International Women's Day 2010 - Part Two

My little cutie, Emmanuelle

To continue where I left off in the last post about this past Monday, I had to leave the wonderful YWCA luncheon at about 12:55 PM so I could get Emmanuelle to the Banff Elementary School. We are part of an incredible program called Roots of Empathy. I have been wanting to write a post about it since October.


Roots of Empathy was founded by educator Mary Gordon in Canada in 1996. It is an "evidence-based classroom program, its mission is to build caring, peaceful, and civil societies – child by child – through the development of empathy in children." The goal of the program is to raise a generation of more empathetic children and to reduce bullying and aggression while teaching respect and caring. This is done by introducing a baby to classroom of children, in our case a first grade class. The mom and/or dad bring the child to the classroom so that the students can watch the baby develop over the course of a school year. There are pre and post baby visits with the instructor and the class so they can talk about how they think the baby has changed and then to assess the changes. There are topics each visit, such as what is in a diaper bag, how to keep a baby safe, or how parents communicate with their child. We sit on a green blanket in the middle of the children and they ask me questions and watch Emmanuelle. We volunteered to take part in ROE this summer when a friend of mine who works for the school asked us if we would be interested. I had read about it in the local newspaper and thought it was a great program and that I would like to be a part of it. As luck would have it, Emmanuelle was born at the right time of the year for her to be the right age when the school year began. The program started in Alberta in 2008. It has reached more than 270,000 children in 11,000 classrooms worldwide. It is really fun to go each month and to see how the kids react to Emmanuelle and she reacts to them. If you ever hear of this program in your area and have a child who could participate, it is really a wonderful program. I would have more images to share with you, but I want to respect the privacy of the school kids. If you want to know more, go to the Roots of Empathy site or leave me a comment.



We arrived at the school about 1:05 PM and were done about 1:30 PM, then headed off to meet up with Quin at her World Dance class. Thanks to Dominique, she was happily dancing when I arrived, and Emmanuelle and I joined her. My good friend, Kim, teaches the class, which is filled with moms and cuties who learn about dance and music. I have a background in dance, so I love it just as much as Quin. By 2 PM, all was over and it was time to relax. We ended my busy day with a nice relaxing snack at Wild Flours Bakery as the first snow in weeks fell softly outside. A great day!

International Women's Day 2010 - Part One

Images by Tiffany Teske

Monday was a wonderful day. It was International Women's Day. It was also the first time as a mother of two that I needed to figure out a way to be three places at approximately the same time. Another mother, my friend, Dominique, came to the rescue. She has THREE kids. I would probably not have asked her to help me but she was already going to be bringing her kids to the third place I needed to be. So, this is how it played out.

11:15 AM, drop Q off outside of Dom's son's preschool. Dom (who from now on will be D) arrived, with her two daughters in the Chariot (very large stroller). She had just been on a two hour run with them! They all pick up her son, then head back to her mother's to get their bikes. Q rides on the back of D's bike with D's baby in the Chariot, to their house. Back at her house she feeds them all lunch.


In the meantime, I go to my first commitment which starts at 11:30 AM. It is an invitation only mentoring luncheon at the YWCA for International Women's Day. It is for community women and 11th grade girls from Banff High School. When I RSVPed I asked if it was okay to bring my 9 month old daughter. She is very very good at being with me (or shall I say on me) in her carrier and she is part of my everyday reality, which I feel is good for a high school student to see. Plus, we are celebrating women, and I am a woman with small children... They graciously and whole-heartedly accepted both Emmanuelle and I at the luncheon. The theme of the day centered around tea. We learned that in the time it takes to steep a cup of tea three women have been assaulted by their partners. We had tea with our dessert. And we were given favors of a herbal fruit blend of rooibos tea called African Indulgence, from the Banff Tea Co, which is amongst my favorite shops in Banff.


This Photo from the Bridal Blog

They also got crafty and made felt fortune cookies, something I have always wanted to make. I will do a post here when I do. The fortune inside read, "A woman is like a tea bag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water. -Eleanor Roosevelt".

