April Fool's

Happy April Fool's Day! I used to have some good fools, but this year I let it slide. I really didn't have any fools happen to me either, other than there was a heading called Waffles on Etsy that I didn't really understand...



Today, I had a cyst removed from behind my ear. Fun stuff. But the upside was that it is across the street from The Cozy Cave Bakehouse. I have been admiring their shop windows for a long time now. And I was lucky enough to have one of their scrumptious cupcakes at the art opening at Banff Library. So, while waiting for Andre & Quinlyn to pick me up from the doctor's office, I wandered over. Can you say YUM?! I just love bakeries, and cupcakes are so delicious and so cute. They had tons of flavors from carrot cake to mocha and I bought lemon, cafe au lait, and chocolate banana. As you can see, Quin gave them an A+!







Oh, I bought 10 packs of expired Spectra film from a company in Massachusetts for a steal, and it arrived yesterday. I am going to shoot a series on Banff, using double exposures. I have really been thinking on this a lot and can't wait to get started!!

Teaching for the Town of Banff

Today I spoke with Kim Coultis, the Programming Director of the Town of Banff, about teaching courses in the fall. She is also one of the awesome people in charge of the Home Grown Exhibit. I am meeting with her on April 15th about teaching. It has been awhile sime I taught, about 1 1/2 years, man, time flies!! I was teaching Polaroid transfer and emulsion lifts at the Nepean Visual Art Centre after Quin was born just before coming here. Oh, and I did teach photography in Mexico in January. But, it has been a long time since I taught dance, arts & crafts, and photography to kids, which is mostly what I would like to do this fall. It will be awesome to be teaching right down the road. Yippee!



I used to teach mosaics, so may do that again, too...

And speaking of classes, I AM TOTALLY PSYCHED, because this session, the Town of Banff is offering a SEWING CLASS!! AND I know the teacher, Sheila Snowsell. I sign right up and hope that there will be enough people for it to run. Look out sewing machine, I will be using you A LOT in the very near future. Happy dance here...

Axe to Grind...

Does anyone else have an issue with the Dixie ads currently running on TV? Their slogan is Make it a Dixie Day. Now, some days truly need to be a paper plate sort of day, like company picnics, family reunions, large gatherings in places where there are no dish room facilities. And I guess if you need a drink of water at the Dr or dentist's office, it is good to have little paper cups. But, even so, it would be better to have a biodegradable option... which brings me back to Dixie. Sure, I am sure they are hurting, being disposable in a world that is starting to wise up to this kind of waste. I am no CEO but I know that when a business doesn't change with the times it dies. So, why then, instead of coming up with a better, more timely, and environmentally friendly option in disposable dishes, does Dixie instead resort to their latest ads, which frankly make me sick?

Ad #1
Little kids, talking about germs, saying no one likes germs, we should not share germs, the something about say good bye to bad germs as a child throws a dixie cup away in their own bathroom! Why would anyone need Dixie Cups in their own bathroom? That is what a bathroom cup is for! I have drank from a bathroom cup, sometimes a communal cup, MY WHOLE BLEEDING LIFE and ask anyone, I am one of the healthiest people I know. My daughter, who drinks from a communal bathroom cup, and who also eats her vitamin after it has fallen on the floor, is the healthiest child I know (and she is not immunized, but that is probably an explosive topic to reserve for another time). Come on, Dixie, people get sick because the world is too damn clean. I can't believe we are teaching little kids to be wasteful. What year is it?

Ad #2
Families sitting down to eat in their own homes, using Dixie brand paper plates and justifying it by saying their family time is more important than taking the time to do the dishes. WHAT?! Do people, aside from the occasional paper plate inside, actually do this? No one I know does this. And no one I know would admit it if they did. And they certainly would not make some lame excuse about family time. Do the dishes TOGETHER! That is what Andre's parents do, and it is down right romantic and probably has been a little ritual that has been awesome for their marriage. Oh man, I can't believe this commercial. It is like, all I care about is my family, screw the earth, other families, and future generations, I want 15 more minutes to watch Dixie ads on TV, THANK YOU FOR CARING ABOUT US, Dixie!

