Post Topics

Illness and disease is upon me and in me. This diagnosis is better than I had imagined.

Am I Well? I am experiencing an unexpected health scare. A month ago I checked my blood pressure. It was high. My doctor recommended blood tests, and one was abnormally high. A specialist who did more tests flagged a possible serious condition. Life’s Illusions Now I am undergoing more tests with large machines probing my… Continue reading Upheaval

Getting Noticed In my post, Blogging for Profit, I lamented on the clamour for publicity in the desire for money and profit. I emphasized the nefarious ways websites and magazines generate reader clicks and subscriptions. There are also legitimate ways to get noticed. If the quality of the product is excellent, and the service is… Continue reading Art as Provocation

Just a Tourist In this post I review Vienna as a tourist, and then delve into Vienna’s history. I traveled to Vienna as a tourist with little prior knowledge of Austria, its history or its culture. I met my son in Vienna as he was completing a multi- month tour of Eastern Europe. We stayed… Continue reading Vienna: Part 2

City of Arts and Culture Today’s post examines my love affair with Vienna, the one of the great cities of Europe. I visited Vienna in June this year. Brief History Vienna developed from Celtic and Roman settlements into a medieval city. In 1683, Vienna became the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire ruled by the Habsburg… Continue reading Vienna: Part 1

What’s with this event called “Happy Birthday”? It happens once a year to everyone. It’s a day when we get to eat cake, blow out candles and indulge in having our way for 24 hours. Birthdays were great when we were 9 or 10 and probably peaked at the age of 21 when we became… Continue reading Happy Birthday?

What is the Price for Fame? My secret ambition when I started this blog was to reach a large audience. I had visions of blogging to hundreds or thousands of readers. People around the world would ask “what did Ron write about today?” A Google search of a topic in art or aging would quickly… Continue reading Blogging for Fame

No New Posts? I feel guilty that I have not produced a new post. Last year I committed to regularly write this blog, possibly every two weeks. Here are reasons why I have not kept this commitment. Conflict of Interest Life has offered other tempting activities. Winter came late to Nova Scotia, so I skied… Continue reading Incompletions

Day by Day Last week I got up early to ski, and marveled at the sunrise. What a beautiful start to the day! What will the time ahead bring? I had fun cruising the ski runs. The day passed quickly and before long the sun was setting over Martock I was reminded of the lyrics… Continue reading Sunrise, Sunset

Life Changing Encounter I had an unpleasant surprise last week. I caught COVID! In hindsight I shouldn’t have gone to the gym with a scratchy throat. I felt body aches and chills a few hours after my workout. When a fever developed, I went to bed early. Advil reduced the pain through the night. By… Continue reading COVID19

Changing How I Live It’s 2024 and time for new resolutions. What needs to change? As I work on this post, I am eating breakfast while I check my phone for emails. Music is playing, as I stretch my sore knee and type another sentence. The day is rushing by as my mind jumps from… Continue reading Resolving Old Habits

Getting Going Publishing the agingartist blog has been gratifying. The more I publish, the more I feel motivated to address new topics. As I ponder what to do, I stare out the window. My mind seems preoccupied as I contemplate the view. Is this procrastination or something else? The Creative Process Beginning a creative process… Continue reading Window into 2023

To everyone reading this blog I wish you a satisfying and restorative holiday season, full of comfort and joy. May you share good times with friends and family, celebrate valued traditions and reflect on the memories of 2022. I wish you health that enables you to live a fulfilling active life. Christmas Cards by Kay… Continue reading Happy Holidays!

The ‘In Crowd’ I have always aspired to be part of the ‘In Crowd’. These are the people with the talent, beauty, or wealth that formed an inner circle of elites. To belong to this exclusive group is the mark of success and status. In high school I was envious of classmates who were more… Continue reading Exclusive or Inclusive?

