Feminine Beauties

October 14, 2010October 13, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

If I had painted their white ruffles and splashed them with a dash of fuchsia paint would you have believed their beauty? These feminine lovelies are ivy geraniums – white as a christening gown. I smile when I saw them dancing on the morning wisps as I sipped my coffee in the courtyard – seductive, sensual darlings.

Sprout question: How does sensual beauty appear in your creativity?

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Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Whisper

October 13, 2010November 13, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

(prints of this painting may be purchased HERE)

I’m calling all sages to the edge of the sea. Rest your weary mind and nurture your soul as these rollers roll towards shore. Softly the whisper breaks your inner silence. Softly it calls and becomes the only sound that is heard – outside and inside. Softly… softly… softly… softly….

A 12 X 12 inch gessobord with two-inch birch cradle water miscible oil painting. More background about this oil painting can be found at Beginnings of a Whisper.

UPDATED MARCH 3, 2011: This painting is now SOLD

Sprout question: What softly calls your creativity?

Last day for….

SEA, LAND AND TIME MAYNE ISLAND calendars . For a week at redbubble, until 11:00 pm Thursday, October 14^th London time, there is a promotional sale. Get three calendars for 15% off or six for 25% off. Retailers can contact me directly to order at wholesale price for more than six calendars.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Going to the Birds

October 12, 2010November 6, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 16 Comments

Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend on Mayne Island was beautiful. So I thought you might like to come with me to one of Creative Potager’s favourite beaches at Reef Bay. Wear your sneakers. It can be slippery. The tide is coming in fast. We might get wet.

There it is. Still here even though we have been away for weeks.

Look way out to the end. See where those seagulls and other shorebirds are? That is where we are going. Make sure your hands are free so you can balance. And watch your step… there are some big cracks between the rocks – wouldn’t want to lose you in one.

Remember the tide is coming in so keep your eyes open to ensure we can get back to shore… without swimming.

Ahhhhh, so beautiful. Water reflecting the world around it.

Oh, look! There is a family enjoying the beach too.

Now where were we. Yes, the birds. Let’s see if we can get just a bit closer.

I don’t know much about shorebirds other than there are all sorts of different kinds of seagulls and those black fellows in the foreground with the long bright red beaks are black oystercatchers.

If we crouch down maybe we can get just a wee bit closer and have a good look around. Oops! Be careful. Here comes a gull in for a landing.

This gull in front is such a show off. It is like he is saying “look at me.”

The little birds behind him sitting with the other gulls are black turnstones which are unmistakable when they fly. I call the zebra birds. They are fast and hard to capture.

Here goes a lovely gull overhead.

I am fascinated by the repeating shape of the bird and the neck of land. It is like seeing an echo. Away it goes… wait a minute what do we have here?

Seven eight lay them straight. ..

View full resolution and purchase image here.

Oh No! One mighty squawk is all it took!

Look at them go!

Well, I guess we better start pecking our way back to shore. Should only take a short while. Ah yes, dry land ahead.

Are your shoes still dry? No skinned knees? Good! You were lucky.

Sprout question: Have you ever let your creativity go to the birds?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Beginnings of a Whisper

October 8, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

October 8, 2010

This week I managed a good solid day of painting and have two smaller pieces on gessobord with two-inch deep birch wood frames in progress. This material and thick box-framing are a joy to paint on. Here are two images of “Whisper.” It is twelve inches square.

In the beginning I just want to get some paint on the board.

Now the painting is resting before I go back in and tidy. I need to muse on it for awhile and add my signature. But not too much musing… otherwise the magic will disappear as if at the end of a whisper.

Remember all those photographs you loved from my solo exhibition? Twelve of them have been chosen for SEA, LAND AND TIME MAYNE ISLAND calendars . For a week at redbubble, until 11:00 pm Thursday, October 14^th London time, there is a promotional sale. Get three calendars for 15% off or six for 25% off. Discounts will show up in your shopping cart. These calendars are big, beautiful and solid making them great for keeping track of appointments and family whereabouts. Go ahead. Have a wee bit of Creative Potager and Mayne Island with you everyday of the year – with three or six calendars you can share the peacefulness. Note: retailers can contact me directly to order at wholesale price for more than six calendars.

Sprout question: What creative whispers are you hearing?

Note: Monday is Canada Thanksgiving. I will back with a new submission for your reading pleasure on Tuesday. Also, Thursday’s post broke all records as the most read post and the most views here on Creative Potager ever. Please drop in to “Where Line and Paint meet with Jerry Shawback” and bring your hot cuppa of your favourite beverage as it is a longer read.

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

On Mayne Island, a home that provides raw moments of beauty (theglobeandmail.com)

A Fall Day on Mayne Island

October 6, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

It occurred to us as we were eating lunch that it might be sinful not to take a long leisurely walk in the warmth of this most glorious fall day.

I am always fascinated by the ribbons of blues that stack up like exotic candy layers as I look out to the meeting of sea and sky. I drift and dream on the waves as the seagulls squawk and fish from the rocks. Mount Baker is almost visible in the haze of the far shore – if you know it is there. I sense that it is time to move on.

I flatten body-to-earth on a sunny knoll next to the deep cool shadows of maple trees as they undress, dropping one crunchy brown leaf after another. We do not get much colour here on Mayne Island in the fall.

Mostly things turn brown and drift downward, sometimes holding themselves up as if to say “no, not yet! I’m not quite ready yet.” But the rains will come, silencing their whispers. These large brown leaves will be mulched into the earth to feed the first sprouts of spring.

Sprout Question: What are you letting go of to sprout new creativity?

