Giving
has nothing to do with shopping!
(Since the theme for this
month was giving I wrote the following:)
This is the season when people are shopping for gifts to give loved
ones and friends! For some people, giving is a year-round activity,
incessantly organizing benefit performances, Meals on Wheels,
driving people to their medical appointments and much more. One of
my friends is now working on a welcome leaflet for the bus-loads of
Japanese tourists who come to St. Sauveur to roam around on their
own without guidance. There is so much one can do to help and give
others! You may ask yourself: What can I do? Well there are lots of
things one can do, and it is not buying gifts.
We live in a tourist area. Some visitors have the means to pay for
hotels and B&BS and restaurants. Others are back-packers who would
appreciate meeting the locals and learning first hand about life in
the Laurentians.
Hospitality Club is a non-commercial network of over 200,000
friendly people around the world (in over 100 countries), who offer
each other help when they travel – be it free accommodation, a tour
around town or a visit to the best local club. Membership is free.
It makes it possible to meet friendly people and stay for free in
almost every corner of the world. It is a way to lead to
intercultural understanding and a more lasting peace in the world.
To come on board, hit the internet and sign up
http://www.hospitalityclub.org.
2 Nov 2006 - The Gift of
Art
Once again this year, the Laurentian Museum of Contemporary Art,
has organized an auction. Many artists donated their creations for
the benefit of the museum.
The collection opened for viewing on November 2nd, accompanied by
a beautiful catalogue. Anything displayed at the museum has gone
through jury selection. However, the ultimate juror is the person
who acquires the artwork. An artwork has to captivate you. It has to
speak to you personally, be it through feelings, thoughts, and
memories or by touching your senses. Many of the works I viewed at
the auction collection were interesting, yet one of the smallest
pieces touched me in a particular way. I was drawn to the image of a
girl’s pair of booted feet, dangling over a garden, a bird hovering
by, another child in the grass, a carpet of flowers and some
mushrooms. An image that suggests mystery and discovery, and evokes
the child in you, in particular once you realise that the painting "Toujours
ma balançoire", 2004, mixed media, by Lucie Desrosiers, is
three-dimensional, with an attached toy-swing. I certainly hope that
the person who acquired it at the auction will derive hours of
pleasures from it.
I raise my hat to the artists who gave their artwork and to those
who purchased the art, thereby helping the museum and recognizing
the artists’ efforts.
February 2006
As
of the 2nd edition of the Laurentian Sun,
February 2006, I am
contributing a column entitled
What's On... to this new English
paper. I shall also be reporting about community events in Mille
Isles and surrounding area.
