Daily Sketch: R.I.P. Boushey's Fruit Market

Boushey's Fruit Market (1946-2016)

It's official. The Boushey's Fruit Market at 347 Elgin St. in Ottawa is officially closed forever as of July 31st

Mark Boushey said,

"It's bittersweet. We realize how iconic it is, but it's also a tiring job,"
"Everything has a beginning and end. We have to move on."

(Source CBC)

I am embarrassed to admit that I have always pronounced the store name as "Boo-shey's" and it took the news reports of the store's closing to learn that the owners pronounce it as "Bow-shey's".

When I walked by on July 31st, folks were signing a piece of bristol board with messages of thanks and best wishes - the neighbourhood loved Boushey's! (See: CBC http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/bousheys-closes-70-years-1.3702592)

Trevor Pritchard tweet

My sketch was done when the store was almost completely empty and any merchandise that was left was being sold at 50% off.

My full sketch (watercolour)

Wishing the owners and the workers the very best in their future endeavors. And thanks for being there for so many years!

More Daily Painting & Urban Sketching in July

My Tweet

I must apologize. I have been incredibly busy with a number of deadlines and art projects on the go. I will try to post when I can in July but, for now, here is a small sample of some of the pieces that I have been working on.

"Mom" (acrylic 6x6)

My mother (above) passed away on June 30, 1981 and I miss her every day still. She would have been 80 years old on July 7. 2016. She has been on my mind a lot. I love her smile in this portrait. I always loved her smile.

"Rangoon Restaurant" (acrylic 6x6)

I plan to keep up with my urban sketches in my sketchbook but to also practice doing one quick 6 x 6 acrylic each day in under 2 hours. And to stop sharp - which is REALLY hard. (See my tweet of a Dave Coverly cartoon here https://twitter.com/cindiforeman/status/752136757919883264)

More samples

So the paintings here are NOT polished gems but they are samples of my daily practice pieces. Like a musician practices by playing scales - I am playing with subject matter, composition, colour schemes, getting the values right etc. I like to place a bunch of 6x6 samples down and ask my family which one they like best. They all have different favourites!

More samples.

My blog posts will be quite scant for July and August. It's much quicker and easier for me to post my daily sketches and paintings using my mobile apps for my Instagram and/or twitter accounts. You can follow me there at https://www.instagram.com/cindiforeman/ or https://twitter.com/cindiforeman

Have a great summer!

Missing Last Summer's Group Art Adventures & Trying To Compensate

I miss my plein air group from last summer 2015

And I miss my "Alley Project" crew

It's June and I have to admit that I am really missing my plein air group from summer 2015

as well as last summer's "Ottawa Alley Project" sketching crew.

Bike-n-sketch study: Patterson Creek, Glebe, Ottawa
(two pages of Starthmore art journal; 100% cotton paper; watercolour and gouache)

It's well known that I love organized sketching (i.e. Ottawa Urban Sketchers which developed organically following the "Ottawa Alley Project" group) and group painting (i.e David Jones plein air group)  events. So far, this summer, I have had to decline participating in group activities like these for various reasons beyond my control.

To compensate, I have created some different types of solo activities for myself to keep my creative juices flowing., The two main activities that I have engaged in for inspiration are:

• One hour solo bike-n-sketch outings
• Painting from photos

One hour Bike-n-sketch

Bike-n-sketch - my one hour sketch June 22

Bike-n-sketch outings are so fun. I load my bike up with art supplies and head to a bike path along the Rideau canal and stop and sketch for one hour.

NO matter how filled my day is, I can almost always carve out one hour for myself to sit outside and sketch. This, I find, is a lot more challenging than the luxury of spending over eight hours at a lavender farm like last summer, because I must really get down to business quickly in one hour and quit (finished or not) and jump back on my bike to head home!

So far I have done the Mill on the Ottawa River; the tulips in Major Hill Park; the Rideau locks beside the Chateau Laurier and, most recently, the Patterson Creek in the Glebe.

Painting from photos

"Fox on the rocks"
acrylic (6x6) on Strathmore canvas paper

I have been painting from photos that I find online or photos that I have taken while walking my dog. I call some of these my "scouting pictures". I do a quick study from the photograph at home and then think about going back with my easel and acrylics later when time permits to do a plein air painting later.

