The Passion for Painting award

There are several blog awards going around at the moment. They are a cute idea and a nice way for artists to show their appreciation of each other. Each has slightly different rules, this one asks you to share seven things that you like and seven artists (I take this to mean artists with an internet presence) who inspire you.

I received mine from Sam Dolman an animal painter with an unusual and engaging style.

• 
  Stephen Dell'Aria


• Nkolika Anyabolu (MD)


• Yvonne Ayoub


• Arty Velarde


• René PleinAir


• Georgina Johnstone (even though she still doesn't have a blog, here is her facebook album)


• Sheila Vaughan

There are many many more. Some I know have already received this award or many more like it. I have taken inspiration to mean not just beautiful art but also people who are very supportive of other artists, people who have buoyed me up when I have been feeling down or just given good advice.

Here are seven things that I like:

• 1. My family, of course. I am not a very sociable person and usually prefer the company of my family to any other


• 2. My house. At 142 years it is pretty old by Canadian standards, it doesn't just have character, it has personality.


• 3. The Sea. What, you may ask, am I doing living in the middle of a continent? The Great Lakes are spectacular but just not the same.


• 4. Mountains, hills and generally bumpy landscape, like the South Downs where I grew up. Again, I wonder why I am surrounded by flatlands?


• 5. Big cities, like London, San Francisco and Montreal.


• 6. Childrens' books. I read to my children for years after they could read to themselves because I couldn't bring myself to give it up.


• 7. Swimming. I always swam as a child (when you live by the sea it is what you do) but have only just recently started to swim again on a regular basis.

Oh dear, I have run out of space and I haven't even mentioned art, music, theatre, gardening, cats, history........