quietly creating

Barbara Wanhill

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Grounded

December 27, 2016

Two years ago, I started drawing skies and almost as soon as I posted them, I stopped. A critical mind is important until it impacts productivity.

I’ve truly enjoyed making this drawing the last few days. The challenge of adding architecture which I never draw was fun and I learned that I could improve the drawing through photographing it and seeing where shading needed to be fixed. It’s not perfect but it’s finished.

This drawing was made from a photo taken on the first day of winter. The Prairies often have beautiful sunrises and sunsets and this day was no exception. I have spent years trying to build a garden to block this view of our back alley, but that day there was a realization that even the suburbs and man-made structures have their charm.

Best wishes in 2017.

Drawing. Lyra & Polychromos pencil crayon on Bristol. 10 x 10 cm. B. Wanhill 2016.
Baker’s dozen of flora

December 27, 2016

In 2016 I took a lot of photographs… on my phone. Here are 12 photos from my garden and one from a local park we discovered this year. All photos taken with an iPhone 5 using ProCamera app and Photoshop Express.

Winter aconite emerged early. March 5, 2016.

Narcissus ‘Thalia’ – new to the garden. April 17, 2016.

Remarkably, Townsendia parryi survived the hail storm of June 30, 2016.

We had a lot of rain. Rudbeckia ‘Cherry Brandy’ gift from my Mom. July 2016.

Early spring and lots of moisture brought a bounty of ‘Carmine Jewel’ cherries. July 2016.

And ‘Dragon Tongue’ beans. Grown in containers which saved them from slugs. July 2016.

An Oak fern was planted to remember family in Terrace, BC. July 30, 2016.

Also from Rundlewood garden, a 2nd year Veronicastrum shot up like fireworks. August 21, 2016.

A new calendula also bloomed in our garden. Thanks to seed shared from my Mom. August 2016.

The beauty of this annual was its state before unfurling. August 2016.

Despite frequent hail and rain, our small garden flourished. August 2016.

Alpine Rock Jasmine was the inspiration for Christmas cards. School boy was inspired by Christopher Boffoli. October 22, 2016.

There is nothing like nature to truly inspire. Ralph Klein park. July 31, 2016.
Christmas 2016

December 20, 2016

This year I succeeded in going back to hand printed cards and it feels like a small victory in the department of personal creativity. Nevertheless, I didn’t start until the beginning of November and ran into some ink problems as I was finishing up hand colouring. Ink was still offsetting 3 weeks after printing! New Year’s resolution: start cards in July! Below, some documentation of the process. Merry Christmas and best wishes in the New Year to you and your family!

The finished design: hand painted linocut with hand lettering. B. Wanhill. December 2016.

Idea: sketch of my alpine rock jasmine. (dark photo: it’s near winter here.)

Rough design included a snowflake I quickly drew in the app: Amaziograph.

I started carving on November 8 and finished November 19.

On November 25, I printed 28 cards and on December 3rd I hand painted them.

There was hope I would send out 50 cards, so I played with the original print in Prisma app. to increase card count.

Finished design omitted snowflake and included hand lettering learned from a workshop with Christopher Rouleau.