To T.O. two times

Two trips to Toronto, and a few drawings.  The first is the Evergreen Brick Works in the Don Valley.  I used to ride by it when I was a kid.  It was still in operation then, but on its last legs.  A friend's brother worked there, in quality control - which meant hitting each brick with a little hammer.  "Plink" was good, "plunk" was bad.  Plink plink plink plunk.  Plink plink plink plink plunk...  No such edifying work any more - the area has been redeveloped as a market, cafes, gardens, a wetland, even a private school.  They retained and restored some of the original buildings, but lost the 100-years' worth of chaotic mess that I loved riding through.

Also a view of part of the city skyline from Don Mills.  Don Mills was the first "planned community" suburb, but it is now well treed.  It seems to have a little bit more architectural diversity and character than the endless subdivisions that now surround the city.

And, in case anyone thought that the view out from the Toronto airport is any different than the view from any other airport ... it isn't.  Except perhaps for the subtly distinct skyline of Mississauga in the distance.

The Beach Lady, and many others - for sale, cheap!

A reminder about the life drawing show at Sandrine Pellisier's studio - 125 Garden Avenue, North Vancouver - from 6-9pm Friday June 19 and 10am-5pm Saturday June 20.  Hot off the watercolour block, "The Beach Lady" will be for sale - cheap! - along with many others by all the talented people who draw and paint at Simply Drawing life drawing sessions.

Mo' Edmo'

I took an extra day on last week's trip to Edmonton to go to Elk Island National Park, about 45 minutes east of the city (at least that's how long it took at 4 a.m., as I headed out at robin o'clock to see some eastern birds).  There were no people, great trails, lots of birds and bigger wildlife - but also mosquitoes.  Not quite as big as the bison, but more aggressive.  I can draw in hot and cold, busy cities, mountaintops, wind and even rain, but the bugs defeated me.  So my only drawing was of Lake Astotin, from a bluff where the wind kept the little biters away.  It seems unfair that when summer finally comes after the looong winter, people only have two weeks to enjoy it before the onslaught begins.  I guess it makes them tougher...

Speaking of tough people, I tried to venture beyond the funky confines of Whyte Avenue to draw the more typical Edmonton of vacant lots, industrial yards, warehouses, oil drilling equipment storage, malls, more oil drilling equipment storage, more vacant lots.  That lovely scenery for an urbansketcher seems to stretch for miles around the city and starts within a couple blocks of Whyte Avenue.  But when I ventured there I ran into an unconscious (I'm assuming) body in an alley, a drug-addict trying to break down the back door of a metal-working shop, and two guys on motorcycles who made a point of swerving towards me to make me jump out of the way.  I decided to do another drawing of Whyte Avenue...

And finally, as always, the airport - this time on a golden summer evening.

Life drawing show

Sandrine Pellisier is organizing a show of life drawings from her Simply Drawing sessions.  There are a bunch of fabulously talented artists.  And me, too.  The show is at her studio, 125 Garden Avenue, North Vancouver (near the west end of 1st St by the old railway station), Friday June 19 6-9pm and Saturday June 20 10am-5pm.  As well as more finished works, there will also be drawings for $5 and up.  For $100, you could probably wall-paper your bathroom in original art!  Here are a few from me:

More flamenco

Some more recent flamenco drawings.  I'm hoping to work up to something show-worthy for an exhibition of flamenco-themed art at Basic Inquiry in September.