily by Gwen Buchanan


 She tells me that her name is Lily... 
  I will always think of her that way.
She cautiously considers her path upon the morrow...
Forward...
Backward...

Come what may.


GB








"There is a Garden in her Face,
Where Roses and Lilies grow."
 Thomas Campion, 1567-1620, Composer, Poet.





 ...my drawing desk just after I finished "Lily"
... yes, cluttered, I know... but really, I need all those things.




Lily... approx. 7 1/2' x 9 1/2", Sanguine conte and charcoal, with matt and frame 16" x 18 1/2"

..  The Hand Series will return with my next post.


Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Hands # 3

 Reach... Gwen Buchanan



"Ah, but a man's REACH should exceed his grasp,
Or what's a Heaven for?
from Andrea Del Sarto  by Robert Browning... 1812-1889



The ring in the drawing is known as  "the Goddess"..
I made it from Silver and Copper years ago.. it's my favourite.


6" x 10", Crow quill dip pen, brush on 140 lb. watercolor paper in sketch book, india ink, sepia watercolor

...drawn at Desideratum Art and Jewelry studio, St. Martins on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick


Thursday, March 29, 2012

Hands # 2

Offering, Gwen Buchanan


This line drawing was worked from a photograph taken with my web cam
... wonderful tool for self portraiture.
I like the simplicity of Line drawings..  
... attempting to describe Foreshortening, Contour, Outline..
... chewed fingernails are a bad habit...



"To see a World in a grain of sand,
And hold Heaven in a wild flower,
To hold Infinity in the Palm of your HAND, 
And Eternity in an Hour"
from Auguries of Innocence,1... by William Blake,  1757 - 1827




7" x 9" line drawing, micron pen, 65 lb.  Canson  Universal recycled acid free paper


Tuesday, March 27, 2012

To All Those Who Work With Their Hands... Hand #1

Hand with Pen, Gwen Buchanan



For the next while I will be posting a series of  HANDS   I drew during the last 2-3 months...
..
 There will be versions in line, paint, charcoal, conte, chalk, ink..
on plain and colored papers, rough brown paper  and watercolor paper.


This is a drawing of my hand with a pen I have had so long I can't remember where it came from,
but I like the way it feels and lays in my hand when I use it.  
I remember I was wearing that thick orange sweater to warm up 
as my hand was cold from keeping it so still in order to draw it. 



"Reason is our Soul's Left HAND"
To the Countess of Bedford,1... by John Donne, 1573-1631


approx. 12" x10" on brown paper and colored conte.



...created here in our DESIDERATUM Art and Jewelry Studio in St. Martins, 
on the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick,  Canada


Saturday, February 25, 2012

Charles Darwin

Portrait of Darwin by Gwen Buchanan


 Because of Charles Darwin's intense studies and lifetime dedication to his work...  we understand EVOLUTION.



Ape Skull by Gwen Buchanan



...below... an excerpt from Charles Darwin's....  "Origin of Species"

""As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive, and as consequently there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of survival and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form.""



Charles Robert Darwin... Born 1809... died at 73 years in 1882

to learn almost everything about his life,  go HERE ...

I especially like this excerpt from his examination of
 "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals"  



Portrait of Darwin ...........   approx. 11" x 12",  charcoal, conte on brown paper
Ape Skull..............   approx. 8 1/2" x 11" charcoal, conte on colored cardstock
....... both kinds of paper have a great tooth for holding these drawing mediums.


Friday, February 10, 2012

George Orwell





George Orwell told it like he saw it.

..." All animals are created equal,
but some animals are more equal than others"...
animal farm, chapter 10


... Like we all still see it...



I'm sure you have read his book...   What do you think???






...8" x 9",  in my sketchbook... pen, ink, cross hatch, watercolor...  
Crow inspired by Arthur Rackham... 


Desideratum Art and Jewelry Studio, St. Martins, New Brunswick, Canada

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Quote by William James




This quote feels intensely romantic,
 don't you think?






William James 1842 - 1910... Philosopher, Psychologist... Thinker
...brother of Novelist Henry James




*   i   LoVe  TypOGRapH*

.... especially Calligraphy





"When the fruit is ripe, a touch will make it fall"

...in 5½ " x 8½ " sketchbook,  india ink, crow quill,  FW acrylic artists ink, script brush

Thursday, October 20, 2011

DOGS




Sketches and watercolor washes...
trying to put ideas down quickly ...
not worrying about perfection...
just in having a good time, just like dogs. 




A protector...




an entertainer and companion...




... loyal...




... interested in every-little-single-thing-that-you-say and do




 ... never argues or complains...



...best friend...




"A Dog has the Soul of a Philosopher"........ Plato


...crazy to see you again
even if it was only 5 minutes ago that you left the room...

....and always ready to go
before you even know you are.

Our New Copper and Sterling Silver Dog earrings inspired by our gang
...simple little design of dogs with curly tails

Tabitha    
... alias the Queen... Miss Energy... see how high I can jump...
what's you wanna do now Butch, huh, huh?? come on, lets go, come on, come on!

Gabi  
... alias Shy-girl, Sweetheart, sleepy-head, lover not a fighter..
her motto to a thief: here's where the good stuff is, I gotta go back to bed.

Pirate  
... alias Stinky, need I say more..  super-sensitive, super-smart, likes to steal...  
oh and his feelings get hurt very easily..




Tobi  
...alias Bouncer,  Mr. Runaway Hobo, happy go lucky.. 
...come whenever I feel like it, but that's OK isn't it?




and if you like a few laughs.. check out Andy Rooney ... 
He prefers dogs to people.... and  he is funny.


... Dog Portrait Photos by my son, Max Ackerson...  September 2011


*in memory ... about a week after this post,  Andy Rooney passed away.. 
 I was very sad to hear this.. I always enjoyed his "Rants".  He will be missed by many.