Drawn to Quebec: a new illustrated newspaper column

I am absolutely thrilled to share some great news with you.*

Today marks the third week of an illustrated column - Drawn to Quebec - I have begun penning for North America's oldest newspaper.

The Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph is Quebec City's only English-language newspaper, and I've been a contributing journalist and photojournalist there for a couple of years. 

"Drawn to Life" workshop: Register now to learn how to record your life visually

I am delighted to announce I'll be leading a workshop in my hometown on May 3rd (with my sister). 

We'll focus on basic sketching techniques and some exercises for exploring the world around you. If you are in the area (or can plan to be), please get in touch and sign up!

Click here to see all the details and reserve your spot today!

What could we do in Paris in the winter?

Most likely, we'd go to a museum or three.  

Sketchbook: in the raw

Lately, I've been trying to capture the character of various raw ingredients found in the kitchen. 

Sketchbook: flipping through the pages

It's been almost a year since I came back to sketching and field journaling with the kind of dedication I had during university days.  It is cathartic, exercise for my mind and muscles, and helps build a record of what's going on around me.  I don't intend to let the practice lapse again.

Here are some sketches from the past few months - ever since the weather turned cold and most location sketchers in the northern climes moved indoors.

Biodome Montreal

In November, I passed several giddy hours scribbling, capturing the many critters living in Montreal's Biodome.  Jerod was oh-so-patient.  

Hotcakes, griddle cakes & flapjacks, oh my!

Around this time last year, my dear husband decided to try something new.  He didn't pick up a new instrument, and he didn't sign up for the gym or start a new career.  He decided to do away with pancakes.  This was epic news, coming from someone for whom pancakes are a breakfast and brunch staple.  

The pancakes were replaced by crêpes, which offered a new level of fun and creativity.  You'd have a hard time talking me into drizzling balsamic vinegar on a pancake.  Yet, somehow it seems perfectly reasonable coupled with micro greens, cheddar cheese, and bacon, all rolled up in a warm crêpe.  A year later, we oscillate between the two, but judging by this Wikipedia entry, we could take an international pancake-based culinary tour and not run out of ideas for quite some time.

'Merrily on High'

Ding Dong!  Merrily on High, 

in heav’n the bells are ringing . . . 

(from a classic Christmas carol from the 1500s)

"Many of the most beloved holiday traditions involve bells — ringing to accompany carolers, playing seasonal melodies, and pealing out to summon celebrants to church services. Quebec City is part of a unique heritage, change-ringing, which dates back to the 1600s in England.  Today, more than 6,000 bell towers around the world ring in this style." View rest of article published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (12.12.2012).

'Performance Art': Sketching opera in the dark

Click on images to view a larger version.
All sketches done during the opera; color added later.

Thursday was another press pass night at the opera - dress rehearsal for La Traviata this time. The lighting and sets were really interesting, the live orchestra (music by Verdi) was exquisite, and the story line was suitably tragic. 

As we are in Quebec, the Italian score is still in Italian, but subtitles posted above the stage are in French.  Now, imagine making sense of it all in English!  Happily, I was not on assignment, but rather in the company of the writer who was.  As a result, I was able to indulge in the details in my own way, and there was no pressure to get a perfect photo in a darkened theater.

When Artists Cook: Harvest Abundance (and what to do about it)

This post is part of "When Artists Cook," a series in which I am a guest writer.

My previous posts in the series: "Coming of age in kitchens"

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Harvest season always fills me with ________________________ .  

How would you fill in that blank?

. . .

I’ve been mulling this over for the past month or so, as the garden peaks, the farmers markets flood with produce, and I write and rewrite the list of things to preserve for the winter. [ . . .]  I tend to get a little ahead of myself when it comes to harvesting and preserving.  By that I mean, there’s no limit for me.  It’s never enough.  As long as there is a nook or cranny in the house that is reasonably stable in temperature, and not exposed to much light, I am interested in filling it with food that will keep through, or at least into, the winter.
[ . . . ]

Having a hands-on relationship with our food is one of my absolute favorite things about the mayhem that is harvest season. The kitchen is aswarm with fruit flies, which one cheeky friend describes as “indicators of abundance,” and the occasional stow-away earwig always shows up in the least expected corner. But, even when I’m busy picking snails out of the beet greens, or scrubbing tomato splatters off of...well, everywhere, this is still about as real as it gets.

. . . Keep reading - - >

Simply 'plummy'

 

We didn't even notice the trees when we moved in, nearly two years ago.  In the spring, though, a profusion of flowers caught our attention, and our curiosity was piqued.  A few small, hard, green orbs left us less than satisfied at the end of last year.  In fact, we wondered then if the trees were just ornamental.

But, the 'jammy' sweetness of spring blossoms raised my expectations again this year.  And, what a year it was!

Looking from the harbor at an epic race: the TRANSAT Québec Saint-Malo

Adapted from article published in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (07.25.2012, pg. 8)

One of my favorite things about living in Quebec City is that the St. Lawrence River is big enough that we see boat traffic more typical of a seaside port.  Being a landlubber born in the dry, landlocked inner mountain West, watching big container ships, cruise ships, Candian Navy and Coast Guard ships, and sail boats on the river can entertain me for hours.

Even better, several times a year there are big events directly associated with the river and various aspects of Québec's nautical heritage.  Last weekend was a prime example - the TRANSAT Québec Saint-Malo started right in front of Vieux-Québec, and it was really something to behold.  I spent several afternoons at the port, poking amongst the sail boats, snapping photos and making quick sketches, and gleaned some tidbits about this signature transatlantic sailing race.

