Artist Diary

  • ICE COLD ADVENTURES IN HARBIN

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    In December, I took a two-week trip to China. We traveled to the North Eastern region of China. In the next month or so, I’m going to be posting photos from my trip on this blog and Instagram @andreamaicreative. I post here every Sunday, so you can follow my journey to China.

    I’m not going to be showing my photo collections in any particular order, so this se of photos are actually from the middle of the trip. We went to the frozen city of Harbin, the most north eastern main city, close to the border of Russia.  What happens with many bordering cities is that they influence each other, as people from both sides of the border migrate and bring their culture. Harbins architecture that is influence by Russia. During the winter, it reaches to temperatures like minus 30. It was -26 degrees Celsius when we were there. It gets extremely cold at night, so if you ever go there, pack many layer; you’ll need three layers of pants, at least! I think this is the coldest I have ever felt in my life, despite living in Canada. This would be the kind of weather they get in Quebec City. The top photo is from the snow sculpture exhibition in Taiyangdao Park.

    At night, the city lights up and everything is very pretty. This is Saint Sophia Cathedral. The moon happened to be visible in the clear night sky.

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    This is Zhongyang Street, this is the main street for shopping. This street is closed off from cars, so you can wander the streets freely.  Here you can get many local Chinese products, as well as Russian products, such as chocolates and vodka.

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    Here is the famous “popsicle” shop.  Despite how cold it is, they serve these milky popsicles here. At first I was somewhat put off by the idea of eating a popsicle in the cold, but I was pleasantly surprised. It became one of the most enjoyable moments on the trip.

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    Beside the popsicle shop, there was a night market selling street food and dried goods. And next to that, there was an ice castle being constructed!

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    If you walk to the end of Zhongyang Street, you will reach the river and the Flood Control Success Memorial. The monument lights up at night and you can view the frozen river where people go ice skating. I even saw people flying drones over the river!

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    Thanks for coming to visit my blog! More photos are coming next Sunday. Stay tuned!

    #travel #tourism #China #Harbin #frozen #winter #nightscapes #icesculpture #foodie

  • THE JOY OF FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY

    THE JOY OF FLOWER PHOTOGRAPHY

    Flower photography has really become one of my favourite areas of photography. There is something so amazing to capture the blossoming beauties and knowing that its blooms won’t always be there. You have to be present and enjoy the moment as it is. It’s not about wishing for something better or waiting for the future. Flowers are a beautiful reminder that life is fleeting, so you have to live it fully. Currently, one of my dreams are to travel and photograph gardens from around the world, especially England and France.

    #flowers #garden #jasmine #Toronto #travel #tourism #joy #beauty

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  • CHRISTMAS AT ALLAN GARDENS

    CHRISTMAS AT ALLAN GARDENS

    I only got a sneak peek of the Christmas show at Allan Gardens, just a taste of it was enough to leave me with a good impression. Totally worth going to! It makes for such an enjoyable outing. The show will still be up even after Christmas, so you will still have time to check it out during the holidays!

    #garden #Christmas #Toronto #poinsettia #holidays

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    AndreaMai_garden-6950    TMAS AT ALLAN GARDENS

  • CHRISTMAS IN THE CITY

    As you are reading this, I will be away in China. I will have escaped the overload of Christmas frenzy. I personally think that Christmas is the most boring time of the year, as its marketing calendar is extended for two months. They start marketing it right after Halloween and I feel it’s too much to have Christmas being promoted for this long. Regardless, Christmas time in the city can be a beautiful event as night.  The lights certainly help liven things up as the days become shorter.

    #Christmas #windows #HoltRenfrew #brightlights #magical #Toronto #fashion

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  • EVERGREEN GARDEN

    I returned to Allan Gardens, and to my surprise, everything was moved and replaced with plants and flowers in preparation for the Christmas show. Here’s a preview of what’s on show starting today! (The show official starts on December 6, 2015)

    #trees #evergreens #gardens #winter #Christmas #Toronto #birds

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  • EXOTIC FLORALS

    Here are more photos from Allan Gardens. I am not a fan of Poinsettia flowers, maybe because they are associated with Christmas, but these Shimmering Pink varieties, I do have to say, are stunning! I love pink! Also, there were white orchids. The photos for them turned out even more amazing than I expected, because by that time, I had lost a lot of light, as it was near the end of the day. They close the garden at 5 pm and I was there till they asked everyone to leave. There were also these blue, violet and fuchsia flowers, for which I do not know the name for. Leave a comment if you know what they are!

    #flowers #garden #exotic #tropical #Toronto #tourism #botanical

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  • A SYMBOL OF HAPPINESS

    I went to Allan Gardens in Toronto to check out their conservatory. It was a larger greenhouse than I thought it would be! It was quite an enjoyable outing for me. They had their Chrysanthemum flower show on, and I took these images.

    Did you know that these flowers are traditionally used in Chinese herbal medicine? It has been used to treat many ailments including colds, inflammation, eyes, and more. In Japan, it is a symbol of happiness and long life. These flowers come in many varieties and I love their jaunty, cheerful appearance.

    #flowers #gardens #herbalmedicine #symbolism #happiness #Toronto #turism


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  • PORTRAIT OF ERICA ROSS

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    Last week I photographed my friend, Erica Ross at her home. Erica is an incredibly dynamic and vivaious woman. She teaches about the Divine Feminine and she told me how important it was for her to teach her daughter to trust in her own instincts about making decisions. I found this so refreshing and relevant. So often in society, we are told to simply listen to an expert instead of our own inner voice when it comes to making decisions. I admire Erica for her courage to be authentic. I think her personality really shines in these photographs. Such a beautiful and loving soul.

    #authentic #divinefeminine #rolemodel #strength #intuition #beauty #wisdom

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  • THE RUINS OF TORONTO’S PAST

    I finally got around to editing these photos from the summer. These are from Guild Park in Scarborough, a hidden gem in the outskirts of Toronto. The park houses the selvedges of old bank buildings, some dating as far back to the 1800s. It amazed me to see that Toronto once had buildings of this ancient style!

    #travel #park #garden #Toronto #tourism #architecture #classica

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  • AUTUMN IN ST. LAWRENCE MARKET

    There’s something about visiting traditional food markets that connect us back to humanity. The live interaction with shop keepers, the simplicity of handwritten signs, the beauty in the way the food is displayed. It takes us back to a time before highly packaged foods and the complication of an over-abundance of choice on the supermarket shelves.

    #food #foodie #gourmet #markets #marche #Toronto #shopping #geocery

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