this was friday -- saturday by the time i started painting. back to the skateway. finally cracked off a couple good ones. tonight was almost balmy at only 11 below zero. next thing is to paint the bridges.

back to the canal for the third panel at the top of the skateway. a bit of studio work: a sketch of luc for his sixth birthday (from a photo).
they got me the wrong box of records from the national archives. in the meantime, found a photo of harold lodge on line. the newspaper clipping said he died in action. in actual fact he had been executed for desertion by the canadian army. here's the link:
http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=collections/virtualmem/photos&casualty=466564





















here's the triptych

the rebirth of cold

this was an hour ago. one cold view from the champlain monument. there's a flat top pedestal at the base. that's where i sat to work. sharing the view with nothing but the windchill. feels like minus thirty. eight layers on the top, three everywhere else. i can barely move about but i don't get cold. long live the team!

the canal was mine

this was tonight. felt like minus 28. back to the canal for three and a half hours of burning cold. the ice was pristine. the place was mine alone. fortified coffee and smoke keeps the cold from the bone. more panels. more underpaintings.


more bad news. meet the new boss, same as the old boss: http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2009/02/bad-bank-assets-proposal-worse-than-you.html
almost one hundred years past the start of the first one and we are at the gates of the third world war. the memorial nervously awaits the chisel.

sometimes i am awake before sunset

this was monday: a view of the dominican castle in the golden hour and four acrylic underpaintings, in preparation for a show coming up in kitchener in march featuring scenes from the grand river. "hey bridgeport hosers -- check these pics!" (quote edited for profanity and content)

the great war fraud

this was sunday. the top of the skateway. after 20 minutes work i realized i was looking up from the canal to the defense memorial. i had been attracted to the scene two weeks ago by the lights and the trees and the buildings behind them. it was somewhat fitting to be here. i had been at the defense museum thursday and friday to research shot at dawn. actually war museum, war memorial, war department. the great war fraud. the great fraud of war -- that somehow the sacrifices are other than in the service of the ruling elite. painted at midnight.

friday night below the dominican castle

midnight and coffee with whiskey to get me out the door. perfect night -- fresh snow, empty streets, clearing sky, getting colder by the minute but not yet minus 10. and the first bit of smoke in ten days. this was friday.