Tag Archives: Canadian Winter

Under a thick blanket…

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The view from my kitchen today.

I woke up in the early hours this morning to a gorgeous thick blanket of snow outside. Then I got back into bed and slept like a baby—so good to sleep when it’s snowing outside (better than inside, that’s for sure). First snow of the season, and I can hear the snow removal trucks going up and down the streets already. It’s a very fine powder that keeps floating down ever so gently but persistently. If I was still a skier I’d be heading for the hills right now, but now my snowy-weather treat is watching Coco jump around like a mad hare in the stuff, looking like the happiest dog in the world.

I’ll be heading off to the McClure Gallery this afternoon. It’s the art gallery that is part of the Visual Arts Centre where I take my art classes. They’re having a fundraising affair that I think I may have mentioned before. They’re calling it Square Affair, as they’ve distributed square blocks of wood to all the advanced students, teachers and any professional artists that wanted to participate, asking us to use it to contribute a work of art, which will be on going on sale this evening at 6 p.m. I haven’t invited anyone for today because there’s a large entry fee and it’s going to be packed solid, and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t even think of it, but the show is on till the 26th, and I’d like to go back with my camera to take some pictures, so will invite my dad to come with me, and whoever else would like to see it. They apparently got over 300 contributions, most of them in the same smallish format, though professional artists had the option of working on larger (still square) surfaces. 75% of the proceeds go to the school, which is a non-profit organization, and the other quarter goes to the artist. Our watercolours teacher, who is a sweetie with a mean sense of humour warned us not to be too disappointed—”if your work doesn’t sell, you’ll know what it feels like to be a real professional artist!” lol. I don’t mind either way. If it doesn’t sell, I get to add it to my Cabinet of Natural Curiosities series I intend to keep working on. If it does sell though, it’ll be good for me as far as income taxes go, because my accountant has been deducting all my art expenses after I promised him I would eventually start selling my artwork…

Off right this moment to edit the photos I’ve taken of the pieces from the CoNC series I’ve completed so far, and publishing them on the other blog as soon as I’m done, i.e. within the hour, hopefully.

The McClure Gallery 
350 Victoria Avenue
Montreal (QC)
T 514.488.9558
E galeriemclure@visualartscentre.ca

 

Art & Crafts (among my many other hobbies)

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As I usually read in bed and tend to fall asleep well past midnight, it’s most unusual for me to rise before the sun, which is what happened this morning. I thought: “Great, now I have lots of time to work on arts & crafts projects before my watercolour class!” Then I came to the computer to check on my emails and read another chapter from my mother’s latest manuscript which is delightfully engrossing and which I pray will reach an intern or an agent smart enough to see what a gem it is and make sure it gets published (about high time for that small miracle to happen!) Then I donned my ski-wear and warm (recycled) fur hat and favourite cashmere mitts and took Coco across the street, and we chased each other up and down the snowy alley, my peals of laughter egging him on so that he practically fell over himself while running and simultaneously wagging his nub of a tail. I could swear he was grinning from ear to ear too. By then I must say I felt better than I have in a long long time. Taking in bright morning sunshine and air, and a loving and (almost disgustingly) cute little dog following you around will tend to have that sort of effect.

Coming back inside, I thought, Ah! L’embarras du choix! what project shall I work on now? Make another wax model for a ring to add to my new series? Draw that organic red onion that’s sprouted such large tentacles it’s now fit to be a circus freak? Start that series of paintings I’ve been thinking about for so long? Go back to bed? Blog about it all? Well, maybe you can guess which option I chose in the end. Still, I’m hoping I can get this post done quickly and still have time to paint and draw so I have something to put on the wall when I show up to class.

Here are a couple of quick snaps I took of my latest ring design—the first of that new series I just mentioned—even though there’s a bit of work left to do on it. I’m so happy with it, I decided to equip myself with the minimum of necessary tools so I can make wax models at home and not depend on classes to make more rings (don’t know to what end, but just the pleasure of making them is good enough for now!) I’ve taken a few photos of the step-by-step process too, which I’ll post on createthreesixty5.com along with better photos once it’s all finished.

Silver rings & iPhone pics by Smiler (click to view full size)

Winter Wonderland 2010

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It’s been snowing for the past two days. Our first winter storm and certainly not the last. The first real snow is kind of magical, especially if you don’t have a car to dig out and drive around. Just walking around the neighbourhood in the crisp fresh air when the sidewalks have over six inches of snow and some snowbanks reach up to your waist is pretty exciting stuff. Coco’s obviously had plenty of experience with our Canadian winter over the years and seems to love it. I took him to a big field of virgin powder yesterday and though it was deeper than he is high, he was having a blast hop-running through it like a jack-rabbit, which made me laugh and laugh. Man’s best friend to be sure!

Here, a few quick snaps I took on my iPhone today during Coco’s afternoon walk. Click on the photos to view them full size.

