I am going to a hockey game tonight at Landsdown park (a stone's throw away from my house). I'll be catching an Ottawa 67's hockey game. I don't even like sports, but it seems having moved to Ottawa, there is sometimes not much else to do. I think it will be fun to watch all the crazed fans with their stats and their jerseys. I need to invent an art based activity that rivals sports/religion. I'll be sure to bring my camera and take exciting pictures.
Soldering
Today I was working feverishly on the wire structures for my sculptures. In my mind, I thought I would easily plow through making 10 or 12 of these today, but I only managed to make 4. They don't look like much of anything at this point, and even when the sculptures are done, you won't even see the wire. But they are a bit tedious to make. However, I do love using the soldering torch. Its just that much closer to welding. Note to self: take welding class in the future. Who knows what I would start making if I knew all that mig and tig and oxyacetylene stuff. I am also aware that if the health and safety inspectors were to come visit, they would find a lot wrong with my work habits.
And you can't really beat the gorgeous tree that is changing colours by the moment. Its sooooo beautiful!!! Colour!!! All this from my roof deck.
Filing
Today I went to my new volunteer job at Gallery 101. I am responsible for re-organizing the filing cabinets in the basement of the gallery. Its only 2 hours a week and its good to for me to get out of the house and do something in a different place. Many may thing that filling may be a bit boring, but I find it rather relaxing and amusing. All the files contain interesting information, should a file fall open. It makes me fell like a mysterious librarian. Sometimes I wear my hair in a bun.
The picture above is of my own filing cabinet, at home, of which I am rather proud.
Ducks
I haven't been posting too much this week as I have been inundated with making my little shapes. This afternoon, I am amlost finished 200 pieces. That's a lot of shapes! The reason for the ducks, is Jason and I picked up some tasty sandwiches for lunch and took them to this near-by park. It was such a gorgeous fall day, warm, colourful, breezy. Wow! Then I went back to the studio to work work work. Seeing the ducks was a nice reprieve from all the colours in my head.
Production
Production is in full swing. Could it get any better than this? All the lovely colours and tiny shapes to surround me. The only problem I'm finding it where to put it all. I'm trying make use of the vertical space in the room by hanging things from the ceiling to dry.
My friend Jane sent me this valuable lesson today. Thanks Jane!
Zen & The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig pp 321
"Impatience is close to boredom but always results from one cause: an underestimation of the amount of time the job will take. You never really know what will come up and very few jobs get done as quickly as planned. Impatience is the first reaction against a setback and can soon turn to anger if you're not careful.
Impatience is best handled by allowing an indefinite time for the job, particularly new jobs that require unfamiliar techniques; by doubling the allotted time when circumstances force time planning; and by scaling down the scope of what you want to do. Overall goals must be scaled down in importance and immediate goals must be scaled up. This requires value flexibility, and the value shift is usually accompanied by some loss of gumption, but it's a sacrifice that must be made. It's nothing like the loss of gumption that will occur if a Big Mistake caused by impatience occurs."
Tea
Now that fall is upon us, I've renewed my appreciation for tea. Yesterday, I had 4 cups of tea!! plus, 2 bowls of soup. There's nothing better than tea and soup on a chilly day. I enjoy any tea, orange pekoe, earl grey, herbal, fruity, minty, green. Then when it gets really cold, a cup of hot chocolate always hits the spot.
October
Its a new month, and what a great month it is. I love the fall, its so full of colour and change: temperatures, wardrobe (sweaters, mittens, jackets, long pants) and activities. It may be my favorite season, but maybe its only my favorite season because it preceeds winter, which is will be fast upon us. Happy Fall!
