to Fell or not to Fell?

GOOD morning everyone...I think Spring is finally here!!!

This weekend we visited and helped out our friends furnish their cottage which is ready now for renting...they had torn down the original cottage and built a new one...6 bedrooms and 4 and a half bathrooms...with views of Lake Muskoka!!!
It's so pretty and the setting is perfect...when you're on the Balcony you feel as though you're in the tree tops looking down...

There were many discussions over the weekend to whether or not the trees JUST infront of the cottage should be felled to give a more open view of the lake...

I say NO to felling...I think you can go down to the water front for a full view...
not only do you get privacy from the trees...but shade too in the Summer scorching heat...there will be some relief at least if you don't fell them.

What do you think?
To Fell or NOT to Fell?

have a good day...
HUGS
Char.x

**COMPLETED**...Alice in Wonderland.

 From the sketch....(3 weeks ago)...

to the painting...(today)...

Thanks for passing by again and for ALL your encouraging words...I'm happy to be finished...but LOVED painting it...thank you B for helping!
My time was 100% a donation to the school...I understand that some may frown upon this...but I'm sure this will lead to other possibilities...(I'm hoping:-)

If you've arrived at our Blog today and it's the first time seeing the set design I've just finished...go and see the different steps of the Alice painting right from the beginning HERE and middle HERE...

Until tomorrow...
Painterly hugs
Char.x

Lazy Sunday's...are the best!

This was our sky this morning at our local park...I can't really comprehend the red leaves yet...it's WAY too soon for Fall to be upon us...right? BUT it did make for an incredible photo *smile*
We've been enjoying a lazy weekend.
Mr.R went Scuba diving...it was quite the drive,we were up and out of our house with the girls by 5am to be at the Dive site by 9am(we hung out at the local Town-had Breakfast and went to local parks)...another hour and we could have enjoyed the weekend in Montreal.(maybe I'll plan better next year!!!)
There's always so much going on in Montreal. Lots of street Markets...and the TAM TAM is happening today up at Mount Royal...the link shows you a little movie to what it's all about.
You can find Cara Carmina there selling her wares...she makes beautiful dolls and cards.

I've been making my lists for the week ahead.(it's aLONG list...won't bore you all)

We have just one more week until school starts...
DO ANY of you have a little one starting school for the first time this year?
I think we have prepped little miss J enough...but I'm not 100% sure.
I asked her at the park if she'll be ok...and said "you won't miss Mummy too much...right J?"
Her reply was " Mummy, I won't be THAT far away from you!!!"
So...I'm hoping this is a good sign and she seems excited.

I have some sketches to show you from our day trip yesterday...Mr.R took the camera 65ft under and has it packed away right now...later I'll show you...told you it was a Lazy Sunday...

HUGS...and cups of Tea.
Char.x

simply...

beautiful...

a final goodbye...

to our magical Autumn...

walks and running through the leaves...the smell of the earth, the crackle under your feet...the unforgettable wealth of colour which we are blessed with here in Canada.

Thank you all for the most precious comments...it's been a great weekend...and I'll tell you more tomorrow as I have a long list of things to get finished this evening.

Bon Nuit...

HUGS

Char, On

POND MURAL:: Finished!

YAY...finished,finally...not that it was really a HUGE project or that it took that long...but I was eager to see the finished result.

It's been hard photographing this, so you'll have to excuse the amount of pics I have taken...

I have to say thank you to LA for asking me to create this little hide away for their 2 little ones...their very own grassy pond bathroom...where they can go and hand out with their bunny,butterflies or the heron and frogs...

I'm SO pleased that this mirror was across the entire wall...it has allowed the feel of the room to be airy and not to feel overwhelming.

The lotus flowers add a touch of femininity...which softened the room greatly.

I can't wait to hear how their first bath went...I made sure to add as many different colour butterflies as I could...colour games are always great with 2 year olds!

