Happy Canada Day!

Created these for church because it's July 1st tomorrow and Canada's 145th birthday.  After the service TwinB and I will join Connie 'Cross The Street for the parade and extensive festivities.
Hoping for decent weather....

Ticking Off The To-Do List

1. Embrace the fact that you’re young. Accept that you don’t know what you’re doing. And don’t listen to anyone who says there are rules and limits.
2. If you know your calling, go there. Stay on track. Keep moving towards it, even if the process takes time and requires sacrifice.
3. Learn to accept failure. Know that things will go wrong. Then, when things go right, you’ll probably feel like a fraud. It’s normal.
4. Make mistakes, glorious and fantastic ones. It means that you’re out there doing and trying things.
5. When life gets hard, as it inevitably will, make good art. Just make good art.
6. Make your own art, meaning the art that reflects your individuality and personal vision.
7. Now a practical tip. You get freelance work if your work is good, if you’re easy to get along with, and if you’re on deadline. Actually you don’t need all three. Just two.
8. Enjoy the ride, don’t fret the whole way. Stephen King gave that piece of advice to Neil years ago.
9. Be wise and accomplish things in your career. If you have problems getting started, pretend you’re someone who is wise, who can get things done. It will help you along.
10. Leave the world more interesting than it was before.

So, there's some advice from author Neil Gaiman to a grad class of 2012 regarding making your way in the arts and I do believe that me 'n TwinB have followed it to a 't'.  We mine our difficulties and ailments for all they are worth and I'm pretty confident that my little gal already owns numbers 2,3,5,6, and - especially - #10:

She's made the world immensely richer and more interesting for me, anyway...  (not to forget TwinA or My Boy...both creative and entertaining individuals themselves)

Spring Craft Fair 2012

If this is Craft Fair there must be Meat-On-A-Stick and there it is displayed by fellow Art Club member Judy.  It was available from 2 or 3 different food vendors who did a brisk business all day long.  Not so for many of the artists and crafters; Judy did manage to sell 2 smaller paintings but I was completely skunked!  And I did so well last few Craft Fairs...*pout*...probably never put sooo much time into preparations either.

TwinB's little piggies brought a smile to the face of anyone passing by and I'm glad I placed it down here at what turned out to be perfect kid height so they could enjoy it too.  Had I the foresight to make prints I probably could have sold a dozen.  Ah well - hindsight.  Took care of that today in Terrace at Staples and they turned out beautifully.  First one goes to Kitimat's former sign painter who has donated countless items and services over the years.  She asked about the price which given the amount of work on the original had to be placed at $300 - too steep for a retiree getting by on an extremely modest income but now I can simply hand her a very nice print/copy.
TwinB called today to give me the great news on the Art History project we collaborated on....*drum roll*....93%!!!! (less 15% late penalty which puts her at a respectable 78%)
Can't believe what a huge weight has been lifted!

Not An Art Lover?

Or maybe they are and couldn't resist a little self expression.  Noticed this in the craft aisle at Walmart today in my relentless search for metallic pens.  Big ones.  Not little, bitty fineliners but big fat markers oozing with gleaming goodness.  I did find some and so far have determined the silver is super and I'm working on the others.

Lil' TwinBlue

TwinB met me in the ACAD library yesterday, discovered this massive book and pretended to be a gnome.
It's the closest I've gotten her to resource material so far except maybe for the art history textbook that we checked out that I placed on her bed at her request so, so late this afternoon.  I'd been trying to get her to read through the intro which contains much useful info...in only 13 pages for goodness sakes!

I'm rolling jello up a hill.

And it's melting all the way down.

She's lying in a puddle of sheets, gravol and hangover unable to even partake of the tea I brewed for her 'round about 5:30 p.m. ( Double Bergamot: the Best. Tea. Ever.)
I went down to the Ctrain around 2:30 planning perhaps to be away when she awoke, then returned 5-ish hoping that she noticed my absence but....no.

No...

She's out for a day or more.  I had a nice visit with my brother and his off-site partner but apart from that I was ALONE.  I'm aware that in a foggy sense she knows but it's so hard for me to be right here  and not make any difference.

She doesn't even have  to tackle this shit. All I want is for her to be alive and produce her lovely saleable art.   But NOOOO she had to aspire  to things that are daunting for most mortals and I have to assist and go along for the ride.

