November 3, 2009 1

Back from the Funeral

By in Uncategorized

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We had the funeral for my Dad today, at Christ Church, our old family church in Calgary. A very nice Anglican Service. Lots of hymns, and I felt about 13 years of age trying to sing with them. The key was never right, and I was either grumbling basso, or trying to do falsetto. Never a comfort zone. Still, lots of great people came out, and some from my old high school and university days. It was great to get back in touch with them. That’s what funerals do, it seems. Too bad it takes a death to make things like this happen. Dad would have liked it.

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Anyhow, I don’t have pics of the service, but I do have these shots of the funky Dash 8 airplane I took while on a connecting flight from Edmonton to Calgary. Never been in a propeller plane before. So, that was a new experience.

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I’m in the Calgary airport now, this evening. Waiting for my flight back, and using the free wireless. Here’s a shot of a sketch of my cat I did earlier, and a pic out the window, over the top of my new laptop. P1040683

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October 31, 2009 2

Bein’ an Extra

By in montreal, sketches

One of the things I do, since writing gives me such a loose schedule, and I’ve been involved in movies and such, is play an extra, or “background performer” in local shoots.

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It’s kind of fun, if you don’t take it seriously, and you get a bit of money, and sometimes hobnob with stars, or at least the people who like to be with stars. I’ve collected stories, sometime, for some projects, which are in the air at the moment.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, I was in a costume as above, playing a train passenger in the 1970’s for a film of the Mordecai Richler novel, Barney’s Version.

I was only there for a day, so don’t expect to see me much in the movie. Mainly I’ll be walking in the background by the train, in my Salmon pink leisure suit. I also get a fun thing to do in the train window as it pulls away, which is arranging luggage for my daughter. Something like “Mr. Bean.” Again, I doubt if anyone’s seen this.

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My mailman once saw me make a fool of myself in a disco nightclub, in a French Language TV series. I also spent a summer besieging a castle, and my own peasant village, in the movie Timeline.

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Sprinkled in this post are 2 pages of sketches I did. Not much time to do sketches. Note the old gentleman in hat and trenchcoat. A ringer for Morgan Freeman.

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October 30, 2009 0

My Dad

By in Uncategorized

July 23, 2007 016
During one of those later park walks.

Still pretty broken up about this. That was very tough, but at least I was there. Anyhow, below is what I’ll read at the service in Calgary this Monday. They advised us to keep to the cheerful, positive stuff. Sadly, going to two services in September for friends prepared me a little. One good thing, it’s brought me closer to family.

Finally, they put his obit up: [link]

Maybe later, I might be able to come up with something more searching. Probably not for the blog, however.

The things I’d like to remember about my Dad is my growing up, and having a really great childhood, despite a lot of challenges. Moving from city to city. Finding a new home, having to make new friends. We took some excellent trips, to Montana and the western coast of the US. Went skiing a lot… and our family was one of the first in Calgary to take up cross country skiing. People would come up to us and ask about the flimsy wooden skis on top of the car. Were we ski jumpers, or something?

More personally, from Dad I remember help with school, sharing spy and historical novels, and fooling with model airplane engines. After school, I’d sometimes go to his office at the Calgary Board of Education, and play with the computers. They were a lot bigger, and slower in those days. I still like computers. Not a programmer, though.

We had our differences, politically, and otherwise, but things never got out of hand. He loved to challenge me, and taught me how to solve problems. That was his computing and management background coming out. Above all, he taught me not to give up, no matter what life throws at you.

My mom’s death in my last year of university affected our whole family deeply. Dad, I’m afraid, most of all. Living in the east and working as a writer, I miss the family stuff. Still, it was great, even in the later years to take him for a little walk in the park.

My sister Paula did most of the work taking care of him in the tough times, despite her own responsibilities, and I’m always grateful for this. As a poet said, “What thou lovest well remains, the rest is dross. / What thou lovest well shall not be reft from thee.”

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October 30, 2009 0

New Watercolour Girl

By in sketches, watercolour, women

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October 29, 2009 0

Coming Undone With a Nameless One…

By in horses, sketches

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That’s just a (possibly misheard) song lyric from Wendy James, that I thought would make a neat title. Otherwise, these are new sketches, from my recent trip to Calgary to visit my Dad, who passed away.

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This and the other two below are from the Toronto Pearson Airport.

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Little horse, drawn on the plane:
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Server at the Ship and Anchor bar, in Calgary. He had great arm tattoos, which you can fill in, if you want:
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Women at the bar. Sorry!:
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Some fanciful German World War One guy:
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Imaginary plume of smoke rising:
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October 28, 2009 0

Catching Up

By in sketches, women

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I’m blaming terrible personal stuff, which I may or may not write about, for the lack of blogging. But I’m still drawing things. So, I thought I’d throw some more up here, and try to do that daily.

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These are all from my mini-sketchbook. It’s hardbound, and about 3×5 inches. I like it. Sometimes it’s hard to scan from.

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They’re not the absolutely latest things I’ve drawn, and I don’t have a theme or comments about them. Maybe later drawings will give me the chance to tell more.

