A Busy Season Ahead

My first show for the summer season starts July 9. It is the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition which runs Friday through Sunday. Every weekend after that until the civic holiday weekend will be spent at a show. After Toronto Outdoor comes the Muskoka Arts and Crafts show in Bracebridge, then the Haliburton Art show and finally Kempenfest in Barrie.

I have been busy casting bronze in the shape of birds, sticks, nests and teacups. The teacup or teapot to me is a metaphor for family or friends. The ritual of making the tea and then sharing it is my way of showing love or friendship. The birds and rabbits in my work often take on human characteristics and are usually shown with teacups. I guess this shows I love my family and I like what I do. Lucky me.

The wax sculpture.

Melting the bronze before pouring in to the mold.

Still warm.
Bronze pieces cast and still covered with bits of the mold compound.

Cutting the sprues off of the pieces.


Brushing some of the compound off.


Now grinding off the rough edges.

All that is left to do is the filing, putting on the patina, waxing and then polishing.

Finally Back At It

After a break which was to long I am back writing.
This past weekend was a busy one. Derek drove us all to Kiwi Gardens in Perth where Caitie and I set up a show and then he and Leigh-Anne continued on to Tanglewood Massachusetts. Leigh-Anne is spending the summer at Tanglewood Music Centre, a place I didn't know much about until recently. On their website it says.......

The number-one summer activity in Lenox MA is, of course, the Tanglewood Music Festival, the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO).

Since 1934 the concerts have been held in July and August on the grounds of Tanglewood, a fine estate about a mile from the center of Lenox out in the Berkshire Hills.

The main concert venue is the amusingly-named Koussevitsky Music Shed, a simple but spacious hall capable of holding an entire Mahler-sized symphony orchestra—some "shed!"

Many chamber music and ensemble performances and solo recitals are held in the modern Seiji Ozawa Hall near the Music Shed.

In addition to the seasoned musicians from the BSO, there are performances by the young and extremely promising musicians who attend the Tanglewood Music Center for study and advanced training.

Maestros Seiji Ozawa, former music director of the BSO, and Leonard Bernstein of the New York Philharmonic, were once among this young up-and-coming elite.

Cait and I had a good weekend at the Art in the Garden Show. The sales were good and the garden was beautiful. Not many garden centres have acres of mature gardens to wander through while deciding on which plants will have to make the trip home with you. Droves of people made the trek from Ottawa, which is an hours drive away, to meander about the gardens. Luckily for all of us they brought their wallets with them.