Too Much of Good Thing...

I've been doggedly trudging through LOLcats trying to find a specific photo and am at page 256.
Still haven't found it and now whenever I close my eyes I see adorable kittehs...
I can't make them go away.
Shoot me now.

Happy Christmas

I can't post any photos because our luggage is sitting at the Vancouver airport. At least we're here. Just made our connection with seconds to spare - the agent was in the process of giving our seats to a couple of the previously unlucky cancelled folk when we dashed up to the counter. I was sad to leave Calgary. Needed more visiting with my twins 'n Quinn.

I want my stuff...

Oh and when trying to get to Calgary last Sunday our flight was cancelled after letting us sit around for 3 hours or so, with a very helpful though unlucky agent talking us through every step of the the process. When finally she had to announce that the flight was cancelled we took a cab to the Greyhound and were on our way to Calgary by 7 pm - Hallelulia! - it was the bus but thank goodness we were moving so that mitigated the whole experience...even with a passenger behind from Kamloops onwards emitting horrid stenchie beer fumes that got more and more potent from there to Canmore where she finally exited. So - 15 hours and really sore butts but at least we arrived and waaay before any flights that we would have been super lucky to have accessed.

the Brightest Moon

We normally don't luck out like this - you know - actually being able to witness celestial anomalies. In this case it's the moon's closest position to the earth in 15 years. What are the odds that it would be clear on the night of that particular full moon?? Why I'm almost giddy.

a light filled night

Wait! I like this better - 'Full Moon Over Failed Business'

Amateur Hour cont...

This is the baby Jesus for Nuncrackers. They're also using pipecleaner halos for the angels so I think I've achieved the right tone. The first image is supposed to be CandyLand.

I also painted Julia Child's kitchen but it's a little slicker...kind of got away on me because I just wanted to finish the darn thing.

Amateur Hour

Musical Theatre is putting on 'Nuncracker' this week; it's a musical that portrays a convent's attempt to present The Nutcracker in their basement. I'm assuming that everything is put together with a lot of love and enthusiasm and that they're a little thin in the experience department.

The husband doesn't think anyone will 'get' my painting - that people will figure that I just phoned it in.
I do keep getting the same compliments that I normally hear...which is disturbing.

Landscape Blitz

The commission that's due before Christmas is on the easel and everything else is along for the ride. (They'll subsist on whatever I need to use up on the pallette)

There is sunshine today so I should be painting like mad to take advantage of the light...but first let's dick around for a half hour or so taking frivolous photos and making a blog entry...

The Persistence of Hard Wiring

The grey area in this photo is the natural looking mountain that this student originally painted when I guided the class through that step in the composition. She lost focus for a few minutes then when it returned remembered "Oh right...mountains!" and proceeded to paint what I consider the International Symbol For Mountains right over top. I think it's a triumph that she was able to actually *see* what she'd done when I brought it to her attention; the student told me she had forgotten that she'd already painted the mountains.

This is a perfect illustration of how our brain will superimpose its own internal short hand symbolism over top of what is literally right in front of our nose.

And it's *my* job to get in there and rip out the wiring. ; )
Override it anyway.

The Toys REALLY Take Over

This would be my set. I had no idea that depicting individual boards would be so time consuming. -woodgrain/shadow/highlight - woodgrain/shadow/highlight Repeat as necessary a few thousand times................aaaaggh!!

The Uprising Part II.

The Toymaker attempts to draw attention to his plight utillising public service materials.

Sunny Doll

TwinB took a look through the photos of The Toys Take Over Christmas and commented that my doll and clown make-up looked rather familiar...kind of like how I used to dress them up when they were 3 to 5 years old.

The Toys Take Over Christmas

Soldier 1, The Captain and Soldier 2. (Gabby- take off your glasses!)

I was merciful to Mike and rather than forcing him to shave his beard, I incorporated it into a more nutcracker type look.

And see! Mr. Jones is the Captain!

First Snow

'Bout 20 centimeters, then rain...buckets of rain.

As usual.

Hey...Did You Remember To Lock the Basement Windows??

TwinB as zombie in 2007

Happy Halloween!

