April is the Coolest Month

The Etobicoke Art Group was having its first Annual Paper Show & Sale this weekend. P. & me both donated pieces to do our bit for the group. It was a rather nice show & we picked up a lovely acrylic painting (on paper) by Kim Lee Kho (sp?) - a rather abstract figure study in strong colours. One of these days when I figure out how to plug in a camera by myself (a luddite), I may post a pic of it.

I also had the privilege of meeting Robin Hollingdrake who has an impressive show on in both the galleries right now. I am doing an all-day workshop with two Grade One classes in a couple of weeks and the teacher requested that I take the children into the gallery and do some 'art interpretation' with them. So I was thrilled to be able to get the info straight from the artists' mouth. Now I will be much more knowledgeable of what I'm talking about (it helps!).

Speaking of Robins (I didn't mean to be running a theme here!), I counted 15 fat robins cruising for worms outside the Studio B windows yesterday at Neilson Park. A couple of years ago I had an eight-year-old boy in one of my Cartooning classes. We were doing 'flip-o-ramas', where you have a folded paper with drawings on the front and inside so when you flip the paper back and forth it looks like animation (sort of). This boy did an absolutely dead-on Robin caricature, with the bird pulling a worm out of a hole. The kind of drawing that makes you want to just give up right there, because you're never going to tap into that kind of genius...and you know the kid will not grow up to be an artist - he'll be a dentist or accountant or something.

I was out at Back Acres today, visiting the folks. Part of the joy of standing in the kitchen, chatting, is watching the myriads of birds flocking to the feeder all day. Mom pointed out a beautiful striped Song Sparrow - much more elegantly dressed than the common House Sparrows gracing my trees. Also present were Nuthatches, M&F Cardinals, Juncos and a brief but noisy visit from a flock of starlings. When we went outside to see her blooming Lenten Rose (a pleasant surprise from a plant she thought was dead), a great big ugly Turkey Vulture did a slow, low circuit over our heads. So we yelled up at him that we weren't dead yet, and he drifted away (looking for roadkill I guess). They're pretty creepy birds up close!

The cyclists were out in full force, hogging the roads. I prefer to drive out in bad weather when they're not so prevalent on the road, however I've got a fine set of notches in my dash for every one I've knocked down!

April Fools has come & gone. Tonight the air was getting chilly again. Since we have not had Winter's Last Hurrah, I'm expecting Snow at some point this week. Probably the day I have to drive to Orangeville for my Craft Show. That would totally figure. Also - I discovered today that my seasonal malady is inherited from my Dad. He too gets sick every Spring & Fall. Great. Nice to know I share his pain.