Tags
art., asbtract expressionism, Cecil B. Demille, Cornwall PEI, dental, Dentist, dentistry, Norma Desmond, Peggy Lee, PEI, Sunset Blvd
Going to the dentist on regular basis has been something I have been doing since the age of 6. My parents believed in the benefits of good teeth and a regular check-up. This may explain why I have such wonderful teeth today, which I am told, by several dentist, is not so common in our society. Most people dread going to the dentist and will avoid it if at all possible.
Me, I go twice a year for cleaning and check-up, the last time in February it was for a root canal my first ever at age 60. We all heard the horror stories about the dentist and how unpleasant it is. The root canal was done on tooth number 15, our teeth are numbered, it is easier for the dentist to locate them, most of us have 32 teeth.
I also had a question about tooth 31, result of today all is in good shape and nothing to report. One thing a lot of hygienists find disconcerting with me is the fact that I fall asleep in the chair at the dentist. Even during the root canal treatment which lasted a good hour, I was fighting the urge not to fall asleep and then I asked my dentist afterwards, when was he going to do the root canal. He looked at me with an expression of surprise on his face, what do you think I was doing all this time, he says. In my best Peggy Lee, I said; Is that all there is to root canal?
So today I went to a new dentist in our new home town, the clinic is in Cornwall, a small town just a few minutes from my home. The building is rather unassuming, vintage 1960 and probably an old post Office. The door and the handles gave me that impression, the building looks like a small bungalow and is on a dead end street beside a big United Church and an old cemetery, across the street is the old general store under massive renovations and it will become the new dental office.
The practice belongs to Dr. D.A.S. who is an obvious Art lover with a very good eye. The minute you enter the reception area you notice the art work everywhere including the various sculptures around the building outside, it’s original art and not prints you can buy at Winner’s. The paintings on the wall reminded me of Canadian painter Jack Bush, the style is modern vintage 1950-1960, abstract expressionism. I did not tour the whole clinic but I will have to take a closer look on my next visit. It sure beats watching Ellen on TV, she seems to be very popular in dental offices these days. All this to say that it gives the clinic a very elegant European feel and certainly takes your mind off the dental work. Let’s hear it for original art work in the dental or medical office.
I will have to enquire as to the name of the artists on display in the Office. The final result of this visit to the Dentist was that I could be the poster child for Crest! As Norma Desmond would say; I am ready for my close-up Mr DeMille.
I know — people get all worked up about root canals and there’s really no need. They are not the horror stories people pretend they are. I’ve had several done. And yes, that building certainly DOES look like an old post office!
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I wish my dentist would upgrade his art. The art looks like it was bought at a discount home decor store. YUK!
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You’re lucky. I have to lay back and stare at pictures of Finding Nemo characters sick to the ceiling.
JP
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The dentist of my youth, Dr. Wilson (the names we remember…) maintained a spartan second floor office downtown that was so bleak, it’s no wonder a whole generation was imprinted with dread of dental care. The hollow echo of that long stairway to the office didn’t help one bit. Like being lead to the gallows;-)
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Don’t you just love when original art shows up in our everyday lives? As a painter, I find great pleasure in seeing my work integrated into public or public-like spaces that we regularly, or not so regularly, visit. I just delivered to the Emily Carr Branch of the Greater Victoria Library in B.C. One of these big landscapes is the first I finished after our seven week trip to PEI. I call the solo show “Above the stacks – land and sea” and it will be there for the next two months. We had a tall ladder, a team of four and one hour to get the paintings in place before the doors of the library opened. I was still putting up information sheets as the first rush of readers came scrambling up the stairwell. It was interesting how the new art on the walls kind of snuck up on people as they were looking for a book or going up and down the stairs. The unsepecting viewers are not going to an art gallery so their eyes don’t search the walls by expectation. It is more by chance, like in the dentist office, or an intuitive glance between thoughts. I like watching my paintings have these independent conversations where I am unknown and an invisible part of their direct contact with the viewer. May the orginal art on the Cornwall Dentist’s office Larry forever keep you from mind numbing television.
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I am in desperate need of a new dentist – artwork or none.
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