Laundry tub

There’s something to be said for laundry tubs. My soft spot for them developed when I discovered that they are ideal for soaking small waste moulds when I’m casting. I have four of them in my basement – two for the very purpose I described.

 Yet what this particular laundry tub was doing on the second floor of the old Dundas post office wasn’t entirely clear to me. 

The post office has not functioned as one since amalgamation took place in 2001 – which was and has been a contentious issue for the majority of Dundasians ever since they resisted the change and lost.  Recently someone bought the building and is now in the process of  renovating it, but they kindly allowed us to set up easels there a few weeks ago. They even provided heat!

 oil on canvas board 12"x9" 2nd view

The day was for melting

Two melting kinds of  days in a row and then tonight a bit of freezing to keep us on our toes. You might say a perfect Valentine's day - balmy and romantic, sunny and cloudy and then  a slight rising and falling of temperatures to keep the extremities tingling and us all wondering what's happening next on the horizon - weather wise that is. 

This is  pastel sketch  of the same farmland stream from a few years ago. I wouldn't mind having such a stream like this in my back yard where I could sit and ponder life's idiosyncrasies - the permanence and impermanence of things for hours at a stretch 

Stream in winter

We're now into late mid winter, but I did this pastel in early winter of 2007 which means  late November or early December of that year on a farm near Mineral Springs Road.
The air was fresh and if I remember correctly it was almost warm enough that I didn't need to wear gloves for a good stretch of time at least until my fingers started to become a bit numb. 

semi soft pastel on watercolor paper 

gessoed with pumice 15"X20"

Siemens

I was at Siemens turbine factory this morning which will soon close with a loss of 500 jobs to Hamilton. We were only allowed to set up easels on the catwalk and not allowed to use cameras. We will meet there again next week for one more time with Jody Joseph, a superb artist who teaches in Italy. Previously artists were allowed to wander around unrestricted. One of the machinists came and talked with me - he'd been there 23 years. He'll be looking for another job shortly.

Siemens, oil sketch 9"x12" on pre gessoed hard board