Finished

I am calling the two portraits I was working on finished. I am still not completely happy with the first portrait as the beard was causing some concern in rendering it well. But the paper is losing its tooth and won't hold much more pigment so rather than ruin it, I will let it stand.

The cat is complete as well and was an interesting first attempt at an animal portrait in this medium. The pencils work well for animals and provide a softness that doesn't need to be worked at too much.

The cemetery I visited on Sunday opens out onto a lake in the middle of the city, called Quidi Vidi. On the lake every August fixed seat rowing races are held and have done so for the last 186 years, making it the oldest continuous sporting event in North America. To commemorate this, a sculpture was commissioned. This statue, is the work of Morgan MacDonald, BBA ‘04. It took him two years in his spare time to build The Rower using the lost wax process. It is his first major work of public art. Mr. MacDonald is a 24-year-old native of Corner Brook who moved to St. John’s at an early age. His art education includes a year at Sir Wilfred Grenfell College and a three-year apprenticeship at a bronze sculpture foundry. “This sculpture is an attempt to encapsulate the strength, athleticism and elegance of the sport,” said Mr. MacDonald.

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