Stranger in a Strange Land

Title: The Original Design I don't remember the title of this one. I don't remember the title of this one. It was something about reality and symbolism and religion.

This is a page from Friday, September 13, 2003 I got the urge to do some painting. Here I am a stranger in a stranger land. Washington. In this unusual area, everything one needs is in another town. And there is no town in town. Pasco and Kennewick and Richland, Tri Cities as they are called, are all just clusters of homes and shopping centers. It is Suburbia with out an Urb. The Tri Cities phone book lists three places that carry art supplies. Since I am in Richland, naturally they are in Kennewick. The first and second listing turned out to be in business no longer. Finally, in a shopping area I found a small office supply store that carried art supplies. Earlier I had purchased some raw canvas in a fabric shop so what I needed was some stretch strips to mount the fabric for priming and painting. The sizes I needed fell in the range of 28 inch to 34 inch. Any combination within that range would be fine. The painting I had in mind could be square or nearly square. The shop had on their shelf, one 30-inch, a 29, a 33 and a 28. One of each. In case this does not strike you oddly, the explanation is that one needs a pair of each size to make a complete rectangle. I asked the clerk why they only had one of each of these sizes and she replied that they have a regular customer that is a kook. That seemed to explain it. For her. So I went to another shopping center. This one has a Michaels Craft Shop that is not listed in the phone book. Michaels is a large chain. I figured they would have the stuff. On their shelf the only sizes above 24 inch that the store stocked were 31 inch, 27 inch, 34 inch and 32 inch. They had one of each…. The clerk was mystified as to why this was important. I asked her the location of the nearest lumberyard. Naturally she gave me direction to go back to one in Richland. Everything you want is in another city. I went out the door, drove to the other end of the same park lot to a Home Depot. I guess technically, that isn’t a “lumberyard.” No reason why she would consider it that. I bought a couple pieces of two by two and left. Later while I was cutting and forming my own stretch strips and then mounting the raw canvas, I realized what a lot of work artwork really is. The work in this painting not only includes building my own media but also a lot of self-restraint. Stifling guffaws and rolling eyes and forced smiles should be included in the total.

The Profile(more than you really wanted to know)is here.

Lost GalleryThe rescue mission for battered and abused orphan photographs.

For more about Double Exposures see this page in Lost Gallery.

SAQ

Wednesday, August 13, 2003 How to buy a bottle of wine in Quebec. It is important to know what to look for. The name of the liquor stores in Quebec is SAQ. That stands for Societe Alcohol Quebec. There are no other liquor stores in Quebec, only government-operated stores. The signs are in French. The prices are in French. The clerks are in French. But the most confusing element is trying to catch the SAQ open. The sign on the door tells me “du lundi au mercredi de10h00 a 19h00, jeudi et vendredi de 10h00 a 21h00, samedi de 9h30 a 18H00, Dimanche de 10h00 a 17h00” Well, not only are the store hours posted in French, the times are based on the 24 hour clock. And there is no English version in smaller letters just below as is allowed but certainly not required. Roughly, except for Jeudi and Vendredi, you have to get your wine before 19h00 or 7 o’clock. There are no other liquor stores except these Province operated stores but grocery stores and convenience stores are allowed to carry limited stocks of beer and wine. But in the long grocery store aisles devoted to spirits, the choice is limited to what is termed Country Wine or Table Wine. There are no “Vintage” wines or dated wines. All of the grocery store wines are blends and batches so common they are not identified by year. Here you can find the wines that come in sealed 3 Liter bags with the convenient dispenser spout. But the grocery stores in Quebec commonly close at very early hours. Some close as early as 6 o’clock. There is one large chain store in St. Sauveur that closes at nine on weekdays. Earlier on week ends. I probably couldn’t afford a “Vintage” wine anyway. I’ll never know. The signs are all in French.

The Profile(more than you really wanted to know)is here.

Lost GalleryThe rescue mission for battered and abused orphan photographs.

For more about Double Exposures see this page in Lost Gallery.