Evocative


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.

Winter

blessed as we are by seasons

humbled as we are by weather


William Blake Ascends to the Fourth Floor



The light is diminishing


                                                                           and still there is an opening.

Christmas is Coming...


...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.

I Can't Believe It's Already December 12!


Surprised by Light


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

Coming Out of Hiding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Responding to Gauguin

    'Breton Eve'


Sorry for Our Absence


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

Looking For The Way Through


Not Sure if We are Going Up or Down


Four Faces Sleeping with Eyes Open



                                                                                                             Variations on a  Dali theme.

Friends

Each of us, Sae,  deborah and Floyd, began with a copy of a Salvador Dali portrait

from his painting 'Paranoiac Face'. We worked simultaneously and these three pieces are the result.


As the Sun Moves


Visions Fugitives


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

 

 

This Is The Book That We Built


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.


Gone Fishing


 

 

 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.

 

 

Do You Ever Wonder?


Spinning



The Mystery of Time


Onlookers


An important part of the process is being seen by those who share and care for the space with us.

Meeting Whale


The exhibition 'Primary Journey' has evolved to 'Meeting Whale'. Whale is a painting done by me (deborah harris) some fifteen years ago. In this reiteration it is in relationship to the boat figure and represents a deepening of the journey already begun.

Inside


The Leaves Are Telling Time


Meeting with the Degas Dancers


Wondering Where We Are Going


All Soul's Day


The day we remember those we love who have passed.

Between the Worlds


 

 

Halloween began as the ancient festival of Samhain.

It was believed that at the end of summer and the beginning of winter (november 1)

the barrier between the worlds of the living and the dead became very thin.

Disguises were worn to make oneself unrecognizable to the spirits,

negativity was released to make way for new energy to enter.

 

 

Red Music


 

 

Today Vivian suggested that we respond to a painting of Gauguin using collage.

It was a very challenging task moving from complete chaos to what you see above.

 

 


Erasing the Surround


When we erase what is on the periphery of our attention we lift what is our focal point out of its context,

in so doing what is perceived  may become an entrance to what seems to be another world.

 

Mags in the Bags

...just have to get our hats!


MEMBERS ONLY

      Today Sae and I walked with our friend Floyd 

      to the Old Man's Club, where the cigarettes are cheap.

      When we get old we are going to open an old women's club

       and serve good coffee and Earl Grey Tea in pots and all

       the women have to wear hats!

 

 



Listening


Like A Bird On A Wire


On Our Way to the Weekend


What is it to wait?


 

Waiting is not an idea living in the head

waiting occupies the whole of us,

all of our body and senses, our inside and outside must agree

to become receptive, to be ready to receive

what we are waiting for

whenever it finally comes to us.

Puddle Gazing


Today's Meeting

This is what we do when we come together,

how we challenge each other and communicate who we are.

Speed and attention is necessary.

No time for fussing over details.

 We all appreciate this way of working together.


Happy Thanksgiving from All of Us Here


A Red Flag Day

deborah harris


Sae  Kimura


Floyd Kuptana


                               These chalk drawings, done today, are copied from the same section of Salvador Dali's painting  'Burning Giraffe'.

Into The Woods


Which Way is Up?


                                                               Same perspective... different orientation

                                                                               Does that mean that we only have to

                                                                        stand on our heads to view things differently?

Mirror, mirror on the ground... (better late then never)

what reflections to be found.


This blog was meant to go up on Friday... we forgot to push the button so it is up now as well as whatever we blog for today.

Sorry we missed sharing with you on the weekend.

Constructing A 'Plane' Language




 

Two different artists,

two different days,

sharing an understanding.

 

                                            An artist creates a visual language.

                                            In the beginning it is unknown even by the artist but over time with repetition there is recognition and vocabulary expands.

                                            But the language is not only visual it is also spatial, consisting of shapes and dimensions.

                                            It communicates direction and movement, inward and outward.

                                            Postures and gestures convey mood and complex subtle qualities.

