UNTITLED, MONTREAL, PQ

Time to start posting again. I am working on putting a portfolio of my abstract images which I have collected over the years. These pictures are simply random fragments of various details, which I see and simply interest me. I have to agree with  the American art historian Kirk Varnedoe, who said "The less there is to look at, the more important it is that we look at it closely and carefully. This is critical to abstract art. Small differences make all the difference."

BOOKWUS GHOST MASK, NATIONAL GALLERY' OTTAWA

Time to start posting to my blog again. It has been a busy time visiting Ottawa and taking care of some projects in the last two weeks but now everything is back to our normal routine. We did get a chance to visit the National Gallery, where saw the  2017 Canadian Biennal.We very much enjoyed the exhibition I particularly liked this powerful Bookwus Ghost mask by the First Nation artist Beau Dick, who was a hereditary Chief from the "Namgis First Nation in British Columbia. . The description explained that a mask is only "activated" during some of the Kwakwak a'wakw ceremonies

WINTER, MAIN STREET, NORTH BAY

Today was a big cleanup day after yesterday's massive snow fall, but last night I looked at another of my images from yesterday morning and of course could not resist posting another picture of main Street in the Winter storm. This picture is a different interpretation, which I think shows the Winter condition even better than yesterdays.

FIRST WINTER STORM

Well, we certainly  will have a snowy Christmas. Today we got our first major snow storm of the season. I had to go downtown, which was quite a trip. Of course I had to mtake afew pictures and I mean just a few. This was the view of Main Street at about ten o'clock this morning. Of course not much traffic and certainly very few pedestrians. I was glad to be home and now time for some clean up.

WINTER DANCE

I titled this picture Winter dance because it looked so much like a joyous celebration of the arrival of the Winter. Of course I could have named it "admiring my work" because the sculptor is sitting on the bench resting after several hours of work, creating his snow sculpture. Actually the art work depicts a crown, but there is definitely a feeling of dancers enjoying the event.

KING STREET, NORTH BAY

What a difference in weather between today, snowing, and yesterday, sunny, when I took this picture walking downtown. The two house and the two cars look, at first glance, similar. The almost similarities was what attracted me to this simple cityscape.

EARLY SIGNS OF WINTER

Last week Gerry and I went on a little photo excursion around the different North bay parks and beaches, photographing thew first signs of the coming Winter season. It was a good time to concentrate on some  black and white images. Here is a picture showing the ice starting to form along the lake shore.

EARLY WINTER SNOW

Yesterday we had our first snow of the Winter. Of course I had to go and take my first pictures of these early winter landscapes. Every year it is a photographic ritual making our first Winter images of the new season. So this time I tried to bring a visually more interesting pictures and use a variety of techniques to re-create this autochrome view of Sunset Park here in North Bay.

NOVEMBER TRAIL

Across from our house I photographed this decaying tree. It took me some experimentation to get the result i was looking for, which is a style reminiscent of some of the Art Nouveau illustrators. I especially like Arthur Rackham. I think I this image comes quite close to his illustration style.

THE LAST OF THE FALL COLOURS

Most of the leaves are gone. A few days ago I made this picture at the Kinsmen Beach here in North Bay.. Most of the trees are bars with just a few remnants of colour left. Nature is getting ready for the snow and ice season. 

GORD DOWNIE AND LEONARD COHEN MURAL, NORTH BAY

On Saturday I heard about a mural, which was painted to commemorate two of our most beloved and famous Canadian musicians and poets, Gord Downie and Leonard Cohen, in downtown North bay. So of course I was eager to see it and photograph the painting. It is quite a good contribution. However it is painted on a wall in a small walkway, which is a pity I would have liked to see it in a more visual space in the downtown area.

STREET ART, NORTH BAY

Sunday mornings are always my favourite time to walk around the city. There are very few cars to obstruct the scenes I am interested in. I had seen this little alley earlier in week but it was of course packed with cars. yesterday morning only this truck was left. Actually it makes the image more interesting because it adds visual impact to this image.

GREEN AND BLUE DOORS

On one of our latest photo wanderings we revisited a favourite place of ours, which is one of the marinas on the South shore of Lake Nipissing. The old boathouses offer a wealth of interesting subject matter, like these colourful and richly textured details of a few boat sheds.

FALL, THE SOUTH RIVER, ONTARIO

Another great photo trip on a glorious fall day. Dan, Gerry and I decided to retrace our last trip to Restoule Provincial Park. On the way we first stopped off at the South river in Nipissing. Walking down a little trail I came upon this interesting scene. The boat and the dock were in the shade which was quite blue in stark contrast with the sunlight trees across the river. It was still early enough to have a slight fog rising above the water. 

STORMY LAKE, RESTOULE PROVINCIAL PARK

Another picture from last Thursday's photo trip. This time a view from the dock in Restoule park. I decided to post a black and white image, which I like because , even though colour is missing, it still depicts the season.

RESTOULE PROVINCIAL PARK

Last Thursday, Dan, John and I made another photo tour in the area. It was a perfect picture taking day, although the colours were definitely not at their peak. However we visited a variety of our favourite places including of course the beautiful Restoule Provincial Park. All in all we had a great day.

END OF THE SEASON

It was a grey, rainy day yesterday, when I walked along the empty government dock. . The Chief Commanda will be finishing the Summer season this Thanksgiving weekend before moving to Callander, where it will go in dry dock for the Winter. 

REMEMBERING KODACHROME

Last weekend I made another visit to one of my favourite photography spots, the Treasure Mill in Powassan. When I was working on the pictures I started to think how I missed the beautiful quality of the now historic Kodachromes. I just loved the rich colours and strong blacks of these photographic jewels. So lately I have started to experiment trying to recreate that special quality of the Kodachrome slides.

EARLY FALL GARDEN

Fall arrived early this year. I took this picture yesterday and the colours were quite vivid, also the leaves are already falling. Of course we can't resist getting our cameras and record this yearly colour feast. Our garden is again a magnificent display of texture colour. Pity it last only a short time. 

SUNRISE

Walking to my mailbox, early this morning, I made this picture of the early morning sunrise. it was just a beautiful beginning of this late Summer day.