Early Apricots

7"X5" Oil on panel

These are painted a little larger than life size, they are very small and not quite ripe. I do love soft fruit season, soon it will be peaches which are probably my favourite. This hasn't been a good year for the fruit growers though, too much rain.

They are in another Chinese bowl, a modern one this time, and I thought that it was time that I tried to tackle the dreaded ellipse again. I can always see the problems after I photograph and upload it. I suppose it would be easier if I wasn't trying to finish it in one sitting. There are some corrections that are just easier to make when the paint is dry. Never mind, it isn't too bad I think.

Three Aubergines

6"X6" Oil on panel

Aubergines, a.k.a. eggplant, I haven't painted them for a while. The middle one is called "graffiti".

Not much more to say really. The plate is "cargo ware" so named because they were imported in huge numbers and were used as ballast in the ships bringing more exotic and expensive goods from the far east. They were hand-painted but quite crude and at one time very cheap. I believe that they are quite collectable now though.

More Ladies Who Lunch

7"X5.5" Pen & wash on paper

Nobody I know this time, just some ladies enjoying an al fresco lunch at the Epicurean before going to see a show at The Shaw.

Pitchers & Hitters

11"X7" Pencil on paper

This is how I while away my time during baseball games. Hitters are much easier to draw than pitchers, I have decided.

Making Umbrellas

7"X5" Oil on board

I have mentioned before I think that lavender grows well in my sandy garden. My grandmother had a huge lavender bush by her front gate. Every year she would make these "lavender umbrellas" and when I was small I would help her gather the lavender spears and thread them through with satin ribbon. They are quite easy to make, maybe I will post a step-by-step on my other blog sometime.

Kumato

7"X5" Oil on board

My husband came home with these strange brown tomatoes that call themselves "Kumatoes". I have no idea why. I will let you know what they taste like.

Bench

8"X5" Pen, pencil & wash on paper

I spent a few minutes in my father-in-law's beautiful garden at lunchtime. It is a lovely spot and has been featured in a number of publications including Canadian Gardening. My sons have been doing some heavy work for him as he is now in his ninth decade, but he and his late wife pretty much created it themselves after he retired from a remarkable academic career.

This sweet little bench looks like a lovely place to enjoy the peace and quiet but I don't think that anyone has been able to sit on it for a while as the surrounding hydrangeas have almost taken over.

High Noon

8"X5" Pen & wash on paper

This is me playing with fountain pen and water brush again. The weather has been so perfect that I have felt compelled to go out onto the common at lunchtime. The meadow grass hasn't been cut yet and and the colours, sounds and smells are intoxicating. Too bad I have to go back to work after.

Dayliles

5"X8" Watercolour pencil on paper

This one is a couple of years old but still quite seasonal. The paper I used was a handmade notebook with handmade paper from somewhere in southeast Asia. I thought it might work quite well for watercolour and so it might, but it is a bit soft for pencils. Still, I quite liked the way this one turned out. It was another of my lunchtime daily sketches from before I started actually posting them and to be honest they weren't all that daily really. The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. The main reason I blog is to impose some self discipline when I don't really have anything else driving me.

Storm Approaching

7"X5" Watercolour on paper

I watched these massive storm clouds rolling in from the Niagara Falls to the South of us. The thunder was rumbling and and the raindrops staring to splatter so I took a picture with my cell phone and went back to work. I finished this at home.

Chicadee

5"X7" Oil on board

As I have mentioned before I am slowly repainting the exterior of my very old clapboard house. This entails a great deal of scraping and preparing. I finally worked my way around to the west wall this year but while in the process of scraping I came the the sorry conclusion that there isn't a board worth saving. We decided that we would re-side that section and this process was supposed to start next week. Unfortunately today we became aware of a slight problem. The ancient nesting box fastened to that side of the house, which was there when we moved in and has been empty for the four years since, seems to be occupied!

At the Gate

5"X7" Oil on panel

This young lady seems to be a kind of "greeter" at Fort George. She must have been standing there for a while, it looks as though her back is killing her as she leans on the massive latch of the old studded gate. I don't envy these young people in their authentic costumes (100% wool and many layers), although they have been lucky so far this year, the weather has been quite cool