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Jacques
Létourneau
I met Jacques
and his wonderful wife Francine, in 2007 and immediately fell in love with
his
work. So I gave him complete creative control and commissioned him to
make me a kite which told the story of his life in the eastern part of
Quebec -the Gaspe region. He created a six-part kite,
and here is his
story ...
Today, retired
from teaching, my favorite pastime is painting kites.
I studied arts in Montreal and I have been teaching it for thirty-four years
in La Pocatiere.
I have met Francine at the same school and she also taught arts at the
Polyvalente in La Pocatiere.
We have a daughter who also teaches arts, she took our place, At home it’s a
mania, we always talk about school and arts.
I was born in the Gaspesia area and Francine is from Montreal.
I love to paint pictures that remind me where I come from and my childhood.
The Gaspesia area is where the many lighthouses stand on cape and defy the
sea.
Guide during nights and bad weather, it’s through their lighting that I see
all those pictures of my youth.
It reminds me all those shellfish that I use to play with on the beach.
It reminds me all those fishing boats that we could hear coming in with
their Acadia motor (put,put,put) even before we could see them.
It reminds me all those fishes that fishermen were bringing back from the
open sea.
It reminds me the « Rocher percé « that attracts so many tourists in the
area during summertime.
It reminds me those northern gannet that are unique to « ile Bonaventure »
That lighting illuminates the sea world and by its smell, its uses, and its
legends it makes people so close to the sea and sensible to the nature.
Which sailor never heard about the legend of that gosh vessel told by
ancestors, a vessel appearing into a ball of fire announcing a storm.
The Gaspesia area represents for me a place where all those souvenirs are
deeply fixed in my mind
Skye Morrison’s “Red/Orange
#2) 2000
This Rokkaku is made from 100% hand-woven cotton “pulp” at the Ghandi
Ashram paper mill in Ahmedabad, India. The tine red kite embedded in the
paper is from Japan – made in 1994 and saved for the trip to India.
The bamboo structure was gifted to me by Masaki Modegi in 1989 – from a 150
year old building somewhere in Tokyo.
This is one of a series of ten kites commissioned by the Quinte Ontario Arts
Council for their Millennium exhibition. It flies well in a stiff wind.
All materials (even the glue of rice paste) are handmade.
Gift to The Kite Museum,
Love,
Skye
Here
are some random pixs from the first week of starting to move in...
  
  
In this case, it is the storm before
the calm - ha! I wish my friend Yves could be there to share its
development as he and Anne were the first to blaze the trail. More
soon ...
July 1, 2008 - And now WE ARE OPEN and we shall
grow. We have 112 kites on display so far. This weekend we shall
work on our signage and add about another dozen or so kites, along with some
more A/V, and activities for the kids.\
The Smithsonian we are not. This is a voluntary museum, we
receive no taxpayers’ dollars, so what you see is the contribution of people
freely given, who do our best to fit this vision into our daily lives with
the expressed desire to share fun and learning!
These next two
months of summer shall be spent getting it all settled in, listening to
visitors, and fine tuning.
  
Ray Bethell video mesmerizes everyone
  
The "WAR ROOM"
Thom Shanken 1800's rep
150, 120, 100, 90 and Adler German Steiffs and
French L'Aigloplan bird on top
  
Some Charlie Sotich miniatures Stunts
MICHAEL OGLETREE of Ottawa donates one of his kite
surfing kites - Thanks Mike! Here is a bit of his story
I
could only find one picture of the kite (blue one)I left at the museum and
it's not an action shot. I was checking out the kites in January 2005 to
get them ready to take to Costa Rica.
I first saw someone kite surfing when I was in Dominican Republic in 2003.
I was instantly hooked and started buying kites and teaching myself.
Obviously I made a lot of mistakes in what I bought and how I used it. The
kite I gave to the museum is 9.2 square meters in surface area and was best
for surfing in winds between 30 and 40km. It was made by a Spanish company
that also made para-gliders which is why I think they made it so long and
narrow - to generate lift for jumps. The problem was that in Ottawa where I
was trying to surf, if you got 30km wind, it came with 50km gusts. I can
remember getting tossed up in the air like a rag doll one day on the water
with the board which was on a leash whizzing past my head in a slingshot
effect. After the third toss I packed it in and started to swim.
Kite surfers are lucky that waves are not required though they add to the
fun but wind is a requirement. I was not fortunate enough to have wind on
my first visit to Pelee but hope to try again soon. I would like to surf at
least one of the long sides of Pelee and perhaps circumnavigate the island
one day although that is moderately dangerous since on one of the sides the
wind would be in an offshore direction.
Thanks
Michael! |
