Even A Jedi Master May Need Hot Chocolate

"Cookies, the Dark Side has. Broccoli, the Jedi have. A problem this is." ~ Yoda, Star Wars Episode 3.5: The Death Of Jar Jar Binks

Snow sculptures could be found during Winterlude in the Byward Market. This first one stood outside the Ottawa School of Art, done by students from inside. It incorporated floral patterns, a face, and a fairy.

Across the street, Jocelyn Galipeau, whose work I showed a few days back, also carved this rendition of the familiar and diminutive Jedi Master Yoda.

A few days later, and down the street, I was passing through the Market when I noticed a crowd. On Family Day, several Market cafes and shops had a hot chocolate tasting going on here, so you'd go around trying their various drinks and vote on your favourite. My choice was one with a peppermint addition- odd, because peppermint on its own isn't something I usually go for.

The School Of Art

In yesterday's post I mentioned the Ottawa School Of Art. Here's the downtown building itself, the day after Nuit Blanche. During Nuit Blanche, it was a busy hub in the Market for visitors, with exhibits and activities on all four floors.

Clay pottery was being done in this workshop, with the artist speaking about the process while working. When one seriously gets to working on pottery art, he explained, it can take up the entire day. I spent a few minutes moulding clay in my hands, something I haven't done since high school art classes.

Another spot inside was occupied by visitors working on cartoon panels. Previous panels from earlier Nuit Blanche evenings were on one wall, while people were spread out at tables.

Downstairs on the ground floor, this small gallery space looking out on the street was a curiousity- the artist Claudio Ghirardo conceived the idea of spontaneous writings and drawings on the glass, changing throughout the night.

This was my favourite part of the various installations in the school. Artist Lilly Koltun created this art-performance piece entitled 'In My Other Job'. The walls in this room were covered with various sentences, some applying to men, others to women- things that visitors could at least find something they'd relate to (I really liked "in my other job, I'm the devil"). A mass of balloons with red ink had been offered up earlier in the evening to visitors who could throw darts (hence what looks like blood). Fans of Peanuts will recognize a familiar line in this set.

Odds And Ends

Every once in awhile I'll no doubt photograph something that doesn't fit in with other things. So why not add the odd ones together? 

Hot air balloons often take off from the northeast section of the campus at Carleton University, where there's a large area of green space. I snapped this shot on a late October afternoon, probably one of the last chances for balloons to get up in the sky over the city before winter.

An autumn shot, taken towards the end of October. This is one of the side streets in the Glebe, early in the morning, bringing out the red in that tree's leaves.

Sunnyside Wesleyan Church is not far from my place in Old Ottawa South (there is a difference with Ottawa South, apparently). The glass front is relatively new, installed several years ago to create an interior space over what was the exterior front entrance. It also allowed the congregation to improve accessibility. The church is notable for one of its former members. The late gospel singer George Beverly Shea attended as a boy nearly a century ago; his father was the minister.

Another church in Old Ottawa South. I mentioned Southminster United a few days ago in a post on the Canal. Here we have the church from the east. The oak tree out front is in full blaze of gold and red, contrasting nicely with the field stone of the building.

Up on Parliament Hill some weeks ago, I was passing by one day when I heard a great deal of noise. As it turns out, there was wheelchair bike racing going on, in a loop around the front lawn. Now that takes serious upper body strength.

I took you inside here during Nuit Blanche, so it's time to see the exterior. This is the Ottawa School of Art, in the Byward Market.

Artists At Work

The Ottawa School of Art is a four story building in the Byward Market, and for Nuit Blanche, the place was open. It's a sprawling, large place set in an old building, very much an artist's space and a place of education. Many rooms and studios were open, and when we were inside, many people were moving through the place, going from exhibit to exhibit. We stopped in a dark room, pitch black, until you let your eyes get used to the dark... and you could see the fluorescent paint on key locations throughout the room, realizing that the whole room was filled with steel wires strung up at all sorts of angles. Once you saw it, you could navigate through the room with ease.

Another room was very busy, often used for comic strip sessions, a volunteer told me. Some of the work was on the walls. And tables were laid out with paper and pencils for visitors to try their hands at the craft. 

My artistic skills are lacking, so I didn't try it, more interested in capturing the mood of the crowd, not to mention some of the work on the walls.