Oh my! What a month it’s been.
My first impression of August was that it had been a quiet month.
I had cancelled many activities to stay at home and recharge. My little basement ‘studio’ turned a year old and I’ve spent endless hours in there this month reorganizing, cleaning, switching out the carpet I decided was too dark for the space … and of course creating.
My inspiration came from a trip to the McMichael Art Gallery which features Canadian art. Because of that visit I started putting paint on canvas for the first time since March.
So while it feels like I spent a lot of time at home inside my own head, my photo library tells a different story. I had a month full of activities with more memories than I could possibly share!
It’s not surprising that so many of those memories involved water … a quintessential feature of a Canadian summer.
Just for clarification – there is no motor on a Voyageur canoe. We were team paddling … and of course we were amazing!
That’s me – 2nd on the right.
Photo taken by our guide, Noah.
On land, there were flights of fantasy.
The summer wouldn’t be complete without attending the send-off of the annual Friends For Life Bike Rally.
If you’re looking for a grand celebration of life, friendship, and solidarity of purpose, this is an event to support ❤️
The oppressive humidity is gone and the air conditioning in the house has been off for many days now. Already the mornings are quite cool.
Summer is rapidly coming to an end and for me, this month seems to reinforce the saying – life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans.
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Changing Seasons is a monthly photo feature hosted by Su Leslie at Zimmerbitch. In Su’s corner of the world in New Zealand, they are anticipating spring. I hope you’ll take a look.
My Life Lived Full 
How wonderful to have a seniors’ outdoor club! I would happily join it if we had one here. I belonged to the university outdoor club when I was an undergraduate at university, and also to my high school outdoor club.
Jude
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I’m starting to appreciate that this may be a rare group of people 🙂
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Ahhh, so this the group who may want to raft the Grand Canyon! They look like a fun group who may just be up for it! Lovely painting BTW. Seriously. Im sad summer is mostly gone, but the fall truly is my favorite season! Have a wonderful weekend!!
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Love your painting Joanne, I can think of several places in my house that that would make a wonderful feature. I hope you have it somewhere where everyone can enjoy it. Life does happen while making other plans. I will remember this and try even more to live in the moment x thanks for the reminder.
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Thanks Annie. I’m surprised how many people liked the painting because it wasn’t my favourite. I chose it for the post simply because it was the most colourful of the 5 I completed. I guess it’s the combination of colours that resonated with people.
… and yes, I do have it hanging up in my little studio area. My collection is growing 🙂
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I haven’t heard of acrylic pouring, but it looks gorgeous! I may have to try my hand at that. We’ve done some canoeing and are hoping to do some more throughout the fall. Your waterways are beautiful! It looks like a full month. We still are having some days of high heat, but there are also some gorgeous ones with a nice, cool breeze. 🙂
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Mostly our September has been on the cool side. It’s like on September 1st someone turned down the thermostat 😏
I’m not complaining though. I love this time of year!
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Beautiful
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Thanks 🙂
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Wow, Joanne, you were really busy having fun in August! Sorry I missed this post, I must have been preoccupied elsewhere…or I’m an inattentive blogging buddy. I know my August was super busy too, and September is turning out to be the same. We have to enjoy the waning days of summer while we can, whether it’s in a kayak or on a bike.
Love the rhino butt! Lol!
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September is turning out to be relatively quiet for me – out of choice. I seem to have lost a bit of my giddy-up go.
However, your September is ramping up with your pending bike trip. Jealous!! 🙂
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Love the acrylic pouring painting! It has such a dramatic and magnetically appealing feel to it. I have tried to paint abstractly before but not with much luck. It’s harder than it looks! Pouring might be the inspiration to get started…
It’s great when a visit to a museum or seeing another artist’s work inspires us to get cracking and to create. I have been reading Elizabeth Gilberts book “Big Magic” just because it landed in my hands. An easy read but has some good pointers about being creative and making the effort to do so daily.
