Debbie Nicolaisen

Red Necked Grebe

2011-12-30T09:34:00.001-07:00

Since I paint primarily (but not exclusively) from pictures, there is always a dilemma for me regarding the decision to leave a photo alone or to paint it. When the photos turn out well, I feel there is nothing to improve upon, nothing to add, no inspiration, so I tend to leave them as photos. The photos I tend to paint are the ones that I never managed to capture quite the way my eye saw it. This newest painting was born in exactly that way. I was trying hard to get that perfect shot of a Red Necked Grebe (at Beauvais Lake in southern Alberta) and just when he gave me the pose I was waiting for, …my camera lost it’s focus. I got the shot but it was not one worth keeping.

Instead it became one of a short list that was waiting to become my next painting. I started this painting last summer so some have seen it around our house looking very much like a watercolour as I had only completed the under-painting. I finally made some time to finish it yesterday. Finally, the image I was trying to get is allowed to show through. Enjoy!

Halloween Special

2011-10-30T13:13:00.001-06:00

In the spirit of Halloween, I had a little fun playing with some of the pictures the kids had taken. Yes, of course the bugs are added in via digital trickery. Probably not my best work but it was really just a bit of fun done quick one Saturday morning as the kids giggled loudly over my shoulder. Enjoy!

MMMMMmmmmmm Yummy Bugs!

OK, this last one looks like she was trying to shove the lady bug up her nose. She wasn't, it was a blooper shot like the previous one. The difference is that lady bug (below) is real. I just thought it was a cool shot.

I love the expressions. Completely natural.

Happy Halloween!

Obsessions

2011-10-09T18:19:00.003-06:00

The beginning of this summer brought with it an utter fascination with worms. It didn't end there! The remainder of the summer has been filled with shrieks, giggles & wonderful discoveries. Not to mention the continued comments from me "NOT in the house!" Every day there has been some unfortunate little creature to collect, forceably confine and scare out of it's little exoskeleton!

There were butterflies, many of which were lucky enough to escape to the air. Then it was minnows, when we went anywhere there was a creek. The kids would hurry and eat up their packed snacks so they would have containers to collect them in. I also remember quite a collection of slugs out in the backyard. What a treat it was to look out and see so many slugs doing the equivalent of bungee jumping from the deck railing by their slime trails. There they were dangling,... trying desperately to get away from their rather rough and very curious captors. Our family cats just watched from their perch inside the house, relieved to have a break from our oh, so spirited kids.

One day the kids were playing around our Juniper bush. "I found a caterpillar!" I look to see what their latest find is. "Oh an inch worm!" I love those, very cute and interesting to watch walking. Then they found another, and another, another,... oh my! The kids had a full tray of wriggling little green inchworms! There were literally hundreds, possibly thousands covering our juniper bush! When I looked closely it seemed there was more green on our bush that was inch worm, than actual plant! OK, they are no longer cute! They are a menace! The kids were most disappointed that we declared war on their newest "pets".

On our many hikes out in the nearby foothills, mountains, or local parks Grasshoppers were a much loved delight! My boy was forever catching them and displaying them with pride. On one particular hike the grass seemed to be alive everywhere we looked there were Two Striped Grasshoppers hopping this way and that. Many were right in the middle of the path, clearly laying eggs deep in the dirt. After going an entire summer grabbing these little creatures with no injury incurred, my boy discovered recently that grasshoppers have very strong jaws! Ouch! LOL! Point for the Grasshopper!

It seems we did not kill off all of the inchworms as there has been a second infestation of tiny little moths in our juniper bush. Seems like we have a veritable science experiment going on just outside our door! I suppose that statement is somewhat stating the obvious. Moths proved much harder to catch and didn't seem to live long once caught. Surprise, surprise!

"Uh, Mom! I think you need to come see this." I am thinking: Do I have to? Oh No Aphids! Our brand new Quaking Aspens in our backyard were completely covered in aphids. Where are the ladybugs when you need them? A couple of weeks after we had to rescue the trees from the aphids. Guess who shows up?

Ladybugs, by the hundreds! We had the kids taking every lady bug they found to the trees in the backyard. We now have quite the army of lady bug soldiers munching happily on those little sapsuckers! The aphids have now grown wings and are completely covering the bark of the trees all around town. The bark seemed to shimmer from the many moving wings. The trees are speckled with red dots. Lady bugs having a feast! Quite fascinating to watch. The kids come by their interest in bugs honestly. I still love to investigate them.

The ladybugs continue to be an endless source of fascination and fun for the kids. They gather up bunches of the ladybugs and take them for bike rides in their basket. You only need observe the many yellow streaks in the basket to appreciate how the ladybugs feel about the situation! The other day my big girl came to me at the bus stop with a closed hand saying "I have a present for you Mommy." "OK, let's see." As she opened her hand she revealed a hand FULL of terrified little lady bugs. Many flew away to relative safety while others chose to crawl in every direction from the center of her palm. Wow! What a site to see!

The kids have sure loved all the creatures they have encountered. Granted,...some of them to death. I bet our kids are some of a select few who routinely check and document the grills on the front end of vehicles to see what kind of butterfly species they may have acquired on their journey. This summer we have been assured that our wish to instill a LOVE of nature in our children has been well and truly accomplished. Now if only we could get them to listen... ;O)

Shhhh, Mum Doesn't know...

2011-09-29T19:51:00.002-06:00

While my Mum was away on her trek across Canada. I took the opportunity to do a little painting. Not my usual kind,... well maybe a little. Since my parents moved into that house I have been itching to give most of the interior a fresh new coat of paint. I figured what better time to do it than when she was away. No doggy hair floating into the paint and no fumes or mess for Mum. I am 85% certain that she is on to me and my surprise for her but what she doesn't suspect, is that I also did a new painting for her. She needed something to go in her stairwell and I had a need to paint this scene. I cannot say that is it a favorite of mine but I do consider it an accomplishment as I somehow managed to make time to do it and at this point any practice is good practice.

