Archive for December 2017
for covered bridge enthusiasts
I am looking forward to the New Year 2018 and to the first of my 2018 book readings!
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On January 6, 2018 I will be at the Sussex Public Library to read from my book ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ and sign copies. I will be joined by a well-known covered bridge enthusiast Ray Boucher. Ray is the author of ‘A Photo Tour of the Covered Bridges of New Brunswick’ (Kissing Bridge Publications, 2014) and his 2018 calendar featuring photos of some of New Brunswick’s covered bridges. Books and calendars will all be for sale.
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We will be telling about our various visits to some of the province’s covered bridges and I will read poems from my book, focussing on covered bridges in the Sussex area.
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Those who come to the reading (no purchase needed) will be able to enter a draw to win one of my paintings. ‘black, blackberries’ is 12″ by 9″, acrylic, gallery edges.
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‘black, blackberries’, Jane Tims, Oct.1, 2017, acrylic, gallery edges, 12″ by 9″
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Hope you can attend. We will try to warm you with covered bridge stories.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Malone Covered Bridge – new painting
Just before Christmas, my painting of the Ellis Bridge over the North Becaguimec River sold. Since I want to keep a painting in the space, I have been working on a new covered bridge painting. For subject matter, I chose the Malone Covered Bridge near Goshen, the same covered bridge in the painting on the front cover of my book.
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The Malone Bridge is in an isolated area and was one of the favorite bridges we visited in 2015. One of the sketches in my book ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ is of the Malone Bridge and I used this sketch as the basis for my new painting.
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The painting ‘thistles at Malone Bridge’ is 24 inches wide by 20 inches high, done in acrylics, gallery edges.
Malone Bridge, on the isolated Goshen Road near Upper Goshen in Kings County, was built in 1911. The remnants of the Malone homestead, established 1820, are located near the bridge. At this point the Kennebecasis is a narrow, clear stream. The two brooks that seem to come together at the bridge are actually two braids of the same river.
… (from ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’, Chapel Street Editions, 2017).
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‘thistles at Malone Bridge’, 24″ x 20″, acrylic, December 27, 2017, by Jane Tims
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The painting will be at Isaac’s Way Restaurant in Fredericton, New Brunswick until January 28, as part of their 31st Art Auction. Silent-auction-type bids are taken until January 28, 2018, or you can purchase the painting for its full price of $320. The art is viewed by everyone enjoying a meal at the restaurant and 50% of the proceeds from my sale are donated to ART lessons for kids-in-need. If you love covered bridges and would like some original art for your home, drop by and have a look at my work.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
decorating for Christmas #6
In our house, everyone celebrates Christmas, even the mouse who lives under the stair. Here he is, beside his mouse hole, with his well-lit Christmas tree and wreath. He has a big gift to open on Christmas day! Heads up, the lines on the wall at the top of the photo are made by our cat!
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Merry Christmas to you too!
decorating for Christmas #5
I have quite a few nativity scenes. My favorite is my set of figures by ™Avon. I collected them more than 30 years ago and it was this set we used when my son was little. We used it to tell the story of the Nativity, starting with an empty manger, putting the angels with the shepherds to announce Jesus’ birth, moving the wise men ever closer to the stable.
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I actually have three ‘little drummer boys’ for the set; two of these belonged to my mom. I bought one drummer boy each for my mom and my mother-in-law, and gave one to Mom in 1992. Then I forgot I had given her the first, so she got another from me in 1993. I know the years because Mom labelled her belongings with the giver and year. My mother-in-law never did get a drummer boy figure!
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the three drummer boys: one of mine and two of Mom’s 1992 and 1993 (left to right)
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boxes for the drummer boys, carefully labelled by Mom
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One of my favorite parts of the Nativity scene is the white satin cloth with golden stars that make a backdrop to the figurines, reminiscent of the star-studded sky in Bethlehem.
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Merry Christmas from the drummer boys …
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
decorating for Christmas #4
Decorating in our house involves some cleaning and maintenance since I do not keep up with housework through the year. One of the things I do for Christmas is shine our basket of glass floats.
