Gone Fishing
Regular schedule resumes January 16th but check here for surprises.
Merry Christmas to All and To All A Good Night
From Ed our doorman and tour guide
and the motley basement crew, Eron, Mark, Sae and deborah
we are wishing you a joyous holiday season.
I Wonder as I Wander
Today's youngest visitor
learning to walk
and explore
a whole new world.
ONe FoRty FivE
OnE ForTy FiVe...
a time (in the afternoon or morning)
an age!
an address (without the street name)
the number of buttons in a jar
the number of centimeters of a shorter than average person
the cost of a skill saw on sale at Canadian Tire
the size of a large herd of cows
five pennies short of three rolls
when the train departs
the page in the book facing 144
(and the number just below the very nice shoe).
Everything tells me Something
In this image I recognize the object to be a chair.
I know that it is sitting on a floor.
The wall behind tells me that I can not walk forward
but must exit the space to the left or the right.
The shadows also tell me something of the space surrounding,
of its shape and where the light is coming from.
And it can be said that the chair recognizes me.
It has been carefully crafted for a person, such as myself, to sit upon.
In this way I am welcomed to the space.
Wondering Which Way is Up
What is it that allows us to know where we are?
Recognition: To know
To recognize and be recognized.
Without that we are lost.
It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas
It happened that while we were having our ongoing conversation
about this and that
and that and this,
the winter arrived
and settled all around us.
This sculpture can be seen in front of the Mars Medical Research Building
just south of College St. east of University Ave.
Confessions from the Work Place
This week began with a lot of unknowing
and ended with a little bit of floating.
Learning to Float is a Life Saver
Please come to our holiday reception at Gallery Arcturus
80 Gerrard St E., (Gerrard at Church St) 2:30 - 5 pm,
Saturday December 9, 2017
All of our five gallery spaces will be open with new work
and yummies will be served.
Six Steps of Learning to Float
We are working on the exhibit 'Learning to Float'.
This is not necessarily referring to swimming or flying
but more as a way of being.
To do the work I am asked to be honest about my own experience.
I realized at this time floating seems impossible
but what if I have something to support me.
This piece is my way of teaching myself how to float.
SK
Hello December
Twenty-five days til Christmas!
Dispersed
Today nothing is lining up the way it should.
Impossible, it seems, to hold onto anything.
Thoughts fly by like balls of light,
too fast to catch
And should is just an empty word.
Perhaps lines can be stretched
and holding released
if only for a moment
to float.
Can We See the Wind?
C.S. Lewis writes:-
"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable spirit who reveals Himself
in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
Towards Horizon's Line
Row, row, row your boat
Gently on the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Wrestling with Illusions of Grandeur
Sometimes I worry too much and think that I must be able to change the way things are.
I imagine that I am bigger and more important than I am.
This collage is a reminder of that illusion.
In and Out of Focus
We decided that what we want most today is to be able to focus on a single project and to see it proceed towards completion.
This photo is a perfect example of unfocused. It is also very beautiful and evocative because of its blurred edges and sense of movement. It is fun to see in many different ways, and to approach our projects from many different angles. That is creativity.
Land Ahoy!
High strung and tangled
how to be in the ocean
on a ship or as a fish
?
wanting to make it easier.
Wound up
in a tight ball
wings humming
head pointing
no feet for landing
no stopping
stuck
up in the air.
Sharing the Job
When you hold the ladder
I can climb higher.
Transparent
Standing in the middle of too many fragments
things begun but unfinished
what piece to pick up first
where to direct attention
overwhelmed and wanting completion
in some corner or other
standing in the middle...
still standing.
Inside the Story of Shmo
Today Sae sat in the library till the light grew dark
and worked on the illustrations for the story of Shmo.
This is Bonnie, my new best friend
I believe that animals bring us back to our senses.
Somewhere Above the Tree Line
somewhere above the tree line
a lone cow
a ladder
and a place to wait
A Little Bit Tangled in the Branches
The darkness and light
seemingly in equal proportion
and somewhere between
carried by an unseen force
a line of colour.
Returning with a Memory of Saguaro
Having made a brief trip to Tuscon for the weekend to visit with a friend
and wondering how does the experience of a place and time faraway
shape the here and now?
This is the answer today.
Framed
Today we are reassembling frames and stretching canvas over them making beautiful forms to paint on. The process requires attention, evenness of strength and exactness. Making them our selves feels very different from buying them ready made. There is a sense of satisfaction in the form itself.
We have not even considered the paintings which may appear on them.
A Story of What Was
A story of what was
incomplete but beautiful.
A small finding and curiosity
makes us look further,
collecting the fragments
and piecing them together
into something
which resembles the whole.
