Soho Artist Peter Karas

Peter Karas, and his wife Corinne Garlick, opened their home-studio in Soho, the area south of Horton Avenue, to the public a few weekends ago. Today's photo was taken at that open house and shows one of Peter Karas's pieces. (The colours in my picture are not accurate. If you want accurate, maybe you should contact Karas and buy the piece; If it hasn't been sold already.) 

The Soho neighbourhood is presently on the rebound. It's heritage properties are finally being recognized for the valuable architectural treasures that they are, and it is residents like Karas and his wife, two people any neighbourhood would treasure, who are supplying the energy powering the save Soho movement.

Soho artist

I'll be posting more on this but for now this is today's picture out of London, Ontario, Canada. It was taken in the London, Ontario, neighbourhood of Soho at an artists' open house.

Other blogs have me busy but I don't want to let the international "daily photo" organizations down.

Why?

Really, what is the point? Vandals spray paint everything from walls to bridges to mailboxes. 

When you stop to consider how often you see the same graffiti, some of these vandals have made ruining the look of the city a full-time job. 

Yet, the presence of the parked car seems to say this secluded spot is not dangerous; It's just vandalized.

Road Hocky is Back

Road hockey is back. Two dozen kids and their dads filled the court in a London, Ontario, suburb. With two nets set up at opposite ends of the paved circle the game was on.

It was a fast and furious affair with one player retiring with a bloody nose but what called the game was pizza.

Thoughts of sailing

Winter will soon be here. Ice and snow will be everywhere. Time to publish any pictures that got passed over.

This one shows a home in an older part of London decorated with a sailing motif. The neighbourhood is one of the least expensive in which to live and yet some of the homes are among the nicest. Cheap to buy, but if you apply loving care they clean up nicely.

London is miles from any lake, unless you count Fanshawe Lake which is actually a reservoir behind Fanshawe Dam. Yet, this homeowner has decorated the mailbox and the front of the home with a maritime theme. The hand-painted mailbox sure beats my chintzy store-bought brass box.

Smart

Smart Cars draw attention. Quite a number of businesses in London, Ontario, are using the little cars and not just to get around town, but also to advertise their companies at the same time.

Sharon Temple - a London day trip

By no stretch of the imagination can one say that the Sharon Temple is in London; It isn't. But London has the advantage of being very centrally located in Southwestern Ontario. The Sharon Temple is just a little more than two hours east of London and can easily be visited as a day trip from London.

One of the pleasures of living in London is being able to slip away easily and yet be back in our own bed that night.

In the Upper Canada of the 1820s, with simple tools but consummate skill and artistry, a small community known as the Children of Peace crafted a dramatic architectural testament to its vision of a society.

The Temple of the Children of Peace in the village of Sharon – with its Ark of the Covenant, inspirational Banners, Pipe and Barrel Organs and Jacob’s Ladder – was completed in 1832. It lives on as the centerpiece of the Sharon Temple National Historic Site, which encompasses nine historic buildings in a park setting.

The architectural elements of the Temple combine to express a singular religious vision of the most striking beauty. Its three tiers, four-fold symmetry, lanterns and pinnacles all take their inspiration from the Bible. Its three stories represent the Trinity.

The Children of Peace integrated a unique social vision with distinctive artistic and architectural works and an unparalleled musical tradition: they commissioned the first organ built in Ontario.

Unfortunately, the Sharon Temple was closed the day I was there. But I'm heading back. I want to see another of leader David Willson’s architectural curiosities – the round outhouse.