Category: Saturday Morning Stories (Page 1 of 12)

Every Saturday morning, I share the stories that are inspired by my life married to an artist. Exaggerated, at times. Toned down, at others. But I pull back the curtain.

Paris: Water Lilies and Early Works of Henri Matisse

December 3, 2022 / Conal

This is the fourth story in a four-part series
about the 15th anniversary trip my
artist wife and I took to Paris.

Henri Émile Benoît Matisse was a French visual artist; a painter known for his use of colour.

His was a name I would have recognized from my university Art History textbook had I ever cracked it open. Instead, I recognized his name as one of my artist wife’s top influencers.

Like a diligent husband of an artist, I did my research before we went to Paris. Quickly, I learned he has zero paintings in The Louvre. In fact, most of his famous paintings are in his own national museum, Musée Matisse, located 900 km away in Nice on the Mediterranean coast of France.

Miscarriages and Men: Why I Can’t Go To The Santa Claus Parade

November 23, 2022 / Conal

Between 15 and 20 per cent of all pregnancies in Canada end in miscarriage, according to estimates by the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC).

Everyone loves a parade. Especially me. Or, so goes the conventional wisdom of people who know me. After all, I was the Canada Day Parade organizer for a decade in my western Canadian prairie suburb.

Many people are looking forward to the upcoming Santa Claus Parade in our city, but I’m not. Far from it. I’ve only attended one time since I left the Executive Director job at the Chamber of Commerce — the organization that runs the parade. It’s just too painful.

Let me explain.

Paris: The Eiffel Tower

November 19, 2022 / Conal

This is the third story in a four-part series
about the 15th anniversary trip my
artist wife and I took to Paris.

I’ve been married to an artist for 15 years. In that time I’ve learned that inspiration will strike anywhere, anytime.

Just because I’ve learned that lesson repeatedly doesn’t make it any less surprising when it happens.

And it happened — boy did it happen — the first time we visited the Eiffel Tower.

Paris: My Wife’s Louvre Tour

November 12, 2022 / Conal

This is the second story in a four-part series
about the 15th anniversary trip my
artist wife and I took to Paris.

The day had arrived. We were visiting the Louvre on this crisp, rainy day in Paris.

However, we had the small issue of her forgetting her membership at home – on a completely separate continent – to iron out first. Fortunately, the Friends of the Louvre Society has an office near the entrance. They replace lost or forgotten membership cards for a small fee.

With a fresh duplicata membership we beelined toward the entrance.

Paris: The Friends of the Louvre

November 5, 2022 / Conal

This is the first story in a four-part series
about the 15th anniversary trip my
artist wife and I took to Paris.

There we stood; waiting in line at the Louvre. I had bought her an annual membership for our anniversary, in part, to avoid this.

Five minutes earlier we had passed through the member’s entrance at the Louvre. I had flashed my subsidiary membership card, and we breezed through the metal detector.

Once inside, however, we had to swing by la Société des Amis du Louvre (Friends of the Louvre Society).

The society’s reception office is tucked away across the giant main foyer from the main information desk.

As soon as we rounded the corner to enter the office, there it was… the line. A line we had to wait in. There was no way to avoid it.

The Missing Car

October 29, 2022 / Conal

Our car was gone!

When we left the restaurant after celebrating my artist wife’s 30th birthday, we strolled casually to the parking lot with the fluorescent beams of light glowing above the pavement under the half moon.

As we rounded the corner of the building, our little Honda Civic was not there. The spot we had left our car in was filled with a black SUV.

Frantically, my artist wife whipped her head around in every direction hunting for any sign of our maroon-coloured little economy car.