It's time for Winterlude!

Photos: Japanese artists Junichi Nakamura (black jacket) and Sam Terada (red jacket) working on their ice sculpture in Confederation Park in Ottawa.

It's Winterlude time again in Canada's capital! Get out the skates & toques and enjoy one of life's simple pleasures – skating on the 7.8–kilometre Rideau Canal in Ottawa.

Even if you do not skate, the National Capital Commission (NCC) has a number of things for you to do during the festival. For many, that means taking in the annual ice sculpture competition in Confederation Park.

Today, on what was probably the coldest day of the season, the NCC previewed what will happen in the park during the festival. Besides the international ice sculpture competition, spectators will be able to enjoy special DJ nights and multi-cultural events such as a walk through a traditional Mongolian yurt – which was brought to Ottawa specifically for Winterlude.

A teepee will also be erected in the park.

The theme of this year's festival is "Harmony by Contrast."

Winterlude festivities take place February 4 – 21, 2011. The festival receives approximately one million visitors per year.

Exterior view of the Mongolian yurt in Confederation Park in Ottawa.

 Interior view of the yurt.

University of Ottawa visual arts students have also contributed to this year's Winterlude with a display of art made from biodegradable or recycleable materials.

The entrance to Confederation Park in Ottawa.

Interesting art exhibition now on at the War Museum

You don't have to be an art lover or a military historian to enjoy the new exhibition called A Brush with War: Military Art from Korea to Afghanistan, now on at the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

The show features 64 paintings from the museum's holdings and other collections. Many of the paintings were created by artists involved with the Canadian Armed Forces Civilian Artists Program (CAFCAP), which ran from 1968 to 1995, or the current Canadian Forces Artists Program (CFAP).

One of the highlights in the exhibition is Ted Zuber's painting of combat during the Korean War. Mr. Zuber served with the Royal Canadian Regiment during the war and was wounded in action.  He painted several scenes after the war, based on his own recollections of events. Canada did not have an official artist in Korea.

Mr. Zuber was the only Canadian artist hired to record Canada's involvement in the Gulf War 1990-1991.

Many of the paintings from the CAFCAP period are representational and documentary in style. There are depictions of everyday activities in the armed forces, such as, painting deck fittings on a warship, food preparation, and maintenance work on jeeps and warplanes.

More recent paintings are larger in scale, more abstract and subjective in their approach.

One of the more disturbing images is Gertrude Kearns' 1996 painting of Somali teenager Shidane Arone, who was tortured and killed by Canadian Peacekeepers in 1993.

Also included in the show are two well-known paintings: Vimy Ridge from Souchez Valley, which was painted by A.Y. Jackson in 1918 and His Majesty's Canadian Ship Prince Henry in Corsica, which was painted by Alex Colville in 1944.

The exhibition runs until March 20, 2011.