Art Flies In The FM Sky

Hi Art Lovers,

Here is the latest from sunny almost the Solstice Ottawa.

While photographing one of my latest creations on a sunny fluffy cloud filled day this week something unusual happened.  I did not notice it until I was editing the photos during the evening.  Two flies rested on my painting during the photo shoot.  When I was editing the photo I saw a blackish splotch that seemed out of place.  I checked the original and it was not there.  Then I zoomed in on the photo and discovered that the splotch was actually the image of two flies that had landed on my painting while I was photographing.  You can see the shadows of there bodies and wings in the above photo.  I thought, '”Wow, art loving insects.”  It then occurred to me what else flies enjoy resting on. That is art.





You can see the shadows of their wings.  Too cool.


“Help Me!  Help Me!”
My favourite line from the original movie, ‘The Fly’.


I posted the fly photo on Facebook.  While there I noticed the profile picture of our musician friend Tom Wilson.  The Johnny-Warhol in me could not resist an impish impulse.  I used my PhotoScape program to grab the image of Tom from his Facebook page.  Is not the internet world scary?  Then I performed my mischievous deed. I grafted the photo of Tom to my flies.  The result is the photo below.  Fly master Tom has the chops.





Can LeE HARvey OsMOND catch two flies with one one chop?
What is the sound of one chopstick chopping?




From the Light & Shadow series . . .







I know a place where no flies go.




28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic on canvas painting by John R Redmond


Click on any image to view it enlarged.
If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay.
I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces) or use the painting images on the right side of this blog page to zoom there instantly. You can find me on Facebook, MySpace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7)

Detail 28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic on canvas painting by John R Redmond

Well, the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico continues and it appears we are receiving more accurate flow rate measurements now (maybe).  Thirty-five to fourty thousand (35 - 40,000) barrels per day is the current estimate.  It is already close to two million barrels of toxic crude oil that has spewed into the waters.  Add this to the toxic chemical dispersants being used and you get an unhealthy brew that will be hanging around for years.

Now this oil ‘spill’ is eight times larger than the Exxon Valdez oil spill. 

BP’s Deep Horizon well has poured out about 60% of what the Ixtoc Gulf of Mexico oil well did in 1979.  However Ixtoc was ten months gushing to reach the 3,329,000–3,520,000 barrels indicated on a Wikipedia table of the largest oil spills.  The Deep Horizon well has gushed for just under two months at the time of writing yet it ranks an infamous number four on the list of all time worst oil spills.  Hope is that more oil can be captured and that the well will be capped by September.  The BP oil spill could well surpass the Ixtoc spill and replace it as number three of all time oil spill disasters.

The pressure is on the Obama administration to be acting as if they are in charge of the response and to bill the cost to BP.  It does not seem to me, from news reports, that an all hands on deck effort is yet being made to protect the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico.  

We shall see.  Eleven people died when Deep Horizon exploded and sank.  The future is murder for much wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico plus misery and hardship for many folk in the area.

The oil-junky world is not innocent.

Detail 28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic on canvas painting by John R Redmond

View Full Album

28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond
Click click click and you can view this album as a slide show in full screen view.
 

Let us hope oil wells that ends well.


 





John Redmond
Ottawa, Canada

Deep Water - A Lot Of Oil Out Of The Well . . . A Lot Of Other Stuff Too . . .

 

28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond

 

Greetings from the Deep,

Detail of 28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond

More painting pics  are further below.

 

Deep Water Horizon has been in my thoughts for a month.  It is pretty much unfolding as I expected when news first broke;  DISASTER.

This week I joined a new Facebook group titled;

“I vote we plug the Gulf oil leak with BP executives.” 

Here is a link to that Facebook page for those logged in. 

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=122603081095826

The company’s PR position has thus far often been an absurd act of corporate covering the liability butt.  This one will be in courts for a couple  decades to come. BP appears to have been doling out information slowly and only when pressured.  Company officials have made some callous remarks. Tony Hayward, BP CEO (for the moment) said on internationally broadcast television he hoped this would all go away so he could have his life back.  So would the folks in the Gulf Tony.

Here is an article from the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail that outlines Hayward’s prospects of remaining BP’s CEO.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/eric-reguly/why-bps-tony-hayward-must-go/article1589387/

As seen in a video posted on YouTube the gentleman has made some fairly stupid and offensive comments such as “The overall environmental impacts of this will be very, very, very modest.”   Tight reins on information about accident and the well capping process plus such statements convey a strong impression of cover up to limit BP’s liability. On occasion Hayward has back pedaled from some of his verbal gaffs.  Hayward’s  life in the hot seat is not over yet and he likely will find himself in a court and in front of the American Congress investigating committees.

