Ride to st Helen's Island

Today was a cool and cloudy beginning to October. The leaves are just starting to turn yellow, orange and red, most trees are in shades of olive. I was standing on a small bridge connecting the main part of st Helen's island to the other part with the casino, looking East. To paint the river, several layers of small brush strokes were built up from light to dark.

Turquoise river with Cartier Bridge, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2022 (No. 3250b)

 

This is the same bridge but standing on the shore looking back. Turquoise water was rippling under the bridge creating twisting and turning ribbons of colour. For composition I included the warning sign int he foreground which brings in a strong red contrast with the greens. The water swirls look like serpents!

Flow Under Turquoise River, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2022 (No. 3251b)

 

The Cartier bridge has elaborate structures that are probably as old as the bridge. Closer inspection revealed crumbling plaster and mortar. Elaborate mosaics are on the structures, they seem to be morocco-inspired. A yellow tree announced fall.

Cartier Bridge Structures, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, October 2022 (No. 3254a)

For quite some time I searched for a view of the amusement park and finally settled on a spot high up on the road that goes from sea level to bridge level. There was a neat synergy between the bridge with its cars flying by and the gravity-defying rides in the background. I could hear people screaming (in delight) the whole time as the rides were running. 

What Goes up...(La Ronde with Cartier Bridge) watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, October 2022 (No. 3333b)

A Persian Woman Eating Lunch on Campus

The other day I got out for a quick painting on campus, this time it was a composite of several people into one imaginary person. The figure represents a Persian woman having lunch under a tree, which represent a freedoms of choice. People are supposed to have a right to choices but all too often other people will try to take away instead of giving. From time to time I use art to explore social themes, after all, what is the artists role but to reflect their surroundings?
 

A Persian Woman Eating Lunch on Campus, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3253b)

A Table and Four Chairs in a Field

After the first attempt at this scene I went back to repeat the painting a few days later when the rain stopped. The table was upended with its top off, the chairs were upside down, and the objects were strewn about on the ground.  With some effort I was able to re-assemble the table, it was heavy, and arrange the chairs and objects roughly as they had been the last time. Midway through the painting a local fellow walked by and took one of the chairs away to sit on it, he then asked me if he would be in the painting. No, I replied it was too late this time I had already started the painting. Compared to the first attempt, this one is on a larger piece of paper and shows more of the chairs and field. The background elements are much lighter in value and orange was emphasized throughout. I noticed that there was a small camping tent back in the woods that you can notice in the top right. The table's angle was tilted to create a rotational composition, and to better show off the objects on the table which included an empty sangria bottle, a rusted enamel bowl, tuna can ashtrays and an empty pack of cigarettes. A few of my students recently gave me a book on Cezanne and he would also tilt the angle of the tables to show the objects. In doing so, he created a surrealistic atmosphere. That idea seemed appropriate for a painting of a table and four chairs in a field.

A Table and Four Chairs in a Field, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, September 2022 (No. 3332)

Table and Chairs in a Field

 

On what was supposed to be a lunch break I went out and made this painting of a table and some chairs in the field where I have painted many chairs before. The table had an empty sangria bottle being used as a candle holder, and several empty tuna cans being used as ash trays. Candle wax was all over the table. One of the chairs, the green one just visible on the right was in a previous painting I did when the trees were releasing seed pods all over the field. Today there were leaves on the ground since the weather has cooled off and fall is approaching. In the winter I will have to see if I can paint 'chairs in a snowy field'.

Table and Chairs in a Field, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3254b)

Paintings from Ontario over the Years

In 1996, I had access to Mom and Dad's car for summer jobs. On free days, I would drive down to Toronto, or take the metro from North Toronto, and make paintings all day. It was called the Skydome originally, now it has a corporate name but not much else has changed with it. There were elaborate sculptures of fans on the side but I omitted that. If you look carefully at the bottom right there is a line up of people. Just before this one, I did another Skydome painting from the side view.

Skydome Front View, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 1996 

This painting was done later due to the granulation in the sky which is from cerulean blue. I was also using the high wires as part of the composition to show just how ugly things were. The CN tower looks a little thin here.

CN Tower with wires, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, May 2001

 

Union station is a cavernous artifact from a past age. And that is just the urinals. In this painting, I showed the clock and time board. The dark areas were done with alizarin crimson (PR83) and viridian hue (PG7). It worked quite well but nowadays I use carbon black (PBk6) with peryelen maroon (PR179) or benzi maroon (PR175).

Union Station Toronto, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, 2008 

Closer to home, this is Macville Public school where Mom used to teach and was Principal towards the end. This painting was a preliminary painting done on location. It was for a larger work that was framed and given to a teacher who retired. For the larger work I combined the colour and technique from this painting with information from a photo.

Macville Public School, watercolour 5.5 x 9" cold press, 2003?

Ride Around the Boroughs, Part 2

 

After painting in NDG and Griffintown, I headed to Old Port and saw one of the regular cruise boats docked. The underside of the hull was reflecting a variety of colours from the surroundings and the water. That green tower in the background has been under construction for years, I think it is either an observatory, or a massive off-ramp for even bigger cruise boats.

 Cruise Boat, Old Port, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3255)

 

From Old Port I rode up to Little Italy to pick up some bulk food at Anatol Spices. The staff all know me well, I have been shopping there for 15 years! Looping around to my old neighborhood Mile End I stopped to make a painting of an iconic warehouse and water tower. Reports say that this building will be re-purposed for shopping and living, but the mayor said the water tower has to stay. If they took the water tower away I think there would be a lot of unhappy locals. It is visible from many parts of Mile End and adds to the character.

Warehouse and Watertower, Mile End, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3256a)

 

Across the street is a vacant lot filled with artistic metal sculptures. Similar sculptures are found all along the north part of Mile End where the train tracks run. Nobody knows who made them, but it was obviously a talented metal worker, or perhaps a group. One of the pieces was marked 1999. A fellow was playing saxophone in the back of the park, adding to the ambiance.

Metal Sculpture Park, watercolour 5 x 7" cold press, September 2022 (No. 3256b)

Griffintown Mural

Riding around Griffintown was frankly a little sad. Once a vibrant hipster neighborhood, now it becoming block after block of condo development. This colourful mural on the side of an old building signified an artistic element not found elsewhere. Normally I avoid painting other people's art, but in this case the mural provided a stunning contrast to the monochromatic construction projects. In the background I depicted the condos in grey scale. The mural was not exactly like this, I wanted to provide a homage not a copy. The artist was gosensi420. A lot of people walked by as I painted this one.
 

Griffintown Mural, watercolour 8 x 10" Strathmore Gemini, September 2022 (No. 3331a)