The challenge for November is CLOUDS, suggested by Susan Irving. If you have suggestions for forthcoming challenges send them to cagac.ca@gmail.com

By Bobi Leutschaft Poitras Every year since my brother died, (except during two lockdown years), I visit his old neighbourhood. I always park in front of the building he lived in. I walk his streets, go to his park to feed his squirrels, and drink a coffee in the café he used to take me to. When he was in palliative care, we had to empty his beloved apartment without telling him. When we were done, that apartment was the emptiest space I’d ever known. 

I painted this a year or so after he died. I always felt there was something missing (other than my brother) so I added the À LOUER sign today. Now it’s complete. But it’s still the emptiest space.

By Isabelle Utovac I decided to draw something specific for this challenge, as well as include a photographic art work. The photograph of my painting looks like a pastel, which I like. The challenge in painting ’empty’ fields is how to render them convincingly. Wide open fields are fascinating, I think, whether in painting or photography. 

Here are two poems about the theme. 

Surroundings

Empty spaces, but not so
Wide open places
Touch the ground
Fenced around
What I feel, what I know

Voici mon effort en français.

Un paysage nu

Un paysage sans nom
Le soleil rond
L’herbe sèche, sans vie
Il n’y a personne ici

Les nuages sont des rides
pour un ciel vide

By Susan Latreille I was trying to come up with something different for the ‘Empty Spaces’ challenge and wasn’t having much luck until I paid closer attention to the Blokus board, the strategy game that hubby and I play after supper every night. 

Hmmm …. look at all those empty spaces, thought I. Wonder if I can do anything with this. So several photos later and after much manipulation, I came up with this collage which contains three original pics and six manipulations and my version of modern art.

By Lynne Ayers I submit some images for this months challenge 😊

I looked at this challenge from a negative space point of view, producing minimalistic images by cropping and removing distractions so the empty spaces become an important part of the whole.

By Milo Smith I found this challenge a bit of a . . . challenge!  I went back to some photography when renovating 34 Centre Street 9 years ago, before moving in. 

The first image is the living room from the East side devoid of furniture.  To make it even more barren, I made it black and white.  Maybe not very creative but certainly an empty space. 

The following image is the room after renovations, furnished and in colour.  No longer an empty space. [Note, the furniture has subsequently been rearranged and reconfigured. Many times!]

By Susan Irving For “Empty Space”  I decided to attempt a 1970’s type album cover.

Empty Space is written on the cover. Could be the name of the band or could be the name of the album or, in the case of a first release, it could be both.  The record could be inside or perhaps it has gone missing.  We will never know!

By Kerry Herwynen McIntosh This empty space is Ian’s Chair. I have nothing more to say about it.