Urban Design Sketchcrawl Mashup

Last week the Canadian Institute of Planners conference was in Ottawa where I participated as a speaker and also lead a workshop.  The workshop was a mash-up mixing urban design principles and tour using sketching as a focus activity.  I called it "Visual Notation and Analysis" and one of the objectives was to demystify drawing.

I took the group of 20 on a walking route from the Weston Hotel to the Shaw Convention Centre, to the National Arts Centre Elgin Street, Parliament Hill and the Library of Parliament stopping to do 5 minute sketches describing that sequence using the Peace Tower as a point of reference, in the manner of Goron Cullen's classic book "Townscape" below).   It went really well and we managed to meet one of the other objectives, which was to have some fun.

I departed from the sketchcrawl tradition of comparing everyone's work at the end to take any perceived pressure off the participants but can tell you, looking over shoulders while circulating and coaching during the stops, the drawings were quite good.

Tiny Perfect Library

 I have a great little library just down the street.  Its free - no library cards, fines, or need to be quiet.  I first saw one of these on Toronto Island and attributed it to the Islands' strong cultural identity, but have learned that Little Free Libraries have been springing up all over the continent.  I check it out on the way by on my various dog walks and have slowly left two boxes of books that I've been carting around for decades.  There is always something of interest there and it's rarely depleted.

The other thing I appreciate is the design.  I've never talked to the owner, but clearly the cabinet was designed by a professional - an industrial designer, I'm thinking.  Very thoughtful detailing and skillful fabrication. Kudos to the designer/builder.

No Lack of Character

One of the things I appreciate about the harbour where I keep my sailboat are the other owners.  As you can imagine there is lots of discussion about sailing, boat maintenance and the attributes of different boats.

My friend John, bought a C & C 27 Mark III in 1975.  It was one of 10 out of 100 manufactured that year to remain in Canada. He sailed it for 40 years on Lac Deschenes, on the Ottawa River and never spent a night on it.

But here's the fun part.  The question I always like to ask these characters, is how did you learn to sail.

John grew up in Boston and as a boy, spent summers in Booth Harbour Maine. At the age of 13 he dragged an abandoned wooden dinghy out of the water and spent two summers repairing it all by himself.  He even made a sail from a bed sheet, with which he taught himself to sail.  Later on, in high school,  he owned a Dragon which he sailed on the Charles River.  All a precursor to his varied and colourful life as a graduate physician, who then became a fighter pilot and later and adviser to several Presidents.

Sadly John passed away late last year and as he did not want a funeral, I haven't used his full name.

Spring in the Boatyard

The ice is off the river and it's spring in the boatyard.  It's a special time  - removing tarps, polishing,  painting on anti-fouling and finally rigging.  The sketch is actually Phil rigging his Soling, "Unity".



Spring in the Boatyard

I visited my lady today
and the sight raised my pulse.
The curve of her bottom,
is like nothing else.

I remembered the joy
of our days spent together.
And how she's taken me through
both bad and good weather.

I took off her top
and we basked in the sun.
No reason to rush
this kind of fun.

Unitentional Symbolism

Notre-Dame Basilica has been a landmark here in Ottawa, for well over a century, then along came the National Gallery of Canada and a decade later, Mamam, a giant spider.   Strangely, in conversation many people will refer to the spider rather than the much larger cultural buildings....I'll leave that analysis to the cultural anthropologists.

All to say, that from the lower Boreal Garden, the spider and the Basilica are juxtaposed quite dramatically, which is what attracted me....well, that and the fact that it was a warm sunny spot on a breezy spring day.

As I came home, I was thinking about art and how I need some real things to represent and how I'm reluctant to adjust even something like a power pole to improve composition.  And I realised, I just created a work of great symbolism and social comment!

Hopefully some critic will tell me just what that is and write at length about my clever statement about the church and egg bearing arachnids.  Whatever it is, I truly hope it isn't sarcastic or somehow disrespectful...at least of the church.....now spiders?

Freshwater Shark

With the weather finally breaking after an usually harsh winter, tarpaulins are coming off in the boatyard daily.  This Shark must be one of the early numbers, its hull is a mottled green with faded pink tones below the gelcoat showing through.  These are great sailboats, and are still a popular racing class despite the age of the fleet, many of which date back to the mid 60's.  Many of them have been re-gelcoated and look beautiful.  I suspect that I will see the owner grinding and sanding the hull  as we wait for the ice to blow out and the river to warm up.

Stone Men

Last night our sketching group visited the studios of Smith & Barber -stone carvers.  They are currently working on the restoration of the West Block of the Parliament Buildings here in Ottawa.  Their specific contributions is the replication of various architectural ornaments and details.

They work in an amazingly traditional manner - mallet and chisel on stone, with incredible precision.

Phillip Smith stayed late to let us in and in talking to him his passion for stone carving was evident and infectious.

I was taken by some of the "green men", sort male nymphs or fairies which became part of the Gothic lexicon of ornament, but have much longer origins back to the Celts.

I invited my sketching friends Marc and Laurel to come all the way from Montreal ( a 2 hour drive) and they did!   A gift to me for their company. They made friends, as they usually do and documented the evening with Laurel's photos and Marc's sketches.  More to come, no doubt, this summer at the Stone Carving Festival.

