Old road watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

Wandering Camera – Nearby Adventures

The Girl And Her Cat on the Old Road watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

The Girl and Her Cat and I had our own little adventures, right where we live.  Much to my delight, we already had a few bouts of snow this year in the mountains here in the rain-starved California.  That brought rainstorms to the lower elevations.  I promptly bundled up in my waterproof clothing and boots and headed to the park for a walk in the rain.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

Ever since I was little, I have always loved playing in the rain, the more torrential the better.  The world gets quiet, and it’s mostly just the sound of the rain and me.  

There is an oak grove in the park.  Standing under that canopy, I listened to the rain sing as it danced on the leaf-covered ground below. 

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

This is normally a narrow and deep drainage gully, but to my imaginative mind, it might as well be a stream that I have to cross carefully.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I wore my big boots, so I could splash along as I continued down the rain-sodden path.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I have made up my own names for certain areas in the park.  I call this area Darcy Field, resembling a certain scene in the Pride And Prejudice movie.  Right around the corner, the path turns hard with rocks and tree roots jutting out of the ground.  That would be the Dinosaur Ridge.  I love running over those protrusions.

I really wanted to continue on with the rain pelting down on me.  It was getting dark though, so I reluctantly decided to turn back.

 

 

Rainy day walk in the park in Northern California @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

Rain droplets on these dry stems looked like little crystal flowers.   My camera has a rain jacket of its own, so, just like me, it stayed toasty dry.   I would have liked to get close-ups, but it would have been impossible to change lenses in that windswept rain.  Also, I had to bow to the failing light.  This is the best photo I could take with the lens I had at hand.  Hopefully you get an impression of what I saw there.

 

 

Adventure of the Girl and Her Cat

 

While my kitties stayed warm and toasty at home,  The Girl and Her Cat continued their adventure together in the snow.

 

Please click on the image thumbnails to see the pictures and read about their wanderings –

 

 

 

Not to worry, they are bundled up for their snow walk.  When her cat gets cold, The Girl carries him inside her coat.

 

Wandering Pages Paintings

 

I added all the paintings shared so far about their adventure from the Wandering Pages book at the above link.  I will add to that page as we continue with their adventure together.

 

 

 

Migraing Geese Northern California Nature Journal watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

I will leave you with a page from my nature journal.   The day before the rainstorm came,  my husband hurriedly called me outside to see something  he thought I would love.   We saw a flock of geese flying overhead against the backdrop of a beautiful sky that only impending rain clouds can bring.  We watched them slowly dissolve the right arm completely and then recreate the V pattern as they faded to a distant shimmer.   I have never seen anything like it before.   I didn’t take a photo.  Instead, I recreated the scene in my journal.

 

I personally hand-make the journals in my studio.   You can purchase the journals here in my shop.   I have journals for both artists and non-artists.

 

Let me know which photo and/or paintings of our adventures you liked.  The Girl and her Cat, and I would love to know.

 

 

Since next week is a holiday week here in the US, I decided to move Wandering Camera one week up. 

 

Wandering Camera art and photo linky party @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that runs on the last Thursday of every month.  If you follow me via email, you will get a reminder.

All photo and art/creative-themed posts are welcome.  You can continue to link up multiple posts.

Please add the badge or a text link back to this site on your blog, or on each post that you link up.  I look forward to seeing your photos and reading about them.

Have fun!!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

Leave a comment

 

Wandering Camera – Quad And Divinity School, Oxford

Divinity School, Oxford, England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

Welcome to this month’s Wandering Camera!  For my new readers, Wandering Camera is a linky party hosted here on the last Thursday of every month.  I usually share my photos, and occasionally artwork too, and I welcome you to share any photos or creative posts here.   I have been sharing a few photos from the Oxford university area, along with a bit of related architectural history.

 

 

Divinity School, Oxford, England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

On the last post, I wrote about the Catte Street area.  I would like to continue the journey from there.  Right across the Sheldonian theatre is the Divinity School.  The door in the middle of the large windows was inserted by Christopher Wren in the 1600s for easy access between the two buildings.

 

 

Divinity School, Oxford, England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

The Divinity School was built over multiple decades as a lecture hall in the 1400s .  I really fell in love with the large windows in this room. 

 

 

Divinity School, Oxford, England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

The gorgeous vaulted ceiling was designed by Willam Orchard, an English Gothic architect.   The building is attached to the Bodleian Library.  The beautiful ceiling  supports the old library upstairs.

 

I won’t bore you with the architectural details, but simply let you enjoy the photos.   The entirety of the ceiling is carved with images.   Please click on the image thumbnails to see the photos.

 

 

 

The entry to this beautiful hall is through the Old Schools Quad on Catte Street.

 

 

Divinity School, Oxford, England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

The tower of the Quad is the main entrance to the Bodleian Library and is known as the Tower Of The Five Orders. 

 

 

Divinity School, Oxford, England @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

The ornamentation of the tower is based on the five orders of the classical architecture, hence the name.

 

 

Here are a couple of detail sketches from my travel journal. 

 

 

Divinity School Oxford Englad watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

The Window of the Divinity School

 

 

 

Schola Astronomiae et Rhetoricae Bodlein Library Old School Quad Oxford England watercolour painting @ InkTorrents.com by Soma

 

 

One of the many faces in the Old School Quad.  This one was at the doorway of Schola Astronomiae et Rhetoricae, also the library gift shop.  The names later appeared in one my paintings – The Magician’s Bookshelf.

 

 

I really wish I had a lot more time to take in all the details.  However, as is the case with international travel, one is always pressed for time.  A four-hour drive to the City Of York was ahead of us, and I still wanted to stop by Exeter College.  So I tore myself away from here and started to walk toward Turl Street.

 

I am a little behind with replying to emails and visiting you back, but I am hoping to catch up within the next few days.  If you have not heard back from me, my sincere apologies.

 

Here are my previous posts and photos from Oxford, England, 2016 –

 

Christ Church, Oxford Part I

Christ Church, Oxford Part II

Magdalen College, Oxford

Catte Street, Oxford

 

 

Wandering Camera art and photo linky party @ InkTorrents.com by Soma Acharya

 

Wandering Camera is a monthly event that runs on the last Thursday of every month.  If you follow me via email, you will get a reminder.

All photo and art/creative-themed posts are welcome.  You can continue to link up multiple posts.

Please add the badge or a text link back to this site on your blog, or on each post that you link up.  I look forward to seeing your photos.

Have fun!!

 

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


I am linking up with the linky parties on my Events And Links page.  Please pay a visit to some of them.

 

 

Leave a comment

 

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