A ( Tuesday) Wednesday List; 10 week roundup.

Doll.

Yes I know it’s Tuesday, but it’s ten weeks since I started my Wednesday list of ten things I like. So here is one thing I really like from each list. If you had to list ten things you like what would you say?

1. DanielSmith.com. Daniel Smith Artist Supplies is located in Seattle, Washington, and has been a reliable source of art supplies for many years. They make their own great line of artist supplies that are always of the highest quality. They ship fast. Ask for a catalogue and if you ever order from them, it is amazing.

2.  Rembrandt’s self portrait Artist in his studio 1628. I love Rembrandt’s later self portraits, but I’ve always loved this little painting. Here a young Rembrandt presents himself in a heroic pose. Yet the shabby setting and ridiculous costume really show a young artist dreaming of future riches.

3. Arches watercolour paper. Many people who begin painting with watercolours often complain about how difficult and unforgiving the medium can be. What I find is many beginners try to save money by buying cheap materials. The advice I give anyone who wishes to start painting with watercolour is to use good-quality materials, especially to start with artist-quality paper. Most cheap watercolour paper will not forgive reworking or wet washes, and the surface will start to come apart, and the colour will most likely just sit on the surface and you won’t be able to layer delicate washes before the colours start getting muddy.

4. Cinnamon Sugar Crinkles. My wife made these cookies on the weekend, and they are fantastic. The recipe is from the most recent issue of Canadian Living. Jane adapted the recipe, and made them gluten free. The kids didn’t like them because there are no chocolate chips in them so We had to eat them all. I like that the kids didn’t like them!

5. Twilight Ladybug. This is a great toy. It is a ladybug that serves as a night light, and the neat thing is that the light projects the moon and stars around the room. The colours of the light – red, blue,  and green – can be changed by pressing a button. It shuts off automatically after an hour. My daughter loves it and finds it very relaxing.

6. Book stores. One of my favorite things is to wander around a bookstore looking for something interesting to read.  Charlottetown is lucky to have several interesting book stores, and oddly three of them are on the same block.

The Bookmark is my favourite seller of new books. They have a great selection, and the staff are friendly and knowledgeable.

The Bookman is a great store to find used books. They have a large inventory, and you can always find some interesting treasure, and they have an incredible selection of art books.

The Book Emporium. A small store stuffed with lots of great books. I often find great paperbacks and children’s books here, and they also have a good selection of art books.

7. Bick’s Kosher Style Baby Dill Pickles. I love pickles and these are my favorites. They are sure to make a snap when you bite them, and they are great with everything. Except coffee. I once ate a pickle while drinking coffee and it wasn’t good.

8.  Sheds. I love having a shed. We have a sad, falling-down shed, but without it we would have nowhere to put our extensive collection of junk. One day I will build a new shed, an uber shed, a shed that will be a work space and studio, a shed men dream of and tell tall tales about, and I will probably stuff it full of junk.

9.Waking up in the morning. There are two things I really like about waking up in the morning. The first is that it means I’ve actually managed to get some sleep, and with two small kids I seem to need more sleep than I actually get. The second is that it means I’m not dead, and I really enjoy not being dead. Not being dead means I get to do all kinds of cool things I really like, such as sleeping.

10.The Beatles. I’ve been listening to this band all my life and will continue to do so. They are simply the best band ever. My favorite Beatles album is The Beatles also know as the White Album. It is possibly one of the most successful train wrecks in recorded music. I love most of the tracks on this double album and truly hate others. My favorite Beatles song is A Day In The Life. If you don’t like The Beatles you don’t like music.

A Wednesday list of ten things I like.

This is not a top ten list, but rather a totally random list of things I like. listed in alphabetical order of course, and complete with links where possible.

1. Barber shops. When I think of barber shops I often remember the barber shops of my youth. My memories of these shops usually include dead animals stuffed and mounted on the wall, and staring at me as I received yet another terrible haircut. Today I look for certain things in a barber shop, and if there are dead things on the wall that’s okay, but I prefer a shop that has some kind of personal collection, say pins or hockey cards. There should be hair on the floor, and some small talk thrown in. I should leave the shop knowing some gossip concerning City Hall or some such organization. My favorite barber shop is Ray’s Place on Kent Street, and I go there every six months for my haircut whether I need it or not.

2. Bick’s Kosher Style Baby Dill Pickles. I love pickles and these are my favorites. They are sure to make a snap when you bite them, and they are great with everything. Except coffee. I once ate a pickle while drinking coffee and it wasn’t good.

3. Matthew Collings is a writer, artist, and broadcaster. I’ve enjoyed reading his books; they are fun, light, and fast reads, and offer at times a scathing commentary on contemporary art. Art Crazy Nation, and Blimey are two of his books that I would recommend if you are looking for a bit of gossipy art news. Each is about the English art scene, and the YBAs get a lot of ink.

4. Fish & Chips. I love to go to a new restaurant and try their fish & chips. It is surprising how often someone can mess up a nice piece of fish, and it is surprising to see what some people try to pass off as a nice piece of fish. For me the best place in Charlottetown to get good fish & chips is Brit’s on University Avenue.

5 Milk. I’m a huge fan of cookies, and what can be better than a nice cold glass of milk with cookies! You can even dunk your cookies in the milk and they will taste even better! Having trouble going to sleep? Warm milk will do the trick every time!

6. Murder mysteries. I enjoy reading crime fiction, and I’ve been reading it ever since I was a kid and first read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe. Some murder mysteries can be little more than fun trash, but some can rise to a high level of literary fiction. Some of my favorite writers are, Ian Rankin, David Hewson, and Martha Grimes. Recently my friend Ann introduce me to the work of Peter Robinson, and I’ve really been enjoying his Inspector Banks series.

7. Trees. I love trees, and I find it strange to drive past a house on a large lot and see no trees. Charlottetown still has some great old trees, and it is great to see new trees being planted. My favorite trees are white birch and red oak. A great place to buy trees native to PEI is the Macphail Woodlot.

8. Cy Twombly sculpture. Twombly is one of my favorite painters. His paintings of the 1960’s are in my opinion some of the finest abstract paintings ever created. Another wonderful, and maybe undervalued, aspect of his work is his sculptural output. They are humble, simple pieces, most often created with simple scrap of wood and nails, and other modest materials, and painted white. Yet they seem to have an air of mystery and beauty that reminds me of objects that could have been found in an ancient Egyptian tomb.

9. Staedltler Permanent Lumocolor pen. It is great to draw with markers but the problem with markers is that they fade so fast. The Permanent Lumocolor pen feels like a marker but is lightfast. It is also great on many surfaces.

10.Yupo synthetic paper. I’ve tried this paper recently, and I was excited how well it worked with watercolours and inks. Yupo is a synthetic alternative to traditional watercolour papers, and is recommended for offset printing, silkscreen, and embossing. It works well with oils, acrylics, and drawings. It is neutral pH with a smooth surface, resists tearing and remains flat and doesn’t buckle.