Beautiful Stormy Weather

These first three photos are of my view. It was such a beautiful blusterly day.







This last photo was taken through my kitchen window. When I look at it, I can feel the window rattling in the wind and hear the pelting of the rain, slashing against the glass. It's those raindrops that are highlighted in the photo.

Overnight Snowfall

It doesn't often snow here, but it did all night, overnight.

This first photo looks out towards Alert Bay and you can see the ferry in the distance.



This is a view of the snow in my front yard. It's deep for us.



Looking toward the inner harbour with the school bus ferry heading out.



This photo looks out toward Sointula and if you look closely, there is an eagle on the top of the tallest tree in the foreground.

Shells from the Beach

When I make a trip to the beach, I can't resist picking up shells and rocks and beach glass. These are a few of them.

ATC's (Artist Trading Cards)

I didn't really have anywhere to put these. I almost need to start another blog...though I'd rather avoid it. Following are photos of my first attempt at ATC. This is definitely a work in progress. I had fun doing them and learned a lot from them. The five cards represent about four hours work. I did them more or less assembly line style as I was trying to create a series. The last two represent more experimental techniques. I'm not thrilled with them, but they are a good start.

Gorgeous Winter Day

What a beautiful day it was today! It's hard to believe that it's winter though in the first photos below you can see the snow on the tops of the mountains on the mainland. In the second, I wanted to show how lush and green the grass is even though it's Canada and the end of January. No igloos here! Oh, and of course, don't miss the requisite eagle in the tree top.

Wild Birds

It's been an amazing day watching the "eagle tree" in front of my place. There is an eagle who has spent most of the day there and then as twilight fell, I looked out to see a blue heron on the tree top. I'm told that this is very unusual as eagles prey on heron so they avoid their territory.



I wish it were a better photo of the eagle.


Don't forget you can click the photo to see a larger version.

Frosty Morning

Took my little dog for a walk along the beach this morning and we had to be very careful as there was frost overnight and the streets were still a bit slippery. It may have been slick, but it was beautiful. So, here are a few shots where you can see the frost on the leaves. No snow though!



The Canada geese were having a morning swim in the harbour.

Home a Week

I've been home again for a week. Tomorrow is the day so soon I'll be getting back to normal and taking some photos again. It's been beautiful here. Weather and the view.

Full Moon Rising

There it was. The full moon rising over the city...over the mountains. Notice all of the cranes in the foreground of the first photo. Vancouver is getting ready for the 2010 Olympics.

Morning Fog in Vancouver

I was up early this morning and looking out of my hotel room window. The sun rising between the buildings through the fog caught my eye. If you click on the image and view the larger version you can see the shape of the fog swirling. Beautiful.

Ocean Going Traffic

It's been a cloudy rainy day again. Not heavy rain and not constant, but enough to keep me indoors.

Click on the first photo to see an eagle hanging out on the tree top on the right.


The ferry heading out.


A tug, pulling out a log boom. Click on the photo to get a larger view.


Here's the whole boom heading off to market.

November Roses

The climate here is very mild. Our summers aren't extremely warm (usually around 70F) and our winters are mild too (usually around 40F). These roses are still blooming just outside my door. Notice the buds behind the blossom in the second photo. More roses yet to come.

Short Days

It's that time of year. The days are short. It's not light until about 8am and it's dark by about 5:30pm. And we aren't yet to the shortest day of the year so light will continue to be limited for a while yet. On top of short daylight hours, it's been just raining, raining, raining. And who wants to be out with a camera in the rain? Not me and not my pooch.

We've also been having horrific wind storms...which mean power outages. This week we've suffered a power outage and been cut off from the world by a slide that blocked the highway and took three days to open a lane and I hear that today...five or six days since the slide they are still working at the slide site and there are delays in traffic.

I'm working away on things beady so some kind of creative things are happening. I must get out with the camera soon, even if just to record some of the bare trees.

Rainy Fall Days

It's that time of year and I haven't been taking any photos lately...except of crafting I've been doing. I keep thinking I should be taking my camera out with me when I go walking because I'm amazed at the number of flowers still blooming. Soon....

On Being An Artiste

I think one of the things that holds me back artistically is the idea I grew up with that "artists starve" and what an artist does isn't really "useful to society". So there has been a little voice in my head telling me that I needed to limit myself to doing something "useful" so that I wouldn't starve.

I have been working through this idea and as awareness is the first step, I'm on my journey to allowing my inner artist to live and flourish and produce art.

To quiet the voice I hear telling me that I'm not "good enough" to be an artist, I often tell myself that I'm an "artiste" or an "artisan". Today I encountered the following quote which I need to turn into a poster for in my studio.

"Every artist was first an amateur."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Moody Rainy Day

What a beautiful moody rainy day this is today. In the photo, you can see the sun reflecting off of the bushes in the foreground while the sky behind the ferry is so dark and threatening. This is why I love my ever changing view. It keeps me entertained and smiling.

Eagle Alarm

A couple of mornings ago, I woke up to the screaching of eagles and looked out of my bedroom window to see this pair sharing the tree top. Barely awake, I ran downstairs to grab my camera before they flew away. How could I not love somewhere where I fall asleep to crashing waves and wake up to eagles?

For a larger view, click on the photo.

Kayaking

This photo was taken about three weeks ago. It was a monumental day for me...my first kayaking adventure in over two years. The day was grey and rainy but the water was absolutely flat...just what I needed. Though I wasn't moving with much speed, just getting into the kayak and out on the water again had my heart about ready to burst with the pleasure of it.

Rust and Fall Colours

Rusty Folk Art

Wandering around my friend's property revealed some rusted metal bits that I can't help thinking of as "Folk Art". Items abandoned but still revealing a kind of allure; far from being an eyesore if viewed as "art" left by folks.