Their website, has catch phrases like "promoting wellness" and "germ pervention". They even have a page called, "When to Use Your Dixie Cup"...

"Your kid's teeth and hygiene are important to maintaining a beautiful smile for life. Keep them healthy and strong by following these simple steps:

- Rinsing after brushing makes mouths healthier and happier.
- Sharing can mean sharing germs. So, get your own Dixie® cup.
- Use a Dixie cup once, then throw it away. (THIS ONE IS MY PERSONAL FAVORITE, YOU CAN BE WASTEFUL AND SPEND MORE MONEY ON MORE CUPS...)
- A fun little Dixie cup helps the medicine go down.
- Use a Dixie cup to wash down vitamins.

Come on, Dixie, you should be ashamed...

We are Social Butterflies...

Second night out in a row... Yippee! We love that :) Especially when there is good food.

Tonight we went to a Banquet at Norquay, where Andre is the GM. It was for the Bruno Engler downhill race which is open to people 35 an older. Quin had a great time hanging out and being told she was cute :) We all had a lot of fun.

Bruno Engler was a photographer, mountain guide, ski instructor and cinematographer in the Canadian Rockies for 60 years. As a fellow photographer, living in the Canadian Rockies, I donated an matted and framed original Polaroid transfer of the Lone Pine Trail to the racers prize draw. The man who won seemed to be pleased with the prize.

Home Grown Art Show

Tonight we went to the Home Grown Art Show at the Banff Town Hall. It is an annual event and I submitted a piece for the month long exhibition. This annual exhibition "showcases the work of a wide variety of artists living in the Bow Valley. Some are professionals, while others are amateur artists who create art for personal pleasure." I believe there were even some works by kids and young adults.

It was also the unveiling of the maquettes (miniature models) made by the finalists in the 2008 Banff Public Art Competition.



It was both a well run and well attended event. I would say there were about 200 people over the course of the two and a half hours we were there. There was awesome food, and the town hall was a nice place to have all the works of art. It was a bit like an art treasury hunt as it was on walls, in cases, and in several different rooms all through out the building. I would say there were about 50 works of art. Photography, paintings, wood working, sculpture, mixed media. Of course because it is in Banff I woul say that 85% of it was landscape or wildlife based.



My piece was one of the more unique pieces, which is fun. It was kind of the joke of the night between my friends and family that my work was at the bottom of a wall case in a hard to find area but I took it in stride, since you win some, you lose some. I really entered this exhibit to get to know other artists in the community and I was content to sip some wine, gobble cheese, and watch my Quin play with the other kids, while socializing. We saw some familiar faces which was great. I also met a woman named Kelly, and her daughter and husband, and we hit it off and were invited to Motoring Munchkins tomorrow. Fun, fun!



After the exhibit we went to Sylvain and Mariana's for awhile. They will only be here for a couple more weeks, which is a bummer. "Ana" is Q's second mama. We will miss them :(



When we got home from their house, there was a voicemail message on the phone. It was someone, calling me from the art reception (earlier in the evening) who works at the Town Hall. He had seen my piece, Self Emerging, which is a gelatin plate monoprint incorporating one of my color images that I made black and white for the piece. He wants to purchase it! That of course was the cherry on an already awesome evening.



I have to say, that since I started creating work for myself (last February for the Erotica exhibit in Chelsea, Quebec)and not for its marketability, I have sold almost everything I have exhibited. That reinforces things for me, makes me more confident as an artist, and inspires me with possibility. And I am THRILLED that the two works that I have exhibited in Banff were both bought by locals. Awesome :)

Morag - The Great One

Ok, so I FINALLY finished a participatory art project called the Dollar Store Doll Makeover Challenge. I say finally because poor Morag was staring at me in her "Before" state from several areas (I kept moving her) in my studio. I found out about this challenge while teaching a photography course in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico in January. I was doing a search on Polaroid submissions and this challenge came up. I was thrilled because it is based in Calgary, with participants from all over the world. I picked my doll from 100 on the site, and received her soon after I got home. She was sent to me for free in exchange for me making her over, photographing her on Polaroid in her "before" and "after" states, and writing a bit about her life. The images and story are sent back to the Secret Society of Analogue Art, posted to the site, I keep Morag.



