Urban Adventures - Ward Island, Toronto, Ontario

I'm a day late with my blog due to the fact that I went on an urban adventure. This is not my first one this year but these adventures are a new phenomenon for me this year. The reason for this is that I now have someone around who loves exploring as much as I do. My daughter gets me out on these adventures frequently and I thoroughly enjoy them. I am always armed with my camera and recording inspiration left, right and center.

Yesterday we loaded up the kayaks and drove to Cherry Beach on the Toronto lakefront. I had heard of this place but had never been here. We found a parking lot where we could park for free, a rarity in Downtown Toronto, unloaded the kayaks and put them in the water. Across the bay from us was Tommy Thompson Park which is completely man-made and was formerly called the Leslie Street Spit. This park has nothing to do with the artist Tom Thomson but was named after a former Parks Commissioner.

Cherry Beach Life Guard Station

A couple of guys learning to sail with Tommy Thompson Park in the background

Tommy Thompson Park shelters the bay at Cherry Beach and you can find sail boarders, kite surfers, and large sailboats all in this small bay. We had only to paddle 200 meters to get to Ward Island Beach. The beach is on the Lake Ontario side of the islands as opposed to the Toronto side of the islands. The water was surprisingly clear and signs on the beach told that it was safe to swim with low ecolli bacteria readings.

I found it very strange to have the Toronto skyline in view because I felt like I was vacationing

Young kids just arriving on shore at Ward Island were also learning to sail

After landing, I immediately went for a walk. On this section of the Toronto Islands, there are 260 houses with about 750 people residing there. Cars and trucks are not allowed in the community so everyone gets around by bike or by walking and most people have a boat of some sort. These houses and their properties are so cozy and eclectic. There are many artists living here and you can tell by the properties that everyone is creative.

Some of the cottages/homes were so cute

A really unique planter in one yard

This canoe was half buried in the ground and made to look like it
had been left in the woods up north somewhere.

These are pedal motored buggies that can be rented on the
island and pedaled by two or four people.

The gardens were beautiful and attracted lots of butterflies.

This was a little cabinet set up along the path and filled with
books welcoming people to take a book and leave a book.

The Toronto Skyline is beautiful and more-so with the sailboats
floating in front of it.

This small yard had two large boats sitting in it and by the
condition of them, I don't think they've moved in a while.

Small stone sculptures I made at the beach.

One home had set up a reading nook for little ones that Jacob
enjoyed.

It is a hidden gem right in the heart of Toronto that is well worth taking a walk through.

Interesting Tidbits from my Walk and Art Quilt Update

I usually scrounge for treasures on my walk around the neighbourhood and last week was no exception, however, I didn't pick up any rusty trash or maple keys, twigs, seed pods etc. Instead there were two things that caught my eye.

The first was this interesting patch in the pavement of the road.

What does it look like to you?

The second was this interesting bug.

At first I thought it was two bugs but when I looked closer, I saw that the Cicada on the right had just emerged from it's nymph exoskeleton on the left. These are the bugs we hear buzzing loudly in the trees during the summer. Interesting tidbit was that these Cicadas spend from 2 to 17 years underground before climbing out of the earth as nymphs and then morphing into adults. I spent the morning drawing them into my garden sketchbook.



I am really happy with the progress on my art quilt. I have been able to spend quite some time on it, however, not much else is getting done.

The landscape is slowly building around the canoe and I am liking the colours I chose after all.

Acceptance into Fibre Content 2018!

Fibre Content is a biennial textile exhibition and as a SAQA member, I am eligible to apply to the Call for Artists. I was accepted into this show in 2014 and once again am thrilled to be accepted with my art quilt "All Creation Sings" which was a commission done for some friends.


This is the link with the details of the show if you are interested in going to see other beautiful textile art or even attend some of the artist talks. The show runs from September 6 -16, 2018 at the Burlington Art Gallery in Burlington, Ontario.
https://artgalleryofburlington.com/fibrecontent/

Art Quilt Progress

This week I was able to spend more time on my quilt and have completed a few more sections. I'm really liking the result and am satisfied with my colour choices so far.

You can see that the quilt will be more vibrant than the painting which is a normal result of using mostly commercial fabrics in my work. For this quilt I've also used some hand dyed and painted fabric that I made myself.

The painting has a mist rising from the water that I will have to try to reproduce on the quilt. I am putting the quilt together without the mist and when it is done I will add some light blue and white organza over top of it and hopefully it will look like the mist.

Canoe Is Done

I've had a little more time this week to spend in my studio and so I've been working on the quilt. I managed to get the canoe done.

I also spent some time on the foreground water. The colours are quite vibrant but I think when it's all done, it'll look great.

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Art Quilt Progress

I have begun sewing! This is my favourite part of the process. I love to watch the quilt come together. I started with the canoe section because I have to be more precise in my sewing so that everything lines up properly. It is better to do this at the beginning while I am still motivated to be precise. When I get to the end of the piecing, I tend to become less precise which doesn't matter so much with landscape and water.

You can see the canoe section in the lower left corner. It takes up quite a bit of the image.

The section I have completed is the front seat in the canoe. It's hard to see but will become more apparent as I complete more of the canoe.

Stay tuned!

Killarney Inspiration

I spent the last weekend (Thursday to Monday) in Killarney, Ontario and specifically on Philip Edward Island in Georgian Bay. Nine women and myself enjoyed a kayak trip in this most beautiful locale. The weather was awesome, the company was fantastic and the views breathtaking.

I have been very fortunate on all of our yearly trips to get wonderful photographs that I use to inspire me. I have always paddled with my camera around my neck which is probably not advisable because any number of things could happen that would damage the camera and destroy my photos. So far nothing destructive has happened. I am careful to put my camera away if the water gets rough or it begins to pour with rain.

I use my photos for sketches, for paintings, and for art quilts. This trip always gives me many years of creative inspiration.

I also did a few sketches this time. Some are good and others not so much but I'm always learning from doing them and they become great memory prodding vehicles that bring me back to that time and place.

This is a map of Philip Edward Island and the blue dot is
where we were camped.

View of some of the numerous islands in Georgian Bay.

The tent I shared with a friend was pitched
on solid rock.

Some of the rock formations on the Island.

Unfinished sketch of two kayaks pulled up onto the rock.

My very first watercolour sketch on the day we arrived

at our campsite.