Making Art Inspired by the Dumoine River

I previously blogged about the art retreat that I had been selected to attend that was organized by the Canadian Park and Wilderness (Ottawa Valley chapter known as CPAWS-OV). The retreat is called the Dumoine River Art For Wilderness (DRAW) and it took place on the Dumoine River in Quebec this past August.

Group photo taken at the Moore Farm in Gatineau, Qc. at the June DRAW2018 Meet and Greet

234 O'Connor - Another One Bites The Dust?

Centretown has a number of heritage properties that I enjoy sketching. Many are often scheduled for demolition through neglect (i.e. like the recent 293 Lisgar (Mauds Mortar) demolition D07-05-15-0006).

The most recent heritage home on the demolition block is at 234 O'Connor St in Centretown, Ottawa and the application will be heard at Ottawa City Hall (in the Champlain Room at 9:30) Thursday October 13, 2016.

The owner has made application to demolish the existing house and to create a temporary park (featuring a mix of hard and soft landscaping).

234 O'Connor St., Ottawa: notice of demolition application

The building at 234 O ’Connor Street is a two and one half storey, wood frame brick clad structure with a rubble stone foundation that was constructed between 1888 - 1915 and is an example of a simple vernacular Queen Anne dwelling. (Read Cultural Impact Statement here)

The property has been vacant for approximately 15 years after a fire that caused damage to the upper floors. The windows and doors have been removed and the openings have been covered with plywood. All interior finishes and fixtures have been removed, with the exception of the plaster ceilings on the ground floor of the original building

The City of Ottawa planning staff want the committee to deny the owner's application for demolition.

I decided to visit the site over the Thanksgiving weekend and take a few photos to sketch.

My ink sketch based on photo in Heritage report

234 O'Connor St., Ottawa (north side)

A couple of quick sketches from my sketchbook.

234 O'Connor St., Ottawa (rear)

My watercolour sketch of 234 O'Connor St.

From the Heritage Report:

"O’Connor St. between Cooper and Somerset was developed in the 1880’s as a residential neighbourhood consisting of two and three storey brick residences typically fronting on the east west streets ( Cooper and Somerset) with mid - block residences fronting on O’Connor. The development pattern remained static up until the early part of the 20 th century when low - rise apartment buildings were developed, and Dominion - Cha l mers United Church were constructed in the 194 0s . Ten years later, a second wave of apartment buildings were constructed in the area. one of which is located across the street from the site. Beginning in the late 1950s through to the mid 1960s, a number of residential properties were demolished withi n the block and across the st r eet , lots consolidated under one owner and developed as parking lots. By 1976 , the corner of O’Conner and Somerset within the block had been cleared and has served as a parking lot; the bui l ding to the south of the site was d emolished in 1997."

 234 O'Connor

• based on fire insurance maps, 234 O'Connor was constructed between 1888 and 1915.
• the exterior brick was painted to protect the relatively soft brick and has peeled off due to the building being vacant and unheated. 
• the verandah has been removed from the front of the building.
• there is a structural crack in the brick veneer extending up  the left corner of the rear (west) wall of the building due to settlement / movement in the stone foundation.
• In 1909, William Swetman (caretaker of the YMCA) lived there with Earl Swetman who was a student.

Source: My Heritage: The Ottawa City Directory, 1909

• City of Ottawa Meeting files http://ottwatch.ca/meetings/file/397553
• Ottawa Watch Development Applications
• Ottawa Citizen: Derelict Buildings of Ottawa (see photo screen capture below)

Todays Daily Sketch

"The colours of spring emerge with the first sweet sounds of song birds to fill our winter weary souls, bringing hope, new beginnings, and inspiration."

Sketching Mellos - Part II

Below is a photo of my art journal with some sketches that I did at at our "Sketching Mellos" event earlier this week.

My art journal
Urban sketches of Mellos restaurant, Dalhousie, Ottawa

I finally got around to scanning and here are my two favourite sketches from the day.

"Mellos Restaurant" (watercolour and ink)
by Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

"Mellos on Dalhousie" (ink and graphite wash)
by Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

I really enjoyed this sketch outing and I am hoping for a positive outcome for Mellos restaurant and the great workers there.

Daily Sketch

102 Lewis

Now that the cooler weather is returning to Ottawa, I was reviewing some of my urban sketches from this past spring and summer. This one was one of my first when Ottawa was just coming into spring and I sat in Minto Park watching folks come and go from this busy, beautiful house.

My Sketchbooks Come in Many Sizes

Various sizes of sketchbooks that I used over the years

Today's post was inspired by one of my favourite sketchers Teoh Yi Chie (known online as Parka Blogs)

Teoh Yi Chie (aka Parka Blogs)

Parka writes about art related stuff, reviews of art books that he reads and collects and he also produces videos. The video that inspired this blog post was called "Drawing in Sketchbooks of Different Sizes"

The best part about watching Teoh Yi Chie's videos (other than learning new things about sketching) is the opportunity to see his beautiful sketches from around the world.



