Mythos & Marginalia

2015 – 2025: a decade of days

a daily breath

  • impressions

    summer colours

    you feel them

    you see them

    everywhere

    visibility

    tones and textures

    values and viscosity

    the paint flows

    effortlessly 

    as if

    it is meant to be

    impressions will

    last longer

    than the season 

    Gwartzman’s Art Supplies at 448 Spadina Avenue, a regular stop for materials and inspiration, is closed for a few weeks. The nearly 80-year-old second-generation business — in an even older building in downtown Toronto — is undergoing a top to bottom renovation this summer. (I can wait to see it when completed).

    Until is reopens, there is a pop-up store located inside Creeds Market and Coffee Bar at 450 Dupont St.

    Last night I took in a creative evening at Creeds, a chance to experiment with watercolours, gouache, and chalk try out papers and products I’ve not used before.

    It was a wonderful evening with gracious host Jackie Gwartzman. This was the first event planned for Thursdays throughout the summer, an evening to explore and enjoy. Check with Gwartmans to see when the next event happens

    And yes, it is a happening. The no-pressure evening of non-judgemental art fit into my personal summer art immersion.

    I had the opportunity to sample aquabord, by Ampersand Art Supply, an acid-free textured clay surface. I was pleased with the results. The stiff board absorbs watercolours like nothing else.

    I was also impressed with the Aquarius Urban Sketching watercolour set, a tidy little package of five colours, ideal for when you are out and about in this wonderful city.

    07/05/2024                                                                                      j.g.l.

     

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  • almost 6 a.m.

    You can’t even call it a breeze.

       Slight air movement, only enough of a hint of what is to come later in the day.

       Almost 6 a.m. The city is still. 

       Inside, people are only now waking to the day, the radio telling of the humidity and heat soon to come. Outside you can already feel it.

       Overcast soon, they say, later in the afternoon perhaps a chance of rain. How much credence you give to forecasts varies like the weather itself. 

       This is summer; at least, it feels like it today.

     

    07/04/2024                                                                                                    j.g.l.

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  • Mondays are just young Fridays

    Tearing the cellophane off a fresh new month, I realize 2024 is now half over and there are so many questions.

       Where did the time go? 

       What haven’t I done?

       What was I thinking?

       When the year began not that long ago (six months to be exact) I had many plans. I had things to do (or things to be done), yet many of those tasks, projects, or obligations remain in a restless state. 

       It surprises me. 

       I thought I would have accomplished more by now than I actually have. 

       I am reminded, over and over, how much is still incomplete.

       As I try to do things, again and again, I know I need to think more about what remains.

       Summer, really, has just begun; yet that is but half of the seasons. For now, I will concentrate on the only one that really matters, right now at least.

       We have longer days before us for another good month (at least). That itself seems like a reason to finish what I started and begin more things on my to-do list.

       I would like the think now of the six months ahead, instead of the half dozen already behind me. Somehow it seems like it allows for more time that I can make mine.

     

    07/01/2024                                                                                                  j.g.l.

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  • life as it happens

    You don’t have to live with the choices you make.
    As humans, we all have the option to change our mind; it is our right, our privilege and responsibility.
    Where we live, what we eat, what we drink, what we drive (or whether we don’t drive), what we wear (the colour, the purpose, the price) are all choices.
    How we engage, or relate, to other people is also a choice. Whether we seek, or discontinue, friendship is a choice we make. . . unless it is made by someone else. That would be their choice.
    Relationships are choices, even the one you continue with yourself.
    How do you engage with life as it happens? Are you an observer or a participant?
    Do you place honesty or integrity as a fundamental value, or are you more wishy-washy in your intent?
    Are you active, or passive? How do you know?
    We all have choices. We all change (for better or worse) or are changed. It is all about choice.
    You don’t have to live with the choices you make, unless you want to.
    You decide, it is a lot more meaningful than having choices made for you.

    © 2019 j.g. lewis

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  • points in between

    10,000 steps a day, they say, is the key 

    to a better life: emotionally, spiritually, 

    physically especially.

       Walk on. 

       I try, I do, mostly every day, a 

    conscious attempt to make my way 

    from here to there, and the points in

    between, specifically or purposefully 

    engaging with the street. The places 

    I go and people I see contribute to a 

    life lived mindfully (I believe).

       Watch your steps.

       Take notice of the sights you see,

    daily along the way; you may never

    pass this way again. 

       Knowing where you are is just as 

    important as where you will be. 

       Think of it as an adventure, another

    opportunity, simple and pure; a reward

    or recognition of the steps you endure.

       You are sure to see something you 

    have never seen. Each route is different 

    (as are the points in between).

       It is never just another day. 

       I try to put into practice all of the

    words I say, so the question remains:

    where will I go today?

     

    06/28/2024                                                                          j.g.l.

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