The kayaking looks SO much fun. Hoping to do that this weekend here in the rivers of Hoi An with a group that go kayaking in different sections of the river each Saturday with the goal of cleaning up the rivers! Thanks for the kayaking inspiration…
Love all the photos.
Peta
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Coming from an artist like you, I’m a bit relieved when you say you too found abstract art really challenging!! Since trying my hand at it, I’ve been humbled by its complexity.
… and I too have the book “Big Magic” but I haven’t started it yet. There are a couple of other books I’m trying to finish first and I’ve been a bit stalled over the summer.
Good luck with the kayaking. It sounds like a great adventure!!
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I love your waterbound photos, especially while I’m at work! I feel like they really lighten my mood. Almost as good as being out there 🙂
I’m glad you got your rest and paint time in.
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Thanks Joey. This has been a wonderful summer. If I’m lucky, I’ll get another few occasions to put my boat in the water before it becomes too cold.
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😀
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Wow, Joanne, great month full of watery adventures. Dan and I have talked about taking our boat up the Trent-Servern, hear it is a great trip.
That senior adventures group looks fabulous; haven’t heard of anything quite like that around us here in NH but what an asset!
And…loved the poured painting…and the tubing with WBA.
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If you ever do decide to tackle the Trent-Severn some day, let me know. There are many portions relatively near to me and I’m sure we could figure out a way to meet 🙂
I hope you’ve had a great summer!
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Love the colours in your acrylic art. The McMichael is one of my favourites too.
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I’m embarrassed to say that I hadn’t been to the McMichael in almost 40 years and my sister had never been there. The Maud Lewis exhibit is what finally drew me there.
The grounds were as big an attraction as the museum itself. I did not know several members of the Group of Seven were actually buried there!!
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Wow I totally love your painting.
I was thinking about your art the other day, wondering if you put indoor stuff like that on hold during the summer.
Yay for clean water and the ability to get out and enjoy it. Hope autumn is long and kind to you.
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What little art work I’ve done this summer has been in my workbook rather than on canvas. In particular I was trying to learn how to paint clouds. The many youtube videos make it look so easy but I appear to be cloud-impaired 😕
The day I manage a good looking cloud I’m sure you’ll hear the whoop of delight all the way to your place!
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I would never have thought to look on YouTube, but I’ve just watched one very jaunty cloud-painting tutorial. He did make it look easy; I’m always suspicious of that! 😀
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Be suspicious! My clouds were dismal disappointments … and I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS!!
Who wants to paint stupid clouds anyway? 😜
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😂😂 next time, glue on some cotton wool and say it’s mixed media.
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Ha!! Leave it to you to come up with a creative solution! 😆
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By creative we mean “quick and painless” right?
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😆
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[…] Joanne at My Life Lived Full […]
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Your experimentation with acrylic luring turned out beautifully! Love the color choices you made.
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Thanks. I thought perhaps I had gone a little overboard with the colours. It made me think of the psychedelic 70s 😏
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Haha nope, not overboard! I really like it!
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Wow, all that in a month? That acrylic painting is amazing as well as your photo journal of all your activities and art work. Hope you can top that in September!
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ha! September is looking a lot quieter than August, so there’s no risk of that. Although perhaps there will be a lot more productivity on the art front 🙂
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Oh, your painting is aMAZing! I love that curvy bridge, too. And I’ll have a draft cream ale, please. Not a fan of ale, but I like cream anything.
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I’m not a big fan of beer but on a hot day in the summer, there is nothing quite like it 🙂
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What a fabulous month! Your seniors’ group looks like so much fun. There is a Boomer women’s Meet-up that I’ve been meaning to check out… you’ve inspired me to do that soon! I love your acrylic pour… it looks like a fun medium, and your result is beautiful!
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Thanks Janis.
