Art Fayre 2011



Art Fayre 2011 took place on Saturday June 11 and Sunday June 12. The artists all signed their names on a large blackboard inside the gallery.



Lots of people came. They gathered on the porch to chat, then went in to look at the works on display.

There was a variety of artwork, including Barb Glen's mixed media pieces........

.....Natalie Rowe's hooked rug hangings...........

....John Sim's oil paintings, and many more.

There was lots of great food, including Ronna's amazing Art Fayre cupcakes. (Not only were they little works of art themselves, they were very tasty. Yum!)

Photographers took photographs of photographers taking photographs. In this case, the ultimate object was to photograph Lis beside her wonderful sculpture, "Neither Fish Nor Fowl".

The sounds of music wafted through the air, courtesy of David Kelleher.

Everyone had a good time. Here are Natalie and David sharing a laugh. I can hardly wait for Art Fayre next year!

Buskers in the ByWard Market

One of the things I love about the ByWard Market area of Ottawa in the summer is that there always seems to be something going on, something to do or something to see. This evening, on my way to do a bit of shopping, I saw a crowd gathered at the end of William Street near York. They were watching buskers - four guys in red t-shirts who were doing some pretty spectacular acrobatics.

I arrived towards the end of their performance, but I did manage to see a couple of good stunts. Two of the guys held a long board and a third climbed on. The two lifted the board up in the air......

...then the guy on the board did a leap into the air. I squealed like everyone else in the crowd. But he landed safely back on the board.

Then he did some other cool things, like flips and splits and stuff. All very impressive.

For the finale, they made a human tower. First one guy climbed up.......

...then a third guy climbed on top of the first two guys............

...and - Ta Da! - a human tower. Everyone clapped and cheered. Pretty amazing stuff. I mean, I have trouble just getting up on a chair to change a lightbulb! Wouldn't it be great to be that agile and athletic?

The Things One Sees by Taking a Different Route

When I left work today, I decided to take a slightly different route. I thought it would be interesting to walk behind the Museum of Civilization instead of on the sidewalk in front of it. It is a bit out-of-the-way for me, but worth the extra time. Taking this route, one is far from the busy noisy traffic on the street and sees many different things. The first thing I saw was this very old tower. It is a ruin now but preserved as a part of the history of the city. The stonework is amazing in this tower. They built things to last in those days!

Further along the path by the river, I saw this boat and it seemed so strange - like the boat is floating on a green lake of grass, far from its natural element. (It is part of a children's play area.)

Turning in the other direction, I could see the bridge that I cross every day, to and from work. From this distance one can see what a long bridge it is. I have always liked the steel structure above the bridge - very sculptural.

Speaking of sculpture, by taking this route I could see Louis Archambault's installation, Personnages, which is behind the Museum. It is made up of 9 beautiful, elegant pieces.

I think each one is stunning individually, but they are meant to be viewed as a group. They really compliment the architecture of the Museum, don't you think?

The Museum of Civilization is one of my favourite buildings in the National Capital Region. This is actually a view of the administration building, not the museum itself. I was walking on a little-used path past this building on my way back to the main street and the bridge. It struck me how much it looks like an Aztec pyramid from this angle. Lovely how it "flows".

Beautiful Cattle

One of the delights of living in the country is driving down back roads and seeing beautiful bucolic vistas. And sometimes seeing unexpected things. Like these cattle I saw when I was driving home last Sunday, after visiting my friend Fran in Pleasant Corners. I came screeching to a halt (one can do such things in the country because there is no other traffic), parked my car on the side of the road and jumped out to take a closer look.

These are Highland Cattle - I recognized them from some book I read somewhere long ago. They are not a common sight around here, since most farmers seem to have Holsteins or Jerseys. The Highland Cattle are distinctive for having long hair and very long horns. Look at the size of the horns on this cow!

There were a whole herd of these cattle dotted about the field. Some were light brown and some were dark. Some had very long horns. This is a young cow with shorter horns. She wondered what the heck I was doing, taking pictures of her and her pals. (or maybe it was a he? Not sure!)

These cattle were in the field with other animals - mostly sheep but I also saw some llamas in the distance. Everyone was busy munching grass.

It really was a beautiful day, with a picture-perfect blue sky. Scenes like this are typical in the countryside where I live - wide flat fields, trees in the distance, stripes of sunlight and shadow, quiet serenity. Aahhh!

Peter's Birthday Weekend

Friday June 3 was the birthday of the love of my life, Peter MacElwain. He died 10 years ago, but I still think of him every day and feel very close to him when I am at home in my place in the country. This is one of my favourite pictures of Peter, standing beside one of his sculptures after we had installed it at an exhibition in Alabama (circa 1995). 

If Peter were still alive, we would probably have spent the weekend having a picnic down by the river, with wine and cheese and some of Peter's wicked egg salad sandwiches. Instead, I spent most of the weekend in the studio which Peter built over 20 years ago as a sculpture studio. Last summer, I had it repaired and cleaned up after it had been sitting for many years. Now I use it as my painting and drawing studio, and this weekend, I was in there framing my pieces for Art Fayre. Peter would be pleased I was in there on his birthday weekend.

I don't have many photos of Peter as a young man, but this is one I rather like despite the fact that it is a passport photo. It was taken in the early 1980's, around the time when I first met him and when he was teaching at the Ontario College of Art. He looks so intense. I used to tease him that he looked like a terrorist in this photograph.  But really, he just looks like an artist. 

The Things One Sees in Parking Lots

This motorbike caught my eye as I was walking through a parking lot this morning. Or rather, the metal box on the back of the bike caught my eye. It was all covered with stickers and I had to take a closer look.

There were two boxes on the bike, one on each side, covered in all sorts of stickers. There was something very retro about it. Made me think of old steamer trunks covered in labels and stickers from various travels.

All those stickers showed that this motorbike has been to lots of places, mostly in the United States. But the bike wasn't moving anywhere right now - at least, not on its own two wheels. It was strapped to a trailer - but the trailer was not attached to a car. It was just sitting there, alone in the parking lot. I would love to know the story behind this motorbike, why it was being carried on a trailer and how it got all those great stickers. Hhhmmmm...!

Hot Weather Spot

When the weather gets hot, as it did yesterday, I like to sit out on the balcony of my apartment after I get home from work. I open the door............

...put out a chair and the newspaper and a drink....

...and sit in the late afternoon cool breezes. From my perch I can look down on the street and see people walking by, or cars, or whatever is going on in the world down below.

If I look down the street and off into the distance, I can see the roof of the National Art Gallery (on the right) and the towers of the Cathedral (on the left). They are only a few blocks away.

The best part of my balcony? I can put my feet up on the railing and sit back, relax, daydream for awhile. Aahhh!