Alberta, British Columbia Scenery

I think it would be a nice break if I posted more pictures of the scenery in
Alberta and the Kootenay lakes area in BC. There are so many beautiful views and
the autumn here is very pretty - although we don't have the colors you do in the east.


This is the area around Fernie BC the mountains in Southern Alberta and BC are quite
different than the Rockies in the Banff, Jasper area - they are very beautiful though.
This one is in the Crowsnest Pass near the Alberta, B.C. border I believe it is called either Big Chief or Chief - It is absolutely spectacular as it is the only mountain in the immediate area - very beautiful. The Kootenay lakes
are so pretty - this was taken from the ferry as we crossed on our way to Nakusp -

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The photos below are taken just outside of Calgary - we took a trip to check out the fall colors - You can get a good idea of what the foothills and prairie around here look like in the fall. I refer to pictures like the ones on the right all the time for my scenes. The
area around here as ranching country - and some of the ranches are huge - much like
in Texas from what I have heard.




I

LOOKING FOR AUTUMN

Sept. 19/08

Pat (dh) and I took a drive south of Cochrane to check out the autumn leaves as they are all turning yellow and gold. It is just the start but the contrast between the green and gold leaves is so interesting. I also took some pictures of scenes for wall hangings - showing the different hills and valleys of the foothills in that area. It was also a search for interesting buildings to incorporate in my work.

Such a beautiful day. I was also looking for pictures which would show distance - The first one is a good example of how to avoid a flat landscape in the foreground (or midground, for that matter) in a landscape. I have taken so many pictures and have flagged the best ones and deleted quite a few that I know I will never use. I have a fairly new Nikon digital camera and
I love it. I have learned so much about this area and have taken examples of distant hills, the rockies in the distance etc. I would recommend that anyone who is interested in doing
realistic landscapes like mine - that they take lots and lots of pictures and spend some time studying them - I never copy a photo exactly - as I work out of my head - I incorporate
ideas from more than one picture - into my landscapes. However - if you see a scene you really like, you could block it out on paper and copy it. You are welcome to copy any of my
pictures if you see one that appeals to you for a landscape. The picture of the house will be printed on fabric and used for a scene - I will likely change the color of the roof - in fact I took a lot of pictures of barns and houses which will come in handy .

We stopped at Tim Hortons (Canada's most popular donut place) (better than Krispy Creme (grin)) for coffee on the way home - I am fortunate that Pat likes to drive around and explore as much as I do. I feel my work has improved since I got my digital camera - as there is so many
different scenes in this country of ours.

I do dread the winter coming, but we decided today that we would venture out when the snow is here and try to get more winter scenes. So that is something to look forward to.

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I am having fun as I have started a winter wall hanging for a Christmas present. It is awhile since I have done one so I really am enjoying the process. I have some of my hand dyes on hand and the one I am using will really work as a Winter sky. I am so fortunate that I can spend my days doing what I love to do. That is a huge advantage about being retired. The disadvantage is that you have to be getting old to do it- grin.

It is quite warm and we have certainly had some lovely days this past while. However, it sounds as if it is going to turn quite cold in the next few days so it was a good day to wander around.
Once we get a cold spell the leaves will all turn and before we know it they will have all fallen.

oh well - it is rather nice to have 4 definite seasons -

Trip to CHINA

A few years ago my Husband and I spent 10 days in Shanghai, China - what an interesting
experience! We had spent some time in Hong Kong so we were reasonably prepared for Shanghai. We stayed in a beautiful Chinese Hotel 'The Bundt' which was right down town.
The room was great - the bathroom had gold fixtures, marble floors. The room had such comfortable beds and all in all it was a great experience. We had arrived in Shanghai without any hotel reservations as we were flying standby- The only hotel we could get when we arrived at l am was a chinese hotel. It had a beautiful gold dragon (huge) going up the stairs from the lobby to the merchants section.

We were fortunate to take a tour (we thought when we booked it that it would be on a tour bus) but ended up taking a private tour with a driver and guide (nice surprise) - The tour man in the hotel didn't speak english so we pointed and paid - it cost us 90.00 for both of us.

We went to SuZhou - a world heritage Chinese city- There are ancient gardens throughout
the city - All the buildings are white with black tiled roofs. There is a silk factory there and we spent 3 hours there and had a 'chinese' lunch. The silk factory tour showed us how silk was
make from the mulberry leaves with the caterpillars eating, the cocoons and how the
silk was removed from the cocoons. Then is was woven on very old (I have no idea how old- but very old) machines . Then how the silk was manually 'pulled' to about a meter square. We then visited their store. The silks were so soft - we had picked up some silk in Hong Kong and when I bought it I thought it was wonderful - it was nothing in comparison to the Silk at the silk factory. I bought some and have used the white for landscapes - I bought a couple of absolutely gorgeous pieces and still have them.

Our driver took us to about 7 historical gardens and former homes. I loved reading about ancient China, and there I was.

What a contrast between the high rise buildings (l500 of them) in Shanghai with the beautiful pyrotechnics (if you saw the olympic opening and closing ceremonies - you will understand what I mean) The highway to SuZhou was an 8 lane beautiful highway, with coolies sweeping the center boulevard with brooms. Such a
contrast.
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