A Little Colour on a Grey Day

A little bit of colour is welcome on a grey winter day when there aren't even distinct shadows.  This yellow shed around the block from my home was the closest to sunshine I saw yesterday - unusual here in Ottawa which is known for is cold but clear, sunny winter weather.

Daly Street

The backsides of buildings continue to fascinate me.  As the large trees in front of homes decline, are removed and not replaced, more and more, the large trees can only be found in the interiors of the blocks.

I also like the way you can read the evolution of the buildings with additions cobbled onto additions in stages.

before dinner cocktail

Just mix, water, paint and a small dog together in your neighbourhood park and you have a delightful late summer afternoon cocktail.  My friend got to run crazy with a succession of afterwork dogs, as I focussed on the various hues of green and reflections in Upper Brown's Inlet.

This is a tiny little painting in my 5" x 3 1/2" Laloran sketchbook - minus the taped edges.  Maybe someday, I'll have the courage to paint without lines, but in the meantime I did manage to avoid the "detail trap" just by working small.

Elevations

This week with my sketching pals, I suggested we draw some buildings front on orthographically, like architectural elevations.  This is not how we actually see buildings, but is a valid representation nonetheless.  It's not so obvious with smaller, flat faced  buildings, but with taller buildings and stepped facades or intricate rooflines, you have to sort of rectify perspective out of the drawing.  In that way it's instructive because by flattening the image, you become aware of the way you are perceiving perspective.

These are two buildings on Sparks Street here in Ottawa, both very narrow by todays standards, but imbued with a craftsmanship and sense of legacy that we seem to have lost in our era of construction.

Maplelawn Garden

Large perennial gardens are a rare thing in recent years given the level of care and associated cost of maintaining them in top shape.  There are a couple in Ottawa and Maplelawn in Westboro is always worth a visit.

The irises are still going strong in many locations, but I think they've been cooked off in the open sun of the Maplelawn Garden.  Even the poppies, usually tolerant of heat are starting to fall apart.

The Bob Ross

The Bob Ross is the "committee boat" at Britannia Yacht Club.  This means that it anchors across from race buoy at both the start and finish lines of a race so that the race officials can see along the line for false starts or to time the various classes as they finish.

She, or is it he?, is moored in a quiet corner of the harbour waiting for the first race of the year.

Lunch in the "Market"

Last week an old pal David, visited from London England for a few days.  He is Canadian but has now spent more of his life in England than Canada.  He is also an artist so we had a good time chatting and sketching together.  Lunch, of course, is always a prime opportunity and the natural place to take him was the By Ward Market district to find a restaurant with a patio.  Something I rarely do.

When travelling, I want to sketch everything. But here in my own city, it's more challenging to see those opportunities, or perhaps feel an urgency to catch it while I can.  So, it was great to having a sketching pal show around town because it helped me see Ottawa through the eyes of a visitor.

The Library

Well, not just The Library, but the back side of Centre Block as seen from Major's Hill Park.  The tower on the left is the Peace Tower and the Library of Parliament is the   stepped conical roof to the right.  The copper roofs were replaced on with a restoration of the library a few years ago and are still bronze coloured as it takes several years to weather to the lovely green colour on the Centre Block roofs.

Harbour Stuff

Last night our sketching group met at Britannia Yacht Club.  Due to the late spring very few boats have been put into the water, so there was lots to draw.

Aside from the boats one of the things I love about harbours and boat yards are the various mechanical devices and equipment.  Most of these objects are unabashedly functional and inevitably a little dinged up and rusty.  I even like the names - bollards, winches, sponsons, davits, engine wells and the like.

Blessed Sacrament

I would have described this Catholic church built in 1931 as art deco, however Wikipedia tells me its "perpendicular gothic".  At first glance it is very simple, but upon farther study the tower has stepped and bevelled corners and is tall enough to be seen from several blocks away.
There are some decorative elements and a couple of niches presumably waiting for saints.
It's a well attended busy place judging by the ebb and flow of cars and families at various masses each weekend.

Flapjack's Pancake Shack

While according to City by-laws this may not be a food truck, it looks deceptively more like a an old milk truck, than a shack to me.  The Flapjack logo is a burly lumberjack and the coat of arms is a fine piece of Ottawa Valley heraldry, which includes a crossed pan flipper and axe.

The "shack" is visible from Bank Street in a an informal courtyard behind Mrs. Tiggy Winkles, close to Fourth Avenue.  Thematic patio furniture is made of from large logs fashioned as chairs and tables - very lumberjacky.

Backside of Bank Street

There is an informal courtyard behind the shops on Bank Street between Fourth and Third Avenues.  I went to sketch the food truck there, but it was rainy and this back of Mrs. Tiggy Winkles was easier to see from the sheltered location od a building alcove.

Theresa Apartment

The entrance to this small apartment building here in the Glebe is classic art deco.  The rest of the building is well proportioned, but plain.  It's saved  however by the detailing of the entrance, the place where her residents approach and experience the exterior.  I've never pressed my nose to in inside to get a sense whether that character was carried through into the interior.