A Couple of Hours in Gastown

I needed to return a book to the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) and while I could have returned it via the Fraser Valley Library System, it was a good excuse to visit Vancouver.

I should have taken the Canon EOS Rebel T3i but I made do with the little rugged Nikon Coolpix and it did a pretty good job.



Iconic curved roof line of VPL meets glass—a lot of glass

I noticed some text in the windows above me and zooming in discovered a hugely-enlarged page from John Milton's Paradise Lost complete with study notes scribbled all over it. I don't think they mean to encourage that to happen to their library books.


Zooming in on Paradise Lost

We walked by the firehall and I'm glad I turned around.


I didn't notice until now the matching mountain in the mural

There were signs of gentrification everywhere I looked.

gen·tri·fi·ca·tion
 [jen-truh-fi-key-shuhn]

noun
1.
the buying and renovation of houses and stores in deteriorated urban neighborhoods by upper- or middle-income families or individuals, thus improving property values but often displacing low-income families and small businesses.

2.
an instance of gentrifying; the condition of being gentrified.

Origin:
1975–80; gentri(fy) + -fication

Here is a condo/apartment building on the site of Woodwards Department Store.


The sky was white due to the rain



What's left of Woodwards

This has got to be the ultimate curio shop. It's called Salmagundi West and I dare you to enter. It's so deliciously creepy.


The sun came out just as we entered which made it seem a little less scary
I'm reluctant to photoshop the brightness out (even if I knew how)



I didn't know that penises (or is the plural penii?) had bones



The proprietor encouraged photography but I asked just to make sure I didn't end up here

 

This photo reminds me of the children's picture books where you're supposed find hidden objects

There was so much to see in this most curious of curio shops and I'm definitely going back, next time with the Canon.

Maybe next time I won't be so creeped out but wait a minute, that was the fun of it!


I couldn't leave Gastown without a stop at one of my favourite places.

I admire the architect's vision to put a window here and that they share it with passersby

 

What is Sumi-e?

I ran across the word Sumi-e while playing around with Filters in Photoshop.

Oriental brush painting originated in China centuries ago. It spread to Japan where it became known as sumi-e. Sumi means ink and e means picture.

Whenever I think of Asian art, the first thing that comes to mind is bamboo and I remembered that I had taken a photo of this gorgeous black bamboo that stands out so vividly against the white wall of the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden in Vancouver's Chinatown. I remember thinking when I took the photo that it reminded me of the time I attended a Chinese Art workshop at the Chinese Cultural Centre. The woman taught us how to make a painting of bamboo by giving us a brush, water and an ink block and after showing us how to load our brush, we had to practice how much pressure to apply and how much water to use, painting at first on newspapers - and she would say "go, go, go, go, stop" and at the word "stop" we would lift up the brush and that would be the first joint in the bamboo. Then she would repeat the words "go, go, go, stop" and once again at the word "stop" we would lift up the brush and that would be the second joint in the bamboo. The kids couldn't stop giggling.

Original 1

Filter>Brush Strokes>Sumi-e

I liked it so much I sumi-e'd my other bamboo pic. Interestingly, the paint strokes out of which most paintings can be made are called the Four Gentlemen; these are the bamboo, the orchid, the plum tree and the chrysanthemum. Sumi-e instructors will insist that these be mastered before you progress.

Original 2

Filter>Brush Strokes>Sumi-e

For both of the sumi-e pics, I left the default values:

• Stroke width 10
• Stroke pressure 2
• Contrast 16

because any other values looked awful.

The summer bouquet is the very first pic I chose this filter on. The result is quite pleasing but sumi-e looks its best on a pic with one or two colours.

Filter>Brush Strokes>Sumi-e