West meets East

                                                                                                                       The dog park at Allan Gardens

This extraordinary painting by Luke Gilliam is framed under glass

  and reflects the the room it occupies.

The added layer seems to amplify the feeling of today... observing from the outside

'not quite there'

Today we sat on a bench in small alley which surprisingly faces exactly onto the back wall of the gallery.

This back wall has many windows. In one of them we had the idea to put a painting facing out

so that those people living in the surrounding condos or, as we did, decide to sit on a bench to have their coffee,

can discover and perhaps even be inspired to visit us.

Sorry we were late.

This is a gift of spacious

  Castillon writes:-

« Listening to Hania's music over and over, I began to dream of a single sequence shot that would follow her music floating in the wind of an unreal Icelandic landscape. I asked each dancer to give a personal interpretation of Hania's song. We were very lucky to succeed in this insane artistic performance despite the great cold (minus 7 celsius), it was such a moment of truth. Shot in Iceland on February 23, 2020. »

Directed by Neels Castillon
Music by Hania Rani
Dancers — Mellina Boubetra, Janina Sarantšina, Fanny Sage

Tis is the season for raking leaves and some of us are very enthusiastic about this task.

Unfortunately, the city has suspended the pick up of yard waste and so....

This morning we made a platform for the bags to sit on so that the grass and small flowers

will not be crushed while waiting, wrapping them with canvas in case of rain and tying them

'round with rope so that they will not fall and spill all over everywhere. Practical creativity.

Not particularly beautiful but somehow satisfying.

                                                                                                                        ...trying to find the light

...in memory of his beloved mother Georgia Boyd - December 1939 - March 27 2020

It seems that what can be expressed through art cannot be translated into words.

None of us spoke while we were working today

even though we have not seen each other together for many days.

But the work speaks for us in inexplicable ways.

It is a mystery.

Today we made this flyer for Stuart, the proprietor of our neighborhood cafe in hopes that he can stay open and solvent through this shutdown.

If you want to pick up a truly great coffee drop by B U L L D O G.

It seems we are all a bit confused and shy to follow the directions for COVID 19 but it is our duty to be responsible

not only for our self but for those who share the world with us, those we love and care for and those who are unknown.

Many lives depend upon our correct action,  this situation may be the shock needed to shift our awareness.

It gets easier if we are all in this together.   (that's why Sae and I are practicing and trying to get you onboard)

                                                                                                                                  ...it's not all bad

Today we walked and walked and remembered how good it is to breathe the air outside.

We are being asked by the conditions at hand to stay close to home and avoid crowds and travel.

A moment or two of this is advisable.

Often we think that it is important that someone share our opinions but not so with art.

In art we can appreciate our differences, in fact we celebrate them.

Maybe it is not so vital that we all think and say the same thing.

Maybe we can look and listen and learn.

The objects and subjects of the gallery basement.

After using collage with this Medieval set we went out on the street and photographed an old building in the state of demolition and salvation

and found that we had somehow created almost exactly the same construction as in the painting, (seen in our Feb 27th blog).

This was unconscious and therefore surprising, the way we take in impressions and remember them in our bodies.

                                                                                                                                                                   ... thanks to Eron Boyd

                                                                        Night Fishing at Antibes   by Picasso 1939          The Disembarkation of Mary Magdalene 

                                                                                                                                                                     possibly by Pietro Lorenzetti  1310

For these collages we each had a copy of the two paintings shown above which we combined.

All in all we were able to finish thirteen collages using the same material.

These are the first three.

                                                                            and home is a thought I can't quite touch

Illuminate: To enlighten; to throw light upon; to light up with festal lamps

This strange coming together of elements to make what could be called a sculpture,

is a playful and spontaneous response to the objects and materials present in the space

but also to the inquiry itself. Irrefutable alteration provides a framework to

explore and to perceive variations on a theme. 

Looking at the different images on the blog will give you a hint of those possibilities.

This is where your blogs are born.

                    One cannot stay forever underwater with the whale. One must come up for air.

                      What was once a vehicle becomes a shelter, perhaps a home, albeit somewhat quirky.

For this exercise we decided to interpret the George Braque painting 'La Table de Toilette', using collage, working from a black and white reproduction and each choosing our own pallet. We did not look at the original colour painting til we were finished. 

...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS

                                                                                                                                                  ...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS

...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS

Today Sae n I spent the whole day with our very favorite 3 year old friend.

This is what we looked like when she left to go home.

We seem to organize our lives into years.

Time lines, running parallel until they don't

a sudden turn in direction sometimes takes us

where we can't imagine going

and every new year we commit to being better

a noble resolution we hope to live up to

falling down,

standing up again

some semblance of structure that we can measure ourselves against,

a path to follow.

This is our Christmas card to all of you who visit us on the blog.

We are wishing peace and joy to you and all your family and friends.

Thank you for being with us each day.

                                                                           and still there is an opening.

...the goose is getting fat

please put a penny in the old man's hat.

If you haven't got a penny,

a ha' penny will do,

if you haven't got a ha' penny

then God bless you.

                                                                                  These are all spaces that can be visited, here at the gallery.

One of us was broken but she is mending. We will be back with you on Tuesday.

                                                                                                             Variations on a  Dali theme.

This collage was done after listening to the twenty-one musical portraits composed by Prokofiev while he was attending university.

Some of them are less than a minute in length and each is exquisitely complex and surprising. Please click on the link and enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk0jJyUh0T4

Above is the full length of the book unfolded. Below is the folded version seen from the front and each side. Please click on each image to enlarge for reading.

 Today Sae'n'I spent the whole day looking at a computer screen working on making a book.

It felt a little like ice fishing in the Arctic (maybe a slight exaggeration)

We did have success, just some minutes ago but we went a bit stir crazy.