Ask me about MLA citation and annotations...no, really...ask me....I'll tell ya'

Tonight's Specials

On Friday night I (AND The Husband!) attended the most recent Dinner Theatre offerings by On Cue. It was such a surprise that The Husband wanted to attend I'd nearly gone out and purchased only one ticket.  Good thing I waited...
I enjoyed it immensely - there were 5 very well presented short plays, with some rather amazing performances - and our table mates were fun and entertaining.
TwinA collaborated with me to create this poster for the event and I'm very happy as to how it turned out.  Working online with the offspring really help to bring them closer to me and mitigate any empty-nestie type feelings.

Professional Photo Portrait

Best. Prize. Ever. !!
In mid-December I attended an open house held by Doug Keech, one of our local photographers. He offered a door prize of a $400 portrait sitting to someone who dropped by that afternoon and looky!
He drew my name!
Doug has started composing photo collages to portray people in their professions and I feel these works are his strongest and most interesting, though his landscapes can be breathtaking.  I went to his house yesterday for the shoot which was supposed to be 2 hours but as we both continued to make progress - I with posing and facial expressions, he with lighting - it went over 3 & 1/2 rather gruelling hours. 
Drop that shoulder, stretch the neck, tilt, twist, look down...up, relax the eyes and...smile!
Repeat a couple hundred times.  I also brought along a bag of art supplies which he used to make the final collage.  Doug will also give me a dvd of 20 or 30 other face shots so now I have a very nice collection to choose from should I need to include a good photo for a submission or profile.
The weather and sidewalk are also significant and part of the 'story'. Very typical Kitimat type conditions and since my house is a half block behind me this is what I consider to officially be MY sidewalk where all walks with our little dog must usually begin.
http://dougkeech.com/   <--- to peruse his site

One little exception to my overall glee? He chose the only one with accidental cleavage!!
We don't *do* cleavage in my family.

Craft Fair 2011

This egg tempera is one of the paintings I sold at this year's Christmas Arts & Crafts Fair.  I also managed to sell one of TwinB's pen and inks and displayed her two scratchboard pieces to much admiration and interest.  I had them framed by my lovely Hamer The Framer who performed her usual magic on them.  She's the cheapest and the best - how can you beat that combo??

This was her little corner and what's that? Meat-On-A-Stick?! Of course it is.  Wouldn't be festive without!

TwinB: Artists' Statement

TwinB is in the midst of applying to attend the Alberta College of Art & Design (ACAD); one of the requirements is an Artists' Statement.  She composed a piece that sums up her life beautifully and it made me a tad teary.  Her Grandma thought she was going to tough it out as I read it to her but was practically bawling by the end. (HAH-ha! she ain't so tough after all!)
TwinB told me she thought she should have gone back to school earlier but I pointed out that she most likely hadn't been ready till now.  She responded that she was much 'shinier' now and probably had needed all that time in the tumbler.


"Personal Statement"


or, "A Brief History of My Time, So Far".



It seems too lofty an undertaking for me to write an Artist’s Statement, but perhaps my left hand is up to the job. After all, it was my left hand that set me apart from the first day of kindergarten, and later distinguished my supreme reign year after year as the class Artist. A “good drawer” was one thing, but a Left-Handed Artist? Those were words you could repeat to yourself in the mirror.



The onset of puberty and a stint in the psych ward complicated things. “Crazy Artist”, the mirror amended, and my left hand surged with the anarchic landscape of suicide. It was satisfying. More than that it was a reason to stay alive; I could destroy every part of myself, but never my left hand. It had value incongruous with what the mirror told me.



At the age of 17 I moved from my hometown of Kitimat, B.C., to attend the Art Institute of Vancouver. Propelled by my parents’ money and years of affirmation from teachers and peers, I left with my high school art award and every intention of being a Real Artist, a Digital Animator, a creator of imaginary worlds. I was shipped home ten months later, crippled by a second nervous breakdown.



“Mentally Ill Adult”, was the merciless report of the mirror.



Everything stopped except my left hand. I picked up addictions but never set down the pencil. Worthless, Failure, Drop-out, Stoner – these words the mirror spat in my face could not coexist with the woman who compulsively created and drew. Like the old jokes, my left hand really did feel like another person.



Without my mom I’m sure I would have ended up like any of the hometown heroes I wasted time with. But she had a ferocious love in her, and an “art room” packed full enough of every kind of paper, brush, canvas and pigment to render it a tiny labyrinth. I spent a lot of time in there, painting, penning and colouring images she would mount, frame, and hang in the local museum alongside her still lifes and landscapes. We presented lessons in watercolour, pencil, and pastel to every class in every elementary school in town. We orchestrated two school-wide murals involving all the kids. We designed and painted every set and backdrop for the high school theatre, semester after semester. I even had the opportunity to instruct my former teachers in the local Art Club, and they began to mistake my work in the museum for my mom’s. This was high praise, because to my mind, my mom – “Mrs. Hutson” to the kids – had always been primarily an Artist, as sure as the ocean was the ocean and a raven was a raven.



