Wednesday, November 29, 2023

Diversions on Free Motion Mavericks

Welcome to week 458 of Free Motion Mavericks. While travelling, we were able to go to the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. It's one of my favourite art galleries, located in a beautiful wooded area in the northern part of Toronto. I have a few photos to share as well as some lovely photos taken at the Toronto Zoo, which was open and not busy - my kind of place!

McMichael Canadian Art Collection


We took a tour of their latest exhibition, Conversations. It was very interesting. My daughter took photos of the David Milne (1882-1953) art for me. I love his winter landscapes and one day I want to explore making something like them with textile. I'm sorry that I don't have the correct titles for you.

A winter landscape by David Milne

Another winter landscape by David Milne   

A cabin in winter by David Milne

There was also an exhibition on Cobalt, Ontario. Yvonne McKague Housser (1897-1996) is an artist who painted quite a few pieces of Cobalt in the 1930s. Some of her paintings were of the French Canadian settlement in Cobalt, where my grandparents probably lived. 

Every time I go to the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, I visit another of her Cobalt paintings.

Summer scene of Cobalt Ontario by Yvonne McKague Housser
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Winter scene of Cobalt Ontario by Yvonne McKague Housser

Toronto Zoo


My daughter took a few fun pictures at the zoo. 

Polar bear, in need of a good bath!

Polar Bear chilling in her space

Apparently the Komodo dragon had been zooming around before we got there - you can see the tracks all around him. He was resting while we visited!

Komodo dragon at the Toronto Zoo

There were two golden lion tamarins. A plush version of this little guy came home with us 😊


Golden lion tamarin at the Toronto Zoo

We just had to take a picture of this goat in his play area! 

Goat posing for us at the Toronto Zoo

One Monthly Goal

My December's One Monthly Goal is to finish up my niece's t-shirt quilt. Hopefully I'll get back on track very soon! 😎 

My niece's t-shirt quilt is my December OMG


What I learned
  • I am so happy that we got to visit both the McMichael Canadian Art Collection and the Toronto Zoo. We were able to take our time and visit at our own pace in both these amazing spaces. The volunteers were wonderful.
  • Art and animals - they always make me happy 😊 
  • After these visits, it was good to spend the rest of the week resting and recuperating. 
  • My husband, daughter and son were amazing. Thanks!
  • I want to thank all of the doctors, nurses and staff at the Princess Margaret Hospital for their amazing care.
  • I'm so looking forward to going home at the end of the week. With any luck, I'll be able to resume my art work soon!
Related links
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. Why not check them out after you link up below? Put Your Foot Down, Patchwork & Quilts, Peacock Party

Free Motion Mavericks


Gail of Quilting Gail has created many wonderful projects using Island Batiks' Wild Blooms fabric line. Nova was in McCall's May/June issue while the Stepping Out quilts were made using two different backgrounds fabrics. Check out the FMQ on these lovelies!

Nova quilt in McCall's Quilting
   
Stepping Out in a light background

Stepping Out in a dark background

It's now your turn!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

10 comments:

  1. Wonderful inspiration in your post. Thanks for sharing the zoo pics as well. I appreciate the time you took to share everything.with

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    1. Thanks Pamela. I love sharing non-quilting stuff but I seem to venture out of my studio less and less! Thanks for your visit and kind words.

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  2. The museum looks fantastic! Next time I'm in Toronto, I'll have to see if I can wiggle some time to go there!
    Praying for a speedy recovery!

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    1. Thanks so much Gail. Things look like they are healing well. I can now thread a needle and FMQ - so all of the things that are important :-) If you are in Toronto, it's a little out the way but so worth it!

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  3. I've linked up two of my finishes as I missed the linkup on the 24th. Toronto has so much good cultural stuff to see across the spectrum from sports to arts and more. That goat cracks me up.

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    1. Thanks Sandra. Toronto is lovely to visit but I'm glad that I don't have to go often! Hope you had a good visit. Thanks for linking up. You can link up as many as you want!

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  4. Deux belles sorties, j'aime beaucoup ces toiles du musées, surtout celles qui représentent Cobalt. Il a l'air formidable de zoo, bonne idée de ramener une peluche de ce singe flamboyant à la maison !
    Bon rétablissement, j'espère que ce n'est pas trop grave ?
    Bises, et merci pour le partage de liens ;)

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    1. Merci beaucoup Frédérique. Tout va très bien maintenant. :-) Bises

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  5. The zoo looks fun; love the goat on the sign. Hope you are recovered soon. Thanks for linking up.

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    1. Thanks so much Anne-Marie. It was great to visit in Toronto but great to be back home. I can now thread a needle and FMQ, so life is good :-)

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