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- David Small’s powerful tale of how presenting his memoir Stitches to his previously estranged brother mystifyingly transformed their relationship.
- Jane Christmas and Catherine Gildiner argeeing it’s better to base your memoir on memories, not the research you do afterward (which you’re probably doing to procrastinate, anyway).
- Elina Hirvonen explaining how her generation in Finland is better able to address the repercussions of civil and international conflict three generations post-Winter War.
- Dave O’Meara and LM Rochefort handing out wax-paper cups of champagne to toast 10 years of Plan 99 and business owners who support the arts in meaningful ways (read: with their wallets).
- Struan Sinclair recounting the tragic consequences when you leave two bags of candy tied to a doorknob in Winnipeg and then get on a plane to Ottawa.
- Getting the backstage intel on David Byrne’s and Nick Cave’s recent appearances at the festival (all gracious, all good).
- rob mclennan and I trading stories of how so many international authors name Ottawa as their ideal city to read in because the audiences are informed and unpretentious.
Posts Tagged ‘Nichole McGill’
Dave Cooper’s latest inspiration
When a pomegranate isn’t just a pomegranate
Painter and illustrator Dave Cooper might very well be Ottawa’s best known visual artist whose international reputation seems to, sadly for Ottawa, overshadow his local rep. His paintings of pillowy women that are, at once, erotic, innocent and can veer into the mildly disturbing, sell in New York, Los Angeles and Paris while his current hiatus from the graphic novel world is also mourned internationally.
In “Nice Ottawa”, his work is occasionally on display in “one-night stand” format at Ottawa’s black sheep of the visual arts scene, Galerie La Petite Mort or recently at the Ottawa International Animation Festival.
But perhaps his latest series will be found to be more palatable to the more conservative in Ottawa.
When a pomegranate isn’t just a pomegranate
Cooper’s latest mini-series could loosely be termed as “the erotic innocence of fruit”. Pomegranate A (below), B (left) and C (top) were originally conceived as a triptych with “A” being unabashedly lush, B” a balance of age and vitality and “C”, a literal balance of opposites.
Luckily for me, “Pomegranate C” is snapped up. (Yes, I’m the culprit. It was an extravagant birthday gift paid in sweat, paint and affection.)
Still, it’s worth following Dave Cooper’s visual arts site and sniff around the galleries in town to see if Dave will explore this new concept further or return to his “pillowy girls”.
Dave Cooper is accepting commissions. You can contact him at dave [at] davegraphics [dot] com.
Images all © Dave Cooper. Republishing available with permission.
How to Feed the Writing Muse
Photo by Colin Rowe
Last week, I moderated a session at the Ottawa International Writers Festival in the cabaret-style basement of Saint Brigid’s Centre for the Arts, stayed for the Plan 99 reading series 10th anniversary bash and lingered at a table of writers trading tales of what motivates us as writers, namely attending events like these. Here is just a brief overview of some of our “aha” moments:
And finally, as an author, how it is so necessary to attend these types of readings and debates, how they feed you creatively far more than your average (often expensive) writing workshop. During Plan 99’s celebratory readings, when I wasn’t tweeting+ clever lines from the readers, I found myself compelled to sketch an entire a chapter for my next-next novel (the one in ethereal thought-to-first draft stage). Today, I’ll dive in and flesh out that sketch, that unexpected gift that you sometimes receive when you aren’t expecting it but are unintentionally feeding the muse.