Don't overdo the goodies...'specially the liquid kind!

This is TwinA's creation - I'm still waiting for a photo from 'B

Finished....Really...For Good

This is the final effort at Multi Level Care. I asked Tony here to pose below it for me. What a sweet guy - told him he was my ray of sunshine because he spent a few hours enthusiastically watching me paint. Everyone but The Grumpy Fellow (dementia) seemed very, very happy with it, though several started to expect this project to just keep going...and going...and going all through the facillity. I should have told them that I'm stepping aside for the next artist.

Getting My Ducks in a Row -

- or rather, getting my geese in a line.

The folks down at Multi Level Care are really hankering for a flock of migrating geese on the wall adjacent to the mural, so I'm all prepped 'n set whenever they're able to set up ladder or scaffolding. Won't mention this to them till it's done but I probably won't charge for it, especially if I can wrangle a fellow art club member into assisting me. I was recently in the auxillary gift shop admiring/buying some of the beautifully crafted items and couldn't help but note the countless hours represented there. Pushed me from the category of independant contractor back into volunteer mode.

thugz 'n Harper

Our illustrious PM slipped into the area back in July. The only reason anyone became aware of his visit was the presence of
a. armed and vigilant soldier folk
b. Men in black refueling their black SUV's at the Kitsumkalum gas station.

I don't understand why they don't tweak the attire a tad in order to blend into their surroundings. Suits are such a rarity 'round here that ones first thought is 'oh...that poor groom seems to have lost his bride'
And a cluster of them on a hot summer day??
Why that's about as subtle as a gay pride parade.

Black Fly, the Little Black Fly...

...oh where oh where did you go???

Normally this time of year finds me swatting and swinging at a dozen or two black flies whenever I'm outdoors. The husband was putting up trim on windows yesterday and despite copious sweat he was bothered by One. 1. A single, solitary blackfly.

This may be the most terrifying environmental signal I've ever witnessed.

My Baby's A Valkyrie

My baby is Surviver/Amazon/Fury/Valkyrie
she is strong; she is persistence to the nth degree.
She holds herself here and now despite compelling and ugly commands from mind and body to do otherwise. And she does so with manners and courtliness. (sp?) ...dunno...

I am privileged to witness her journey. I was always privileged to be her conduit to this world and into the art world. Or 'a' art world. Community/outsider art.

The 50% Rule

I try to lead a balanced professional life and that balance would be in the area of compensation where I attempt to be paid for at least 50% of my activities. I was holding up quite well for a few years but lately there has been an onslaught of freebies and hopeful expectations flying at me from every direction.

Sure, it would be fabulous if I gave you a mural for free.
But why should my - or any other artist's - skills and efforts be the one and only, poor little lonely unpaid contribution to a 15 million dollar project??

Ffffuzzz

Fini!

Three quarter view of the wrap-aroundie-ness of my mural. I touched up all the screws and any bare edges today. Had my own scissor lift with chauffeur!
The reactions were 99% positive with the 2 most extreme being old German guys. One repeatedly proclaimed me 'a genius!' - ' she could be painting hotel lobbies!', while the other grumbled about it being 'a waste of money'. I still have a separate piece with an eagle on it but it wants to be a 'seagle' at the moment so there may be much wrestling and gnashing of teeth ahead.
I was corresponding with a watercolour instructor I know today and couldn't resist adding an attachment of my mural; he called it 'spectacular' and complimented not only the technique but the composition as well!!! I'm going to print that off and post it on my studio wall. I couldn't help but respond in a most gushy and unseemly fashion!

Ammendment: not fini
Still have to do some touch up...

Here Fishy, Fishy! #3

Third annual 'Here Fishy, Fishy!' art exhibit and this year we have the coolest thing!! This mechanical sculpture moves and lights up! The artist also composed an extremely exhaustive background story complete with authentic looking font and presentation. The short explanation is that this fish is/was a data gathering prototype created by the Department of Fisheries & Oceans back around 'now' and that it ended up on the banks of the Kitimat river in 2038, where it was discovered by fishermen who handed over this curious looking artifact for display.

I'm betting on this baby for People's Choice!

