Roofs, Walls and Stones -- Illusionism in Quebec

Steep copper rooftops cover the old and new buildings of

Quebec City

Quebec City in Canada is one of the oldest cities in North America and the first historic city center to have been named a UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The fortified lower city has quite a few buildings dating to from the 17th and 18th centuries. The distinctive roofs made of colorful copper are necessary for the annual snowfall of 160 inches; the roofs are quite steep, just like the hills.

Old and new mingle; reality and illusion connect

Tourists in front of this 5-story trompe l'oeil mural painting blur the boundaries between painting and actuality. The skillful painting of shadows, and the buildings, stairs and balconies in perfect linear perspective, create the illusion.

Twelve artists painted a mural in perspective on the side of a 5- story building to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Quebec City in 2008.
The roofs, stones, streets and store fronts of this trompe l'oeil cityscape feature ancient and modern people of Quebec and also explain a good deal of French Canadian and North American history. (Quebec was the capital of New France.) Amongst the faces in windows and on the ground are Samuel de Champlain who founded the city in 1608, as well as explorers such as Jacques Cartier and Louis Joliet.

The modern people include three Stastny brothers who had immigrated from Slovakia and became famous hockey players.
.
The realities of old and new come together in the
experience of Quebec City today.

Here is a blog showing more trompe l'oeil murals in Quebec City
http://www.ramblingtraveler.com/2007/05/wall-murals-of-quebec-city.html

Also, for the murals of Lyon, France, please see this website:
http://cite-creation.com/

After the Hurricane: Environmental Art

Yesterday when I took a walk along my usual trail, I was curious to see how high the creek had risen after 24 hours of rain.....well it had stopped for at least 20 hours by that time. To my surprise, the site had been altered with wonderful "environmental art" or sculpture made from the earth. The hurricane, which had followed an earthquake four days earlier, were beyond our control, but turning nature's rocky debris into art was a good response to the power of nature. Someone (children or adults?) had piled towers of stones on top of the large boulders. The new shapes were quite interesting and artful sculptures. So I had to return home and get my iPhone. In the distance, colors came out vibrantly and beautifully, changing as the sun and water picked up various hues through the trees.

When I went back today all the towers were gone, but a few tumbled stones remained on the large rocks. There had been a little rain last night, but not much wind. I'm so glad to have captured that artistic moment of time in photos. And to the unknown artist who created these deliberate changes to the environment, your efforts are beautiful and well appreciated. Although so much art does not last in time, it is the thought, the act and the creative process which make it worthwhile.



While looking at one of the towers closely, I was reminded of a bird and thought of Brancusi's birds set on pedestals.