After the breathtaking Fall colours in Québec City yesterday our visit to the Ile d’Orlean today was just as spectacular with our first stop at the Montmorency Falls in the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency, before crossing the bridge to the Island where we picked apples, enjoyed the best strawberries and savoured every glorious colour-filled moment.
Home to Vancouver and the west coast tomorrow.
3.10.16
…the heaven’s embroidered cloths…W B Yeats
For this week’s Discover Challenge: Outer Layers Ben asks, “What story do the things you wear tell about you?… you can focus on one item that tells a story about you…from work uniforms and party gear to battered hoodies — and talk about their connection to your identity. ”
I have worn this apron in my studio for years and throughout this time the paint has accumulated on it in layers as you can see, just as it has on the paintings that have come and gone.
1.10.16
You may remember my painting Dad’s Tools for Day 330 of my Studio 365 last November. I thought for this week’s Photo Challenge: Nostalgia, in which Jeff Golinski asks, “What kinds of experiences stir emotions for the past within you?” this photograph of the tools, some of which are over seventy years old and which I still use lovingly today, would be the perfect answer to his question.
Dad’s Tools I 26.11.15
Dad’s Tools II 27.11.15
I have been struggling how best to respond to this week’s Daily Post Photo Challenge from Cheri in which she asks, “what quest means to you.”
Initially I thought, somewhat philosophically, that I would explore trying to represent the quest we all have had at some point in our lives for “the meaning of life,” but this week watching the horror and tragedy in Aleppo becoming more desperate each day, and seeing the heartbreaking images of little children, the same age as my beautiful granddaughter who is fifteen months old today, being pulled from the rubble of their homes, it is clear that the meaning of life had ended for them before it had even had a chance to begin.
Watching on my laptop one of Jeremy Bowen’s reports from Syria, one image stood out as a metaphor for all the White Helmet volunteer relief workers, first responders and medics who have lost their lives in the name of peace and humanity trying to save these children and families. This ambulance had been pulverized in targeted bombing and on its side are the words HAS YOUR HEART DIED, and hidden behind the pillar I believe the words read ALONG WITH YOUR CHILDREN?
How else to express both outrage and sadness but with pen and brush, ink and paper, as I have done too many times before:
And so you ask what is my answer to Cheri’s question,”What does quest mean to you?”It is simply that one day those responsible for these war crimes will be held accountable and brought to justice.
Aleppo 25.9.16
Here is the link to Jeremy Bowen’s report from September 14th:
Syria ceasefire: Aleppo district “pulverized”
Look who visited down the road here in Kitsilano this afternoon, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge who looked stunning in her Alexander McQueen outfit.
The raised eyebrow belongs to Vancouver’s mayor.
the gondolier 24.9.16
thechangingpalette 