Past Lifedrawings

Have been thinking recently, I need to cut back on the weekend jaunts, and add back in some art time again. I do have 2 pieces I've been asked to do, this time for family and friends of family, rare for me as most of my commissions were stranger based always, as a portrait artist for over a decade. However, working full time in the last 2 years or so, as opposed to part time, decided for me that I will not accept commissions anymore. I wanted to keep my leisure time mostly for myself - my kids and myself and my partner.

Having a lot of life changes in the past 2 years, many quite challenging, by choice and some not within my control at all, has really made me cherish my weekend time and nights. My fiance and I began taking walks to the harbour in our new vicinity, which lead to exploring new areas to walk, eventually leading me to become more of an outdoor person than an introverted indoor reader and drawer that I grew up as as a kid and teen. As a born artist,  the camera began taking the place of painting and drawing, which in turn meant I carry my camera on 99.9% of our outings. It's definitely Not as satisfying as painting I can tell you that. However, reference photos were a tool I used having been a representational artist.

 

As a teen, as well as a student at what was the old OCA in Toronto, life drawing was a 1-3 day a week thing for me. I also kept it up over the last few years. As well, I do occasionally model for life drawing groups and some classes, but it has become more as a favour and for the personal enjoyment of the environment and the attending artists, most of whom are great people, then for the extra income. Since working full time down town, it has become not so convenient to go so it is quite rare now that I do. I grew up drawing from the figure, so this may lend itself to being a pretty good life model.

However, in the last couple of years, I've not really practiced my life drawing, mainly due to time and travel inconvenience, not to mention expense.

The best time I ever enjoyed as an artist involving life drawing occurred when I visited my very good artist friend in Ottawa about 5 years ago. We attended life drawing at people's houses, at the community centre where she regularly attended, and I even was allowed to join one of the portrait class sessions she attended at the time. It was so much fun! It was somewhat like what I slightly imagined it would be like being a free spirited artist hippie in the 60s lol! - something I don't quite think I'd have been then since I have that practical and logical side as well as artistic free spirit side lol! But I always recall that time spent with her and her husband, both awesome people, fondly and know it can never be totally be relived or come close to again. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

Some Old Life Drawings (from 2-6 years ago)

A Fun Stint at Lynde Shores

It's not so often that we choose Lynde Shores to go to. In the late spring we did a few longer walks that started out from the parking lot and through the main path area because we realized how far back the paths lead and ended up at a lookout over the field, at a Cranberry Marsh lookout as well as all the way to the shore of Lake Ontario. In spring and early summer, it was full of warblers and king birds, and so many other neat birds. We even saw a mink run across the path one day, but too fast even for me and my camera. Deer and fawns were also very abundant in these areas.

Last weekend, we ventured to Halls Rd. in the am but lasted only a short time. It was windy and bone chillingly cold as well as sort of dead and boring light and atmosphere wise. Breakfast and coffee was callin' earlier then it tends to on our walks lol! We did see a flattened and dried animal pelt as well as some cleaned off and whitened bones, including a little skull. Not sure what it was, maybe a rabbit. A few sparrows hung around and the cardinal kept appearing but not well enough for me to get a good photo of. We saw a male and female downey woodpecker, were continuously swarmed by chickadees, and the geese were acting up.

Later in the day, we decided to go check out Lynde Shores. We often forego that area due to it being more highly trafficked and generally too busy. It was afternoon and the sun had shown up. It was quiet there, just one or 2 other people - a couple of women mostly just walking through making sure there was seed out for the birds and animals.

As soon as we got to the bridge, almost every duck came out of the water up the bank and a crowd of them surrounded us - they are so used to being fed lol! They even followed us in a big group as we headed towards the paths. Once on the paths, as I stood, a black squirrel came running down the path staring straight at my face, not seeming like it was going to stop any time soon. I realized it was going to climb right up me and when it realized I had no food on me, what then lol! I yelled to John to give it a peanut then we made our getaway lol! Holy crap, I was scared lol!

A really cool thing happened then. It had been overcast and had begun to flurry, little pellets of snow. Suddenly, the sun peeked out and it was like a sun shower only with snow. It took on this shimmering atmosphere and once it stopped, little white pellets of snow were caught in all the dying milk weed and seed pods, taking on a shimmery silver look as the sun hit them. It was beautiful.

We walked on further, heading back to the entrance, and suddenly tons of grey and black squirrels appeared, along with a nut hatch and a small female downey. The birds out of our hands for a while, the downey taking then tossing the opened peanuts which the nuthatch then grabbed. Once they had their feel, they all disappeared.


One thing about Lynde Shores, it is a wonderful little place to go to if you want to be assured to see some wild life as most of the resident birds and animals are so used to people. Kids will definitely get to experience them in that case, since they will come to you eventually.

Sharing Our Enjoyment of Getting Out to View Nature

Having come to Ajax, in the Durham Region, about 1991, it is amazing that I really had No idea how lucky this region is to be home to an abundance of wetlands, marshes, conservation areas, wilderness settings, forests, and more. Granted, I was used to TO and I missed the TTC desperately when we moved here, and at that point, my ex and I were kidless too, till '94. Once I had kids and was home for a while then also working only  part time during the week, I got slightly familiar with some of the parks, like Rotary, which is near the lake front and also part of the waterfront path, as well as Lynde Shores, but had no idea that those areas were just the tip of the iceburg out here. Part of the reason was most likely because my inlaws lived up north and we were there often, so of course, outdoors there often, ATVing, walking, building bonfires, or what have you. We also did some camping as the kids got older, with friends as well as for my daughter's soccer tournaments in some cases.

