Seeing Double: Reflections on Human/Nature in Banff Part Three

My Lovely Family

I had many, many wonderful people show up to my exhibit opening at the Banff Public Library. Unlike a public or private gallery on Main Street, where people may wander into an opening or vernissage in the course of an evening because they happen by, the Library openings are mostly attended by people who are invited. I did put announcements in the paper, but in the end, it was mostly people I knew at the show. I was deeply touched by the people who took the time to come and see my work, at my first solo show in Banff.


My friend and chiropractor, Dr. Dorothy and her husband.


My friend and show coordinator, Kim.

I want to thank Kim, Dr. Dorothy, Pam, Drew, and Silver, Megan and Corinne, JT, all the Mom and Kids from our neighborhood, Maureen, Annie, Louise, and William, Cheryl, Michelle, and their friends, and anyone who I hope I have not forgotten... blame it on Mommy brain :)

The icing on the cake, which really, really made me feel special, was that my friends at Victory Thrift Store, sent me flowers!! I had called the Library earlier in the day, and Kim said, "Someone sent you flowers". It had me thinking all day, who sent me flowers? When I opened them and read who they were from, I was so grateful. I go to Victory about once a week. It is the perfect place for me to find toys for Quin, and things for me to repurpose in my artwork or to use in our home. Our friends there, Nathan, Wendy, Shelley, Maureen, and Keely, are very welcoming and friendly. They even save me old books, camera, and photographs! Maureen sent the flowers on their behalf. I was so shocked by the flowers and the starting of the opening, that when Maureen walked in the door, I didn't even have the flowers out on the table :( She chided me about that! It was so good to see her, she has been sick, and I have not seen her in months, just email. I was touched that she not only sent the flowers but that she and a friend came to the show. They used it as an excuse to go out to dinner in Banff and then to come to the show. Maureen is a crafty lady, who enjoys collage and mixed media, and the work of Claudine Helmuth. We are always planning to get together and create but have not been able to. Maureen also encourages me to continue practicing how to sew. She find me books and spurs me on. Thanks to Victory! They mean so much to me that I have always given 10% of the sales in my Etsy shop to their Operation Jacket Frost Program, which provided jackets, snowsuits, boots, and other winter items to children in need.



I am a foodie, so there was plenty of food and drink to be had by our friends. I ordered mini cupcakes for the kids and adults alike, from Cozy Cave Bakery. We were also supposed to have soft pretzels from JK Bakery in Canmore, but they forgot to make my order. We had cheese, baguette, meats (which being a vegetarian I didn't order on the specified CHEESE tray), and juice from Nester's Market. And wine and spirits.

Seeing Double: Reflections on Human/Nature in Banff Part Deux

This is the second part post about my solo show at the Banff Public Library. To catch up on the first post go here. As I revealed in my post below, I found out a day before the show that I am pregnant (while battling the stomach flu)! I was glowing inside at the opening. My friend, Kim, who is also pregnant, is the one who was coordinating the show for the Banff Public Library. When I had found out she was pregnant we were talking about how fun it would be if I was pregnant at the same time, and now I am! I could barely get in the back door of the library before I told her the news :) And then I broke out the bottle of denatured wine, so we could celebrate. I was not ready to let everyone know, so this gave me a cover and Kim is due in March, so she is showing, but this allowed her to celebrate with me and during the show.



Here are some more images from the show. I also have images from that night that I will put into another post along with some stories...

I'm Pregnant!

Yes, it's true :) My husband, our daughter, and I will be welcoming this little babe into our family sometime around June 4th, 2009! We are thrilled! I found out when I was only 3 1/2 weeks along, and I am now 6 weeks, and pretty much everyone we know, knows. Stay tuned for a couple of pregnancy related posts which I have been meaning to write. My life has been so crazy! Let's just say that during the week I found out I was pregnant, I was finishing matting and framing my solo exhibit for the Banff Public Library, hanging the show, working my 2 day a week job at Silver Spoon, teaching recycled art for the Banff After School Program, as well as digital photography and ballet for the Town of Banff Community Courses, planning my exhibit opening... then I got the stomach flu in the middle of the night, took the pregnancy test the next morning, and put the cherry on top of a crazy busy week that had its share of ups and downs. Things seem to only happen to me like this. When nothing is happening, nothing happens. When everything is happening, just add some more! The news of our babe did help me through the flu, and I was happy that I was fine the next day (was hoping the nauseau was all flu related and not morning sickness) and able to go to the opening. I drank denatured (non alcoholic) wine and no one was the wiser :) although I was bursting inside!

Yummy Dinner!

