Two Avenue views

 Couldn't decide which to post today, so here's both.


Jasper Avenue at lunch time...

... and a re-visit to the road construction site on 118 Avenue. 

urban monsters

There's road construction on my route home... I jumped at the opportunity and hopped off the bus blocks before my stop, to capture this piece of machinery.

I have no idea what I drew, except that I speculate it dispenses asphalt concrete from the moveable, split bucket on one end. A road roller is parked behind. It's a good thing I left home with my dark felts, because a lot of the vehicle was covered in tar... obviously the colours still weren't dark enough.

...  waiting (again) for my bus...

cousins...

 The final few floors of the EPCOR tower are being worked on... From the rather large floor plate that was being replicated a few months ago, it seemed the building would look squat and bulky, but as it reaches higher, it is making a lot more sense, with some subtle gestures that can now be appreciated.

The old CN Tower sits close by... a building I'd like to visit some time, as it seems of such Modernist vintage!

Another quick loose sketch on my way home...

Audreys Books on election day

There's no relationship between the subject of the sketch and the fact it's the municipal election today, except that as I drew I was urged to vote by a canvasser on behalf of the incumbent, and we had a brief conversation.

Audreys is in a great looking old brick building on a corner that likely experiences enormous redevelopment pressure. Hopefully, both building and store are here to stay...

all pink...

Not much sketching today... just a play date with my daughter, who is in her pink abstract expressionism phase.

The High Level Bridge

Arguably Edmonton's most prominent and familiar urban landmark, the (almost) century old High Level Bridge is one dignified and muscular artifact! But a casual observation from the underside gives us a peak of even more layers and intricacies that make me marvel at what engineers and steelworkers did 100 years ago. It's a beautiful structure...

Thankfully, my daughter was preoccupied with her bottle of chocolate milk, allowing me the time to do this on another fine autumn day...








Our backyard columnar aspens... again.

Compared to the post a week ago, their colours are much subtler, with less leaves...

Now that I think of it, these trees strike me this season especially because last year, it became cold so suddenly that the trees had no time to prepare, shedding their leaves while still green.

Railtown Park

It's sunny but breezy, with a biting north wind.

It's a struggle now to find a reasonable place to sit out in the sun yet out of the wind. As I sat down to sketch, my hat blew away and rolled in the gust... a young woman picked it up... we exchanged smiles; a sort of mutual acknowledgment that the long bitter winter is near, and that we are all in it together.

This linear park used to be a railway line a decade ago, and is one of those places where there's a layer of history that can be read on an urban scale... kind of rare in a young city like Edmonton.

The Quintuplets Revisited

So, I became curious what happens at the lane...

and discovered as I suspected, a more liberal adaptation over the years, with various decks, garages, roofs, and other additions, in various stages and states. Interesting stuff.

It would be a really interesting exercise to draw the plans of each of these five houses and compare how they have evolved through the decades...

Old Quintuplets

I came across a row of five houses that must have been, at some point, entirely identical... surprisingly still here all in a row in an area that developed into older apartments and light industrial uses.

It's a neat little place to experience "how buildings learn(ed)"... but actually, I'm surprised how much the original forms have remained intact (at least at the fronts), suggesting perhaps that the prototype (archetype?) was quite adequate and even potent -- a nice image of what good design can be... nothing flashy, just striving for strong archetypes.

... guess where...!

Some of you out there might know where this is...
(hint: Singapore Chicken)
No prizes for guessing correctly, however...

But I thought I'd give the original to the owner of the place next time we go.

There's a bottle depot behind me... interesting and curious thing how it "fronts" the lane.

hanging in there...

I snuck out of the house while the kids slept to capture this scene that I had been eyeing for the past two weeks... it's too beautiful an afternoon to miss.

The colours are now turning into a fuzzy brown, but there are some patches of bright yellow still remaining in the river valley. Although this is the "back" side of the city skyline from Ada Boulevard, it's a great view of the vastness and richness of the green space we can enjoy right in the middle of this city...

...snacking before bedtime

A good friend brought some Disney movies over for our daughter last night... once she started watching, we couldn't stop the video, so her bedtime was delayed by 90 minutes or so... even kids get to enjoy the long weekend.

On this Thanksgiving weekend, we are reminded of so much to be grateful for, and pray that we live that way every day.

Thanks be to God.

quivers of colour...

I've been posting once per day but couldn't resist;
some columnar aspens in our back yard...

last one standing...

About a year ago, a huge dilapidated grain elevator near our neighbourhood was severely damaged in a windstorm and was subsequently torn down... too bad I never photographed it. This smaller (but still tall) cousin is all that remains in the area, and I doubt it is even in use.

Grain elevators have been disappearing throughout Alberta... a bit ironic that Le Corbusier, observing the massive concrete elevators of the Great Lakes, heroically described them as manifesting "the New Age". But I am struck by the humble details and unpretentiousness of these simpler prairie structures that are reminiscent of familiar and simple residential construction... the local vernacular... very endearing indeed.

Friday, 6:00pm

Finding sketch subjects means taking unfamiliar routes on my way home... like this lane north of MacEwan (its towers lurk in the background) by a very multicultural 107 Ave.