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October 18, 2009 0

Angry Old Farts

By in cats, men, sketches

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This is sort of an angry Peter Mansbridge. But I was really just practicing my shading and crosshatching chops on an old pencil sketch.

Below, two old outer space farts, from the Dark Side of the Force:
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Last, my portrait of Cat Boy. At age 13, he’s sort of an old fart of the cat world:
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October 15, 2009 0

Still sketching…

By in sketches

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…just haven’t been putting them up as much. Will try to pay more attention.

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October 2, 2009 4

Serveurs Sexy?

By in montreal

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Remember my note about the Laundromat on my street that closed? Well, the windows got whited out, and renovations have been going on. As I was going by on my bike a couple of weeks ago, I noticed a sign on the front door underneath the usual work permit:

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It reads: “Opening Soon: Restaurant – Sexy Servers!” And gives some names.

That’s daring. Usually the word is “Serveuses” – female gender. There are actually a few strip clubs near the busier streets, and a “Sexy Serveuse” restaurant as well. Even at one time, an “Erotic Carwash” east of here (since closed).

I was amused enough to take a picture with my ever-ready little camera, but decided pretty quickly that this was a practical joke, probably among the renovators. After all, “coming soon” signs don’t often name the employees.

Anyhow, I got e-mail from a fellow local blogger (check out his site!) saying that people in the neighbourhood had seen the sign, and were sincerely worried. After all, they didn’t want quiet Rouen street to become part of the Red Light district. (it sort of has been, at least around the area. I can still sometimes see crack hookers hanging out on rue Dufresne, near busier Ontario street, right out my window.

In years earlier, you could also be picking up syringes and condoms on the street, and sometimes unconscious people. But this neighbourhood is changing now, becoming more gentrified. Lots of kids with parents of all kinds of ethnicities. Even English can be heard spoken around here now, in this once solidly French area.)

At my advice, my friend did the sleuth work, competent internet journalist that he is. He passed by when the door was open, and asked what they were building. Turns out the laundromat is becoming a private residence. How boring. And the “Serveurs” sign has been taken down.

I’m of two minds. I don’t miss the junkies in the bus shelters, the scary punks, and the crime. But nothing’s wrong with a hint of spice amidst the blandness. It was kind of fun to point to the “erotic carwash.”

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September 30, 2009 0

Cirque in Space!

By in watercolour

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Here’s my idea of what it would look like if Cirque du Soleil made it into outer space.

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September 29, 2009 0

Chair Guy

By in cats, sketches, watercolour

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A guy in a chair. And one of those cats … it’s in there, too.

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September 28, 2009 0

More Faces

By in horses, sketches, watercolour

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Feeling like I’m getting better at it. Actually, I just enjoy doing these.

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Meanwhile, I’m watching a cheap supermarket DVD of the silent film “Nosferatu.” The picture quality is terrible, but every frame is a perfect image.

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September 24, 2009 0

Stuart Robertson

By in montreal

Having an awful time lately with people I like and have worked with passing away. First Sonja Skarstedt, then Renee Wathelet. Now it’s Stuart Robertson.

Soft-spoken gardening expert on CBC radio, and columnist in the Gazette, he was also Chair of our Electronic Rights Defense Committee for a time. He sometimes had a bit of a temper, but I admired his style, his commitment and the handle he had on the issues.

This is the Montreal Gazette obituary: [link]

Here’s a blog post by friend and co-erdc-er Mary Soderstrom, explaining some of Stuart’s gardening chops: [link]

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September 24, 2009 0

Car Free Day

By in cats, montreal, sketches

Needed a day to recover, but I’m finally doing a post with images from our street session on Tuesday for the Metropolitan Transport Agency (AMT) to honour Car Free Day. Slide show of pictures is below. Click on one for information, or visit the flickr site to see the names of people, credits, etc. Remember, the artwork is copyright by the people who produced it!

This is our gang of four:
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Bruno Rouyere, Siris, Eric Theriault, and me, Jack Ruttan

It rained most of the morning, dampening our paper, but not our spirits:
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Here’s Bruno’s finished page (click for my English translation):
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Siris’ page (ditto on the translation):
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Eric’s page (he didn’t get so far in his story, but had the right idea: this was more of a demonstration than a race to produce finished art. He actually attracted some interest and business cards from lovers of vintage cars):
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And finally mine. I did two pages, and ended up racing to the finish, as the street was being packed up around me. Think 2/3 of the second page was done in about 20 minutes, with my Chinese brush and ink. I also kind of jumped between English and French words, at times.

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Page 1

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Page 2

Then, if all that drawing wasn’t enough, Siris and I, plus artist Kurt Beaulieu (who showed up at the end), retired to the pub for a beer. Siris drew me the portrait below of one of the bar’s rough denizens.
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All in all, it was a tough (we were all drawing standing up), but rewarding day.

Here’s a nifty article on the event, by Denis Giguere (sorry for leaving out everyone’s accents) from a French-language comics website: [link]

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