One of the painters I find most inspiring is Tom Thompson. I love his use of colour and the loose style he has. Every time I paint lately I am forever trying to loosen up my style. Somehow, I always end up putting more and more detail into my paintings, until they become like all my other paintings. Somehow, I must find a way to break away from my old habits. Ok, I suppose when I look at this it is a little looser but I still have a long way to go.

As I was painting this mountain scene and I was enjoying layering the colours in the golden grass, remembering the strong winds blowing them around I was thinking of the classic Van Gogh paintings with the wonderful swirls of motion. Might have to give that a try sometime. Never an end to lifes challenges, on any level.

Souvenier Sands

2011-09-15T13:37:00.000-06:00

Necessity is the mother of invention, indeed it is. When presented with a need for a very small gift that was uniquely Albertan I thought of several ideas and settled on something that I have loved for many years. Collecting souvenir sands is very special to me. My first and most highly prized sample comes from Alum Bay on the Isle of Wight. It is a tiny bottle with many layers of the coloured sands from the cliff face there.

The sands of the Alberta Badlands are equally as beautiful and very interesting historically so off I went on a sand hunting mission to the Badlands. I collected up as many different colours of sand as I could. I also researched as much as I could find on the geology of the badlands. I found some suitable containers (old bead containers), experimented with different arrangements of coloured layers. Sealed them into their containers.

Designed some informative cards with some interesting clip art.

Attached the tube to the card with some rustic jute, And there you go, an inexpensive, super cool, uniquely Albertan souvenir. That was super fun! Hmmm... maybe I should sell these?

Leaps Above!

2011-09-12T14:41:00.001-06:00

Can't get much closer to a spirited moment than this!

We had some fun with our cameras once again this weekend when we brought the kids up to a local park with a fabulous view of the city. At first I had hoped to get all three leaping into the air simultaneously. As it turns out that just was not meant to be. If I would have guessed, I would have said that my boy would be the best jumper of the lot. Instead, our littlest girl was by far the best jumper. She gave us many wonderful opportunities to capture her in the air. Just like an angel slowly descending from heaven.

Did you forget your wings Sweetie?

I wish I had thought of it then, but I should have had him pretending to pluck a building out of the city in this shot. Perhaps next time.

After many tries I managed to get our big girl in flight also. There were many challenges, back-lighting, timing, and a certain amount of peril. Kate insisted on doing her jumping at the top of this rock. Not a safe easy landing. Thankfully there were no injuries to report.

My boy looking like the superhero he would so love to be! Reach for the stars my Love!

This is a definite favourite! Just look at the smile on her face! The happiness inside her seems to be lifting her higher! There's little wonder who her heart belongs to.

Manicures from Mommy

2011-08-20T12:14:00.000-06:00

During the summer the girls just love to get manicures from Mommy. There's just no way I would pass up an opportunity to paint! They are very good at asking for the moon and I of course always try my hardest to make their ideas come to life.

This year they have been most interested in kitty prints. Armed with toothpicks and a large variety of colours we set to the task. One day I will have to try and find the Nail art kits to make this job a little easier and hopefully more accurate.

The girls love the novelty of it and of course I love the challenge of painting tiny pictures on those tiny little nails!!!

Even Nanan got into the fun, letting me paint some flowers on her nails. Thanks Nanan. Special thanks also to Jazzy for helping the girls model their nails.

Rich Rich Colour!

2011-07-30T07:10:00.002-06:00

Kootenay National Park, is home to the “Paint Pots” where ochre used to be mined or collected by the first people of the area. The Ochre was mixed with various oils to be used as paint for faces & tipi’s & such. I have been on other hikes in the area where you can still see the paintings on the rock walls that clearly must have used this same ochre. Our art loving kids were so loving the colours and itching to use this paint to create as much as I was. There was no way this could remain a “hands off” kinda day.

As we got closer to the Ochre beds we saw more and more people coming back down the trail some with dark orange “paint” on their hands and some with bare feet thickly caked with the dark orange muck.

I thought, perhaps it’s a cultural thing?
They are brave to be “hiking” with bare feet?

The answers to my wonderings would come later.
Ah, there’s where they were walking, I can see their foot prints….

The rich & varied colours of the ochre were made extra special by the crystal clear day we had, providing a gorgeous blue backdrop for the surrounding mountains. The kids dove right in! Let the stains begin! OH my……..! There seems to be something automatic about goopy hands and the urge to wipe them off on your clothes. I wonder if we did this as cave men? So if you ever choose to check out the wondrous Paint Pots please don’t wear your best clothes!

The pretty little flowers that were growing in the paint were irresistible!

I thought it was just so appropriate that within the paint there seemed to be flowering plants that had what looked like paintbrushes!! How convenient! I would have loved to stop and give them a try. I must bring a sketch book if I get back there again.

BTW, the ochre stains very, very well!

The Troll Adventure

2011-07-28T17:15:00.002-06:00

Off we go on another adventure into the wilderness. Above you see my two favourite men, "sticking together". Hiking to Troll Falls in Kananaskis. This is a short hike but not short on beauty.

The water roared over the top of a very tall cliff. As always I had difficulty trying to get an even exposure. We have quite decided that dull days are far better for hiking up to see waterfalls. Then we can get the time lapse photos we crave.

This one of our wee Sara (who we noticed too late was very poorly dressed for a hike) Thought the falls were amazing until she got far too cold. The continuous cold mist that sprays from the falls was quite chilling.

But that wonderful cold mist was so welcome to the rest of us who were glad to escape the heat of the day. That mist is what feeds the lucious green moss that clings to the cliffs. I tried many times to capture the drewl-like drips that showered down from them. Once again I needed and didn't have my tripod. I will have to start carrying it in my backpack.

