Category: Musings & Thoughts

PAYS
J’ai vu le soleil se lever
dans tant et tant de pays
je ne savais plus lequel
était le mien
le jour oscillait
lampe incertaine dans ma nuit
le rif le souk le môle
la vallée millénaire
bergers de l’Atlas
boutre coutre Seychelles
je l’ai vu se coucher
le jour passait comme une flèche
et chaque soir me frappait en plein coeur
comme le dernier
— Gérald Godin, Québec Poet

Mont Calvaire is the highest peak looking northwards from Hudson across the Lake of Two Mountains. Calvaire in French is a Québécois swear word as French Québécois swear words mostly stem from Catholic artefacts and the different synonyms are used regionally. Some synonyms for “calvaire” are calvâsse, calvinsse, calvinouche, calvinus, calvinisse, calverasse. 

The lake was named Lac des Médicis in 1612 by French explorer Samuel de Champlain, then renamed Lac des Soissons about 1632. By around 1684 French colonists named it as Lac des Deux Montagnes. The name refers to Calvaire Mountain and Saint-Joseph-du-Lac Hill, the two highest peaks of Mont Oka that face the lake on its northern shore. (Information taken from Wikipedia).

Paper: Fluid 8″x8″
Colours: Sennelier Primary Yellow, New Gambodge, Alizarin Crimson, French Ultramarine
Location: Sandy Beach, Hudson, Québec, Canada

Echoing Wendell Berry’s beautiful assertion that in true solitude “one’s inner voice becomes audible,” she adds:

The feelings and purposes around art-making … ricochet among private, public, and communal places, but the creative process often demands seclusion to germinate its seed.
— Brain Pickings

The latin name for this cactus is Opuntia subulata and seems to have many names, such as Eve’s Needle, Eve’s-pin prickleypear, Long Spine Cactus, Eve’s Pin Cactus, Eve’s Needle Cactus, Eve’s Pin & Cane Cholla. I would really like to know where all of these different names come from! This plant is a native to the Andes in Peru and can grow up to 12′ tall. As I am very good with plants, it might reach the ceiling in a few years. Oh boy, oh boy!

So it is my husband’s birthday today and my mother always said that he was born on St. Joseph’s day. We are going out for supper in a Spanish Club in Montreal where some of our friends will be meeting with us. Hope to see a bit of flamenco dancing tonight, eat tapas and paella and have a good time. So here is my cactus that donned overnight its colours in a grand style -)

Paper: Handbook created by my friend Chi Mai
Fountain Pen: Sailor Desk fountain pen
Ink: De Atrementis Document Ink Black
Colours: New Gambodge, French Ultramarine & Burnt Sienna
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada

“A person’s identity,” Amin Maalouf wrote as he contemplated what he so poetically called the genes of the soul, “is like a pattern drawn on a tightly stretched parchment. Touch just one part of it, just one allegiance, and the whole person will react, the whole drum will sound.”
— BrainPickings.org

Chi Mai and I went to a live model workshop today and it was an exciting experience. We were 8 artists, we paid $15 for a session of 3 hours and the model was exceptional. He weaved his body into shapes that could only stem from a dancer’s body and also someone who practices some form of meditation. We started at 1:00 pm sharp and had five 1 minute sessions, then we had  minute sessions, then 10 and finally we finished with three 20 minute sessions back-to-back.

To prepare for this I decided that I would do some “gesture” drawings for the one minute sessions where I tried to capture the movement as opposed to the shape of the model. In five seconds I needed to sketch the entire body and its movement, which is quite fast and is excellent in taking out the tension in our bodies. Then I moved to “contour” drawing for the longer sessions. If you are interested in learning more about these techniques, there is an excellent book that I have had for years that is named — Nicolaides “The Natural way to Draw” that is well worth the price. Here are two examples of what I tried to do.

