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Art Challenge: on this Earth Day

I may not have spent a most Earth friendly and economical Earth Day.

You see, the day dawned bright and shiny, the first sunny Vancouver day in weeks, and I brought three garbage bags worth of pack rat dirty cabin sheets, blankets, sweaters and coats to wash.

And with the day so sunny, I managed to wash 7 loads and dry them all outside.

Morgan helped, of course.

There were also cabin toys to wash. I couldn’t be sure that the pack rat didn’t crawl all over them and couldn’t see our little ones holding them without a good wash. Some of these are over 25 years old and original to my children.

The rest of this glorious day I spent working.
Painting in the studio. I’ll post the progress soon.

And while the rest of the cabin gear was drying on the line and over dining room chairs…

And while my neighbours were outside getting as much sunshine as they can (before tomorrow’s rain sets in for the next week)…

I went up to the attic studio and painted my house sparrow.
Again.
I do like painting the house sparrow for Earth day.
He’s the most common bird in the world.
Like we are. Common people. All of us.
Everywhere.

I painted him in acrylics and inks in my re-purposed Bartholomew’s Atlas of the world homemade sketchbook. This page is a mix of inks and acrylics and collage and chalks.

A great big THANK YOU to Melodye for bringing this art challenge to us.

Come celebrate Earth Day with us. Think about joining us in our art challenges. You can do it.
We believe in you. 😀

Comments: 13

  • April 22, 2017
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    I miss the smell of crisp, air-dried linens. My Nana used to sprinkle them with rose water…mmm, fragrant memories.

    Conflicted feelings about that house sparrow, though. It’s a beautiful piece of art-in-the-making, and I can’t wait to see how it looks when it’s finished. Thing is, they didn’t used to be “common” in North America. Sadly as W.L. Dawson, a famous ornithologist once said, “Without question the most deplorable event in the history of American ornithology was the introduction of the English [House} Sparrow.” They’ve overpopulated themselves, mainly by sheer force– killing beautiful songbirds and their babies, and stealing their nests. Here, a lesson as to what can happen when humans interfere with our fragile but well-designed ecosystem…

  • April 22, 2017
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    Love that photo of Morgan on the beautiful conifer quilt!

  • April 22, 2017
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    I always wonder what would happen to my cabin if I left it for a season or two. That is a lot of work, but you imbued all that gear with sunshine and fresh air and your good heart to make for good times.

    Your sparrow is lovely.
    Sounds like we have the same weather, but i still do not have flowers in my woods.

  • April 22, 2017
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    Your home and garden are so lovely, as is the painting.

  • April 22, 2017
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    Ahhh the smell of freshly dried clothes from the close line. I’m glad you had a day of sunshine to work its magic for you.
    Ewwww rats! Yay for the quilt and all the other gems you’ve gathered and loved over the years. Love your painting. xo

  • April 22, 2017
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    You totally the handled the whole cabin/rat thing much better than I would have!!
    It must feel awesome to have all fresh linens and cabin cloths to bring back next time….especially freshly
    washed stuffed animals for the kids.
    You are so lucky to have Morgan to help too!! 🙂

  • April 23, 2017
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    I bought some solar lamps to celebrate Earth Day. Is it bad that they were made in china? Out of plastic? oh well, yes, I suppose it is bad.

  • April 24, 2017
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    i certainly don’t mind you were water-busy on earth day. things need to be cleaned, and you made excellent use of the sunshine, which is earth friendly as opposed to a mechanical tumble dryer. so, bravo you! and obviously also on the house sparrow you are so good at at representing. hard mix sometimes, chores and creating… i so agree. but rewarding too, don’t you think? cheerio, veronica! coming to england this summer? n x

  • Susan

    April 24, 2017
    reply

    7 loads of laundry in one day. That has to be some kind of record. Air/sun drying all that laundry is very Earth Day appropriate. Your garden is thriving, such lovely flowers. Morgan certainly likes her creature comforts, she looks quite comfy in the garden on the freshly laundered blanket. Your sparrow is lovely. They are robust, strong little birds. I watch them at my feeders interact nicely with the finches and red cardinals, and they simply step aside when the bossy blue jays arrive. Bird life is always interesting to observe.. You capture this interest so wonderfully in your art.

  • April 27, 2017
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    7 loads of laundry … exhausting but now things are clean and yuck-free ..

  • May 17, 2017
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    Oh your house sparrow is so beautiful! How did I get so far behind with your wonderful blog V? 7 loads of washing .. good job girl! I couldn’t imagine rats climbing over toys either!!

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