Vernissage at the Skelly Gallery

This afternoon, I went to the Skelly Gallery in St. Eugene, Ontario, to attend a vernissage. I like this arrangement of things outside the front doors of the gallery - pumpkins, trees in pots, and a sculpture by Peter MacElwain which I donated after his death.  

It was a warm day (that is, warm for November!)  but very grey. The interior of the gallery was brightly lit. The ground floor of the gallery used to contain an office space and work space for the framing business, but it has now been converted to gallery space. There were lots of people chatting and looking at the works on display here. 

The main gallery space is still upstairs. 

The space is really quite light and airy, beautiful for showing work.  On one wall, there were photographs by Mark Greenwald.

His photographs are impressive. I really like one on the far right of shadows on the sand. 

On the opposite wall there are paintings by John Greenwald, Mark's older brother. 

This painting was one of my favourites in the show. The drawing of the figure is so free and loose. 

John Greenwald also painted these long folding pieces. They were beautifully displayed on the window sills of the gallery.
Great show! It continues until December 14th.

Make Rugs, Not War

Earlier this week, I was walking past a store on Clarence Street in the Byward Market that sells carpets when I suddenly stopped and had to take a closer look. At first, I couldn't believe what I was seeing when I looked at the rugs on display in the window.

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This store (Canadian Rug Traders) usually sells such beautiful oriental carpets from places like India and Iran. I often look at the rugs on display with their gorgeous patterns and think how nice it would be to own one. But not today! These carpets had guns and tanks and grenades and other war symbols in their design.

A sign in the window explained that these rugs were made in Afghanistan during the recent war there. It also said that a percentage of the sale of these rugs would be donated to  Canadian soldiers who had been injured in the conflict.

They were beautifully made, hand-knotted, wool rugs. But somehow, I couldn't imagine having one on the floor, thinking about the people halfway around the world who had seen the helicopters and tanks and guns during the war and then wove these things in a pattern in a carpet so I could walk on it. But perhaps I am looking at it in the wrong way. After all, they were taking a horrible experience and turning it into something productive. They were making rugs, not war!

The Cute Things One Sees On Clothelines

So - I was driving along a country road last weekend when I saw something that really caught my eye. In the yard outside a farm house, there were all these cute teddy bears and baby toys hanging from a clothesline and I had to stop and take a couple of pictures. 

This little brown bear or moose or whatever he is looked so sweet, just hanging out. I had to use the zoom on my camera since I was standing by my parked car fairly far away (I didn't want the people in the house to think some nut was scoping out their clothesline). Then I hopped back in my car and drove away. People should always hang interesting stuff on their clotheslines, don't you think?

A Visit to the Higginson Tower

On Saturday, after I went to the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill (see yesterday's post), I was walking around the grounds and decided to visit the Higginson Tower, which is close to the gallery. The tower was originally built in 1832 as a wind-powered gristmill and was restored in 2006-2007.

Walking around the tower, I saw that the door was open so I went in. There was a young woman there welcoming visitors (and taking the donations, natch!).

Then I began to climb.................

.......and climb.................

The stairs and landings were all made of wood. I went around and around and up and up. Eventually the stone walls gave way to wooden walls as I got closer to the top.

Finally, I reached the top of the tower. 

The interior was quite pretty and there were lots of windows to look out. 

This is the view looking out one of the windows toward the northeast (I think). You can see the Arbor Gallery down below to the left. 

And this is the view out another window looking toward the southwest. I like the funky tower on the church next door. 

I started to walk back down again. I hadn't noticed these windows on the way up, but they caught my eye on my way down. The light coming in was beautiful and you can see how thick the stone walls are. 

At the very bottom of the stairs, the grist mill was displayed on the floor in the very centre of the tower. I wouldn't want to have to lift that up! Probably weighs a ton. 

I chatted with the nice young woman greeting visitors at the base of the tower. She told me that the tower is usually not open in November (the season is usually from May to October) but there were a lot of events going on this particular Saturday in the town and so they opened specially to accommodate visitors. I felt lucky that I was able to see the tower, just by chance. And I was worried about this young woman because she looked cold. (She assured me she was okay). 

There were other visitors in the tower while I was there, including this very young man, who made it all the way to the top on his own two legs and back down again. Plucky kid!

Visiting the Arbor Gallery

This past Saturday I went to a vernissage at the Arbor Gallery in Vankleek Hill, Ontario. The gallery is in this beautiful old building in a park-like setting, and there is a wonderful porch where one enters the building.  

Inside, there were quite a few people in the main rooms of the gallery. It really is a lovely space for exhibiting art. 

There are some really interesting pieces in the show. I liked the way the small paintings that this woman is looking at are displayed.

One of the great things about the Arbor Gallery is the windows in the main rooms. Some beautiful stain glass pieces and pottery are displayed there. 

I also really liked this display in a corner of the smaller gallery. The paintings and drawings on the wall are in mats but not framed. They are very reasonably priced and many of them were quite tempting.

Here is a close-up of the ceramics of my friend Ronna displayed on the stand below the drawings and paintings. I especially love the piece with the yellow, pink and blue daisies. 

 

As I was leaving the gallery, I saw this wonderful curly sculpture, which is part of an installation in the porch. It looked fabulous with the November afternoon light coming through it. 

The GIFTED! Annual Holiday Exhibition at the Arbor Gallery continues until December 18th. It's a good show - I really enjoyed it. 

Another Scribble

On Sunday, we will have to change the clocks back and, although it will be brighter in the morning, the sun will set so much earlier in the afternoon. This is a yucky time of year because of the short hours of daylight and the dreary darkness. I crave light and colour, which perhaps explains why I am having so much fun with my silly bright-coloured felt tip markers. I did this scribble very quickly (not much time in the evenings) and added some water colour. My colour therapy - it works!

Protest in the Byward Market

It was a beautiful evening so I went out for a walk through the Byward Market (my 'hood). Coming along Sussex Street, I heard a lot of noise so went to investigate. There was a small group of protesters across from the American Embassy, chanting and holding up signs. There must have been 25 - 30 people there, and about 10 policemen. The protesters were part of the Occupy Ottawa group. 

This banner, which is hard to read in this photo because it was rather dark, says "United the People Will Never Be Evicted." They were protesting the fact that the people in the Occupy movement in various cities in the United States are being driven out violently. I agree with their cause and wanted to show my support in some way, but it wasn't a good time or place. I hope the Occupy movement continues - it gives me hope.