How I learned to love downtown Saskatoon

When I landed a part-time job in downtown Saskatoon, I was apprehensive about spending every Friday in the downtown core.

I am a landscape artist who grew up on an acreage and part time at a lake. The big, open prairie has always been my inspiration to create. That's where my roots are firmly planted. It feels like home.

I believed I would find nothing of beauty downtown. I thought I would suffer through my time in a cold, concrete and claustrophobic environment.

I wasn't used to having a lunch hour, being a work-at-home mother. I told my boss, "It takes me barely ten minutes to eat. What am I supposed to do for the remaining 50 minutes?"

It was an adjustment. Luckily, it ended up adjusting my entire perspective on downtown.

I decided to use my lunch hours to just walk outside and get some exercise. I wasn't looking for inspiration, but I found myself constantly distracted.

So many things caught my eye. From the decorative grates underfoot around the bases of trees to the larger than life murals that stretched up to the sky, it all had my attention. I found children's artwork on display all along Third Avenue. I found old and new architecture in all shapes and sizes.

I began to notice light and shadow, line, colour, pattern and even humour. I would go back to the office and show everyone my cell phone pictures. It was like treasure hunting. Suddenly I found myself heading downtown on Fridays with a sense of adventure and joyfulness.

Over the course of the year I had the job, I would post my pictures on social media. So many people commented that they had no idea downtown had so much to offer visually.

Iwent through every back alley I could on my lunch breaks and found some amazing art and graffiti. One wall simply said, "SMILE." How could I not? That went into my photo collection too.

Suddenly I found myself with hundreds of photos. It was a profound moment for me when I realized that each one was essentially an image of the human spirit.

From the decorative grates to the unconventional bike stands, everything I captured with my camera was dreamed-up, designed and created by people. That's something you don't find in nature.

I came to appreciate the concrete jungle like I had never before. There's a lot of heart in the city. I had just never believed it would be there.

I was moved to make art from all this new inspiration. As a textile artist, I thought it would be fabulous to recreate some of these scenes in fabric and thread. I began to study the work of Urban Sketchers, with their detailed line drawings and watercolour backdrops. It was perfect.

I selected some of my favourite shots and got to work, collaging batik and hand dyed fabric pieces onto large canvases. I spent weeks line drawing with my sewing machine. I went through spools of black thread and when I was done, I put all the canvasses back on the stretcher bars.

As I stand back and look at each one I realize they have their unique back-stories. I've enjoyed visiting with people and hearing stories that each of the buildings bring up for them. The sense of human connection that these buildings create is the icing on the cake for me.

The pieces are currently on display in the Gallery at the Frances Morrison Library, appropriately exhibited in the core of downtown Saskatoon for the month of August 2018. I hope you take the time to enjoy our downtown like I have.

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