Loons in Killarney... in progress and Joseph Schneider House

This is what is on my easel this week! My husband took the photo that I'm working from a few years ago and I knew I HAD to paint it when I found it again recently. I'm using the methods I learned from the recent Terry Isaacs workshop I took. I definitely would have given up on the rocks and water in the background without a method of breaking down the details into manageable parts.

I'll post another pic after I work on it today and tomorrow. Can't wait to see how it turns out :-)

This week we also went to a local historical home in Kitchener with the Sketch Club. Joseph Schneider House shows what life was like in the 1840's.

 I didn't sketch this week...there was just too much to choose from! I will be sketching for weeks and I have quite a few photos that have inspired me to paint. 

 

 Fraktur art was one of the earliest forms of Folk Art in this area since it was originally settled by men and women of German descent. This sampler was made by a young girl around 1840. There were samplers and copybooks that children had used in school to learn their alphabet. The Artist in Residence this year is a lady from the calligraphy guild I belong to. She does illuminated art and uses gold leaf in her miniature art.

That's the fun of meeting with a group of other artists regularly. Sketch club makes me get out and see things in my own community. Local places, things, and people that inspire my art journey. AND you get to learn some history while you're at it.

Sharon (the interpreter) was making bean soup for Culture Days that are happening this weekend in a lot of the historical cultural sites in KW. She will be at McDougall house for the weekend though since she'd rather put up with the sound of bagpipes instead of the guns of reinactors who are reinacting the War of 1812 at Joseph Schneider house!! Our local Painter's Guild will be participating on Saturday by having a demonstration at Schneider House. It's a great day to get out and catch up on a bit of history and culture in our region.

Lots to inspire!