I love the concept of participatory art projects. Over the course of this project I have exchanged several emails with Pamela Klaffke, who is the brains behind the project, and the whole Secret Society. I feel the same rush that she does about putting a concept out there and seeing how it evolves and what it becomes, when so many are involved. She is doing all this without a grant, which is huge since it cost her $9 just to mail my doll, which cost her $1, to me in Banff, which is pretty much up the road from Calgary (Canada Post sucks for shipping within our own country, don't get me started...). I feel I have met a kindred spirit (I love the internet) whom I can get to know since she lives close by. I plan to submit work to her creepy wonderful and review of meats projects. Pamela has me inspired to create my own challenge.



So back to Morag. I chose Morag because she seems a bit sad, a shy wallflower. I turned her into an art photographer who likes to take tasteful, nude Polaroids... LOL! Here is Morag, before, and after, in a dress made of stash fabric and a Polaroid and tulle, and a wicked collar, also made from a Polaroid. The text reads like this:

"For years, I had put myself on the shelf, so to speak... I was surrounded by creative people and the tools to be creative myself, but I was content to let fear hold me hostage. One day, I could hear the voice of my grandmother, who used to tell me when I was small, that my name was Scottish for great one. Tears filled my eyes when I remember how she had told me no to let being small get in the way of my being great. I got down from the shelf. I have decided to live up to my name."

She Knows What She is Talking About...

"If you want a good life, be an artist"
Doris McCarthy, Painter

I truly believe that for many people you could replace "artist" with their passion, but for me, I have to agree, that artist is the way to go... And kudos to Ms. McCarthy for being able to say so much in such a short quote.

Sunflower Daydream

"A lot of what fascinates me about photography is its ability to act as both the document and fiction, to be both true to life and completely removed from it." Ri Anderson

Well said! I was planning to post this image today and just happened to pick up one of many notebooks kicking around in the studio and found this quote which I wrote down ages ago. I love serendipity!! Here is a double exposure Spectra Polaroid print, one of a kind, that I made at the Calgary Zoo in late February. It is both reality and fantasy. And it is one of my favorite double exposures I have ever made. It has inspired me to start making prints of my originals and to hold onto the originals for the time being...

iCraft.ca

Craft? Yes, yes, I do. Art, craft, fashion, decor. They all seem to be on iCraft.ca. I heard of this latest online selling community, on Create-A-Day, and then again on an Etsy forum. What peaked my interest is that this site is based out of Toronto, Ontario, CANADA! Yippee!! Although the tag line "Creativity Without Borders" indicates that everyone is welcome. And being Canadian based certainly doesn't seem to be stopping artist, crafters, and designers from all over the world from signing up. I see many familiar Etsy faces. I did join. Who can say no, when all uploads are free for one year. Traffic seems slow, and there isn't really that connected feel I get on Etsy, knowing there are tons of people on at any one time. However, if it catches on in the real world the way word has spread on Etsy, then the sky is the limit.

PS The image above is from the front page of the iCraft.ca site. It was not taken by me.

Homage

Happy to say that I received word that I will be among the 58 selected artists (out of over 100 who submitted) who will be in the Homage Show at Cube Gallery in Ottawa from June 4th - 29th. Don Monet, who has become a friend over the course of the four Cube group shows I have participated in, is always comes up with awesome themes. I love submitting work for consideration to Cube. I though the show would be later in the summer so I am bummed that I won't be at the opening. The artist I plan to pay homage to with my piece is Julia Margaret Cameron.


The Echo, 1868, by Julia Margaret Cameron


I had a difficult time chosing between her and Robert Mapplethorpe. I love them both but would rather do Mapplethorpe, but I don't think conservative Ottawa would be very receptive...


Self Portrait, 1985, By Robert Mapplethorpe