… a virtual storyboard of art
La Chasse-Galerie
Reverse Glass painting on clear glass with enamels.
La Chasse-Galerie also known as “The Bewitched Canoe” or “The Flying Canoe” is a popular French-Canadian tale of Courreur des bois who make a deal with the devil, a variant of the Wild Hunt. Its best-known version was written by Honoré Beaugrand (1848–1906). It was published in The Century Magazine in August 1892.
According to French Canadian Legend, La Chasse-Galerie tells the tale of a group of voyageurs in a remote lumber camp. On New Year’s Eve, while drinking rum at the lumber camp, they start missing their sweethearts, who live in a town 300 miles away. They hatch a plan to visit them, by running the Chasse-Galerie, which involves making a pact with the devil so their canoe will fly through the air, getting them to their destination quickly. The only stipulation is that they cannot mention God’s name, touch the cross of any church steeple in the night sky and they must be back before six o’clock the next morning. If they fail, the devil will steal their souls.
They make a pact to not touch another drop of rum and keep their heads clear for the voyage. They take their places in the canoe on the ground, and start to paddle, and very soon they are lifted into the air. Below, is the frozen Gatineau River, the villages, church steeples and the lights of Montreal. The canoe eventually touches down near a brightly lit home, where music and dancing is underway in celebration of New Year’s Eve. They are embraced with open arms and are soon dancing and celebrating with their sweethearts and friends. It soon becomes late and the men must leave to return to camp so that they arrive by 6 am.
As they fly through the night, the navigator appears to have enjoyed too many spirits and steers the canoe dangerously and unsteadily. While passing over Montreal they barely avoid a church steeple, and soon after, the canoe is ultimately stuck in a deep snowdrift. At this point the drunken navigator begins swearing and taking the Lord’s name in vain. Terrified the devil will take their souls, the men bind and gag their friend and elect another to steer. The navigator soon breaks his bonds and begins swearing again. The crew become more and more shaken at the possibility of losing their souls, and they eventually steer the bewitched canoe right into a tall pine. The men spill out of the canoe falling into the deep darkness are are never seen or heard from again.
Every New Year’s Eve though, near Montreal, over the frozen Gatineau River, there are sounds coming from the night sky. Men are heard shouting wildly. Wood thuds like paddles against a wooden canoe. As one looks up into the sky, a wooden canoe with paddles is seen furiously paddling through the winter moonlight.
This is the tale of the Chasse-Galerie !
First Place and Best in Category !
Wow! I am thrilled and grateful to hear that my submission ‘Sinking Like A Sunset’ won 1st Place and Best in Category for original design in rughooking.
Thank you so much for presenting this wonderful show @focusonfibreartsassociation and letting me be a part of it !
#yegarts #focusonfibrearts #textilearts #climatechange #ffaa #rughooking #juriedartshow #yxe #artistsincanada #fibrearts @borealisboutique @tncotes
Sinking Like A Sunset ..
I was honored, excited and pleased to have my submission accepted to the Focus on Fibre Association 2018 Climate Change show. It is a juried exhibition in Edmonton, Alberta.
The piece is named ‘Sinking Like A Sunset’.
The show runs until July 3rd, 2018, so if you are in Edmonton, please stop in and check out the show in the Atrium at Enterprise Square. There are some amazing fibre works in the show.
Thanks to Focus on Fibre Arts Association for all the organization and set-up work that went into this show !
Strike the Pose..
A figure in a yoga pose, strong warrior, at peace!
With bright chakras swirling above in a visual delight protecting and lingering with positive energy! Colourful auras surround the presence of the yogi soul! The negative energy descends in its blackness and is suppressed into the Earth, forever buried.
Strike the Pose, by Nicole Cote, Original acrylic and Oil Painting Wall Art, 2017. view it in our Etsy shop !
Porthole
To boldly go where no one has gone before-
I have a fascination with space and the celestial – planets, stars, lunar bodies, (Star Trek.. cough).
This painting is an original acrylic painting of a reddish/purple planet on a celestial background, framed with white.
Measures 9 inches by 12 inches.
The planet is detailed by outlining the random curls and tendrils of the ink as it is applied to paper. An art teacher told me that you can’t fight the ink- It has a mind of it’s own. In my art, I choose to celebrate this and to accentuate the beauty of the ink with outlining.
Porthole by Nicole Cote, India Ink, High-flow acrylics, gesso (as paint), acrylic paint, ballpoint pen, 2017
The Water Women
The heat of the day swells in a small clearing in the trees. A group of ladies of the tribe gather their supplies.
One figure holds a stick with the fish on the end, another in the centre among the trees is filling her basket by gathering fruit and berries from the trees.
Three cats on the lower right sit on the bank and watch her on the bank of the creek. The ghosts of so many before them loom in the background observing.
borealisboutique 