At the Gallery : The Georgia O’Keeffe Exhibition at The AGO

When a child decides she will be an artist at the age of ten, and then goes on to create consistently for the next eight decades, there undoubtedly would be a huge number of pieces to choose from, when putting together a retrospective exhibition of her work. Having seen The Georgia O'Keeffe Exhibition currently on at The AGO, I'd say those who selected the 80 pieces on display, did a great job -- every piece draws you in, encouraging you to take a good look.

American artist Georgia O'Keeffe was the second of seven children born on a Wisconsin farm in 1887, living to the age of 98. While she was recognized as the "Mother of American modernism", the illusion to being female implicit in that title would have annoyed her -- she wished to be known as a great and dedicated artist, period, regardless of gender.

It is estimated that she created 2,000 works. Her painting Jimson Weed sold for $44.4 US in 2014, making it the highest valued piece of art ever created by a female, by a multiple of more than three times. The seller was The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe New Mexico. A fun fact about that painting -- it was commissioned by Elizabeth Arden in 1936, to be hung in gym of her Fifth Avenue Salon in New York City, where the unfurling blossoms would encourage her clients in their stretches. Arden paid the exorbitant sum of $10,000 for the largest floral composition O'Keeffe would ever create. While that specific painting is not in the AGO show, as you'll see below, there is a breathtaking Jimson Weed painting included -- she grew them around her porch so they were a ready subject.

Toronto is the only Canadian stop for this show, which was organized by The Tate Gallery in London, in collaboration with The AGO. It runs until July 30th so there's plenty of time to see it, if you're in the city.

Normally photography is not permitted, however, in order to give you a little peek at what awaits, a group of bloggers were invited for a tour and allowed to take pictures to share on our sites. And they generously offered room for one guest each, so Nick came along too.

All Dressed Up With a Good Place to Go : The Conservatory of Music’s Royal Occasion

Wednesday was the annual Royal Occasion party, held by The Royal Conservatory of Music -- it's a celebration to welcome three new Honorary Fellowships to the conservatory. To quote the program, "Our Honorary Fellows cross all musical genres and geographic areas, reflecting the rich history and diversity of Canadian music. These talented individuals have had an indelible impact on Canada's cultural landscape, strengthening our society and facilitating creative development on a global scale."

This year, the three inductees were opera singer Ben Heppner, rock legend Burton Commings and arts philanthropist Henry Hung. The event is held at It is held at Koerner Hall, which is a newer building that adjoins the historic Royal Conservatory building, on Bloor Street West. (Here is a post dedicated to these noteworthy buildings, if you'd like to see.)

Lucky for us, our friend Isabel works there and invites us to the performance and award presentation portion, and the reception that follows. It's a fancy and fun evening, during which we get to hear some of Canada's most respected musicians perform within a hall which is world renowned for its excellent state-of-the-arts acoustics.

Ben Heppner retired from singing a few years ago, so it was quite a gift to hear him sing three songs. Burton Commings was as charming and personable as he is talented, accompanying himself on piano while he performed. In addition to these two musicians, there were a number of pieces presented by current and former students of the conservatory and one by their New Canadian Global Music Orchestra, which includes musicians from around the world who now reside here.

At the Art Gallery : A Special First Thursday Event at the AGO

If you've been to one of the First Thursday events at the the AGO, you'll already know how great these evenings are. This is when the art gallery stays open after hours and throws a big party, complete with DJs and live music, food and drinks, and a wide range of talks and activities created specifically for the theme of that particular month. Guests also have access to the whole gallery (except ticketed exhibitions). There's so much going on that it's hard to do everything, so a bit of planning is in order. Or, you can just wander around and see what you happen upon.The theme for May's First Thursday was "Gender Trouble", feeding off the fact that a special exhibition of the works of Georgia O'Keeffe has just opened at the gallery. To quote the brochure "Georgia O'Keeffe once declared 'I am not a woman painter?' Demanding that art be considered for its merit, not for the gender of its creator, we bring together artists who play with the connections and contradictions between gender, art and politics."This topic would have appealed to us regardless, however there was no question that we'd be attending that particular First Thursday because our friend Julie, was one of the Artists in Residence! Her recently published book of poetry, Lady Crawford, contains a series of poems called "Letters From Georgia O'Keeffe", based on found fragments in letters Georgia wrote to art dealer, photographer and her spouse, Alfred Stieglitz, with whom she had a relationship for 28 years, until his death in 1946.So, Julie was a perfect choice of artist to have presenting. In addition to giving an interesting talk and reading one of her Georgia poems, she led a really fun interactive component where participants were encouraged to cut up a copy of her poem and create one of their own, in a collage format. The idea for the activity was Julie's and it was such a good one. People really got into it and for the time we were there, there was a constant line-up to join in. I heard later that it was busy the whole evening.

The Six Shooter Records Showcase Canadian Music Week 2017

Nick and I and our friend Andrea, got to hear a lot of great live music recently at The Phoenix. It was a Canadian Music Week event, featuring admirable artists signed to the independent label, Six Shooter Records.

Not being anything near a pro music reviewer, I find it difficult to accurately describe music in writing, so, aside from saying that we had a lot of fun at this show and really liked everything we heard, I'll let these photos stand-in for written detail.

Things got started with the five-piece alternative country band from Toronto, NQ Arbuckle ...

Dinner and Laughs – The Time Machete at Comedy Bar

I saw a very funny comedy show on April 9th, organized and hosted by my sister's boyfriend Alex. It was called "The Time Machete" and was held at Comedy Bar, 945 Bloor Street West. My friends Julie and Nyla came too.

First, we had dinner at a place near the club called Wenona Craft Beer Lodge.

There, we were greeted with charming rustic camp decor, and the comforting aroma of a campfire, thanks to the house specialty, smoked bbq provided by Pitmaster, Jason Rees of Pork Ninjas.

They offer a wide choice of locally crafted beers, which they rotate daily on their ten taps -- I had a glass of Ransack the Universe IPA.

To eat, I had a bbq sandwich, which was delicious.