Saturday, January 27, 2018

1020 Montreal Scene, The Rialto, 8x10, oil on board

sold-Bolton Ontario
The Rialto has been around for I don't know how long. I watched Saturday Night Fever At this gorgeous theatre when I was a teenager. (Loved that Movie.....Love John Travolta).There used to be a gym downstairs from the theatre. I wandered into it once out of curiosity. It was the late sixties or early seventies. The gym was just like something out of Rocky. It had a boxing ring and there were men practising boxing and punching those leather punching bags everywhere. The place smelled so strong of sweat and testosterone...  I couldn't breathe. A big hairy man told me to scram. I ran out and never ventured back.  It would sure have made some great subject matter for paintings. 

Wednesday, December 13, 2017

1016 McGill Student Ghetto, Aylmer Street, 8x10, oil on board

sold-Manitoba
This is a scene from the McGill Student Ghetto. It's Alymer Street, I believe. I used to have a friend who lived in that redbrick building. The apartment was really tiny, it had an icebox that was automatically defrosted every Wednesday. The rent was cheap then. We used to go to free concerts at the Pollack Hall. Sometimes we could hear a music student playing the Sax from an apartment across the lane. Those were magical days.