Flower Salad

July 15, 2010July 10, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 22 Comments

It is almost getting to hot for salad greens now but I have a spot where the mixed greens are out of the hot sun by about one o’clock in the afternoon so they have stayed nice a little longer. I also grow calendula and nasturtium flowers especially for salad. The tomatoes are from an organic Vancouver Island greenhouse. My tomatoes are not yet ripe but if we peer into the three feet tall vines I wonder what we will find?

and

And there is another one…

Also I saw this interesting 2.5 to 3 inch long dragonfly fellow this morning. Not sure what kind it might be but very interesting.

Carrots are looking good.

Oh! While you are out here, can you water the garden please?

Sprout Question: If you could grow one new thing in your creative garden what would you be willing to weed, water and love until harvest time?

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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

The Boys are Back in Town

July 13, 2010July 10, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 20 Comments

Morning is filled with the smell of west coast summer. I go out to water the garden. Snapping twigs and munching tell me I have company – a lot of company. I carefully raise my head from the geranium pot. Then I slip back into the house for my camera.

There is a herd of seven buck deer just on the other side of the deer fence browsing in the tall salal underbrush. I managed to get four decent images of these fellows well embedded in their natural environment. I have to whistle to get them to look at the camera.

Lucky for us they are curious animals and can’t help but wonder where that pathetic-excuse-for-a-whistle is coming from.

Our cool and lush spring leaves these fat and sassy devils more handsome this year than usual.

And for those of you who have never heard Thin Lizzy’s “The boys are back in town” from 1976, here you go….

Sprout Question: What caption would you give each photograph to tell a story as the deer?

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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

If I were an owl

July 8, 2010October 11, 2011 / Terrill Welch / 24 Comments

If I were an owl I would spend a lot of time looking at the middle of trees, as I dozed away an afternoon. The view we have of our big fir trees is like that. I set my easel up on the west deck and decided to paint an owl’s view.

The big easel I’m using was a gift from my parents the year I graduated from high school. That was awhile ago. I’ve packed and moved it so many times I don’t even care to count. It’s a treasure.

Now back to an owl’s view….I started with one of my favourite yellow-orange underpaintings but neglected to take that first photo when it was set aside to dry. Here is the next pause in painting.

And the next.

Then I made a mistake. I didn’t let it cure long enough… only a couple of days. I just couldn’t wait. So I painted. And I painted. And I painted some more….

It was okay but the painting had lost its life. The darker and more vibrant colours had lifted and mixed in with the lighter ones I was painting. Basically, I had a muddy gray mess. I was pretty sad and I felt kind of silly. I knew I couldn’t work the painting that hard so soon and I stubbornly did it anyway. So this time I left it sit for a couple of weeks. I looked at. I mused and I considered.

Did I want to try and breathe life back into it or should I just leave its carcass on the canvas?

Ah, what the heck nothing much too loose. I gave it another try. Here are the results.

View and purchase print of original here.

18X24 by 2 inch 100% cotton canvas water miscible oil painting.

Now I am happy. I love painting trees. Just for fun, here is a close up of one of my favourite parts of the painting. I decided it would make a nice card or print in its own right.

View and purchase print of original here.

Sprout Question: Do you have a favourite subject that has kept you creative company for years?

Note: these images are available at my online store front http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch for viewing and purchase. But they seem to be having some website issues this morning so I will go back and make direct links for you later today.

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

Summer Holidays

July 6, 2010July 6, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 26 Comments

A young boy, maybe 11 years old, coasts his bike down the hill towards us. He makes eye contact and grins. I grin back. No words are necessary. It is the first week of summer holidays. The evening is warm and the sun is coming down between trees with bugs dancing in its soft rays.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

With the tide being low, I am able to get closer to where the seals sunbathe in Oyster Bay. I can’t help thinking how their shapes on the rocks mirror the jaggedness of coastal mountains across the water. How many years of July days have seals rested on these rocks?

View and purchase full resolution image here.

We walk on and coming to Reef Bay. Carefully I meander out onto the sandstone. Tall grasses are trapped in a golden glow in front of the beach house.

View and purchase full resolution image here.

But it is the waves that are calling me. Sitting on the warm sandstone, I study them. I listen. I feel. I smell. I see. I engage with their presence….

wave one

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wave two

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wave three

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and wave four

View and purchase full resolution image here.

I hope you have enjoyed your summer evening walk with me here on Mayne Island… swisssshhhhh!

Sprout Question: Are you taking your creativity for a summer holiday?

