gentle snow at dusk

white floating traces

and if you listen closely

a waft of snowflake

new york, new york

A rare chance to meet bloggers Jeane and Jo (pictured above at MOMA) perpetuated a quick trip to New York City accompanied by my friend Carole. We drove down...about 7 hours from Montreal. It was a busy 4 days with a simple itinerary: meet Jo and Jeane (how fortunate I was to meet them in person), visit a lot of art museums (Dia Beacon on the way, MOMA, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Guggenheim), soak up the city (sore feet but happy heart), and eat well but economically (is eating a street knish considered eating well?). Mission accomplished on all fronts!

Views from inside the Museum of Modern Art. It felt like a place of worship to me.

The Guggenheim (of course!). The architecture was as impressive as the art.

Looking across the reservoir to the Upper West Side on a rainy Saturday. I'm so glad my first glimpse of Central Park was on a moody, foggy, atmospheric day.

But I also appreciated that same view on a sunny Tuesday!

In an attempt to neutralize urban overload, I thoroughly enjoyed a long solitary walk in Central Park where I nicely regained my bearings.

Our lovely well-located brownstone B & B on the Upper East Side. Central Park was at the end of our street and the Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art were just a few blocks away.

View from our B & B window. The perfect place for someone like me, who can literally spend hours enjoying the small details of an urban courtyard. More detail views below.

datura

Taking photos of Jerzy's Datura plants at various stages of bloom. Such a relaxing way to spend a Sunday afternoon...

freda

One of my passions is literacy. I ran a not-for-profit adult literacy organization from 1997 to 2006. I left that position, choosing to follow a different path, but am still involved doing training and consultation. My literacy colleagues have embraced the "artist" me and often call upon me to bring some art influence to the literacy world. So when the Provincial literacy organization decided to honour the memory of Freda Hudson, an individual who made a significant contribution to literacy, by awarding a pin each year to a remarkable volunteer, they asked me to design a pin. So far 2 pins have been awarded and this year the recipient is more of a "pendant person" than a "pin person" so I made a pendant instead. I do not know the identity of the recipient yet. I will know tomorrow at the presentation ceremony.

Below is my concept for the design:

The design itself is a plant: roots firmly in the ground, and sprouting a "flower". This motif represents growth and implies something organic which continues to evolve. Freda's initials are worked into the roots to honour the foundation that she laid in our literacy community and to emphasize that many of the developments we have gained are "rooted" in her literacy work. The "flower" suggests an open book: a symbol of knowledge, learning, and literacy. The "leaves" are designed to suggest wings, a symbol of the freedom that we gain from having knowledge and skills.

As Freda was indeed a precious individual who shone brightly and reflected her brightness, silver was chosen as the material for her commemorative pin. The piercing technique used (cutting the design into the metal) honours the wearer of the pin as it allows the colour and texture of their own clothing to show through and interact with the pin, thus highlighting their own individuality and connecting them to Freda at the same time.

tundra life

And this is where it all makes sense to me. Laying on my belly observing things up close. Moulding to the rocks and the moss, flat against the tundra, one with the earth, the beauty so intense that I fill with gratitude.

first snow

My first morining in Kangirsuk, I awoke to a white world. Above is a shot from my hotel room window. Apparently I was privileged to witness the first snowfall of the season. Beautiful, but melted by the end of the day and no more snow for the rest of my visit.

kangirsuk

I'm back from Kangirsuk. Above is a photograph of the town (pop. 463) seen from my plane as I approached. Had a very nice time there, although was fogged in for three days which delayed my return home. No roads, so planes are the only way in and out. Got lots of work done, met some lovely people and fed my soul walking on the tundra. It looks so barren from a distance but once you set foot on the tundra, you are transported to a rich, colourful world of rocks, lichens, mosses, and plants. Below are some photos of the town and the landscape (often in the fog). More to come...

nunavik

As you are reading this I am in Nunavik. I'm here for 6 days doing some consulting work in Kangirsuk. I had the privilege of visiting Nunavik for 6 weeks in 2007 and thought I'd share some of my favourite images from that time until I'm back to share some new ones. The ruggedness of the rocks and the plants really reached into my soul and I've been yearning for them ever since. I'm doing this via the magic of a scheduled post because I doubt that I will have internet access here! By the time you see this post I will be winding up my trip here and gearing up to post my new photos. Stay tuned for next week...

mask

I generally don't like masks. They scare me a bit. But I like making mask forms from plaster. I love the process. That element of trust and contemplation while under the plaster and the feeling of re-birth as it is peeled off. Once I have a mask I have little desire to embellish it. I like to leave them white...not so scary. But in the attempt to prepare for a mask-making workshop I am giving in October, I decided to do something with one of my white masks. I collaged it with some of the paper I had prepared in Haliburton and added a few extra elements. Here's the result. A little creepy I think...but I have only myself to blame :)

soulful vessels

Inspired by my plaster "clot" forms which I experimented with in February, I decided to try something bigger. I ended up with these soulful vessels and I am in love with them. I could photograph them for hours!

and a few more reliquaries

spinal notes (2008), 7½” x 7½”, cast paper, silver wire

spinal notes (detail)

waiting... (2009), 4½” x 4½”, cast paper, beeswax, glass

waiting... (detail)

resolve (2009), 4½” x 4½”, cast paper, ptarmigan feathers, shale fragment

resolve (detail)

more reliquaries...

despite harm (2009), 4½” x 4½”, cast paper, washi, silver, tangerine tree thorn, ink

despite harm (detail)


thwarted (2008), 7½” x 7½”, cast paper, beech seed pods, waxed linen cord

thwarted (detail)

seeking tenderness (2008), 4½” x 4½”, cast paper, silver, washi

seeking tenderness (detail)

reliquaries new and old

I participated in a local studio tour this past weekend and made a few new reliquary pieces. I thought I'd show them here over the next few days with some of my older pieces.

shout (2009), 7½” x 7½”, cast paper, plaster bandage, ink, thread

shout (detail)

tenuous abundance (2007), 7½” x 7½”, cast paper, thread

tenuous abundance (detail)

contained no more (2008), 4½” x 4½”, cast paper

contained no more (detail)

backtracking 8/8: sticks and stones

And finally, the reason for our trip. The Sticks and Stones exhibition!

Welcome to Ciel Gallery.

Seems as though I'm often the outsider looking in...

Ciel Gallery owner Pamela Pardue Goode and her charming father.

My Jerzy sitting back and observing the evening.

My work and the wonderful work of Susan Springer Anderson. Followed by some of my favourite pieces from the show...

Amber Zavada

Pamela Pardue Goode

Susan Springer Anderson

Ken Knowlton

Jeannette Brossart

Follow this link and go to page 70 to read an article in the April issue of Today's Charlotte Woman. I was pleased to see a photo of one of my pieces and a paragraph describing my influences and my work (taken from my website I guess).