The shooting of Jacob Blake in front of his three young childen continues the absolute need for peaceful protest. Reposting this detail from a previous post is an expression of that sense of outrage and anger. How many more times must we say “enough?”
drawing
tick tock
“Tick Tock!”
“Who’s there?”
“Wanda.”
“Wanda who?”
“Wanda what happened to the other 793,800 tickets.”
America weeps…
…and the world weeps with you.
national day of mourning
Drawing in the studio today allowed me to spend a few hours in quiet reflection on this National Day Of Mourning, a day that perhaps has never been more meaningful, as we remember and honor those who have lost their lives or been injured from their time in the workplace.
I would particularly like to honor the memory of Dr. Lorna Breen, a New York City emergency room doctor, a true hero, and send heartfelt condolences to her family, colleagues and friends.
The drawing was inspired by a photograph taken by Marco Bertorello in the Covid-19 ward of Maria Pia Hospital in Turin.
Lookback Vancouver 2010 🇨🇦
The Winter Olympics in Vancouver took place 10 years ago last month with the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron on February 12th 2010. Over the past three weeks I have been celebrating all the amazing athletes and events in the studio bringing back so many great memories. Here is a selection of some of those moments and remarkable athletic achievements.
Tessa and Scott
Speed Skating Men’s Team Pursuit
Yuna Kim
Charles Hamlin 500m Speed Skating Short Track
Yuna Kim
Women’s Bobsled
Team Pursuit
Men’s Curling
Ashleigh McIvor Women’s Ski Cross
Women’s Hockey
Men’s Hockey Canada’s Golden Goal
Parallel Giant Slalom Jasey-Jay Anderson
Tessa and Scott
John Montgomery Skeleton
Alex Bilodeau Men’s Moguls
Mens Moguls
Parallel Giant Slalom Jasey-Jay Anderson
Alex Bilodeau Men’s Moguls
🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
two champions
In celebration of two inspiring female athletes
Simone Biles
US Gymnastics Champion 2019
The first American woman to win six titles, and celebrated last year in my post
the power of teal.
🇺🇸
Bianca Andreescu
Roger’s Cup Women’s Tennis Champion, 2019
The first Canadian woman to win the title since 1969.
🇨🇦
joy to the world
Oh what a joyous day, with the birth of our first grandson this morning.
Congratulations to his mummy, daddy and little sister,
and welcome to the family beautiful boy.
❤️❤️❤️
encapsulating the essence
“I’ve always loved the dry landscape gardens of the Zen Temples. In these tiny gardens a small rock in a raked area of sand may represent a mighty mountain in a vast ocean,
which in its simplicity encapsulates the essence of all mountains.”
Tony Smibert in Chapter 11 of Painting Landscapes from your Imagination.
This second exercise in Chapter 11 was entitled “Using rocks to suggest mountains.” Tony describes how he developed a great affection for Japanese gardens during his travels in Japan and suggests using interesting rocks to create imagined mountainous landscapes. It just so happens that some years ago I produced four drawings of the Sino Himalayan Garden at VanDusen Botanical Gardens here in Vancouver.
Inspired by Tony’s exercise today I thought I would create an imagined landscape of mountains, sky and water using the drawings as a starting point.
<p/.
Fortunately I didn’t leave these drawings behind thirty four years ago and it has been a treat to revisit them today, thanks to Tony’s exercise.
Worldwatercolormonth Day 19
go figure
In Part Three of The Photinia Story I described how drawing with the photinia branches reminded me of my figure studies from over thirty years ago and led me to burrow through my bottom drawer in the studio and bring out old friends I hadn’t seen in years. It also provided an opportunity to photograph and document them, the results of which I hope you will enjoy.
Weekly Photo Challenge: Face
Paul Schofield in The Captain of Köpenick (1971)
Laurence Olivier in The Dance of Death (1967)
Drawing the faces of these two giants of the English stage revealed to me the power that they could generate with either a distant glance or thunderous frown. Both of their performances live on in my memory as unforgettable evenings in the theatre from many years ago.
thechangingpalette 