poetry everywhere

Saw two really great films from Iran today at the film festival. I love Iranian films! Every year I make a point of seeing an Iranian film and I am never disappointed. The first one, Be Calm and Count to Seven, was a film shot on video which gave it a documentary feel. Quoting the schedule blurb: a lyrical portrait of a remote Persian fishing village where smuggling of consumer products - and people - has changed the traditional way of life. The second film, The Song of Sparrows, by the great Iranian film director Majid Majidi (who directed The Children of Heaven), was a particular favourite of Jerzy's and mine. I loved it for its poetic images, glimpses into everyday life, and humanistic message. But what does my image above have to do with the film festival? Well, nothing really... On the way home from the film festival, we stopped at the company that Jerzy works for so he could check on the plants! While he lovingly watered the bananas (which have made their way to the office cafeteria because they outgrew our ceiling at home), I poked around outside with my camera and was attracted by the tree shadows. Et voila! A photo montage!

vellum and celluloid

I'm a bit overwhelmed. There have been a lot of things going on - mostly good - and there are so many of those things that I want to share with you, but I'm absolutely running and haven't had the time. I have just returned from my monthly ATC meeting in Dunvegan and had a delightful time there. I am sharing more of my vellum works as these are the cards I traded today. I made most of these in the car while returning from our trip (which I will tell you about on another post). I had a great little set-up: small plastic container with vellum pieces soaking in water; lapboard with large plastic container lid as a work surface; kit with scissors and my stylus tucked nearby. I just worked away as the highway unfolded. I did get a little nauseated as time went by so had to stop at one point. How we suffer for our art!

I am now heading into Montreal to the World Film Festival. I absolutely live for this festival every year and as I was away, I missed the beginning of it so now I'm playing catch-up. Over the last few days I've seen 4 feature films (Finland, Poland x2, Germany) and 2 shorts (Belgium, Canada) and now I'm heading out with a friend who wants to practice her Spanish so we will probably see some South American films. I bought two "carnets" of 10 tickets each so will be doing some film marathons on Sunday and Monday, the last two days of the festival. Will tell you more later! Gotta go!

i love your blog

Isn't this music to a bloggers ears! Shayla Perreault Newcomb honoured me with this award and I am so very delighted. Shayla, I love YOUR blog! Thanks so much for this acknowledgement. I am touched! Now I will pass it on to other award-worthy bloggers! Here are the rules:

1. Please put the logo on your blog.
2. Link the person from whom you received your award.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog.
5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them!

There are so many blogs that I love and visit regularly. This list of nominated blogs includes some great blogs that maybe you haven't discovered yet. I nominate:

1. jeane at art it...because of her hilarity and the documented progress of her amazing artwork
2. uschi at papierwelt...because of her gentle approach to art and life
3. thinker online...because of his thought-provoking quotes on art and philosophy
4. kathy at waking up...because of the inspiring way she delves into self and art
5. arnold at the butterfly effect...because of his sensitive and compelling black and white photography
6. jo at J°...because of the beauty and spareness of her images and text
7. diana at please sir...for her evocative studies of art and science

wing details

In today's show and tell post on "the pulse", I shared my wings again because they are such treasured objects. Here are some details...

tool tuesday: spray bottle

Another opportunity to highlight an interesting artist who loves her tools! Check out Jeane's blog, art it, where you will be treated to a video tour of her studio and see this particular tool hanging about. Thrilled that you are participating in "tool tuesday" Jeane! Here's what she had to say about her trusty spray bottle:

About ten years ago I was making a video of an artist in residence at a local art center here. She was painting a mural and she had a spray bottle attached to her belt. She used it constantly. I thought, hmmmmm. I think I'll try that. I use acrylics and the spray bottle seemed a good idea. I had this old Shaklee bottle under a sink so I filled it with water and have never looked back. I actually didn't realize how much I counted on this little bottle until my art partner, Lisa Johnson and I were teach an art class last year. We had a huge supply table filled with everything you could think of. As I started to demonstrate, I realized I didn't have my spray bottle. It felt like someone had cut off one of my arms! This is my "absolute can't do without" tool. I spray my paints, I spray my work surface, I spray my fingers, I spray my brushes, I spray my paper towels (my second can't do without tool). It's my fav.