You are invited...
f i N d i n g f o r m
anD
c L i m b i N g L a d d E r s
Reception
Saturday October 21,
2:00 - 5:00 pm
Works by allen egan, jeremy gordaneer,
camie geary-martin,
sae kimura, eron boyd, deborah harris
Building a Painting
It is very different experience making installations with forms and then trying to paint or draw them.
I would say that the act of painting is one of seeing and it allows us to discover something new.
It is a way of engaging with the forms in the intimate and also limited, space of the canvas.
Something of a conundrum.
A Work In Progress
Today Vivian, Sae and deborah started painting using the installations in the gallery as their subject. This is Vivian's beginning,
to be continued...
On The Path Forward
Higher Up and Farther In
Finding Form and Climbing Ladders
What was once a railing has become a ladder.
A bridge between earth and sky.
Close Up and Far Away
We can easily make the close up, such as this screen disappear, just by focusing on what is distant. It is fun to experiment with all the different ways we can look at our surroundings and to notice the habitual ways we have of seeing. I have noticed that whenever I change my perspective new possibilities open up that I could not have imagined before.
It Looks Like Someone Dropped the Bag
And it all unraveled after that...
This was the feeling today,
too many loose end
s
A Kiss
In the dream world the canary and the fish can meet
an unexpected moment of surprise and delight
when one swims away from the many
or sits outside of the cage.
Red Foot Pigeon Theatre
One Crust Eleven Birds Not Sharing
The stage is set...
Enter the birds.
Exit the Birds.
The Crust is Gone.
THE END
New Beginnings
In the process of 'f i n d i n g f o r m', the exhibit now in the Genesis Gallery on the main floor, we introduced 'the egg' as a form which perfectly contains potential. This form has become the central theme in the Collage Gallery which we began hanging today. This exhibit is entitled 'e g g x a g e r a t e d p o t e n t i a l'
and these are two of the new pieces.
DO NOT DISTURB
This baboon skull was found in Africa some forty years ago.
The circular form is an ostrich egg shell.
They are now part of the exhibit entitled 'f i n d i n g f o r m'
and can be seen in the Genesis Gallery at Arcturus.
Seeing Through Reflections
Hard to know which way is which.
Small and Perfect
Little/Little turns one today. Happy Birthday Little/Little. xxoo
The Up North Gallery has moved into fall...
These painted sketches are done by Eric McConnachie of the lands and sky surrounding his home in Haliburton.
The sculpture is by Susan Valyi wearing a mask by Sae Kimura.
The egg in the box is an introduction to the next Collage Gallery exhibition.
Holding Possibility
Ideas float towards us
from outside in.
They enter if there is space to be received.
On Loan
This collage was made at the collage workshop on Saturday past by Petrea Hansen. Unfortunately for her but fortunately for us it was too big for her to take it home on that day. Consequently, we have become the temporary custodians and are able to appreciate it while it waits to be picked up.
The Show Must Go On
Today we are feeling a bit like the three stooges
a little slap-stick. a little sleepy,
but still in sync.
Curly, Larry and Moe
A House to Carry
This house began as a collage (shown in our August 29 blog) Sae began building it as a three dimensional form on the same day that I was introduced to the painting (shown in detail below), by Allen Egan. His painting is further inspiring its evolution.
Floating
What is a cloud?
soft, undefined,
constantly moving and changing shape
blurry around the edges
what is it not?
it is not something determined or decided
it is not focused or sharp
Today we have found ourselves somewhere inside a cloud
bumping around and sometimes into the other.
Portrait of the Day
This is Bear.
He is visiting with us while his family is away.
Sae met him for the first time today
and was inspired to make his portrait.
Counting Clouds
We welcome a new artist into the fold,
Allen Egan is the artist of these two new acquisitions,
which seem already to be part of the conversation begun here in August.
Allen was showing his very inspired work at the Cabbagetown Festival this past weekend. We are hoping for further collaboration.
You can visit his web site eganacci.wixsite.com/allen-egan-paintings
Finding Form
Inside and Out
Welcome to the Secret Gallery
September has arrived and we are open again for what always feels like the beginning of a new year.
Bonne fête
When the sky's on the ground
and the world's upside down
la la la la.
In the spirit of Annie Oakley
and girls with gumption,
Happy Birthday Maya.
Kitsune no yomeiri
The foxes' wedding.
It came so suddenly, we almost missed it.
A mysterious occurrence,
we sometimes refer to it as a sun shower.
Spin Dry
Today feels like being turned inside a giant spinning drum
impossible to stop or to get out.
Nothing to be done but record the journey.
Who has seen the wind?
Today we have been visited by the warm winds of summer.
