Changes, Changes

I have changed my mind again and will be doing something different for city hall. Derek helped me with a casting yesterday, even though he was feeling awful. He doesn't get sick to often and lucky for him it only lasts a few days. Back to the casting. There were several problems but we were able to work through them. I sat looking at the pieces this morning, worked on them all afternoon and then decided I didn't want to finish them right now. I just feel stretched in to many directions (what's new) and I can't think things through. I'm back to my knitting. I'm taking my big red ball to city hall as long as the mice haven't chewed to many holes in it. I'll have some jars with red yarn and knitting needles in them to go along with the red ball. Be warned. Things may change again without notice.

I've Got Less Then 2 Weeks Until Show

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition starts 10 am Friday July 6 and runs until Sunday July 8. I'm running full tilt in the studio right now working on my bronzes. Today I used up all of my investment (plaster) in 7 flasks. I have another 10 flasks to invest so I'll be heading to Toronto to the jewellery supply store in the next couple of days.

You Can Find Art Everywhere

After enjoying our pizza on Saturday night in Perth we decided to walk into town. It was obvious that a lot of infrastructure work had recently been done. Resurfaced roads, new curbs and manhole covers were noticed shortly after leaving our motel. Derek and I both noticed the manhole covers at the same time. They looked great. I wonder who designed them and better still who chose them, with the fish design instead of the ones with danger or manhole cover written on them. There was a big bronze sculpture of a horse and rider in the downtown park but I have to say the fish manhole covers were the freshest most interesting art seen that night.

It Was A Beautiful Day

The gardens here at the Kiwi Nursery are absolutely amazing. Unbelievable attention to detail. The stone walls add drama as they cut into the hills. The variation in heights of the gardens is something I have always wanted at home. Derek has talked about building a block wall somewhere in the garden. Not quite natural stone but I'll take it.

There Will be Poor Sledding This Weekend

As the saying goes "Canada's weather is 10 months of winter and 2 months of poor sledding". Well I'm happy to say "we're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave".... All winter I dream about the days to come when I can go for a walk in the evening without wrapping myself in a sweater. Not only did I go for a walk tonight, I sat outside and read the paper. I am in Perth, Ontario this week end to participate in a garden show. Kiwi Gardens is our host and what a beautiful host. The 5 acres of mature gardens is a perfect backdrop for all of the art on display. 15 artists have set up displays of their work and are ready to sell, sell, sell tomorrow. The sale goes for 2 days and with any luck we will be driving home with a much lighter trailer Sunday night. The temperature is predicted to get over 30 degrees celsius on Sunday and for a country that has everyone putting on a sweater in the evening, that's a hot day. So no sledding for a while.

Some Days are Like That

My grandson positioned himself on my lap yesterday and stayed there for a good portion of the late afternoon. What a privilege to have the time for this loving moment. Being the son of my young son has meant living in a home full of family. Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie and Boyfriend all there unconditionally. Work will get done but maybe not as much as originally planned. I have found the joy of the moment greatly out ways the work that does not get performed. I've set my priorities. Keeping your head focused on what is really important for you and your family is paramount. Connecting 3 days in a row in the studio may seem unattainable sometimes, but that is when family steps in to give it to you. We all ask for time and sometimes it is the greatest gift. Always keep some in your life bank to share with others.

"July Sunburns" My Husbands Summer Show

A collection of recent works by Derek Martin will be shown at Bohemia, 125 Dunlop St. East, Barrie, On. Opening night is July 21 at 7pm. Sunburns are an evolving series of drawings using the sun and a magnifying glass. Derek developed the technique 3 years ago during vacations in Arizona. The works draw from images of North American Petro-Culture and its retro-nosalgia. While our worrisome dependance on an undependable and finite fuel makes us question the future, ironically the sun is used passively to illustrate some of these relationships.

I Just Heard The News

June 9 to 17 is World Wide Knit in Public Week. I had no idea that there was a whole week dedicated to the looping of yarn in the great outdoors. Have I been wrong by knitting in public during the other 51 weeks? I take great joy in the intertwining of wool and I'm proud to let people know. I have never thought that I needed to stay in the closet with my stash of yarn while I worked on my scarf. I take my knitting everywhere. I knit in the car, but I do refrain when I'm the driver. I knit at the cinema while waiting for the movie to start. I knit at the park while someone else is having a turn chasing after our grandson. I knit for the joy of the feel of the yarn, for the rhythm of the repetition, for the history of the task. When I knit I think about knowing I have the ability to focus on the minute details and the minute moments which make up a good life. There maybe only a few big, important events in your life so relish the many small events which make up your days and weeks and years.

Slow Down

I didn't see Venus passing by the sun today but it wasn't for the lack of trying. I used the special cardboard glasses that came in the Astronomy magazine but there was nothing we can do about the cloud cover. The group of us stood around taking turns looking through the glasses with no one having any luck. It was a good excuse to stand outside on a beautiful evening chatting with neighbours. Why is it that it takes an event like this to bring people together. And these events are to few and far between. There's always the reason "I'm just to busy to stop and say Hello". What are we busy doing? We spend to much time in organized diversions. We need some unstructured time to just wander down our street to notice the perennials that are blooming in the old man's garden. Our minds need time to wander and relax so that we will be responsive when new ideas hit us. Those really good ideas are like Venus, tiny compared to the busy world around us. Slow down and notice them.

Yellow's My Favourite Colour

Here's another Issey Miyake design. One would have to be very confident to wear this. It reminds me of a turtle. I want to be able to taylor a dress like this.

Inspiration

I have just learned about the fashion designer Issey Miyake. This designer's work is going to inspire me for years to come. Miyake was born 22 April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan. As a seven year-old, he witnessed and survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He studied graphic design at the Tama Art University in Tokyo, graduating in 1964. After graduation, he worked in Paris and New York City. Returning to Tokyo in 1970, he founded the Miyake Design Studio, a high-end producer of women's fashion. In the late 1980s, he began to experiment with new methods of pleating that would allow both flexibility of movement for the wearer as well as ease of care and production. This eventually resulted in a new technique called garment pleating. In 1993's show Pleats Please the garments are cut and sewn first, then sandwiched between layers of paper and fed into a heat press, where they are pleated. The fabric's 'memory' holds the pleats and when the garments are liberated from their paper cocoon, they are ready-to wear.

Good-Bye My Bug

Four years are over, my lease is up, Rosa no longer belongs to me. She was one of those cars with that iconic look. Since the car's inception it has always been the people's car. The car chosen by many as a way to show their leanings to the left, feelings for the environment, commitment to others. She was my choice when I thought all my children were off on their own journeys. Well.... it was a false start for two of them and I was blessed with a little one that required a car seat. Five bums in four seats just wasn't going to work so I had to bid her adios.