I'm so happy that the trees worked out and weren't too over powering. It's hard sometimes to translate a sketch on paper to the proposed wall...

It did cross my mind to paint the whole room a light blue...but it only crossed it and left very quickly!

Painting is limitless...to your imagination.

I know my birch trees aren't as rugged and realistic as they should...but they're my birch trees, and they work for this bathroom environment.

This frog makes me smile...he looks like a deer caught in head-lights.

One of my favourite parts of the mural...the Blue Heron. He was the first "definite" subject LA wanted in the room.

Thanks for joining me on this weeks journey.

Have a great weekend...I'll pass by and see what you've been up to over the next couple of days...

Now...to sleep.

Night.

Char,On

Come and see....I finished it today!!!

Well, it's been 5 days of sketching,painting and executing this fairy mural... I could have spent another 4 days on details but the budget was what it was...and so I willed myself to put the paintbrush down and called it "finished".

Don't you just love finishing a project? It's so satisfying...

We counted the fairies...there are 18 of them, each one different from the other.

I love this one maybe the best, as well as the little guy sitting on the cherries reading a book.

This client was a dream...she took care of the girls all week, and was so easy...she adores the finished mural...yay...aren't I lucky!

Oh, I like these two too, sitting on the swing catching up on the days happenings.

Even fairies have to go to school!

Bunnies and cats...and sleeping fairies.

I really enjoyed painting these cherries...is this a sign I should maybe paint some still life's?

Oh and here's the little guy reading his book.

Maybe I'll get more commissions from this piece...I'm very pleased how it turned out.

Hope you sleep well Olivia in your new bedroom...sweet dreams.

Until tomorrow everyone...I am SO exhausted, even after drinking and XLarge Earl Grey from Tim Hortons!

Char,Ontario

Work and play....

Well...it took 2 hours to complete...but I'm really happy with how the overall idea for that wall came out,(hope YOU like it LA)...I'll be adding frogs,Lilly flowers,crickets,ducks and other flowers in other sketches.
I'm looking forward to start adding colours,although it probably won't happen until Saturday...tomorrow the girls have their Ballet Recital Rehearsal.
Here's a goofy photo of them...have a wonderful weekend...if I don't get around to posting.
Thanks for stopping by...are you up to anything special this weekend?
All is quite here at home...for those of you who had read my post earlier this week, will know what I'm referring to...IT's a GOOD thing:-)
smiles...
Char,Ontario.

Surviving Old Age...

As most have been probably thinking that I have disappeared off the face of this Earth...this is not true, although my mind had been so preoccupied with things other than Art/Sketching or blogging,we are experiencing a change of scene here at home everyday.

My mother in-law and father in-law live with us for 6 months of the year...and have been since I moved over here to Canada...the other half of the year they leave for Jamaica...as everyone knows our Winters are extremely fridged and if you're not on the ski slopes or skating around an ice rink...then it can become rather miserable. Hence many elderly folk head south...a little like our Tree Swallows...but that's another post.

You'll probably have seen, this month and last month have been pretty slim on regular posts...I have slowed down on painting, but have 2 projects which could possibly be occupying my Summer-which would be awesome!

One being a fairy bedroom and the other murals in a bathroom and bedroom...here are the sketches for the bathroom and bedroom...very exciting.

Back to life at home:: My mother in-Law has basically been in and out of Hospital these past few weeks since she came home...reasons...being...cursing and shouting uncontrollably, falling in bathroom and unable to move, convulsing in her bed and unable to speak, hallucinating, accusing,swaying in and out of realities and time frames...and to top it all off...throwing a glass water jug over the banister (8ft drop to hardwood floors below) at my husband(because he turned the breaker off which turns off electricity to her room due to the unimaginable noise her TV was blasting at 5am in the morning(the girls were still sleeping...as was most of the house)

We're very concerned...are having problems trying to figure out our Health System over here, because she needs to give consent to any help
which we could get for her here in our home...so my father in-law doesn't have to be a full-time nurse...because some days she can't walk for 3 days and so is Bed-bound.

