Category Archives: Sketches, etc

I return to my small Mexican village to avoid our harsh cold winter. Now, I can walk to my favourite places to sketch.

First stop is Ricos Tacos where the lady owner loves to decorate her establishment- a true visual artist. She loves greenery, orchids, recycled tires, flashing lights. On the menu are huaraches, pellizcadas, quesadillas.

Ricos Tacos, watercolor, Guayabitos,

Then to the town plaza where it is business as usual; Monday is market day until late afternoon, on a daily basis vendors pass through with all your beach needs and more. I see the flan man selling his ” wife’s recipe ” at 20 pesos and buy a wedge. This year workers are building by hand a permanent platform for the musical and dance fiesta starting later this month. It is an enjoyable space to watch the social landscape and listen to mass at the adjacent church.

Shovel and Wheelbarrow, watercolour, 2017

The early morning fish market is still happening up and down the beach. They start at sunrise and are closed at 10:am.

Beach Fish Market, watercolour, 2017

We are squeezed between the Pacific ocean and the Sierra Madre. As I walk along the beach I look towards the mountains and the passage way is waiting to be painted.

Passage way, watercolour, 2017

Winter is here with days of cold winds and snow squalls. This being said, the train was a good option for a trip to Toronto to see Mystical Landscapes; Monet, van Gogh and More at the Ontario Art Gallery. Toronto is just as cold as Montreal but we decided the 20 minute walk from the train station was just what we needed. As we approached the gallery we enjoy the sweeping glass facade by Canadian born architect Frank Gehry and a huge outdoor sculpture by British Henry Moore. The gallery has over 900 sculptures and works of Henry Moore.

OAG, Toronto, photo by Mary Anne Sullivan

Mystical Landscapes has a wide selection of paintings by artists from 15 countries covering the period from 1880 to 1930. The eye catching names of Monet and van Gogh are the show stoppers.

There is a wide interpretation of mystical and spiritual landscapes in the exhibit. For example, Austrian Expressionist Egon Schiele Landscape with Ravens, 1911 is dark and raw. Juxtaposition is the French painter Maurice Denis, La solitude de Christ, 1918. Here, the bright warm colour choice for the landscape reinforces the sole figure’s passive position and offers safety to mankind outside the sanctuary of the church. At this time, Europe was experiencing the first war from 1914-1918. Maurice Denis was a Symbolist and theoretican of the Nabis movement. In the same space we look at Post Impressionist artist Paul Gauguin, Vision of the Sermon -Jacob wrestling with the Angels, 1888. The choice of colours and complex religious story made it Gauguin’s first masterpiece. Bought in 1925 for 1,150 pounds by the National Gallery of Scotland it is now one of their finest purchases – Gauguin had offered to give it to the Church of Pont-Aven but “naturally they don’t want it”. The rooms are filled with paintings of Georgia O’Keeffe, Piet Mondrian, Edward Munich, James McNeil Whistler, Paul Gaugin and many other lesser known artists.

The Canadian painters; Tom Thomson ( 1877-1917). Lawren Harris (1885-1970), Federick Varley ( 1881-1969) and Emily Carr ( 1871-1945) are well represented and it will be nice to hear the comments from Paris when this show opens on March 13 at the Musee d’Orsay, Paris.

As Christmas nears we celebrated the life of Cleo on our farm. She was a dog of unknown breed found at the SPCA over sixteen years ago.

Merry Christmas and thanks for your support throughout  2016, Linda

The Old Brewery Mission receives the homeless women and men of Montreal and is always in need of money. Artist Sue Porter and Artist Karen Hosker have organized a lunch and art sale to fundraise.

This Saturday November 19, thirteen artists will offer for sale four pieces of art 12 inches by 12 inches each for 140$. You are invited to the Hosker’s private residence at 232 Chemin de Senneville, Qc  from 11 am to 4 pm. Please come, buy art and have a light lunch of soup, bread and a sweet for 5$.

The 2017 jury for the Art Rental at Stewart Hall Gallery have completed their selection. The vernissage is this Sunday October 30, 2016 at 2 o’clock. I am happy to have my oil painting Kamouraska as part of the collection. It was painted while the tide was out, to show off the lush green vegetation that grows under the salt water. Food forager know all about the marine greens in Kamouraska: beach peas, goat’s beard, sea parsley, sea spinach and sea asparagus.

Kamouraska, 30 x 30 inches, oil on canvas, 2014

An added bonus this year was the detail from my painting Tidal Flats Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive on the 2017 Invitation.

detail, Linda Denis, Tidal Flats Saint-Joseph-de- La-Rive, 2015

Please visit the Stewart Hall Art Gallery: Hours, Monday through Sunday 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Free admission-accessible by elevator

176, chemin du Bord-du-Lac/Lakeshore, Pointe-Claire, Québec H95 4J7  www.pointe-claire.ca

After my week at Durtal France,  it was “a must” to spend a few days in Paris. A friend recommended the Hotel des Bains in the 14 arrondissement of Paris. It is close to the Montparnasse Train Staion, shuttle bus to airport and metro. The clean cosy rooms are small but there is everything for an average traveller; updated bathroom, flat TV screen, WiFi and a comfortable bed.

The street and immediate area has all needed amenities. There is a drugstore, small bistros with good food and wine, boutiques selling leather goods, women clothing, and a swim suit shop with Arena  – a brand not available in Quebec but so chic. Best of all, are two art shops – Dalbe and Adam Montmartre both within five minutes of the hotel specializing in a variety of watercolour paper, paints, oil and printmaking supplies. On Saturday morning there is a market for fresh produce, mostly vegetables and meats. Every Sunday there is an art market referred to as the “marché de la création”. This open air art market started in the early 1900’s when it was called “la horde de Montparnasse ” and also known as “Le Marché aux Navets” since the artists shared the same ground as the vegetable farmers. In days gone by artists such as Modigliani, Soutine and Chagall had stalls here. I adore Abstract Expressionist painter Soutine ( 1893-1943) for his paintings full of texture, colour, and shapes. He lived a frugal life and only after the Barnes Foundation bought a substantial number of paintings was he able to be financially secure. The worse was to come under the Nazi occupation of France with Soutine a registered Jew. He sought refuge and with help from friends he hid in several small provincial villages.This tremendous stress aggravated an old ulcer; he died during surgery in Paris.

Cagnes Landscape with Tree c.1925-6 Chaim Soutine 1893-1943 Bequeathed by John Levy 1977 http://www.tate.org.uk/art/work/T02132

Montréal has a connection to this painter, “Soutine Settled over Bargain Meat“. A good read about the business side of art.