Bukowski - a glimmer of hope

So many dead, young Cobains and Ledgers in our culture: all one can do is celebrate the persistence, tenacity and longevity of Charles Bukowski.

...endless, airless fog of dread...

My guts are a sinkhole. Imploding.
I can't fill my lungs and the world is flat, lacking depth.

My thoughts hover constantly - awake or sleeping - around and around my TwinnyB. She's done badly for a couple of weeks and she doesn't know how she resisted taking a walk last night. I asked if there are any new wounds...yes...a cigarette to the neck. 'just like mommy'

I'll have to remind her that that was mommy's very last self injury.
Three decades 'clean'.
Do the same.
please...

Hey! The Sun IS Shining!

Here's the bottom half of the mural I've been working on for Multi Level Care. Each section is one sheet of plywood. Seems to be at the stage where I can lay it all out for the final going-over so that everything lines up.

The bears weren't my idea but I'm happy enough with them. It's not like I'm a wildlife painter.

Got some wicked tendonitis in my left forearm, most likely from holding a liter of paint for hours on end and now I can barely hold a styrofoam tray. *whimper*

Well, Crap!...

...I just noticed that I have a lovely photo of devil's club and elderberry beneath old growth forest pinned up on the wall about 18" from my left shoulder.

. .
~

Trees Good: Devil's Club Bad!

Section of the mural I'm currently working on for Multi Level Care. Mossing up the branches went so well yesterday! And then today, well I decided to tackle some devil's club in the foreground 2 sections over. Gaaahhhh! It'll probably add an extra 10 hours to the project but I'll nail it! - I will nail it to the wall!

I took some photos of the devilish weed yesterday but it was dark & rainy and my specimens were rather beaten and ratty. Back to studying fresher ones on the internet...

Do Bears Shit In The Woods??

NO.

No, they don't.

In my experience they seem to prefer parking lots and sidewalks...

(cell phone is in there just to add a sense of scale - I wasn't going for some kind of wierd juxtoposition or message)

Global Warming. Exactly As Advertised

...at least for our area.

Three inches of rain in just over a day, and it's still supposed to be August
During the first whispers of global warming, many years ago I found a projection of climate trends and what did it show? More precipitation and the same average temperatures.
We're one of the 'coolest' places on earth.

This past week I was presented with a framed certificate noting my 20 years of volunteer weather observations.
My persistence has always been due to a seriously innate nosiness.
I just want to know. (and if at all possible, to know I'm right)

Serious Shit

http://www.terracedaily.ca/show2954a/ONE_SIDE_OF_THE_SWORD_FIGHT_IN_KITIMAT

Luckily we have a more thorough news source next town over. Someone (rcmp?) has been sanitizing the crap out anything that even gets reported here.

Hope this throws a different light on it for TwinB.

The Dead

"Aaaw! Nothing exciting ever happens in Calgary"
That was twinB's reaction when I'd finally figured out that the big brawl had taken place at her former hang-out. She was even somewhat amused that her friend had gone to the hospital to continue the feud - however, fun and \bubblie-ness/ aside it sounds like the incident came so very close to our normal stupid tragedy.
TwinA asked me on the phone if 'B had mentioned that there had been a hunt for a fugitive around work last night, with helicopters and everything.
'Nope - only that they wanted her to work full-time'
TwinA suggested that it didn't mean anything more to 'B than finding a dust bunny... if I sneeze, I'll let you know...
We really can't tell if its the emotional deads or the meds that are stealing her soul.

when they cut, there's no blood.
if they screamed, there'd be no sound.
when they died, nothing changed.
this town is a necropolis full of ghosts and monsters, drifting relics with their blank eyes to the ground, devoid of past or future.
they don't dream anymore.
they don't want to move anymore.
they haunt their own houses and streets, hunched and stiff with decay, no longer haunted themselves by memories of hope or pain.
they don't have to feel anymore.
they don't even talk anymore.
they breathe smoke, not words. TwinB aug.07

Oh You Silly Montagues/Capulets/Hatfields/McCoys...