Tonight we tried a new noodle dish for din-din. It received a thumbs up from both my husband and our 2 1/2 year old. To view the recipe for Udon Noodles with Walnuts and Pomegranates click here. Recipe and image courtesy of Vegetarian Times.

Wanna Know More About Ning?

I am a member of POE, Photographers of Etsy Team, and we have several vehicles for the groups communication, including a website, a blog, and a Ning. Ning means "peace" in Chinese, and is a social networking program where you can start a group for people who all enjoy the same topic such as cupcakes, convertibles, Val Kilmer, or say, photography. If you would like to find out more about Nings, follow this link to the article I wrote for the POE Blog.

30 Things in 30 days - #24 - Stop Storing Data on CDs

I am a photographer by profession. I got to a point where I was up to my eyeballs in CDs. Before external hard drives were affordable and easy to find at the local electronics store, I would burn images to CDs for storage and for bringing orders to my pro lab for printing. Now, don't even get me started as to why CDs are a stupid way to store important information. Have you ever lost important information because a disc was scratched to the point of no return? And they take up so much room. Maybe not to your average bear, but to me, volumes. I may be a professional but people these days are camera crazy and digital has made it even more so. So, really, everyone should have the same problem.

For data storage at home, I have an external hard drive. It is a My Book which has a 1 TB (One gigabyte (GB) = one billion bytes, One terabyte (TB) = one trillion bytes). It will hold up to 285,000 photos! Yes! Awesome! So easy to set up and use. And I have no idea the cost comparison to buying CDs but I know that it is a lot smaller and more useful than scads of CDs.

But what really got me thinking about this post was taking an order to the photo lab the other day. I used to burn an order, no matter how small, to its own CD, so I could transport it to the lab (unless I was using a lab with FTP capabilities, then I just uploaded to the lab). This was before flash drives. As I was uploading something to my flash drive the other day, I realized I should post about this. If you are not planning to bring your actual memory card to your photo lab, don't keep burning discs. Invest in a compact flash drive or a travel hard drive. The flash drive is great for taking images to the lab. The travel hard drive is great for uploading photos from your camera or memory card while traveling, so you can clear your card for more images. There are many kinds of flash drives and travel hard drives out there. I have the travel drive that is in the link.

Shelve the CDs. Equip yourself and reduce the waste.

Seeing Double: Reflections of Human/Nature in Banff - Part One

Self Portrait

Friday night was my show opening at the Banff Public Library. I don't even remember when I signed up to have the show but it was at least a year ago. When it comes to shows, unless I have written a very detailed proposal in an application, I kind of let them work themselves out. I am always working on several series, so I just kind of let what will ultimately become an exhibit, evolve. I started this series in April of this year. Here is the artist statement for the show:


Seeing Double: Reflections on Human/Nature in Banff
Human/Nature. I seem powerless to exclude these elements from my work. They seem ever present and paramount in each of my most recent series. I like to start creating new work intuitively, letting the pieces come together as they will. Inevitably I come to find myself gravitating toward including these key elements of human and nature, subconsciously. Their connections to my art have only gotten stronger since moving to Banff in 2007.


Another “trend” one can spot in my work is my love of analogue cameras and film, namely Polaroid. My love affair with Polaroid has only deepened since the announcement that they have stopped making film for their cameras. Together with my love of rescuing and recycling obsolete or “useless” objects, expired Polaroid film fuels my creativity because it is unpredictable. My love of photography as a medium grew out of exciting sessions in the darkroom, where my images would “magically” appear in a tray of chemicals. I once had a darkroom in my home but up until recently my nomadic lifestyle required that I abandon it. This is when I began to seriously work with Polaroid film and processes. Next to working in a darkroom, Polaroid is the only way to watch your images “magically” appear. While skill is required, there is also an element of chance. The results can be beyond my control and I love it. Additionally, I appreciate that each Polaroid is a true original, a one-of-a-kind piece in a small format that requires the viewer to get up close and intimate with each one.


This series began with a $5 Polaroid Spectra camera I rescued from a thrift shop. Junk to many, it was a true find for me. The same week, without actively looking I happened to find expired Spectra film. I tested the camera and soon discovered that I could make more than one exposure on the same piece of film. On daily walks with my toddler, the idea for a series, shot entirely in Banff, took root and sprouted. I soon knew exactly what I would focus on; humans and nature. Of course many places combine both, but Banff National Park is unique in the fact that people can reside within its boundaries. Like most National Parks, people come from all over the world, every day, to witness and photograph its beauty. While stunning in its wild beauty, the stamp of humanity is every where you turn. This combination can be both good and bad but I chose not approach this series in a political way. I merely want to highlight the interplay of both, which can make from some striking, at times humorous, at times enlightening, visuals that are both abstract and illustrative in their nature. Here humans and nature are living in harmony, most of the time. I make art to share my perceptions with the world and I hope people are moved by what they perceive in what I present.



