Sunday, December 18, 2016

BARBADOS
Paul and I arrived in Barbados on November 30th to find the country in celebration of 50 years of Independence. Prince Harry and Rihanna are here to celebrate and enjoy the festivities.  A bit of background...'On this day in 1966, the sun finally set on 300 years of British rule when the Caribbean island that made Britain rich in the age of slavery was finally free to make its own way in the world.'  Back in 1966 my husband and I were boyfriend and girlfriend. I remember his mother Joyce's reaction to her country gaining independence. She was overjoyed.


 'Barbados, a small island 14 miles x 21 miles, is 93 miles east of the main Caribbean Islands. This puts it just outside the hurricane zone and makes it a popular destination for tourist. Since independence, Barbados has built its prosperity largely on tourism.'
Our new home is up the hill from Speightstown.

Our Arrival:
I never tire of seeing the clouds, each individual and together forming landscapes in the sky.  Photos never do the scene justice. Knowing this does not stop me from snapping so many photos...

Saturday, September 17, 2016

Barbados Home Update...
while we are in Canada our home
is being cared for by
Nathan and Kerry Harling
of
'Gifted Hands'
Check out the slide show of photos
at the beginning
of this site.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Finally Finished....

Mixed media on canvas, 2 ft x 2 ft,
'The Spirit Within, #8'... available


Monday, September 5, 2016

Paint Colour Choices, Coconuts, Time for Family and Friends

One week has passed since we took possession of our new home. It has been an exciting and very full week.
 

First the task of selecting colours to paint the rooms...this turned out to be more complicated than anticipated. My usual choices of Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams were out of the question and while it is available here the paint is imported and very expensive. Berger paint is available. After talking to many and much research the product we went with was Trowel Plastics Brushing Solution, a paint product common here in the Caribbean. The walls are rough and Trowel Plastics troweled on. It took me a while to come around to using this product but we are happy with the results. We have almost finished painting each room...a variety of blues and greens... the colours of the sea. 

The floors are all tile (very happy with this as it should be easy to keep clean) and they are the colour of the beach sands. I took my inspiration from a poster on the wall in Trowel Plastics entry room. The process went something like this... drive to the paint store, pick up sample colours, take them back to the house to see how they look.
 


Back to the paint store for a sample pot, then to the house to try it out, let it dry, back to the paint store to make the final purchase. Repeat two more times!  The sunlight is very intense and alters the colour. It appears different in each room and even on each wall of a room. The paint finish is matte to absorb the light and heat. We began with the bathroom, painting the ceiling white and it soon became apparent that this was going to take a toll on our neck, back and shoulders. I did a Google search for 'beige ceilings and coloured walls and found some delightful looking rooms. So 'beige ceilings blue and green walls it is'!
  
Some may wonder why this amount of time and effort was spend on 'colour', including my husband...all I can say is...it must be the artist in me.  

The coconuts on our backyard tree were ready for harvesting...very exciting! Six in all and ten more still on the tree. Our friend Dan opened them for the coconut water with his very long and sharp machete.
  
We have one golden apple left on our tree, the monkeys came through and helped themselves. We have a Soursop tree bearing two fruits. 


We also have a bay leaf bush that is 3 feet high (at home I have one that grows to 8 inches) one lime tree and a mango tree. 

Everything here takes just a wee bit longer to accomplish and as our sometime neighbour from Britain said to us....'this is the charm of the place'. I love it!  We made trips to the Waterworks, Light and Power and Insurance Company. Take a number and a seat.  

Time out for a visit with friends, cousins and Uncle John, a 50th Wedding Anniversary party and trips to Oistins for fish fry Friday.

I signed up for Leslie Saeta's September 'Thirty Paintings in 30 Days' as I thought I would do a small watercolour each day. Walls are all that are getting the paint as yet.

Tuesday, August 23, 2016

Time for a New Adventure

I am about to embark on a new adventure...and I thought my artist blog might be a good place to share this adventure. My husband Paul has talked about building a 'container home' out of shipping containers for many years. With dual citizenship, Canada and Barbados, his desire was to build this home in Barbados. Sadly, a container home is not to be...well not at this time. We are, however, going to be spending a good part of each year in Barbados as we are to take possession of a pink porched, red roofed home in the parish of St. Peter on Tuesday, August 22nd, just 5 days after celebrating our 48th wedding anniversary and 6 days after celebrating my 71st birthday. This new home has room for an artist studio and I look forward to setting it up 'Dreama style '(http://dreamatolleperry.com

We met the present owners yesterday, two beautiful people Sally and Ethan, they are returning to England after being in this home for 8 years. We met their daughter in England via FaceTime!

