THE GOLDEN HORSESHOE: A NEW PAINTING!

GOOD WEDNESDAY TO YOU!
So, I posted an image of this painting on Facebook a week or so ago....and got a LOT of feedback.....
The funny thing is, the painting wasn't finished!!! So let's hope you guys love it MORE now.....
Okay so, this is from my "Sign of the Times" series, that seems to be doing quite well.
This time I focussed on "The Golden Horseshoe" Ontario......

As you can see, it is generally Niagara - Toronto.

So I wanted to create a piece all about the sights and landmarks you find in that area!

I chose the following landmarks.....

1. Toronto: the CN Tower and a TTC Streetcar.

2. Mississauga: the Marilyn Monroe Towers

3. Burlington: Lift Bridge

4. The GO train

5. Oakville: the downtown Oakville Clock

6. Hamilton: Dundern Castle

7. Grapes (or fruit)

8. The QEW outside St. Catharines

9. The many beaches of Lake ontario from Kew to Fifty Point, from Lakeside and Jones Beach to 

    Grimsby and Bronte Beach!!!

10. "ER" lampposts on Bronte Creek Bridge, 16 Mile Creek Bridge and more along QEW 

     to St. Catharines

11. Niagara Falls: Horseshoe Falls

12. Maid of the Mist

I also decided to do this painting on PAPER....which was a first for me.......and I am excited about how it worked out!!

Okay enough chit chat.....here is the progression of the piece:

Get paper ready - draw out composition and start in with first colour....

Adding more of colour #1 - a teal like blue

Adding in some dark and light Greens

Adding in the dark blue colour, and the 2 greys...

 THEN I FORGOT TO TAKE PHOTOS....
You missed me adding in a beige and an orangey red.....

Drybrushing in some white to break up the areas a bit

Finally adding little washes ad a sepia coat....

I GIVE YOU THE FINAL PIECE:

"The Golden Horseshoe", 36" x 24", Acrylic on Paper

I am happy with the final look!

YES! Prints are already at the printer!

Wanna pre-order one? JUST EMAIL ME!

I will have these beauties available this weekend at S.P.O.T. - The Summer Pop-up Of Toronto!

Don't know what that show is???

CHECK OUT ALL THE INFORMATION HERE!!!

See you Thurs-Sunday at Scadding Court Community Centre - at Bathurst and Dundas!!!!

WW188: JULIE MADLY DEEPLY, WAFFLE TATERS, and JUST ONE JOB

Happy 'Wonderful Wednesday' to you!
So here are the 5 things that I think you should LOVE this week!!!

1.) This one is for my friends who love show tunes - like I love show tunes……
      Julie, Madly, Deeply. I am so happy that I got to see this show!!! It was super fun!

If you like cabaret - if you like musicals - if you like those crazy Brits - most of all if you like Julie Andrews - THIS is the show for you!!!!

Yes, it is 105 minutes of delightful tribute to Julie - from her SUPER FAN Sarah-Louise Young!

SUPER TALENTED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is how Mirvish describes the show:

Adored by millions, Dame Julie Andrews is a genuine legend of showbiz around the globe. This charming and cheeky musical show features songs from The Sound Of Music, My Fair Lady,Mary Poppins, Victor/Victoria and many more.

Julie’s incredible career is celebrated by a true super-fan: the award-winning singer, West End actress and international cabaret star Sarah-Louise Young, who has been named by Time Out as one of London’s Top Ten cabaret performers.

The brilliant songs are linked by stories and anecdotes about Andrews’ own life, from her beginnings as a child star to the recent challenges of losing her famous singing voice. What emerges is a delightfully funny and candid love letter to a true show business survivor.

Don’t miss the show’s North American premiere in this strictly limited engagement, direct from a sell-out West End season and UK tour. Singing along is not compulsory but few can resist!

Honestly, it was such a fun night out! Sarah-Louise Young was super funny.

So go get tickets…...BUT GET ON IT FAST!!! 

There are only 3 dates left!

