
This is one of my favourite trees at the farm next door. I went for a snowshoe there the other day, if you can call it that. Really, boots alone would have been fine all across the fields and even in the woods. We just don't have enough snow for my taste yet. I love me a harsh winter. While many folks dream of living someplace warm or at least temperate, I'm pretty much set on being somewhere that gets piles of the fluffy white stuff. Never mind inches...I'm talking feet.
Western New York has that reputation, but in the past few years it's been a little disappointing for polar bears like me. Today it snowed, though it certainly could have been more generous. I went to the city this morning for a doctor's appointment and decided to meander the snowy avenues for a while before I came home. Nothing like our gal Buffalo all adorned in white. :) I stopped in a little Middle Eastern joint to eat falafel, then walked to Main Street and paid a visit to my friends at our incredible local art supply store. Pardon the cliché, but every time I go there I'm like a kid in a candy store. There is one guy who has worked there forever who loves to talk about colour as much as I do, and so we stand in front of the Holbein watercolours and drool over swatches of alizarin crimson, indathrone blue, aureolin, rose carmethine and then some. Just saying the names out loud is delicious. I found a new love today, quinacridone red orange. He opened the tube, took a drop of it on his finger and spread it on the heel of his palm.
"It's the closest colour to blood you'll find."
Well, he was right. It was gorgeous. Made my mouth water. Not for blood, but maybe for a blood orange. I was just saying to a friend the other day what a beautiful colour blood is. Rightfully so...it's the essence of what keeps us alive and ticking. My art store friend also explained the difference between modern and traditional pigments and why you can't find the colour sepia in oil or acrylic paints, only watercolour. I won't bore you...but it was fascinating to me. The folks at the art store are geeks about colour and texture just like some folks are geeks about math. I guess I'm one, too. Fine by me.
But what this brings me to is that I've decided I want to learn how to draw. I've done it my whole life, but I'm really not very good at it. I especially want to know how to draw the human face, and eventually how to paint it. Sure, I've tried, but my efforts always feel flat or have that deer in the headlights look. So how happy was I when I saw this on my friend Misty's online journal? Pretty damn happy. Class starts in just over a week and I'll have plenty of time during my long nights at work to give it the old college try. Maybe I'll even share some of my efforts here. It's an online class that utilizes blog technology and streaming video, and I tell you it's a great way to learn. You can really take your time, stop, rewind and attempt the lessons as many times as you need to (a bonus for, a-hem, slower folks like me). Misty is a sought after teacher and travels the world to share her talents, but it's never been convenient for me to attend one of her workshops...this way I can do it in my jammies if I need to!
There are some other online classes that you might want to know about. My friend Rick Ohler has a fantastic array of online options for those of you out-of-towners who can't attend his Tuesday and Thursday classes here in East Aurora.
An Online Visit With Your Grammar is his newest addition. Here is the course description:
Learn to correct the most common mistakes in English; and have some fun at the same time. Why lay around this winter whilst Lake Affect snows ravish your drive way why not put that time to good, use. In "An Online Visit With Your Grammar", you'll receive each Wednesday, an email with a Word attachment from moi. The attachment will contain a story which is full of mistakes, there will be errors in Punctation, Grammar, Spelling and Useage. You'll make corrections during the week. Everyone can work at their own pace. On the following Wednesday I send along the corrected version with explanations. Its good fun and cheap $twenty-two dollars. By the way there are no less than 20 errors in this course description. Maybe there's more.
Another class that he offers is Online Creative Writing:
In this course writers will write from the comfort of their own homes, in their PJs if they like. They can work on weekly assignments provided by instructor Rick Ohler, OR, they can continue their own writing projects already under way. Using email and telephone, writer and instructor will set an eight-week goal and have weekly communication. Beginning and experienced writers of family histories, memoirs, fiction, essays and non-fiction are welcome.
For more information on either of these classes just email Rick. He'll be more than happy to let you know how to get started.
I also have an online course starting this winter. Here is the course description from the East Aurora Continuing Education Web site:
Whether you're already filling notebooks with poetry or just have a longing to try, this 8-week workshop with Kateri Ewing will offer guidance and gentle criticism on how to craft your words into poems. We will meet in a virtual classroom filled with inspiration and instruction on the basics of craft. There will be introductions to schools of poetry, to poets both well-know and obscure, as well as a place to exchange ideas and post your own work for group discussion. During our final week we will meet face-to-face for a group reading and celebration at the Roycroft Inn. Students will leave with a greater understanding of poetry and some of the subtleties of craft, all from the comfort of their own home and with the convenience of their own schedule. Kateri will check the Web site daily for discussion, and provide weekly lessons and assignments. Please email Kateri for more information.
Of course if you are participating from far away and can't join us for the final celebration, there will be something special at the end for you, too :)
Hope you are enjoying the winter no matter where you're sitting, and that you've made learning something new a priority for this brand spanking new year! And don't hesitate to wish for snow up here in Buffalo. The plow guys need it, the ski resorts need it, and my snowshoes need it, too :)