Last Sunday, my wonderful hubby stayed home with our kiddos while I went on a highly anticipated day trip with my dear friend, Dea Fischer, and her amazing daughter, Millie Rose. None of us are morning people, so it is nice that nothing was open at our final destination until noon. We rolled out of Canmore in Dea's jeep, our first stop: High River...
When you get three artists into a car, with nothing to do but look at the scenery and chat, of course we talk about art. Actually, I think we talk about art everywhere... anyway, it was a real treat to get to talk with Dea about our separate and joint ventures. We both always have something on the go, and it is nice to hear about what the other is up to. We just completed joint and single submissions to the 2012 CREATE in California and are working on a book proposal...
After about 2 hours, maybe it was less, we arrived in the beautiful little town of High River. The gorgeous little houses struck me right away. I live in a completely over priced condo/town house in Banff. I get house envy when I go to small towns like this because I know I could have a huge house with a huge yard and garden if I lived anywhere other than Banff. But, of course, not many people have the privilege I do, being able to actually live in a National Park, so I accept and love our little abode in the heart of the Canadian Rockies. But, the artist in me dreams of a more picturesque home, instead of a cookie cutter one... oh well.
Our mission in High River was to visit our friend, artist and owner of Art and Soul Gallery, Annie Froese. I met her while giving artist demonstrations at Canmore's ArtsPeak Arts Festival earlier this year. She and her friend, Larissa Mclean, were sharing a studio in the same area I was, as part of The Edge Gallery's, leg of the art tour. They are both colourful, beautiful women, who make colourful, beautiful art. We traded work and contact info and promised to see each other again. I bumped into Larissa at the Canmore Mountain Market a couple of weeks ago, by surprise. I am glad I did because she was not able to be there to meet us. Annie, invited us to come to her gallery for a little show and tell of our work.
As we were looking for Art & Soul, Dea noticed some beautiful geraniums along the sidewalk, and exclaimed, "That must be it!". She was right. Both Annie & Larissa are synonymous with flowers, in my mind. We parked the car and headed to the back of the gallery where Annie's garden and her studio is. Both are so lovely!!
We spent a couple of hours enjoying the gardens, exploring the gallery, drooling over Annie's studio space, eating lemon meringue pie, photographing one another, show and telling our latest work, and making plans for future visits. Dea & I would love to teach classes at Annie's one weekend, and to play with Annie in art making as well.
Here are some photos of the fun we had... you will notice a couple of photos of ladybugs. They were everywhere and an element of the trip that I will always remember...
Part Two will continue our fun with photos and tales from Nanton...
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