Shhhhh!

Sometime it is nice to have nothing planned and nothing doing. But is it okay to have a mind that refuses to think of anything important and a mouth that doesn't want to talk much. It makes me wonder what it would be like to take a vow of silence, just for a short while you understand. I'm thinking I will snap out of it pretty quick. Does silence include the written word? Oh, I hope it doesn't include symbols and drawings. I guess that depends on whether the vow is not to speak, or not to communicate. Hmmmm. I googled 'vow of silence' and found an interesting site called 43 Things. This site is a place where people have posted on things they want to do, and once accomplished, were they worth doing. I will think some more on this.

independence!

This letter opener belonged to a unique man, Edwin Stewart, my grandfather-in-law. If you look carefully you will see that it has been sharpened on one side so that it will act like a knife. Why is that? Well, Ed spent his last few years in a seniors home where he found life to be quite 'restrictive'. Each mealtime he was seated at a table with his wife and a woman who could not speak english very well, I'll just call her Queen Bee. When eating fruits or vegetables, Ed used to push his silverware aside and pull out a 6 inch hunting knife, cut his food and place it gingerly in his mouth. Apparently, 'the Bee' did was frightened by this action, so the staff took the knife away from Ed. Ahhh, but he pulled out another, and another. Soon all his knives were safely tucked away in a locked drawer in the nursing station along with various other household tools that he had been using in his room; his soldering gun, which had set off the fire alarms, his hammer, several screwdrivers, a glue gun, and some plyers. Determined not to be treated like a child, he sharpened this letter opener and used it in place of his knives and screwdrivers. We found it hidden in his chest of drawers after he passed away. I will always admire his independent spirit!

savin' the broccoli

Several days ago, the kids built a scarecrow for our garden. The deer have been helping themselves to our broccoli. They ate the tops off all my broccoli last year too. I'm sure they have low cholesterol and cancer rates as a result, but I was kinda hoping we could benefit from those veggies, rather than the deer. The kids have done a great job on the 'crow', now we will wait and see if it makes a difference. Watch for my photo of the deer right next to the scarecrow... I'm sure it will come!

I purchased art by Opie Oppenheim

The Native Art Gallery that I once managed has announced that it is closing its doors. I was sad to hear this after all the work I did there. Well, as most closing businesses do, the gallery is having a 50% off sale. I went in to get a little momento and came back with this print by Opie Oppenheim. Opie came in the gallery last spring and it was a pleasure meeting him. He is very funny and that is reflected in his work. This piece has a set of numbers in the top, left hand corner. Many people have speculated on what those numbers represent. It was suggested that they are a salmon count from the year the print was made. So I asked Opie what the numbers were for. "Oh, that's my bowling average." he says. Apparently this piece was never intended for reproduction, it was a scrap, a 'work in progress', but he loved the way the drawing and the casual 'chicken scratch' interacted so he had prints made. I now have this unintentional art hanging in my house. I am sad that there will no longer be a place where memories like this can be made.

unidentified hairball

Yep, just as the title says. My big kid and I drove past this on the streets of PG today. And no, it is not someones *Fluffy*, or someones *Rover*, we checked that. It's just a big ole wad of hair in the middle of the street.

Why is this dog so fat?

Maybe it is because for the last 8 months he has arrived at the Middle School exactly at 1pm each weekday. He knows that if he times it right, there will be dozens of food goodies littering the school grounds, and he's no dummy! If he arrives as the bell rings, that means the kids will all go back inside that grey building and he can eat in peace. Oh his poor arteries!

missing!

