De Walden Press

A photo essay from Jason Vanderhill on our MBS Book Fair:

http://blog.alcuinsociety.com/2013/08/the-msc-conclave-2013-in-pictures.html

The Holiday Inn, West Broadway is on West Broadway, in Fairview. Downtown Vancouver is only three SkyTrain stops from the Canada Line station Broadway-City Hall (2 blocks from our hotel). One more stop and you are at Waterfront Station, where the famous Vancouver Lookout is and nearby Gastown, the oldest part of the city, with lots of sights, restaurants and shops. In Downtown Vancouver, the area Burrard to Howe and West Hastings to Georgia has many fantastic stores and shopping malls.

Granville Street is a main thoroughfare through Vancouver with two shopping areas to visit. 


On the Downtown part of Granville Street you can find The Bay and Sears department stores, Pacific Centre shopping mall, Robson Street shops and restaurants, as well as many unique stores and places to eat all along Granville. 

The southern part of Granville St., only a few blocks from our hotel, or 1 stop with the express bus # 99, has become one of Vancouver's trendiest shopping neighborhoods, full of galleries and stores with fashion, home furnishings, antiques, cookware etc. It is often called “Gallery Row” because of the many art galleries.  

But also, lots of restaurant’s, pubs and yummy sounding bakery places are found here. Meinhardt's Fine Foods (corner 14th Ave.) is a good deli with prepared food to eat on the tables outside and a bakery annex (Picnic), with pastries and coffee. 

We are also quite close to Granville Island, where we will be on Saturday afternoon and further west is Kitsilano, which was a hippie enclave in the 60’s and 70’s but is now a very popular place for everyone. The Kitsilano Beach is named one of the “10 best city beaches in the world". Most of the action in this area is centered on West Fourth Avenue and West Broadway, with bookstores, ethnic restaurants, cafes and specialty retailers. 

The closest shopping mall to our hotel is City Square on 555 West 12th Ave (on the Northwest corner of the 12th and Cambie intersection, directly across from City Hall). There are many shops and a large international food court. Open: Mon-Wed and Sat from 10am – 6 pm, Thu and Fri from 10 am – 8 pm and Sun from 12 – 5 pm. There is also a post office there.

South of our hotel are two other of Vancouver’s wonderful parks/gardens: Queen Elisabeth Park and VanDusen Botanical Gardens. 

Another nice way to spend a few hours is to do the False Creek Ferry Hop on – Hop off  trip mentioned in the blog on “Getting around in Vancouver”.  Here are the stops.

The Maritime Museum (also Museum of Vancouver, HR Macmillan Space Centre, Vanier Park, Kitsilano Beach)

The Vancouver Aquatic Centre - At Sunset Beach in the West End, a short walk, either along the Seawall to Stanley Park or up Burrard Street to downtown. David Lam Park – Park surrounded by expensive apartment buildings,  several interesting  sculptures along the waterfront.Yaletown - Trendy mix of warehouse lofts, high-rise apartments, art galleries, night clubs, and restaurants. There are two ferry docks in Yaletown; one is at Quayside Marina and the other is at David Lam Park. Close to the Yaletown SkyTrain Station.

Stamp’s Landing - A quaint waterfront neighborhood located on the south shore of False Creek, Several pubs and restaurants (The Wicklow) offering  a spectacular view of the Vancouver skyline. Within walking distance of our hotel.
Spyglass - close to the Olympic Village SkyTrain Station. A public piano for playing outdoors (Public Piano Project “Keys to the street”).
Olympic Village/Science World -  Creekside Community Centre in "The Village", and a short walk to Science World, Main St. SkyTrain Station (Expo Line), and the Pacific Central Station. 
Plaza of Nations - on the Northeast shore of False Creek,  with a casino and stadium. This terminal is walking distance to  Chinatown and the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden. 


Coming soon: my last blog about bookstores in Vancouver.

Images courtesy of Tourism Vancouver

Angelika brings us more about Vancouver:

Vancouver is an easy city to get around. Buses and the Sky Train are the main ways of transportation but also the AquaBus, SeaBus and Ferries are interesting transport options.

The Sky Train is the oldest and one of the longest automated driverless light rapid transit systems in the world. There are 3 lines: Expo, Millennium and Canada Line. It runs on elevated tracks and offers beautiful views of downtown and the North Shore Mountains.The Canada Line is the one nearest to our hotel. It gets us from and to the airport and to downtown Vancouver, to Water Front and the Vancouver Lookout. 

