The Brule-a painting

 

I have a bit of a fascination with old signs.  I also have a bit of a fascination with the historical figure of Brule.  He was perhaps the first person of European descent to see all the Great Lakes, perhaps the first to touch the shores of what is now Hamilton, and spent much time with the Ouendat (Huron) people in the regions around   Georgian Bay where my family cottage is.  Likely illiterate, he never wrote anything himself and thus he is a bit mystery, appearing only in the writings of a few notable figures such as Champlain and the Jesuit missionaries like Brebeuf.  Some of the things they share are not particularly flattering but none the less we cannot deny his historical significance.

The bar and hotel over which this sign hangs is in Penetanguishene and has been closed as long as I can remeber.  Apparently it has quite an infamous history itself.  Currently the building is under renovation and I don't know what will happen with the sign.  It seemed a good time to try to capture it.  

Doors

One of my favorite #HamOnt artists, Julia Veenstra,  recently tweeted a picture of a purple door in the neighbourhood exclaiming, "I must paint this." I can relate to that sentiment.  I actually went through a bit of  door phase a while back.  They had to be old, they had to be unique, and other than that a door.  I can't really explain why my attention was captivated, but it was.  It does, however, remind me to slow down a bit and to be attentive.  There is so much that we walk by everyday and just take for granted.  But if we begin to look a bit more closely then there are amazingly fascinating things all around us all the time. 

So there they are...doors of Hamilton (except for the red barn door...that is a shout out to Milton!)

Penetanguishene Painting

Here is a quick painting I did on a day of at the cottage.  

Georgian Bay, Giants Tomb (the island in the background ) and a canoe, some of my favourite things.

New Painting

I am mixing things up this week and so here is a new painting on Wednesday.  This is the third and final work in my "gift for my interns" series.

Friday Art-Iconic Canadian Brand

After seven weeks of serving in Canada, and in particular in Hamilton, I wanted to be able to give the interns who had been with us this summer something to remember the experience by.  I was fairly certain this sign would not be seen very often in Louisiana, Virginia or Malaysia.  It is, after all, very Canadian. Hamilton also boasts the very first location so there is a #HamOnt connection as well.  

I did these sketches based on an incredible photo by George Qua Enoo that was taken while we were out together shooting by the old Motor City Hotel, on Queenston Rd.  

Rachel...yours is still coming!  (Being from Brampton a Tim Horton's sign is not particularly unique, so a Gore Park Fountain is in the works).

Friday Art-A Georgian Bay Sunset

We have a running joke in our family about "another Georgian Bay Sunset"

photo.  We probably have thousands between us.  Why is it that we always feel compelled to take another ?  It may be that they all seem to be unique and thus every sunset is a new work of art and a new experience.  It may be that every experience is like being enveloped in a brilliant work of art being created in that moment by the Master artist Himself and thus we try to capture that moment.  There is also the reality that no photo can ever fully capture the experience, although a few have come close, and thus we continue to seek after that elusive capture.  

I know I have personally taken photos, written songs and painting pictures and still don't feel that I have exhausted the well, nor quite done it justice.  And so, the effort continues.  Here is a recent contribution   from a few weeks back.  It is a sketch done on a cut off board from a construction project next door, painted at the beach on Georgian Bay.  It now hangs in the Edie Gallery just outside Penetanguishene, Ont...ha ha ( inside joke).