I heard through friends on Friday that 2 of my drawings that are currently on tour with the Artfest Show in Northern BC have gone missing.(see my original post Thursday, April 26, 2007). I had a 3 drawings, about 2.5 ft high and 1.5 ft wide that were a set. Apparently the Gallery at MacKenzie did not receive all three pieces, only one. They hung the one piece. When I heard this I had several questions. 1. How could the gallery not see that there were 2 pieces missing when all 3 pieces are shown in the program for the show, which they would have, and each piece is labeled 1 of 3, 2 of 3, etc? And... if they did notice the pieces were missing, didn't they feel that this was something to be alarmed about and that it warrented a call to the show organizer or even the last gallery that had the show to inquire about the missing pieces? As far as I know, none of this has happened. It took an alert person who was viewing the show to notice that these were missing and discuss it with another artist who just happened to be a friend of mine. Yes, this is how I found out that my pieces are missing. I have been wringing my hands as the call I placed to the show organizer will not be answered until Tuesday, when he is back in his gallery. I will keep you posted on the developments.

it all started with a leak

And I don't mean the slang term for leak, although the two are somewhat related. The toilet that is right above my art studio in the house has had a very slow leak. The dad-guy has spent many hours replacing seals and flooring only to have the leak increase. And again my artwork has been baptized in am amonia-smelling liquid. So, the dad-guy lifted up the porcelain throne and began to replace the flooring. This time, however, we no long have extra linoleum to redo the floor. So we (innocently) went to a local flooring place to look at some small roll end stuff. But then, we thought, if we replace the bathroom flooring, the kitchen won't match it, and we might as well do the hallway too as the carpet is a bad idea there... and while we are on the topic of carpet, the livingroom carpet will not match the new lino...

I know Sirdar and wife of Sirdar can relate!

The dad-guy's day

It is a special day for all of you who are a father to some one. They look up to you, they model on your behavior, and they love you. Above are two drawings of Kevin, the dad-guy in this family. I did the top drawing in 1997 and the bottom drawing today. He wasn't very cooperative today. He kept sticking out his tongue and making faces, so the chin area is not as accurate as I would have liked. None the less, here is my tribute to the man who spends so much time parenting our kids with love.

Pine Beetle Art

I had the surprise of being interviewed by CBC Radio for the Daybreak North show on Friday, June 1! It was a matter of being in the right place at the right time. I was setting up my installation of boxes for the Red & Blue Pine Beetle Art show in Vanderhoof and CBC was there. You can listen to the clip at the Daybreak North website up until Friday, June 8th. Take the link above and scroll down to June 1st. The clip starts out, "Like a lot of the north, the road to Saik'uz is thick with dead, red pine trees but many northern artists have found inspiration amidst the devastation." You must have Real Player to hear it.

published...at last!

No, not me, my daughter. Here is her version of a violent storm over a castle. It appeared in the PG Citizen daily newspaper. It's never too early to start your career in art!

you wouldn't!

Friday turned out to be very interesting. I was relieved to know that I did not embarrass my 13 year old at his school on Career Day. Right after breakfast he gave me a serious look and said, "I hope you'll be good today." Of course I couldn't resist going through a mock presentation that started with a badly sung song and some pathetic footwork,

"hi, I'm Alec's mom,
I'm a designer,
I can do it...."

"How's that?" I asked. "YOU WOULDN'T!" he said. There were 30 presenters and the 750 students could choose 4 sessions to attend. Although I wasn't as popular as the Coroner, the room was full for all 4 sessions. Not bad for someone who can't sing.

the words have stopped

I haven't written anything deep or thoughtful for a while. I just haven't been into it. It seems that when the imagery comes out on pages and canvases in bright splatters of colour, the words stop flowing. Perhaps they come out of the same tap. Funny how they don't mix. Physics says they should, after all, hot and cold water mix. Maybe it's like our water system at home, if the filter needs changing then everything else gets messed up.

things are happening...

I received a phone call tonight saying that 2 more of my art pieces have been juried into a show in Vanderhoof at the end of this month. Juried shows look great on a resume as your work must pass through a panel of individuals who evaluate it and decide if it is thematically and technically skillful enough to include in the show. I have a painting and an installation about pine beetle kill in this area which will be included. I further heard that the show received funding and may go on tour! Kevin and I just finished making a crate for my last set of work that is going on tour for a year. Wow, things are really happening. It is exciting, but a lot of work. I thought I was going to be gardening all summer, now I have two software programs to learn and a bunch of art to crate...hey, I asked for it :)

extreme ironing

more of this sport which I am really starting to enjoy. There is a shot of me doing a lamb's tale and one of the splits. It looks easy, but don't try this at home!