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Artists who paints in oil en plein aire. Member of the three member Plein Aire Cottage Artists. Members: Mary Rose Holmes, Violetta Chandler and Helen Tilston

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Architecture in Toronto and our guests & Awards

St. Michael's Cathedral, Toronto
My art partner Mary Rose Holmes and her husband Dwight E Holmes visited Toronto for the first time this past week.  Dwight is an award winning architect, based in Florida. This month he received a gold medal from the American Institute of Architects  "Award of Honor for Design".  This award is based on good architecture over an extended period of time for leadership and inspiration to their colleagues and others.

 The Appleton Museum is one of my favourites
Appleton Museum, Florida - Dwight E Holmes
We planned showing them Toronto with an  emphasis on architecture.  Toronto's skyline bears the thumbprint of many well known architects.

Art Gallery of Ontario - Frank Gehry
Toronto Dominion Centre -Mies van der Rohe
Commerce Court - I.M. Pei
Pharmacy Building, University of Toronto - Lord Norman Foster
Bata Shoes Museum - Raymond Moriyama


St. Michael's Cathedral Toronto - William Thomas
St. Lawrence Market - William Thomas
St. Lawrence Market   (click left to view video)  - Our guest lining up for the world famous Peameal Bacon Sandwich


I am delighted and graciously accept the "Sunshine Award" bestowed upon me by the the beautiful and  delightful Heather Robinson from Lost in Arles , whose blog is always fascinating Lost in Arles


Have you visited Toronto>

Monday, July 23, 2012

The Bees' Knees & Fibonacci

"Bee Bopping Along"Beeswax  Encaustic Painting - Helen Tilston
 As I wax and wane in my studio among pots of hot beeswax, the perfume is intoxicating and heady.

I am listening to: Sting "Fields of Gold"

My cocktail du jour: "Mead Wine"


The blow torch is produced and this is when the fusion of layers of wax takes place.  This is a tense time and I need the supporting words of :-
 WB Yeats as he reads to me about  about "The Bee Loud Glade"- from his "I will arise an go now and go to Innisfree"


And My Honeys I am still excited and fascinated by the Fibonacci's concept. Earlier post

 My reading has revealed the following on:

The Bee Ancestry Code
Fibonacci numbers also appear in the description of the reproduction of a population of idealized honeybees, according to the following rules:
If an egg is laid by an un mated female, it hatches a male or drone bee.
If, however, an egg was fertilized by a male, it hatches a female.
Thus, a male bee will always have one parent, and a female bee will have two.
If one traces the ancestry of any male bee (1 bee), he has 1 parent (1 bee), 2 grandparents, 3 great-grandparents, 5 great-great-grandparents, and so on. This sequence of numbers of parents is the Fibonacci sequence. The number of ancestors at each level, Fn, is the number of female ancestors, which is Fn−1, plus the number of male ancestors, which is Fn−2.[54]



"To Bee "  Beeswax Encaustic ptg. Helen Tilston
(This is under the unrealistic assumption that the ancestors at each level are otherwise unrelated.)


Do you like bees?
Do you eat honey?

Saturday, July 14, 2012

The God Bag


Heather's Cottage - Georgian Bay oil by Helen Tilston


Jeanne from Collage of Life recently posted  about  "Making Lists".  As many of you know,  Jeanne is  moving from England to Vietnam this week.  Her blog is one of my favourites and has been for some time.   Jeanne  responded to my comment on "Lists" and suggested I post on this subject.


Jeanne's "List"  brought to mind a Mission/Retreat I attended some years ago. The subject was:  How to Live a Happier life and  be free from Worry.  We were all asked to write down, on post it notes, a list of the items that weighed heavily on our hearts. Mathew 7.7 and Luke 11.9 were referenced, "Ask and it shall be given".  The requests are to be in the past tense.  e.g.  Thank God for healing Uncle John (rather than, please heal Uncle John) We must believe and have confidence in our request. The Priest then gave us each a brown paper bag. He called it a "God Bag"

 





 In it we put our list of worries and he suggested we lock the bag away in the back of our closet. He said not to keep bothering God by asking when your request will be granted or God have you forgotten me, there is to be none of that. The point being to believe and trust that God is looking after this issue. He suggested we visit the bag in a year and read the list. Yes, you guessed it, after a year most of the worries had disappeared.   The point being to hand over our worries to God and get on with life and put our gifts to good use.

 

I know many of you have been minimizing and purging from your closets.  Do you think you have room for this bag in your closet?

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Fibonacci, Art and a New Perspective

Oil painting, painted en plein air by Helen tilston. "Best in Show"


The Fibonacci system  gives a whole new meaning to being on a "learning curve".
It has opened my eyes to seeing differently.  Flowers, trees, fruit, waves and shells have all captured my attention.

The ocean has always been a fascination and now I shall be looking for a storm to study and paint the waves.
 




This short video describes the Fibonacci formula.


I am reminded of when I learned Gregg shorthand,  I became obsessed and to this day I still use shorthand in meetings.

What are your thoughts on Fibonacci?  Have you used it?