Sketching Jeanne d'Arc's park

Jeanne d'Arc is immortalized in countless mural, sculptures, and writings around the world.  Here in Quebec City, this iconic girl also known as Joan of Arc has her very own park.  In keeping with the city's fascination with battles, and tradition of transforming old battlefields into public leisure areas, Joan of Arc's park is across the street from the embattled Plaines of Abraham.  

During the 36th Worldwide SketchCrawl, a group of local sketchers gathered here for Quebec City's first ever.  I will admit, I could not fully tell you Joan's story, though I probably learned it in elementary school.  I wonder if any of the others, mostly Québeçois(e), could fill in the blanks.  

I tried to think of a clever title. In the end, though, this post is about some pages in a sketchbook.

Click on any image to view a larger version.

It seems I have caught the sketching bug hard...again...finally!  It has been a long time, nearly two years, since I really sketched anything, and I missed it.  Since starting the nature drawing class, and gaining momentum with two days' sketching at the naval rendez-vous, I've been on a roll.

Ships, ahoy!

Sketches from the 2012 Rendez-vous naval de Québec, completed 9 June 2012, down at the docks on the St. Lawrence River.

NGCC Pierre-Radisson, Canadian Coast Guard

THIS IS SUCH A COOL SHIP!  I find it remarkable that this ship can convert salt water to potable water, and get through ice a meter thick.  Looks are deceiving, too.  It looks kind of like the ferry we take across the river to Lévis, and you might think it was, if you didn't know better.  

A Cultural Interlude

One of the artists at work
Printed in the Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph (06.06.2012)

This past weekend, the Jeffery Hale Friends' Foundation hosted the 2nd Annual Cultural Interlude - a fundraiser event featuring an afternoon tea (catered by the Château Frontenac) and live art/art exhibit.  The event took place at Le Domaine Cataraqui, a remarkable estate built in 1831, and now owned by the City of Quebec.  Amateur artists and professionals exhibited and worked in a side gallery, some painting from photos, and others drawing the rainy view from the windows.  Women in bright dresses and bold hats, trailed by men in casual suits, strolled through, then settled in the salons for a fancy afternoon tea.  I had a marvelous time sketching it all.

Drawn to Québec

As you may know, since February, I have been leading a drawing class series entitled "Nature Drawing in Quebec City."  We have been meeting once a month, and have focused on basic drawing skills and techniques which are useful for sketching outdoors, en plein air.  Because we are in a city, we are obviously also grappling with how to satisfactorily incorporate buildings, etc. into our sketches.

A sketch of the Morrin Centre and Canadian Institute,made
while waiting for a benefit concert to begin in Vieux-Québec.

"Drawing a Blank"

Nature Drawing Exercise 2: Negative Space drawing

Supplement to 'Drawing in Quebec City' Series

Click here to download PDf Version.

One of the greatest challenges facing us when drawing “from life” is the temptation to draw expectations and preconceptions.  Negative space drawing encourages you to consider not only the space occupied by your subject (positive space), but also the space around it (negative space).  In so doing, you will see what you are observing from a new perspective.

A Step Beyond "Just" Drawing

Transforming a sketch into a field journal entry

Supplement to 'Nature Drawing in Quebec City' series

A field journal entry combines words and sketches in a way that records both what you see and your curiosity about your subject. You can turn any sketch into a field journal entry by including some basic information (time, date, location, weather, etc.), and by making some detailed observations to accompany your sketch.

Drawing with Your Eyes

Nature Drawing exercise 1: Contour drawing[i]

Supplement to Nature Drawing in Quebec City series
Click here to download PDF version.

One of the greatest challenges facing us when drawing “from life” is the temptation to draw expectations and preconceptions.  Contour drawing is a method which encourages you to truly see what you are observing.

Dumplings chinois

Thanks to Qing, our Chinese friend here in Québec, we've been introduced to the finer points of a unique Chinese-fusion cooking style.

Jerod making dumplings

He maintains it is not a certain "type" of Chinese cuisine - it is his personal take on it.  He tends to emphasize lots of vegetables, mushrooms and subtly flavored meats.  His spices and cupboard full of sauces and vinegars are difficult to describe - some of them utterly lack English translations, but all contribute to the alchemy.  We've enjoyed a range of dinners, including several prepared en groupe under his direction.

The highlight, though, were the dumplings!  Qing patiently dedicated an evening to showing several of us how to make them.  More than one kitchen here in la belle ville has been pressed into service, putting French, Quebec, and American spins on the original recipe.  As the photographs indicate, we recently re-created the dumplings.  From what we've heard and found for ourselves, the recipe appears to stand up to a fair degree of experimentation.

Although we are a few days late (Chinese New Year 2012 was 23 January), we are celebrating Chinese New Year tonight in style.  As dumplings are eaten to ensure a prosperous year, we are planning three different fillings, along with spring rolls and fried rice.  In case you want to get in on the fun, here are some of the recipes we will use tonight.
_________________________________________________

Bethann's sketch,
based on Qing's directions

Click the titles for various versions:

• Qing’s Dumplings
• Jerod'S Chickpea Dumplings
• Fried rice recipe coming soon...
• Click  on the illustration for step-by-step instructions on how to fill and fold a dumpling.

Serve WITH soy sauce & Chinese vinegar.