downtown

Wednesdays are for downtown, mostly because I do a Pilates class every Wednesday (taught by my uncle) and therefore stack up my other downtown errands for that one day a week ... the price of gas being what it is these days! I went down to Granville Island to pick up my painting from the Federation Gallery and drop off my entry for Painting on the Edge. Rosalind told me something interesting about the abstraction show this little painting was just in. Apparently there was a school group that came through one day, and they had to write about a painting they liked and try and copy it. Turns out my little painting was the popular choice. That delights me as there's a kind of pure logic about it: I almost always prefer children's art to the work of adults. I remember teaching Grade Two a couple of years ago and every Wednesday afternoon was art afternoon. There was this one little boy whose style was so unique and engaging that I tried more than once to surreptitiously "keep" some of his work, but he always kept track of what he'd done and even when I asked, he wouldn't give it up! Does that mean that he has a big enough ego to pursue a creative career?

This painting is definitely different from most of the paintings in the abstraction show, most being these beautiful, soft, ethereal pieces, so maybe it was just its uniqueness (read: childish simplicity)that drew their eye.

After my "fix" of Granville Island (bought some supplies at Opus, too) I went over the bridge to St. Paul's Hospital for my appointment with Dr. Stager, the sports medicine specialist.









St. Paul's Hospital, est. 1894

I didn't learn much new about my war against piriformis syndrome, but got a few new ideas to try out. I'm tempted to start running longer now as nothing much seems to help, but running hasn't been making it worse either. Driving is the thing that irritates it most. I managed to make driving home an experience, though, as I had a cup of strong coffee, a peanut butter granola bar, good music on the tapedeck and my digital camera to entertain me as I threaded my way through town before heading back out to the leafy 'burbs.

Guess I could've been talking on a cell phone, smoking a cigarette and putting on mascara, too, but let's not get carried away! Tomorrow it's back to the easel.





Burrard and Alberni