On the drive home yesterday i was enjoying listening to an audio book, ‘The Last Wife of Henry the VIII’ , a book i’ve wanted to read for a while but never seemed to find the time for.  Yay for the library! It’s got a great collection of audio books.  If you haven’t tried audio books while driving, i highly recommend this form of entertainment.  I’m a lover of historically based fiction, so this one was right up my alley.  At the same time that I was immersed in the 1500′s, i was paying particular attention to what parts of the landscape passing along the way drew my eye…shapes of rocky outcrops, drifting snow, shadows shapes and colours…I was amused to discover that it was also nearly always some little dwelling or another.

When you sit and enjoy a coffee from this old fashioned coffee bar in the heart of the distillery districtToronto, it’s easy to breathe in nostalgia and imagine the steam whistle’s blowing, workers hustling and the lives that were the lifeblood of this district 100 years ago. The cobblestone streets, aged red brick industrial buildings,warehouses  and platforms are now home to heaps of art galleries, boutiques & artisan foodie joints. This all to say it’s one of my favourite spots when i visit the city.

I’ve always enjoyed reading about folks from our little city in this magazine.  And I’m very happy to be included.  Thanks to all involved.  If you want a gak, here’s the link which will take you to a preview of the article.

I’m experimenting on some Raymar linen boards at the moment. Thought they were going to be my new fabourite thing, but having second thoughts. I dont like the way the brush drags on them.  I prefer the slickness of a hard board surface for gestural brushwork, or the smooth spring of stretched linen canvas. I do have 3 small distillery themed pieces on the go at the moment using the linen boards…so I’ll perservere, and post them when finished. 

‘In His Element’ and ‘Jane, One Morning’    Both of these two portraits are in the show ‘The Art of Canadian Portraiture’ which opens today in Toronto a the John B. Aird Gallery, 900 Bay St. This is a members show for the Portrait Society of Canada. It runs Jan 10 – Feb 3.  There is an opening reception on Thursday Jan 13 evening, but unfortunately i’m not able to go to that.  There are about 40 other paintings in the show.   After delivering the works to the gallery on Sunday, i had the pleasure of enjoying: Chagall and the russian avante-garde exhibition at the AGO. It was crowded! …the last weekend for the show, so I expect many had the same idea as me and flocked to see it before it leaves.  I love Chagall’s dedication to painting from his soul. That’s what struck me th most about these paintings, and the other works from the russian group. It was interesting to see their experimenting with the current art movements of their day, but the really knock your socks off pieces came from the soul… the fact that they were huge confirmed it more.  I took a few photos without my flash, before a guard told me not to take pictures.  ooops! Naughty Sally!  One of my favourite pieces was a small  watercolour gouache titled ‘The Dancers’, I’m guessing it was probably a working sketch for a larger work?…you can see it in the thumbnail to the right.

After all the art stuff, I had the pleasure of meeting up with my sweet daughter Jane, and she showed me her tiny new apartment which she has finally got her furniture into now and then we went for a bite to eat at a restaurant in the beaches.  We had a nice time, …i love time with her…listening to what’s going on with her and what she thinks about stuff.  She’s settling into life in Toronto now, and enjoys working for CBC.  Here’s us at dinner.

But I did see these houses on a street in Fredericton.

The oil paint wasn’t dry yet on the two little ‘starts’ I began yesterday; I guess I was working with fairly thick paint.  So…I had to leave them alone today instead of working into them more, which is what i had wanted to get on with.  darn!  Regroup. 

Plan B was to have a look at all the other resource stuff I’ve been thinking about doing something with, and get doing something!  heh. heh.  In the end three more little ‘starts’ were begun and I’m beginning to feel I’m getting the ball rolling. 

No new art to post, so in the meantime i thought i’d post my Rain in Spain group which I recently framed in a nutbrown hardwood.  I’ve heard of a dyptich and a triptich, but I’m not sure if there’s a word (quadtich?) to describe a foursome the same way.  

I’m taking a hiatus from the blog for the next week or so, as Nova Scotia calls us for Christmas. woohoo. exciting.

Possibilities – oil on canvas – 20″ x 26″