Thu Oct 16, 8PM
Sat Oct 18, 2PM
Sun Oct 19, 7PM

at Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge Street, Toronto

2.) This is for my peeps who like great architecture……or who love nature……or BOTH! Let's all go to Sydney, Australia and marvel at ‘One Central Park‘:

It is ‘the world’s tallest vertical garden’. It is designed by Jean Nouvel in collaboration with PTW architects. Now check out this cool cantilevered reflector installation with motorized infrared panels, designed to redirect sunlight to otherwise shaded areas of the plan. It also becomes a cool LED light at night!

I like that there is greenery on EVERY UNIT of this apartment building! The plants help reduce energy consumption with leaves that trap carbon dioxide, emit oxygen and reflect less heat back into the city than traditional fixed shading. BRILLIANT!!!!!!

SO LET'S GO!!!!!!

photographer murray fredericks, courtesy of frasers property and sekisui house

THANKS TO DESIGN BOOM for this one…..there are more photos on the Design Boom site!

3.) A is for ADORABLE! Anna Kövecses, made this fantastic book for her four year old daughter!

 “This book is the result of a very personal project aiming to introduce a little girl to the 44 letters of the Hungarian alphabet. Illustrations were carefully designed so that every subject that appears in this book is something she’s currently very much interested in. So in one way this book is not just a tool but also a diary documenting a four-year-old little girl’s world in the summer of 2013 on an island in the Mediterranean Sea…”

WOW! That is amazing. So sweet! But I also love these retro-y very graphic art pieces!

Anna self-published this book on Blurb.
So let's all learn the Hungarian alphabet and buy her delightful book!

(thanks to The Jealous Curator for finding this for US!)

4.) WHO'S HUNGRY?? Darn you Cheeky Kitchen on Tablespoon.com

JUST LOOK AT THIS REVELATION!!

Tater-tot waffles:

OMG!

MUST TRY THIS! (and tell Husband that I thought it up myself! ;-)

Remember to check out other great recipes on Tablespoon.com

5.) Thanks to Deb….I now have a favourite Twitter feed……..it is "you had one job" or @justonejob (as the kids say)….it chronicles the failures of people and the things they create as part of their jobs…….let me show you some recent tweets:

I LOVE THE CHINESE FLAG!

…...TOTALLY uncomfortable with this failure…...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Prime…..

Racists who hate juice….it is so unapPEALing
(get it - like pealing a fruit - for juice…)

See more from @justonejob HERE!

WW140: CHEESEWERKS, THE GRAND BUDAPEST and GAY RAMBO

Ok….so here are 5 things that I like this week - that you should like too!!!!

1.) As part of the London Design Festival 2013, Lebanese designer Najla El Zein created "The Wind Portal", an interactive wind installation showcased at the V&A museum. El Zein folded thousands of paper windmills, to create the gigantic moving structure.

SO GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!

2.) I AM SOOOOOOO looking forward to this movie. Ok….so there is a tremendous wait ahead….but just look at this trailer of writer/director Wes Anderson’s new film The Grand Budapest Hotel which opens March 7, 2014.

The story takes place in early 20th-century Hungary and revolves around the goings-on at The Grand Budapest Hotel (duh), where a legendary concierge (Ralph Fiennes) takes a young employee (Tony Revolori) under his wing to become his trusted protégé. It looks soooooo stunning -- I mean the art direction is AH-MAH-ZING! It looks weird and quirky and I am a fan of that!! It is also real treat to see Ralph Fiennes in a comedic role!!!!

3.) I WANT TO GO TO THERE. Check out this crazy renovation! The Broerenkerk church – now named ‘waanders in der broeren’- in the city of Zwolle, the Netherlands was built in 1466 and was used for prayin' and such, up until 1982. Then it was dormant for 3 decades! But now it is open again -as a bookstore/cafe/gallery!!!!

Local firm bk architected did a splendid job of keeping the best parts of the church! With a few modern touches like a contemporary stained glass panel made by norwegian artist knell nupen. I love the refurbished organ at the end of the building.

 LOVE IT!!!

LET'S GO!
See WAY more photos at designboom

4.) CheeseWerks. At the home show last month, I listened to 4 presentations about this place. OBVIOUSLY this worked on me. We went last weekend!

