Rather than seeing nothing but Helen Andersen pieces here, how about if we pause for a look at a watercolour by one of her mentors? The photo doesn’t really do it justice, because it’s much easier to appreciate Kit’s skill, knowledge and dexterity if you can look at the original. Still, I hope you can get a sense of the fluidity, the sense of depth and movement he has created with such seemingly simple means. He knew his colours.

We invited Jane Clapp and her husband Scott over to see which pieces of Helen Andersen art they’d like to have. When she was a little girl, and later when she’d grown up a bit, Jane visited Helen and even did some artwork with her. Jane was one of Helen’s favourite people, so we are delighted that she now has some of Helen’s work. In fact, Jane remembered making paper with Helen, so one of the pieces she chose was a rendering of the CN tower on handmade paper.
Here’s a photo of a very young Jane with Helen, standing in front of a life drawing that still survives. It was among the pictures in the great Ekland Find.

Helen looks on affectionately while Jane steals the show.

With its usual grace and elegance, the TTC will introduce its PRESTO electronic fare system for use on new, giant streetcars it is preparing to deploy. The streetcars are due August 31 but PRESTO cards won’t appear until November 3rd.
For a couple of months at least, riders will use the old tickets, tokens and transfers. A bit of a clumsy launch, but wait, there’s more.
When the PRESTO cards do let us board a new streetcar, we will tap our card at the door to pay, but we’re not finished yet. Inside the car, it will be necessary to tap the card again on a machine that spits out old fashioned paper transfers. We’ll need these as proofs-of-purchase, because special constables will supposedly issue big fines if we can’t produce one on demand. We also need them to transfer to older vehicles that won’t have the PRESTO magic.
The elaborate make-do rituals will drag on into 2015, while the TTC attempts to create a fare-collecting system that works throughout the city. Anyone see potential for comedy ahead?

Open Streets TO would free Bloor Street from car traffic for a few hours on summer Sunday mornings. It’s a good idea that the likes of Mayor Ford despise. So you know it has merit, right?

See you out there!

Within sight of the CN Tower and reachable by streetcar, the Riverdale Farm is one of our city’s treasures. Today was great. May will be even better!

I can’t resist a couple more shots …

With his long, long beard and his empty stare, you’ll understand in a moment …

A big thank you to Brian Hickey for pointing me to this …
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ok9TuFHWYuM
To quote the video, “he had the audacity of simplicity”.
“Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.” — Woody Guthrie
“Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” — Albert Einstein

Edgar Degas self portrait, oil on paper.
Digital image courtesy of the Getty’s Open Content Program.

Nearly 80,000 more images have been added to the J. Paul Getty Open Content offerings online, in case the original 46,000 weren’t enough for you. Go get your classy, high rez screen savers or just do some museum cruising. Everything is in the public domain.

These are unsigned, undated abstract studies but they are so similar in shape and colour that they were probably done at the same time, most likely in the mid 1980s. They are abstract in the sense that no attention has been given to specific details that identify subject matter. As generalized compositions, though, they clearly draw on the B.C. forest for their inspiration.

Of the two, the top one is my personal favourite. [Pair now in the collection of Ruth and John Robert Colombo]

Just because I spend an ungodly amount of time on the internet, Ian thinks I must have already discovered all the great stuff. Often though, I find out about serious goodies long after most people, so I am very glad he called my attention to Jango.com. You will be too, if you don’t listen to it already.