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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

Mayne Island Summer Group Show part 2

July 3, 2010July 3, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 10 Comments

There is nothing that says summer like July and August on the southwest coast Gulf Islands of British Columbia, and no summer is complete without the Mayne Island Trincomali Community Arts Council Summer Group Show. The show will open at “the library” on Friday July 9^th 7-9 pm and the Mayne Island Reading Centre will be bursting with creative abundance for your viewing pleasure.

Last Saturday’s part 1 of this post gave us a glimpse of what to expect. Today’s post will provide a few more enticing examples…

First, is an intriguing image from photographer and artisan Barbara McIntyre with Nomadic Routes Inc. where she is creating healthy choices for people and planet (she has the most amazing handmade soaps).

New Zealand by Barbara McIntyre

Second, here are a few snippets of words submitted from one of her works in progress by author and artisan Leanne Dyck

“My need for the backpack was how we ended up in a sporting goods store talking to one of the cutest guys I’d ever meet in my life. Or, rather, how my Dad ended up talking to him as I tried not to drool.

‘Our little girl.’

Little girl – honestly, Dad, that’s how you’re going to talk about me to the cutest guy in the whole universe. Our little girl – kill me, kill me now.

A red rash rose from my neck and spread over my entire face.”

A prolific writer, Leanne Dyck has published Novelty Yarn and Maynely a Mystery. I also know other great things are in the works such as Turning, Maynely Hidden and The Sweater Curse. You can find out more at her website http://www.oknitting.com .

Third, we pause for a moment to view an image from well known (on Mayne Island anyway) fine arts and freelance photographer Toby Snelgrove

Edith Point North by Toby Snelgrove

Toby Snelgrove’s stunning collection of BC Ferry images is just completing so if you haven’t yet, please do drop by the library and take in a startling original perspective on the ships we rely on to link to the rest of the civilized world. Toby’s show is not to be missed and the photographic exhibition runs until Wednesday July 7^th.

Finally, I will also be showing a series of five photographic images “Window with a View” that were featured on my post “Simplicity” back in February of this year.

window with a view by Terrill Welch

This series of five images is a lovely segue into my solo exhibit “Sea, Land and Time” that will follow the Mayne Island Summer Group Show and open on Friday, September 3^rd. I will have more about that in a few weeks. In the mean time, you can browse my online storefront at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch and see if you can pick out some of the oil paintings and photographic canvas prints that will be included.

In addition to artists, artisans and writers mentioned in blog posts part 1 and 2 for the Mayne Island Summer Group Show, there will also be Native art by Wayne Thomas, sculpture by Cedar Christie plus Tina Farmilo, Donna Williams and Bill Maylone, along with others, will bring their vibrant creativity together for a spectacular exhibit.

The Mayne Island Summer Group Show will run from July 9, 2010 to September 1, 2010 and after the opening night can be viewed during Library hours 11:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

If you are thinking of coming, the Mayne Island B.C. website (which also has a link to the Mayne Island Chamber of Commerce ) can help you with your planning.

Sprout Question: What is your favourite comment or review about your work?

Note: special thanks to Bill Maylone for allowing me to “borrow” parts of his text from the MayneLiner Magazine article.

And, psst! I just received the 2011 calendar for “Sea, Land and Time” and I am so happy with the images and large calendar squares – big enough to write all your important notes. And don’t be fooled when the website calendar cover says 2010 – You can set the start date for whenever you like.

: westcoast winter by Terrill Welch

Cover image. View the whole calendar at http://www.redbubble.com/people/terrillwelch/calendars/5320339-8-sea-land-and-time All the images in the calendar are taken from Mayne Island.

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

Perspective Canada Day

July 1, 2010July 1, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 12 Comments

Happy, happy Canada Day Canada. YOU are the BEST… but I only tell you this one day a year as it might go to your head.

stillness

View and purchase full resolution image here.

To be perfectly clear, this blog is about construct of perspective and it just happens to be Canada Day.

Perspective is to painting as grammar is to writing. It is useful to have some idea about the rules before you start breaking them. Both methods of organizing information have been equally tedious for me to learn except in an abstract fleeting fashion. In each case I have a tendency “to work at what I am creating until it seems right.” I usually only refer to the math of perspective or the grammar of writing when I have got myself mired and I absolutely refuse to give up. I then begrudgingly concede that I best go find out what the rules are so I can solve my problem.

Driven by combination of frustration and curiosity, I will pull out the appropriate books from my bookshelf and read what I need to read. Usually this results in a satisfying personal discovery that is far more exhilarating than warranted.

But sometimes new learning slips into my life more easily. The other day Elisa posted an excellent video comment to “Seeing and Creating” about an artist, Esref Armagan, who has no eyes and who can paint perspective using his fingertips. Esref has never “seen” a horizon line. How does he do it? I was so impressed with the link that I decided to bring it forward for a post focusing on perspective. Thank you Elisa.