Shopping
I got out of the house today! I went to 2 Home Depots, fetching supplies for my art making binge. Aren't Home Depots fun? I like watching the couples fight over paint colours and the contractors, in their dirty clothes, finding the perfect concrete. It seems such a male domain, all this house building stuff. I like to find industrial stuff and use it for art. I also picked up my sheet of plexi-glass at Canus Plastics. This is to cover the "Absence of Cute' table I put together (see post on Sept 9). I asked if they gave tours of their facilities and they do. So I got a tour of the place and all the cool vacuum forming stuff. This will give me good ideas for months. And a shopping day wouldn't be complete without going to Value Village for a few nice threads. Now I'm all stocked up!
Paint
It finally happened today: I am un-motivated. How can I complain about doing Exactly what I want to do? and yet today I feel all grumpy and unmotivated to even mix paint colours (one of my favorite things to, by the way... ) Am I constantly over-acheiving and thus a day like today thows me off? What if I never get motivated again? Why is working from home so difficult? I should enjoy the solitude, no one to bug me, drive me nuts, no one to tell me what to do. And yet, sometimes, this job is too solitary, I don't feel I have contact with the way the world is moving along. Maybe I just need to get out for some fresh fall air :)
I did manage to mix some lovely colours today. I'm keeping the 'recipies' so I can re-create it if I run out. What can be better than a beautiful Violet alongside a Chartreuse? So delightfully (slightly) mathematical and orderly. I've also come up with these little cuties doodles (right photo) that I'm going to make a bunch for the One of a Kind. Just a little shape dangling from a wire. Its actually quite versatile and modular. A bunch together can be put in a vase. Many colours to choose from.
There, I'm feeling better.
Villager
There's been a bit of delay, but I finally got around to posting the cover of the Villager, a community newspaper in Toronto. Pat (of Business Junction) mailed me a few copies. It was a fun day, that's for sure. Yay for ColourForms and a little press! It makes me want to paint Everything!!!
Back
I'm back from my trip to BC to visit my family. I rented a bike one day and toured around the art galleries in Vancouver. I took pictures of my cute yellow one-speed cruiser at all the galleries I visited. These images will be good for my on-going image database. The trip was full of family and food and fun, (and the baby and boating and biking).
Now it time to buckle down and get serious about making a pile of art for this one of a kind. This week, I get to mix colours. My favorite thing :)
PS, the studio I was looking into has fallen through. Apparently the lingerie factory isn't moving out yet. Boohoo. I'll just have to stick out a while longer in my little room.
Next trip
It has been a short and busy week for me. Just enough time to get settled and leave again. I am going to BC tomorow to visit my family and the new baby that has made me an aunt. I also heard that I might go sailing on my parents boat, weather permitting. I've never gone sailing before. My brother and I might over-do and go mountain biking in Whistler. That could be very hard-core. We'll just go on the down-hill trails :)
Some people say there is nothing to do in Ottawa, but I'm off to register for a Spanish class, and then go to 3 art openings downtown: Dipna Horra at Arts Court, Ottawa School of Art and Karsh-Masson. I'd say, there's too much to do in Ottawa! I love being a busy-body!
Weekend Fun!
This is the big, beautiful, colourful street painting I did at the Junction Arts Festival in Toronto this weekend. It was a great weekend of painting, art and people watching. Thanks go to Pat at Business Junction for the use of store and street. I had a great time and everyone passing enjoyed the live art-making. What could be more fun, really???? (Thank you Jose for climbing on the roof to take the picture!)
I'd love to make an even bigger one, like in a huge intersection (the streets closed, of course). Something to ponder for the future. It feels good to challenge myself and take the ideas that I've been working on into a new medium (like street painting), instead of just being stuck with a wee canvas. You never know how something is going to turn out if you don't try. And I just love to try new things that are challenging and enjoyable and beautful.
Sculpture
I finished a new sculpture today that I am bringing with me to the Junction Arts Festival this weekend. Its colourful, and flowing. I'm planning to make a whole bunch of these for the One of A Kind Show. As I made this, I often wondered what I've got myself into, having to make a large stock of something I have only made a few times. But that is one of the things I love about making a bunch of things, it gets easier as I develop a system. Its going to be Fun!
