At minus 30 there is not much growing outside today but… I am discovering more about visual literacy. It is fascinating to read and see that over the years I have learned a lot about this by just doing it. I love to collage and placement is more than half the battle. there are some examples of my bookmarks in the paper gallery. I move and rearrange things all the time and I find there are combinations of shapes that contrast and add energy and that just where they are on the page is important. I always thought that was just me being fussy but no, it is part of how we communicate with pictures.

Interestingly, using my camera and photoshop has also taught me more than I realized about composition. For example when I’m cropping I always have the overlay of one of the “third rules” shapes. And you won’t be surprised when I tell you that I do not rely on the rectangular division of space into thirds, I prefer to use the spiral or the triangle.

I did some exercises to see if I could relate what I was reading to something I might draw or make. We all know that line is one element that is crucial to drawing or painting, another is the dot. And I learned this in a fabric painting workshop a long time ago discovering for the first time I could begin to see how one added perspective by using dots. Those of you that draw regularly and cross hatch or shade to create depth will laugh, but it was the single dot massed here and there that taught me how that happens. So I proceeded to play around with dots on a small piece of paper. On the second one I used lines, and realized how line is a big part of tentangle patterns if you’ve seen any books on that art -doodling form.

So here we are almost to the end of the month where nothing grows except our minds. Winter is harsh here, and it has been flexing its muscles this past week, leaving the trees and bushes beautifully coated with hoar frost. I think hoar frost is the only reason anyone should allow winter. It is magical.

It is the perfect time to sit inside ,look out at my trees ,and cozy up with a wonderful book. Given that we are still in the throws of the pandemic, I stocked up on books just before Christmas. (Smile, i just corrected the spelling of stocked… which I had spelled stalked…. and actually that wouldn’t have been so wrong…) I have been missing travelling terribly so I went searching for reviews of travel books and ordered some. The one I’m reading now, “This is Happiness” by Niall Williams, is amazing. It is a novel which I think fell into the “travel book” category simply because of its sense of place. Your are taken there with wonderful language that sings in your ear. You see it, feel it and know the rain ,the smoke, the soft air of Ireland even if you’ve never been there actually. I have been savouring it. Phrasing, rhythm and cadence bring you into the place, the story, the minds of the characters and into your own youth, all at the same time. It is just as magical as hoar frost, and a wee bit warmer.