But the mirror still called me Unemployed. So in 2007 I risked a move to Calgary, where I would replace the label with more respectable ones like Janitor, Night Stocker, Cashier, and finally, Disabilities Worker. My left hand never stopped. Every spare moment, I drew on paper towels and unwanted receipts. (This made me more proficient in Bic pen than almost any other medium.) I’d draw remembered glimpses of the forest I’d left behind and abandon them to be found by coworkers – waiting, hoping, for them to call me that ethereal word I wouldn’t call myself – Artist.



Other times I just got in trouble for “doodling”.



It’s hard to see an artist in a face that’s been spattered with so much toilet water over the years. But there must be one in there, above the eyes and a little ways back, because every day it sends its signals like Morse code down the dendrites of my arm to my unstoppable, unappeasable, undeniable left hand. As a lifelong mental patient, it’s a daunting thought to look in the mirror and say, “Student”. I hope I’m ready to take on this new challenge. Because by now, I know there’s only one word to describe what I’ve always been, and what I want to be.

Evidence of Heading North

See the feast laid before me?? This is the cuisine that Air Canada dishes out for their short haul flights.  A 14 gram bag of mini pretzels (half an ounce for those still in pound mode) delivering a whopping 60 calories worth of energy.  Fork out $6 for a crisp white wine to wash it down and you have a lovely pairing to occupy your restless self for about...15 minutes if you really stretch it out.

Then...what to watch...what to watch...
Apparently the only thing 'on' right now is an episode of The Dog Whisperer.
Cartoon curtesy of TwinB
I wasn't even aware that airplane seats normally come equipped with media screens until about 2 years ago when I finally flew east on a standard plane rather than just south to Vancouver.
And we get to pay about twice as much too.

Rotary Dinner

A couple of nights ago I attended the year end Rotary Club dinner since someone needed to be present on behalf of Kitimat Arts For Youth because we were receiving a donation and I was the only member willing and able.  Rotary had also invited a brand new - two month old - Indian dance group to perform for the group and in the photo above they had encouraged various audience members to join in.  It was entertaining, almost as entertaining as their name: Curry In A Hurry.
Ahhh...when young folk name stuff! 
This was almost the end of my season; had to put away the panels we'd used for Dance Impressions then attended the final assembly at Nechako school yesterday where I was presented with a lovely thank you from the PAC and students that included a gift certificate to SeaMasters restaurant, right on the Douglas Channel.  It was in honour of the work I'd done with the Nechako centre mural last summer.
A quick hike/walk that I'm guiding tomorra morning then it's almost time to head to Calgreee!!
w00t!

Big Blue Hall

Here's the Blue Jungle, all set up with lights 'n everything.  The Theatre manager made sure she took photos with her big expensive camera so I hope those show it at it's best.
Five hundred square feet, base coat to touch up: 20 hours.

Arts Festival 2011: Final Event

Spent a good chunk o' Monday striking the On Cue exhibit at the library then taking the various pieces back to their respective homes so I really wasn't planning on attending the final performance which was the Naden Band.  They're the Canadian Navy's west coast band so I was expecting marching band/military type stuff.  As I ran through the theatre I caught some very nice sounds while they rehearsed and warmed up so it seemed a shame to miss the closing event.  I cleaned myself up a bit, dressed in theatre black just in case I was pressed into service at the Front of House (and I was).
As I listened to the incredible music they were producing it occurred to me that I've never been in the presence of a real, professional live band before.  A Big Band, not a drony little marching band.
It. Was. Epic.
They played music from popular movies, jazz and swing, with a jaw dropping full length version of Sing, Sing, Sing featuring...well... what I can only describe as some ultra masculine drumming.
I'm glad that I went and I'm glad that it's over!
http://youtu.be/iInxEWAy8A4  ( here's a link to them on Youtube)

Dance Impressions; Installed at Last!

Just a tad behind original schedule, I finally installed all the artwork that the students produced for exhibit today.  Hurray!!  My fave - on the bottom left - would be 'The Sun Is Dancing', created by a grade 3 with Downs Syndrome, however I was impressed with all the kids and their fairly effortless grasp of the concept. 
I love this particular project.  *sigh*

Arts Festival 2011 (aka: WeekFromHell)

The students here were participating in the workshops I instructed a while back for Dance Impressions which always proves to be a very delightful activity hence definitely not part of TheWeekFromHell.  It's the resulting exhibit that I'm slowly piecing together at the mall that has become part of an overwhelming and gruelling amount of work.