                                            When we give our attention to a piece of art we are learning a language,

                                            one that touches the memory of our senses.

                                            We may be surprised that we understand.    

On One Side or the Other


What is Art?


Pruning the big plant in the window, five leaves that were on their way to be discarded...

hung on the door handle they appear exquisite. The gift of discovery can happen anytime.

It is always a surprise.

Trying to Remember Who Am I


                                                                                                      Painting by Floyd Kuptana

Light is Woven Through the Darkness


Looking Out from Inside


                                                     Can you spot the two sisters, each perched on a window ledge?

A Journey

                     We finally completed the current exhibition. The words above are those which helped to inspire and shape this work.

         They are from three different sources which seem to weave together very poignantly. Below is a photograph of the boat in the space.



Singing the End of Summer Blues


                                                                                                           Warm socks but summer dress!

GONE FISHING


 

Today we completed what is now the current exhibition in the main gallery, hanging fish which multiply with shadows

and move in such a joyful way that one could stand for hours and be mesmerized by them.

Such a simple beauty.

Stepping Out


                                     Today was a visit to the top of the CN  Tower just for that unobstructed, distant view. A need for another perspective.


Sometimes there are no words


Wondering what next to do with cardboard


                                                                                                                        Little cows are easier to get into boxes.

Not stepping off the triangle, not taking any risks...


Recovering from a 'small' mistake can be very intimidating.

But mistakes are our best teachers and if we are willing to learn

something great can come from them.

Today we discovered the magic of creative solution.

Summer Returns

Just as we were unpacking our sweaters...!


Trying to Make it Float


Today our friends, Joan and Dominique, visited the gallery on their way back to France. Dominique was inspired to help us make a simple, light and beautiful frame to support our boat. It was very exciting to see it come off the table. We are almost finished.


Wind Blown


Putting Out the Fire

                             These collages will be donated to the 100th anniversary celebration of the Alumnae Theatre in their fire hall home.

 

                              The artists from left to right are Sae Kimura, Eron Boyd (2nd and 3rd) Vivian Felsen and deborah harris.


Today Sae'n'I are Ship Building

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Sae is taking the photos

so she's not in them and Captain Floyd is overseeing)


The world is even more mysterious than anything we can imagine

                                    but what a beautiful imagining


 

Celestial globe

by Jodocus Hondius Junior and Adriaen Veen, 1613.

National Maritime Museum, London.

Make sure to play your cards right.

   Card collages by Eron Boyd


Open to Interpretation

 

 

 

                                     This is Sae's version...

             (Sae's angel caught a fish and swam to shore)

 

 

 

 

The assignment was given by Floyd

to draw a swimming angel...

(Floyd's angel is a shape shifter)

 

 

                      and this is deborah's

(deborah's angel is just swimming)

                                 (she's a little bit boring)


Big Little Landscapes


Well, the plants are happy...


Savouring the Last Bite


                                                                                                               water melon season is almost over

L o y a l t y

All of these dogs are waiting for their persons to get coffee at Sumac Espresso Cafe.

I was at a table drinking mine and drawing them.

Different dogs, different days, different postures,

  same expressions. (with one or two exceptions)

Dogs have more variations than any other species

but it is always their nature to be loyal.

 

Drawings by debroah harris

Unwinding


This is How it Looks Today


Sunny with the chance of cloud


The Passion of Red



Almost Full


Meditating on the Wheels of Life


                                                                    ...using the materials on hand to create a shrine,

                                                                                         a protected place to be quiet and contemplate

                                                                                           with a sense or reminder of another being

                                                                               or another existence than the one we usually engage with

                                                                                                        

 

                                                                                                      'in the world but not of it'

La la la, la la


Stepping Carefully Through the Day


                                                                                                      ...while trying to juggle the red ring.

Stations of a Cross


Hawk Landing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What a gift to have a hawk land in our backyard. He stayed here on the fence for at least 30 minutes. Hawks have great overview, flying high and seeing far and wide. In many native traditions they ask us to rise above the details and expand our perspective heavenward to embrace the spiritual element. Today we have received that message.