The small "Fox on the rocks" study (above) that I did came quite naturally after being inspired by Ottawa artist/writer Andrew King on twitter (https://twitter.com/twitandrewking).

Andrew was recently tweeting about his "Solstice Serpent" adventures (Secret of the Snake: Ancient Ontario Serpent Mound Could Be Summer Solstice Monument) and posted a photo of a fox that was watching him while he was on his adventure. I loved the photo and did a quick 6x6 study.

I was so, SO delighted when Andrew saw my small acrylic study on twitter and posted this:

This tweet from artist Andrew King made my day!

And, of course, I always do a #DailySketch, like this recent one of my dear Lexie sitting in my chair. My daily sketches are quick (maximum two hours) activities that I usually do first thing in the morning while waiting for laundry to wash and dry!

"Dog Days Of Summer" a daily sketch
using three colours:  🖌Quinacridone gold 🖌 Burnt umber 🖌Winsor blue

Even though this summer means less opportunities for beloved group art outings, I continue to find visual inspiration everywhere and I manage to carve out at least two hours each day to do what I love most - create and share my art.

Today's Daily Sketch - "Sketch Du Jour"

The purpose of today's post is to share some "jour" themed sketches and ramble a bit about the word "jour".

I take it as some sign of serendipity or synchronicity that the word "jour" has been popping up and causing me to take pause over the past few days.

JOURNEY

First, it was a lovely piece, "The Art of Arrival", written by Rebecca Solnit that immediately started with what the word "journey" used to mean:

BONJOUR

Then I was drawn to the light at my front door, and the coat rack with the winter coats (*sigh* still) and the sign in the hallway that says "Bonjour".

My Moleskine daily sketch " Bonjour"
Lexington Grey Noodlers ink and watercolour

JOURNAL

Then I though a little about my art journal and how, as part of my daily practice, I sketch in it each and every day or "chaque jour" and create what could be called a "sketch du jour" or "daily sketch.

CONTRE JOUR

I couldn't help but follow this tangent even farther and I encountered a new term"contre jour" which is French for "against daylight". I guess I had not heard of it before because it is a photographic term and technique in which the camera is pointing directly toward a source of light, like this:

"contre jour"

On of my favourite Ottawa photographers, Christopher Ryan, had posted a recent photo to facebook that I thought "that would be fun to sketch" and I realized that what I liked about it was that it was a contre jour photo of sorts. The light is in such a way that only the silhouettes of the couple holding hands is visible. I loved that and the shapes and colours of all the signage. I liked the photo so much I asked Christopher for permission to use it as a reference for the daily sketch below.

Photo by Christopher Ryan (used here with permission)

My art journal colour study of "Elgin St"
 (Gouache on 100% cotton paper)

SOJOURN

I will end this post with the word "sojourn" which is both a noun and a verb meaning an impermanent stay reached by journey, or a period of temporary residence. (The words sojourn and journey are cognate through their roots in the French word jour, meaning "day").

A synonym for "sojourn" is "rest" which will be a future blog post

A dictionary of etymology of the English language: and of English synonymes ... By John Oswald

Isn't it funny how a single word "jour" can take you down an interesting path that can feed your art?

This "tangent du jour" led me to another artist, Paul Madonna, who marries his art with text in a most fascinating way.

Paul Madonna quote

"Madonna is an artist and writer with a background in painting and is best known for his series All Over Coffee, which he calls a 'strip,' a comic strip without the comic. Madonna's ink-on-paper drawings are characterized by their detailed depictions of urban cityscapes paired with stories. Madonna prefers to draw on site and straight to ink" (Source: Wikipedia)

Results from a google search of Paul Madonna

If you are unfamiliar with Paul Madonna's work, I strongly suggest that you visit his website https://www.paulmadonna.com/

Who knows what kind of journey it will take you on aujourd'hui? Enjoy!

My Daily Sketch - Lovely Lily

My daily sketches are really important to me for a number of reasons. They are a permanent record of my journey as an artist over the years and my sketches record everything I love.

"Lovely Lily" in my art journal
(Strathmore500 series - 100% cotton paper)

I have so many art journals filled with my urban sketches created from direct observation or sketches made from photographs that I have taken or found in magazines or online.