And if you want to learn more about the history, science and mathematics of perspective….

“It wasn’t until the early 15th Century that a Florentine architect and engineer named Filippo Brunelleschi developed a mathematical theory of perspective through a series of optical experiments.” http://www.msichicago.org/scrapbook/scrapbook_exhibits/reverspective/history.html

Mathematics and art – perspective

http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/HistTopics/Art.html

The history and theory of perspective http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/projects/perspective/theory.htm

Sprout Question: Are you remembered for your creativity in the way you want to be remembered?

Bonus: Around the middle of May this year Kathy Drue from Lake Superior Spirit blog decided to declare her dare on my blog post “Choose Your Dare” and started a visual arts project. This morning I found the following comment on that post…

Terrill, well yesterday I realized that I needed to have those seven pages done…but couldn’t really get inspired to make a journal that would just be seen by me. So instead I made some more cards. Twelve of them. Then decided to start a “revolution”: http://upwoods.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/taking-back-the-world-one-card-at-a-time/

Thanks again for the inspiration!

I invite you to go have a look at her beautiful cards with their shiny images beaming back at us from the picnic table. Thank you Kathy for celebrating your success with us.

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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

Roof Top Morning

June 29, 2010July 1, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

toe-to-toe bride and her best friend

Did you ever notice that when you use the hand garden shears your mouth opens and closes as you work the shears? No, this is not a gardening post. But I have been out watering, weeding and trimming already this morning… and besides the fact that the tomatoes are blooming, I notices how my jaw was engaged with my hand’s sheering motion.

As many of you know, I was away at one of our children’s weddings on Sunday and returned at dinner time yesterday. I have not edited my photos yet and I when I do I will post them for family on my flickr account. Except for the one photo above, you will have to wait. Our son-in-law was the official wedding photographer and I also don’t want to get ahead of him in posting my photographs. He took his photography training last year and wants to establish himself as a wedding photographer. I think he got some amazing shots from where I was observing so I am excited to see the results.

What I have for you this morning is two roof top photographs taken from my room at the Swans Hotel in Victoria B.C. Canada. These images show the topside and kind of a roof-top-back-alley view of part of old Chinatown.

I have taken photographs of this remaining heritage wall from many angles. The wall was supposed to be integrated into a new development that went sour a few years ago and now the vacant lot is growing weeds and the wall is crumbling.

I am attracted to these kinds of cityscapes that are being reclaimed by the environment. The morning reminds me of the beauty in a moment while considering that everything is impermanent. The environment, my life and the brick wall all continue to wane and will eventually transition into something else.

Sprout Question: How does your creativity bring your attention to your mortality?

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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

Mayne Island Summer Group Show part 1

June 27, 2010July 3, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 17 Comments

A bright corner of Mayne Island is going to get even brighter on July 9, 2010 to September 1, 2010 with the opening of the Mayne Island Summer Group Show with work from about a dozen participants. Do you want to come? Yes I know, for some of you it is too far away. But for others it may be down the road or just a ferry ride for a weekend get away.

Most of you know, I live on the wee Mayne Island with about a 1,000 people year round and maybe 3,000 hanging around during the summer. These 23 square kilometers in the Southern Gulf Islands off the west coast of Canada are home to a thriving art, artisan and writing community with its own arts council. The Mayne Island Trincomali Community Arts Council hosts a series of art exhibits at the Mayne Island Reading Room or “the library” throughout the year.

Whether you will be sipping wine and nibbling treats at the opening with us, between 7:00 and 9:00 pm in the heart of Miner’s Bay, on the evening of July 9^th or you must suffice with my blog review, I hope you enjoy the offerings.

Here is a sneak preview…

Author and artisan Leanne Dyck has submitted a natural fiber art hand knit purse appropriately named “Summer Daze” that is begging to be slung over a shoulder and taken to a summer picnic. I laid it gently on this fir bow to photography. It appears to be right at home.

Quasimodo Pottery creates unique, extremely high quality craftsmanship and functional art in its pottery pieces. Here is a group image of pottery from their website.

The Quasimodo casserole dish was featured recently Creative Potager in the post “Quiet Grace.”

Artist and message therapist Shakeira Wynde’s vibrant abstract acrylic painting will fill the exhibit all by itself with its brilliant colours. She graciously allowed me to slip by her home and take this photo for our early viewing.

My oil painting “East Point Cliff” asked me to put her forward for her debut in the Mayne Island Summer Group Show as well.

As you can see, there is a diverse collection of work in the show. We will be back to take another glance behind the Mayne Island Summer Group show curtain next Saturday before the opening the following week.

