The Elephant in the Room

I have been conspicuous by my absence.

Seen in an alleyway, Vancouver BC

Nevertheless, an elephant never forgets.

And the writing, as ever, is on the wall.

A bit of urban grit, Montreal style

When out walking (and walking and walking...) with my daughter in Montreal, she sometimes humours me by leading me down an alley or two (sort of like giving a little kid a treat for being "good")...

This one looked promising; so green it was almost 

like an alley park.

This wall is a work of art in itself, but with the graffiti and hanging plant it becomes uber-art!

Emerging back onto the street and into the sunshine, my eyes are dazzled by the brightly coloured enhancements decorating this charming ground floor flat. 

Down another street it was moving day for some folks.  

They had cool furniture.

Because Merisi (of Merisi's Vienna for Beginners asked if this might be an Eames chair
(see comments below),
I thought I should post a bit better picture of it to show off its designer quality.
(Meanwhile, Wayne of Meandering in Lotus Land 
stopped by the comment box and confirmed that it is, indeed, an Eames.)

Zip down another alleyway for another bit of urban grit.

Bricks, weathered wood, graffitti and greenery.  

What's not to love?

This piece is rather exceptional.  

Maybe we should quit now 

while we're ahead (pardon the pun).

After all this grit, I think it's time we head off to find a little terrasse and take a little liquid refreshment, 

n'est-ce pas?

See you there!

The Writing's on the Wall

Like it or hate it, graffiti does grab one's attention. Often, the wall it's splashed on makes a wonderfully interesting, richly-textured background to the paint splashes--sometimes the surface is even more visually engaging than the graffiti itself.

I was really grabbed by the varied surfaces and colours on this wall in Montreal.  In fitting with this holiday weekend, one could even look at it as a giant, rectangular-shaped, decorated Easter egg!  (oh, pity the poor chicken that produces rectangular eggs! Or, as I used to believe, the Easter bunny who lays the eggs.)

Another reason to post this wall now is Bonnie's prompt this weekend to produce a piece of photo art with the theme "Graffiti."  I didn't do much to alter the original photo: boosted the levels and colour intensity a little, added a touch of poster-edges, and snuck in my own logo (do you see it?  LCi).

Please don't hesitate to search out some more writing on the virtual gallery walls over at Bonnies'Pixel Dust Photo Art.

Happy hunting!

Le Dep

I'm back

from Quebec

and am in the process of getting my mind and eyes back into blogging mode.

(graffiti recently seen at a local *dépanneur* in Montreal)

*In the province of Quebec, a dépanneur is a corner grocery store, affectionately referred to as a "dep."
The verb dépanner means to help out of a difficult situation.  At least it does in French-speaking Canada.  In France it refers to fixing a breakdown of an auto or an electric device

Writing's on the Wall

Heading west for awhile.

Montreal for a few days.

Vancouver for a few weeks.

Gotta get out while the getting's good.

See ya!

Seeing Red

These two images that I brought back from Montreal just seemed to go together.

Turrets' Syndrome

To relieve the snow blindness I am presently suffering from, or to assist me in becoming blind to the snow that is swirling about outside my windows here in the Hills, I'm gazing back fondly at some of my favourite colourful houses I walked past on my marathon trek from one end of Montreal to the other last November.

Fit for a fairytale princess, I think. 

Obviously a sleeping one, judging from the dried up plants on the balcony. 

A veritable paintbox of house colours! 

This row of homes is across the street from a delightful little park named Carré St-Louis.  The first time I moved to Montreal, in 1970, I lived in this area.  But even at that time, before they were massively renovated, these jewels were far beyond my rent budget.  In the winter time, the centre of the park is flooded and an ice-rink is made and lined with twinkling Christmas lights.  In the summer, students from near-by McGill University sit on park benches, reading serious books, while rubbies, or out-of-work professors,  panhandle for cigarettes or spare change.  Such are the scenes these turreted condos gaze down upon. 

In the same neighbourhood, a poster-papered kiosk competes for attention with the colourful mural behind it.  I find the shape and positioning of the windows high up in the wall particularly intriguing.  Do you think there's a half-floor, like in the movie "Being John Malkovich"?

Here we see the new cropping up against the old, Quebec flag patriotically snapping to attention in the wind.

Have you noticed I have a thing for turrets? 

Must be the princess in me.

Montreal-style Manga?

Would this wall art inspire you to walk through these doors to get your hair, make-up, and/or nails done?

That is, supposing you were the kind of person to do such a thing.

Montreal Menagerie

While strolling along the streets of Montreal I happened upon some critters that were just begging to have their pictures taken.  I was happy to oblige them.

This pampered pitou was out shopping with his people:  Because of his extreme cuteness, he was allowed to wait inside the entrance to the shop.

This pooch wasn't quite as pampered but seemed resigned to waiting outside. 

I think he has the "poor poor pitiful me" look

down pat. 

This little minou was waiting to get back

 into her house. 

Once back in, of course, she would immediately want to go out again. 

This is the Universal Way of the Cat.

It seems as if a displaced dairy farmer, forced to move to the big city for financial reasons, and pining for his cows, decided to paint a nostalgic scene on the side of his building.  French cows say "meuh!" rather than "moo!" you'll note.  I believe it's a question of attitude towards life in general.

Although one is not allowed to keep cattle in Montreal, the city is much more lenient when it comes to unicorns.  I'm not sure what sound unicorns make, in any language.

(Please note:  No animals were harmed in the filming of this blog posting.)

The Writing's on the Wall

This graffiti (2 f's or 2 t's, I can never remember) was found in the women's washroom at the Emily Carr University of Art and Design (my old alma mater, under a different name). I think it's a rather poor showing for art students!

But the real message on my blogwall tonight is that I'm going to Seattle for a few days to visit my dear friends, the Fibre Artist and the Photographer.

I'm not on a sight-seeing tour. It's strictly business: eating, drinking, talking, laughing, going for walks, and probably making something deliriously crafty!

Feel free to leave me bouquets, bon mots, dark chocolate, poems, or personal cheques on my blogstep! My welcome mat is still out and I've left the key under it and some ciders chilling in the fridge for you all. (Saj, there's some harder stuff in the basement--I'm sure you'll sniff it out!)

But Is It Art?

While doing the gallery run in Chelsea recently, I was taken with the local graffitti. Frankly, it was better than some of the stuff I saw in many of the galleries. I expected to see graffitti in NYC and that these examples were hanging about outside formal galleries on otherwise unremarkable walls and doors made it all seem very acceptable. My new best-blogger-friend, Owen, has a posting about graffitti as well so I thought I'd slam my own collection up sooner rather than later. What's not posted here are two examples of graffitti art gone mainstream: 2 articles of clothing sporting Basquiat drawings that C & I bought at the Soho branch of the trendy Japanese clothing store Uniqlo . So when is graffitti "art" and when is it just defacement...and who decides? I guess if you came by with a can of spray paint and doodled all over my house I'd know what to call it!

Portrait of the Artist?

What are the odds that this is the signature of the graffitti artist? What is the significance of the bandaged, stitched, elongated neck? Does it suggest being wounded from having stuck one's neck out? And what's with the red claw? More lobster symbolism??