Rhythmic Harmonies
Sina Lack and Jerome Paul came by the gallery today with their instruments, the Hang Bal, Gubal,
Hang Gudu and Pang Sui and played with us for the afternoon.
Please click on the link to have a taste of what we experienced with them.
This two string instrument is a Pang Sui.
As Above So Below
A carpet fallen from the tree tops.
And one who is looking for something.
She Who Knows
Sensing you, our dear friend, Heather.
On an even keel
'on an even keel'
not easily losing balance
or returning to balance after difficulty.
This expression was first used as a
nautical term.
Feet and Inches
Their is a very old saying :-
'To see from another's perspective you must stand in their shoes.'
This is an unspoken request when looking at art and is the reason why art has the possibility of expanding our view.
Shoes themselves are interesting forms. How they touch to the ground, how they lift off.
They tell a story of how we place ourselves here and how we arrange the rest of our body to balance.
It all begins with the feet.
The Red Shoes
Daniel Hanequand's drawings have inspired this three dimensional collage sculpture.
To see more of Daniel's extraordinary work please visit Gallery Arcturus.
Circling
Today we have been spinning like two balls
or maybe it is two holes that we are looking through,
holes that shape what we see and frame what we know,
or are they spheres drawn upon in fine detail
to throw up high or roll across the floor
The beginning of something new
Today began with sunshine and blossoms
by late afternoon the day became a shadow of itself.
Inside we were peeling off the photos
and taking down the show.
In it but not of it
Can we be separate from the crowd and also part of it?
Perhaps it is better when we can see it from outside.
This drawing is by Daniel Hanequand and can be seen in the library at Gallery Arcturus.
The Measure Of..
How tall is a goose?
How wide is the sky?
How long is a tiger's tail?
How immeasurable the whole?
Signed, sealed and delivered
Today was a mailing day, sending out invitations for the next show and opening of Daniel Hanequand's work;-
't h e v i e w f r o m h e r e' . Labeling and stuffing envelopes, sealing and stamping, and carrying them
in the rain to the post box before 5pm. It's a rhythmic job, when you get into it, which all of us seem to enjoy
accompanied with just the right music and the crunch of chips.
Reclining Figure
In my opinion, everything, every shape, every bit of natural form, animals, people, pebbles, shells,
anything you like are all things that can help you to make a sculpture.
Henry Moore, Sculptor
Here and There
Snacking on collage
(or how to make a meal of it)
the brother
and three sisters
The Warp and the Weft
Under construction
a weaving of heavy metal
and brilliant colour
pulled to the sky
and entered from below.
Full Moon Rising
And feeling turned
upside down.
The Yellow Light
The image on the left was taken today at the corner of Church and Gerrard. The photo of our friend Piet Corr was taken a month ago in the gallery. The two seemed to want to go together with the lens on Piet's camera turning colour. I went to the internet and looked up 'yellow light' and this song appeared, by the Icelandic group 'Of Monsters and Men'. We decided to include the link here.
Piet this is for you.
Click on
As Above... So Below
'Playing Hands' 9 collages by Vivian Felsen
Click on each small image to see.
Handmade
For thousands of years human beings have been shaped by what we hold in our hands.
'The hand shapes the tool and the tool shapes the hand.'
Waiting for the Arrow
It's hard to stand or move with an apple balanced on your head.
Maybe it's better to eat the apple?
Constructing a work space
Securing and preparing the site, framing
whatever is to be observed to that it can
be seen and held in focus, penetrating
the matter in question in order to
understand it better... all of this
could be said of what we do in the gallery.
The work space itself is a work of art,
changing shape in response
to whatever is placed within it.
Side by side
Returning to work after four days away, it is about re-orientation to the gallery space, and to our shared projects.
Collage is a surprising way to see what we are up to and where we are situated now. It sets us up for the week ahead.
Getting Better
Being sick is a big 'STOP' sign, nothing else is possible, you just have to wait for the sky to open up and be clear again.
Orange you glad you're not sick!
Stuffed Up!
In the box but not of it
It often seems that we are surrounded on all sides, demands, expectations, things happening all the time.
We are always spinning, as if suspended by a thin thread. And sometimes there is a moment, a pause
when time stands still and I return to a sense of wholeness and energy..
A moment.
Today we are four
It has been awhile since the 'core four' have worked together,
Vivian Felsen, Eron Boyd, Sae Kimura and deborah harris.
Today we met at the oval table and this is the result of our lively and at times profound exchange.
W E L C O M E
"This morning I found a chair placed in the space,
it invited me to sit and to pause and look."
Through the doorway
A door between two spaces
an opening we can move through
going out or coming in
and the invisible barrier of a window
which lets us see the other side.
