Off to Quebec City

Yesterday's exhibit, which was a fund raiser for the Centre des Textiles Contemporain, featured 20 cm x 20 cm pieces for a silent auction.  The pieces were small and there were so many of them that I couldn't take pictures.  But here are a couple of felt pieces that I thought were quite cool.

These were the first pieces near the door, as we came into the gallery.

In the afternoon, after a delightful lunch with some Montreal quilters I had met on line, I came back to Pam's house and puttered around for the afternoon in her studio. Ahhhh...

This morning, off to Quebec and won't be back till tomorrow. I do not know whether we will be staying in a place with Internet access or not, so I probably won't post for another day or so.

What a lovely week

My second two day class in Ottawa was just as wonderful as the first.  I chuckled when I saw this piece of fabric Pat had made so she would remember where she had created it.

Blogger is not behaving itself so I'm not sure how far I will get before I leave for a fibre exhibit in Montreal today, but here are some of the fabrics created in the class I just finished.

And here is my friend Pam, with whom I am staying while I am in Montreal, with one of her beautiful pieces of fabric.

I was very moved to have received an unexpected gift from the Out of the Box students in both classes - a journal/sketchbook with a gorgeous handmade cover by Cathy Breedyk Law.  Thank you!!

Now, Pam and I are off to see an exhibit I will post about later.

more Ottawa

Backtracking a bit - Ottawa has a charming area called Byward Market. While lots of galleries and shops were closed on Easter Sunday, much of the market was open and we walked through the stalls admiring the goods.

The neighborhood is loaded with charm and wonderful restaurants.

We headed for the one just above for lunch and since it was a gorgeous day the young man suggested we eat outdoors and pointed the way to the back door. The tables outside the door we had come through were empty, in the shade, and  there was no server around. However, we headed for the sunny tables surrounded by a cast iron fence and sat down.

A waitress materialized, handed us the rather pricey brunch menu, and we ordered. Only when we saw her vanish into the back door of the adjacent posh restaurant did we realize we were not where we thought we were. 

I asked for bread or crackers while we waited and had our drinks: she announced that there wasn't any unless we wanted the bread leftover from yesterday. Bread would not be delivered till 3:00 (it was 2:00). What an appetizing thought -- especially since the other two had ordered sandwiches. 

She had brought us each one cocktail napkin and when the food finally arrived I asked whether she had larger napkins.

The answer was no.  "NO?  Are we each supposed to eat with one used cocktail napkin? "  Blank stare. "Well, can we have MORE cocktail napkins?," I asked.  She grudgingly brought us each two more.

The food was nevertheless, delicious and the sandwiches were on cranberry bread which she denied were leftovers.

 Afterwards, we headed over to the National Gallery.

 The place is an architectural joy.

  And the art was pure pleasure for me, since we don't see any Canadian art in the U.S.  I discovered the Group of Seven, along with a plethora of other wonderful Canadian artists.  No pictures allowed.  However, this exhibit was ok to shoot and I tood these with my iPhone.

There were many more but these were my favorites - mixed media.  What a delightful day I had!

too tired to blog

But here are some pix from the last two days.

 

 

 

Redux with another group Wed/Thurs.  Off to bed.

Ottawa, day 2

So far, Ottawa has been great.  Mary Pal and Pat Cafferty hosted me around the city for the weekend and I had a wonderful time. (can't speak for them, LOL.
In the background, the  towers of Parliament as we drove through another part of the city.

Have not had time to catch up or load pix but am having a great time!

Finally, in Ottawa

Long story, which I will tell you later.  I am off to see THIS city for the day.  Happy Easter to those of you who are enjoying the (hopefully) good weather today.

pretty NY

Last Thursday, my sister-in-law Irène had an opening of her father's vintage photos from The Jump Book at a gallery in NY and I went with a couple of her friends. (Even the reprint is out of print)

Philippe  believed that when he asked people to jump they were so busy concentrating on the action that their masks dropped and their true personalities came out.  A fascinating theory that was borne out again and again in the pix. Nixon was stiff as a board when he jumped. Behind us to the right, a photo of Marilyn jumping. If you enlarge the photo and look, you'll see what a free spirit she really was.

On the way to the exhibit I shot some of the city's prettier sights instead of my usual grit.  The gallery was on 57th near 5th Ave, which made it easy.  Below, the Plaza hotel, Bulgari, and other lovelies.

I was fine with walking to find a place to eat but the other two women had uncomfortable shoes and we were starving, so we went into the bar at Trump Tower.

  8:45 pm and they were washing the walls in the lobby. This poor guy was the only other employee we saw.  In the bar, we ordered drinks and $12 burgers which took so long we thought they were up doing the last roundup.

As we left Trump, we wandered through this corporate art gallery in the hallway on the way out.

 This little girl was having fun ineracting with the art.

We took the subway to the bus terminal and we were on our way.  It had taken us 2 hours of sitting in traffic coming into the City and here we were again, traffic in the tunnel.

The bus driver yelled at me for taking this picture, but he was sitting still, anyway so I don't know why he cared. It was a late but interesting evening.

Still up at 3:30 am

Haven't gotten to sleep yet and have to get up in a few hours.  How does that work? (maybe it doesn't)

Leaving for Canada in the morning (oops - it IS the morning) -I'll keep you posted. Still have photos to upload from yesterday's trip to NY but I might have time while I'm in the airport later.