I did one stint at Lynde Shores with a friend, taking pictures with our manual SLRs back in the late 90s, for a photography course through Durham College. But, frankly, I was Never an outdoor person generally - reading, drawing, etc. and didn't prefer being forced to play outside as a kid in the 70s. Go outside in winter? Uh....No lol! I still didn't really enjoy it as an adult either, though for my kids I did partake lol! 

However, since having moved to Whitby in the last 2 years, and through a new partner and I guess through beginning to explore the pier and lakefront which was a walking opportunity that first summer, we began to expand our jaunts to what became 3-5 hr hikes in various areas like Heber Downs, Greenwood, Second Marsh, Halls Rd. and all along the lakefront into Thickson Woods, and even a trip or 2 into Bowmanville and exploring that waterfront and provincial park area. 

Different reasons have brought us to neighbouring towns and cities in the Collingwood area, Niagara region, Brampton area, Beaverton area, Huntsville area again, etc. and we always make a point of looking up what conservation area we could do a hike in while there, if time grants.

I've touched on it before here but our draw is the excitement of possibly seeing some thing or creature new to us and also the exercise it provides. Photos are my way of hanging onto some sort of creative outlet as well as creating a secondary fun once home of having our coffee and breakfast and viewing our slideshow together, reliving the experience of things we saw. This found and now very much integral part of our leisure life has lead us to learn about the various birds and animals, the area, as well as allowed us to meet some really neat people who we run into off and on on these local jaunts. 

We love the excitement of the blue jays landing to eat out of our hands, the snake we saw one time, various bones and creepy sights we've run across, seeing king fishers, getting to enjoy the baby birds, seeing various birds of prey up close, and lots of amazing atmosphere of fog and light both morning and evening skies, and so much more. I always expect to get bored of it but I have not as of yet and suspect I won't :-)

The most amazing and unbelievable experience lately has been discovering the local Barred Owl which was so very content and oblivious to all the people who eventually came to watch her. I tried on 2 occasions to spontaneously see if my kids wanted to come see the owl. Once, the owl took off before I could go get them, and once they were busy. Last weekend, my Dad came to visit from Toronto and I asked my daughter if she wanted to join us. My son was working. My boyfriend and I took them to see the owl and I was so happy to see that it was extremely active, to the point where it flew past my daughter's head even and landed  in another branch quite near us all. I let her take some photos with my camera and she got some neat ones. She took the first 2 and I shot the 3rd one, of the owl focusing on prey. However, it ended up never going for that prey it thought it had spotted.

When you get to experience something amazing and exciting, it is such a strong impulse to want to share it with kids and family - people you love.

A Couple Early Mornings

One thing you think you won't want to do on a weekend is set the alarm for as early as is needed to get up and make it to work all week. However, the sunrise is usually one of the most exciting sky and atmosphere to get to see. Photos generally don't come 100% close to what it looked like but I still try to grab a few to be able to recall it all.

Probably because it is lower lying land, marshy land, there is often fog first thing in the mornings at Halls Rd. It can produce breathtaking landscapes which disappear real fast after about 7:30am. This weekend we set our alarm for 6:45 (not as early as I do for work anyway lol!) and we went down to Halls Rd. The sunrise didn't disappoint. We looked for the owl but didn't see her that morning. We heard later that she showed up after 9am and we had left to go home just 20 mins before that. We did see juncos and the white throated sparrows. I didn't get great shots this time though.  We walked down to the shoreline and saw a merganser as well as what we figured out later were a couple bufflehead ducks fighting in the water some distance out. Half their altercation took place below the surface of the water but they came up near the end then took off - quite funny! One thing that did occur is almost hitting a deer that jumped out and across the road about 7 ft from my car as we left. Scary lol!

Later in the day, we ventured back down to Halls Rd. before dinner and we knew right away that the owl was there because there were almost 2 dozen people there taking photos again. The more we see it the more crazy it seems. The owl lands right in front of people's feet, flies through and over people, hunts and eats right where everyone is and seems totally oblivious to the crowd. It sounds like some movie star emerging from the entrance of a store or restaurant or something, all the shutters firing simultaneously and people frantically running every time the owl takes flight to change branches. It's like the bloody paparazzi lol!

I relish that we were able to view the owl a few weeks ago, pretty much by ourselves at the beginning as it must have been when it first was spotted and only ourselves and 1 or so others were there one morning, when it had first been spotted. It was enjoyable to be able to be there on our own a couple times, without the rushing and shutters and occasional mild altercations that have occurred between people. It still is exciting to see it and we enjoy some of the people we meet but it isn't the same as peacefully enjoying the owl and sharing that experience together.

Sunday morning, we decided to go over to Thickson Woods. Not as early as Saturday though. The sky was not as dramatic as Saturday but still really beautiful. We did spot the Great Horned owl but so very hidden high up in a pine. No sign of the barred owls from Thickson, last weekend nor this one so we think perhaps the great horned made a meal out of them. Someone apparently mentioned a friend of theirs spotted their feathers on the ground last time they went there to look for them.