design

Draw and Shoot 2

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I haven’t done much figure drawing lately and I’m rusty to say the least but I did really fun photo-shoot on the weekend and it’s got me inspired! I had an opportunity to work with a young designer photographing her collection of lingerie pieces. The photo-shoot involved faux fur, champagne and a cigar but more on that when I post some pictures. The models were amazing to work with and the designer had a lot of fun creating a mix of lingerie some of which included faux fur elements. (It gets cold in Canada, I think this might be the lingerie of the season) A little sneak peek from the shoot via my sketchbook. Just a warm up sketch.
Image © Karen McRae

Compositions

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There is something about a square format for photography and art that really appeals to me. I often work on a square canvas and can spend hours editing compositions. In fact I have a hard time going anywhere without looking at everything as a potential composition. This can be a bit of a challenge when driving but it’s just the way I think, I’m very visual. The more time I spend drawing, painting and making photographs the more I think about these details. I can’t stop looking.
All images © Karen McRae

Real Mail

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Don’t you love getting mail? You know the tangible kind that comes in paper form and isn’t a bill. It seems that this is the only time of year where that really happens. And this week I’ve received some really wonderful pieces of real mail.
artboy68 sent me the original drawing that he did of my profile picture and it is a small finely sketched treasure.
And I’d love to introduce you to The Linoprinter. Today I received a  beautiful handmade card with a Robin print that she had created.This image is taken from her posting here. She is a wonderful artist from Surrey, UK who uses traditional linoleum floor tiles to make amazing lino-cut images. Her blog has lots of information about the process and she also has some beautiful pieces for sale. It is such a treat to find wonderful gifts of art in your mailbox. Oodles of  thanks to both artboy68 and The Linoprinter.
  © of the linoprinter

Avian Architecture 2: Bird’s Nest Shavings

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Ages ago a friend of mine gave me some metal shavings for the purpose of remaking them into a bird’s nest. These shavings are actually called “bird’s nest shavings” because of the way they look and bunch together. I finally got around to weaving one together. It was trickier than I thought. The little shavings are very delicate and break easily if bent. It took me quite awhile to weave them into a decent shape. I’m sure the birds wouldn’t be impressed with my efforts but it made me appreciate even more what a work of art a true bird’s nest actually is. I think I might give it another go. You can see the real thing here.  (The little egg-shaped rock is from my trip to Newfoundland this summer).
Click on images to enlarge.

All images © Karen McRae

Back Lane Café Collaboration

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The Hintonburg area of Ottawa is crawling with hip new restaurants and one of the latest additions is the Back Lane Café. I got a chance to visit on the weekend and although it wasn’t for the food this trip,  I will definitely be making a culinary visit in the near future.

I was there to photograph an interior design collaboration initiated by the owner George Monsour who recently returned to Ottawa from 6 years in Paris. My friends over at Rusty Nail  Design were tasked with creating a charming time-worn interior in a completely stripped down shell.

“The intention with this restaurant was to combine the transparent and informal workings of a colonial bakery with the subtle sophistication of a classic Parisian cafe. These two elements were combined using original Canadian architectural items (see the facade over the bar). Recovered logs from the Rideau river milled for flooring, doors and iron work from turn of the century  Canadian houses and post & beams from local barns.”
There certainly is a Parisian feel to the café but it also has more contemporary elements that give it a bit of a fresh edge. The custom concrete counter at the bar for example was finished to give it a look somewhat like aged metal with a lovely rich surface.

On Sunday the Rusty Nail crew were busy installing a new element to the interior, designed to help improve the acoustics.

A sound dampening material was essentially hidden inside some reclaimed shuttered window frames and mounted to the wall. This cuts down significantly on the space previously showcasing artwork but solves an important problem.

Rusty Nail called in another person to collaborate on this project. Artist Heather Snow contributed curly ironwork mounted to the front of each window. There is other iron work dotted around the café pulling all the elements together. (I will confess here that Heather Snow is my sister! She has recently become a welder which brings up her coolness factor significantly in my books)

You can find out more about these innovative artist/designers here:
Rusty Nail Design
Heather Snow
The Back Lane Café is located at 1087 Wellington St. W.Ottawa, ON 613-695-2999 No website yet but they are on Twitter and the reviews are excellent! I also got a peek at the bright beautiful kitchen with lots of natural light and 2 specialty wood burning ovens. Can’t wait to try the food!

Thanks to everyone at The Back Lane Café, Rusty Nail Design and to Heather Snow! And thanks to Desire to Inspire for re-blogging my photos!

All images © Karen McRae

Brassia

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You may remember a post of spider orchids that I did here. These are photographs of those same orchid blossoms which have obviously been aging awhile. The light was changing and shifting with the clouds as I was photographing these so the colour tones shifted also. They make me think of little dancers or insects. I had a hard time choosing which images to share and also I’ve been “dissecting” the little moth orchids so you may be subjected to another orchid post in the near future. Bear with me…
(click on images to enlarge)

All images © Karen McRae