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Glass floats were once used to keep the edges of fishing nets buoyant and you can buy new floats as well as antiques. They are beautiful and come in many festive colours. I consider them a Christmas decoration because of their beauty, because they remind me of stained glass and because my Mom and Dad gave me at least one of the green glass floats in my collection. I used to keep them on top of the piano, but I have copied my niece who keeps hers in a basket by her wood stove. When I visited my niece a few years ago, I drew her collection of floats and wrote a poem about them.
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glass floats
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the fog’s still glow
penetrates glass
and air incorporated
an age ago
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weightless, flamboyant
on salt water
swell
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glass inflation
tethered by hemp
on an ocean
whipped to froth
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
decorating for Christmas #3
Years ago, on a business trip to New Hampshire, I visited an antique store and bought five of the figures to a German papier-mâché Nativity set: two shepherds, two villagers and a wise man. Since then, I have searched eBay to complete the set and last year I succeeded with the purchase of a cow, two sheep and a donkey. Along the way, I acquired several figures from the same Nativity but at different scales. Now I have quite a crowd visiting the manger! And I have two Mary figurines which may be disturbing but I can’t decide which one to keep …
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All my shepherds, villagers, wise men, angels, manger animals, and, of course, the Holy Family, wish you a Merry Christmas!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
decorating for Christmas #2
Early in December, I wasn’t certain I’d have the energy to decorate for Christmas in a big way. I asked my husband, “If you only had one decoration this Christmas (besides the tree), what would it be?” He answered, without any hesitation, “The singing mice.” I have since rallied and put up lots of decorations, but the singing mice were the first to be pulled from their box!
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We bought the singing mice in the 1990s when animatronics hit the stores in a big way. Each mouse is about 9 inches tall. When you press his paw, each mouse sings, in a rather high pitch, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”. As he sings, the mouse’s cheeks glow red and he wiggles his book of carols. If you are able to press three paws at once, the mice sing in cute harmony. Their singing always brings a smile!
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Merry Christmas to you all from our singing mice!
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
decorating for Christmas #1
Mid-December and the countdown to Christmas has begun. I love to decorate for the holiday. At one time, the entire house was decked out … one year I decorated seven Christmas trees!
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As I get older, I keep the decorating to a few well-loved vignettes and I always try to include some natural greenery.
Last week we went to our cabin and I snipped a bouquet of cedar boughs …
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The crock is one of my collection of crocks, this one special since it was made at MEDALTA Potteries Ltd., not far from where I lived in Medicine Hat in Alberta.
Hope your seasonal decorating is going well!
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Best regards,
Jane
painting of a covered bridge
When I was preparing the basics of my new book, ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’, I did a couple of paintings as a possible cover image.
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One of the paintings I prepared was ‘choke cherries at Ellis Bridge’ (24″ wide by 20″ high, acrylic, gallery edges, painted June 2016) a study of late summer at the covered bridge over the North Becaguimec River in Carleton County. Since another painting was chosen as the cover art for my book, ‘choke cherries at Ellis Bridge’ is my new submission to Isaacs’s Way Restaurant for their art auction. My painting ‘Farmyard in Winter’ sold before the Autumn Art Auction #31 was over and most artists submit a painting to fill their ‘space’.
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‘choke cherries at Ellis Bridge’ by Jane Tims (24″ wide by 20″ high, acrylic, gallery edges)
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The Ellis Bridge is a charming covered bridge, situated on a little-used road near Carlisle, Carleton County, New Brunswick. Built in 1909, it is one of 59 covered bridges remaining in New Brunswick and a lovely spot to pass a summer day. Two poems in my book are based on our visit to the Ellis Bridge. One, ‘bunches of bitter’, features some of the initials carved inside the bridge.
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bunches of bitter
Ellis Bridge
North Becaguimec River #4
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beside the Ellis Bridge
choke-cherries hang in mist
and berries blacken
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R.S., E L O
who were they?
Braxton, KAMRYN
S M, G M P
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did they wade the shallow water?
fish for trout?
shout and listen for echo?
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did they strip berries from branches?
pucker lips and cheeks?
does Eric still love Linda?
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I love showing my work at Isaac’s Way. The art is viewed by everyone enjoying a meal at the restaurant and 50% of the proceeds from my sales are donated to ART lessons for kids-in-need. If you love covered bridges and would like some original art for your home, drop by and have a look at my work.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
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