Is this Hysteria? Is this Dementia or Alzheimer's setting in....????

This is not an easy situation to be in...we have to make a new Plan for our future's...there's been much disappointment throughout the family and we're hoping that the days cool down a little...it's hard to keep the little ones out of the drama...but I think we've been doing as best we can....all they know is Grandma is not very well.

The last trip to the Hospital ended with some potent meds which have left a calm in the house...but for how long...we do not know????

Sounds like a crazy place to live doesn't it?

Yup...and we've been SO trying to get on with the normal everyday things we do...like work and looking after the girls...dance classes, work appointments...

We'll get through it...and I hope soon...because it consumes your everyday life.

I take my hat off to caregivers of anyone who has a mental health disorder...you're brilliant and patient!

I will update and blog more soon...

We're going to Windsor,Ontario for the Red Bull Air Races tomorrow....which will be great to connect with my dear husband....we love our day trips...a great way to catch up.

Take care...until next...thanks for listening and reading.

Char, Ontario

Once Upon a Time...Dog

So many families have miniature Schnauzer's that I thought this would be a sweet subject for one of my Once Upon a Time series,especially as it's full of Spring colours.
I'll be posting it as well as the Monkey on Etsy later today.
Have a lovely day.
Charlotte,Ontario

4 NEW Once Upon a Times...

I could have waited to post one a day this week...but thought you may need some extra eye candy considering I have been a little lacking in the "posting" department these past couple of weeks...
I'm really happy with the Finch...it reminds me that Spring is here...even though we've had torrential rains here outside Toronto and a wind like you wouldn't believe. It feels like a typical English rainy day-cold,damp and bitter when in it!
Below we have our lovely Ginger Cat...who has been a great part of my childhood and has left lots of wonderful memories. All the ginger cats I have known are extremely mellow in temperament and very loving but also independent cats. I love cats...and will surely be painting more in the near future.

Every child wants to ride their large pet dog...and isn't allowed. So this one is for all those little boys who dream that they could explore the countryside on their Pet Dog.

I wanted to have another Elephant in the Once Upon a Child collection...this one is a night scene with just one boy sitting alone.

They'll all be posted on my Etsy Store some time this week...definitely before the Show this weekend...also because I am dropping prices for the Show considerably, I'll be matching prices on my Blueshinebaby etsy store on Saturday and Sunday...so come back this week to my blog, you will not want to miss this!

Off to explore my dreams...thanks for stopping by.

Charlotte,Ontario

Twice "Once Upon a Time"...

Here's a "Once Upon a Time" dedicated to my English roots...I was born and brought up in England by my parents who are Scandinavian. The love of really woolly sheep in grassy fields will never part from my heart.I do miss the English countryside and love the tall hedgerows thick with wild-life...2 in one day...not bad Char!(if I do say so myself...pat-pat...lol)

This is #5...I have a few questions I would love some help with...should I post them in my Etsy Store? Or wait until after the trade Show which is in one month's time?
Should I make prints and sell them too? And should I have the originals already framed to sell at the Trade Show?
I'd love some advice...
I'm in the middle of painting another one and hope to have that one up too today...so check back and tell me which you prefer...
Hope you're all well...
Charlotte,Ontario

Spring chick...

Well, I did manage to finish it before 12 midnight...but not post it.
I'm behind one watercolour...today will be a busy day...taking the girls to Dance and then heading downtown for a date with my husband(so looking forward to it...nothing to wear-as usual).
This Spring Chick ...inspired by my Mum and her Swedish roots...I had doubts to whether the very bright chick would work, but I'm happy with the outcome.It's a very luminous painting...and would light up any room.
I'm tired and must head to bed.
Until Sunday I do believe...
Thanks for visiting!
Charlotte,Ontario