Big altercation at one of our 'multi-family housing developments', resulting in a brawl that included a long knife, stones, fence posts and a sword. I gotta hunch that one of the families involved might very well be the household where TwinB would draw/paint for weed...
guess I'll find out over the next few days.

Aug. 13 - Oh golly. The information I've been able to glean makes it seem more and more likely that this situation did indeed take place at her former hang-out. She visited there a couple of times while here in June but found the atmosphere rather tense and grim...and that maybe she comes across as being a bit too 'white and nerdy' for most of the people around there.

just a feeling...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODR6rGcluRs&feature=related

Fleeing the Wild Blue Yonder

View from the airplane window as I headed to Vancouver for 10 days. The trip is a 2 hour extravaganza of mountain and glacier punctuated by a rare glimse of road or settlement (depending on the route chosen by the pilot).
I'm back out in the field now which is how I choose to think of this place:
this is the field - not the boonies.

Night Stocking

Alright!..........employment for TwinB agin'

She's been re-hired at Superstore. Different location but likely in the same position stocking the cereal section from 11 pm to 7 am,
Which means she's a night-stocker and a cereal filler.......

Collaborations Betwixt the Locals

The photographer 4 houses up the street from us took the opportunity to have an extensive photo shoot with TwinB during her visit.
Man...put her in front of a camera or on a stage and she just comes to life!

Dwight Magee photo

I Like to be Canadian...

When TwinB was in Grade 1 - and that would be over 15 years ago - the class received the old 'Why Do You Like to be Canadian?' assignment. This was her response.
Our apologies to the missing Altantic Provinces.
However your loss is apparently the Prairies' gain. Don't know if we have a name for that extra Saskachewan she stuck in there...
(perhaps it's a back-up in case the first one fails)

Feelin' Stabby

A couple of months ago we experienced a flurry of assaults. No murders though which is good because we're almost due again.
Justin stabbed Ryan at a bush party by the Big Spruce. Everybody ran away.
A rather bloody Justin vaguely explained the situation to a clerk at Esso. They phone the rcmp who retrieve Ryan/arrest Justin.
TwinB recently encountered the duo hanging out at city centre; the incident doesn't seem to have changed their relationship any.

What's a little stabbing between friends?

Culturally Modified Tree

, While hiking out to the old Haisla cemetary I came across this particular cedar which had been culturally modified not once, but twice! The Haisla, like other coastal first nations harvested strips of cedar bark from various trees; this did no harm to the tree except to leave it with a rather distinctive vertical scar along the trunk.
Some time later, another individual - young and disgruntled I suspect - added their own, more modern contribution.

She Draws...

TwinB came home for a 2 week recuperation - met us in Fraser Lake. She brought a selection of the pen and ink compositions she's drawn on the backs of cigarette packs. (pen and ink on the devil's parchment ; )
I suggested that she attach these to a canvas, paint it one colour then continue the design in one or two directions. I'm pretty sure that she could find success at least locally with these. People 'round these parts are rather excited about her stuff.

On The Road. Again

A view of the future: the lake side of our lot on Fabulous Fraser Lake. (real estate ads now call our lake popular) We spent 5 days there cutting wood and doing some landscaping. The building site is mostly level and we attacked -nay!- conquered a large brush/root/rock/dirt pile left over from installing the septic system last year.

Black flies love me more than ever and it seems that mosquitoes have joined in enthusiastically.

I Has A Grandkitteh!

Here is the newest addition to our clan - a thricely inbred kitty. The name's Violet - 'Vile' for short. She has an Uncle-Daddy going back at least 3 generations, but who knows? - could be even farther than that.
We bonded. She's attached to TwinB who has a way with children and animals especially those of the maladjusted variety.
TwinA requested that I be in Calgary for mother's day since all 3 of my offspring reside there. It was a good visit though exhausting what with all the cooking, cleaning, laundry and organizing of personal space. I have to admit I haven't felt so darn maternal in a long, long time.

Mad Pride

http://www.sfu.ca/madcitizenship-conference/sponsors.htm

TwinB was pleased to note that Gallery Gachet has used her image 'Scatterbrain' on a website for a conference called Madness, Citizenship & Social Justice that will be held at Simon Fraser University in June.
She says she feels like a legitimate Crazy Artist now.

