Summer Wrap Up

Here it is, the end of official summer days. This weekend marks the return to school and the stretch of hot weather is most likely over. September often brings some warm days in this part of the world, but the intensity of the sun is winding down.

There is lots of news to share in the coming weeks, and lots of busy days ahead for me. For today though here are some of my favourite moments of Summer 2018.

Sea to Sky Gondola, Squamish BC

The views were just incredible.

My brother's wedding in Quebec

Greenwich Beach, Prince Edward Island

Anne of Green Gables House, Prince Edward Island

North Rustico, Prince Edward Island

Peggy's Cove in the mist, Nova Scotia

Back with more arty news in the coming weeks.

JJ

A Summer Day

Today I was able to let summer in. One of the things that I love about this season is its slow pace. Slow is not what life has been like this year. Top that off with taking a new position at my out-of-the-house job and the days have flown by.

We leave for our summer vacation next week. One thing that a faster pace life has taught me is to appreciate each quiet moment. Here are some moments from today.

This pot is my little piece of Paris on my balcony. Last year my attempt at creating a pot like this did not work. This year the geraniums and verbena are happy, which in turn makes me smile. My balcony flowers always bring small joy.

Tea and reading on the patio. I watched wild bees gathering pollen from my flowers and dragonflies in the sky.

We walked down to one of our neighbourhood parks today. Played basketball and sat in the shade.

This piece is going to be full of memories from this year. I doubt I'll be able to look at it and not think of the challenge that 2018 has been. It will need to be finished by the end of November. I plan to bring it with me on vacation and stitch a piece about the Pacific ocean while gazing at the Atlantic.

Some quiet stitching time in the shade.  Photography by my sons. They are getting quite good with cameras.

And for the first time this summer I was able to hang laundry out on the line. This is a ritualistic summer activity for me. The balcony is too hot in the summer from 11 am to 5 or 6 pm for much else but drying laundry. A small thing that makes me smile.

Wishing you quiet summer moments too. 

JJ

Looking for Center: 2017 in Review

It is that reflection and goal setting time of year again. I shared 16 posts in this space in 2017. I think I'm ok with that. Considering that it was one of the busiest years of my adult life. I've gathered some numbers for taking stock of the year.  I do not usually do this but I felt like it would help me put things in perspective.

Taken on Salt Spring Island, BC July 2017

I often felt a sensation of being in limbo despite pushing myself further than I ever had before. Looking back on the year this way has given me piece of mind that I have indeed achieved more than I thought. That is a reassuring feeling and it is helping to keep the limbo feeling in the background. Here are some numbers about my year.

Number of Completed Pieces: 5
Grants Written & Applied for: 2
Grants Received: 1
Art Sales: 2
Exhibitions Applied For: 10
Exhibitions: 4
Exhibition Rejections: 7
Art Related Articles Published: 2 (SAQA Journal Summer & Fall issues)
Press Coverage: 2 (Friendship Show UDHR Embroidery)
Art Exhibitions visited: 7 (a number I'd like to increase for 2018)
Attended SAQA Western Canada Regional Retreat in Kelowna, BC
Became SAQA Western Canada Regional Representative
Began my first Artist Residency at Forest Grove Elementary School
Began a part-time job at Mackin House Museum
Craftivist project artist for UDHR Quilt Project
Set up a Monthly newsletter
Set up a Facebook artist's page

These are career related accomplishments of course. There were many more parts to this life. Turning 40, sharing time with family, reading 36 books, travelling to some lovely locations, raising two boys and maintaining our crazy family of 4 life.

Installation view of Look In, Reach Out at the Zack Gallery, Vancouver BC, May 2017

A few thoughts to ponder as we move forward in 2018.

Why think about the rejections?  They are just as important as the acceptances.
Do you reflect on the passing years in your art practice? I do.  My project is called Memory Keeper and is now going into its 10th year.  Here are some past examples of the small pieces I make to mark each year.
2008 2010 2011 2012

Here's to an art filled 2018.

JJ

Summer Schedule

As an artist with two school age children I have come to rely on the hours that my boys are in school. This potentially uninterrupted time is easier to schedule and I am able to get into a rhythm each day. Granted this took several months to establish after my youngest went to Kindergarten last fall, and after starting part-time work in March I had very little time to luxuriate in my new found quiet studio time. Regardless, of where I may have been this summer, I had personal deadlines in the back of my mind. That meant stitching happened in several places that are unconventional.

While waiting one and a half hours on a bridge ramp after a serious car crash shut down the roadway.

Or at the public swimming pool during two weeks of daily half hour swim lessons. There has been campfire side stitching, park bench or blanket stitching and while it may not have the solitude or focus of studio work, it allows me to feel a sense of accomplishment in the busy days of summer with young kids. I am grateful to have this time with them and for myself.

JJ

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Behind the Art - Inheritance

Today I want to share the journey of a small series of works, one of which is soon to be installed in an exhibit called Great and North at the Palazzo Loredan in Venice Italy from August 29 to October 29, 2017. The beginnings of this work are more humble than where it has ended up but that is the magic of putting yourself out there and taking chances.  You never know where those risks can get you.