Kate had a w-o-nderful time climbing and exploring all around the waterfall. Ben of course followed her everywhere. They'd have climbed much closer to the falls if I had let them but it is awfully steep, wet and muddy up there!

Believe it or not it is easy to miss the Troll unless you know that he is really there. A very interesting rock formation just to the left of the falls. Kinda spooky.

The Big (Pointy) ROCK!

2011-07-24T08:12:00.002-06:00

On our way to a day of adventure in the Rocky mountains we decided to finally pay a visit to the enormous Glacier Erradic just outside of Okotoks. This is one of many that were transported from the Jasper area and deposited here by a glacier 18-10 thousand years ago.

Who, knew there would be the opportunity to explore, inside the Big Rock! What a treat! It is risky of course as the rocks above have merely proped themselves as they fell apart with the natural erosion process. It was wonderful to see, discover and best of all for me, to capture!

Look how far away the Rockies are! That is only a fraction of the distance that these rocks travelled!

The rock pictured above is roughly the size of the two just down the street from us. Our own neibourhood is blessed with two Glacier erradics, which is what led us to this much larger one.

Creative Fire

2011-07-02T15:21:00.002-06:00

I don't remember the last time we saw fireworks. The kids were always too small to drag out at that hour. This year we should have been home caring for our feverish twins & big girl with tonsilitis. Instead we wrapped them all up in blankets & took them to see their first fireworks. The skeeters were feroicious and plentiful, but the venue was beautiful. I did my best with my camera to capture what I could of the wonderful display. I put them together in one photo for you to enjoy. To me it more accurately describes the experience.

As you can see I had to hand hold my camera because our tripods are "somewhere" in the bins in our garage... LOL... until we finish renovating our basement. Now my Hubby has a much better camera than myself with a remote and managed to get some really gorgeous photos that I just had to share!

This one is his favourite

This one is my favourite.

The one on the left is our big girl completely in awe of what she was seeing. The picture had originally come out completely black, but with a little help from photoshop I found this wonderfully Spirited Moment hiding within.

Colourful Katie

2011-07-02T14:33:00.001-06:00

This years Birthday party was all about colour!

We had necklace beading & painting with all the colours of the rainbow! All the kids no matter their age seemed to tuck right into the experience. They were all concentrating so hard on what they were doing it was a real creative factory. Many of them didn't just stop at one mini masterpiece, instead they made three!

We had the room surrounded by copies of masterpieces of all kinds that are worth millions! We had Matisse, Picasso, De Kooning, VanGogh, to name a few. They definitely helped to inspire the creative spirit!

To continue the Painting Party theme I made a 6 layer rainbow cake in the shape of a painters pallet. This is not quite the way I had envisioned it would turn out but it sure was yummy!!! At the last minute I decided to skip the royal icing and instead use the light & fluffy filling recipe I had used to join the layers instead. It was a little messier looking but not nearly so sugary. I would definitely make this cake again as I SO love the colours! The only challenge is, it makes for a very tall cake and rather LARGE slices.

By Katie's request we did the toilet paper wrapping game again which went so well and always provides for plenty of smiles and giggles. We also added a balloon race and I must say even our littlest girls (age 3) did so well! It was a close finish!

Our little Butterfly had a wonderful time with all her family & friends.

And ate her cake too. :O)

Three, Two Wheelers

2011-06-28T10:08:00.002-06:00

One gorgeous Friday afternoon I decided that there was no time like the present to finally get rid of ALL of our training wheels. Kate had already given it a try last fall and did very well but then winter came early and along with it her opportunity to practice. Ben & Sara were more than ready to give it a try too. So off we went to our local park to try our luck on the nice soft grass. I started with Ben…. ready, set,…. there he goes! It was so quick. All he needed was a little push and that was it…. no further instruction necessary. WOW! Ben has always had a natural talent for all things physical but this is also the same kid who routinely falls off the chair at dinner. So it was hard to know what to expect. So proud of my little man!

Sara was next. She did very well and had a wonderfully positive attitude but ultimately found the long thick grass too heavy going for her tiny bike with bald tires. So we packed up and headed back to our quiet cul de sac. There she quickly got the hang of it and off she went. Katie picked it up very quickly of course as she had tried it before.

The real excitement came after they got going on their own. Thanks to a long cold & icy winter our streets were covered in loose gravel. They don’t use dirt on the roads out here, they use pea gravel. (Hence why there are so many broken windshields.) The gravel on the roads is like riding on marbles, rather dangerous! This is the main reason for many painful crashes over the following weekend. By Monday when it was time to go back to school we thankfully did not have any broken bones but we sure had a LOT of bruises & scrapes!

Most kids would be too embarrassed about their fall to cry loudly & call attention to themselves. Mine on the other hand tend to scream like someone is killing them even when they just get a little frustrated. Try to imagine, for my children, getting road rash for the first time was a deafening experience for all! I am sure the whole neighborhood could hear the screeching, crying & sobbing from our three and their many crashes. After a long weekend of extremes: huge smiles & squeals of delight contrasted with desperate screams of agony, claims that they “will never walk again” and the sudden depletion in my band aid supply,… the kids are all quite addicted to the thrill of riding their two wheelers.

Green,...... My new favourite colour!

2011-06-16T20:35:00.003-06:00

Never has it felt so good to see so much GREEN! It seems like years since we had leaves on the trees and grass to run through!

Every chance we get we are out exploring in nature but it is always extra special when the weather is warm and sunny. We had one reasonably warm day last week so we took the kids out for a picnic supper and hike in Fish Creek Park.

At the very end as the sun was going to bed Ben noticed something stirring in the bush... a mule deer! A bit blurry, but there she is.

Wet & Wormy

2011-05-30T14:33:00.000-06:00

I think there has been a mistake in the translation. We wanted warm Weather, not worm weather!