Near Death Experience

At least that's what I suspect it could have turned into had TwinB followed through on her plan to drag her little friend here downtown on the C Train decked out in this fashion. Even sans make-up and confrontational clothing I think his very presence in Alberta is risky.

On the positive side though -this is the healthiest I've seen him looking in a long, long time - due to a tendancy to keep sticking various poisons in his mouth.

- as TwinB once put it "...it's always such an egg and spoon race with him"

She'll try to be a little more careful with him in future.

Happy Place

So tell me - what does one do when 4 or 5 projects are pending over the next 2 or 3 months? I'll tell you what one does - one works on a completely unrelated painting.
Nothing innovative, nothing important to convey...just a watercolour depicting one of my favorite places to be on a hot August afternoon and that's under the jumping bridge at Hirsch Creek.
The fact that I usually have a favorite person or two with me whenever I'm there doesn't hurt either.

A Return to Sweetness & Light

Alien creatures on an alien planet with the grade 2's.
One boy chose to depict his creation living beneath the dim light of a black hole type sun, while another fellow placed his deep in an ocean.
I guide them through a process where we try to brainstorm ways to mash together characteristics from 2 or 3 very dissimilar animals, then compose an entirely new form in a (somewhat?!) believable fashion. Extra points as always for inventing a name for the organism and its planet.

Double Whammy

when the storm clouds gather in xxxx's head, it can change the colour of her hair. when the hurricane rips apart her inner landscape, turning streets into toxic streams of debris, she'll strip our surroundings down to bare, shining sterility, the smiling picture of perfect order. right now our apartment is so clean it should be bleached holy white. xxxxy cut her hair off today and swept it into the trash. these rooms are so clear, so empty you could choke. you shiver to think of the chaos inside when she's made the outside so pure.

TwinB was describing her sister 2 years ago when she wrote this, but it probably could apply again today. I wish TwinA could have been satisfied with the drastic haircut. I wish she would have remembered to call me...but then like she said, she wasn't really in a thinking kind of mood. TwinB tried to reassure me with "they're more like beginner cuts really..."
I just didn't expect there to be so many*.



*about 3 dozen - picture a 4" wide lattice from hip to ankle

A Closed Door

Kildala Elementary will be closing June 2009. Within a day of the announcement one anonymous 'artist'/malcontent contributed their own unsolicited image to our mural.

I kind of feel the same way; I almost want to build on this, however, when the weather gets warmer I will drag my paint back down there and fix it.

Once the school closes, children will be expected to walk to one of 2 remaining elementary schools and that walk includes a kilometer long hill. In our weather. There was the occassional day when my kids were young when I didn't feel comfortable sending them the half block to their school. 30 centimeter deep puddles in the snow will do that.
Many families in Kildala don't own cars. Some families don't have parents who'll wake up in time to send their kids to school.
wtf - they're expendable.
Who'll even notice?

Save Me

'member how TwinB's nice new doctor doubled her Prozac awhile back? Why, just see how it's borne fruit! She recently started writing again and was able to go a few days without certain inhaleables for the first time in over a year and a half.

The snippets she composes are directed (at least mentally) to a friend back home.


Where am I, what night is it?
...
I hate these lights on the train at night, I guess there's just never anywhere to hide. So watch me crawl into a cave. Watch me peek out that little window - the only window in my bomb shelter basement suite. Watch that slit of cracked glass under the porch. and wait for two blue eyes to appear, and a hand.
Rabbit eyes, burrow eyes and a hand at the window to let the smoke out. Then back down because it's not safe mr. rabbit, they have lights out there you can't hide from. Out there it's light and noise and EYES, eyes like gun barrels shooting straight back into yours little rabbit, straight back into your own wide black eyes.
Save me Merle Rxxxxxxxxxx - send eagles.
Save me Merle Rxxxxxxxxxx - send crows.
Save me -send the tide across the praries, let it flood out all the burrows and pull me back to the coast, all the way out to sea.
Out to sea.

And yes, it is an improvement.

