quietly creating

Barbara Wanhill

recent posts

  • Move

    Last weekend I started cleaning up the garden and had to remind myself that it wasn’t that I had been lazy or neglectful with the over abundance of leaf cover. Instead: it had been snowing just seven days prior.

    Plant life moves quickly in this part of the world and in turn, so too does the human who facilitates her garden’s growth.

    The beauty of a garden’s movement is that once it is planted, it may move to its own rhythm, without the demand for the gardener to upgrade her subscription.

    A rudimentary gif of Pulsatilla vulgaris ‘Alba’
    created from a 55 second high resolution timelapse.
    Of course, videos may only be uploaded to WordPress with an upgraded subscription.

  • Pause

    Spring cleaning and the mental list of house chores still to accomplish today has been paused to record a pause in thought.

    Pause the personal anxiety felt towards the state of our world and instead formally acknowledge the pause in spring-like weather. The landscape has returned again to a form of precipitation more inline with the winter season we still inhabit. The spring ephemerals emerging yesterday are continuing to push through; although, perhaps, paused in their urgency during their sudden encasement in snow.

    A pause to reflect on the actions of nature creates a non-subtle reminder to cool the frustration and slow the mental flurry down, even as we spring forward.

    March 8, 2026, -1ºC/30ºF
    Snowfall is not unusual on the Canadian Prairies.
    March 7, 2026, 15ºC/59ºF
    Chinook winds hurried the emergence of Galanthus.
    Even the Ladybugs were waking up.
    March 7, 2026, Galanthus.

  • The unexpected joy of leftovers

    My #abstractadvent solution for 2025. Thank you art pedagogy for hosting this every December.

    A few days before Christmas, I went into WordPress to edit some information, got sidetracked and inattentively changed the theme of this site. Please enjoy this new and tidy digital landscape and if something is causing you issues, please let me know and I will delve further.

    Less tidy yet full of joyful-to-me chaos, is my visual solution to Abstract Advent 2025. At the end of November, I set out to participate in this online art challenge and then abruptly abandoned the activity. However; I was inspired by some kindred creative spirits on Bluesky who were participating. Seeing their work helped me to commit to finishing the exercise before the end of the year. Boxing Day was the perfect time.

    The collage was created with leftover bits of plain and gelli printed paper, onion skin dyed paper stars, lemon juice burned shapes and details added with some homemade acorn cap ink, coloured pencils and ink pen. I am happy the imagery came together like this: leftovers orchestrated to create a non-sensical paper space-time dream.

    burning lemon juice shapes
    creating a kit-of-parts
    building a composition
    adding homemade acorn cap ink details