It was fun to meet the students and to talk with them about being in high school. And to meet other women from the community. One woman at the table was born and raised in Banff. Another is from Orleans, where my husband was born and raised. The student I was paired with is the daughter of a woman who is friends with a good friend of mine. Just the other day I had asked my friend if her friend has children and she had talked about this girl, who was friendly, outgoing, and seems to have a really good head on her shoulders. The food was great, they even made sure vegetarians and people with dairy issues were covered, which as a veggie for 23 years, I appreciate. The speaker was a local woman, Karen McDiarmid, who made a film about Tibet called Shining Spirit. It is going to be playing at the Banff Mountain Film Festival. I would like to go and see it because I was not able to stay for the trailer she showed, since I was off to stop number two, which you will hear more about in Part Two...

Congrats to Todd & Mara!!

Gift wrap photos by Tiffany Teske
Awesome photos of Todd & Mara by ?


Finally, it is out on Facebook, so I am sure I can blab about it here... my "little" brother Todd has asked his lovely lady, Mara, to marry him... and she said, "Yes"!!! I am excited to welcome Mara into our family. And I can't wait for the wedding in late August. I am hoping that I can help out in a creative way... and I already have ideas for what I will make for their gift...


I love this photo! They are just beaming. The story of how Todd popped the question is great but since I am not sure if I will tell it right, I will leave it for another post... maybe get them to tell it in their own words.


Photo by Tiffany Teske

Nice Article About the Women's Art Show

Max Elliot and eight-year-old Darmody O'Donnell show off their piece, Lady Luck, at the Women's Art Show opening reception at the Banff Public Library. The art show, put on by the library in conjunction with the YWCA, is on display until the end of March.

Women celebrated in art
Shawn Slaght/Banff Crag & Canyon

To celebrate International Women's Day, the Banff Public Library in conjunction with the Banff YWCA held an opening reception Saturday night for their fifth annual Women's Art Show.

The show brought 13 local female artists together to display everything from mixed media artwork, to paintings, to poetry.

This year's theme was equality and this show was loosely based on that theme.

Artist Jane Newman is a regular at the Women's Art Show but had never put in a piece that followed the theme until this year.

"Usually I don't overly consider the theme when I am creating work," Newman said. "I just create work, but this year I had something very specific that I thought fit in that theme of equality."

Newman's piece, Rumi, is a poem that reads "Out beyond ideas of right and wrong doing there is a meadow, I'll meet you there."

She felt that idea of a meadow was a great place for equality, where there is no right and wrongdoing. This is Newman's fourth time showing work at this event out of the five years.

"I love the Banff Public Library," she said. "It is such a generous space for emerging artists and artists that have been well established in the community."

Tiffany Teske said she didn't necessarily work towards the theme of equality, but it still came across in her collage when it comes to human rights.

Teske went to Haiti twice as a photographer for a sponsorship program. She changed them into black and white and sewed them together in a quilt by hand.

"There are some words on how people are the same and are human," she said.

After the earthquake that rocked Haiti in January leaving hundreds of thousands dead, the quilt took on a special meaning to Teske.

"Last year I had three black and white photographs of women from Haiti," Teske said. "So this year I decided to do Haiti again. It was after those events but I had thought about it prior to that. It was just serendipity that it ended up getting more relevant."

Teske said overall that the show is a lot of fun. As an artist it is something that she looks forward to every year and enjoys being a part of a group show.

One of the more powerful pieces at the art show was entitled Freedom Denied, No Voice. It was a collage of photographs by Pam Knott.

Knott had visited Afghanistan in 1977 and all of the photographs were of Afghan women.

"It is something that I had been thinking about for a long, long time," Knott said. "I think these women's lives are supposed to be getting better and they aren't."

The concept of her piece was to give the Afghan women a voice to how they are suffering. She remembered taking a bus and thinking she was the only woman on the bus. She didn't realize there were two women because they were shrouded and never got off the bus.

She said with the current war in Afghanistan Knott figures a lot of the landmarks in the photographs are destroyed and she can only imagine the fate of the women in the photographs.

The Women's Art Show will be on display at the Banff Public Library until March 31.

Shawn@thecrag.ca

An Art Filled Weekend...

...gotta love those! Back to back art openings, yippee!

