After painting in the east end along the bike path, I wanted to go do some painting in China town which I rode past the last few weeks. At the corner, traffic was stopped and police cars were everywhere and I though, here is another protest march, but the people were on bikes, the people had a flag that said World nude bike ride... and the people were nude. With police escort (the police were fully clothed), this group of about 100 or so cyclists just casually rode by in their birthday suits on a hot day, with bemused tourists looking on. I had planned on painting this scene anyways, and decided to include the nude people on bikes from memory. An unfortunate memory, its one of those things you can't un-see! At least I didn't rip off my clothes and join them.
World nude bike ride, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3817a)
Getting on with the painting, I noticed that the large vacant lot at the beginning of China town is for sale. Standing in the middle of it offered some good views and plenty of shade from the trees. I hope they find some way to preserve this land or at least keep it open to the public. You can see the jostle of shops and the one lone tree that reaches high up into the sky. This tree symbolizes China town itself, standing tall in amongst a sprawling urban city.
Main street China town, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3818)
Just enjoying the peace and quiet and nice cool breeze here I made a quick painting of the backs of some old houses with the interesting blends of architecture and outdoor iron staircases typical of Montreal. If this land ever is developed, these are some of the views that will be gone. The nude bike ride however, will probably happen every year regardless.
Old houses, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, July 2024 (No. 3817b)
No comments:
Post a Comment