A Circle of Inspiration

 

 

This circle began with Floyd Kuptana's charcoal drawing in response to a Picasso painting of figures on a beach.

The sculpture on the right is by Sae Kimura.

The sculpture on the left is by deborah harris.


Today we welcome our two friends from France... Welcome!


Making progress but somewhat slowwwwly


Waiting for the week to end


It has been a very good week

but too far from familiar.

Today The Three Girls Go To The Water Park

 

 

 

The Three Girls ready for take-off.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Drains in the sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadows in the sand.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children in paradise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder Woman.


Building a Place To Be


                                                                           The beauty of simple shapes and balance

Waiting for the Parade


To and From / Arrivals and Departures


 Going towards Ward's Island from the city harbour                                                                                          Returning to the city from Ward's Island

 

                                                                                          

                                                                  Sun and Moon are passing figures of countless generations                                                     

            and days coming and going wanderers too.

              Each day is a journey and the journey itself home.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                Basho

Flying through Water, Swimming through Air

Floyd Kuptana's most recent sculpture.


Folded Paper


The Book of Shows Past


 

 

Every year at this time I am asked to write a summary of all the exhibits that have happened in that year.

I try to remember just how each show has evolved from the previous one. I am reminded of the continuity leading to

this moment now. It is a challenge to return to the past but a good way to enter into the present.

It's a long ride from Japan to Toronto..


Inside the plane, trying to be comfortable,

Sae's mom has a cup of tea.

All Things Growing

      A visit today to Allen's Gardens


Artists Reunion


Working together again after time away

it's a good way to find out who we are

surprising!

Preparing for Visitors


Keeping an Eye on the Girls


                   Eron is often the only guy at the collage table

                   an interesting challenge

                                                                                               that I think he enjoys

If it Keeps Raining...


                                                                                    ...Plans for the Ark

The Trojan Horse


How did this mysterious horse enter into the city

resembling the legendary Trojan horse

with the scaffolding of its making still in place

a painting of the Greeks before they hid inside merges with Sae's photo

a magical meeting of  gestures

                             Trojan Horse

    by French artist Jean Guillaume Moitte  1790

             drawing with ink and guache


Hiding in Plain Sight - A Weekend Retreat




Knock, knock, who's there?


Timelines


Fragments of images

from other times, other places

gestures recognizable, interchangeable

placed to alter each other's stories,

complete an incompleteness.

 

Unexpected meetings

surprise us to look.

Windswept...


...but feeling lucky


Have a Weekend


Finally!


The Expression of Today


Working from Home


Sending Letters to the Ancestors


Our Latest... art storage solutions and spring installation


Three Sisters


Will the real Modigliani please stand up.

We Have Lift-Off


You are most cordially invited to attend...


                                         We are also showing photographic work in the Up North and Ascending Galleries from previous exhibitions.

 

sHAPed bY tHe sPacE


After a week of working in the stairwell

up and down a hundred times

we are looking something like this!

Climbing to the Top



Today we finished putting up the photographic work in the Ascending Gallery all the way to the fourth floor.

We purchased a new extension ladder which allowed us to reach the ceiling (with some difficulty).

Ed helped with his long reach and between the three of us we got it done.

Sae's mobile is a permanent fixture in the stairwell. It seems to float and dance between the pieces.

All and all it is a magical space.

 

The photographs shown are by Simeon Posen

with the two middle framed pieces in the roof space by Elaine Ling and Pamela Williams

Stop and Go


The Past and Present Meet


 

The reflective quality of glass is that it brings another layer to the underlying image,

in this case it allows the viewer, Sae,  to enter into  the past.

 

A Tall Small Room


                                                                                  Looking Down / Looking Up

                                                                    Today's Second Installation for the next exhibit 'Photographic Memory'

Chas and Dog Pat


 

 

This is the first piece to be installed in our next exhibit  'PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY'.