more red

And here's another scheduled post. You may have seen some of these on a green post I did In July. Time passes...

scheduled red

As I am away for a few days, I thought it would be a good time to try out the blogging feature of a scheduled post. It took me awhile to figure out how to do it. I kept saving it as a draft, thinking if the date was set ahead, it would automatically post it on that date. The trick seems to be to press the "publish" button (after setting the date ahead) rather than the "save" button and then it is saved as a scheduled post. So I am posting a photo of another porch inspiration and keeping my fingers crossed that this works.

the pulse

If you normally visit my blog and notice that not much is happening over the next few days, it's because I'm away for a bit. So now that you have a few extra minutes of time on your hands, go on over to the altered page where seth apter has put together "the pulse", an amazing collection of artist responses on a variety of topics. It's fascinating stuff. And very inspirational. I urge you...go there now!

generosity

It's haiku friday and friday is almost over! But I still officially have a few hours of friday left so I am squeezing in a late post. And dedicating my haiku to lynne and kathy who have touched me deeply with lovely pieces of themselves that they sent in the mail. I will elaborate on this in further posts when I can give it the time and thought that it deserves...

generosity

opens possibility

in realms unthought of...

Thank you.

fig family

A few from among the hundreds of fig leaves of the 20 fig plants that Jerzy has nurtured for 15 years and counting...all from the same seedling. The family hangs out in our driveway in the summer months and in our basement over the winter. We even get a few edible figs!

green shoot

inspiration from my porch...

tool tuesday: spatula

Another "tool tuesday", another tool. This time from an art school buddy of mine, Lesley. An educator and mixed media artist, Lesley makes conceptual art using non-traditional materials. And sometimes using non-traditional tools! Here's what she had to say about one of those:

Lately my favourite tool is an angled spatula, typically intended for cake decoration. I have no problem re-inventing the function of tools as a means of experimentation, often with really pleasing results. To that end, I’ve been ‘icing’ Styrofoam cakes with various wall compounds to appear as if iced like a traditional cake. This is the initial construction step of my latest sculptural works. The fact that I’m using building materials blurs the lines between cake decorating and renovation and the traditional roles of male and female therein. The spatula has the right amount of control and spontaneity to muck about in order to achieve a look that isn’t too contrived. The fact that I’m a cake decorator as well helps me push the techniques beyond buttercream. I find that using a familiar tool as a jumping off point to play around with some not-so familiar materials is a comfortable point of entry for creative exploration.

Thanks Lesley! Bloggers...I am in need of a tool to feature next tuesday. Send me a blurb on your most valued tool and it will be honoured in these pages!

full moon

Saturday night I took Luka for a midnight walk and noticed how beautiful and clear the full moon was, so I decided to take a photograph upon my return home. A quick photograph turned into an experimental session. I jiggled and jerked and swayed and darted and lurched while taking the photographs and got some interesting stubby little shapes of the moon. I then pieced some of those shapes like a jigsaw puzzle (using Microsoft Publisher) to create these doodly images. Strange what the full moon makes you do!

And don't forget to drop by Seth's blog, The Altered Page, for something very special today. There are 90+ artists participating and I am excited to be one of them. Quoting Seth: Join The Altered Page on Monday August 18th for the third edition of The Pulse: an artist survey. This month long (!) project will introduce you to new artists, help you get to know familiar faces even more, and allow you access into the creative hearts and minds of a very talented crew of individuals.

running stitch

Inspired by a post at million little stitches, I am posting an image of a sample I did awhile back using the running stitch on japanese paper. I love the simplicity of the running stitch. Subtle and elegant.