My sister and I have had conversations about our “fear of failure” and shedding that limitation to simply play with colour without any care or concern about the end result is rather liberating 🙂
I was lucky to find this seniors’ group. They were only the 2nd one I tried and the fit works. I’m still rather intimidated by their energy (and I’m one of the young ones!!) but they are such a supportive bunch.
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I LOVE your first photo of the acrylic, Joanne! I am sure it looks even more interesting and beautiful in person. I am nodding my head, yes, on “Canadian” and “water” especially in the Summer. Fun photo of the group in the Voyageur canoe. Craft beer seems to be a Summer theme this year. No complaints:) A fun post and I really enjoyed the photos!
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Thanks Erica 🙂
I always feel a sense of sadness when the first of September rolls around. Today is rather grey and overcast so it seems fitting. It’s a signal that things are going to change now, but it’s been a GREAT summer. I’ve put down some wonderful memories to take me into the winter ahead!
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I love how you jumped in to lay with the acrylic paint! Very inspiring. I look at various art things and always think “I’d be no good at that”…. I need to just jump in and play
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Pat, you’ve hit on a point that my sister and I have discussed in many conversations.
Like many women of our generation we have this ‘fear of failure’ so we don’t try something because we think we won’t be good at it.
Of course we won’t be ‘good’ at it. It’s new. We’ve never done it before.
I’m not aspiring to be ‘good’ at painting. I only hope to use it as another form of expression.
I use my art workbook as a playground. It doesn’t create the ‘pressure’ that an empty canvas does. I think of it as my creative diary 🙂
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You were busy. Glad to hear you are back putting paint to canvas. My camera is also filled with so much I am way behind in my writing. Fall and the colder months a head will allow me to catch up. Cheers Joanne
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Hopefully we still have many more weeks of gathering memories before we have to hunker inside 🙂
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I hope so.
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Fabulous month – both creative and active. I may be a little scarred by the rhino’s backside though!
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hahahaha!! Isn’t it a good thing we never see our own backsides? There are some things I just don’t want to know!
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Indeed!
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That painting/pouring reminds me of an art project to “marble” paper by spraying paint (several different colors) onto the surface of water and swirling it around before laying paper down to pick up the paint.
Will you frame it?
Your month looks watery!
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Watery indeed!! It makes me happy 🙂
I’m new to this whole art thing and I feel like a kid again. Right now I have 2 of these acrylic pouring canvases on the wall by my desk … but I don’t know for how long.
I’ve been reluctant to do a lot of canvas work because then there’s the issue of what to do with them after. So I mostly paint or collage in a workbook.
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Joanne, if you feel like you’ve been at home too much, I can’t imagine the opposite. LOL. You’re one of the most adventurous bloggers I know.
I’ve seen some acrylic pouring videos. Yours turned out great. Ha, and the rhino looks almost as good from the back as the front. What amazing creations! Hugs on the wing!
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I wonder if it’s possible to do a bad acrylic pouring? Perhaps I should try … say, using non-complementary colours 😉
Thanks for the kind comment, Teagan. I had a similar thought … if I thought this was a rather quiet and relaxed month then maybe this suggests that I got the mix right between active and introspective 🙂
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It’s all so beautiful.
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It’s just been that kind of summer 🙂
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It looks like it was fun, relaxing and creative month. I love the picture as you’re about to cruise under that gently curved bridge. I’m a little jealous of your time on the water. I wish it was easier to access the water around us.
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I’m lucky to have access to so much clear clean water surrounded by beautiful countryside. The challenge is living in a very large city. It’s not always easy to get around 😏
I do love bridges and going under them is the best view of all! The water levels have come down since April and this time we didn’t need to duck down into our boats to get underneath them.
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LOVE that acrylic pour. Have always wanted to try. Please teach me how!!!! Your August looked wonderful. Was glad to share a wee bit with you!
Deb
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It’s a process that requires some pouring medium and silicone oil … of which I now have a LOT. We’ll add it to the list of things we need to do together!