BANFF TOWN HALL


Friday night was the annual Homegrown Show at the Banff Town Hall. This show is always well attended with lots of great food and fun conversation. This year there was also live music. I can't believe that this Quin's third time at both of the show this weekend!





"See" 12.2 x 12.25"
$200
Mixed Media by Tiffany Teske (Record album jacket, embroidery thread, original Polaroid transfer, vintage photograph copy, map, game piece, acrylic paint, stones, not shown in this photograph)
Collage from the series "Wanderlust"

BANFF PUBLIC LIBRARY/YWCA WOMEN'S ART SHOW


The Women's Art Show at the Banff Public Library was the best ever! It has always been well attended by the participating artists but this year the public turned out in droves. It may have had something to do with this article, although the pre-press is always good. I was thrilled that my friend, Kim, who usually hosted the show for the library, participated this year with a beautiful poem about her daughter (our pieces are behind us). Last year we both had big bellies but now look at our lovely babes!


Here is a candid group shot of all the talented artists. Thanks to the YWCA & The Banff Public Library for hosting this important event centered around International Women's Day.


I Need Your Kindness 17x19"
$250
Mixed Media by Tiffany Teske (black & white photographs, embroidery thread, vintage dictionary text, fabric, handmade paper, rick rack trim, vintage ribbon)
Proceeds to go to help build a home for orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti

How To Make Hot Fudge Sauce and French Vanilla Ice Cream

My aunt was visiting us recently and we went out for dinner. When dessert time came, I was excited to see Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Profiteroles with Kahlua Hot Fudge (check out this lovely blog I just stumbled upon for a recipe). I had been craving hot fudge for weeks so I would have eaten it on anything.


The profiteroles were scrumptious and I give them a A+ for presentation (see photo above) but, alas, the hot fudge sauce tasted like Hershey's chocolate syrup. It was not at all fudgy. I decided it was time to try this recipe...



Ben & Jerry's Hot Fudge Sauce
From Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

Ingredients (I use organic where ever possible)

- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) of butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or whipping cream

Directions
1. In double boiler, melt chocolate and butter, stirring frequently. Whisk in cocoa powder until dissolved.


2. Gradually stir in sugar; the mixture will resemble wet sand (see photo above). Cook over simmering water for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check water level of double boiler, adding more if necessary.

3. Gradually stir in milk and cream. Continue stirring until completely blended. Continue cooking for 1 hour, stirring and checking water level occasionally. The sauce is ready when completely smooth and all sugar is dissolved.

Yields 1 quart

This recipe is simple but requires a bit of babysitting. I was able to make it while my aunt and I cooked a delicious dinner. We put it on Ben & Jerry's French Vanilla Ice Cream, which I whipped up in our Cuisinart ice cream maker.

Ben & Jerry's French Vanilla Ice Cream
From Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Dessert Book

Ingredients (I use organic where ever possible)

- 2 large eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions
1. Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
2. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream, milk, and vanilla and whisk to blend.
3. Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes 1 Quart

This was super delicious and satiated my craving perfectly... It has been a hit in our house all week.

My Piece for the Banff Homegrown Art Show

"See"
Mixed Media by Tiffany Teske (Record album jacket, embroidery thread, original Polaroid transfer, vintage photograph copy, map, game piece, acrylic paint, stones, not shown in this photograph)
Collage from the series "Wanderlust"

"The Homegrown Art Opening Reception is March 5th from 7-9 PM at Banff Town Hall at 110 Bear Street. Join us for the evening as we celebrate our local art talents. Exhibition runs from March 5 - 26, 2010. This art show offers viewers a glimpse into the work of a wide variety of artists living in the Bow Valley."

February 26th - Finished Piece, Using Portraits from Haiti, for the Women's Art Show

Well, I have always been able to work best with a deadline. I tend to wander off to other projects if I have all the time in the world. So, just in the nick of time, I finished my piece for the Women's Art Show at the Banff Public Library. I worked on it for about a week. I am really happy with how it turned out. I start with a basic plan but am not really one to lay out a project before beginning. I tend to have the best results when I just jump in. I know that seems strange but the minute I get hung up on something being perfectly straight or perfectly anything, it goes awry. This all went so well I am thrilled. You can see yesterday's post for the progression of this piece. Here are the photos of the finally step and the finished piece. It will be on display at the Banff Public Library for the month of March. All proceeds in the sale of this piece will go to His Hands for Haiti to build a home for orphaned and abandoned children.

