Ottawa Urban Sketchers: Ottawa

Showing posts with label Ottawa. Show all posts

Monday, June 18, 2018

A Beautiful Day Sketching at Beechwood Cemetery

On Sunday July 23, 2017, the Ottawa Urban Sketchers spent the day sketching at the historic Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa.

Here are some photos and sketches from our day:

We just love these smiles! Part of the group at the end of the day.

What a great group of sketchers!

Great to see familiar faces, new faces and so happy to have a sketcher from Saskatchewan join us!

We even had a visiting sketcher from Spain!!

Artist Marta Moreira

Some of the sketches at the end of the day

Artist: Cindi Moynahan-Foreman

Artists sketching the Booth gravemarker

Artist: Denis Madore

Artist: Carrie Brummer Hanna

Artist: Denis Madore

Artist: Nancy Bergeron

Artist Margot at gravestone of PETER HENDERSON BRYCE is buried in Section 60, Lot 32 NE He was the outspoken doctor and federal bureaucrat who tried to raise public awareness of the unequal health treatment given to First Nations children as opposed to non-Aboriginal kids.(1904-1907)

Artists sketching

Artist Richard Gibbs

This artist sketching from a unique angle

Lots of love for the beautiful gardens. These hostas by artist Nancy Bergeron

The abundance of flowers - so many to sketch! This sketch by artist Diane Duford

Lots of sketchers drawing the beautiful waterfalls and ponds - so Monet!

Artist: Carrie Brummer Hanna

Artist Trish Woolaver sketching the koi fish in the pond

The Koi fish by artist Trish Wollaver

Artist: Trish Woolaver

Many of us sketched from the gazebo when there was a gentle rain burst. Artist: Trish Woolaver

Artist: Diane Duford

Lovely to meet this artist who shared her sketch from our last event at Doors Open Ottawa

Artist: Nancy Bergeron

More sketches shared on the Beechwood steps at the end of our great day

Artist: Laurie Foster

Artist Marta Moreira

Artists Marta Moreira

Thursday, June 1, 2017

Doors Open Ottawa is a free annual architectural event that celebrates our community’s built heritage and a perfect opportunity to sketch the outside (and in some cases the inside) of over 150 historically, culturally, and functionally significant buildingsin Ottawa!

Did You Know: Doors Open Ottawa continues to be the second-largest Doors Open architectural event in North America. Since its inception in 2002, over 920,000 visitors have discovered some of the city’s most prestigious buildings including Earnscliffe: Official Residence of the British High Commissioner, the Supreme Court of Canada, the Embassy of the United States, and the Sir John A. Macdonald Building....just to name a few.

This Event Is Part of #100in1day Ottawa

100In1day Ottawa

100In1day is a global festival of civic engagement and a growing movement that is changing how people interact with their cities. Originating in Bogota, Colombia, and spreading to cities around the world, the festival has inspired citizen-driven change in cities through small urban interventions. The spirit of 100in1day is democratic, imaginative and empowering. The festival is a platform for citizens to activate ideas to make their city healthier, happier and more inspired, one initiative at a time.

Powered by Synapcity, with support from United Way Ottawa and community partners, 100in1day is coming to Ottawa for the first time this year!

Link to our event at the 100In1day intervention is here: https://100in1day.ca/interventions/urban-sketching-doors-open-ottawa/

Getting There by Bus, Bike or On Foot

Take advantage of the Doors Open Ottawa FREE Shuttle Bus, operating within walking distance of over 50 participating buildings. Or, take the opportunity to enjoy the summer sun and cycle your way around the city on a Doors Open Ottawa bicycle tour. No bike, no problem! Visitors can visit numerous buildings per day by making their way around the downtown core on foot.

Join Suvitha and Cindi!

Urban sketcher Suvitha and I will be sketching Doors Open locations on Spark St this Saturday 10-2 ( we chose Saturday because forecast calling for rain Sunday)

You are WELCOME to join us.

We are including urban sketcher Greg Manley's recommendation of visiting the Wellington building (pictured on brochure) on our tour.

We are meeting at CBC at 10 (see map) and hoping to end at St Andrews around 2. There's lots to sketch outside and inside.

Important Details:

The Sir John A MacDonald building & Bank of Canada ( on my map) are both closed Saturday and open only on Sunday
Some of these buildings are government buildings so security scanning will be required to enter https://visit.parl.ca/index-e.html

If you are heading to other Doors Open venues closer to you to sketch, (Link: http://ottawa.ca/en/residents/arts-heritage-and-culture/museums-and-historic-sites/doors-open-ottawa
) send a shout out here, and, as always, PLEASE post your sketches on our Facebook pages !

Share Your Sketches!

Share your sketches on social media using hashtag #DoorsOpenOttawa experience on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Happy sketching

Information - Doors Open Ottawa 2017

2017 Building List
Doors Open Ottawa 2017 Interactive Map
2017 Building Guide [ PDF- 1.38 MB ] [ CSV – 130K ]

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

October 23: Sketching Haunted Ottawa

Inktober #18 sketch by Cindi Moynahan-Foreman of The Beckta, 150 Elgin

Join us Sunday October 23, 2016 from 1 to 4 pm to sketch some of the more notorious places in Ottawa that are rumoured to be haunted!

Map: Excerpt from Mark Leslie's book: Creepy Capital

As always, arrive whenever you can and stay as long as you like!

