doreyme

anthurium andreanum (loveable hearts) 9x11, pencil +watercolour arches paper, 2007

saw this plant at reno depot while I was getting reno stuff + couldn't resist. It's a "loveable hearts" according to the sticker which is what we need right now in Quebec.

Verdun sumacs, 9x11, arches paper, watercolour, 2007

yesterday's mystery fruit solved by an astute passerby, Kim. It's a dragon fruit. And no, can't bear to cut into it yet. Today's mystery, why the compulsion to make art. It's late, I'm wiped after a full day plastering, moving stuff, overseeing tiling, etc, gussying up my studio, as I'm going to give it up after 5 years. Not art making. I'm happily esconsced in my new home studio - an ex-office, a small room compared to the Jointe, but a room with a view, lots of light + ever so convenient. But back to mystery. Spent the first part of day taking Angus, the water loving dog on a beautiful walk along a little off shoot of the mighty St. Lawrence river. Took some beautiful photograhs, did some quick sketches...had a full, rich tiring day + instead of zombie-ing out in front of the tv, or reading the new New Yorker that came yesterday, feel compelled to, in reproduce my take on what I saw today. Why? I don't know. I took fab pictures + it seems kind of dumb competing with Mother Nature + it's complex, delicate, trying work...I suppose one great aspect..about art making, one doesn't..well, I don't obsess about world's problems or fume about local separatist politicians "fixing" what ain't broke, etc. or Gille Duceppe's retirement plan...oh, oh. I feel a rant coming on...

mystery fruit, 8x8, watercolour, toscani paper, 2007

don't know what it's called. Bought it to paint it. Tomorrow we'll cut it open + eat it.

last night's geminis show....

honouring Canada's finest...? Not really, more about trying to be funny + entertaining + kind of forgetting the raison d’être, eg. honouring Canada's finest. I'm old school. Like clips of the shows nominated. Too long speeches, etc. (+ alas, my friend Steve didn't win for best director of dramatic series, but his co-producer, Chris did for their shared show, Intelligence, so congrats + boo to the Gemini producers for not televising this category...)

October 28.07, watercolour, arches paper, 9x11

Heartland: tonight at 7 CBC

Plus the Geminis, tonight, too. (Go Steve, go.)

dog park, 8x8, watercolour

2 guys on a bench at a dogpark 8x8, pencil + watercolour, 2007

a lovely democratic Montreal dog park where people of all nationalities, skin colours, languages hang out + rejoice in their commonalities rather than their differences. Woof.

interestingly enough...

inspite of Pauline Marois bleatings about the sorry state of Quebec immigrants (of which I am a twice guilty double dipper immigrant. My family + I immigrated from Switzerland to Canada in the 50's, when Canada welcomed immigrants -- then as now, particularily blonde blue eyed Christians -- + settled in Vancouver, (Quebec deemed as too scary dour + Catholic by Catholic parents). Later I "immigrated" to Quebec after "immigrating" to Nova Scotia before hand...) but that's not my point. My point is the Quebec gov't is the only provincial gov't in Canada that selects its own independent immigrants and refugees abroad who are destined for Quebec.

The Canada-Quebec Accord, the most comprehensive agreement to date, gives Quebec sole responsibility for selecting independent immigrants and refugees abroad who are destined for Quebec. It also allows Quebec to provide its own reception and integration services-linguistic, cultural and economic for permanent residents of the province.

Due to Quebec's responsibilities in immigration, as defined in the Canada-Quebec Accord, persons destined for this province may have to meet different requirements. Quebec has the exclusive selection responsibility for all independent immigrants and refugees abroad who are destined for Quebec. Those selected by the province receive a document called "Certificat de selection du Quebec (CSQ)". The federal government ensures that statuary admission requirements, such as medical and criminal checks, are met before it issues a visa.

But to cut to the chase. On the Immigration et Communautes culturelles site... There's a Free Online Eligibility Assessment Form for would be immigrants to check out. See if you'd be eligible to immigrate to quebec.

(The Preliminary Evaluation for Immigration enables you to obtain directly online a free summary evaluation of your chances of being selected by Québec. Note that this does not , however, lead to a formal decision under An Act Respecting Immigration to Québec, but rather provides you with a positive or negative opinion from the ministère de l’Immigration et des Communautés culturelles(MICC) regarding your candidacy.)

FINALLY, here is the interestingly enuf thing. It's not until page 3 of the online form that the question of language comes up...first there's stuff about education, how many day care kids, sickly hanger-on relatives, net worth sort of thing, etc. I put that my oral + expression of french was NONE. Zero. Zilch. (Choices are None, Minimal. Beginner. Intermediate. Intermediate advanced + Advanced. ) And I put my oral + expression of English was ADVANCED. So on page 8 you get your free evaluation. My unilingual Anglo response got... " Your result -- It seems that you meet the Québec selection criteria. You may now submit an official immigration application. If you apply as a worker, consult the section Application for Selection Certificate and appendices - Permanent workers. If you are applying as a self-employed worker, etc.etc. etc. Processing fees are charged when you submit an official immigration application."

So there you go. From the horse's mouth...So if Quebec politicians are so damned disgusted with their immigrants they have only themselves to blame. They picked 'em. Other than the-out-of-province riff raff such as myself, of course. But I'm sure the PQ brainiacs are trying to figure out a way to curtail pesky interprovincial "immigration" as I speak.

brokeback hill, 9x11, watercolour arches paper

green chair man, 10.5x13.5, watercolour, fabriano paper

no politics today.

