Lily S. May–Life with Art
The most recent origami booklet I've made is from a woodcut I carved and printed in 1973. It's called Forth Form Variation and is from a series I did playing around with several shapes. I used two pine boards that I lined up to make the whole image. I have loved trees since childhood and… Continue reading Reading Old Prints, 3
I often look up at the trees and sky as I walk in Toronto. This beautiful spring, the first buds looked like lace to me. I've loved watching the trees begin to flower, the changes visible just days apart. Here's photos of the same trees taken on April 28, May 2, 5, 6 and 9. I've… Continue reading Lace in the Sky
I returned to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario) this week during my wanderings. I sat for a while near windows looking onto Dundas Street, the busy street the Gallery fronts onto. I liked the echoing patterns of the trees and frosted glass through the window. Later I sat in the Grange and did another… Continue reading Back to the Gallery
Monday was a gorgeous day in Toronto--sunny and in the 20s. An appointment took me near Spadina House, an historical house and grounds in mid town Toronto. I realized it would be a lovely day to go see the gardens and grounds before heading home. The scillas outside the garden walls were a sea of intense blue… Continue reading Spring at Spadina House
On Wednesday it went up to 15 degrees C in Toronto. (Was this climate change or the El Nino effect?) Whatever the cause, it was a perfect day to be in an urban nature setting. So I went to the Brickworks in late afternoon for a walk among the trees, dried wildflowers and grasses by the ponds.… Continue reading Spring in Winter
Still on the tree theme, here's a photograph I took today in Kew Beach Park in the Beach, Toronto. I was first drawn to the shapes formed by the overlapping branches of the central tree and the one to its left. Like diamonds forming or coming apart. These trees are some of my favourites and may be cypress… Continue reading Seen in Kew Beach Park
Here's a woodcut I made in 1973 from 2 planks of pine. I loved the knots and wood grain and made them part of the print. The image draws, once again, on my love of trees.
In the 1970s, I visited The Virgin Islands several times to see my parents who had moved there. Trees have always given me great solace and joy. There was an enormous kapok tree on the island. I loved that tree and used to go see it and photograph it whenever I travelled there. I often walked between… Continue reading Kapok Tree at Cinnamon Bay
I took this photo while walking in The Beach neighbourhood in Toronto that's off Lake Ontario. This is from early December. The water, sky and trees do my heart good in all seasons.
It's been a radiant fall in Toronto and is just past the peak now. On an abnormally warm day (it's going up to 19 degrees celsius) and before the leaves fall any further, here's three photos from the past few weeks. The middle photo of the maple is on the University of Toronto campus--on Philosopher's Walk. The… Continue reading The Past Few Weeks
Arts of May 