We usually think of filling the space,

something we all know how to do

but space may be the most valuable and rare treasure we have

not for what we can put in it but for the experience

of simply being in it.

All the things I want to do

and don't want to do

all stacked up around me...

some thing will call

louder than the rest

that's the one I'll answer to

                                           A friendly wake-up call. Spring has been sleeping too long.

These two collages were done on two separate days.

The one in the foreground is by Sae Kimura

the ghostly figure in the background is by me, deborah harris.

We made the each of their surrounding space transparent and overlapped them,

making them appear to walk together.

They seem to describe something of our relationship.

                                                                                                  "No."

                                                                                          Have a good weekend

                                                                                                                         (It's bit of an uphill climb)

                             Such a  privilege to care for a small piece of earth and watch it come to life each spring.

                                                                                     a high pitched wake up call

... whispering a promise of warm

Today the Reference Library was having a used book and magazine sale. The collage artist's dream is to scrounge through such a sale and find hidden gems. Eron and Sae met there and were shocked by the line-up circling the building. It is a strange phenomena, lining up for something that you want. The longer you wait the more you want the reward of waiting and the harder it is to leave the line, to quit, to give up on your wanting.  Knowing when to quit is a useful lesson to learn in any situation. It is not always a failure to walk away. It can be that it allows us to proceed with something other.

Vivian Felsen's miniature collage response to the new exhibition

and Sae Kimura's response to her response on the top of the mylar display.

... the strands of shredded paper surrounding Jeremy Gordaneer's sculpture,

part of the new exhibition entitled  'i t ' s   c o m p l i c a t e d ' ,

catch the last rays of light.

...can sometimes be an uphill climb of ferocious effort

a fullness and an emptiness on either side of gravity

wanting both but succumbing to the dictates of the moment

we do the best we can.

                                                                             Odawara Kanagawa Japan

                                                                                                  Last day of February 2019

                                                                                                                                                     ...perhaps a clue

...the world is very small

                                            Twenty minutes, give or take, from the city center is Riverdale Farm.

                                                                                                          In the valley of  Riverdale Hill

                                                                                        and I'm in a tea-cup.

                      Imagination touches the edge of what is known and gives form to what is otherwise elusive.

Happy Valentines Day

                                                                            A space we want to work in.

Today was spent going through art storage and studio in an attempt to find and re-order space.

It is a daunting task which we had enormous success with (even if it does not appear so).

We will continue tomorrow...

                                                              ...each one precariously supported by the other.

                                Working on invitations is exciting and very satisfying, when they are finally complete.

                                But the process takes time and there is an exhausting search for perfection.

                                Fine tuning the colour, the type, the composition to represent the artist's work.

                                The most difficult is getting the placement right for double-sided printing.

                                That is a bit crazy making.

The unexpected guest,

the weather to change,

inspiration, invitation, exhaltation.

The perfect circumstance

to surround us with abundance.

The strength to keep waiting.

This is part of the new exhibition showing five paintings by E.J. Gold from our permanent collection.

                       The process of taking down a show always allows for another seeing of it or seeing it anew.

                        There is both a sadness and an excitement. Sadness that what was will not be again and

                         excitement for the unexpected surprise of what comes next.

These three collages were made into transparencies and placed one on top of the other, held over a light and photographed. There placement was not random. There were elements, curves, angles and perspectives in each which corresponded so perfectly as to make one wonder how such a thing is possible, considering that each was made independent of the other.

                                                                                ... shades of tarnished silver

Today was spent looking back in time,

using old photos to give us clues about the attitudes and experiences

of those who lived a very different reality than the one we know now.

...be a shelter from the storm.

Today Sae received a book from a fellow artist and friend in Germany.

The above image is a page from the book entitled 'ACHT' translated it means EIGHT.

Below is Sae's collage response.

A partnership of opposites.

Floyd Kuptana adapted new look.

This was the first gesture in the collage gallery

begun this morning when Sae arrived with branches.

The window scene created the atmosphere to complete the space

for a continuation of 'A Winter's Poem'. 

Our Christmas reception will be held on

Saturday December 15th from 2 - 5 pm.

All are welcome.

                                                                            Now we can work a little warmer.

Winterized studio structure designed and installed by Lee Harris

                                Every visitor is somehow shaped by the space. Today the visitor was Maya.

                                                                                                                      ...and we are merely players.

There is a line in a Shakespeare Sonnet-

"Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines..."

which I am reminded of in this photo.

The brightness exposes all and leaves no place to hide,

inner definition is lost and the background becomes dark by contrast.

The shadow looks on from a distance.

This is the beginning of the new exhibit in the Genesis Gallery.

It is interesting to note that I can only truly focus on what is close to me.

What is more distant becomes blurred, less articulate, more open to interpretation. 

and looking for a  moment of empty

Zan continues to make new pieces to add to the exhibition, here, in the collage gallery. 

Visitors can view her extraordinary masks and also see the materials and way that she uses them.

A reception will be held this Saturday, November 10th from 2 - 5 pm. 

Visit arcturus.ca to see more.

                                                                                                                   The mystery plays on...

Zan Redcrow takes us with her into the woods

and through her work introduces us

to those beings who dwell there.

Faces that look out at us

often without our knowing

hidden as they are

behind all that grows.

Work is on exhibit from today October 25 - November 24 in the Collage Gallery.

                                               The figures in the west Genesis Gallery have taken a walk to the east side

                                                              where the pigeons gather and the sun shines brighter.