Thank the universe for Sunday

 

Cosmos for the cosmos

Watercolour and marker

on Arches watercolour paper

6 x 10 inches

Barbara Muir © 2012

(These are the last Cosmos left over and still

blooming from my Thanksgiving flowers)

Today was one of those glorious Sundays that make
you believe in all things wonderful.  The sky was
that perfect deep blue with white puffy clouds
floating by as decoration.  And the autumn trees
seemed to soak up the sunlight and hold it like
living candles.  It was pure delight, so we decided
to head to Kleinburg and the McMichael gallery
one of the largest collection of Group of Seven
paintings in Canada.

When we got there most of the Group of Seven
galleries were closed, but there was a wonderful
show of gallery volunteers' work, and two super
portrait shows, Double Take: Portraits of Intriguing
Canadians and Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton:
a Diamond Jubilee Celebration. Both exhibits were

fabulous and I was completely happy.

Standing in front of gorgeous portraits in oil
of Wolfe and Montcalm -- the generals who
decided the fate of Canada at the battle
on September13, 1759 (would we be predominantly
 French or English?) (By the way the English won, but
 both generals died from wounds they suffered during the battle).
I felt excited about the power of painted portraits.

 

James Wolfe

oil on canvas

Artist: Highmore, Joseph, Attributed to (1692-1780,)

Library and Archives Canada 

Louis-Joseph, Marquis de Montcalm

Artist unknown,

 plus detail of the face

oil on canvas

Library anad Archives Canada

There they were these two famous men, staring
out at me.  And I preferred Montcalm.  He looked
more interesting and less stuffy.  I quipped
to the man beside me -- "there they are the fate
of Canada in their hands", and we laughed.  I
said, "we could all have been French, and
had much better food, and probably cared more
about literature."  He replied, "I'm from Alaska,
I could have been Russian," and then we both
laughed.  I said "like whats-her-name." And
he said, "Sarah -- don't remind me."  And I said
how did you know who I meant?"  He said,
"everyone knows."  I said that that wasn't true,
but clearly we both watch Jon Stewart.  And that
was true so we laughed again. So much fun in
front of these famous dead generals.

If you're not Canadian the historic battle decided our
cultural future. The English won, and that's why the only
province in Canada that is French for the most part is
Quebec.  But for Canadians there is much more to
it than that -- far too much to go into here.

 

Steven on the grounds at the McMichael

Canadian Collection

Beautiful birches outside

like those in the Tom Thomson 

painting inside the gallery.