Day And Night Along The Canal Skateway

I took these shots looking east and west from the Bank Street Bridge over the Canal while the ice was open for skaters one day.

These shots date back to the second to last evening that the Canal was open for skaters, down at the south end of Dow's Lake. A sign includes the pathway of the Canal skateway- this location on the map is at the left, where you see the loop going up from the main part of the course.

Aside from a skate changing shelter and a few eateries on the ice here, there was also a fire burning.

This, caught in evening light, is a small sleigh you can rent up at the pavilion at the north end of the lake. It's handy if you've got a couple of kids, or an adult, who don't skate themselves. A skater can simply push the sleigh along the ice.

I figured I'd include one of the Beavertails signs, which includes the various ways you can eat the pastry.

And this shows the line of eateries and the shelters here.

Carvings In Snow And A Hint Of The Future

This snow carving caught my eye. Maple Snow Globe was done by a team of carvers from Quebec, who depict a snow globe, with several people inside, engaged in the process of collecting maple sap.

This last one is from a team of carvers from British Columbia, called Powder Hunter. It shows a snowmobile rider out in the western landscape. This one seemed to get particularly covered with more snow than the carvers themselves expected.

This wide view showed the sculptures together.

This looked like a very large snow sculpture at a distance, but coming closer, it revealed itself. What looks like snow is actually canvas covering something that will be on display in the summer, part of a project referred to as MosaiCanada, something for the anniversary year. The concept has been held regularly in Montreal, as I understand.

This view within the park looks towards the Ottawa River and the Alexandra Bridge, with Parliament Hill across the river.

Snow Sculptures Of A Decidedly Cold Nature

There were several snow sculptures done in Jacques Cartier Park for Winterlude, by carving teams from a number of provinces and one territory. They had actually had snow added to them since the carving had been done when I took these shots, what with snowfalls during the festival. This first sculpture is called White Wind, and is from a team of sculptors from Manitoba.

This one was called Catch Of The Day, a snow sculpture reversing the usual stance, with having the fish be the one reeling in the man. It was done by a team from New Brunswick. 

This one came from a team of carvers from the Northwest Territories. Fur Traders In The North shows traders in boats atop whitewater rapids. I have more from here tomorrow.

Taking In Snow Sliding Within Jacques Cartier Park

I'm returning to the Winterlude series today. The festival also takes place over in Gatineau as well as Ottawa. Much of the activities center around Jacques Cartier Park, on the shore of the Ottawa River, where the park is turned into a big winter playground, with sculptures and slides. The Ice Hogs, the mascots of Winterlude, can be found here much of the time.

Carvings are to be found in along the sides or backs of the massively constructed snow slides.

This large Muskoka style chair was also there in the park. Tomorrow we'll start looking at some of the snow sculptures.

Black, White, Grey, Steel, And A Tolkienish Work Of Art

It occurred to me after the fact that my final photo from yesterday could drive one crazy if turned into a two thousand piece jigsaw puzzle.

Ottawa City Hall has a couple of art galleries. The first is temporary extra space for the Ottawa Art Gallery while expansion work at Arts Court continues. The second, the Karsh-Masson Gallery, has a rotating schedule for artists to present their works. In December and January, the space was given over to two artists, Anna Frlan and Gail Bourgeois, to display their work. I thought of this particular sculpture by Ms. Frlan for the theme day yesterday, but quickly found so many different angles for it that I decided to present it by itself. It is called Renewal; the listings of the various installations of this exhibit, though rather sparse on detail, included three words for this one- deactivated land mines. Whether or not that includes actual former weaponry is a question, but the artist works with steel in her sculptures. The result is formidable- like a Nazgul out of Tolkien's Middle Earth or a tornado depending on how you look at it. Have a look at Marleen's post from yesterday for another sculpture that reminded me of this.

City Daily Photo Theme Day: Black And White In Colour

The first day of each month is always a theme day for members of City Daily Photo, and for this first day of March, the idea is Black and White in Colour. So, shots that appear to be black and white, while still being colour images. You can see how others are interpreting this theme here.

I knew that winter would be ideal for this, and I have a different take on this tomorrow. This first shot was taken in December at Lansdowne during the Christmas farmer markets. The horse drawn wagon can be seen here in a shot largely drained of colour by a cloudy sky.

This is an accidental shot. I was walking up towards Southminster United Church in December to photograph the place when I heard the click of my camera. The resulting shot, though, I liked. It reminded me of being high above a snowy landscape, with the shadows of the snow evoking mountain ranges.

The snow on these branches near the north end of the commuter rail line in Ottawa gave the scene a black and white feel on a mostly cloudy day.

In late December I made a crossing of the Alexandra Bridge across the Ottawa River on a snowy day to visit the Canadian Museum of History over in Gatineau, where an exhibit on Napoleon had been held. The bridge looked stark in the conditions, as did the river and the view back to Parliament Hill. At times on the walk, the view to either side of the river, or upstream or down, was extremely limited.