It is a great causal dining experience - and it would be great for a group of people! It is kinda cafeteria style - so you order at the cash desk and then they bring it to you! Which now that I am typing this - is probably not 'cafeteria style' at all! Anyways…..I like that you can even borrow one of their board games to play while you wait - or while you eat!! Now the food…….here is the menu:

You can choose one of the 4 dishes - and then decide on how you want it styled. We did share-seys! The Houston Mac and Cheese and the Los Angeles Grilled Cheese:

YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both were delicious!
So….if you are looking for a fun CHEESEY place to go…….check it out!
It is located at

56 Bathurst St.  Toronto, ON M5V 2P7 (416) 243-3327

(Bathurst and just both of Wellington)
YUMMMMM!

5.) Then there is this…….not at all a waste of 7 minutes……..and not offensive at all!!! PLEASE DO NOT LET YOU CHILDREN WATCH THIS!!! (and do thank my Husband for this one)

WW133: OOBJECT, THE GREAT LEGO PHONE and BUTTERCUP CHICKENBROTH

Hey folks! Let's gedder dunn! Here are the 5 things that I want you to LOOOOOOVE this week!!!!

1.) OH MY GAWD. I soooooooo need this:

LEGO has collaborated with belkin to introduce the ' builder case', a fully customizable iPhone 5 accessory that can be personalized with LEGO bricks. designed with a co-molded hard plastic back for scratch-resistance and a semi-flexible outer frame for shock-absorption, the easy-to-grip case also protects the buttons on the sides while keeping the ports and speakers fully exposed. the 'builder case' can now be purchased at belkin's online shop for $39.99!!!!!!!!

COME ON!!!!!!
This is a super great time waster for adults!

(thanks Design Boom)

2.) This is creepy...and cool! it makes me want to go to these places to see these houses! Ben Marcin's "Last House Standing" is a photo project documenting the forgotten solo row houses scattered around Baltimore, Philly and New Jersey. Standing alone, in some of the worst neighborhoods, these nineteenth century structures were once attached to similar row houses that made up entire city blocks. Time and major demographic changes have resulted in the decay and demolition of many such blocks of row houses.

"My interest in these solitary buildings is not only in their ghostly beauty but in their odd placement in the urban landscape. Often three stories high, they were clearly not designed to stand alone like this. Many details that might not be noticed in a homogenous row of twenty attached row houses become apparent when everything else has been torn down."

Very cool!!!

Check out more from Ben HERE.

(via www.featureshoot.com)

3.) Ok....so thanks to DEB, I am wasting a LOT of time on:

Thats's OOBJECT. It has daily lists of stuff. Weird and wonderful stuff. I encourage you to go and waste some time there!!! The firest thing I enjoyed was a grouping of 12 unusual cameras, posted by David Galbraith

Isn't that enough to make you want to waste your time here?????
GO!!
(not yet - finish my post - THEN go)

4.) ok.....now I am not sure about this one yet.....but I wanted to share......ROCKY: The Musical. Yup. You heard me!!!

Here is what the creaters are promoting:

In 1976, an unknown actor wrote and starred in an independent movie about a struggling but indomitable Philadelphia boxer who gets a once-in-a-lifetime shot to go the distance.

An underdog story both on-screen and off, Sylvester Stallone'sRocky went on to win the Academy Award® for Best Picture and touch the hearts of millions. Now, that iconic film has inspired an innovative new stage production, brought to extraordinary life by afive-time Tony Award®-winning creative team, including director Alex Timbers (Peter and the Starcatcher), book writerThomas Meehan (The Producers) and songwriting team Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty (Ragtime).

What they've done with Rocky pushes the limits of the ordinary theatrical experience, bringing the audience into the heat of the action. Both an adrenaline-infused spectacle and a surprising tale of blossoming romance between two lonely outsiders, Rocky is a visceral and heart-stopping new production for everyone brave enough to follow their dream.

I have to admit, I am curious.....I generally enjoy Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty's musicals.....still.....this isn't an endorsement......just a bit of curiosity!!!!

5.) Ok....you LOVE the TV series "Sherlock"....and you loved him in "Star Trek 2".......and now you are gonna love the Benedict Cumberbatch Name Generator........very amusing!