"More Teeth", 8x8", italia acquerello, 2007

"We can't take away their right to vote (ostensibly, people who can't speak French up to the PQ's standards) ) because that is a right we cannot control because we are still a province within the federation. Obviously, the day when the country is there, we will control citizenship, which will have more teeth, if I can dare to say so..." (renowned actor + PQ MNA, Pierre Curzis on a Montreal talk show yesterday)

all the fuss about "public displays of religion"

in the air these days (yarmulkes, burquas, turbans, etc) ...Meanwhile, in the heart of the city, on top of Mount Royal....

yo, 24x36 oil on canvas

Heartland, cbc, Sunday night at 7

no autopsies, rapes, terrorism, etc to give you tv induced nightmares. Plus lots of beautiful Alberta landscape...

bow river#1, bow river #2, watercolour, arches paper, 9x12

little strange man, 9x12, watercolour, portofino paper,2007

have these people nothing better to do?

Burma. Darfur. Cancer care wait times. Homelessness. Crazy suicide rates. Crumbling roads, bridges. Hello? Global warming? Domestic violence. Highest high school drop out rates. Doctor shortages. Poverty. Do the PQ ever sit around trying to solve real problems? What planet are they on? Ever since Marois was voted leader of the PQ, it's back to the mind numbing obsession about...well, here's today's obsession..."The Parti Quebecois has tabled a bill in the legislature which would prevent immigrants who can't speak sufficient French from running in elections." Oh, lord save us, what a burning issue. After having lived in other parts of Canada over the course of my lifetime, eg. Halifax, Toronto, Vancouver, a stint in the Yukon, after visiting other parts of Canada this year, eg. Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver I'm not sure if I can hack another mega dose of xenophobic narcissism in la belle province.

blue lake, 8x8, watercolour on wood, 2007

I should have been a scientist.

Today I am a person (Happy Persons' Day) women of Canada

In Oct 18/1929, five Canadian women won a ruling by the Judicial Committee of the British Privy Council that women were persons in law. The five women, known as the Famous 5, had sought in the 1920s to have women appointed to the Canadian Senate, but were denied by the Supreme Court of Canada on the grounds that women did not qualify as ‘persons’ under Section 24 of the British North America Act 1867. The Famous 5 appealed to the Privy Council in London, who ruled that the word ‘persons’ in Section 24 included members both of the male and female sex, and that women were eligible to be summoned to and become members of the Senate of Canada. The Privy Council ruling overturned arguments dating
back to Roman times that were still being used by lawyers and legislators in the 20thcentury to keep women out of public life.

sumac#2 9x12", crayon + watercolours on portofino acquerello, 2007

sumac, 9x12", crayon + watercolours on portofino acquerello, 2007

oh yes, autumn is here in all her glory.

sister of yo, 24x36", oil on canvas, 2007

another painting I did earlier this year, but changed the background today....

Angy, 16x16, oil on canvas

not a new painting, but I did change the background from olive green to this blue. I much prefer it. It's been hanging on my wall for the last 7 months or so + the background always bugged me so today I whipped it off the wall + changed it.

you gotta have Heartland

starts tonight on CBC, at 7. Nepotism? What nepotism?

painting of s, oil on canvas, 24x30, 2007

the blonde, pencil + watercolour on fabriano paper, 10.5x13.5, 2007

And then she moved, watercolour + pencil on fabriano paper, 10.5x13.5, 2007

am enjoying pencil with watercolours...it's so Hockney 70's...

tv night, 10.5 x 13.5, watercolour + pencil on fabriano paper, 2007

new easier to navigate...

people have commented my blog is a swamp, so I've tried to clean it up...

Toronto autumn tree, 9x12, watercolour, portofino acquerello, 2007

the mountain's angel, still being worked on...

the bike police

grumpella (me) gets her anti-bike maniac letter published in the Gazette today respect pedestrians + motorists (quite edited, I may add, my original was longer + more rabid).

lachine canal (middle) oil on wood, NFS

the 2nd of the 3.

lachine canal, 12x15, oil on wood NFS

not new, but one part of three on a wall in the house I'm staying in TO...it's interesting to revist old work.

happy thanksgiving

sheena's snapdragons, 10.5 x`3.5 watercolour on fabriano paper, 2007

working off the turkey, early Thanksgiving, (the vegetarian succumbs) with a bit of watercolours...

grace

my buddha buddy, happy in TO over the Thanksgiving weekend.

the birds, the birds...

the other day, real geese flying overhead, today, during a very dramatic thunderstorm, geese flying overhead in the Eaton's centre, in Toronto.

chimeree #4, 9x12' watercolour

so one minute I'm at a westmount dog park

hangin' with Angy + his best bud, the next minute I'm in emergency getting my head, ribs, elbow, neck, thumbs, etc, examined...well, not that fast, it actually took almost seven hours...but the first part took seconds...I'm talking to a very nice woman in the dog park, the chi-chi park near Mulroney's house (ex prime minister of Canada) then I'm lying on the ground, looking up, like I'm in a burial plot and there are mourners all around me, but they're not mourners, they're dog walkers saying things like "should we call an ambulance? don't move, don't move. Are you in pain?" Turns out I was mowed down by dogs. How many I have no idea. From the back, so I landed on my head + spine...one thumb + one elbow helping to shoulder the impact. Anyways, combined with the surgery scars, huge bruises I incurred when the shower mat went surf board leaves me looking like a very battered woman. Sigh. Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger mantra feels feeble today. So after a day in emerg, no painting, so I'll post an old one.

E studying, 7x10, arches paper, 2007

Rocky mountain high, 11x30, watercolour, arches paper

this is actually only 1/3 of the watercolour...must figure out a way to shoot these long thin ones.

endangered bird, 16x16, oil on wood