And here it is, next week already. Please come on over to Mayne Island Summer Group Show part 2

If you are thinking of coming, the Mayne Island B.C. website (which also has a link to the Mayne Island Chamber of Commerce ) can help you with your planning.

Sprout Question: Where are you showing your creative pieces work this summer?

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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

Orange day

June 24, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 29 Comments

The garden is watered. David is making breakfast consisting of plain organic yogurt, local strawberries, blue berries and some lovely grapes and banana. I will add 3 tsp. of hemp seeds to mine. He will add a bit of organic blue agave to his. I expect that my writing will be interrupted to partake in his efforts. But until then, let me tell you about today and how it has become an orange day. You see on Tuesday our friend Laurie received some bad news. She didn’t tell us what it was but she reassured us that no one was hurt. Today she has written a blog post “Ice Water in my Veins” about her situation. After sending along sending calming and resilient energy, I went about my day. What showed up was orange. Not just any orange but a particular orange.

Oh! My breakfast is ready. I shall be back. There! I had a few delicious bites and now I will continue and finish the rest once I get this post up.

First, there were the two underpaintings I did in the afternoon. Here is an example of one.

There is a shadow on this 18X24 inch canvas but I chose to keep and use the photo anyway and I think you will see why shortly.

Then there was a particular calendula in the garden that seemed to be begging and pleading with me to take its photo. We were coming back from a walk at the beach where I found nothing that was particularly inspiring. As we closed the gate, there was the calendula… saying “I’m here! Take a photo of me!” So I did.

By the time I was done processing and editing the images into what was most pleasing to me, I realize it had been an orange day… a particular colour of orange kind of day.

As you can see, the shadows on the underpainting are creating the same gradient in colour as the shadows in the flower. I can tell you that thought of Laurie and “her news” off and on all day. Each time I would focus calming resilient energy her way. We did not speak to each other or exchange emails. There didn’t seem to be a need. She slipped back in yesterday to the “Sitting” post and said she was feeling much better and would post more on her blog today. So whether the orange is related to my focused intention or not I really have no idea… but I am suspicious that it might.

Laurie knows about the properties or meanings associated with colours so she may drop by and tell us what might be associated with this particular orange. We shall just need to wait and see.

Sprout Question: What colour or texture is pulling on your creative strings today?

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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

Sitting

June 22, 2010June 22, 2010 / Terrill Welch / 19 Comments

loft from sitting on meditation cushion

Last night’s a summer solstice labyrinth walk is slipping into the soft dust of yesterday. Today I have a list. It is a long list of tasks that must be accomplished today, this week and next. Some are routine commitments, like typing up the minutes for a meeting. Others are unique and one-time requests, like painting signs for a wedding on recycled wood so that the 120, or so, guests can find their way around a large venue. Nowhere on this list does it say “put brush in hand and do the underpainting for next painting.”

My first response to this creative dilemma was to sleep until twenty-to-eight this morning. Now, my body feels like it has been pretzel-wrapped and would rather break than unfurl. My mind is grumpy. With puffy, blinking eyes I look out the window and see that the sun is already settling on the valley floor. Grudgingly I note “at least there is sun.” Then I remember “oh yeah, I have a blog to write too… and that package needs to be mailed this mornings as well.”

What is a creative woman in service to creativity and its inspired Creative Potager community to do?

# one – get out of bed and gently untangle limbs and brain… at first hobbling and then gathering some form of jerky tempo on a trip to the washroom. Nothing can be formulated until this task is accomplished.

#two – heat teakettle, hand-grind blend of organic coffee and fill stainless steel insulated coffee press as body and brain cells begin to stretch and fall over each other to gain a more positive outlook on the day. In a moment of stubbornness I ignore them.

#three – climb the wood stairs up to the loft with coffee pot and cup. Place both by laptop for later as I glance longingly at the blank canvas on the easel.

#four – return to the top of the stairs and move past its invitation to decline and go over to the other side of the loft where its high ceiling lets light caress the small space.

#five – bow to the cushion on the floor.

#six – SIT

#seven – go back to desk and add “paint underpainting” to list with an asterisk… which denotes a very important “to do”

I am smiling. All my grumpy stubborn resistance has evaporated like morning dew. Now the day can begin. Among other things, I have a painting to paint!

Not everyone has a formal “sitting practice” such as meditation but most us will sit quietly, informally resting, gathering and sorting mentally, physically and spiritually. In these moments of simply being we can gather direction.

Sprout Question: When has simply sitting been your creative response?

p.s. this is not the blog I intended to write this morning but the goddesses of blog writing had their own ideas… what can I say? Have a most wonderful Tuesday:)

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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