Hope you have a great long weekend ahead! I’m rather sad that we’re already knocking on September’s door.
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I applaud your efforts to wring every last drop of fun out of a month. Love your August adventures. I’ve never heard of acrylic pouring so I hope you show us in another post when it’s too cool for the water. 🙂
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Thanks Judy. I’m a little shy about my artwork. I can’t imagine it might be interesting to anyone other than me so I appreciate the interest. Through all this experimentation I’m getting a better idea of what I like to do though.
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Over here, winter is coming to an end. Now to enjoy some warm days before the hot, summer heat creeps in on us! I hope all is well, wherever you are.
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I guess you don’t exactly look forward to the blistering heat of summer in the same way we don’t look forward to the frigid Arctic cold.
… but the shoulder seasons are absolutely grand 🙂
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Yes exactly haha! Autumn and spring are great seasons!
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Acrylic pouring – I’ve never even heard of that before! Absolutely beautiful!
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I hadn’t either until I was browsing a fall/winter course catalogue for a creative centre nearby.
My curiosity led me to youtube videos and a day of experimenting on my own. Guess I won’t be needing the course after all 🙂
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Oh my goodness. That painting is wonderful. I love the colors. I have to try it now. Amazing, Joanne. 🙂
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This was an experiment for me. I had never heard of acrylic pouring and simply had to give it a try. It was a great way to fill time on a day I didn’t want to do anything except play 🙂
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A successful experiment. It’s amazing. I looked up what I need to buy to try it, and when life settles down a touch, I’m going to play too!
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If we were closer I’d play with you 🙂
Hope things settle down for you soon. Playing with paint is very therapeutic 🙂
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I watched a bunch of videos on it. So fun. Maybe in October!
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🙂
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Very inspirational. Keep it up.
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Thank you. I will definitely be trying 🙂
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Your acrylic painting is absolutely stunning, Joanne. Congratulations on this, and on a very full summer!
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I had never heard of acrylic pouring and when I saw it in a Fall course catalog I became curious. Youtube was my mentor 🙂
This is not something I will spend a lot of time and energy on. While it’s fun to see how it evolves and dries, my control issues say I need more influence in the end result 😉
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Love your acrylic pouring Joanne – it’s beautiful! 🙂
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Thank you. This was pure play 🙂
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Your senior”s club looks like a lot of fun!
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They are a great bunch of people. I’m considered one of the young seniors but they can run circles around me 🙂
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Looks like you had a fun-filled and well-rounded August! I was also on Toronto Islands and had a similar shot of the bridge without the paddlers. I like the vibrant colours in your painting. Keep creating.
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Thanks Natalie. It’s funny how inspiration works. For the past several months mine has been dormant and suddenly I have so many creative thoughts I want to explore.
I’ve again been reminded of how lucky we are to have this treasure just offshore of downtown Toronto.
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Looks like August was wonderful Joanne. I like your art very much and good to see you inspired to get back at it. Looks like lots of fun on the water too. I especially would like a ride with Widow BadAss on that big red raft. 🙂
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Rafting a lazy river is an exercise in relaxing and literally ‘going with the flow’. It was basically a 3 hour meditation (with giggles 😁)
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That sounds marvellous!
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What a fun-filled August you’ve had. That’s a beautiful acrylic you’ve painted too. The boat excursion looks like it was fun, though I’d probably have been nervous on it — unless it’s a big boat or ship, I’m kind of a weenie out on those small vessels! – Marty
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Then I think you definitely would not have liked this boat! It’s basically just an oversized canoe and the harbour gets quite rough. For this group though, it just added to the adventure 🙂
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I didn’t know you paint? And you’re good at it, too! Wasn’t it a glorious summer ? Except for that freaky rain storm Toronto got earlier, it seemed to me southern Ontario had a darn near perfect couple of months. I read a sign a few weeks back that said “August is the Sunday of summer.” I think that fits.
