Wednesday 28 February 2018

Staying Connected Across The Miles


Living many miles away from my grand babies is hard for me.
I seek different ways of staying in touch
and one of them is
to draw little scenes that I think will tickle a
three year old's fancy
and drop them in the mail.


This week I tried to draw one of her many
book characters
the Gruffalo!


 and two of his woodland friends.


 She likes pictures of things she does.


Then, when she gets them, she colours them in.
This one obviously arrived just in time
for a Maple Leafs game.
Big fans in that family!

A collaboration between generations!

Monday 26 February 2018

Places Where The Edges Are


Whipping around the edges of Stone Pathways


Moving inwards from the edges
Running stitch with white thread creates ripples
but
my thinking is that stones in a pathway
would be surrounded by speckles of sand or gravel.
So I think I will try a colour thread....
....but it can't distract from the stones.


From stitching to walking


We walked the edge of the Annapolis Basin


Looking backwards towards Annapolis Royal
All of that grassland disappears at high tide.
We are safe atop the dyke
which was built by the French in 17th Century.


Looking inland
they built the dykes to protect the lowlands
that stretch towards the North Mountain.


Where the water's edge gets closer to the dyke
huge blocks of basalt act s protection against erosion.


The Rusty Pups use their noses
to learn about who has come down to the dyke in the night.
They often find snail shells
which the seagulls pick up on the mud flats at low tide
and carry to the dyke where they throw them on the ground
to break through to their dinner.


Leaving the water's edge and moving back inland.

I hope the sun shines for you today.

Monday 19 February 2018

Thanking All Who Came To Our ARCAC Opening


Criss Cross
filled the small Mym Gallery


Turning corners


 Handy Hubby
reckoned his signature should adorn his skinny shelves!
What he did was really clever though.
He worked a groove through his tiny 3/4" square shelving strips.
The groove was slightly angled
so that each piece leaned against the wall.

We had been torn between leaving them as is
or painting them white.
I think we will paint them white for the show this summer
at the Mary E Black Gallery in Halifax.


Thank you everyone for coming out to the opening yesterday.
Mingling with friends and viewers and explaining your work
is such a different experience for someone like me
who spends so many solitary hours stitching, stitching, stitching.


When I am asked which is my favourite
I always say the circle on the right
but....
then I see the two I created from my two year old grand baby's drawings.
So we are already collaborating!
Or then.... I spy
another one that could me my favourite.
I think what makes this an interesting collection of small pieces
is their differences
and how your eye is drawn from one to another.


 And congratulations to Sally O'Grady
whose colourful Annapolis Royal scenes
filled the Chapel Gallery.


Beautiful work.

You can see both our shows
and
Louise Williams' drawings as she works as the artist in residence.
Oh, yes, and you can go and draw on paper covered walls
in the main gallery.


Monday 12 February 2018

The Criss Cross Show Has To Go Up This Week

 

One of the jobs Handy Hubby and I will be undertaking this week


is hanging all 53 of the Criss Cross pieces


in the Mym Gallery at 
the Annapolis Royal Community Art Centre.


I know exactly how it will go.
I will just want them all up on the wall.


On the other hand
my practical, engineering Handy Hubby
will measure and calculate
nail things to walls
and make sure everything is level. 


...that reminds me....
I have to write a statement about the show
and the process 
of creating a small piece every week for a year.
Each piece had to include a cruciform.
Some of which ended up as focal points and others barely visible.

Wish us luck!
Of course it will get done in time
for the opening on Sunday, February 18 from 1-4 pm.

Saturday 10 February 2018

Coming to Toronto......


For those of you living in Ontario
The Artist Project runs from February 22 - 28
at the Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place,
195 Princes Boulevard, Toronto.


And as usual Mark will be there
with his gorgeous Georgian Bay landscapes.
You can find him at Booth #536
Do go and have a chat!


And this year I am happy to say
a friend of mine, Nadine Belliveau, from Baie Sainte-Marie
 will also be there at Booth #319....


....with her beautiful acrylic Nova Scotian landscapes.

Monday 5 February 2018

When Stones Take Over Your Life!


This strange Winter's pattern seems to be
three days of snow accumulation
followed by
One day of rain that melts everything.
Meanwhile I have had a busy week indoors.
Rocks have been sewn in pathways
pinned to the wall
removed from the wall and unpicked
rearranged and sewn back together again.
Despite the duct tape threads are everywhere!
When the week started I had thirteen pathways.
That always bothered me.... there are twelve months to a year.
By the end of my rearranging frenzy
I have twelve!
Let's hope the gallery walls are tall enough.



Next came was the decision on what to do next.
So I did some tests.
Tried stitching through quilt batting and a muslin backing.
Just doing that small sample was a problem for my old hands.
So that won't work.
For one brief second I considered machine quilting.
After creating all these stones by hand that is definitely a no no!


So I removed the batting and tried again....
Better
but still my hands would not survive the thousands upon thousands
of needle pulling stitches through that muslin.


Finally I went back to my original idea of
simply backing the stones with 
a lovely old damask tablecloth.
Aaaah...just like butter.
That will do.


 I was interrupted with a request from
for Valentines Day Cards


These are very small
but even that small
I felt guilty
I should be back at my stones!


So far I have only managed three.
Have to get back to those stones!


 A pathway pinned to a strip of tablecloth.
I settled down in front of the fire
and basted them down
as invisibly as possible.
Something I learned from Jude about ten years ago.
Thank you Jude.....you are such an inspiration.


For the moment I an loving my stones.
I come downstairs every morning
turn the heating up in the studio
and immerse myself in the process of bringing them together.
I hope I can do them justice.

I hope your work inspires you today.