Horses on Duty

What I love about being an urban sketcher is that I have many opportunities to learn from people and their work. How interesting is the job of the mounted police in the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary (RNC) for example! I always thought that horses were just a decorative element in the police departments but I learnt that their work is very important and useful in the city. Mounted Police are excellent for controlling crowds in pedestrian areas: it offers the police great visibility and the people can easily see them from a distance. Also the contact between police and people is more direct in that way. The day I went to the barn to sketch Constable Coombs and Day, they were preparing the horses for an important event at Government House.

Constable Day is cleaning Dobbin for work. She and Dobbin have been working together since April 2009. Dobbin is a five year old black male Percheron, born in Ontario. Dobbin stands 17.3 hands high and weights 1850 lbs.

Fraize is a 12 year old Percheron. He is 17 hands high and weights 1912 pounds.

On June 27 2011 at 6 PM there was a reception for the Governor General in the Government House in St. John's. All the Lieutenant Governors of Canada were present there. Constable Coombs and Day with Fraize and Dobbin from the Mounted Unit guarded the entrance.
Here is a link to the RNC if you want to know more about the Mounted Unit.
I also publish this in www.urbansketchers.org

Open house Exhibition

Hi blog readers I am doing a small exhibition at my parents house in St. John's. Thurday June 30 from 7:00 to 9:00 PM If you one want to come and see it please contact me (On the top of the blog middle tab) to send you the address.I will sell some watercolors, prints and reproductions of my work.
Here is one of the paintings you could see here.

Saturday Farm Market in St. John's

Last Saturday I got a stand at the Farm Market. Here a few things that you can do while visiting the Farm Market.

Buy flowers and vegetables from the wonderful girls from the organic farm.

Have a coffee and eat

Meet friends

Play sacky sack

Spend time with your family

Repair your bike at Ordinary Spokes

Delight: Bay Robert's View

I paint urban landscapes, I don't paint nature. However last time that I was in Bay Roberts standing on a hill facing the see, surrounded by the amazing colors of lichen growing between the rock I have the urge painted it, at least I gave it a try, I felt challanged to reproduced this imposible colors...
First I did a sketch in my moleskine, that I alredy posted in my blog. But the next day I have to come back again to do a bigger watercolor. Gosh! I love painting outdooors!

The War Memorial in St. John's

Probably is the port view or the fine sculpture, but the War memorial is a nice spot in the city. In sunny days kids play around with their skateboards.

Patsy Cline in the Masonic Temple

One of the most intriguing buildings in St. John's is the Masonic Temple (I painted it here). One day when I was painting on Gower St. I meet Peter Halley. Peter told me that they bought the building 3 years ago and since then they offer shows and musicals there. I think it is great that such an interesting building it is open to the public filled with new life. He invited me to visit their new show Patsy Cline. I never heard anything about Patsy Cline before (yes, it is true) but I enjoyed the show a lot. Ms. Shelley Neville was fantastic impersonating Patsy. Not only she had a great voice but she also played very well Patsy's evolution from a country girl to a star.
Peter Halley played the radio moderator. He established from the beginning a good link with the audience and narrated Patsy's life with a lot of humor. I had a great time!

The port of St . John's

A port is a living organism. Every day changes. St. John's port offers a very recognizable skyline, but the boats are always different. My favorite are the small fishing boats

I also posted this a few days ago in the www.urbansketchers.org where I am correspondent. The blog has around 4000 followers spread in the whole world. You can see drawings from urban life in Berlin, Tokio Paris, Seattle, etc. and for a short time while I am here also from St. John's, Newfoundland.