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When my mom & I committed to going to the Squam Art Workshops in New Hampshire, we had to decide on either flying into Montreal or Boston before renting a car to drive to Squam Lake. We went with Montreal because of an amazing seat sale. We spent a few days there before heading down to New Hampshire.
Mom & I explored a lot of Montreal on foot. We walked around the ethnic neighborhood where the famous St. Viateur Bagels are baked. We walked the streets of Bishop & Crescent to visit the Fine Arts Museum, to try the best shepherd's pie ever at Hurley's & to check out an act at ComedyWorks. We strolled through the beautiful Botanical Gardens & up Rue University where we stopped in for a pint at The Old Dublin pub & listened to a band doing an acoustic version of Leonard Cohen's, Hallelujah.
Old Montreal
But ambling through the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal was one of our favorite activities. With all those charming shops & luring storefront signs, interesting art galleries & beautiful old buildings, horse carriages, narrow cobblestone streets, gourmet restaurants & flowered patios... It was sensory overload.
Above, a beautiful photo of copper green & rusty orange buildings near the Port & Place Jacques-Cartier in Old Montreal.
A section of the Maisonneuve Monument
Above: I took this picture mostly because I was digging the pigeon hanging out on top of this guy's head, however, the pigeon doesn't really show up too well. But there is an interesting story behind this particular sculpture. See the dog on the lower right? He was immortalized because his bark warned the French settlers of the impeding invasion of an Iroquois tribe back in 1644. Lucky French settlers, unlucky Iroquois tribe.
Basilique Notre Dame
The breathtaking interior of the Basilique Notre Dame, designed by American architect James O'Donnell. Walking into this cathedral was so powerful! The extreme beauty & complexity is mind blowing & it was a moment when I was proud to be part of humanity because our predecessors strove to create such exquisiteness.
The Geodesic Dome
Mom & I took a boat cruise along the St. Lawrence river. We saw the grounds where Expo '67 was. My mom last visited Montreal in 1967 for Expo so it was kind of cool to cruise by there. This is a picture of the Geodesic Dome, which was part of the United States Pavilion. Originally, the building was surrounded by a transparent acrylic material that was accidentally burnt away in 1976.
Judy "The Shark" Hamilton
I don't know when my mom found the time to become a pool shark, but apparently she did. One night we went to the St. Paul pub for a little pool tournament. We played 5 games & she won 3 of them.
On to New Hampshire...
On our drive down to New Hampshire, we stopped in this quaint little French town named Magog where we had the most delicious lunch. It was a lamb crumble with roasted peppers & zucchini on top. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of it, it was so pretty... if I ever recreate it, I will take a photo & share the recipe with you.
Squam Lake, where they filmed On Golden Pond. We arrived late in the day & after registering, we went to our cabin & sat on the veranda to stare out at the lake. It wasn't too long before we heard the call of loons, just like in the movie!
Afterwards, we walked down to the huge Dining Room out in the woods for a buffet dinner, which was incredible for it's variety & taste (something we weren't expecting!). Then we headed to the "Play Room", which is a large open room in the woods with a roof & one side of walls (including a fire place), while the other side is exposed. There's a stage there & Elizabeth, who organized this whole thing, spoke to the entire group about art, why we were there & who helped her to get this thing up & running. It was an incredibly touching speech & set the tone for the weekend.
Jonatha Brooke posing for me in a modeling exercise for one of the classes
After the opening speeches, a bonfire was scheduled & Jonatha Brooke made an appearance with guitar in hand. There were over 100 of us, yet we still managed to all circle around the fire so that it seemed quite intimate. I loved the way Jonatha introduced each song with the story behind it; that makes it all the more meaningful when you listen to someone play live, I think. Just this year, she was invited into the archives of Woody Guthrie & as a result, her latest album, "The Works" is a compilation of songs with his lyrics & her music. It's magical & I totally recommend it!
Cynthia, our cutie pie roommate & a fellow Canadian from Toronto. After all the activities of the day, we wound down the nights sipping wine beside a roaring fire in our little cabin while sharing stories. You rock sista!
Day 1 of classes
First day of class, mom & I took "A Page in the Life" with Judy Wise. It was a workshop that involved using collage, paint, words... to create a unique journal. Judy Wise is so cool & so artistic & so well rounded & so warm & so good at teaching & really I could go on & on... She works in her own journal every day & to see those journals up close, you realize that they are works of art.
Above, Judy is painting with her hands instead of a brush, just one of the many techniques she shared with us.
Below, the front covers of a couple of her journals
Below: a "a page in the life" of Judy
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Day 2 of Classes
Jonatha Brooke, Andrea Scher & Jen Gray being silly
The second day, mom & I took the "Superhero Photography" class with one of my blog heroes Andrea Scher. We spent a lot of time exploring different ways to photograph, i.e. how to make people feel comfortable while taking their picture, how to shoot photos with a different perspective or how to take photos with a theme in mind. But we also did some really interesting "life couching" exercises to help open up & expose our inner fears & dreams. The day was filled with both fun & profound moments & the cherry on top was Jonatha playing her song "I'll Try" on piano for us (here's the Peter Pan version if you're interested). It was an unforgettable day.
If you go out in the woods today...
I think this is my favorite photo from that day. It's a little grainy, but I like the mood & ambiguity and the "woodsy" feeling of it all.
Day 3
Our last class was with Misty Mawn, & it was called "A Keepsake Book". This also involved collage & painting.
Misty above whipping up an art storm... she is a very fast creator!
Another one of Misty's pieces she did in class. You can see on the right loads of her pages of work that she did during that weekend & on the left, can you spot the chocolate? She left some on each table for us!
I guess what we got out of the two collage classes was to break away from our own rigidity in our art. To just create, keep creating, don't stop... let go of that inner critic & create!
Squam Art Fair
That night, we left class a little early to set up for the Art Fair in the little town of Sandwich (ahhh). This is a photo as you walk in - lots of talented artists selling their wonderful art. It was a treat to be among them!
Mom & I ~ at the fair, selling our goodies. A big thank you to Cynthia, who stayed with us the entire time & helped out!
Lastly, a photo, taken by Thea Coughlin, the official photographer of the Workshops. If you look closely and middle right, there Cynthia, me & mom are.
That's all folks!
By the way, if you've ever considered an Art Retreat, I totally think you should consider Squam Art Workshops next year. For both my mom & I, it was magical, nurturing & inspiring. It's a collection of amazing souls visiting a beautiful location & doing wonderful things, how can you go wrong? |