We will only need Zone One (Downtown, UBC-Area, Stanley Park), or Two Zones for the Airport and North Vancouver (Capilano Bridge and Grouse Mountain).

Tickets are valid for 90 minutes including transfers. Fares: Zone One $ 2.75 for adults, $ 1.75 for seniors
  ZoneTwo $ 4.00 / 2.75 seniors.

For Airport  Zone Two (or Zone One after Peak Hours) + the $5.00 Canada Line YVR AddFare. 
After 6:30 p.m. on weekdays and all day Saturday, Sunday and Holidays, discount fares apply and buying a one-zone ticket will allow you to travel through all zones.

If you are planning some bus and train riding, the TransLink FareSaver Tickets are your best bet. A book of 10 tickets for Zone One costs only $ 21 (seniors $ 17.50) instead of $ 27.50 for 10 single tickets.On arrival at Vancouver International Airport you can get your first impression of BC culture. Each Terminal has spectacular displays of First Nations art. Download this pdf file for a tour http://www.yvr.ca/Libraries/Comms_Documents/Art_Architecture_tour_YVR.sflb.ashx

There are several Hop on – Hop off buses in Vancouver:
Vancouver Trolley Company 
Big Pink Bus (Grey Line)
Big Bus 

They all cost about $40 for 1 day and $45 for 2 days. Some offer packages with entrance fees to attractions or shuttles to Grouse Mountain, Capilano Suspension Bridge etc.

All tour buses stop at Granville Island, which is the closest stop to our hotel.

There is no public transport all around Stanley Park. The bus # 19 stops near the Aquarium/Rose Garden. There used to be a 45-minute narrated trolley tour through the park, but on the website of the Vancouver Trolley Company is a notice that the Park shuttle has been cancelled for 2013.

There are horse-drawn carriage tours ($31.99 / Adults) available and the Stanley Park Miniature Train which takes you on a 2 km journey through the forest. 
A walk or walk or bicycle ride around Stanley Park along the seashore is a great experience with wonderful scenery, but a 22 km long one 

Or how about a Hop on – Hop off  ferry  trip?

The False Creek Ferry offers a Day Pass for $15 for unlimited hopping at nine stops. See the next blog with more information.  The AquaBus also offers Day Tickets but they have slightly different and fewer destinations. 

All images courtesy of Tourism Vancouver.

The image shown here, its simplicity and directness, was what first interested me in the drypoint technique. (Drypoint and watercolour, copyright Richard Spare)

I’ve just been talking to Peter Braune, who will be running the workshop, and getting a few more details. 

Attendees will have the opportunity to gain hands-on experience of this type of printmaking, that is especially suited to beginners. We will be using plate size 3” x 4” or smaller,  so have that in mind when choosing your image. Draw directly on the plate, experiment with making different kinds of marks, try out different tools and see what effects you can get.  You will learn how to incise a plate, ink,  wipe and print it onto dampened paper, using oil based inks. 

Start time: 12.30 pm, giving you time to have lunch - plenty of good places to eat on Granville Island! It will run for 4 - 5 hours, so we can actually get some prints made. You should be able to make and print at least two plates, we are aiming to try both plastic and copper plates.

The ‘incising’ of the plates basically consists of using a tool to scratch an image onto the surface of the plate. Ink is then spread onto the plate, and into the scratches, and also collects around the burr raised by the tool, giving the characteristic fuzzy line. You will learn the technique of wiping excess ink off the plate, before printing onto dampened paper on the intaglio press.

This will be a fun opportunity to try a new technique, and get out of your comfort zone. There are still a few places left on this workshop, so sign up today, while stocks last! There is a small fee of $10 for materials, folks this is a steal of a deal.

A word about BIMPE (pronounced bimpey). This is the Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition held every two years in Vancouver,  http://www.newleafeditions.com/bimpe/ If you look at past years’ catalogues, you will see many images produced using drypoint, either alone or in combination with other techniques. 

A word about BIMPE (pronounced bimpey). This is the Biennial International Miniature Print Exhibition held every two years in Vancouver,  http://www.newleafeditions.com/bimpe/ If you look at past years’ catalogues, you will see many images produced using drypoint, either alone or in combination with other techniques.