watch the birdie?

I thought I would let you in on the drawing process from my point of view. I have been experimenting with ways to document artistic process. This '.gif ' image cycles through several stages of a drawing I did using an effective new pastel product called PanPastel in combination with graphite.

Light appears...

where you least expect it. This beautiful reflection showed up in one of my photos. It was too lovely to ignore so I isolated it and did some manipulation. It feels to me like it should be called "Transfiguration".

'excessories'

I have been cleaning, purging my household of 'excessories'; those items without a purpose that seem to build up around the place. They arrive in the arms of well meaning friends and kids who's parents have told them to get rid of their junk. It would seem that junk carries an energy necessary to its survival. Some people unconsciously feel this energy and have a hard time letting go. As an alternative to chucking it out, they try to find a new home for it. This is an admirable thing to do considering how full our landfills are becoming, but my question is "where did the junk come from in the first place?" I think this is a complicated question with more than one answer. While in the Anchorage, Alaska airport last summer, my daughter and I spent a lot of time watching planes land and take off from the cargo runways. We were shocked at the number of cargo planes from China. They stop at Anchorage to refuel before continuing on to their destinations. I was puzzled at first until I made a connection between all the labels on my items at home, "Made in China". It is rare now to find items that are not made in China . It's all about marketing. Lower production cost, lower retail cost. The lower price is so enticing that many times I have bought an item on impulse because the price was so good. I am working on breaking that habit, separating 'needs' from 'wants', after all, how much 'stuff' do I really need?

a real nice guy

The dad-guy has a history of helping me out with art projects and today I found a photo from a project long ago. Yes, those are grapes he is holding up to his ear. I needed a model, my concept was 'heard it through the grapevine' and he was the closest human being , so I grabbed him.

Web 2.0 - a curiosity

The way in which we use the web is changing dramatically. Once a place to 'go and get' information, the web has become a base for self-generated, self-published content.  On March 20th, the College of New Caledonia where I teach is holding a form to discuss these changes and what we can expect from the web in the future. Web 2.0 and Beyond will have a panel of guests whose experience will bring a very different angle to web-based social networks. Kate McCabe, Eric Karjuloto, and Heather Smith will face off on a variety of topics. I am hoping they will discuss the very interesting notions taxonomies, specifically of folksonomy, defined by www.thewebworks.bc.ca as "an Internet-based information retrieval methodology consisting of collaboratively generated, open-ended labels that categorize content ..." for example, tags, tag clouds.

As more and more information is used and stored by more individuals, methods of finding and managing that information need to be developed. Additionally, users are wanting to access their stored information from more that one device, cell phones, and ipod's being two examples of that. There are a lot of questions that come to mind about storing and retrieving huge amounts of information. The first one is

'why' do humans feel compelled to do this?

How often is the stored information accessed by the collector? Or is the purpose to have others access the collection?

I'm sure you have all experienced or contributed to the passing on of jokes, photographs and urban legends through email. I am not fond of receiving information this way, especially since I did not solicite it in the first place, so my question again is why do people search for and send information to their online friends?

In a post from graphpaper.com , Christopher Fahey states:

"People are actually doing (free!) work for other people, adding metadata to information where the information’s “owner” could have done that work. The brilliant thing about folksonomies is that internet users have shown themselves time and time again to be remarkably willing to do their part to help the greater good, even if it means doing labor that happens to bring financial benefit to someone else."

It is a curious thing, a compulsion, an attempt to advance one's position in life. Interesting.

Their Work in Progress

Here are some photos of the installation with the 1700 blocks I was talking about in my previous post. The zeros and ones are binary code. Each set of 8 numbers represents an ascii character or letter of the alphabet, which works into a phrase. If you are into code breaking, here is the binary that is on the piece: Phrase One:

01110011 01100001 01110110

01101100 01100001 01110011 01100001 01110110

Phrase two:

01101011 01100001 01110110

01101100 01100001 01101011 01100001 01110110

You may have to 'google' the resulting phrase.

Blockhead

I finished my installation at the Two Rivers Gallery here in Prince George last week. The opening was Thursday night (Feb 28th). In all the installation took over 1700 wooden blocks, 3.5 inches square to complete a tower 6 feet wide and 8 feet tall. The Dad-guy, my son and I spend months making them. My daughter helped by counting. It was a family affair...or more like 'forced family fun'; the Dad-guy commenting every night after work, "I don't wanna cut anymore blocks." The opening went well with the curator commenting that the blocks seem to be attractive to kids. The gallery apparently had their first 'kid' episode that afternoon before the opening where some of the blocks were moved around by a person under the age of 18. Good thing I am not worried about viewer interaction. I think it helps validate the piece. I promise to post some shots of the work in the next 2 days. It has a message on it in binary code and I would like to see if anyone figures out what it is. I'll let you in on that when I post the photos.

