Cultural Outing: Chinese Pavillion at the Botanical Gardens

Thanks to Josette Wecsu for these enchanting photos. A few words from Josette:

I thought you might be interested in hearing about our cultural outing on Tuesday, October 25th.

This year our visit to the Chinese Pavillion of the Botanical Gardens was especially inspiring. As we strolled through the gardens, the exhibition of the of the First Emperor Qin and his Cavalry lit our path. I tried to capture some of the beautiful colors of the luminescent lanterns on camera for our WASM members. This was a perfect type of excursion for a cool autumn evening.

Our group (from left to right): Sharon Galligher, Marilyn Bridgeman, Josette Wecsu, Bridget Howlett, Frances Balough, with Ruth Pidduck standing in front.

Members' Day: Tex Dawson

The Members' Day lecture and meet-and-greet was on October 18th, apologies for posting this with some delay. Here are Jackie Wloski's wonderful photographs and notes from the occasion:

Tex amused us all not only with his artworks but with his amusing stories of his travels and experiences. He spent about 20 minutes explaining his technique and who he did these drawings for (himself while on his travels, and for the Gazette when he was employed to do drawings of buildings etc.). He started out professionally as an architect, hence the great interest in buildings.

The largest part of the meeting was handing around a huge quantity of his drawings on paper and answering questions, so we all got a close look at his works.

The last part of the meeting was reserved for new members, who stood up and talked briefly about themselves, and then we all enjoyed coffee with delicious baked goodies by Shirley Cohen.

Kathryn Gabinet-Kroo: A Painter's Path

Kathryn Gabinet-Kroo started out in art in black and white photography, and only when she found herself without a darkroom after marrying a Canadian and coming to Montreal from the States, did she start doing watercolors and using color. Eventually she switched to oils. She is a realist painter using her photographs as reference for her paintings, altering the colors or only using part of the photo to enhance composition. She always enjoys painting nature, and coy fish are a favorite subject matter. She does portraits sometimes, but not on a regular basis.
The lecture and the animated question and answer period afterwards were thoroughly enjoyed by all in attendance.

Kathryn Gabinet-Kroo with one of her paintings. Usually she works in larger formats (3'x5', 4'x6') but her smaller works are obviously more portable.

Kathryn Gabinet-Kroo holding up one of her works from student days

Notes and photos by Jackie Rae Wloski.

Matthew Hays: Women in Film

The 118^th season of the WASM opened with a scintillating start. Matthew Hays, film critic, writer, film festival programmer and academic, who won a Lambda Literary Award for his 2007 book “The View from Here: Conversations with Gay and Lesbian Filmmakers", was our first speaker. He teaches film studies at Concordia University and has written film reviews for The Montreal Mirror and many other publications.

Yesterday his lecture was on Women in Film: Evolution of Representation. He talked about the history of women in film production and the possible reasons behind the dearth of female directors in today’s film industry. He spoke of the National Film Board and “Studio D” that funded and promoted women making films , including one on anti-nucleur activist Dr. Helen Caldicott. Many of the films, eg: “I’ll Find a Way”, “If You Love This Planet”, “Forbidden Love”, “Hookers on Davey”, “Not a Love Story” were ground-breaking, controversial, and internationally recognized. To learn more about this incredible era of creativity, check out the book; “D” is for Daring.

Notes by Diane Canuli, Photos Jackie Rae Wloski.

Dr. Helen Caldicott

Scenes from the film If You Love This Planet

A scene from Raging Bull, edited by Thelma Schoonmaker

Matthew Hays with WASM President Leslie Cohen

Today's bloggers, Jackie Rae Wloski and Diane Cannuli