Mythos & Marginalia

2015 – 2025: a decade of days


a daily breath

  • we think all the time

    We are here daily, in the
    moment and on the move.
    Flesh and bone, indeed, it is
    what people see, but what is
    beyond our weight and mass
    is what truly counts.
    Our morals, ethics, ideas,
    obsessions, and decisions,
    guide us and control us.
    How we react, and what we
    dream, our attitude, response,
    and how it seems, are purely
    functions of the mind.
    We think all the time.
    What we wear, how we care,
    where we go, even what we
    choose to know, all take
    thought.
    It’s not something someone
    else can do for you,
    there is nothing anyone else
    can do to help you
    think your way through.
    We are our thoughts.
    Make them good.
    Make them count.
    Make them meaningful.

    j.g.l.

  • horoscope

    I choose today.

     

    07/12/2024                                                                                                    j.g.l.

  • Mondays are just young Fridays

    It is not the width and breadth of the journey that counts, but the stops along the way.

       How we travel is less important than where it takes us. Distance is really of little consequence whether you move by streetcar, bicycle, or on foot.

       Each step an admission, every mile we walk, each day is part of the process of being alive: it’s cumulative.

       Signs are everywhere, even if you don’t feel you see them. It’s when you stop looking that you begin to notice.

       Observe: open your mind.

       Opportunities are hidden in the moments, waiting to be discovered.

       Take the time, no matter how you measure the seconds or hours. Calendars need not remind us of weeks gone by, or months and years, but of the progress we make.

     

    07/08/2024                                                                                                          j.g.l.

     

  • 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.

     

  • 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.