As for this weekend, I'll be at Business Junction at 2916 Dundas St East. I'll be showing (and selling!) my ColourForm paintings and also doing a big street painting outside the shop (weather permitting). It should be a fun weekend and shows are always great.
Absence of Cute
It seems that I just can't spend an evening la-ti-dah-ing around, watching TV and otherwise being lazy. So last week I started mindlessly cutting out cats from the old pages of a daily calender. It scared me that I may have become that crazy cat lady who cuts out cats. But then I put discarded leftovers on the coffee table and it all jumped out at me. I was cutting the cats out of these horrible poses and props. I was freeing them. Live your free lives, little kitties! So I tossed the cats and kept the rest. And glued it all down last night. Finished...now I just need to find a nice piece of glass to keep it 'good'.
Posters
There were some funny posters at a gas station on my trip in Newfoundland. At first I couln't figure out if the posters were for real or not...Lost Husband and Rabbid Dog? What's going on here? I took a few pictures and dashed off. Pretty funny, those islanders...
First Day of School
This is the first time I have lived in Ottawa and not had to go to school. This morning, I burst out of bed and took a bike ride to area schools to witness the excitement of children and parents getting to class. I'm glad I didn't have to go myself, but I sure miss that 'back to school' feeling. I bought 30 beautiful pencils on my way home to give to my 3 teacher friends. First I have to sharpen then to a tidy point. There's always a different feeling in the air and buzz from people on the street once summer's done. People seems more serious and ready to get down to some real work. I love that change of seaon feeling.
Last week
I had no idea how hard it would be to get back to work after a vacation. I felt like I had come home to nothing, that all the work I had done before I left did not exist. I suppose that's what happens when you work for yourself: everything stops when you take a vacation. I did manage to do a few things last week, like clean out all my paint containers and get ready for mixing paints for production for the One Of A Kind. I sent my mailing list an invite for the Junction Arts Festival in Toronto, coming up this weekend (Sept 11 and 12). I also came across my new favorite artist Kelly Marks' web page. But my motivation was at an all time low. How frustrating. I get scared that it will stay that way. This week, I am feeling much better and back on track to tackle all sorts of work.
Marshmallows
Here's a helpful article from the St John's NFLD newspaper regarding marshmallows. I seemed to have eaten alot of them while camping and this tip sheet was all the information I needed regarding summer campfire dessert. I'd like to consider myself a marshmallow roasting expert. It depends a lot of on quality of the fire, not unlike other crafts, such as pottery or glass blowing. I especially enjoy the tip about putting a small marshmallow in the tip of an ice cream cone. That is too cute. Enjoy!
Newfoundland
I have just returned from my trip to Newfoundland. What a beautiful place it is! This picture was taken at Cape Spear, North America's most eastlery point and very interesting WWII baracks. It is also the place of demise for my digital camera. In the exuberance of wanting to touch the water of the Atlantic ocean, I had ventured down close to the 'shore' (in this place, the shore is dangerously crashing waves). I passed the camera to Jason, who did not quite have it and we both watched in horror as the camera tumbled down the rocks and ploop! into the water and was swallowed by the sea. There was simply no way to retrieve it, since these are not normal waves and this is not a normal shoreline. At least Jason and I had the good sense to not venture into the drink.
For some time after, I was convinced that ocean/world was telling me not to be a photographer, to not be so greedy with my images, to enjoy a place and not have an accurate images detailing the events. I realized that I have an emotional attachment to images, not as a photographer in the traditional sense, but more as recording moments in time, creating a database of texture, ideas, concepts. The pictures I take are for inventory, studies for later, maybe in the same way people sketch or draw.
It wasn't the camera I was so upset about, but more about the images I had taken in this beautiful place.
As unfortunate as this 'accident' was, I was able to come to a very grand discovery of my neccesity for images. And it was also fortunate that Cape Spear is not far from St John's, where we were able to replace the camera (and upgrade!) so that we could come back to Cape Spear the next day and take more pictures.