“Its not how old you are, its how you are old.”― Jules Renard https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/224285.Jules_Renard Age is Only a Number Several readers reponded to my post “Time Out”. They revealed to me that they feel much younger than their biological age. I agree. As we get older we often get preoccupied by the health of our… Continue reading Young at Heart

Chilling Out February is still winter in Nova Scotia, but we are a month closer to spring and we get a few more minutes of daylight each day. Its usually cold enough for snow to remain as snow, not slush, which means that skiing is good. For much of North America skiing has become a… Continue reading Snow Day

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” – Harvey Mackay Time Flies These days I am preoccupied with time. I feel panicked that the days are passing quickly… Continue reading Time Out

Body Image Our figure drawing studio has started after a summer layoff. For 3 hours every Tuesday artists gather to draw an undraped model. The sessions combine my love of drawing and my appreciation of the human body. Having the opportunity to draw real people is essential for developing a wide artistic repertoire. We draw… Continue reading Figure Drawing

Life changes quickly. My Summer indolence was transforming into Autumn productivity when two developments changed everything. An itchy throat became a bad cold. I had body aches, congestion and sleepless nights. I lost my appetite and could not concentrate. I cancelled an artist retreat to the Bay of Fundy. I just wanted to hibernate until… Continue reading Gratitude from Calamity

Summer is Ending I have a hard time enjoying September. Although the weather is still pleasant, a notable change happens after Labour Day. Holidays are over, school and university classes begin. Thoughts turn to work, the harvest, and preparation for winter. I am sad about the end of summer, and my plans for autumn are… Continue reading Autumn

Hi! I am back to blogging after a summer break. I promised myself to have a carefree summer, and I did. Summer Holidays Nova Scotia is a land of lakes and ocean beaches. On the hot sunny days I took quick trips to a lake for a swim or paddleboard. The ocean beaches are more… Continue reading Summer Was Fun

Carefree Memories I have a longing that grows every June. I want to go back to my boyhood years when school ended and summer holidays began. I have happy memories of lakes and swimming. I remember warm summer days with no plans, few duties and no worries. I don’t remember what I did over July… Continue reading Summer Holidays

Vincent The “Beyond Van Gogh” exhibit (https://vangoghhalifax.com/) is new multi-media performance bringing a famous artist’s work to world-wide audiences. The show came to Halifax. I have seen original paintings by Vincent Van Gogh. I was amazed by the intensity of his paintings and their emotional impact. Beyond Van Gogh ‘Beyond Van Gogh’ exceeded all my… Continue reading Tribute

Tired Eyes A few posts ago I commented on the wealth on imagery that is available for us in today’s world. Spectacular images can to found on the internet, on TV, in magazines and in books. Moreover we are bombarded by commercials to exhort us to buy things. Often these are beautiful things- stylish cars,… Continue reading Refreshment

This week I am drawing a blank on a choice of topic. I feel like I am screaming into the wind. I am yelling as loud as I can, but the wind is howling so no one can hear me. That’s not really true. With a blog my words are posted at some URL, and… Continue reading What Do I Want?

Not So Long Ago When I was a boy in the 1950’s attractive images were a rarity. I was 9 years old when I watched television for the first time. The grainy black and white images on a 17″ screen seemed amazing. https://clickamericana.com/topics/science-technology/vintage-television-sets-from-the-1950s http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/7167/photos/298497 https://www.collectorsweekly.com/cameras/overview/stories https://filmartgallery.com/collections/gardner-ava https://creativemarket.com/studio2am/6327490-Halftoner-5-Retro-Halftone-Effects?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=PPC_GOOG_SmartShopping_US_All&utm_content=558603118314&utm_term&gclid=CjwKCAjw4ayUBhA4EiwATWyBrl7gX3CwOK1xXkn4K3Ogf2PKjtEnlX1Eg-39tJtNQysnVMO4-VOWiBoCNMwQAvD_BwE#fullscreen Newspapers showed blurry halftone black and white pictures.… Continue reading Feast from Famine

