Back In the Scene Shop Again

You take the key- that extra key in your collection that you posess illicitly, the one that gives you an odd sense of priveledge - you turn the lock then enter.
Years of relationships and collaborations and problems encountered then conquered are contained in the unique, nostalgic scent of The Scene Shop.  Almost every painted surface bears your style.  Hanging over the doors are the portraits, one painted by TwinB and one by you from Murder's In The Heir a production from 5 or 6 years ago. This is where you live.

The illicit key doesn't really bestow privelege as much as responsibility but it makes your life so much easier when called upon to make scenery happen.
Front of a double sided set piece: the top floor of an apartment building for a play to be performed by High School students for the zone drama festival.

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.

Head Bangin' Blues

Wednesday evening saw the return of epic blues singer-guitarist Matt Anderson.
Kitimat loves Matt Anderson.
I'm so glad I squeezed in to this nearly sold out performance.  His voice is HUGE, his slide guitar skills amazing and the vibe was wonderful.  He had far more challenging songs that revealed all his various musical skills and vocal range but I simply loved this beautiful song.
He had us all singing to his final number which was purely delightful.
It was like a mini vacation.

Goodnight Gracie

Said good-bye today to the most light filled young lady I've ever met.  She was 22.
Her father summed up Grace perfectly with this brief phrase: relentless zest.
The Art Club was blessed with her presence for a couple of years and this is where I came into possession of a couple of her whimsical cartoons at our season end art card trades.

She was afflicted with a disorder that first presented as hemiplegic migraines; these progressed to a seizure causing malady and was later diagnosed as a degenerative neuro-muscular syndrome that has yet to be fully understood.  Her Vancouver physician vowed to continue searching for a cause and ultimately the cure that she always hoped to discover in time to save Grace.
A slide show of her life played throughout the ceremony and most photos featured her larger-than-life unique smile.  As the casket exited the church with her crutches placed on top...we experienced one last painful, poignant reminder of her years of resilience and struggle.

It seems a very cruel ... law, almost... that these very sweet, gifted, young lights are extinguished after shining so briefly.

Buried

View from the front door following a weekend worth of snow.  In the past 3 days we've had 106 cm of snow and a season total of 590 cm. (19&1/2 feet)  People are complaining of avalanches in their driveways or 'avalanches on their avalanches'.

The view down Angle Street; it's protected from the wind so snow accumulates there at an even more alarming rate than in other areas.  I saw quite a few roofs covered in, conservatively, 6 feet of snow.
I'm fervently hoping we don't have to dig off the roof - that is one Sisyphean labor I'd like to avoid for the rest of my life.

Arctic Invasion

It's crisp, it's sunny and the grey is gone.  So has any shred or semblance of warmth because we are in the grip of an Arctic outflow more powerful than we've seen in years.  I was attempting to capture the snow blasting off the the roofs and down the street but my timing was poor.  It was -19 C this morning with a good solid wind to push it down even further to below -30 C.  We have about 20 cm of powder atop virtual conrete.  Snakes of dry snow slither and fly down the road as though on the Arctic tundra as frigid winds pour out of the north.
The hiking group is planning on commorating the one century anniversary of Robert Falcon Scott's arrival at the South Pole, (Jan. 17th 1912) next week by going on a 2 to 3 hour snowshoe ending at our fancy English Inn, Minnette Bay Lodge where they will dine on quiche and salads.
If they go out tomorrow maybe they can pretend they're actually AT the south pole.  Make me less sad to miss these outtings for the next few weeks as I present art workshops in the elementary schools.

Fresh & New

TwinB began her academic life at ACAD (Alberta College of Art & Design) yesterday morning with an Art History class.  Today she's in drawing workshops for a total of 6 hours and I'm looking forward to her report in a few hours.  *fingers crossed* hope all goes well...

One of her cigarette pack art pieces there, another Erin/Eileen collaboration which shouldn't be too hard to unload.  I've coloured most of the cig pack, affixed it to the canvas and extended the painted area right around the sides of the canvas which I suppose amounts to a heck of a lot of work but hey...it's how she/we pay me back.