Sometimes the daily sketch idea is born from something I heard on the radio, or poetry I have read or an article that inspired me. Often I sketch members of my family. In fact, I sketch family a LOT!

Daily Sketch "Lovely Lily"
(Gouache and watercolour)

This was a family photo posted on Instagram captioned, "When you call her a cat and she insists she is a lion!!! ROAR " I have such love for this sweet child (and her whole family) Of course "Lovely Lily" is today's daily sketch!

Daily Sketch: Centretown Melt

"Centretown Melt"
Watercolour, gouache and pen and ink on 100% cotton paper

Done in two hours while I was waiting for my laundry to dry.

Photo on left and progression from watercolour to final mixed media.

My Daily Sketch: Ottawa Snow Storm

In February, a winter storm hit Ottawa dropping a record-setting 51.2 cm of snow! (The previous record of 45.7 cm was set on Feb. 8, 1895.)

Ottawa photographer (and self-named history nerd) Christopher Ryan posted a number of breathtaking photographs on his twitter feed, and instagram and I knew that I just had to do a daily sketch of one of them in my moleskine!

Daily Sketch in my moleskine

I used my Lamy safari fountain pen, two pentel water brushes (one loaded with Noodler's Lexington gray and the other with Noodler's Raven black ink) and a uni-ball 1.0 white gel pen.

My #DailySketch essentials

My DailySketch Kit Essentials

(This kit travels with me wherever I go)

• Moleskine sketchbook
• Lamy Safari (med nib) 
• Noodler's Ink: Lexington Gray
• Noodler's Ink: The Raven forevermore
• Uni-ball Signo white (1.0) gel pen
• HB woodless pencil

On The First Day Of Christmas....

My Centretown Gave To Me".....

I walk the sidewalks in Centretown, Ottawa a couple times of day with my yellow labrador retriever Lexington ("Lexie") and I always see things that I want to sketch!

I carry a camera so that I can take a quick photo of things that catch my eye and, time permitting, I will do a quick sketch (1 to 2 hours) when I get home. I call these my daily sketches and I post them on twitter using the twitter hashtag #dailysketch.

My #dailysketches are very different from my #urbansketches or my #pleinair paintings which are always done on location.

I thought it would be a fun December challenge to sketch the twelve days of Christmas in Centretown. I am already at Day 8, but I am anxious and a wee bit worried about finding material for Days 9-12!

When the daily sketch is finished, I will tweet it and add it here. I hope you enjoy! Best of the season to you and your loved ones.

"Wooden Snowman", Cooper St."
Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch
(ink and watercolour)

On the First Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me..

A Snowman Carved From A Tree

"Two Shefford Urns", Cooper St.

Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch

(ink and watercolour)

On the Second Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me..

Two Shefford Urns,

and a Snowman Carved From A Tree

"Three (O'Connor) Door Wreaths", O'Connor St.

Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch

(mixed media)

On the Third Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me..

Three Door Wreaths
Two Shefford Urns
and a Snowman Carved From A Tree

"Four Candy Canes", Bank St.

Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch

(mixed media)

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me..

Four Candy Canes, 
Three Door Wreaths,
Two Shefford Urns,
and a Snowman Carved From A Tree

"Five for Fifty Sale"", Aziz & Company, Bank St.

Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch

(mixed media)

On the Fifth Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me..

Five for Fifty Sale,
Four Candy Canes, 
Three Door Wreaths,
Two Shefford Urns,
and a Snowman Carved From A Tree

"Six Skaters Skating", Ottawa City Hall
Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch

On the Sixth Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me

Six Skaters Skating, 

Five for Fifty Sale, 

Four Candy Canes, 

Three Door Wreaths, 

Two Shefford Urns, 

and a Snowman Carved From A Tree

"Seven 'Franks A Grilling", Bank & Laurier,
Cindi Foreman-Moynahan's art journal sketch

On the Seventh Day of Christmas, My Centretown Gave To Me
Seven 'Franks' A Grilling

Six Skaters Skating, 

Five for Fifty Sale, 

Four Candy Canes, 

Three Door Wreaths, 

Two Shefford Urns, 

and a Snowman Carved From A Tree