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I fall squarely into the beginner category when it comes to any kind of art form. Nor do I have any delusions of having some great latent talent waiting to be tapped.
What I have discovered though is that painting is very calming and helps release in me something I didn’t know I had 🙂
I love that expression “August is the Sunday of summer.” It is quite fitting because we know that after Labour Day, life seems to take on a more serious ‘business’ tone.
I hope you’ve had a great summer too. It’s been a lovely one and I hope we have many more weeks of this ahead.
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I found myself in a rubber raft this August, too – supposedly built for three, but it could *just* hold the two of us. I seriously need to get my weight under control.
The painting is something new to me – hope we see more!
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That makes two of us, Maggie … but it’s soooo hard to do. The weight loss thing completely eludes me 😕
Painting is new to me however the more I get into it, the more I like it. I don’t profess to have any latent talent, but it’s liberating to just play and experiment.
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Great memories. Some if my best summer memories were made on the Toronto islands… Keep creating too!
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It is such a wonderful treasure we have in the Toronto Islands. Every time I go I wonder why I’m not there more often 🙂
I hope your summer has been a lovely one too!
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You are amazing! What a painting! Looks like August has been a very good month indeed, but why do the summer months go by so quickly?
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August has been a great month out of a wonderful summer. Summer this year got off to such a slow cold and wet start so, yes, it does seem to have flown by faster than normal.
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It is always good to look back and then realize that you did more than you thought. Nice summary of a great month. (Suzanne)
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That’s why I like this monthly photo feature. It gives me a vehicle to do this look back and reflect on any theme of the month.
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Wonderful recap of the month! Interesting what we find when we go through the pictures we take, huh?
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Sometimes I actually forget I did something until I see the photos. I take so many photos over the course of a month and the vast majority of them get ‘lost’ into the next new adventure.
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So much you have accomplished and had fun. Beautiful painting!
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Thank you 🙂
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I love that rhino, front and back. Sometimes it’s hard work being lazy, and you just have to give up. Glad you found some fun things to do.
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You know me … I’m always looking for something new and preferably fun to do 😉
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Looks and sounds like a grand summer. I had no idea you painted. Good for you!
janet
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Janet, I’m very new to “art side” of my life. It’s been a year since I setup a work space for myself and began the slow process of gathering an inventory of art supplies. It seems that part is never finished 😉
I’ve taken some lessons, watched many youtube videos, and generally just play around with whatever inspires me. I’m learning how to ‘play’ and it feels good 🙂
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Good for you!
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Your photos of water and other unique scenes show me a beautiful world. You seem to know how to balance being out & about with knocking around inside your own head. Clever girl.
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It is quite the balancing act trying to find a reasonable mix of fun and rest. If August is any indication, I think I’m starting to get the hang of it 🙂
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That is a gorgeous painting – so vibrant and lively. I hope you do more 🙂
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Thank you – that’s much appreciated 🙂
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Funny how much you achieved without realising it.. You certainly managed to pack in a lot of action. Those are indeed great times…
Lieve
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Seriously, this month felt like I spent a lot of time at home. I was surprised to discover exactly how much I had actually crammed into it. It’s been a great summer and hopefully the weather will hold for many more weeks.
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The evening images on the water look beautiful! You’ve had a lovely summer. I hate to see it go as well.
I hope you get a couple of more paddles in before it’s time to hang up your kayak for the season.
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I hope so too, Deborah. My first season with a kayak has certainly been memorable for all the right reasons!! It reminds me of how lucky I am to be close to so much water 🙂
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I love that you are amazing–yes, you are! And thanks for the back end of that rhino. So darn cute! Does this metal make my butt look big? 😀
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I knew someone was going to enjoy the butt-end of a rhino 😆
According to our guide, not all groups can handle synchronized paddling with great efficiency. He kept saying how surprised he was … young guy, maybe mid-20s … what can I say? 😉
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