Out and About..

I was feeling a little more perky this morning than I have been lately....must be getting used to my new meds..so I had the energy to finally get some errands done, starting with the least interesting ones - picking up things like ant traps, yard waste bags and birdseed... zzzz... and then on to the library in Oshawa to pick up a book, The Colony  by Andrea Magee. (I had started it on audio but finally found a print version!) and as the library is right across the street from the Robert McLaughlin Gallery, it was the perfect opportunity to check out their current exhibits.

And perfect, it was. I was the only patron in the entire place! It was like meandering through my own private collection - which would have been a very impressive home collection to have!  First there was an exhibit of paintings from the gallery's permanent collection (main), including works from two of the Group of Seven - Lauren S. Harris and A.Y. Jackson!  and a special exhibit of abstracts paintings from Painters Eleven of whom, I am embarrassed to say, I had never heard...but I learned that:

a. "Painters Eleven was the first abstract artist collective in Ontario. They were founded in 1953 at the cottage of artist Alexandra Luke on the Oshawa - Whitby border. The Robert McLaughlin Gallery's collection began in 1967 when artist Alexandra Luke, a member of the Painters Eleven, donated thirty-seven works from her private collection."

b. The Robert McLaughlin Gallery now holds Canada's largest collection of their works.

I was impressed....

There were two other special exhibits, but I did a quick run through them and will return another day to give them the attention they deserve. 

An inspiring day - all those paintings..and The Colony, a book about a painter visiting an island off the coast of Ireland.. topped off by finishing The Lost Notebook of Edouard Manet...... Now, if only I could be inspired enough to dig out my own paints and dabble...