Saturday 22 September 2012

An update . . .

Just wanted to update the blog to mention that I went to Ottawa and Montreal 2 weeks ago for the long weekend (Labour Day). I saw many things . . . the Aviation Museum (where I took a helicopter tour of downtown Ottawa and Hull), the Canadian War Museum, the National Gallery of Art and the Canadian Museum of Civilization, across the river in Hull, Quebec. I met with the Associate Director of the Masters of ArcIhitecture program at Carleton University and she gave me a few tips on the portfolio (present it less like a technical document with 1 image per page and more like a creative composition). I also met her two young pre-teen daughters who were thinking of going into architecture like their mother. One girl said that she can always find her way back to her mother's office in campus. They were funny. Always playing. The Assoc. Director said that the students were on the calibre of the students she taught at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design). However, they didn't realize how good they were (in other words they were very humble). In any case, Carleton is Lise Ann Couture's alma mater. She is a partner in the New York based firm, Asymptote. I had actually applied there for a job but all they offered me was an unpaid internship. Living in New York City is expensive so I didn't go for it but it would have been nice to have worked for that office.

I also made a side trip to Montreal where I met my friend from Dalhousie. She is a female architect living there with her daughter. We discussed me doing drawings for her for her shipping container home designs.

In any case, I've got several irons in the fire.

Was able to make it out to the Art Gallery of Ontario today. Saw the Evan Perry exhibit of gigantic stretched proportion sculptures of people. They were a bit disconcerting but I had to admire their craftsmanship and lifelikeness. Did several sketches of the artwork in the Modern Wing. I also met an artist at the Tim Horton's at John and King streets. He was African Canadian and was working on an eagle emblem for a poster using cut pieces for the feathers. It was very eye-catching.

Well, all for now. Time to sleep. Church tomorrow morning.