On Cue for 30 Years is exhibiting at the library all this week meaning we have to find people to sit there in shifts or be there the entire week our (two) selves.  Took 5 people 6 hours to set this up last Saturday.  The other exhibit  requires that all the artwork be mounted by Thursday at 4 when there is cake and coffee happening.   I attended the Vancouver Welsh Men's Choir last night and it became a challenge to keep my eyes open.  Not because they were lacking in any way; it's a testament to their enthusiasm and skill that they kept me awake the entire concert!

Finally, I have been working on That Backdrop.  500 square feet in 15 hours.  Lots of other crap involved with it though.  I'll have to pack it up tomorrow, haul away the paint I no longer need, put aside the paint I do need for next week when it's installed and I will perform touch ups geared towards the lighting available. 
Oh.  Must disguise the paint I got on the wall of this newly renovated classroom...
shhhh...

Eerie Blue Fungus!

I wanted to create some lighting that looked like glowing blue fungus for the mural I'm painting; turned out quite well imho.
This consists of a battery operated laser light, a blue vase from the Dollar Store,  plastic milk jug handles, hot glue and old man's beard on the base.  Changed my mind and glued torn up drop sheet polyvinyl to the base.  Better light and more eerie.
You can call me the Macgyver of squeaky cheap craft!

Jumping Into a New Mural

Look at how much copyrighted material I can knock off in 3 hours!! (I don't think it's recognizable just yet)  Took 120 square feet almost to completion this afternoon...I hope.  Guess time will tell; it always does.  The beginning phase can be deceptive when one can tackle hundreds of square feet in little time.  It's the fine tuning and polish that really streeeeetch out a project.  *fingers crossed*

As Seen On The Cover of The MVAC Bulletin!

One of my most recent assignments involved creating an image to be used on the weekly bulletin for my church.  So ... you got yer Mount Elizabeth there, the building itself and the cross we see at the front of the sanctuary... three's a magic number so Bingo, Bango, Bob's your uncle!
Bottom line: it works, wasn't even that painful and the Mt. Elizabeth is a good standard view of the mountain to use on many a painting..
The transitional pastor who'd requested this was gracious/professional enough to ask what I would charge for this service; I of course said I couldn't charge for this especially given the amount of time others pour into our church. 
It was quite the novelty to be treated as a professional rather than a rented mule especially when compared to some of the requests I've received from people who don't even know me except as a handy local name who'll realize their vision for no charge while they take the bows.  The publicity's supposed to be good for my career...so I can attract more freebies.
To date I've managed to dodge three different free unpaid, large-to-mega projects that would have seen me donating services worth tens of thousands of dollars.
Now that I look at it written on the screen like that...NO! #4 is gonna be a whole lot easier.

Craft Fair 2010

The Art Club Team - cramming as many paintings on and around the table as we possibly could.  Penny is posing with the bear paw mittens she purchased from a craft table.  I had my best Fair ever, selling all four of my recently completed paintings and we sold 3 more by a couple of the ladies there.
I dropped a bundle of cash on various items, which was no doubt fueled by the regular sale of paintings.
Time to produce something for the Craft fair in the mall in 3 weeks time!

Spoken word evening in Km@

Two months ago I finally attended my first evar! Spoken Word/Slam event in Calgary.  I'd only experienced Spoken Word/Slam poetry on cbc radio so  it was an inspiration to witness the process in person.  Sherri D Wilson was a wonderful host and I (and TwinB) enjoyed the performers and whole environment.  (But - My goodness...from the amount of smokes we bummed out could we ever tell we were in the presence of young, starving artists!)  I couldn't help but notice that I have heard comparable material and presenters in our lil' old  corner of the world so resolved to put together a similar event at the earliest and most opportune time here, so, seeing that 'Culture Days' were upon us this weekend - Sept. 24 to 26 - I  arranged to hold an Open Mic/Spoken Word evening.
Here's what we got:...old fellas Storytelling, and young gals angsting - in very subtle and subversive ways - and older broads reading a variety of poignant material.  We also were treated to a work in progress for young readers and a synopsis of a story I'd heard a couple of years back by a younger male writer.  The crowd loved his punch line/spoiler and I hope that this composition will eventually see it's full development into a completed story.
The fella featured in this photo-  (A well known local thespian - the reader should be wary of these creatures) was asked by my co-conspirator to read something - anything but Robert Service -  and even though he had to help his son retrieve a boat from the bottom of Minette Bay, arrived to sing his own little dittty based on 'If I Were A Rich Man' describing what he'd do 'If He Won The Lotto'.  It was very humourously delivered.
It was a great evening and everyone is looking forward to another.