Have We Made It Yet?

Is it possible? Have we finally seen the end of the worst part of winter? We went through April Fool’s day without a snowstorm…we generally get one. For the moment, the huge amount of snow in Orillia is pretty much melted. And it’s a relief to finally see the end of it. I haven’t been out to the lakes yet, so I have no idea if they are still covered with a skin of ice or not.

The grass is even beginning to green a little…some of the early bulbs in the gardens are starting to poke their heads up through the dirt. It feels like spring…it looks like spring…the calendar says it’s spring – but in Orillia, spring is ephemeral. Tomorrow, or next week, or even early into May we could still get some snow. You always hope it won’t come, and the odd year it doesn’t…maybe this year will be one of those.

It’s been a long, hard winter – more snow than most like, and it started early in the season.

Over the winter we’ve slowly finished up little things in the house – the basement is finally arranged into some kind of order, though there is still too much furniture down there.

My studio is ready to use, more or less and I’ve shifted by husband’s computer and office into the basement. I emptied out my office, put together the new furniture and set it up. I’m not totally happy with the arrangement yet, but for now it feels more spacious and modern, even though there are two bigger desks than before.

I entered a piece of artwork into the Annual Women’s Art Show held at the Zephyr Gallery in March. It was my first local showing and I was unable to attend most of the events surrounding the show, though I did take time to visit the gallery before it was over. There were some interesting pieces. One I fell in love with was in tones of gold and black and white – a simple piece of apples in a bowl. It turned out to be “not for sale”. There was a black-framed photography collage work in triptych form done by a student. It was pretty well done – with a little more experience she should do well. Another piece that held my interest for a long time was one of mixed media: a large canvas with a women’s dress. I’m not certain whether the dress was gessoed on or otherwise attached, but it was an odd piece. Bold colours of blue and red, with wide brush strokes added texture. After studying it for a while I decided I liked it, though the colours were not something I’d choose for my home. If she’d done it in black and white, or tones of taupe or something more neutral, I’d definitely hand it. Not sure how my husband would feel about it though

I even managed to get a couple of prints made of my own work to decorate our home with. Two are hanging in the entry hallway – one is a canvas of one of my digital paintings. A Canada Goose caught in flight over Lake Couchiching during winter – the background was ice and snow, but it was a dramatic image with the goose honking as it flew. The other, is a water lily – a shot taken out at the Langman Wildlife Reserve and manipulated in photoshop into an artpiece.

I’ve been selling greeting cards on the internet over the winter, and doing not too badly. A US site is selling my greeting work, and locally, my cards are available at Tiffin’s Art Center. Many of the cards are local scenes, some are more “artsy fartsy” and some are just fun. Go have a look – there’s also some with Christian verses available. Since our old Christian Bookstore closed, Tiffin’s is one of the few places that keeps a nice selection of Christian items.

All-in-all, winter had it’s busy moments, but being stuck inside for nearly 6 months (except for snow shoveling of course) isn’t a lot of fun. I am so thankful to be able to get into the great outdoors again.