The Challenge for December is Time / Le défi de décembre est temps   

By Milo Smith I love black and white images.  It’s nostalgic. Before colour processing, this was how it was done. Also, with some images the colour can be distracting, and the black and white image is simplified.

 Here are seven black and white images. This first one is an attempt to “copy” Edward Weston’s Pepper #30.

The second is inspired by Andre Kertesz.

Three is an exercise in photographing shadows.

Four is an exercise in photographing the very small, the salt crystal is about 8 mm on an edge.

Five and six are close ups of a wire sculpture art piece: one “natural”, one as a negative.

Finally, sevenis a shot of Millpond that, to me, looked better without the colour.

By Hélène Ceré Sometimes revisiting the basics helps. Here are three monochromatic acrylic paintings that I did several years back in an effort to help me move out of a colour puzzling time. These paintings were inspired from photographs I took during a trip through New- Brunswick: Shippagan’s fishing boats, low tide at Hopewell Rocks and a look at the past at Mary’s Point.

By Jerry Boroff I was born in Montreal in nineteen forty-seven and accomplished my academic pursuits there. Summer and winter school holidays were spent with my zeide in the small village of Hemmingford, Quebec. He was a tailor and I accompanied him to his mostly farm-folk customers on both sides of the Canada\United States border. That’s where my love of the countryside took root.

I worked in the Montreal construction trade beginning in the mid sixties. My specialty was residential plumbing and hydronic heating repairs and installations. I was passionate about my profession. I’m also passionate about writing poetry and prose, listening to all kinds of wonderful music and reading historical non-fiction and anything to do with animals.

I am a loner by nature partly because I am a black and white person, in that my views are often extreme. Whereas some people may hedge their efforts to attain a goal, in my way of thinking, they either succeed or they do not. Black and white personalities deal in absolutes where there is no wiggle room and no grey area.

In the last decade I have self-published two books. The first was a collection of poetry and song lyrics and the most recent was a memoir. I did both as a legacy to my children, grandchildren and their future generations should anyone want to know more about me after I am long-gone. I thought it was a step up from looking through old photo albums where one sees pictures of ancestors but knows little about their lives.

Dwelling in Dalkeith in the later stages of my life affords me my lifelong dream of living in the countryside while escaping the hustle and bustle of major city life and finding the tranquility of open spaces. My life here is great and I am in a state of ecstasy.

By Laura Nussbaumer Peck

Black & White
Noir et blanc

J'ai sept ans.
La télé noir et blanc
Arrive chez mes parents.

J'ai trente ans.
Mon costume noir et blanc
M'impose, élégant.

J'ai soixante cinq ans.
A la ferme: jean et Tshirt noir 
A la maison: les draps blancs
toujours accueillants. 

This is the pic taken during the Write Thing this month as I read this piece.

By Susan Irving

A commissioned portrait I did of a little boy. Graphite pencil on paper. 

A pencil sketch of one of my handbags, just because I like to sketch.

Portrait of Frank Zappa, acrylic on a rock. A rock star for my rock garden.

A black and white photo of one of my garden Buddhas.

And a b &w photo of my barn. I think photos in black and white are especially moody at this time of year.

By Susan Latreille This was kind of a double challenge to me (maybe that’s why I tried my hand at two paintings).

From all that I’ve learned thus far in my watercolour adventure, using black paint is technically a no-no!

And, of course, the white in watercolour painting is supposed to be the paper or canvas.

So I attempted to create two quite different B&W watercolour paintings without using black or white paint.

These are my results, the only black used is a black watercolour pencil for definition.

Note: The only coloured pencil I used was black.

The mauve tint was my (I guess) mediocre attempt at mixing various shades of grey. I was using my colour wheel for guidance, but I think the hues of red and blues that I used ended up more mauvey than grey 🥴

The landscape was my 2nd painting, and I think I had better success with my greys in that one.

By Jessica MacLeod I rarely paint with just black and white.  I also rarely take time to do a still-life, even if it’s small and quick.  But I realize I should try this more often.  This piece was made with a super-thick titanium white and a more fluid ivory black on canvas paper.  Thanks to Yvonne (again) for supplying inspiration and opportunity in her Encore class.

By Bobi Leutschaft Poitras I enjoy painting in greyscale. Although not all of these are entirely black and white, black and white is the main colour scheme or idea.  

By Paulette Poirier More and more I’m enjoying pen and ink on paper. The flowers are from my garden.

The cottage is from a photo of the building that was on our lot in Lancaster before we built are present home.

By Louise Martin This piece is Digital Art. It is titled Between the words and the trees.