The next week will be a bit of a marathon to get ready for the May 11 reception.

You are invited to attend or to visit our website where the exhibition will be documented.

 

 

Steps Away From Crossing Over


                                                  Alex in Hamilton                    Della Heywood 's painting now hanging in the library at Arcturus

Sitting in the Library Warmed by the Sun


Follow the Angle


 

Today Sae'n'I' were re-hanging the collage gallery with new work.

Hammer, pins, transparencies are the tools we use.

These photos were taken during the process.

What is interesting is the way in which these images are composed.

The angles as they repeat and move seamlessly from one frame to the next.

Seen together they reveal something of the mysterious patterns of perception.

Returning to life


Rising




The Story Lives When We Remember


Protecting the Space


 

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.

Good Day Sunshine


Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine.
I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about,
I feel good, in a special way.
I'm in love and it's a sunny day.
(Lennon/McCartney)

Echoes, the colour of sound singing



Unpacking the weekend


 

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

 

 

Cockle-Doodle Doo!


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

Alleluia Chorus


Sae'n'I - In the same dream


 

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 their surrounding space transparent and overlapped them,

making them appear to walk together.

They seem to describe something of our relationship.

"Do You Want to Say Anything?"


                                                                                                  "No."

 

 

                                                                                          Have a good weekend

                                                                                                                         (It's bit of an uphill climb)

Face-Off


'Merrily We Roll Along'



Planted


Balancing the Ball



The Path Between


Spring Cleaning


Beginnings


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

 

 

Life Is Many Layered


A picture is worth a thousand words


Tuning to Spring



                                                              

                                                                                     a high pitched wake up call

Outside/Inside



Colour is in the Air...


... whispering a promise of warm

In the Queue


 

 

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.

 

 

A Birthday Wish in 3 Dimensions


This is where I want to be tonight


A Creative Response


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.

As the Sun Sets...


... 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.

Towards the 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.

 

Question without an answer


Somewhere spring is waking


                                                                             Odawara Kanagawa Japan

                                                                                                  Last day of February 2019

Waiting for a Different Bus


  

How many same buses must pass           before a different bus comes.


In the Ruins of History...


                                                                                                                                                     ...perhaps a clue

Looking for a map to help us find our way

 

 

 

 

Sometimes what we are looking for               is too close to see.



Seen from Above...


...the world is very small

Not Too Far From the Maddening Crowd


                                         

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

Learning from those who love winter


                                                                                 

                                                                                                          In the valley of  Riverdale Hill,

                                                                                                              dogs and their people.

Full Moon Rising


                                                                 

                                                                                        and I'm in a tea-cup.

 

 

A Fish Out of Water...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                         might learn to fly

 

 

 

 

           a seed fallen

           between the cracks  

           might,  against all odds

           blossom

          

 

 

 


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

Love is in the Eye of the Beholder


Happy Valentines Day

Either Side of the Door


Today was Declared a Snow Day


Continuing with the Momentum of Change

 

                                       Ripping up and moving forward.


Order Invites Beauty


                                                                            A space we want to work in.

Real Life is Often Better than Fantasy


Chaos Comes Before Order


 

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...

Introducing our latest video... Counting on a Miracle


The Poetry of Objects


                                                  

                                                              ...each one precariously supported by the other.

Windows of Ice


 

 

 

 

 

                                            "Do you have something to say?"


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                "No."


Still in the Midst of the Storm


You are Invited


Trying for Exactness


 

 

                                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.

 

'What Are We Waiting For?

 

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 Show Must Come Down


 

 

                       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.

 

 

Over and Under



Picasso Thursday


Seeing from Every Angle


The Whole is More Than the Sum of Its Parts


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.

 

 


Expecting Snow


Cold Enough to See Your Breath


Winter Without Snow...


 

                                                                                ... shades of tarnished silver

 

 

Just in Time


 

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.

The Little House that Could...


...be a shelter from the storm.

Guardians of the Space




Sharing Red