Who knew this much rain all at once could draw out so many worms. I am not sure if there are more worms than usual out there or if we are just noticing them more because the kids are so enamoured with them this year. One thing is for certain, the robins are making out like bandits! There are lots of hatchlings out there with very full tummies!

Since the kids were so interested in these creatures and I am not one to miss out on a teachable moment, I took some time to do a little research. I wanted to make sure what I was telling the kids about worms was correct. Good thing I did. If you are like me you believed that worms come out of the ground when it rained because they would otherwise drown. Makes sence right? Apparently, this is a very popular myth. They actually come up from the soil to mate. They cannot otherwise survive above ground because they would dry out and die. How interesting!

All three of our kids have been so excited about collecting & "saving" the worms from being walked on, & run over. They created a special home for them on our lawn. A heap of dandilions, grass clippings, gravel & mud. I was convinced that the piles of worms that were dumped here were simply being laid out on a platter for the many hungry birds around our house.

However, when I went to move the pile to a more visually acceptable spot I found that the pile was one big wriggling mass. Sadly, I admit some worms may have been severed in the process of moving them to thier new home. Oops.

Suspended Over Glass

2011-05-26T12:59:00.000-06:00

This weekend we decided to become tourists in our own city. We visited the Calgary tower. While it is not as tall as the CN Tower it is still plenty high to induce a healthy dose of Vertigo. When you get off the elevator you are immediately presented with the Northern view and the incredible glass floored viewing area.

It came as no surprise to me that I found I didn't have the stomach to actually stand on the glass. Over the years, especially since having children I have become more and more fearful of many things. A natural curse of parenting I suppose.

So why then, do you suppose I was able to encourage my kids to stand on the glass? If I cannot do it, you'd think that I would be paniced about letting them. I do tend to be rather over protective. Hmmm...

Wow! Now if I let myself think about the quality of the workmanship, the wear & tear of weather and the amout of weight on that glass....yes I want to grab them off of there!! I suppose it comes down to some selfish need to get those amazing pictures of my dear children suspended 525 ft in the air. Thanks Kids!!

The pictures were a challenge to take as the bright sunny day created an incredibly backlit situation. The glass is badly scratched undoubtedly from the mud & gravel on peoples boots through the winter. My camera doesn't deal well in these situations. Indoor pictures just never seem to come out with any quality. Despite my best attempts to get the flash to fire, it decided to remain stubborn. Without it, I get this almost comic book effect. While I still crave the utter preciseness of an SLR. I am learning to appreciate this comic effect for what it is.

Ben seemed completely comfortable out on the glass. But he did admit that when he was hands down looking at the ground he did feel a little scared. Me too!

Kate was a little unsure at first, but then became very confident. Sara, felt a lot like I do. I didn't force her to go out onto it. I think she decided to try it because everyone else was, but deep down, she was terrified!!!

Can you blame her?

Yikes!

Through The Badlands

2011-05-03T14:51:00.000-06:00

We explored Horsethief Canyon this past weekend. This was a welcome break from the city and snow. Durning our search for crystals we also found igneous rock, coal, petrified wood and many a Cactus & Crocus. This is like discovering a new planet. The kids LOVED the hunt for sparkling quartz crystals and wished they could go out there every day!

Amazing to see how well the kids did on the hike. There were some sections that were nothing short of terrifying as a parent watching them climb up to places where the downs were,.... so far DOWN!

For me the hunt was for best angles, textures, and stories. I took about 350 pictures! This is one of those places that you just can't stop taking pictures. The view was so beautiful, capturing it 10 times didn't seem like enough. Silly, but true.

Do I have the itch to paint,... you bet I do! Now, how to I find the time & space to do it?

Crystal Thorns

2011-04-19T10:56:00.001-06:00

Spectacular Hoar frost crystals appeared one morning in March after a very thick fog settle on Calgary. Never have I seen the crystals so long before. We drove down to Fish Creek park in search of some good photo op's but found out the higher ground of Bridlewood was far superior.

The kids agreed it was far too cold out to sit & sketch the remarkable pictures so we opted to take many pictures, & sketch later.

Apparently billions of tiny white crystals are too much temptation for some to resist.

The missing Dragon

2011-04-18T10:23:00.002-06:00

On a recent trip to the mountains Sara and Kate had been collecting little pieces of nature which they would later beg to bring home with them. Along the way they both found small pieces of tree branch that had some unopened pinecones still attached. Kate also found a tiny piece of a "dragon" toy and gave it to Sara. When walking in the hip deep snow seemed to no longer be fun we decided to call it quits. On our way back Sara broke down into an emotionally devastated display. She had put her little collection down on a big rock and could not remember where. At first thinking ok, time to hunt...
Was it a big rock? "I don't know"
What colour was it? "I don't know"
Where were you when you put it down? "I don't know!!"

Each response becoming more and more upset. She was absolutely devastated! I have never known a child to be more attached to everything she lays her hands on. She had only complained of loosing her tree branch at this point so, logically I thought,... well there's a reasonable facimile. "Here you go honey!"

"NO!"... that's not it!
I am thinking,... how on earth can she tell the difference?? OK, moving on... Tried a few more ... nope, no luck. After much more searching over the significant area of ground that we had hiked over... I gave up. OK, time to get home... she will live,... right?

Sara began to scream and cry in a way that was beyond her I'm just upset & stubborn kinda cry. Is she sick? Don't think so. Is she tired? Yes likely. Is she hungry? I have snacks in the van, let's go!

We are almost to the van with plenty of melting snow in our boots and Sara confessess. After she calmed down a bit I managed to decipher through her sobs: there is a toy with the tree branch that she found. Ah,... the toy is what she is so extra upset about. We are almost to the van & I have NO desire to go back. Searching for a needle in a snow pile with a very upset, tired & hungry little girl & two more coming down the trail. Not my idea of fun.

