Kari Gignac, photographer and writer for OurWindsor.ca on the story:

The I Love Windsor project, spearheaded by UWindsor grad Aleksandra Wadas, is meant to be a reminder for Windsorites that there are positive things happening in the city. The local art scene, with all of its fractions, is a burgeoning one. It’s efforts like the one being made by Aleks Wadas that are reinventing Windsor- we are no longer just an automotive town. “Change needs action, and action starts with a single thought,” writes Wadas on the event’s Facebook page. “Why not make this thought a positive one?” [source with links to some of the other artists].

Special thanks to the couple who decided to take this painting into their home. Man, I am so glad I forgot my bike (eye glasses mount) rear view mirror at the club and had to bike back or I might have missed the moment. Thanks to Aleksandra for making sure we connected. Thanks to my daughter Nichole who took the original photo following one of the recent big storms. I re-comped it and took considerable liberty with the colours. More to come in this style for sure.

P.S. Final note of thanks to Moe who not only stood guard over my bicycle and is an art lover but is probably the most amicable bouncer on the planet.

I was happy to be contacted by Howard  Spinner President of Monarch Mattress Mfg. Co. at 1519 Wyandotte Street East for a sketch of his building.

of the latest “Plein Air Paint/sketch out in Windsor, Ontario“. I’ve been trying to join this group of folks all summer and I finally made it but it’s no longer summer and there was no one there by the time I arrived.

I’ve since learned that there were some car break-ins in the lot belonging to the park so the sketchers headed home early. There were some losses – what a shame.

It was very windy today so I just made a quick go of it with one sketch in grey with a favourite brush pen in one of my Artist Handbook Journals.

Now if you, like I, think this is not at all amazing work you’d be right but one of the things I am all about these days is being willing to openly show the great, the good and the not-so-good-at-all art I make. Sure, real artists advise against this method, maybe it doesn’t help sales but it does promote honesty and, I hope, the idea of encouraging every one of us to just get out there are draw.

Thanks for checking in. Now, get out there and sketch!

–

P.S. There was a glitch in upgrading to the latest version of WordPress and I’ve temporarily lost a number of the aspects of my design I thought was so cool. I’ll work on that later, for now, as ever really, it’s all about the sketch. I may just scrap this design and go with something simple.

P.P.S. As I bicycled my way to the Jackson Park I was taken by surprise by a very load crashing noise near the corner of Windsor & Hanna. I saw a wall coming down with concrete smoke billowing as another landmark bites the dust. The grey/blue building is owned by Elias Market, I found out, and apparently they’ve said it’s done. No idea what if anything is going up. That’ll be a huge empty lot if nothing takes its place. I got some quick snaps and will be making some sketches from those.

part of the building in another sketch from the weekend spent drawing during the Walkerville Art Walk & Rock. As I was drawing this building a couple watched and the gentleman noted that he used to work in that building, for thirty years in fact. Wow. I found out from him that this building was the location of Deloitte and Touche. The firm is presently located in a big modern box building at Ouellette Place. The building block I drew here is also home to other businesses and a Christian center upstairs.

I mentioned in the last post that some folks shared some good thoughts. Here’s a couple:

One person said they would like to see the drawings done bigger to enjoy the detail. They like the style but would like to see more of it, bigger. I get that and hope to do so in the future and would certainly do so now as a commissioned building portrait. These are my “field” books and in the meantime I am having fun meeting the challenge of getting them filled and getting to record my city.

Another good thought was the use of selected colour and not overdoing things, leaving some blank space that isn’t really “blank” because the mind’s eye fills it in. I can’t recall the awesome Latin term used to describe this aspect but I agree and use it, the technique if not the term, often. The same person returned the next day with a USB memory stick with personal photos of the old Bank of Montreal from the corner of Ottawa and Walker – the place which is now taken up by a refuge bin shack, very nice. I look forward to drawing that old gem via the photos. It was really thoughtful of this person to share those with me.

When the event was done I managed to make it upstairs at Refine Fitness to see some of the art done by current students and recent grads Walkerville Centre for Creative Arts (WCCA). There was some wonderful creative stuff.

I am going to continue drawing from the photos I took during the event and on location. Funny what it takes to get someone, me, out of the house and sketching all the great stuff located right in my own neighbourhood!

Thanks to everyone who stopped to chat and or purchase the post-card sized prints and to Mike Bates of Refine Fitness. {thrive!}

P.S. The location shot I took the day before and three of me at Refine Fitness working on the sketch above. The yellow arrow is pointing to Tracy. Thanks Tracy.

41 businesses are taking part in this event. Early in the day I took photos of those locations (those 42 businesses) and then headed for Refine Fitness where, at the invitation of owner Mike Bates (with a big hat-tip to Tracy at Katnandu), I was posted as the artist in the window – literally.

