G A L L E R Y
A R C T U R U S
Today 'we' had the idea to open up one on of the gallery spaces
for a new purpose. This meant moving couches, chairs, books bookshelves etc., Much lifting, pulling, pushing, with arms and legs. Girls have to be tenacious to move heavy things but it can be done!
This image seems to represent the effort very well.
This collage above was done by Rena Sava, a participant in the online
collage workshop series #5. If you would like to see more of the work
you can go to the gallery website arcturus.ca
Sallie's last collage
We remember today Sallie Lyons, a dear friend and recent collage participant who passed away peacefully at her home on Monday February 15th . It is a privilege to witness someone meet death with courage and gratefulness for a life well lived. This was Sallie's gift to all of us who loved her.
...to be determined and self directed
Today Sae n I went for a walk. When we arrived at Double Take
(our favorite second hand store) we saw these guys in the window. By simply pointing someone inside brought them out and let us pay for them.
These four fat cats were just too jolly and intentional to resist.
In collaboration, each participant recognizes the unique talent, perception and skill of the other. There is a knowing that these differences when brought together in a shared effort can achieve something extraordinary. True collaboration does not dilute individual expression; rather it allows this expression to be more revealed by its proximity to others. Collaboration requires heart and seeing. It is always surprising and its essence is joy.
This especially describes what is
happening in the online collage
workshop. If you haven't already
visited please click on the name.
Enjoy.
Above are the first of the original copies of paintings that were used by participants in the online workshop.
Go to the Workshop link on our website to learn more.
Sae n I have been constructing the village for perhaps three weeks or so, many of our blogs have documented this process. Today we completed it and proceeded to write the story in a form which we can share with you and our visitors to the gallery. We also found out today that a close friend of the gallery Chip Piatti had passed away. He would most surely have loved this exhibition and we have dedicated it to him. I sense that he has been overseeing its development.
Thank you Chip and God bless you on your next journey.
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.
And what is the moment?
It is a unity, a circle of beings,
content in that moment.
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.
...in memory of his beloved mother Georgia Boyd - December 1939 - March 27 2020
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)
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
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.
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 show that is currently evolving began as P R I M A L J O U R N E Y
with a solitary boat figure in a tumultuous sea.The figure descended and turned,
M E E T I N G W H A L E.
"And then what? we asked. How does this story continue?
Even whales must come up for air. Gravity below our feet keeps us standing or pulls us over.
As you probably saw in earlier blogs we cut the boat and stood it on its end.
A ladder of sorts leaning on the ramparts, an effort to climb away from earth's concerns.
The truth is, after meeting whale one is irrefutably altered and that is the new title;-
I R R E F U T A B L Y A L T E R E D.
Today we all met back at the gallery again, Sae, deborah and Floyd, after a few days apart.
The gallery is a rare and special place, a place where creativity is allowed to live.
This was our second drawing based on 'The Ice House' by Lawren Harris 1923.
The house seems to represent a unique and solitary place, surrounded by the elements.
A mystery which invites one to enter.
We hope the gallery does the same.
...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS
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.