Ah ha! I hiked back to Corey who had gone on ahead and was now headed back with the Kate & Ben. Told him about the troubles and he being the wonderful Daddy he is went off in search of the prized trinket. Corey had been with her at the time of collecting so he had a bit more insight than myself as to it's location. It wasn't long before he came back carrying the key to Sara's happiness.

Like a knight in shining, um... black leather, there he was making her little dreams come true. Daddy fixes everything. Or at least he sure wishes he could!!! We are so lucky to have him!!

A Matter of Perspective

2011-01-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

Years ago when our first precious child was born we bought our first digital camera. I was in heaven because I was able to take as many pictures as I wanted. What could be better? As luck would have it Katie loved to pose for pictures. She could be screaming her head off,... and she often did.... then I'd pull out my camera and she's instantly stop and smile for the camera. It was like a miracle! Well, sadly miracles eventually fade. By the time Kate was oh, about 2 years old she lost her love of the camera. Can't imagine why? By then I was on my second digital camera and had moved from taking 100 pictures per weekend to taking 300 pictures per weekend. My addiction with the camera was second only to my addiction to photoshop. I ask you, how can you not be addicted to taking as many precious pictures of your first born? Many years of frustration passed, trying desperately to get a shot of something other than the back of her head or a scowl on her face. How dare I try to get a picture of her. Sigh. Thankfully the twins came along in time to keep my obsession going.

Now it is true that in the insanity that precludes Christmas, we get swept away in the glitz and everyone wants the picture postcard family. That family picture has to be perfect. The expectations begin to soar and lets face it, these are kids, with priorities vastly different to their perfection seeking parents. I am sure there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of other parents out there who had the same excruciating experience. Two hours and 200 pictures to get just one that my husband and I could agree looked "perfectly perfect".

At the time I truly felt like only one of those pictures was worthy of our family Christmas card. Now, when I scan through them there may be more than one. In my mind, I had blamed the kids and for the most part that is still true. I also see now, that my reason for not likeing the pictures was more how "I" look than the kids screams & whines. Even since then my face has lost more of the swollen & puffy look. A little makes such a big difference to the ego. It was not just the kids being unrully.

Just a few of this years bloopers for you all to enjoy:

They got pretty fed up at times.

There are other times where we just let the kids have fun and do their own thing. I promise I did not pose this shot! (above)

I suppose they put up with a lot.

I am glad we kept the bloopers.

Turn & Face the Changes...

2011-01-04T14:41:00.001-07:00

      Sometimes I wonder if there is any point in keeping this blog site. I almost never have time to write anything down. Though I think of things to write many times a day. 2010 brought with it many changes, many hardships and many hard choices. The one silver lining I can see is that it also shed a lot of light on our lives, where we are going, and where we want to be.
      My health & well being has been instrumental in changing our views on a lot of things. Finding a way to live in the world the way I am now is a challenge I am faced with every day. This is complicated by the fact that our three kids just don't understand. How could they?
      We made the decision to move to a smaller house back in November and here we are about to actually move out of this enormous home that really never fit us. In some ways the kids are handling it well, and in others they are falling apart. We have managed to keep them in the same school with the same classmates so I am hoping that will count for something.
       This year at Christmas I found my self pressed for time more than usual. What with selling our house, packing, designing a photobook, packing, creating a photobrochure of our year of "fun", and packing....while juggling homework & excentricities of our three spirited children. I had left a lot of the shopping to the last. As per usual, I had nothing and no ideas for my own family members. So, I reverted to my old standby. Painting.

       For my Brother who wants everything I cannot afford. I made a painting with two 24x36 canvases. It is of one of the north beaches on Lake Superior. I remember that beach so well. I still have a necklace I found there when I was oh, so young. The water was so bitter cold even on the hot summer days but I went in anyway! I painted this very quickly one afternoon while the kids also painted paintings to give as Chrismas gifts. I still think it needs work.

For my Mother, I began a painting of the scene described in the previous blog entry. It is of the prairie chickens that visited us outside our house during the thanksgiving dinner of 2009. It was such a special moment! What timeing! There were so many of them but I only painted four. This painting is unfinished! I do plan to get back to it but I have no time left before we move. So Mum is taking it home until I am ready to get back to it.

I did also start a painting for my dear husband who works so hard. But I only got so far as to sketch the painting onto the canvas. You see I begin with a very light very minimal pencil drawing. Then I create an image and get my composition figured out using a very loose and watered down version of the final painting. That is as far as I got. Sorry it is not really worth picturing at this point. Some more work for me to do when we get settled in our next house. I must enjoy a challenge.

Giving Thanks

2010-10-16T22:12:00.001-06:00

As we sat down to eat our thanksgiving dinner, I heard/saw a flock of geese flying low beside the house, coming in for a landing on our pond. The pond is teaming with migrating geese at the moment. I suddenly had a flashback to last year before Papa died. There he was sitting at the other end of the table, as a flock of prairie chickens wandered through our backyard. It was a bitter sweet memory. A wonderful moment for which I am grateful. He really pushed himself to be there. Only wish it wasn't his last.

When times get extra hard in our lives as it so definitely has been in mine this year, it is important to remember the simple things that are so special in our lives, and be truly thankful for them.

To name a few:

Anticipation

Individuality

Friendship

Love

Pererverance & Resiliance

Sugar!

Toothless Smiles

Laughter & Excitement

Nature

The sunrise &

new beginnings...

Fabulous Fall

2010-10-06T12:26:00.000-06:00

Mmmm! Sugar dusted mountains & fall colours! Time to soak it all in!

It is this time of year that I miss the forests where I grew up. While the Alberta Fall has it's own specatular beauty the leaves just don't compare to the brilliant reds & oranges you see in the Gatineau Hills. To find the brilliant reds you usually (but not always) have to look to the shrubs & weeds.

No matter where I am though I definitely feel the longing to paint. How can you not when you see these wonderful sights all around you? Though we encountered some seriously wet weather on our last rip we went ahead anyway as the rain can often make the fall colours even more brilliant. We are so glad we did as we were treated to a breathtaking rainbow!