The sketch from last night, posted here, shows two unique antique shops at the corner of Wyandotte and Gladstone and features Imeson Antiques. I spoke with the owner who is a very nice fellow. I would love to go back and sketch inside one day. I confess that though I am a resident of Walkerville there are many shops I have never been in and this is one of the great things about biking and sketching in Windsor; I am beginning to get to know my own town. The reasons are too many why this has not happened before now for my family and I but, it is happening now.

I’ll be back sketching live again today and sharing some of the great thoughts folks have shared with me as they dropped by. Those moments are one of the best things of this event for me and I say THANK YOU to each person who took the time to chat and share. {thrive!}

On the north side of E.C. Row Expressway exit at Walker Road there was a number of vehicles parked behind a beat up chain link fence. This beaut of a truck caught my eye, gleaming white even on a dull day. So much character. Way more than anything coming off the troubled assembly lines today – I think.

The menagerie of vehicles is gone now but the buildings near them remain, wrapped in yellow “Do Not Cross Line” sort of barrier tape, windows boarded up. Perhaps another location waiting for the Windsor wrecking ball? Anyway, I am glad I caught the truck in time. There really was (is?) a tree on the lot but I “moved” it to where I wanted in the sketch and didn’t bother with any of the other vehicles except that truck.

No point in describing here all that happened between then and now except to say I was just weeks away from leaving the area forever. Here I am – maybe I’ve avoided the wrecking ball. {thrive!}

UPDATE:

On returning from out of town last night I passed this corner and the buildings are now gone. This morning I read about the very spot while catching up on some blog reading at the International Metropolis blog. In Recent demolitions that and some other wrecking ball meet-ups are mentioned. I am very sorry not to have sketched the “old Blue Entrance to the Northern Belle Riverboat Casino.” I gotta get busy!

The Walkerville Centre for Creative Arts (WCCA), along an ensemble from Holy Names High School were joined by a string section of the Windsor Symphony Orchestra and completed by choral teams from the schools. It was an excellent concert fittingly held on April 9th, the 93rd anniversary of the launch of The Battle of Vimy Ridge, a battle in which many Canadians from Windsor and Essex county took part.

On a Spring day when one could happily bike and sketch outside (unlike today’s blistering “feels like 102F”) I sat in a little driveway that is now the entry to the new weekend Downtown Farmer’s Market to draw The Armouries. I did a rough sketch and then settled into this one which took the better part of two hours. By the end the light had changed significantly and my bum was über sore.

I used my Pentel Brush Pen along with Koi watercolour paints on a Moleskine Sketchbook in landscape format. {thrive!}

Oddly, it’s only the second time in a decade that I’ve made the parade in Windsor. Last time the kids were, well, kids and not young adults. DW and I biked to Glenngary and Wyandotte, the western edge and end location of the parade. While waiting for the show to begin I did a little quick sketching, people staking their turf for a good view and or generally free ranging everywhere. We bailed out ahead of the Mayor arriving, who by crowd appreciation came a decided also-ran to the Stanley Cup.

That sketch was done with my trusty Pentel Pocket Brush Pen which requires a light hand or else the porous paper of the Hand Book Art Journal makes thick lines faster than you want. All part of the fun of staying spontaneous.

Later we met up with DD1 and the three of us biked around downtown landing at The Coffee Exchange on Ouellette near University where we were fortunate enough to get one of the two outdoor tables overlooking the street. Here I switched to my Staedtler pens. Again, no pencil work but straight to paper with permanent ink. These pens have various sized tips but are essentially fine and not flexible. These can provide crisp lines that wont bleed and, as you can see, create a totally different look. Ah yes, you want to know what that weird thing is draped in and overlapping DW’s bike helmet is; it’s one of DD1′s very cool hand made purse bag things. Our bikes were in front of us against the railing but I decided not to put those in – too much detail!

I may come back and colour these in using my reference photos but I kind of like them as is right now. {thrive!}

P.S. Remember; click the images for larger view.

It, like me, has had many lives. It may be slated for the wrecking ball – which I hope will not be the case for me any time soon.

This is the old Walker Power Building, also known as the Peabody Building. I know I’ve seen more info on it somewhere on the great International Metropolis blog but can’t locate the info just now. You can look it up.

Ten years ago when we first moved into the neighbourhood it housed a rock band or at least a drummer or two, a bike shop, some artists of various kinds and other creative sorts. Wish I had found a reason to go inside. At least I drew the outside in time. {thrive!}

As I get started on this blog here is one sketch that has nothing specifically to do with Windsor Ontario but that has everything to do with being inspired, with determination, with doing what you love against all the odds and because of that being a blessing to others.

There is so much expressed by Dexter that speaks directly to me. Though I have never lost an appendage I, probably like you dear reader, have experienced trials in life strong enough to make me want to give up were in not for family others around me and for a power much higher than little old me who somehow manage to simultaneously slap me up the side of the head and overwhelm me with love, love enough to say, believe and keep moving forward.

I made the sketch from stills in the following video. {thrive!}