Toronto Island: Day 6 The Vernal Eggquinox

Question: According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on its end on the equinox.

Is this true?

Answer: One spring, a few minutes before the vernal equinox, several (Farmer's)Almanac editors tried this trick. For a full workday, 17 out of 24 eggs stood standing. Three days later, we tried this trick again and found similar results. Perhaps 3 days after the equinox was still too near. Try this yourself and let us know what happens!

 Today Spring arrived. Snow arrived as well but it was a Spring snowfall.. Surprisingly, on this peaceful island, the quiet was broken by a new sound, chainsaws. I wasn't happy to hear them.

started the morning with the sound of chainsaws

The tree that was a focal point in yesterday's painting is now gone. It was a coincidence to choose that tree of all of the ones around here to paint. I did choose it because it had been marked for destruction with the big orange dot,
but I didn't think it'd be the next day.

We worked in the studio all morning into the mid afternoon completing drawing number 2, which made all of us very happy. Right after we were done we tacked up the paper for our last drawing. It is a mere 7'9'' x 4'. The last one was a generous 18' x 4, our largest work yet. Our aim is to finish number 3 before we are off-island on Friday.
I still have to post pictures of the residence here but that too will come. Tomorrow will be jam-packed.

But today as I searched the net to find the exact arrival time of Spring I came across the Spring Equinox egg folklore thing and decided today was the day to try it. Every year I want to try it but this was the right place to do it finally

I grabbed my egg carton and headed out with my artists friends. Soon I was relieved of the egg carton cause I had a day of dropping things, and losing things, and misplacing things.
I wasn't to be trusted with the eggs.

I planned to finally get on the pier and see if my raw eggs did indeed stand upright, but with the wind, and the snow, and the waves, I didn't get on the pier again. (Two more days to try to do that.) I also thought the wind could prevent the egg from standing up so the experiment had a strike against it already in that location. 

Walking away I found a railing and in my enthusiasm to see if the egg would stand up, I put it on a flat surface too high up and it fell. And cracked. They were right. I wasn't to be trusted. I was encouraged to find a flat surface close to the ground.

There was some marble slab nearby (yeah, artists are around here for sure). When I tried to stand the egg up, it tipped over. Hmmm.

witness the egg on its side during the equinox

cracked egg fell over

So I tried another surface, wondering if this marble was level. I didn't have a level so maybe that was the problem.

And then this happened. It stood up. But look at that textured surface. Talk about support for an egg.
I tried another egg and this is what happened

One down, one up. My cracked egg was down. So.... we tried a few more surfaces.

wonky shaped egg not upright

egg on its side on flat piece of metal

For me the folk tale of an egg standing upright on the vernal equinox did not hold true. 

However, the cracked egg did go on to be a noble egg,

sacrificed in the name of science.

Tomorrow  Artscape Residents are invited to attend the Island's Spring Bonfire where they hang their Xmas trees upside down and burn them. Earlier this week I saw artists creating other big things to burn, like creature shapes.
I cannot wait to go.

note trees hanging from the trees

But until tomorrow night we have one more day to be focused and productive before we pack up.

Toronto Island: Day 5 non-plein aire

 Today was a day to pursue other art projects. Gail went off island for the day so I focused on the empty canvases and hunted for a spot to start a painting. Shirley and I had planned to go en plein aire but the wind and the snow kept us indoors looking out.

paints packed up. canvas awaits.

Everyday CJ comes around. He merrows outside under my window and I get up and let him in. He merrows down the hall from me and I get up and feed him. I do the same at home for Looloo and Caesar. He, I am sure, is happy to find a trained human.

CJ came with us as we searched for something to paint.

This is what caught my eye:

and this is what caught his eye just to the left of me:

 After a few hours my vantage point was translated into this painting

Just as I finished Shirley's nephew Ben arrived to visit her and I benefited from his fondness for his aunt as he brought with him 2 kinds of cheese, a hearty bread, a bottle of Greek wine.  Shirley prepared lentil soup. 

off-island bounty: bread, cheese, wine, apples and a diet coke

 Raising the standards EVEN MORE for visitors coming to see us at a residency, Ben did the dishes.

That's the best guest you can hope for.

Toronto Island: Day 4 inside and outside

Today was colder than yesterday and stormy. The winds were a steady sound here on the island.
Maybe this is our last winter storm given that it's officially Spring this week.

The constant roar made me check the weather forecast. A huge colourful blot showed the progression of a storm to the north from the U.S. Still, it was hard to believe that all that sound was from the wind and the waves. 

I had to go out to take a look at the water and to test myself against the cold.

 CJ did too. He wasn't too happy

but took comfort at his scratching post.

walking to the pier

Yikes. I wanted to walk on that pier but not today. 

sand that looked like this

sand that looked like that

sand with a patch of sand that looked like the Islands

Turning around to take one last look

I headed back to tell my friends what I saw and that the noise really was the water and the waves.

One of us went out and wanted to come back in

and the other wasn't even tempted.

Toronto Island: Day Three & on the road again

drawing detail

Today we completed a large scale drawing , and then we retreated to the comfort of the kitchen where I made a roasted eggplant and mushroom lasagna with organic brown rice noodles as we contemplated our work and what we would do next. Since we started drawing #2 we realized we were totally wiped out and we ended up retreating to our room, to the kitchen, to books and sketching deciding to pick up the next drawing tomorrow. The light was beginning to fade and the studio lights are not great. We have to work by day.  So I took the opportunity to ride my bike past where we hiked yesterday, all the way to the extreme end of the island and Hanlan's Point. I was told there was a monumental sculpture of Ned Hanlan and figured this was reason enough to go for a ride.

2km later I had arrived.

and behind me was the statue

 and there there was a bronze plaque with more info about Ned

and a boat called Ned Hanlan

Just a few feet away were other plaques

Babe Ruth made his first home run nearby. The only home run he made in the minor leagues it says.

 Other signs popped up along my route

 and the iconic sign you are on an island, which is very much deserted on a Sunday in March

coconut