Walking on Mount Royal, 30 April 2011

This was the day Cassidy and I walked on Mount Royal and spread Jack's ashes, he was a wonderful and intelligent Whippet, we all loved that dog and remember him with fondness. 

Hubert Darrell and Darrell Morrisey, the Two Darrells

 

Anyone following my work knows of my interest in the "forgotten" Beaver Hall Group artist Darrell Morrisey. I thought that I had written what I wanted to say about Darrell Morrisey and then I read Adam Shoalts's Vanished Beyond the Map: The Mystery of Lost Explorer Hubert Darrell and I
realized that a little more needed to be said on Darrell Morrisey. Hubert Darrell, who explored and mapped parts of Canada's far north, is the son of Charles Darrell after whom, coincidentally, Darrell Morrisey was named. In 1890 Hubert Darrell moved to Birtle, Manitoba and several years later he began his exploration and mapping of Canada's far north. Darrell Morrisey was an artist and member of the prestigious Beaver Hall Group of artists. The two Darrells never met and, tragically, they both died young, but they lived true to their inner calling, one that was far removed from the expectations of their families and social class. Here is the essay, THE TWO DARRELLS, HUBERT DARRELL AND DARRELL MORRISEY.

Chateau on Mount Royal, 04 April 2012

 

Tenant evicted in winter, 30 January 2015

 

Lane behind 2226 Girouard Avenue, 22 October 2009

This is the lane behind my grandmother's home at 2226 Girouard Avenue. Below are photographs of her back porch where someone took photos of my mother and I in the early 1950s and other photos of my Uncle Alex and his son, Herb, taken in the late 1930s. The place wasn't maintained after my grandmother's passing in 1965, and here we are, 44 years later, (photographs taken on this day in 2009), and the building has completely gone to ruin.

In 2015 I published an essay, Remembering Girouard Avenue, about my family living here. It can be found at https://archive.org/details/RememberingGirouardAvenueStephenMorrissey

 

Photographs taken after reading at Cafe Sarajevo on 12 October 2011

I was part of a group poetry reading at Cafe Sarajevo, located at 6548 Blvd. St-Laurent, on 12 Oct 2011; after the reading I took these photographs of store windows across the street from the reading venue.