Articulation Study Session in Victoria - Day 3

Articulation members at work; Lesley Turner, Donna Clement, Ingrid Lincoln, Leann Clifford, in the inner harbour. The Empress Hotel is in the background.

First appointment was a morning visit to the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria http://aggv.ca/ to see 'Kimono: Japanese Culture in its Art Form' with many magnificent kimonos revealing the complex codes and etiquette of garments in Japanese culture. Articulation member Shannon Wardroper shared some of her extensive knowledge of Japanese culture to give others a better understanding of the exhibits.

A 2nd exhibit 'From Geisha to Diva: The Kimomo of Ichimara'  is a collection of personal effects of one of the most famous geishas, Ichimara. 

Next were visits to the Fort street auction houses Lunds http://lunds.com/ and Kilshaws http://www.kilshaws.com/ to see if there were any maritime history artifacts that may be useful to acquire. There were none this week but it was fun looking.

There was a long wait in the line-up to get into the popular Blue Fox for a late lunch.

Next was a visit to the Royal BC Museum to see the current 'Vikings' exhibition and a search through the museum's other rooms for maritime history-related displays (no cameras allowed).

The Victoria International Chalk Art Festival is on. A large chalk drawing is being made on the floor of the museum. The distorted perspective makes it look 3D.

A walk back along the inner harbour, past the Empress hotel...

...and a variety of street theatre acts.

SALTS sail boats (floating schools) in the setting sun with the Robert Bateman Museum (Originally the Steamship Company building) next to the legislature buildings, across the harbour.

It was a day focused on getting a deeper understanding of the importance of the sea in the development of Victoria from a shallow place to pull up a canoe to an urban centre.

After My Banff Residency

People have been asking me about my month-long residency experience. When they are looking for the short version tell them about the thrill of having my bed made every day, my room cleaned and tidied every day and my breakfast & lunch prepared for me with no cleaning up for me afterwards. It was bliss. My mind was free to focus on my work - you would think.
The longer version of the experience is all about how much I grew as an artist, how our group, Articulation, matured, and how much stimulus there was all the time all around the campus.

But, now I have been shot out of that time warp and I am in catch-up mode here in my studio.

The above image was taken at the Calgary airport when I took Ingrid to catch her plane back to Winnipeg. It is the luggage of Calgary's ice hockey team, the Flames. They obviously have an away game. The regular season has finished and the Flames made it to the playoffs. Calgary gets very excited when this happens. The first playoff game is Thursday "Go Flames Go" There are avid Flames fans in my household.

'A Soup of Chefs' or is it 'A Stew of Chefs'
I love the symmetry in this shot taken on the campus of SAIT, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, well
known for the quality of training the Culinary Arts students receive.
I often see great moments like this when walking through the campus to shop at Calorie Counter, where the students sell the meals & meat they have prepared in class that morning. I also shop at their book store, stop in their numerous coffee shops and attend events. It is a great place to visit.



This is a work I successfully bid on during the ACAD Miniature Silent Auction. It was hand stitched in varying weights of black thread by Nauma Reigo (I hope I have her name right). I love watching people's reactions to the fur she strategically placed on the work, very provocative.

Sea Ice Melt, Arctic Series, Silent Auction Donation

'Sea Ice Melt' is a work from my Arctic series where I looked at the delicate nature of the environment. It is my response to aerial photographs of the edge of the sea ice as the Northern Hemisphere experiences longer hours of sunlight.
I have donated it to an on-line auction Calgary Academy is organising. It is part of a fund raiser organised by the Calgary Academy Parents Association called 'Big kids Helping Little Kids', running from November 1st to November 17th 2007.