Important: If you want gift cards, calendars, photographic prints before Christmas, October is the time to place your order at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch. Original oil paintings can be purchased directly from me by sending an emailing to tawelch@shaw.ca .

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

A Compliment Nothing Special

October 5, 2010October 5, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 13 Comments

This past Saturday, October 2, 2010, Creative Potager was written up as “nothing special” in the best possible way by Dr. Peter Renner (dashin) a practicing Zen lay-monk and a delightful, engaging and thoughtful host of Living and Dying with Eyes Wide Open. He muses about what he calls amazing photographs about the ordinary around her. He concludes “perhaps that’s what I find most comforting in Terrill’s posts: she directs attention to that which is there all the time, just being, waiting for us to see.” He goes on to quote Marcel Proust’s observation that “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes.”

This past Sunday, October 3, 2010 Annie Q. Syed wrote about one of Creative Potager’s sprout questions as part of her “Still Sunday” post. She tells of amazing photographs and paintings in a safe harbor drenched in creative magic.

In addition, my paintings were featured yesterday on Art of Day in “Impressionist Painting of Nature by Terrill Welch” Go ahead and drop by. Leave a comment if you are so inspired.

Thank you, dear readers for your continued support and encouragement. I hope you leave with the same sense of value and commitment to your work as what I receive from you.

Sprout Question: What is your favourite story about someone who has admired your work?

Important: If you want gift cards, calendars, photographic prints before Christmas, October is the time to place your order at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch.

Original oil paintings can be purchased directly from me by sending an emailing to tawelch@shaw.ca .

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Schooner Sails back to Mayne Island from White Rock

October 4, 2010October 4, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 11 Comments

A schooner sails back to Mayne Island from White Rock but not under its own steam. The photographic print was transported by Marg Milan on B.C. Ferries. Marg called me a few weeks ago to say that she was coming over to Mayne Island as part of a tour. She wanted to meet me let me see how lovely her print of “Sailing Ship Navy Channel” looked once it was framed. Didn’t she do a great job of choosing the right matting and frame? I coaxed her into letting me take her photograph with the work. We had never met before but I can sense we shall meet again. We connected when she inquired about this image after it had been published on page 12 in the May 27, 2010 issue of the Island Tides regional newspaper.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Marg talk about why she like the image and tell me things I hadn’t notice such as the lush green of the seaweed in the foreground. Thank you so much Marg for sharing your pleasure with the framed piece of art that now hangs on your wall.

Sprout Question: Who has recently shown you aspects about your work that you haven’t notice before?

Dear readers my image Reef Bay in September has also been published on page 13 of the most recent September 30, 2010 issue of the regional Island Tides newspaper. This paper publishes over 18,000 copies every other Thursday and covers many of the west coast island communities. The half-page photo is tagged with “Mayne Island’s Reef Bay—September morning mist drifts in from the Strait of Georgia. Terrill’s one-woman show of photos and paintings ran till September 22 at the Mayne
Island Library.”

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Down the Road a Way

September 29, 2010September 29, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

Down the road a way there is a farm.

It was established in 1872 just a year after British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation. Around here it’s known as Punch’s place. I hear tell that he sold it a bit back on the condition that he could stay on and live out the rest of his life on the place.

I’ve always admired the spot myself. The new owners have put up a real fine fence but it really didn’t seem to change things much. Saved a few apples from the deer is all.

The new gate is right pretty as well.

We was walking so as to really get a good look at things.

On a way past Punch’s these mail boxes popped up and we almost fell sideways across the centre line from laughing. No one puts mail in them. They’re just for show.

About this time, we decided to go all the way to the public boat launch.

Caught sight of a rooster trying to get through the fence. Ah, I’m just kidding. It’s not a real bird.

Seems like there must have been an agreement awhile ago

to keep the same old fence right on down to the sea.

When we looked across at the calm, sure didn’t feel like leaving.

But we did.

Saw a sign about not peeking.

Nothing can anyone do about walking on the road though. It is public property all the way to the other side of the ditch. Some ditches are just wider than others is all. Not that we stepped across a wide ditch or anything… just saying.

The road was even nicer on the walk back. Best part is it was down hill a little right back to where we parked the truck.

Sprout Question: Whose voice shows up in your creative work?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Good Neighbour Gate

September 28, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 14 Comments

We have all likely heard of good neighbour fences where you make sure the fence is agreeable to both parties and looks nice on both sides. What about a good neighbour gate? I love the idea that you can do more than visit over the fence with a neighbour. Imagine having a chat and opening the gate so they can come in and get a closer look at your prize pink dahlias.

Sprout Question: Where are your good neighbour creativity gates located?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada

Please Do Not Take This Pumpkin

September 27, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 21 Comments

Cities on the west coast are changing. I visited a friend in Victoria yesterday. After walking through her garden and behind the outdoor studio, I admired a hen through the fence in the neighbour’s yard. But even before I got to the house, I stopped on the street to see how the pumpkin was doing.

Imagine my delight when “the son” answered the doorbell a few minutes later and agreed to get his picture taken with this large beast growing between the sidewalk and the street.

Just to help ensure you can tell how big this pumpkin is, Simon is eleven. The pumpkin gets so many visitors that my friend is thinking of putting out a guest book.

Congratulations Simon on your giant pumpkin. Thank you to your neighbours for not picking it.

Sprout Question: What part of your creative experience is larger than usual?

Liberal usage granted with written permission. See “About” for details.

Purchase photography at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch

Creative Potager – where imagination rules. Be inspired.

From Mayne Island, British Columbia, Canada