PROSPECTORS TENT, ICE FOLLIES 2023

 

Sunday afternoons visited the art exhibition Ice Follies on Lake Nipissing. Now I confess that I did not see the exhibition at night , which might be quite interesting. So I can only comment on my reaction to the various displays on the lake. Over the years I have enjoyed looking at the wide variety of the many creative art works. I must say that I was disappointed in the overal quality of the various art works on display. The overal show lacked the creative WOW factor. However it was nice to see the work of these North Bay artists.

WINTER PATTERNS

We are on our first steps to the beginning of Spring. Well it has been a rough Winter season with lots of snow and ice. The last few days have been very pleasant with lots of sun and very comfortable temperatures during the daytime. Following David Hockney’s example I did not go far to get some interesting images. So here is an example of my Winter pattern. pictures taken in our garden and on my simple walks around our neighbourhood.

BREADLINE, FDR MEMORIAL, WASHINGTON, DC

 

Looking at my pictures from my trip to Washington last Fall, I came across this image of the breadline by George Segal. What a magnificent rendition of the grinding poverty of the nineteen thirties. Of course what makes this artwork so interesting is the relevance to our own disturbing times.

ALEXANDRIA, VA

 

Last September our daughter Monique took me on a trip to Washington, DC. One of the places we visited was the city of Alexandria, VA, where we stayed for a few days. It’s a place which I found quite attractive,    

Of course we were not the only visitors who were drawn to this well preserved historical city. Walking downtown I photographed this old truck and sculpture of a horse. It was early morning and the golden sunlight created a city landscape with rich colours and texture. The additional pattern of sun flare, added to the visual impact of this colourful Fall scene.

INSPIRATION

 It has been quite awhile since my last posting. Why did I not post? Well, no particular reason, of course I could come up with a variety of excuses but I think the simple fact is that I suffered from lack of inspiration. Then at Christmas we opened a gift , which was a very wonderful book titled My Window by David Hockney. It is a book full of drawings done exclusively on iPhone and iPad. David Hockney is an absolute master using these digital tools. But more than his technical control is his creative approach to a simple subject, his view from his bedroom window. 

Following his idea, I took some photographs of the view from our front room of the Winter garden. I included Hockney’s book contrasting the brightly coloured drawing with the Wintery scene outside. Waiting for Spring would be a good title for this image.

LANDSCAPE WITH HAND

 

Screaming Heads, popular place to visit. Roaming around is quite amazing when coming across various large concrete screaming sculptures or mysterious hands coming from the ground. Of course it is an inviting place for photographers looking for some unusual landscapes filled with mysterious composition of large concrete figures. 

ABANDONED OLD BARN

Found this old dilapidated barn near Levine. Light is what gives this image dimension and drama. The strong textures of the wood surface and the rectangular shapes, makes this a picture with strong visual stopping power.

A GLORIOUS SUMMER

 

Walking home, I marvel at this quiet and yes, romantic Summer landscape. Actually I think the word quiet is not exactly the correct word because the rich textures of the clouds and trees  are a visual, translation of some of Beethoven’s great romantic symphonies.

LOVE LOVE LOVE

 

Sitting here listening to the loud sound and show of a thunderstorm while posting this new picture. I had gone downtown to take some pictures of this street art, which I had seen before but simply forgot to photograph. While I went to take these specific pictures , my next mistake after parking the car was realizing that I forgot my camera. A rather stupid mistake because it meant driving home . Then I was rescued by phone. So I took a few images but the light was wrong. This enigmatic picture is I definitely like.

HOUSE, NORTH BAY

 

A strange, grim looking house. Vaguely inspired by Art Deco style. You simply have to wonder who thought about designing a dwelling like this. Well the original owner obviously was very satisfied with the final result. Looking at the photograph, this image still intrigues me. I guess it’s the stark coloured design of the various graphic elements.

FOUNDATION REMAINS

 

On the same place where I photographed  the landscape from yesterday’s posting, I took some pictures of the remains of an unknown building. I have no idea what it was but I was intrigued by this foundation. This image has a much richer tonal value than the previous landscape. That picture had a stark graphic composition reflecting a feeling of emptiness and loneliness. 

LAKE NIPISSING

 

Last week my friend Dan told me about a little trail leading to the shores of Lake Nipissing, which was surprisingly unknown to me. So yesterday afternoon I decided to go on a little photo exploration walk. It was quite a small area with a few interesting picture areas. Here a result from that walkabout. Just for the interest of some of my photo friends, no I did not add the sky to this image but of course I did some personal interpretations to the picture with a quite dramatic results. I was quite satisfied with the final result  of this print. 

FOUND STREET ART

 

One of my ongoing topics of interest is finding different abstract art images while on my photo walkabouts. I noticed this piece of painted plywood leaning against a house on one of the downtown streets. If someone had been around, I would have asked if I could have. It would have been a nice addition to my curios collection.

ANTIQUE STORE, NORTH BAY

 

On a little walkabout in the city, I passed a antique store, which I had visited in the Winter. But this time There was a bizarre looking display on the sidewalk which I had to photograph of course. This little store is definitely worth a visit. 

A VERY WET DAY

 

It certainly was not a great Sunny day. It rained starting in the early morning.   Instead of going on a photo trip, I stayed home to work on some of my pictures from my archive. Well not all day I decided to take some pictures in our garden. Instead of using my camera I continued with a challenge I set myself to start working with my phone camera. It is something I resisted but after reading an interesting article on phone photography, the idea is to start working with this tool and learn how much time it will take to master this rather basic tool.

A TREASURE FROM THE TREASURE MILL

 

Well, as promised, here is the “treasure” I bought last Saturday. I’s a beautiful made puppet. We have no idea where it was made and we have to do some restoration  work to it. For instance the strings are all entangled. This will take some work. The costume however is simply magnificently designed and made. Yes it certainly is a treasure. A wonderful little art work which will enrich our home.

TREASURE MILL, POWASSAN REOPENED

 

It’s been two years but this Spring my favourite store and picture taking place The Treasure Mill in Powassan has reopened and it still is a treasure trove of a wide variety of interesting bric-á-brac. Of  course I could not resist and had to buy a quite fascinating object, which I will show in a future posting. Here a view of just a very tiny but busy display in the store.I would say go and have a look.

SUMMER LANDSCAPE

 

On my way home yesterday I stopped to take some pictures of this dramatic sky. The colour version was fine but thinking about the pictures of Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Weston, two photographers I was reading about in the last few weeks, I planned to make the picture in black and white. It was the right decision. How dramatic, reminiscent of the powerful landscapes of John Turner.

KINSMEN BEACH, NORTH BAY

 

This weekI concentrated on pictures of our garden. It is amazing how lush the garden is this Summer. Today however I decided to go and take some pictures at the Kinsmen Beach on Lake Nipissing. It was very quiet and peaceful. The sky had some dramatic clouds. While I made some interesting images, I concentrated on a group of trees, which, I think, resulted in a fine composition.

GARDEN QUILT

 Lately we became acquainted with the work of a remarkable group of very creative artists, the quilters of Gee’s Bend, Alabama. Their quilts have inspired me to look at my wife’s  garden and seeing how she combines a wide variety of textures, patterns and colours, which are three dimensional tapestries reminiscent to me of the beautiful quilts from Gee’s Bend.