I believe I took at least 20 pics of each side. I am sure my husbands are better as his camera is far superior to mine. What a special treat!

I know this picture loks very fake. But I promise it is completely unaltered. This really is what we saw! WOW!

Precious!

2010-09-24T09:58:00.000-06:00

I have been working on a baby book for this sweet little tyke and could not resist making this up. The quality of the original pic is poor but I though it would fit nicely into this picture I took a couple of years ago. He's kind of hiding there like a little surprise.

Nature Photography

2010-07-04T20:20:00.000-06:00

I so love the wild flowers in the mountains! I am not interested in the cut ones in stores and I will only kill ones that are given to me in pots. I have such a black thumb. Sorry for the demise of that rose Mum. Yet, when spring comes to the mountains I love to get out there and take pictures of all the fabulous colours. Mother nature is such a brilliant painter! I never noticed before how hairy plants are. Hmmm, perhaps I should wear my glasses more?

This is just a simple clover leaf with some rain drops. I took it on a recent fishing trip. I love the challenge that nature photography presents. Trying to capture it in minute detail, catch it in mid flight, or before it bounds & scurries away then disappears into the forest.

This little marmot seemed eager for his close up. He sat for a long time right up on that guard rail peering at us and basking in the sun. You'd think he'd shy away from a road? This is usually a very quiet dirt road in Kananaskis. It is closed off for most of the year.

Sometimes it seems easy and other times it is so difficult it could bring you to tears when you just miss the most amazing shot! My current camera does not allow me to get the detail I want but it comes close. :O)

Butterflies are a challenge I just cannot resist. I have chased some like a fool for a long, long time saying to myself or sometimes out loud "please land! Oh please just land!" Only to have them land just long enough for you to get ready,...you are about to click and..... Poof! They are gone again. Sigh. The two I have posted above made life very easy for me. The Common Alpine Satyr (the brown one) just flew past & landed perfectly for just the right amount of time. The Canadian Tiger Swallowtail seemed to be busy either resting or we think possibly laying eggs?

I worked very hard to get this classic pose of the red winged black bird. The wind was blowing so hard he was swaying back & forth on that reed. I had a hard time retaining proper focus. This is when it pays to take a lot of shots. The sparrow was belting out his delightful song over and over so I had plenty of time to snap this one.

My favourite part of any day filled with photography is downloading!!! It is so exciting! It's far better than Christmas morning unwrapping presents. If I at least get one or two shots that I am pleased with it makes my day. What a rush! The difference between photography and painting is that it is such instant gratification. An accomplishment in seconds. The challenges are very different. I still long to get back to painting. As soon as time and health allow, I will make that happen.

Happy Buggy Birthday!

2010-06-15T10:20:00.000-06:00

This year my daughter wanted a bug theme to her party so I of course turned to the Internet for an inspirational source. It is amazing what you can find on the net. I found many ideas for the invites and finally settled on this combination. I painted each cover myself. Somehow it just seemed easier & really didn't take that long.

I found a very yummy sugar cookie recipe which worked great for the treats to bring to school. The kids loved them!

I also got some great ideas for decorating cupcakes and making a lady bug cake. Making RED icing was a definite challenge which I did accomplish with the helpful advice of some well experienced moms. I made chocolate bugs to go on top of the cupcakes & ran out of green icing so decided to put chocolate icing with "dirt" and worms on the vanilla cupcakes. I watched a video online about how to smooth your icing to make it look almost like fondant. So cool! I also found a really cool idea of how to make a cup cake display using only a few serving trays and a couple of flower pots. I thought the flower pot idea went well with the theme so I got a couple from the dollar store and used some watercolour paint to put a buggy design on them. I used leftover icing to "glue" them together as they wobbled just a touch. It worked GREAT! The paint came off easily in the dishwasher afterward.

The icing was a huge hit! We painted faces with lots of buggy designs I had also got from the Internet. Ben here had spiders up the side of his face but soon decided he had enough of that and washed them off. LOL!

Katie was spoiled Rotten!

The kids each got to take home a bug confinement box, "Bug grub" candy bag, a Nature Journal (we made these ourselves at Corey's work) with bookmark, a magnifying glass, a punch balloon and a plastic bug.

Katie had a wonderful time and from squeals & giggles I heard while playing pin the spider on the web and "Spider wraps his lunch" (each team of two wrapped their partner in toilet paper. The first to finish the roll won!) .... so did everyone else! A LOT of work, but well worth my time. :OD

Weed or Flower?

2010-06-04T22:25:00.000-06:00

When a child asks you if a dandelion is a weed or a flower, what do you answer? What is a weed but a plant that happens to be where you don't want it to be? Perhaps a dandelions are just a pretty flower that happens to have an amazing ability to live and reproduce better than any other flower. Dandelions provide children with such wonderful fun blowing the seeds and watching them float on the breeze.

I know my kids love to pick flowers for me and the dandilions are the one flower that they can pick as many as they want and no one will mind. The sight of the dandelions popping up through the green grass is a wonderfully warm sign of spring. I can think of many reasons to love the dandelion, not so many to hate it. None that really are bad enough to make me want to spray chemicals on my lawn to get rid of them.

So I suppose my answer would be... a flower.... albeit an un-loved flower my most.

I think the honey bees would agree!

The Graduates

2010-05-29T06:45:00.000-06:00

Recenty I had the wonderful opportunity to take pictures of my niece in her Grad dress. Does that ever take you back! It ended up being three nervous couples, scrambling right to the last minute to get every detail right. I am no proffesional, so I ran around and got candids and poses where I could. The girls looked beautiful and the guys looked so grown up in their suits. I wish I had an extra hour to get more and better shots of them. But the limo had already waited such a long time.