Enjoy The Ride

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Shut the gates at sunset
After that you can’t get out
You can see the bigger picture
Find out what it’s all about
You’re open to the skyline
You won’t want to go back home
In a garden full of angels
You will never be alone

But oh the road is long
The stones that you are walking on
Have gone

With the moonlight to guide you
Feel the joy of being alive
The day that you stop running
Is the day that you arrive

And the night that you got locked in
Was the time to decide
Stop chasing shadows
Just enjoy the ride

If you close the door to your house
Don’t let anybody in
It’s a room that’s full of nothing
All that underneath your skin
Face against the window
You can’t watch it fade to grey
And you’ll never catch the fickle wind
If you choose to stay

But oh the road is long
The stones that you are walking on
Have gone

With the moonlight to guide you
Feel the joy of being alive
The day that you stop running
Is the day that you arrive

And the night that you got locked in
Was the time to decide
Stop chasing shadows
Just enjoy the ride

Stop chasing shadows
Just enjoy the ride

This song was playing on my iPod while I was making my way home today and I just had to play it over again a few times. Listening to the lyrics I began to sing along. “Stop chasing shadows, just enjoy the ride”… words that really speak to me at the moment and sent chills down my spine. Mind you, the chills could have had something to do with the fact that today is a cold November day. Even though I was dressed for it and had my lovely new hat on, I never get used to the cold. Good thing there’s all this good music around to keep nice and warm on the inside. I’ve watched the video several times and I just don’t get it. Not sure I would have chosen cartoon animation as a visual for this song, but that’s just my opinion.

Deep Freeze

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Photobucket

We have been experiencing a dip in temperatures these past couple of weeks, but it would be an exaggeration to say that it’s freezing. Some crazy kids are still walking around in shorts and flip-flops but most folks with any good sense at all have got their sweaters and light jackets on. And while I’m thrilled to take my cashmere sweaters out of storage for these cool autumn days, hopefully the actual siberian weather won’t show up anytime soon.

The deep freeze I’m talking about today is something else altogether. Some financial advisors suggest to put your credit cards in the freezer while you’re making payments to clear off your debt if, like me, you’re having trouble keeping your spending in check. Being the perfect candidate, I took the suggestion quite literally and submerged my credit card in water in a re-used Häagen-Dazs container, then popped the whole thing in the freezer. Now my Visa card is trapped in a giant chunk of ice which should (but is not guaranteed to) help me cool it a bit with the spending.

Speaking of ice, I’ve also decided that I’ll be returning the diamond ring I had offered myself for my 40th birthday. I love the ring but it makes me nervous walking around with all that money on my finger—money which could come in handy in case of an emergency. Then when I realized Birks literally charges double what most other vendor do (other than Tiffany’s and the like), I figured I may as well start saving and get my own ring designed a few years from now. No big rush—I doubt they’ll be running out of diamonds in this decade. I should be this reasonable more often. But then, that would make me a whole different person.

Pic by anniebee, Flickr

Winter Rave

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It’s 4º today. FOUR DEGREES celcius. That’s 39 F. Which by Canadian standards is practically summer! Or, ok, maybe more like practically spring. Or… fine, maybe more like a really really warm winter day. It’s grey and blah out there, but who cares? It’s just four degrees! I’ll be running around in shorts and sandals in a few minutes! Or maybe not, but it’s the thought that counts.
/End of winter rave.

Winter Scenery

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Photobucket
It’s been snowing all day here and it’ll probably continue well into the night. I didn’t take a photo of the all-white scenery this time, but I did receive this photo from my mom in France today, where they apparently got 3cm of snow which caused all sorts of disruptions. Never mind that 3cm is what we get here within about 5 minutes… just proves once again that everything is relative.

Photo by Lucie Bourges

Winter Wonderland Wevisited

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from my balcony_2497.jpg

This was the view from my balcony somewhere before 4:00 pm this afternoon. I remember looking up from the computer around 3 and being amazed at how much light there still was outside and especially in the apartment, which these days is cavernous by that hour. My pictures don’t do it justice though. That kind of luminosity is difficult to capture. It was all because of the snow of course, which had been falling softly for 36 hours or so. When we Montrealers woke up on Tuesday morning, it was our first Winter Wonderland of the year. To think the year is almost over… well I’d rather not. Instead I just keep myself busy. Lately, as some of you already know, I took up selling on eBay. This week I even opened up my own little store! For now it’s just an extension of last summer’s garage sale so I’m mostly concentrating on emptying my drawers and closets. I’ve sold quite a few items already, not bad for a beginner. This week, my holey old cashmere sweaters aren’t garnering quite as much interest, so I’m taking that as a personal challenge and decided I WILL find a marketing angle that’ll grab a buyer or two. Everyday I’m taking photos of new items and writing up ads and answering buyer’s questions. Even had to order some boxes from a wholesaler because it was becoming impractical to source them at stores every time (without a car it’s just punishing). It’s a lot of work, but it’s fun too, so even though I’m not exactly making wads of cash, it’s still worth the experience. And my closets are finally getting almost decluttered enough that I can open the doors without the risk of starting an avalanche. Almost. My goal is to sell stuff until I’ve actually created enough space to put NEW stuff in. That might not be the challenge of the century, but it’s something. If you want to check out my store, by all means drop by at http://stores.ebay.ca/Smilers-Neighborhood-Shop FYI, the layout isn’t exactly up to my standards but it was: use one of their lame templates or teach myself HTML in a couple of days so I could create my own. I’ll let you guess which option I went with.