The American Congress has proceeded with some investigation of the Deep Water Horizon disaster.

“The investigation began with the Senate's Energy and Natural Resources Committee, where the executives of the three companies involved in the disaster came under fire from lawmakers.
They testified under oath in a room steeped in history.
It was the same room where Congress investigated the sinking of the Titanic nearly a century ago.”  Voice Of America, News.com

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/usa/US-Senate-Opens-Hearings-on-Oil-Spill-93423134.html

 

BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will have very little environmental impact said BP CEO early on as the Deep Horizon oil well blow out disaster unfolded

 

 

"We want our way of life back too Tony" - people of the Gulf of Mexico - jrr

 

It is challenging to be optimistic about the situation in the Gulf of Mexico.  Here is a toast to the future with a song from LHO.

Lee Harvey Osmond performs Leonard Cohen’s ‘The Future’

Leonard Cohen's classic 'The Future' performed by LeE HARVeY OsMOND

 

On to lighter things.

Here is  some Yo Yo Ma to balance the gulf-gloom.

 

The couple of paintings I was slowly working on this past weeks are now varnished.  I played around when I was applying the white undercoat which created quite a few layers of texture.  This is especially so at the bottom of each painting.

I put undercoat on four canvases having the same 28” x 20” dimensions but at this time have added colour to only two of those canvases.

 

Details of a 28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These detail images of the full painting seen at the very top of this blog post seem to be under worldly – from the Deep.

 

 

 

Details of a 28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond

 

 

 

View Full Album

28” x 20” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond

Click click click and you can view this album as a slide show in full screen view.

 

I had to write a song to express my thoughts and feelings about the situation in the Gulf of Mexico.  It is aptly titled, ‘Deep Water Horizon’.  At Howlin’ Dog Studio I recorded a rough rough one mike, one guitar, one dog howlin’  version which is posted on my Facebook page in the My Band section.  http://www.facebook.com/johnredmond 

 

Deep Water Horizon by john r redmond

Deep water horizon
Deep water below the ocean wave
Crude oil arising from a grave, Neptune’s bed
Mother nature gonna shed a tear again
Mother nature gonna cry some more

Top kill horizon
Top kill
Top kill horizon
Deep water horizon

Deep water below the ocean wave
Twenty ten you’d think we’d learned
Learned it all by now
Mother nature she knows how to shed a tear
Mother nature on the run some more

Top kill horizon
Top kill
Top kill horizon

And when the mother’s bleed is through
There will be a mighty starting over
Starting over
Oh . . .

I believe you didn’t mean it
Never wanted the rig to come burning down
But you have got to think
Think of what you’re doing
When you dig beneath the ocean floor
You better drill inside your head again

Companions of the blue
Human today . . . gone tomorrow
What kind of crude is flowing
Flowing through your veins
Better drill inside your heart instead
You’re gonna make our children’s world dead

Top kill horizon
Top kill
Top kill horizon
Deep water horizon

Deep water below the ocean wave
Crude oil arising from a grave, Neptune’s bed
Mother nature she knows how to shed a tear
Mother nature on the run again

 

 

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada

 

News Flash; Flow Motion 2011 At The Mill Street Gallery, Sydenham, ON

 

 

Hola Friends,

I seem to have had a bit of a sabbatical since my last posting in early May.  My current condition is blog backup so you can anticipate a few postings in rapid succession.

I have been painting. 

Also, I received news that I was accepted, by a unanimous vote of the jury, to have a solo art show at the Mill Street Gallery, Sydenham, Ontario in 2011.  When the exact dates are scheduled I will let you know. 

You can find the Mill Street Gallery and Cafe on Blogspot.  Here is the link.  http://millstreetgallery.blogspot.com/

 

I thought it would be cool to show at the Mill Street Gallery because  my family has deep roots in the Sydenham area North of Kingston, Ontario.  I shared some of the history in my submission and thus I share it with you too in a documented and expanded yet still abridged form LoL.

 

 

Click on any image to view it enlarged.
If you would like to view my paintings check out previous blog entries and/or scroll down to Froggy at the bottom of the page. Click on Froggy and hop to my online store with links to eBay.
I'm also on Etsy. Search for seller johnredmond (no spaces) or use the painting images on the right side of this blog page to zoom there instantly. You can find me on Facebook, MySpace and, "tweeet twweet," Twitter (Redjar7)

 

 

GGG Grandpa William Redmond and family farmed 30 acres just North of Sydenham on the East side of what is Rosedale Road before 1860.  William Redmond and his son John Redmond, our  GG Grandfather, were in the area by 1852. 