THE DETAILS

What: Sketching "Haunted Ottawa"
When: Saturday October 23, 2016 between 1 and 4 pm
Where: Meet at City Hall to sketch The Beckta House (150 Elgin) and/or The (Former) Ottawa Teachers College at City Hall. We will then move to Lisgar Collegiate and finish at the Ottawa Jail Hostel.

STOP #1

The Beckta House, 150 Elgin St.

Grant House on Elgin Street in 2003:
Plates that go crash in the night.
BRIGITTE BOUVIER / Ottawa Citizen

The former Grant House "was built in 1875 for James Alexander Grant, a politician and doctor who is said to have maintained a morgue in the basement and to have once dissected a human brain at a nighttime gathering. Grant died there in 1920, a month after falling and breaking a hip. The building later became home to Friday’s Roast Beef House, where employees told of hearing coughs in empty rooms (Grant was asthmatic) and of seeing plates mysteriously crash to the floor. The structure now is home to the Beckta Dining and Wine Bar." (Source: The Ottawa Citizen)

STOP #2

The (Former) Ottawa Teachers College, 195 Elgin St.

1910 postcard of Ottawa Normal School (now part of City Hall) (Source: Toronto Library)

Eliza Bolton was a teacher at what was then called the "Normal School,"and reportedly (and unfortunately), "Miss Bolton still thinks it's a school. She's often seen by staff walking the first-floor hallway between classes in her long dress and shawl. They know its her because she's there, in an old class photo hanging in the building. One evening, Miss Bolton went too far, and confronted a security guard while in the attic on his rounds, scolding him to return to class. The guard resigned the next day." (Source: Metro News)

Read about the Ghost of the Normal School from the 1916-1917 Yearbook http://hauntedwalk.com/news/normal-school-yearbook-1916-1917/

Image source: Parks Canada - Historic Places (screen capture)

STOP #3

Lisgar Collegiate, 29 Lisgar St.

1918 Postcard from Centretown blogspot

One of Ottawa’s top rated high schools is also home to a ghost. "Story goes that two people have died at Lisgar Collegiate Institute–one, who was a janitor, was murdered and a student who was killed by fallen ice. They are known to ‘protect’ the school, and it’s a known fact that multiple people have seen a young girl staring out of the window in the attic." (Source: Narcity)

The attic has a small window that overlooks the grounds and many students claim to have seen a young girl staring out at them.

STOP #4 Finish

Ottawa Jail Hostel, 75 Nicholas St.

http://www.hostelworld.com/hosteldetails.php/HI-Ottawa-Jail-Hostel/Ottawa/4647

What was once a jail home to many murderers, is now a hostel. "This forbidding stone building on Nicholas Street has long been home to the HI (Hostelling International) Jail Hostel Ottawa, which makes the most of the site’s reputation as “one of the most haunted buildings in all of Canada.” Invites the hostel: “Come hang with us!” (Source: The Ottawa Citizen)

Sketch Challenge: Try Another Angle?

Do you want to try a sketching challenge? The first two locations (150 & 165 Elgin St.) can be seen from the terrace on the 7th floor of the Morguard's Performance Court office tower at 150 Elgin St. (attached to The Beckta) and this terrace is open to the public!

Links

Jim Dean, creator of Haunted Walks Ottawa, says:

"ByTown, the first name of the city (Ottawa), was once considered to be one of the most dangerous places in North America. The gang warfare between the rival English, French, Irish and Scottish groups, contributed to significant violence, murder and riots in the city streets. The construction process of the Rideau Canal, today a UNESCO World Heritage Site, also claimed the lives of close to 1,000 workers along its banks. With such a dark and deadly past, Ottawa certainly has all the elements to be one of Canada’s most haunted cities.” (Source: http://www.where.ca/ontario/ottawa/ottawa-spirits-guide-from-caspers-to-cocktails/)

Friday, July 29, 2016

Sketching the Somerset House

On July 28, the Ottawa urban sketchers chose the historic Somerset House for our outing. (https://www.facebook.com/events/1762033807409046/)

Ottawa Urban Sketchers chose this location because the City of Ottawa recently approved to have Somerset House partially demolished.

This great building has, since 2007, suffered from what Heritage Ottawa calls "demolition by neglect".

The building was built in 1896 to House the Crosby Brothers Dry Good store. If you are interested in reading the entire history of the building (including the mystery behind the missing Turret) visit the link at urbsite by Robert Smythe here: http://urbsite.blogspot.ca/2012/10/the-haunted-hotel-somerset-ritz.html

At this link you will also find a magnificent 1973 ink sketch of "The Ritz" (one of Somerset House's previous monikers) by well known Ottawa artist Arthur II.

Visit link above to urbsite article by Robert Smythe

There were lots of NEW faces to the Ottawa urban sketching group - we LOVE that! And plenty of wonderful familiar faces.

The evening light on Somerset House

The evening light was just starting to hit the western facade and the sketchers located themselves along Bank and started sketching.

5 sketchers sketching from the Second Cup location

Bank and Somerset is an incredibly busy intersection in the evening! (All the more reason to be sad about this lovely building sitting empty since 2007) Because of the busyness of the pedestrian and vehicular traffic, sketchers looked for alcoves and walls to tuck into to sketch.

Three more sketchers in front of the former "Hartmans"

Sketch by artist/urban sketcher Trish Woolaver

My first sketch of the night.

Unfinished detail sketch by artist Laurie Foster

The sketchers moved over to Gabriel Pizza to share their sketches and talk about some future sketching venues. A great night was had by all!

My last sketch of the evening from Gabriel Pizza

Ottawa Urban Sketchers

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