Each image is an original Polaroid picture, a one of a kind, mounted and presented in mats cut by my hand. In keeping with my commitment to work with recycled and thrifted materials each piece is framed in refurbished and recycled frames from a past shows. The works in this series are not titled for two reasons. One is so people can try to guess where the images were taken, a treasure hunt of sorts. The other is so people can draw their own conclusions or create their own ideas without my titles telling them what to think.



The opening was well attended. I was almost afraid I would not make it, since at 4 AM, the morning after I hung the show, I woke up with the stomach flu. This was the day before the show. I had to miss work and two classes I was supposed to teach but was all rested up and able to attend. I am going to write another post about who was at the show, what we ate, and that includes more photos... stay tuned!

Catch Up

It is time to play catch up. So much going on in the creative realm lately, that I fall into bed at night exhausted. Sometimes I fall asleep putting my two year old to bed... sheesh!



First of all, there is a new babe in our family. My sister, Lisa, had a baby girl, Antonia Elisabeth Ray on Wednesday, September 24th. She will go by Nia is absolutely adorable, of course! She was due on September 6th, so way to take your time, Nia :)

On Monday, I taught my first Recycled Art Class for the Banff After School Club. It was a lot of fun! There were about 12 kids, from ages 6 - 9. We made collages from old books and matboard that were given to the program. I was surprised that the kids didn't know the word collage, since almost all kids perform the basic steps of cutting a gluing regularly. The kids were all enthusiastic and made vastly different compositions using vastly different design styles. I am not allowed to photograph the children for blog purposes, but I am allowed to photograph and blog about the work. I am looking forward to getting to know the kids and teachers of the program as the weeks go by. I brought my daughter with me, and while I may not always do that, she had a ball and fit right in with the young artists.


This is my absolute favorite collage. This little guy really listened to what I asked the kids to do. He took different pieces of paper and made them into something new.



This little guy's collage, the two program leaders, who are also women, and I, in stitches. We thought his mom would be very proud! PS He is not old enough to read :)


This is the collage that Quin and I worked on. She proudly held it in her stroller all the way home and has it displayed in her room.


I liked how this girl used the different scissors that were available to make new and different shapes from the paper.

I was going to post about more but it is off to bed for me... night night!

30 Things in 30 Days - #23 - Green Weddings Part Two

Here we go again. More Eco Friendly wedding tips:

- If you are serving wine at your wedding, make it organic. You can find out about organic wines made around the world at Organic Vitners.

- Serve Fair Trade, organic coffee and teas at your reception. You will find helpful information here.

You know, I think this is getting a bit complicated, and I was looking for simple tips. Sooooo, I will continue these posts at another time, maybe a series on green weddings. But will move on to 7 more simple tips to close out this series.

30 Things in 30 Days - #22 - Green Wedding Ideas

Awwwww, weddings! So much work, so much expense, so much waste, but oh so much fun! Now, not everyone will want to go to drastic measures to make their wedding green, like say eloping. But, there are several ways to make any wedding more environmentally friendly. Here are some tips:

- Make informed choices when it comes to your rings. Check out companies like Green Karat, which use high quality, recycled metals. Ask questions about where your diamonds have come from and avoid conflict or blood diamonds. Global Witness offers an online consumer guide that can educate you on the diamond industry and teaches you the kinds of questions to ask a jeweler.

- Have your wedding and reception at the same location so guests don't have to drive beween the two. Even better, have the wedding outdoors is a beautiful location that reminds you why our environment is important to you. Botanical Gardens are amazingly lush and beautiful and you will be supporting a non profit organization if you have your wedding and reception there.

- Select clothing and accessories that can be worn again, or recycle clothing by going with vintage items. Check out The Vintage Wedding Dress Company for decadent dresses and Unique Vintage for more affordable but just as lovely dresses (although some are vintage "inspired" and not actual vintage). It is also possible to buy gorgeous wedding dresses made from silk or hemp like the beautiful ones sold by Conscious Clothing.


Fancy Strapless Dress by Conscious Clothing

- Donate your wedding dress to I Do Foundation so that is can live on and be worn again.

- Send invitations that are made with homemade paper that has wildflowers seeds in it so that your guests can plant the paper and enjoy the flowers. Or you can send e-invites but remember those people who don't have internet access. On this same theme, you can set up a wedding site where guests can access all your information and print only what they want to but be sure to mail the same info those without the internet.

Wow! I had no idea this post would get so long. It may end up being a two or three parter.... stay tuned!