 

John Redmond, who homesteaded 200 acres at Holleford, located a few kilometres Northwest of Sydenham,  named the Holleford area after his home of Hollyfort Co. Wexford.   Our cousin Pete Redmond still farms at Redmond Rd. 

 

Across the street from the Mill Street Gallery is the Trousdale General Store.  It was apparently founded by Mathew and Mary Trousdale’s  son John Trousdale and is the oldest general store in Canada.  Here is a link to a short article online about the store.  http://www.kingstonthisweek.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=2251097

 

 

Mathew Trousdale was married to our GGG Grandaunt Mary (nee Dowker) Trousdale.  They were in the Sydenham area very early, perhaps about 1836.  Mary’s sister, Elizabeth came with her husband Thomas Medcof about 1850.  Elizabeth and Thomas Medcof are among our GGG Grandparents  They farmed at Holleford on the Loughborough Twp side of Holleford Rd. just two lots North of Mathew and Mary.  Between them was Mary and Elizabeth’s brother William Dowker (recorded as ‘Duker’ in the 1852 census.    Together, the families lived on and farmed about 600 acres at that time.

 

Above is an image of the pre-confederation1852 Agricultural census for Canada West (Ontario) Loughborough Township, Frontenac Co.  On line 43 we find Thomas Medcof (GGG Grandpa).  On line 44 we find William ‘Duker’ (correctly spelled Dowker) and on line 45 we see Mathew ‘Trusdal’ (correctly spelled Trousdale).  This image indicates the lot numbers and acreage etc.

Here is a link to this census page…click ‘split view’ at the top of the page to view the original image.  I notice the image quality is poor after uploading to blogspot.

http://data2.collectionscanada.ca/1851_pdf/e094/e002348478.pdf

 

 

Above is an image of the pre-confederation1852 regular census for Canada West (Ontario) Loughborough Township, Frontenac Co.  Lines one through nine show Mathew and Mary (nee Dowker) Trousdale and family.  Son Thomas later had a son Frank (Edward Franklin Trousdale) who married our G Grandaunt Margaret Hannah Medcof.

Here is a link to this census page…click ‘split view’ at the top of the page to view the original image.  I notice the image quality is poor after uploading to blogspot.

http://automatedgenealogy.com/census52/View.jsp?id=4256&highlight=1&desc=1852+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+Mathew+Trusdel

 

 

Above is an image of the pre-confederation1852 regular census for Canada West (Ontario) Loughborough Township, Frontenac Co. Lines 35 to 40 show our folks (spelled ‘Medcalf’), Thomas and Elizabeth (nee Dowker) Medcof and family.  GG Grandpa John Dowker Medcof was born in July of 1852 so he does not show in the census.  Immediately below them is William ‘Duker’ (correctly spelled Dowker) and family.  William was Elizabeth’s brother.  Much of the Dowker family had arrived in Canada circa 1836.  Elizabeth followed with Thomas and family in 1849. 

Here is a link to this census page…click ‘split view’ at the top of the page to view the original image.  I notice the image quality is poor after uploading to blogspot.

http://automatedgenealogy.com/census52/View.jsp?id=4236&highlight=35&desc=1852+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+Thomas+Medcalf

This is a fine example of chain migration; family members and friends following each other to a location.  It happened within Canada too as members of the family migrated to Middlesex Co, Ontario located Northwest of London and then some back to Frontenac Co. in later years.

 

Note; the 1851 census was actually delayed and taken in 1852. I refer to it as the 1852 census.

 

Mathew and Mary Trousdale  were parents of Mary Ann Trousdale who was grandmother of the late Jack Babcock.  Jack gained recognition as Canada’s last living WW1 veteran.  He passed away in February 2010 at the age of 109.  He enlisted at age 15 served as a child soldier in the Canadian forces during WW1.   Jack’s father James T. Babcock was raised from infancy by our GG Grandaunt Hannah (nee Medcof) Babcock.  James’s father, Henry Babcock, married Hannah after his first wife Mary Ann (nee Trousdale) died.  Hannah, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth Medcof,  was Mary Ann’s first cousin and a niece of Mathew and Mary Trousdale.