My sister-in-law rushed around being the required Supermom to everyone, inserting difficult ear-rings & doing up shoes, handing out little reminders here and there, you name it! When all was said & done and the limo pulled away it definitely felt like the door had been shut on another chapter. So hard as a Mom, to see our babies grow up. I am at the other end of things but I am about to face a similar stage. My babies are about to get on a school bus for the first time. When that door shuts. That's it. It ends a stage of life that I have control over. It's hard, so HARD to let go of that control, that protection that we give them. So I understand what it must have felt like to see them driving away.

Congrats Alycia & Friends! You all look amazing!

Savoring Sweet

2010-05-25T09:50:00.000-06:00

This weekend was my Mum's birthday so we had a little celebration at the park. I made a some cupcakes instead of a cake and we had one candle for each decade.

I am not sure Mum will like this photo of herself but it is one of those that I am so glad I captured. It is just that perfect moment that says so much. Mum is diabetic so she doesn't really, nor should she, even have treats like this but every now and then on a special occasion she allows herself a tiny indulgence. You can see by the look on her face that she is really savoring that yummy sweetness. Like saying hello to an old friend. Something many of us take for granted.

Happy Birthday Mom! XOXO

Ever wonder....?

2010-05-11T15:30:00.000-06:00

Have you ever looked at things in nature and really wondered,... about the bigger picture? The sand on a beach looks distinctly like our finger prints. The branches of a tree not unlike the veins in our body. Sure makes you think doesn't it? I am sure this is no coincidence.

A few days ago My husband and I had another reminder of how fragile life is and how the whole puzzle fits together. On that day we both had some very close calls on the road. He was driving home from work and just in front of him a truck rolled over. He was close enough to the action that he had to slam on the breaks and swerve. He drives a Smart car and found himself surrounded by big trucks. Suddenly he felt very vulnerable. I was on a road going 100km and a car came in front of me from two lanes to the right. He narrowly missed me and the median on his way off the exit ramp and back onto the highway. I had to break hard to miss him.

I had recently been reminded of watching for those moments when fate takes a hand. Ever wonder about all those things that happened to slow you up before something like that happens? What if, you didn't get stopped by that train, or that person who wanted to chat, or those kids who threw a fit? Would you have been in "that" accident? We don't know. We can only trust that there is a higher order, a higher purpose. Especially for those who are a part of the tragedies. Well, thank God for sparing my family that day!

My husband BTW, is now the proud owner of a BIG truck. Selling the smart car.

Cameras

2010-05-06T21:26:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been feeling my camera has been letting me down. I had it in for repair, they rebuilt it & even gave it a new lense and yet it is still up to it's old tricks. Call me crazy but I really like it when a camera stays in focus as it does video or can actually stay focused when it is at full zoom. I realise that there is such thing as camera shake & weather conditions to consider. But when those precious moments that will never come again are being fogged away by a piece of bad technology, I get a little steamed! This frustration led me to researching my next camera. There is no way I can afford one yet but a girl likes to dream.

From what I have gathered from friends & many bits of info from the internet. I am definitely going to be looking at a DSLR. Possibly Nikon, fed up with Canon. However, I really need to take some photography classes again before I can figure out what I really want/need in a camera. So in the mean time I have refocused my efforts back onto my "lemon" camera to try and see if there is some way to force some good behaviour out of it. The picture above is my favourite from some recent shots. So much fun to play with the manual settings. I had become quite lazy lately letting the auto function do too much. Time to get back to real photography.

Digital Fun

2010-04-12T22:21:00.000-06:00

Well, Since I have tried and failed miserably to paint while under the influence of this medicine I am on. I decided to jump back into digital scrapbooking again. After just a few days I have already amassed 40 new files for printing. Whoo Hoo! I would not say I am doing my best work but I sure enjoy it. And the great thing is. It doesn't make a mess in the house and I can just pop on when I can, to do a little playing. I used to do lots of pages for our family album. You see, I am one of those who is guilty of taking lots of pictures, but never printing any. I have so many I love and they all seem to tell a story to me so I like to use/print as many as I can. The good the bad, you name it. To print them all would cost us a fortune and take up so many photo albums we'd need a special room for them all. So by putting several at a time on a page and telling the story as it happened I hope to save our memories as well as money and space.

I was keeping reasonably up to date with it all until a few of years ago when,... the unthinkable happened. My computer went belly up! NO!!! My wonderful husband managed to save most of the information on my hard drive but I did loose a few photos and I had 130 pages of scrapbooking... that just disappeared! Ouch! Life changed and things got so busy there was just no time to do anything anyway and I am now officially about 3 years behind. Just think of the thousands up on thousands of pictures just sitting there unprinted. Oh man! Can't let them just disappear. All those memories. Must save them!!!

A Few Successful Moments

2010-03-26T20:18:00.000-06:00

Times have sure been tough around here this year. Not sure I can say that 2010 has been good to us so far. We all seemed to come down with a virus a couple of months ago which has left me with a new understanding of what it is like to be 80 years old. Unable to find even one position that is without pain in almost every joint in my body. Even opening a door knob was more than I could manage. I had no idea what a simple every day virus was capable of. I can only hope that the medicine they have me on will someday put a stop to this.

I had hoped to be posting my next painting by now. We always have such plans don't we? Then life happens and takes us down a different road. So instead of not posting at all. I have assembled some of my recent favourite photography. Still able to grit my teeth and take a few shots. Not many successful ones these days. But I'll take what I can get.

Enjoy!

Ben's Style

2010-03-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

Ben, Bless his little heart is coming along well. Ben is 4 years old so he still prefers to do his Jackson Pollack style paintings but he had me in shock the other day when I decided to challenge him with a very simple landscape to copy. Though it is a little washed out you can see the landscape laid out perfectly!! I got very excited and drew a stick figure for him to copy and OH my goodness! he did it! His very first person. Definitely very proud of all our Doodlebugs.