We are staying with friends in St. James with views of the sea off in the distance, a breadfruit tree I can almost touch off our balcony and a flamboyant tree in full bloom. Our first meal after arriving this visit was breadfruit chips and chicken and the second day...breadfruit lasagna.

Breadfruit Tree...I can almost reach out and touch...
Below me...
Flamboyant Tree

Update: We ran into a snag and did not take possession on August 22nd...we are now looking to Friday, August 26th as our closing date.

Photos to follow. I am having difficulty accessing my photos from my iPad, laptop in Canada, and so again I will call upon my daughter Michelle for assistance.

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

 'Cottage Life'
18.5 in x 34 in
 Found Objects and Acrylic paint
 in an old California printing tray

Assemblage for an upcoming
Exhibit at the Quest Art Gallery in Midland
'Places and Spaces'
...'works that celebrate the local places or spaces
that make Georgian Bay a great place to live or visit.
Imagery may depict outside vistas,
cozy interiors, public vantage points or
peeks into the private realm.'
The monochromatic colour of all white
objects was inspired by Louise Nevelson.
The objects are initially seen as same but the viewer must move closer to examine each object for recognition and it is at this time that the viewer will bring forth his or her memory of the spaces and places that make Georgian Bay a great place to visit and to return to year after year.

 I have two more trays and I am planning...what next! 


__________________

I love anything pertaining to the beach 
                                      
                                                ___________________

                                  
'It's a Beach Day' a commission piece for the
"History of Woodland Beach'
OIL on PANEL
8 in x 8 in


                                            ________________________

DREAM-LOVE-PAINT 
I signed up for my first ever on-line painting course
PAINTING AND INSPIRATION
Here are a few of the paintings I completed

 
 This is hanging on the wall of my studio.

                                 



                             

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Painting Completed
from Ranch Relaxo Artist Retreat in September
                                                           Oil on Panel
                                                             8 in x 8 in
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PRAYER SHAWLS
During the past few months I managed to crochet
12 Prayer Shawls for my church
Prayer Shawl Ministry.
There is a great need for these shawls
and I have to put painting on hold sometimes
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..BARBADOS for three weeks...with high school friends Sandy and Gary
So much here to paint
  


Interesting Mosaic by
Earthworks Pottery
                              
...with time for sketching and painting...


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FAMILY TIME 
 March was a special month as I spent an entire
week with my sisters....the first time we have been
together in many years without it
being a wedding, funeral or illness.
Here...my sisters Karen and Heather
...a day at Busch Gardens in Florida... 
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5 K RUN 
February...such fun because my daughter has taken up
running and we ran the Gasparilla Run in Tampa together.
I look forward to the next time we can run together.  So proud of her!
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FRIENDS FOR 52 YEARS 
Next came a visit with two of my nursing classmates.

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JANUARY AGAIN BROUGHT ME TO A WORKSHOP with Dreama Tolle Perry in Naples Florida.This was a most enjoyable time as 8 of the women I was in France with were able to attend this three day workshop. The photo above is an old one...taken in France....'tea with Dreama'...

       France Friends Meet Up Again
      Two of the painting I completed in Naples

I am going to repeat this story for anyone
who is not familiar with my relationship to Dreama....

I have a Life Goal List!
I have had it for many years.
On my list was to have tea with a woman I had never met....
Dreama Tolle Perry, an artist,
who lived in Paris, Kentucky.
I lived many miles away in Ontario Canada.
It wasn't her art that drew me to her, it was her spirit.
I sent her an email telling her of my goal...
'to have tea with Dreama Tolle Perry'.
Dreama wrote back to me welcoming the idea.
That goal took me to France in 2014.
I was not an oil painter and I had never expressed a desire to travel to France
but here I was traveling to France for a 10 day oil painting retreat
to have tea with Dreama Tolle Perry.
There are times and events in our lives that are life changing....
that set us off on
a new and different path....my trip to France was one of these times.
____________ 
It was just after my return from France that I began blogging.
This post was from that first day, 2104...

'This blog was set up in 2010 and it sat with no entries until today.
I am a printmaker and mixed media painter
and
today I have my own Artist's Blog.
I have the most loving, patient, caring and knowledgeable daughter.
Michelle is visiting me from Chicago and she is educating me
on the ins and outs of blogging.'


I like this photo of Michelle and me.



Thursday, January 14, 2016


What have I been busy doing over the past few months...

Painting in Oil

September 2015
Rancho Relaxo Artist Retreat
...one of my favourite places...
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INSTALLATION
'Winged Sentinels, signalling our planets future'
...birds, painted and restrained, placed in the trees.
visible
from the walking path


 

...painting from the floor of the river bed...
...wandering the 100 acres...
Rancho Relaxo
...inspiring...