This is the original photo of my maternal great grandmother on her wedding day.  I love this photo for its nostalgia but also because of Alice Rogers' story.  She came to Canada from England after training as a baby nurse. Her desire to come here was based on the chance to rise above the class system of English culture that would keep her "in her place." She was coming to join two of her sisters who had already made the trip. It was a leap into the great unknown. It was a difficult sea crossing, it was the early 1900's. Her sole contact with her family back home was letters.  No Facetime like I have the luxury of now. I believe that she, and all my ancestors that braved moving to a new land, had adventurous hearts. Something compels you to move.  To explore, to go. That is not an easy impulse to follow. It is often frightening and lonely but you go because if you stayed it would not be true to who you are or who you could become. Alice met a lovely English bloke named Stephen Adams and they married and birthed two lovely girls.  One of whom is my grandmother Margaret now in her 90's. I did not have the privilege to meet Alice but I feel that she passed something down to me through her DNA. 

I made a series of works featuring fabric that I designed based on this photo of Alice and two of my other grandparents. 

This is Alice I, that was displayed at the Richmond Art Gallery and swapped in a Mail Art exhibition.

This is Alice II, a smaller version with lace and bead embellishments.

And this is Inheritance: Adventurous Heart, that is now part of the Imago Mundi collection and featured in the art book Oh West Canada!

Using the same imagery several times was an exploration of ways to bring out her character and story and relate it to my own. I feel a connection to her despite never having met her in person. It is a great honour to carry her story and those of other family members forward in this time. I am grateful for the legacy that they have passed on to me. And I think most of us can feel the impact of our ancestors if we listen closely enough.

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JJ

Deconstructing a Quilt

One of the things that I love about my medium is its ability to be reborn.  Cloth can change forms; a sheet can become a shirt, a curtain can become a pillow or in this case a quilt can transform into another quilt.

The story of this quilt is the longest quilt story I have.  It was the first one I made.  It held all the magic that a gateway quilt could offer up.  My gateway into loving quilts was the wonderful richness of crazy quilts.  Elaborate, heavily embellished and in most cases not very practical, crazy quilts entice many textile enthusiasts. My aunt had two crazy quilted pillows which I loved.  I proceeded to make a crazy pillow for myself and others.  And then I decided to make my bed cover for when I moved away to attend Post-secondary education.  I spent many an hour the summer before my first semester sewing away in the kitchen of my family home.

Did I know what  I was doing?  No.  Did I have experts around me that could have helped? Yes.  Did I ask advice? No.  I sewed that baby together and used fabric that my mom had in her fabric trunk. The only new piece of fabric was the large blue sheet covered in white starts we found for the backing.

Did I love this quilt?  Yes.  Was it technically a quilt?  Just barely.  It had three layers,  but minimal actual quilting.  I'm rather glad about that slip up because deconstructing it was much easier with less stitching.

So here is the pre-deconstructed quilt and as you can see, the design was very willy-nilly.  Making this was part of my transition from living with my family to moving outwards into the world on my own.  Essentially I wrapped myself in the comforts of home each night.  Looking back on that time it seems that this object was a talisman that gave me strength and reminded me of where I came from. Little did I know as I headed to art school that it in fact represented where I would end up artistically years later.  The spiral of life is a powerful force.

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JJ 

 

Visiting Giverny

Today is a chilly and grey day here on the Pacific coast so I thought I'd remind myself of warmer days.
Have you heard of Claude Monet's Giverny home?  His glorious garden, pink house, yellow dining room?  The brilliant blue kitchen tiles, sunny studio and lily pond?
All of this and more is found a short drive outside of Paris.  Due to some car rental delays we barely made it in time to get in by the cut off of 5:30 pm but I am so grateful that we visited.
It is a feast for the eyes and there is no wonder that Monet painted there until his death as inspiration is around every corner.

I hope this warms your day. As it brings back lovely memories for mine.

JJ

Van Gogh in France

What can one say about looking at art in France... it is crazy how much there is to see.  You could look at art around the clock and be there for months.  So inevitably I had to cull and pick certain places, museums and galleries over others in the hopes that someday we will return and I can see ones that I missed this trip.

Arles was a place that I was drawn to see because of Van Gogh's short time living there.  While there we visited The Fondation Vincent Van Gogh and walked around the town.  The famous yellow house no longer exists, but the Cafe Vincent Van Gogh remains and the town has erected displays at some of the locations that Van Gogh immortalised in paint while he lived there.

The Fondation is a modern gallery that had two exhibits on:  "Van Gogh in Provence" and artist Glenn Brown's "Suffer Well" which had several pieces that referenced to Van Gogh's life and work.
The space is intimate and very well curated showing examples of Van Gogh's evolution from classical to expressionistic painting.  It is possible to see the whole gallery in about 2 hours which is perfect when viewing art with children.

Glenn Brown's work.  Above Suffer Well and below one of his sculptures made of oil paint referencing Van Gogh's thick brush strokes and palette.

A few scenes of Arles. 

 There were also many highlights of seeing Van Gogh's paintings in the Musee D'Orsay.  Seeing the third version of Bedroom in Arles in person was incredible.  That painting seemed to exude light.
More about the art on our trip to come.

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JJ

Art and Family

Sometimes it is hard to know where to best post when my art and family life intermingle.  Over at my personal blog is a post about raising kids as an artist:  http://chasingdomesticbliss.blogspot.ca/2016/02/growing-up-with-art.html

Back soon with more art related news and views.

JJ