This doorway is to the Allen Garden conservatory located between Carlton and Gerrard Street east.
This doorway is the main entrance on the Palm building constructed in 1910.
The act of creating
We began with a question, 'what is the language of gesture?' An idea arrives,
not as words but as a vision, not quite distinct. We search for and find materials to make the vision manifest. But then the process begins and materials have a mind of their own, conforming to weight and gravity, light and shadow and what happens is something of a miracle, a total surprise
that we feel privileged to be witness to.
Remembering
Fire
we circle round it, turn our faces towards it
for warmth, for light, for the transformation of food.
our first and ongoing necessity is to feed ourselves,
in times of abundance and scarcity.
hands collect the seeds, plant the seeds, care for their growth, harvest the crop
hands build the fire, cook the food, hold it to our mouth to eat.
Sometimes through grace and effort we are able to amass a surplus
it is only then that we are afforded the possibility of reflection,
to consider our existence here on earth,
to observe what we have discovered and to share that knowledge with words.
A story of three
The one who waits...
The one who comes...
The one who watches...
Foggy morning at the Brick Works
Photos taken by Ayokah Beauchamp
Seen
Collage, stories, the body
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what's hidden.
excerpt from Rumi
collage by deborah harris
image of sculpture by Rodin
Drawing a line on the floor
Which way is up?
The birth of language
This is the beginning of a new body of work showing in the Genesis Gallery at Arcturus
where we are exploring the universal language of gesture found in the expressions of hands.
walking on clouds
How can a wet slab of sidewalk contain the sun and sky and all the branches of a tree? It seems to be a doorway into another world that we need only step into.
The Language of Objects
petal boot shadow wrench
each word has such a different weight
each makes a different sound when it falls to the ground
landing softly or with a heavy thud or metallic clang
words call meaning to them
and speak for us.
The Language of Gesture
7th Century Japanese Scroll
Hand photos taken by Ayokah Beauchamp and Sae Kimura
Billboard at College and Elizabeth St.
Slippery When Wet!
Weather is always a surprise and sometimes, like yesterday evening, it transforms something we see as ordinary and even dreary
into a magical crystalized landscape.
The Travelers
LEAVING THE HERD
The Travelers Part II
INTO THE UNKNOWN
Notes on a string
A musical score composed in Japan.
Still in the engine room
Around the table we meet to converse and collage and share coffee.
New friends can be found here.
Welcome to the 'engine room' (where things get started)
This is just one corner of the basement studio where visitors are welcome to come and see the abundance of work
that is created here, a treasure trove of paintings, collage, sculpture and found objects enough to inspire any imagination.
So many I's
'Constructing an Identity' is the name of the body of work by Eron Boyd now showing in the collage gallery.
This quote by C.S. Lewis and miniature sculpture
seems to describe something of that search for ' I '.
A long climb
To get from the bottom to the top we build stairs
objects and forms are shaped by necessity
Meeting someone from the past
All of the above collages began with a photocopy image of this photograph
'Portrait of a Young Writer" held in the archives of the Jewish Public Library in
Montreal. Each of us was inspired to enter into a relationship with the
original portrait and in the process of collage I think we all came to see and
appreciate the character even more. As much as she has been transformed in
these works a strong trace of her remains.
Where are we?
Today we watched this little guy and wondered
is this a rabbit with cropped ears and long tail?
Squirrels are welcome here.
Today
Today the sun is like the moon
the carpet is like the earth
and the small cut paper is like a bird
And what of the lines running from side to side?
They are like the conversation between us
straight, unimpeded, true.
Today's photos taken by Ed Drass
A triad of opposites...
These three collages were done
at our first coming together again in the new year,
It is easy to see how each of the pieces are different
but can you also see the way in which they connect.
Finding what it is that we share
is always a surprising example of communication.
Passing on the news
Are we willing to receive good news?
or to even consider the news we receive as good?
or more important can we be witness to what is happening
in order to learn about ourselves.
On Martin Luther King's Day his niece wrote: "I pray that all polar opposites learn to Agape Love, live and work together as brothers and sisters--- or perish as fools."
If only I had wings
The popular name now for a Japanese kite is Tako -
The symbol for tako is made from two characters : 凧
風
which means wind and
布
which means piece of cloth.
put them together and you get the symbol for kite
a kite is a call to the wind
holding the string
we are lifted.
A conversation between us
On the bridge looking towards the hills
on the shore looking towards the bridge
sending a message
swift as the kite flies
View from my room
after the sake, after the champagne,
the day arrives, as it always does,
as it never does,
expected but unpredictable.
Lighting the way
On New Year's Eve we walked to the shrine closest to our home.
They had fire and lights and sake to welcome the people who came to visit and pray.