Sketching in Moose Jaw

I came here to post some more recent doodles and realized I somehow completely forgot to post my pics from Moose Jaw!? At the end of April, Amanda had a chance to travel to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, for a work-related conference at the Temple Gardens Hotel and Spa. She's always wanted to go there and jumped at the opportunity, and I got to tag along. It was a VERY busy conference that kept her busy from 7am to 7pm most days - and all her meals were provided, so I was pretty much left to my own devices. 

When we originally planned the trip, I was figuring it would be warm out, being the END OF APRIL... I had planned on wandering around the town and sitting and drawing things... but then at the beginning of EVERY WEEKEND IN APRIL we had a snow storm!? And the last weekend, just before we travelled, was no different! The snow had melted enough that the travel wasn't terrible on the Sunday, but it was still quite COLD!! 

In the end the first few days I just ventured out for walks, it was too cold to sit too long! 

Tuesday it was above freezing long enough that, in the afternoon, after a long walk, I did sit and try doing one little drawing... 

The Moose Jaw Public Library - which was located in the park across from the hotel - Also, many of the session Amanda was attending were held at the Library. 

I didn't do the colouring until I got back to the hotel... 

The next day it was a degree or two warmer so I got out and did a couple more drawings. 

The first was St. Andrews church, which was part of the United Church of Canada for decades, but apparently was sold to a new congregation (Victory Church?) last summer. it was located across the street from the Public Library. 

This one I also waited to colour back at the hotel... 

The other one was Zion United Church, just a few blocks away... 

This one I didn't get around to colouring until I got home on Thursday... 

All of these drawing were in a smaller (5'x8') Strathmore 500 Series Mixed Media Art Journal that I started four years ago and then abandoned (or... misplaced...?) I stumbled across it recently and thought I'd try using a smaller sketchbook that I usually use. It doesn't lay as flat as I prefer - like the Handbook watercolour journals made by Speedball that I had been using a few years back - for the Birds of Saskatchetoon). I like the size... but I'd like something that lays flatter and is easier to draw across the two-page spread like I was doing in these pics). 

There were a lot of interesting old buildings in the town that I might have liked to have sat and drawn... 

City Hall. 

Catholic Church. 

Some warehouse with faded advertising on the side. 

Another building downtown.

Some were shut down or empty and boarded up, like this motel

and then there were some odd-looking bodged together atrocities...

like, whatever the fuck is going on here... 

but visually interesting... at least to me!?

I spotted a pair of Northern Flickers in the park on one of my walks... at first I thought it might be a territorial dispute... but after watching them carry on a bit, I think it might have been mating behaviour?!

On the last day, after Amanda was done with her conference, we had a few hours before we had to head home, so we stopped by a few galleries - starting with the Moose Jaw Museum and Art Gallery. 

(Which is also part of the library...)

I liked the show in the gallery. 

The museum was interesting too... 

But this seemed a dubious claim... I mean, the casualty rates in the Great War were very high. I think one in ten of the 600,000 or so Canadians that served, died. To suggest that more than THREE QUARTERS of those that marched away from Moose Jaw never returned, seems a bit off... unless the soldiers of Moose Jaw were the unluckiest bastards that ever lived... or the stupidest...? OR, what seems more likely, many of those that served, survived, but never returned because, having seen OTHER PLACES for the first time in their lives, decided they'd rather stay there than return to Moose Jaw!? 

We also visited a commercial gallery That had a lot of different art from a variety of different artists. I though these were really fun... but I forgot to make note of who the artist was...

They'd made this really cool dice tower out of clay! 

Amanda had suggested getting it... but I've been wanting to make my own for sometime... and I'd still like to do that... (and ideally out of something that wouldn't be so LOUD!)

This was also very cool and, again, Amanda and I pondered it for a moment before realizing we didn't really have any place we could PUT it in our house... 

Anyway. That was Moose Jaw. 

We also soaked in the mineral water pool a few of the evenings we were there. Amanda liked it. I'm not a fan of pools, or being in water in general... but I went along anyway and it wasn't the worst. 

Oh, and there was a fun little game and comic store I went in that just opened last fall. I didn't take any pictures or draw it... or... even buy anything there... but I thought it was a rad little thing to just exist in Moose Jaw! I hope they make a go of it and are there next time, should we ever go again!