Making a start

One of the steps that I've been given in creating art sketch books is to pick a theme, and spend some time developing that theme.  The examples given in the course show some wonderful results.  I can see this as a possible strategy for me, as I've worked with several themes over the years, but haven't really worked through one for any length of time.  I think of my labyrinth pieces, and the number of times that fish have appeared in my work.  Leaves, in general, and more specifically the American Elm in our yard come to mind.  The overall theme that we were given when starting this workshop was "My Place", concentrating first on our home and more specifically the kitchen, then enlarging the sphere to the garden and then the local area.  What if I further enlarged the theme to include my city, and even my province?

So today I visited a friend, who is a talented art photographer, and mentioned my tentative plan to her.  She urged caution.  Evidently, Manitoba scenery tends to be poorly received, unless presented with a much more specialized focus, such as snow falls, (her specialty. weather extremes, or even specific wildlife. We discussed the reasons and considered the very bareness of our landscape, with a general lack of focus, other than horizon lines and sky.

I took a couple of pictures from her deck, that show this.

The only way these could be of use would be if it was feasible to home in on very small areas of each picture.  The small fenced area in the first picture is actually part of a sheep pasture containing 19 lambs and their parents.  Lambs can make a decent picture, but not necessarily for a sketchbook.  In the second picture there is a small area just about central, that contains some gorgeous bright red poppies.  Again a small contained picture, with no relationship to the larger landscape.

I did get a couple of picture of the Seine River, from a bridge, that might have possibilities for a finished piece, but probably won't contribute much to a sketch book.

So, I think I'll have to keep looking for my theme.