I really feel like I [suddenly] have a lot of time on my hands, so I am asking, 'What's next for Kim?' I have my own ideas on that, but maybe you have a suggestion or opinion you want to share with me?

cool water crash

Change is always difficult for me, even if it means something exciting will enter my life. In my observations I have noticed that change comes in waves. Sometimes those waves are huge, sometimes several small, rolling waves crash my shores. I find myself standing, gazing out towards the sea, looking for the next wave. Even as it closes over me, I think, "please, not now, I do not want this to happen." , but the only way passed it is through it. Someday all will be calm again. Until then I will let that cool water crash over me as I ride it out.

Award

Sirdar over at Sirdar Inc. has offered me a friendship award. I was pleased to receive it, although I have no place to post it. I wanted to thank Sirdar for his friendship and his family's friendship. His wife Dawn and I have know each other since high school and it has been a lot of fun keeping in touch through our blogs. Thanks again Sirdar!

Pain

I am in pain. My back slipped out of place last Wednesday while bending down to pick up a piece of paper. I wish I could say it was something spectacular that caused the sacrum to shift, but it was only a simple movement. On Friday my massage therapist was able to put things back in place. Now I must wait for the damage to heal. I can stand, walk and lie down, but not sit. (sounds like a puppy in training!). This has happened before. It usually takes about 2 weeks for things to settle down.

stats...

Today is the first day of the new semester. It always feels like a fresh start at the beginning of each term. I thought I was ready for this week, but I keep finding little tasks that I have forgotten. I think I will make myself a pre-semester check list for next time. It became difficult to stay organized when I took on a full course load. I now have 3 sets of students in two separate programs, 4 courses, and one 'team-teach' course. There is a lot to organize. Last semester I had over 150 computer files handed in to me just for 'one' assignment in one class. These courses are complicated to teach as they deal with creative software that is constantly changing. Last semester I taught students to use 6 different pieces of software, digital cameras, scanners, lighting kits, and 5 different drawing and painting styles. I marked 279 assignments, facilitated 163 critiques, gave 35 lectures and tallied 36 final grades. The number of meals I made at home were.... ha! I had you going, didn't I? I think it would be interesting to keep statistics at home as well as work. Then when you ask yourself, "Where did the time go?" You will be able to answer yourself accurately. In the meantime, I started this semester with 1 lecture as of today...have a great new year!

early to rise?

I have thought about getting up early for days, but it has not happened. It would have been truly humorous for you to see my efforts over these last 2 weeks. I raised one eyelid, sometimes I lifted my head up before 6:30am, and ONCE I actually got out of bed, used the washroom but promptly headed straight back to the warmth of the duvet. Okay, perhaps that is just a bit of an exaggeration. We actually had to take turns getting up to let our bossy dog out. Her alarm is set for 6:30am. Sometimes she will sleep until 7:00 am before she starts barking loudly from her kennel. Although she is a loved member of this family, she truly tested my patience over the holiday.

give and take

I received a gift today, during this season of giving (and taking). It is an invoice from Canada Revenue Agency(CRA) for over $400.00. Their timing is impeccable, this day being December 24th, a day when most people would like to set the worries of the world aside and concentration on family. In this world of hard, cold business, is there no time in which these corporations rest?

completion

It feels so good to reach the end of something that you have worked so hard at. The fall semester is finished at the College where I teach. I have submitted final marks for everyone....my students, if you are reading this, breath easy, you all passed. Excellent work and I am looking forward to the learning we will do next semester. It it will be like a fresh field of snow. In the meantime I am going to rest, spend time with my kids, play, eat...maybe too much, and enjoy the many Blessings that are in my life! Shalom, peace to all over the holidays!

missing my man [or my man is missing.]

He left on Friday at 6:30am with 2 other guys, the snow roaring up behind the truck in an indignant cloud as they peeled out of our driveway. He has been planning this trip for months. He grew a beard, he shopped for pepperoni sticks, he organized his gear for 3 days straight. I watched him pack with nervous anticipation.... {It is winter here. The temperature averages between -9 and -18 celsius. This house is heated by a wood furnace. The wood furnace requires large amounts of wood because it is old; 25 years old. The wood must be hauled and split every day. We often get heavy snowfalls, so heavy that we cannot get out of our driveway. As you read in my previous posting, sometimes we are without power, phone, or water. In the spring, we flood. It is a gamble every time my man leaves. Sometimes nothing happens, sometimes it is like the apocalypse. Does he know how much he means to this home and this family? Not only is he my best friend and my only love, he is the glue that holds this place together.}

...I followed him down the stairs and gave him a hug and a kiss. Have a good time, I told him. Try not to worry about us, I say. He needs a break. He will come home refreshed. The kids and I will manage, we always do.