Moment to Moment In my last post I wanted my life to feel like a series of moments. What does that imply? How do to live that way? Remembering the moment means living in the present with full awareness. I often find myself preoccupied with the past or planning the future. I look at a… Continue reading Present

Happy Birthday? My 76 th birthday is at the end of May. I am having a difficult time celebrating. I feel more loss than gain. The year has added a few more wrinkles, increased my alopecia, and blurred my vision. Overhearing my dentist refer to me as that ‘kindly old man’ popped my self-belief that… Continue reading Birthday Thoughts

Sunrise, Sunset Today my thoughts went in a strange direction. I woke to see the sun outside my window. Nowadays sunrises and sunsets seem rather ordinary or ‘ho hum’. The pale pink clouds seemed quite special after a week of overcast and rainy mornings. This led me to ask two questions. Why can humans be… Continue reading Why Beauty?

Reason Over Passion Although I always loved drawing from early childhood, I always felt pressure to do something ‘serious’ that would lead to a career. I was good, very good, at science and math. I liked learning how the world worked. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched the first satellite, Sputnik 1, into space. This… Continue reading Art School

Lost I remember the day in grade 1 that my life changed. My teacher asked everyone in the class to sing a solo. “Oh no!” We never sang at home, and I had never sung on my own. One by one the other kids sang.  Soon it was my turn. I stood and nervously stammered… Continue reading Lost and Found

Real Courage A recent post was about the courage to be an artist. This courage pales in comparison to the courage of those caught up in the war in Ukraine. My fears of failure and criticism seem trivial in comparison to the betrayal, loss and suffering faced by Ukrainians as their lives and country are… Continue reading Political Art

Age is Only a Number The joy of creating art can start even very late in life. I was in my 60’s when I made a commitment to make art my avocation. My father was a small business owner who worked long hours until he retired at 75. He developed a jack-of-all-trades capability to keep… Continue reading It’s Not too Late

Fear and Anxiety Making art can be discouraging. Very discouraging. Maybe it has to do with expectations. I have been drawing and painting for decades now but I still feel many moments of fear and anxiety. The wonderful and discouraging thing about art is that it is so open ended. As one improves, one realizes… Continue reading Courage to Paint

Response to the Blog This week I announced the existence of this blog to a number of artists in my community. I felt nervous after the email went out. Would anyone care? I am grateful for the positive and encouraging responses I received. It has opened up a dialogue with others that may never have… Continue reading Thank You

My Scientific Career in the Cold War The war in Ukraine is bringing up difficult financial, political and ethical questions for Canadians as we respond to the Russian invasion. When I completed my PhD in physics in 1971, the Cold War was still a dominating concern. I was looking for a career in science and… Continue reading Offence or Defence?

Discouraged by Snow It’s mid March and Nova Scotia is once again enveloped with snow. Yesterday was sunny and glimpses of tiny green shoots could be seen in the bare brown garden. Now it is all buried in snow and the sky is a dull weary grey. My winter of discontent is prolonged awhile longer.… Continue reading March Ahead

Over-abundant Rarity I am in my studio working on a new painting, a portrait of my son who is now a young man. I realize that my studio is cramed with paintings. In this large room there is a storage area stacked to the brim with large 30″ x 40″ and larger canvases. There are… Continue reading Too Much!

The Ukraine Invasion and other conflicts This week’s news has been dominated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like everyone else in the West I feel this strong emotional reaction to the headlines and the aggression that underlies the situation. I feel helpless that there are few or no levers that I can pull to… Continue reading Helpless Outrage

It’s that time of the week when I start to feel anxious and excited about adding a post to this blog. This creates an internal deadline for me. It’s both a good and not so good feeling. I start to ask myself “what should I write about?” This leads to a whole sequence of questions… Continue reading Just Do It

For an artist, vision is essential. In my younger years, I took my vision for granted. Now in my 70’s, I can no longer count on my eyes to provide the vision I want. Over my life I have had difficulties with my eyesight. Nearsightedness (Myopia) My first encounter with eye failure was at school… Continue reading Losing Sight