Niagara-on-the-Lake

Postcard from Niagara-on-the-Lake: Me and My Girl!

Anyone who visits Canada is bound to visit Niagara – but we also made a special trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake and enjoyed Me and My Girl at the Shaw Festival Theatre.

ShawThe town is delightful and was bathed in sunshine. We resisted the option of a ride around in a pony and trap (see featured image above), and walked instead from our hotel to the theatre.

 

The Shaw Festival

According to their website: In 1962, in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, lawyer and playwright Brian Doherty parlayed his love for the work of Irish playwright Bernard Shaw into a summer theatre festival, producing eight performances of Don Juan in Hell and Candida in the Court House auditorium.  In this singular act of passion for theatre and culture, the Shaw Festival was born.

The grounds of the theatre include a beautiful garden with occasional statues. It’s the perfect place for a stroll before a show, in the intermission, or afterward.

Shaw Festival gardens

There are more works of art inside the theatre. At the top of a sweeping staircase, under a magnificent chandelier, this selection of ‘busts’ caught our eye.

 

The show: Me and My Girl

The show was spectacular. As well as the wonderful costumes, the energetic choreography and clever set, the cast entertained us throughout – clearly enjoying every moment themselves.

George Bernard Shaw’s wit shone through with some lovely one liners, and had us laughing out loud.

Niagara-on-the-lake Me and my girlThe following morning, while tucking in to pancakes and maple syrup, we happened to see the star of the show Michael Therriault.

We had the opportunity to thank him for a wonderful performance, and to congratulate him on his Cockney accent.

He recognised immediately that we hailed from the UK and it turned out he, like us, once lived in Surrey.

Small world?

 

 

Where is The Shaw Festival?

The Shaw Festival theatre is located at 10 Queen’s Parade, Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON L0S 1J0 CANADA

If you’d like to see the show Me and My Girl, it’s on until 15 October. You have plenty of time to book your seats!

This post is one of my POSTCARD series, sharing all things ART with you when I go travelling. It’s the second one for this particular trip. Watch this space!

Sketchbook Notes: Dawn at New Bridge

To replace the painting sold yesterday in my one-man exhibition in the Little Studio at the Loft Gallery, I’ve chosen Dawn at New Bridge.

 

What made me paint ‘Dawn at New Bridge’?

For a year, Anne and I rented a stunning house at Bickerton. It belonged to an artist and her husband and, for those twelve months, I worked in the best studio conditions I’ll ever have, for sure.

Work was being done on our Salcombe flat, ahead of putting it on the market, and we spent three years renting various houses in the South Hams. We learnt a lot about the type of house we might eventually want to buy!

During that particular tenancy, I would often drive from Bickerton back to Salcombe and, crossing New Bridge,  Bowcombe, I would enjoy the view across the estuary.

077 Safe mooring150072dpiOne particular morning, there was a mist, slowly clearing. I felt compelled to stop the car and, reaching for my camera, I captured this magical moment. I especially admired the reflections in the pink water.

Dawn at New Bridge was one of a number of studies that resulted from that pitstop.

Safe Mooring (shown left) was sold to friends who live back in Surrey, when they visited us for our eventual house warming party at Beacon House in 2013.

At that same party, the owner of the boat featured was also identified …

Do you like pink?095 New day at Newbridge72dpiRESIZEDSquare

If you like the ‘pink’ of these paintings, you might also like New Day at New Bridge, the original of which was sold at Avon Mill. However, the image is still available as a fine art greetings card.

 

THE SKETCHBOOK NOTES SERIES

This is one of the Sketchbook Notes, a series of posts explaining what inspired me to produce a particular painting.

If you own one of my paintings, or are just curious about an image, let me know; I’ll then write a blog post especially for you!