After one of the longest, hardest winters we have had to endure in a long time, I decided I needed something happy to look at. So I bought a bright, colourful bouquet of flowers to look at after coming in from the bitter cold. Cheers me up! And it is fun to do quick little sketches of them - like this one I did recently.
It was another snowy day and I had come back to the city early. I went to the National Art Gallery and was wandering around when suddenly, I heard some lovely music. I followed the sound and entered an open area looking down onto an indoor garden. At one end of the garden, a person was playing gorgeous music on a piano while people sat or stood nearby. I settled on a bench and pulled out a small sketchpad while I was listening. It was such an unexpected treat on a nasty, wintery day.
Going to the National Art Gallery on a snowy Sunday afternoon can affect how one sees the world afterward. Everything tends to look like Art! For example, This view of a couple of people walking down a corridor looks like a mid-Twentieth Century minimalist painting - or something like that!
This endless-seeming scaffolding which surrounds the part of the National where they are making repairs - seen from inside the Gallery looking out a window - looks like some elaborate, participatory sculpture. Very post-industrial!
In the evening, walking down a snowy Ottawa side street, one can appreciate the blue and white and grey landscape, like something by an impressionist painter. Beautiful!
From long ago and far away, this picture was taken when I was a child and includes my brother (with the drums), me in the middle, and my sister on the right. This is always a wonderful time of the year to be a child. Happy holiday, everyone!
We had a big winter storm in Eastern Ontario over the past couple of days that left great piles of snow everywhere. The Byward Market, in downtown Ottawa, had a very Christmas-y feeling this afternoon. The snow was still gently falling when this horse-drawn wagon went by with a load of people enjoying the ride.
There were a number of market vendors selling Christmas decorations. At this stand, one could buy green boughs and wreaths with red ribbons.
Later in the evening, hundreds of Christmas lights were turned on and sparkled on the fresh snow. This tree was so pretty, standing at the end of a street in the Market.
We had our first big snowfall of the season in Eastern Ontario last night. This morning, the snow was piled high on everything and the world was transformed. There were little scenes of beauty to be found everywhere!
The trees were especially beautiful with their coatings of snow, like strings of white jewels in their branches.
People walking along the sidewalks seemed to be floating through white tunnels.
In the evening, it wasn't as dark as usual because the lights reflected off the bright snow.
There is something about the first big snowfall that brings out the kid in everyone. This snowman was standing in a surprising place - on the sidewalk in front of a store in the Byward Market area. Someone obviously couldn't resist the opportunity to make him. Beautiful!
November is a grey, ominous month when one feels that the winter is nudging ever closer. When I wake up at my apartment in the city, the mornings are cold and the sky seems to be pressing down.
The sun sets so early these days. I took this picture looking out the window of my office building in Gatineau an hour before I left work. It was completely dark when I did leave.
This weekend, I was at my place in the country when I saw the first significant snowfall of the season. The ground was soon completely covered. Rather pretty, really! I like the way one can see the paths clearly defined as white roads between the brown tufts of vegetation.