 

 

Above is an image of the pre-confederation1852 regular census for Canada West (Ontario) Loughborough Township, Frontenac Co. On line 38 we see William Redman, age 40, our GGG Grandfather and on line 39 we see his son John Redman age 15, our GG Grandfather.   Later the family used the ‘Redmond’ spelling. In 1852 they appear to have been living and working at the farm of John and Mary Wolf (Wolfe) and family.  In 1858 William  married widow Nancy (nee Barrett) Perry and the combined family is found in the 1861 census living just North of Sydenham on 30 acres on the East side of what is now Rosedale Rd.  Below is a photo of the corner of Alton and Rosedale Rd which I took in August 2009.  Below it is a photo taken looking East from Rosedale Rd. toward the land our folks lived on and farmed.

Here is a link to this census page…click ‘split view’ at the top of the page to view the original image.  I notice the image quality is poor after uploading to blogspot.

http://automatedgenealogy.com/census52/View.jsp?id=4511&highlight=39&desc=1852+Census+of+Canada+page+containing+John+Redman

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

James T. Babcock was first married to our G Grandfather’s sister Mary Ann Redmond.  All of Jack’s half siblings were first cousins of our grandfather.  The lot that Jack’s family lived on was the one Elizabeth and Thomas Medcof and family lived on in 1852.  Below is a photo of Redmond Rd. and Holleford Rd.  The lots on the right side, located in Loughborough Twp. were owned by our Medcof folk and later by Jack’s family.  On the left side of the photo which shows property in Portland Twp. on the West side of Holleford Rd.  is land still farmed by our cousin Pete Redmond.  GG Grandpa John Redmond and family homesteaded 203 acres just North of this acreage on the West side of Holleford Rd in Portland Twp.  William Redmond appears as owner on the 1861 maps of the area.

 

 

G G Grandpa John Redmond named the area Holleford after his home of Hollyfort, Co. Wexford where he, his sisters Mary and Jane and father William had lived prior to emigrating to Canada.  I believe that they lived around Hollyfort near Gorey, Co. Wexford because that is where I find Redmond folk in the 1853 Irish Griffith records.  Much of Ireland’s census information was destroyed during the Irish civil war early in the 20th century when the records building in Dublin was blown up.  The Griffith record is a record of those who owned property and also of tenants.  It serves as a census substitute for genealogists.

 

 

Above is a photo taken looking North on Holleford Rd.  The corner is where Holleford Rd turns West.  This is where the Holleford crater is located at the Babcock farm.  The building to the left of the flag pole is the old one room school house.  The building to the right of the flag pole is the old church our GG Grandfather Rev. John Dowker Medcof built.  J. D. Medcof was brother of Hannah Medcof who married Henry Babcock.  Henry was Jack Babcock’s grandfather.  Hannah was actually both stepmother and a cousin of Jack’s father.   We share the common Dowker ancestry.  The Dowker and Medcof families  came from Yorkshire, UK.

 

 

(Above) Holleford, Ontario store run by James and Alice Redmond, Photo taken circa 1905-1910. This store is located on the South side of Holleford Rd just to the West of the old school house seen in another photo above. The back of this photo indicates that the store was moved to Sydenham circa 1912.  James Redmond stands in the center of the photo.  Alice is standing on the left behind the group of children from the school next door.  Perhaps some of the Babcocks are seated in the buggy.

 

 

My brother David on the right and myself on  the left, standing in front of the buildings that were our G Grandparent’s store at Holleford, Ontario (see B&W photo)

 

Cousin Pete Redmond on the right and myself on the left standing in front of the buildings that were my G Grandparent’s store at Holleford, Ontario (see B&W photo)

 

This is a longwinded but abridged version of why I think it will be cool to show my paintings at the Mill Street Gallery in Sydenham.  I will let you know the exact dates of the show when I know them.

 

Detail of a recent 40” x 32” x 1/2” acrylic painting by John R Redmond

 

 

Here is a little of the lyrics of a song I wrote some months ago.  It is about our ancestors leaving their home and heading to a new unknown and untamed land across the Atlantic Ocean.  Their sailing voyage lasted six to eight weeks and sometimes more. 

 

‘It was a long time ago

They sailed away from a home

Wind and wave carried them away

To a new land . . .

 

Through many a misty morn

Riddled with peace and war

Impossibility borne

‘Till they framed a world

 

Along the shores untamed

Wild and evergreen

Her blood with labour and love

Grew into a future

 

And the Great Blue Heron

Takes wing upon her dream”

 

John Redmond

Ottawa, Canada