If you would like to join us, these live model sessions go on every first Saturday of the month and you can find the info here. On top of this, the location is quite exceptional as there is small park, hundreds of graffitis, NO parking meters? (can you believe this), an overpass, an exceptional view of the city (if you go on the overpass outside). All in all, a really nice experience!

Workshop: Atelier Modèle Vivant Art-Faubert avec Karsten Kroll Danseur
Location:    5795, De Gaspé, Montréal

WHO LOVES THE TREES BEST?
Who loves trees best?
“I,” said the spring,
“Their leaves so beautiful
To them I bring.”

Who loves the trees best?
“I,” summer said,
“I give them blossoms,
White, yellow, red.”

Who loves the trees best?
“I,” said the fall,
“I give luscious fruits,
Bright tints to all!”

Who loves the trees best?
“I love them best,”
Harsh winter answered,
“I give them rest.”
— The Pearl Story Book” by Ada. M Skinner

And I love them ALL! I have started drawing again on a regular basis and for me, drawing comes first and painting is secondary. I love painting, do not get me wrong, but if the drawing is weak, the painting will be weaker in my humble point of view. The drawing needs to have life, before starting to paint. However, I do know that one of these days I will paint without any drawn lines, it will be as is. I am not ready for that day, so I am happy to be drawing and I am also waiting in anticipation for that day.

Paper: Moleskine Sketchbook
Fountain Pen: Sailor Desk fountain pen
Ink: De Atrementis Document Ink Black
Location: from my imagination -)))

Sensory perception is the silken web that binds our separate nervous systems into the encompassing ecosystem.
— David Abram

We went to a pottery workshop today and it was very very nice! I had never “thrown” clay before, and it was very interesting. I woke up this morning at 6:15 am to wash, make coffee with my Corning percolator (which exploded on the gas burner, which I never figured out why) and left for 7:15 am to pick up my very good friend Hélène at her house and then drive off to Hemmingford for Ronald Pothier Potier’s Workshop that was starting at 9:00 am. He gave us a course on the history of clay vs pottery, how it is found in nature, gave us several demos on how to make balls and center our pieces in order to create something. I went in this workshop just wishing to learn the process with the result being secondary… even tertiary. To close one’s eyes and just try to centre the piece was worthy of a whole month’s work… just centering the piece gave me an immense sense of satisfaction. I knew though that I needed to try and create something in the short time frame. Throwing is difficult as it is physically demanding in the sense that wishing a piece to go upwards is very different than just letting a piece go up…? By the end of the 6th piece, it just happened. Easily, without physicality and the piece created itself… and me, sitting there… looking at its form emerge, just tweaking it the way that I thought that it wanted it to go… and it was a piece! I think that I created a candle holder -)))

What I cannot get over is the fact that I did not take any pictures whatsoever of the beautiful space, place, pieces and people. How could I have forgotten to do that? So instead of showing you one of my pieces, I just did a quick sketch of my husband watching TV and he just turned into a woman’s profile. I do have problems with profiles — haha! — I must be tired -)))

I have to feel an empathy toward the subject, and desire to form a relationship with it, as I am inevitably affected by the feeling or mood.
— Dion Archibald

This is so funny as when I saw Shari’s post today I could not help myself from laughing as we must have been on the same wavelength as we painted the same subject today. Quite the subject I might add as this is a painting of my oldest brushes that I have in one special container that I bought years ago in Cuba. As you can see some of these brushes are haywire and not very usable, but still, they stand proud. I am still practicing the techniques that I have learn recently in Charles Reid’s DVD. It is funny as being a teacher, sometimes you wonder “how could the students not get this?” after many explanations…. and sometimes the answer to this is that they are not ready to receive that info, they are not mure enough… as was I many years ago when I was hearing some of these principles. Everything in its own time I guess and it is never too late to learn.

Paper: Arches Paper CP 6″ x 9″
Colors: Raw Sienna, Burnt Sienna Raw Umber, French Ultramarine
Location: Rigaud, Québec, Canada