The challenge for August is Secrets

By Susan Irving The first is called  Flora and Fergus Frog Frolicking in the Flowers.  (Just fooling around and experimenting.) 

The second is a mural I painted for a Swiss Chalet in Ottawa,  back sometime in the 1990’s before they got quite so corporate, and allowed such things. It was mounted at the take-out counter, on a 4 x 8 ft  sheet of plywood, painted in acrylics. The manager at that time was a very personable and entertaining fellow who drove a red Volkswagen. 

The third is something I did for a friend.  It is mixed media on cradled board called The Goldfish’s Ball.

By Yvonne Callaway Whimsy is “an unusual, unexpected, or fanciful idea.” I created these striped Doodads, as an annoyed reaction to an annoying art class. (Creative channeling?) They’ve served me well & pop up in paintings now then.

The works below are whimsical riffs on Arrangement in Grey and Black No. 1 aka Whistler’s Mother & American Gothic by Grant Wood. There is a centuries old tradition of artists copying works by the masters to learn. I managed to learn while inserting a little whimsical commentary.

I also have a fondness for cows & have done several paintings of them over the years. The one below developed from a line in the local paper, conveniently affixed to the work. Happy cows mean more production. I tried to show what would make me happy if I were a bovine. Partay!

I had an interesting photo of an amusement park ride, which I painted years ago. Then it sat in my studio looking dull. For YEARS. Eventually I realized the ride needed interesting passengers & a night sky. Et voila!

By Susan Latreille I took this shot on a gorgeous morning visit to the Oeno Gallery in Bloomfield, Prince Edward County. This piece caught our fancy and elicited quite a few giggles.

It is titled Universal Stopper. To my mind, it certainly fits in the whimsical category.

By Victoria Stevenson I thought why not put in my sleeping lions. It’s called Lion Sleeps Tonight.

By Milo Smith I don’t often take humorous images, or so I thought.  However, I came up with these in searching the first few files in my archives. Maybe they will bring a small smile to your face.

When I Smile, I Smile Like a Cat By Jerry Boroff

I have been around cats all my life and over the years have come to conclude that these creatures not only have complex emotions but a non-verbal language which is often more structured than my own verbal one.

I personally am a loner. It is a comfort zone for me. However, in my everyday existence, I am often faced with interactions with other creatures such as myself – humans, to be exact. Without really being aware of it initially, I participate in the “Mexican Standoff” so common with cats.

I stand or sit opposite a stranger. If I had a tail, it would be twitching. Since I don’t have one, there is most likely an inner twitch occurring somewhere in my psyche. Unlike some people, I cannot independently make small movements on my ears but if I could and sensed danger, they would be folded back and flattened like a cat.

I have witnessed cats staring at each other while being about eighteen inches apart for what seemed like an eternity. To the not-familiar eye, they appear like statues. What are they doing, one might ask?

Well they are doing what humans do, sizing each other up. But if we humans were more humble, we might give credit to cats for teaching us to utilize “gut feelings”; an emotional power that some humans are unaware of.

How do these standoffs sometimes end? With cats, one or both might begin to lick their paws before touching noses or parting. And with you and me, I might offer you a mint or accept one of yours.

By Lynne Ayers I’ve never done many still lifes and this one turned into a bit of whimsy.  It is mixed media – acrylic and collage on canvas.

By Annie Dumontier This is my first collectif challenge and very happy to be on vacation and have time to participate.  When you look up whimsical in the dictionary it says: Unusual and strange in a fun way. I think it describes me and my art very well!

By Robin Patterson For the bird sculpture… papier maché is one of my favourite mediums. I started building a collection of “round” animals using balloons, of course, as the base. 

Very far from my usual way of painting, this cat was a tutorial for a group of students that wanted to paint a whimsical, non-realistic cat. I often let the group decide the artistic direction of the class and this was the result.

By Claudette Vaillancourt Found some whimsical photos …enjoy !

/

The talking snowbank