Lily S. May–Life with Art
This past summer, I was looking through some of my old sketchbooks and realized I wanted to begin sketching again. Here's a few drawings I did in September of household plants and objects. Also, I've been fortunate to take a few vacations outside the city this past spring and summer. These are 3 photos on… Continue reading Sketches & Travels
Autumn colours are magnificent in Toronto this year. We've been walking in the Brickworks Park and surrounding ravines for the past few weeks as the leaves turn. And we haven't been alone--there are many people (and their dogs) out walking and enjoying the vibrant colours. Here's a linocut I made many years ago about my… Continue reading Autumn!
Last week we went east out of town along Lake Ontario. We spent time in a small village and in three different Provincial Parks, walking along the beaches and a marsh boardwalk, watching gulls, terns, tiny fast walking birds, swans and egrets. It was a time both of quiet and of listening to the waves… Continue reading Dramatic Sky Over Lake Ontario
Last week we rented a cottage in Meaford, a small town to the northwest of Toronto. It was a peaceful break from the noise and busyness of the city. We took two beautiful hikes on Trout Hollow Trail which felt wonderful since we haven't been on wooded trails since the beginning of the pandemic. Here's… Continue reading Vacation
I was out of town recently, on vacation east of Toronto. While I am accustomed to urban settings, having nearly always lived in a city, I was happy to go to quieter places away from the roar of traffic and closer to nature. My husband and I stayed in a small town and made day… Continue reading Black, White and Grey
In 2013 I wrote a poem that I've made a few changes to this year. Among the additions, I've changed the reference to passing years to bring it up to date. The setting for the poem that I see in my mind's eye is a place my husband and I visited in Cypress Hills Park… Continue reading The Day of the Angel
Here is a poem I wrote in 2013 after a massive ice storm in Toronto. And a photo from the winter of 2017 at the Brickworks. Storm of ice A storm of icehas descended on uslasting over partsof three dayscoating branches and wiresbringing down the electricityacross the city.While the soft grey light remainsI sit writingthinking… Continue reading Storm of Ice
Here's a poem I wrote in 2013 and 14 that I've been thinking of. The word skinny doesn't refer to bodily thinness. Instead, I used it as a metaphor to express feelings and memories. Grasslands, Saskatchewan, 2009 Skinny Skinnygliding in the antelope's shadowstarved for lovefor the blossoms beside the lichen patterned stone. As skinny as… Continue reading Skinny
On November 20, I went to the Brickworks, a park in Toronto, for a walk in the afternoon. It had been a cloudy week but that Friday the sun was shining and the temperature was abnormally warm—18 degrees Celsius. At the Brickworks, I took out my phone to photograph a scene that I found beautiful.… Continue reading On a Walk in November
I've been working on an appliqué that has had twists and turns I could have avoided--sewing, unsewing, repairing it finally. Had I followed what I knew I should do to correct technical problems, I would have arrived at the place I am now much faster. The work I didn't want to face has not been… Continue reading Getting Through the Night
Arts of May 