Buried 'Treasure'

They don't bite or sting. They're extremely curious -some might even say nosy- and love to observe and touch everything! *

Here's an undersea critter that I designed for TwinB back when she was at AI composing a storyboard for a short video. Her concept was a little on the complex side so the team decided to go with another members' plot.
TwinB later succumbed to her illness, dropped out of school and came home to sit through her long season of disability. This particular sketchbook pretty much just hung out in a drawer for 4 years. I love some of the ideas in her storyboard and hope that she'll have them fully developed in the near future. The nice new doctor has doubled up her Prozac so maybe that'll kick start the creative urge.

*um...hey!...that's me, distilled to the basics!

Owie!! Art Studio Hurt!

Bent down in to grab something in the studio and got a sharp piece of driftwood to the eye - good thing I wear glasses because they deflected it just a hair, so that it didn't go right into my brain.
Now I have a cut over my right eyelid.
And a strong resolve to clean & re-organize the studio with a little more thought devoted to proper storage.

Festive 50th

This particular work has been snowed on, thus obscuring the original message, but it appears to be a birthday greeting. What could be more heartwarming or special than evidence that someone cares enough to graffiti your snowpile in honour of a 50th birthday??

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Chinese dragon as painted by a 5 year old. I like the oriental brush technique this student achieved! I'll look forward to future classes with this K-1 bunch - they were so careful with their materials and it will be interesting to see how they develop.

We were at Haisla Community school today. The drive out was treacherous, even with travelling no faster than 35 km an hour over rain slicked pot-holey ice. Fortunately it was much smoother later in the day. Had fun in all 3 sessions too.

Inhale - Exhale...chill

TwinA noticed that TwinB's two main prescriptions were sitting empty on the bathroom counter.
I had made a point of inquiring re: the state of her med supply a few days earlier ; (
TwinB also managed to lose her cell phone (for the second time & probably for good) This essentially meant that she's been wandering around Calgary unmedicated, without her leash.
TwinA and the Big Brother drove her to a walk-in clinic on Monday so she could get everything rolling when she returned yesterday.
She told me it took most of the evening but she now has a really cool doctor and that little magic piece of paper with the scribblies on it. Now all she has to do is get her ass to a pharmacy so she can get those little magic pills in her system again.

Maybe I can breathe. At least till the next time.

Collaboration

Found this painting - by my very own TwinB - after having lost track of it for over 5 years. She painted it for our exhibit 'round about the time she turned 17. After she drew this and another similar creature I suggested that she paint it in the manner of a Russian icon.
Rather than tackle any of my own projects, I've opted to punch up the highlights and shadows, then smooth out the background on this piece.

This is way more fun than working on my own paintings!

Snow. Still

This photo was actually taken a few weeks ago. The District has since carted off dumptruck loads of it to make way for the inevevitable...which would be of course, more snow. The snow on the ground at present is level with a backyard trampoline.

Superlatives

Affirmation that will most likely remain unsurpassed in this lifetime:

"...you must be the most fascinating person in the universe."
Jordan, Grade 2, Roy Wilcox Elementary


(that would be me, Mrs. Hutson)

Art in the Classroom started 2 weeks ago. I descend upon every elementary class from K-7 up to 3 times throughout the season which runs from January to the end of April. The very first lesson was with the kindergarten students at Nechako school - we explored a very basic landscape with pastels. They were able to grasp the concept of perspective however fully formed bodies were still beyond many of them. (that particular wiring will not be budged or even nudged before its time.)
One little fellow was carefully sorting through his box to select the smallest nubs of pastel then placing them in his hand - "I'm picking out the babies!". Throughout the lesson he kept re-locating his 'babies' to a kleenex he'd placed on the teachers desk.
(aaaaw!)

Snow Management

I feel as though I need to justify my lack of posting and painting. Or painting and posting.

And here it is - snow management. Takes up alot of time pushing, flinging and trying to figure out just where on earth am I going to put the stuff?? We've received 373 centimeters of snow in the last 2 months...which is a bit over 12 feet, and even though it tends to melt back from time to time it's still 3 feet deep on the ground -and the piles are amazing!

So maybe we'll get a little break; maybe my tendonitis will clear up....ahhhh....just looked out the window; maybe pigs will fly.