In January, 2024, my artwork took a sharp turn and hasn't gone back. A watercolour of Saskatoon berries in a stainless steel compost bowl is still sitting on a shelf, waiting for me to finish it. Unlike many other artists, I always finish any painting that I start. And, I only keep ones that I really like. The others are cut up into 5"X7" rectangles and used to make personalized cards. This is my first unfinished painting.

So, this will be a two part post.

Part One

In our little town of Cobourg, Ontario, there is a wonderful "third space". Green Wood Coalition's Art Hive opens up every Wednesday between 11 and 1 for an art wellness program sponsored by the Canadian Mental Health Association. Folks for all walks of life get to socialize over hot drinks and snacks while they make wonderful art together.

I have had the privilege of sitting with over 50 individuals there, sketching them and then making a formal portrait using one of Lee Higginson's photos as reference. Lee helps to facilitate these sessions along with Green Wood's Aimée Johnston.

I often feel like I am participating in a "human library" where people are books who you can sit with for a couple of hours, getting to hear each others' stories. Below are the human books I've met and sketched for the past two years.

Part Two

It seems that for the past few years I have had the urge to cut up artwork and turn it into cards at this time of year. Maybe, I am tying up loose strings. Who knows? In this case it was a couple of giclée prints of paintings I did in the early 2000's and some test pieces of linocut prints done in a workshop this year. The fun for me is to pair the images with artwork done by some of our grandkids. And, the really fun part is finding quotes that work with both the base image and the grandkids' artwork. (I scan their art, resize it digitally and use a lamp as a light table to traee each one on to watercolour paper. Then, I paint them using watercolours to try and match what the originals looked like.)

So, there you go! 2025's art. One way to spend the shortest day of the year!!!