Openning Day on the Canal

The Rideau Canal skateway opened this morning.  It was cold, but I was able to sit at a sunny table out of the wind and sketch for a few minutes.  At -16 C you can get away with this if you move fast, but soon your hand seizes up and starts to really hurt.  I wouldn't even try to paint at that temperature.  The watercolour was applied at home.

This is the change shack and Beavertail concession at 5th Avenue.  Beavertails are a sort of cinnamony, gooey donut that is very popular with schoolkids and also seems to be memorable to tourists. They were selling well and the girls in the foreground were sharing one.

Skating on the Canal

The last few winters haven't been as long as they used to be, but no one is describing Ottawa's winter as warm yet.
About half of the 8 km. length of the canal skateway is open. As it worked out
I skated it three times yesterday.  In the morning for fun, in the afternoon for world wide sketchcrawl 34 and then last night to accompany my son home from downtown.  I must say by then my new skates were chaffing a bit.

I didn't have any companions for the sketchcrawl, except for the 4000 or so people out enjoying the ice.  Its always a fun experience  with all the colourfulclothing, variety of skates and complete range of ages.  I did a sketch of Patterson Creek last summer and realized how unique it must seem in winter to my viewers from warmer countries.  The little building has washrooms and a place to change into your skates.  We just leave our shoes under the benches and I have never heard of anyone losing them.  Access to the actual canal is under the little arched bridge where you have the choice to skate north all the way downtown, or south to Dow's Lake. There are several other change huts along the canal, but many people just use benches out on the open ice, or sit on the snow like the guy in the upper sketch.  

Summer sketch -  http://johnssketchjournal.blogspot.com/2011/06/patterson-creek.html

Patterson Creek

I got lucky a few years ago and was able to buy a 'project' house facing Patterson Creek in the Glebe neighbourhood of Ottawa. I spent  two years renovating the house on weekends and evenings and am finally able to  do less practical things with my time  now that the house is habitable.We face onto Patterson Creek which is a tributary of the Rideau Canal and bracketed by a park.  This is a sketch of the bridge over the creek looking to the canal.  The little building is one of the most popular  change huts on the canal in the winter when we skate on the ice.  I promise I'll do some sketches of our outdoor activities this winter.

Winter sketch - http://johnssketchjournal.blogspot.com/2012/01/skating-on-canal.html