Over the years I have used sketchbooks of various sizes. I like to be able to tuck it into a handbag, tote or backpack and it needs to have paper that can handle a lot of water. (I have written before about how I was forced to abandon a sketchbook because the paper was so bad)
I recently purchased an A3 sketching journal for the first time and I am not sure how practical that is (harder to carry around) but I will enjoy experimenting with it this fall.

My sketchbooks

Various sizes of sketchbooks that I used over the years

I was waiting for my daughter at the University of Ottawa and was sitting in the parking lot looking at this row of interesting buildings.

View from University of Ottawa parking lot

I always carry a little orange sketchbook in my tiny handbag for making quick sketches. I love this little sketchbook (the size and paper quality) and have never found it again in any shop sadly.

My tiny orange sketchbook

Here is the sketch I managed in twenty minutes:

20 minute sketch in parking lot

Teoh Yi Chie's video reinforces the fact that your mindset needs to adjust to yor subject based on the size of your sketchbook. 

• The smaller the sketchbook - the quicker the sketch.
• The larger the sketchbook -the more the detail.

Smaller sketchbooks require you to simplify and not fuss over the details of your subject. Just what is needed if you find yourself waiting in a parking lot. And that can be both liberating and fun.

Parka Blogs Links

Visit http://www.parkablogs.com/tags/sketchbooks-drawing... for all his sketchbook reviews Help him make more videos by supporting him on Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/parkablogs

• Website http://www.parkablogs.com/
• Facebook https://www.facebook.com/parkablogs
• Twitter https://twitter.com/ParkaBlogs
• Youtube https://www.youtube.com/user/teohyc/videos
• Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/parkablogs
• Vimeo https://vimeo.com/parkablogs/videos
• Tumblr http://parkablogs.tumblr.com/
• Instagram https://instagram.com/parkablogs/

Centretown Parking Huts

When I moved to Ottawa in 2002 I was struck by the number of parking huts in Centretown. Not only the parking huts, I also became familiar with a number of the parking attendants.

One parking atendant that I waved to every day was rumoured to have been a mathematics professor at the University of Ottawa.

Lot #1 - Gilmour

I decided to devote a blog post to some of the familiar parking huts in my neighbourhood. They are "manned" from Monday to Friday and I set out with my sketching stool to sketch them and learned quickly that not every parking attendant wanted to be featured in my sketches so I photographed the huts instead and photographed the willing parking attendants to sketch later.

Lot #2 - Dominion Chalmers

I use the term "parking hut" and some folks call them "parking booths". The word hut seems more appropriate because the folks sit in these structures through all the seasons. Seems to me that they are more than a "booth" to get a parking pass.

Lot #3 - Nepean

Lot #4 - Somerset St West

I am not the only one who finds parking huts interesting. Here are some more interesting links from Detroit:

• Meet 41 Weird and Colorful Parking Huts Hiding in Detroit
• Parking huts of Detroit on flickr

An iPhone picture of
my ArtJournal Page

The Saturday Farmers' Market

Some fun sketches from last Saturday's visit to the Ottawa Farmers' Market at the Nature Museum.

Art journal sketches of the Main Farmers' Market

Notre Petite Ferme ~ Our Little Farm booth

I love this booth and bought some delicious broccoli from the vendor. Having the Nature Museum as a backdrop to the farmers' booths made for an interesting composition.

The tablecloth caught my eye

Friendly vendor

My non-vegetable non-fruit purchases
Apple cider donuts from Hall's Apple Market
Maple popcorn from the Garland Sugar Shack

Main Farmers' Market

http://mainfarmersmarket.org/

USk: Sketching Kits

It's Friday and there is so much going on in Ottawa this weekend: New Art Festival in the Glebe, Ottawa Jazz Festival, and Glowfair (etc) so I thought I would share a picture of my urban sketching (USk) kit that travels with me wherever I go.

A sketchbook, a pencil, an eraser, a sharpie, a compact set of watercolours, and a Pentel or Koi water brush is my basic urban sketching kit.

My minimal sketch kit today at Jazz Fest

If you "google" the phrase "urban sketching kit" you will see a wide assortment of kits ranging from the minimalist sketching kit (like mine) all the way to a full backpack loaded with a variety of materials.

Results from a google search for "Urban Sketching Kit"

I am a huge James Gurney fan and thought I would post him talking about his favourite urban sketching materials.

Watercolor Materials for Urban Sketching with James Gurney

Hope to post some of my sketches at the end of the weekend. Happy sketching.

Urban Sketching Links 

• Urban Sketching: 20 Dos and Don’ts when Getting Out There By Róisín Curé
• Urban Sketching boards and Urban Sketcher boards on Pinterest

Urban Sketcher Tools 

• Nina Johansson: Drawing Tools  
• Citizen Sketcher: Sketching Gear 
• Urban Sketcher Lapin’s secret material 
• Larry D. Marshall: Urban Sketcher's Kit 

Byward Market Sketches

Byward Market 1
(artjournal sketch: ink and watercolour)

Byward Market 2
(artjournal sketch: ink and watercolour)

Byward Market 3
(artjournal sketch: ink and watercolour)

Art Journal Sketch: "Lexie"

"Lexie"
Art journal sketch: watercolour pencils
Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

“...and then, 

I have nature and art and poetry, 

and if that is not enough, 

what is enough?” 

Vincent van Gogh