The installation is complete. I dropped in to Earls Court Gallery today for a sneak preview of Measure of a Year with two friends from Toronto. We had a great visit, and their welcome company helped settle my pre-opening nerves. The show, Measure of a Year, runs until June 13 but the opening party is tomorrow, May 9 from 7–9 pm, 215 Ottawa Street North, Hamilton Ontario. Everyone is welcome!
It’s been busy around here for the last couple of years and now, I’ve got a whole new body of work ready to show. Please join me for my opening on May 9, between 7 and 9 pm, at Earls Court Gallery on Ottawa Street North in Hamilton Ontario. I’ll also be at the gallery for most of the day on Saturday May 11 for those who prefer daytime visits! And while you’re here, stay for a bit. There are all kinds of places where you can eat and explore in the Ottawa Street North neighbourhood.
Whale Cove Seawall Enhancement Proposal
Mixed Media 12″ x 12″
Dark Harbour Seawall Enhancement Proposal
Mixed Media 12″ x 12″
My two mixed media drawings, Dark Harbour Seawall Enhancement Proposal, and Whale Cove Seawall Enhancement Proposal are part of this year’s Annual Square Foot Show in New Brunwsick’s Grand Manan Art Gallery. I’ve been playing with ideas about what else could be built with the materials used to build piers and fishing weirs on the island, inspired by the driftwood sculpture constructions by Lars Vilks that are found on the shores of the proud, free micronation of Ladonia. I’m a citizen of Ladonia of course, and would certainly apply for citizenship of Grand Manan, were it possible to do so. In the meantime, I can only offer my collection of modest proposals. The Square Foot Show continues until July 14, 2016.
Supposing the wreckage of the Fishfluke Light, that used to mark the entrance to Grand Harbour in Grand Manan NB, were to be gathered up and reconstructed? And, what if the abandoned and disintegrating wooden lobster pounds was recycled to build a swing bridge crossing to Ross Island at the end of Thoroughfare Road? To move, the bridge would need some sort of mechanism besides the tide of course.
Proposal for Thoroughfare Crossing and Fishfluke Light Reconstruction, Mixed Media 18″ x 24″
There may be others, but the only wooden winch that I’ve ever seen is kept in a smoke shed at Seal Cove, where the late Michael Zimmer preserved many historic artifacts of the Atlantic smoked-herring fishery in his Sardine Museum and Herring Hall of Fame. My drawing of it, Winch Herring Shed, is in the permanent collection at the Grand Manan Art Gallery and Proposal for Thoroughfare Crossing and Fishfluke Light Reconstruction is in the Island Art Show there from August 8 to 27 2015.
Winch, Herring Shed, Pen and Ink on Toned Paper, 10″ x 12″
Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking South, Mixed Media 12″ x 12″ SOLD
Dark Harbour Span Concept looking North, Mixed Media 12″x12″ SOLD
My two small mixed media drawings “Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking North”, and “Dark Harbour Span Concept Looking South” are part of this year’s Square Foot Show at the Grand Manan Art Gallery in New Brunswick. My drawings were inspired by the amazing and mysterious tower at the mouth of the outlet to Grand Manan‘s Dark Harbour, the abundant driftwood on its shores and the wonderful driftwood sculptures (Nimis) built by Lars Vilks in the nature reserve Kullaberg, in the northwest corner of county Skåne, in Sweden, in the (similar-to-Grand Manan) micronation of Ladonia. The show continues until July 16, 2015. @Queen_Ladonia, @LadoniaHerald @Ladonia_Info @SeeNewBrunswick
My 12”x12” mixed media drawing on a wood panel was part of Hamilton Artist’s Inc. annual fundraising show, Squared
Please Do Not Drive…12″x12″ Mixed Media
Stone Table and Benches, Gould Farm Carbon Pencil on Paper 18″ x 24″
We travelled a lot this spring and summer, in North America and later in Britain. Here are some of the highlights of our trip as recorded in my sketchbooks. In June, I visited Gould Farm, in the Berkshire Mountains of Massachusetts where my friend Rose is a volunteer. She wrote and edited a wonderful cookbook to celebrate the farm’s 100th anniversary as a healing and rehabilitation centre – and to raise money for this marvelous organization.
Barry planned three workshops for the summer: Toronto was first, in July.
Doctor’s House Pioneer Village 12″ x 16″ Watercolour
Gate, University College U of T 8.5 ” x 11″ Pen and Ink
Next, we travelled to Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick, in the Bay of Fundy.
Light keepers House Swallowtail Light, Grand Manan 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink
Seal Cove Sheds and Spools 18″ x 24 “Charcoal with Watercolour
Early in August, we moved on to the Cotswold District in England.
Broadway Village, Cotswolds England 9″ x 12″ Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper
Stanway House, Cotswolds England 9″ x 12″ Pen, Ink and White Charcoal on Toned Paper
When the workshops were over, we visited Cornwall for 10 days.
Porthgwarra Village View 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink
Mevagissey Harbour, Cornwall 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink
Low Tide, Mevagissey Cornwall 8.5″ x 11″ Pen and Ink
I was included in a profile of two University of Guelph graduates in the May 2013 issue of the University Alumni magazine, Portico. Author Andrew Vowles connected us after meeting each of us in open life drawing sessions here in Hamilton. Ward Shipman, the photographer for the Portico piece, is another regular in the same life drawing circles. I really look forward to any opportunity to spend time drawing from life. The experience keeps my hand and eyes tuned, but I love the state of mind that can be achieved by focusing entirely on the process of observing something carefully through drawing: a meditation when it’s going well.
I’ve been participating in two life drawing circles in Hamilton since we arrived in 2012. On Sundays you can draw from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on the top floor of the Vasco Da Gama building on Hamilton’s James Street North, between Cannon and Mulberry streets. Look for the sandwich board on the street outside. It costs $10 and is run by artist John Martin. Anne Becker, the owner of 337 Sketch Gallery (located at 337 Ottawa Street near Barton Street in Hamilton,) opens up her own studio above the gallery for life drawing from 7 to 9:30 p.m. on Mondays. The fee is $12.50. Make sure to be a little early. The street door gets locked promptly.
I’m still under the spell of the January light and landscape in Ireland’s Cork and Waterford Counties. Here are a few more of my drawings, some in pen and ink, and several in pen, ink and white charcoal on toned paper.
Goat Island Ardmore, by Aleda O’Connor 8 1/2″ x 11″ Pen and Ink
It would be hard not to be inspired by the light and landscape in the south of Ireland at any time of the year.
Gate, Lismore Castle, by Aleda O’Connor 3″ x 4″ Pen and Ink
My Irish friends and family thought I was a bit odd choosing to visit in January and urged me to come when the weather was “better,” but I haven’t regretted my timing for a moment.
Middle Glanmire Road, Cork by Aleda O’Connor 8 1/2 ” x 11″ Pen and Ink
While I was admiring the palm trees, primroses, daffodils and gorse in bloom, my family was confronting blizzards at home in Ontario.
Blackwater River Near Villierstown County Waterford, by Aleda O’Connor 8 1/2″ x 11″
Above the Pier, Ardmore, by Aleda O’Connor
3″ x 4″ Pen and Ink
This trip was a bit of a sentimental journey to say hello to family, friends and visit a landscape I hadn’t seen for a while, so I especially appreciated finding some of my old haunts in Waterford and Cork Counties empty of tourists.
Without leaves on the trees and hedges, it was much easier to see the landscape.
My sketchbook was a great companion, especially for someone travelling alone.
Aleda O'Connor 