Kitsilano in the snow #3
Kitsilano in the snow #2
Inspired by a magical morning on Kitsilano Beach after the snowfall before Xmas, which I posted about in backdrop to a life: part 2 and which was also the inspiration for the first of the year.
The Gift of the Four Treasures has once again weaved its magic spell with the superpower that resides in its brushes and ink.
Looks like the beginning of a new series for a new year.
No, I didn’t accidentally misspell retrospective; let me explain. This is David’s Teas Advent Calendar for 2016. You may remember the 2015 calendar from my Moment of Zen.

Happy hunting.















Happy New Year to everyone. I look forward to seeing you in 2017, as much as I look forward to drinking David’s delicious teas. They are simply the best.
I am greatly honoured to have been invited to be one of the contributors to WordPress Discover’s A Glimpse into 2017: You and Your Site in The New Year (Part II) published today. My thanks to Cheri and The Daily Post for inviting me to participate and to whom the imaginary faux envelope containing my reply was addressed.
The Vancouver postmark on the envelope began with a vintage 1932 image I found online.
With a little Photoshop Elements magic I rearranged the numbers for 2016,
and with a little more magic superimposed the Vancouver skyline stamp…et voila.
You may remember the bouquet I chose taken from The Gift of the Four Treasures: Part Two
Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year, and as I wrote at the end of the WordPress Discover post, “I look forward to enjoying the fruits of your own blogging resolutions in 2017.”
You can read the contributions of my fellow participants here in Part I .
For this week’s Photo Challenge: New Horizon Krista asks us to “think ahead and show your work in a representative photo”. Since I have just received my 2017 calendar this week, which I had printed by Apple, it seemed the perfect way to respond to Krista’s challenge revisiting some of my paintings from 2016 as I look forward to the year ahead.
The First Treasure
Back in September you will remember my pleasure at receiving The Gift of the Four Treasures from a special friend. My first ink painting using the gift I titled The First Treasure and today it was time to mat and frame it ready to give it to her as the gift that was promised.
Wearing an old pair of black leather gloves to protect my hands as I cleaned the glass together with the anticipation of seeing the framed image hanging on the studio wall are part of a familiar and welcome ritual that I always look forward to.
With thirty new pristine mats ready to go, lots more framing to come.
P.S. For this week’s Discover Challenge: One, Two, Three, the challenge from Krista to photographers and artists is to create in sets of three, working in triptychs to capture a subject in evolution. I hope this triptych of the three photographs matting, framing, and hanging The First Treasure captures the spirit of the Krista’s challenge.