Kate already wants to be an artist when she grows up which of course I am thrilled about but it really doesn't matter what any of them choose to be as long as they can earn a living at it and they are happy in what they do.

Variation in Styles

2010-03-05T21:47:00.000-07:00

To see the World in a grain of sand

and heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour.

Auguries of Innocence

William Blake

Today's picture is courtesy of two of my Doodlebugs. They were recently given some wonderful "colour surge" paper & markers from their Gramma & Grampa for Valentines day and they have had so much fun drawing with them! Sara drew hers first, it is a princess butterfly on a sunny day. There is more to the story of all those squiggles but I sadly cannot remember all the details. I can say that each squiggle is very purposeful and it actually meant to be something. Sara has just started into drawing representational images and we are ohh so proud of her! She drew her first person (a circle with a face and stick legs) in late summer so this is big progress. I find it fascinating, as an artist still trying to discover her own style, that all of Sara's drawings are very small. They take up only a small part of the page. Wonder why?

When Sara's drawing was noticed by my older Doodlebug Kate, she loved the concept and repeated it with her own version of the princess butterfly. Utterly wonderful to compare their styles. Kate drew her first family portrait when she had just turned three. Needless to say I was in shock! I had not taught her how to draw anything although I had always made sure she had lots of time with crayons & paper. [When I think about it now, maybe Sara didn't colour people as soon because she didn't have as much exposure to crayons when she was tiny? Of course that could not be helped due to Sara & Ben's habit of putting everything in their mouth or up their nose. Sigh.....]

I love looking at how they have both included the same elements but have sized them so differently. Sara does have a sun but it is so tiny up in the right corner. Kate's takes up nearly the whole page. I had noticed their differing styles before but this is the first time they both attempted to draw the same thing. I LOVE both drawings and wish I had an even bigger house as I want to keep every single drawing they make.

Composition is Everything

2010-03-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

The fog this year has been incredible. It has created thicker Hoar frost than I have ever seen before. Of course I had to get out there and capture a few shots of this amazing display from Mother Nature. The picture you see above is one of my favourites. I love how the shadows are falling on the blanket of snow. What is merely “weeds” is transformed into something so amazing that it is hard not to stop and marvel at its majesty.

I believe composition is everything and I love to challenge myself to make an ordinary thing, extraordinary simply capturing it at the right angle. I see everything in terms of hue, light, line, tone & shadow. I love the tiny details of nature, from the shape of a child’s toes to the grains of wheat in a field. I have never been able to settle on one medium. One way of expressing my creativity is just too constrictive. Perhaps that is wrong? I love that I have so many choices. I can use what best suits. Sometimes that means photography & sometimes painting or drawing, charcoal or pastels.

I have been doing a lot of reading lately about what it takes to become a "collected" artist. How to create a recognisable "body of work" so to speak. If that means giving up all the freedom of choosing the medium that best suits the moment. Then I am not sure I want to be that famous. Dampening or restricting creativity can never be a good thing.

Finally Finished My First

2010-02-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

Originally this was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my sweet husband but I am pleased to say that it is a rather belated Valentines gift instead of a gift from the Easter Bunny. Though there are things about it I would still like to change. My dear husband disagrees. So I declare it is finally finished. After the first two hours I spent on this painting, I was almost ready to paint over it and start again. The colours were blah and the moment was not really being captured. This is an issue I have had with a few of my previous paintings. So I left it alone for a while then came back to it with a save it, or toss it attitude. I decided to paint the colours that I saw, rather than the ones that were captured by my camera. I think it worked.

This moment was captured just at dusk. One of my favourite times of day to take pictures as the lighting is so...ethereal, and the colours seem to be bursting with a rosy glow. Breathtaking! While I would never say that my painting is "breathtaking" I have attempted to grasp some of that feel. Now that I have this scene finally out of my head, I can hopefully move on to all those other ideas that began to flow into my head as soon as I picked up the paint brush. Those who know me well, know that I am never at a loss for ideas. Once I get started it is hard to stop. except of course when our kids so desperately need me. Oh, to have lots and lots of time to just doodle & paint & photograph. Someday?

Greetings

2010-02-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Hello, to the digital world. This is quite a first for me. Until now no one except family and friends have had a glimpse at my paintings & photography. The painting pictured above I did MANY years ago and it is one of my favourites I made it for my step-father whom we recently lost to cancer. When I heard of the recent success of a friend of mine setting up a new business I was inspired to try it for myself. I have avoided it on purpose for most of my life. I admit I was selfish and wanted to keep my art for me. There is so much of me tied up in my artwork that I never felt like I could sell it. I may be changing that point of view. Time will tell. When I began to get my portfolio digitized and was finding myself putting copyright notices on the files, it occurred to me that most of my work has my previous married name on them. That fact, combined with my children's more than clear dismay at me spending so much time on the computer told me I was not ready to jump head first into this.

So Instead I have decided to try and get myself working on a new, "Nicolaisen" portfolio. I have one almost complete. I must be crazy, after years... oh my! Ten long years of being strictly able to use photoshop to appease my artistic needs I dove into painting with a canvas that is 4ftx2ft! I have had this blank canvas for at least 5 years and I had a vision of what I wanted to paint on it since before I bought it. This past fall I finally fell witness to the scene I wanted to paint while out on a road trip with the family. My dear husband made a quick turn around of the family van so that I could capture about 30 reference photos of the scene before the light changed too much. After a very rough start I am nearly finished. I already have ideas I want to explore with many others so I am trying to find time to get it completed. This is easier said than done when I am forever filling sippies and desperately trying to keep our two kittens from being literally smothered with love from our three children. Not to mention the seemingly endless piles of laundry and the earth shattering, world ending fits that are thrown over such mundane elements of everyday life by our dear sweet little children. Gotta love 'em. ;o)

Special thanks to Gina for inspiring me to get this started!