February 24th & 25th - Women's Art Show Piece, Using Portraits from Haiti

(The beginning of my piece; I selected images from my negatives, had them printed, arranged them, added fabric hearts and collaged text from a vintage dictionary.)

Usually when I drop off the face of my blog for a few days it is because I have been busy creating (and I am probably under a deadline). My post to Thing-A-Day for February 23rd was the tutorial below, although I posted about the making of the project on the 22nd. And my last two posts to TAD have been about the piece I have been making for the Banff Public Library's Women's Art Show. I have been in this inspiring show with my fellow creative Banff sistas, for the past three years. I have been working on this mixed media piece for about a week, here and there.The show corresponds with International Women's Day on March 8th. There is always a theme but artists do not have to work within it. This year it is "Equal rights, equal opportunities: progress for all". I would have to say that I didn't work within the theme, at least not only in a women's rights sense. I chose to do my piece on Haiti. I have been there twice. I used images I shot for a child sponsorship program and collaged on them with text and fabric. I used both male and female images that I embroidered together. The next post will be the finished piece.




(I hand embroidered the photographs together using a variety of stitches)


(Once I had them all emboidered to one another I laid them onto handmade paper. The final steps will be in the next post).

February 22nd - Zippered Pouch

(This pouch by Sheila Snowsell, my instructor)
I have taken many sewing classes but I think I am finally getting more confident. This week I learned how to sew a zipper with my machine. It was pretty exciting since I have never even had the zipper foot out of the package it came in. I made this cute little pouch. I messed up on sewing the corners inside the pouch (I sewed across too low on one side) but my 3 year old thinks it is perfect and since I made it for her, that is all that matters. She asked me if I told the people in my class that I was making this for my little girl and she found it extra special when I answered, "Yes". She was giddy and ran to show Daddy.

You can make one of these, too. You will need a small piece of fabric and a 7" zipper.

How to Make a Zippered Pouch (in less than two hours)
By Tiffany Teske


1. Cut a piece of fabric 12 3/8" by 8 1/2". This project uses a 1/4" seam allowance. I used a cotton print. Another person in my class used a tapestry fabric.
2. Cut a piece of interfacing the same size. Iron on to the wrong side (back side) of fabric.


3. Fold the fabric in half, interfacing size out. Sew the two sides together at the top right hand corner, front & back stitching, for about an inch, using a 1/4" seam allowance.


4. Fold back the two edges, to the stitching, and all the way down, then iron open. Remember not to iron on the exposed interfacing.


5. With the stitched part at the bottom, line the zipper up with the top of the open fabric and pin the fabric close to the edges of the zipper teeth.


Pin the other side the same way.


6. Using your zipper foot, sew very close to the edge of your fabric, beside the zipper. Be careful not to hit the actual zipper teeth, that is too close ;) It gets a bit tricky when you get to the bottom of the zipper but just stitch straight across the bottom and back up the other side, taking care not to stitch anything together that you shouldn't have.


7. Now you should have a open ended tube with a zipper in it. As you can see, my straight lines along my zipper are a bit wonky when I am not being guided by my regular foot. Whoops! Compare with the first photo in this post of the pouch made by my teacher...


8. To make a strap, cut it to the length and width you want, fold in two, wrong sides together, and sew a straight stitch up the edge. Turn the tube right side out.



9. Straight stitch up the edges of your large pouch tube, laying your small handle tube inside, flat, so your stitching will go over the edges of the handle, securing it while closing the entire end. (I think this is confusing when I put it into words... I apologize for not getting a photo of this step...). The two photos above are of the same step. You should now have a closed tube.




10. Holding the corners, flatten the into triangles and sew across the triangle about 1" down. This makes your pouch square instead of flat. This is where my pouch got wonky because I sewed across by sight and measuring each side against the other, instead of measuring, marking, pinning, then sewing. Take care with this step. Do it to all four corners. Now you are done!


11. Turn your pouch inside out and ta-da!