Welcoming in the New Year

      Let us remember our place in the universe.


Rain with Intermittent Sun


Christmas has Melted...


 

...as if it were a dream.

 

Today is crisp and dry and sunny, 

 coming back down to earth,

landing on one foot,

trying to find balance again,

 moving towards the new year.

 


Giving is a Gesture of Heart

 

Merry Christmas to you all.

Thank you for meeting us here.

It is our real pleasure to share images and thoughts with you.

May you find a moment of peace and contemplation this Christmas day.

 

s and d


Dancing Towards Christmas

               A child's anticipation and joy.


Two Hands, Two Feet, Seven Eyes

For all the different things we see.


As the Sun Goes Down...

... on the day

on the week

the paper comes out

for one last hurrah

before the long ride home


Zephyr (mist over water)


The flower and the perfume

what has substance and what rises from that substance

a fine and subtle essence

mysterious, far reaching

a conversation that lasts all day

transforming one and the other into silence.

Today Jack Frost Came to Visit

sharp  and  pointed  and  cold


It's Tuesday Again!



 

"It's something like a dream

I keep coming back to this place that I know

It's different but it's also the same."

 

"I don't have dreams like this."

 

All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go


"This reminds me of a cat I met this morning."


 

"What kind of cat was that,"  I wonder.

 

"The cat didn't look like this at all but it reminded me of it."


Today... All these figures were sitting 'round the same table!


The first lines are like branches

exploring the page

and the capacity to move, to make a mark

 a kind of magic

that our gestures can be remembered

 

 


Drawn on the sky


Keeping Our Eye On The Ball

 

Right now we are very focused on the

online collage workshop. Receiving

collages and comments, having a

relationship to others outside of our

immediate environment. It is an exciting energetic exchange. 

 


A Brief Return to the Feeling of Fall

These two collages by Hanna Joy Farooq are contributions to our first online

collage series. They arrived a little late to go onto our collage workshop page

as we are just uploading the second series of works, but we wanted them to be seen.



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. 

A Path to Winter


Trying to Play Our Cards Right


                                                                                                We can't change what we have been dealt,

                                                                                                           only do the best that we can.

What is Freedom?

a moment, nothing before or after


Moving Through the Day

we finally got it in the envelope


Waiting for My Friend


Keep Your Heart Unlocked


A Day that Somehow Fell Between the Cracks

...lost in reflections


Clearing the Visual Palate


One of the hazards of our job is visual overload. This was definitely today. Closing the eyes and becoming quiet like a stone is a good remedy.


Arriving Here In the Blink of an Eye


Time moving faster than the speed of light

 

and before we know it the sky grows dark

 

we only just began the day

 

and now it seems hours have passed

 

unbroken attention and effort have spun the clock hands round

 

and brought us here hours later

 

seemingly

 

in just the blink of an eye.

Something Completed

 

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.


Finding the Beauty of Simple

Collage by Vivian Felsen


Shared Focus


Rolled Up and Unravelling



Collecting Fallen Treasure



Touched by Light


Building a Village

Using the stretcher frames which supported whale (we were resistant to carry them up to the fourth floor storage) we have joined them together in different ways, first as free standing shapes (see blog August 14) and now as the skeletal forms of village homes.


When You Make a Swing Set a Swinger Appears




And He Danced by the Light of the Moon



Too Much Housework



Cool in the Shade Warm in the Sun


                                                                                                 An autumn story

Inside the Chambers of the Heart

light enters


Towards a full moon


Co-Ordinated Chaos


A Fugue in Three Parts


Our New Website is Live!

arcturus.ca

Many thanks to Gerry Valentino our web-site builder


In the Water, On the Earth, In the Air


A Different Canvas


A Memory of Light




A Mysterious Opening


Speaking with Turquoise


Look Up!

                                                    Eric McConnachie paints the weather


One Thing We Know the Other is a Question


Art Makes Sense in the Context of Life


Pulling Together All The Pieces



Colour Turned Upside Down


Not Just Hanging...

 

 

 

 

 

..a new installation in the collage gallery.


Making Sense of the Unexpected


Priming the Railing


Who Let These Guys Out?


                                                                                                                Have a good weekend

A Frog in Fishnet Stockings


A Shadow Parade


Collaging the Wave



An Open Book and the Tooth Fairy


Too Much Working at the Computer Today and Too Much Fly!


Weather's Palette a Worn Facade


Dancing on the Head of a Pin



Pink Rising


Pink Floyd


View From the South Shore

These collages were sent to us by our comrade collage artist Vivian Felsen.

We miss working with her in person but we appreciate any and all communication.


Life as a Musical


Laying a Path


A Visit to the Stone Yard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What has weight and gravity

 

a history more ancient

 

than our fleeting existence

 

polished smooth by eons of friction

 

something which does not disappear


Slaying Dragons


Gazing Into the Unknown


Upstairs/Downstairs

...meeting on the landing


You Can't Be It and See It


All you need is a cardboard box

Watching You Watching Me


Looking for children's books today we found 'The Tea Party in the Woods' by Akiko Miyakoshi.

The similarity to yesterdays 'Ancestors' is striking. They seem to be looking at each other.

Scrutinized by the Ancestors


This is what happens when we work together


Windows are the Eyes

The immense satisfaction of polishing the glass until it disappears

when the outside shines inside

the two become one


Emerging


Floyd is Back


 

After many months of isolation Floyd appeared today sitting across from the gallery.

We had our first visit six feet apart. Much laughing together and story telling, from him.

Constructing Space


Each Piece Makes the Whole


It's A Dog's Life



Feet Planted, Head Turning in Too Many Directions


Every Which Way


Opening Windows


A Change of Palette and Presence


To be visited at the very top of the ascending gallery

Trying to Navigate a Puddle


The Many Moods of Friday


Shaping Light and Space


Liberating Whale

 

 

 

 

 

Today we took 'whale' off of its stretcher.

 

The stretcher resembles some kind of strange skeleton.

 

Seeing it leaning against the wall it became potential

 

for something other, a new form to inhabit.

 


The Memory of a Journey


"There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in"

 Lyrics from Leonard Cohen, Anthem


Sometimes what has been created ends in destruction



Looks Like Good Conversation


A Story in Three Parts...Half Full and Half Empty


A Visit to the Farm


Riverdale Farm in the heart of the city.

Building a Tree House



Stopping to Watch the Clouds Go By


Finding a Way to be Together After a Long Absence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivian Felsen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vivian Felsen

 

 

 

 

 

Sae Kimura

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

deborah harris

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eron Boyd

 


Swinging Gently Under the Tree Tops


Trying to stay cool


A Sudden Downpour



Not Quite Harmonious


Visited by a Living Puppet


Heat Rising


                                                                                                         Trying to find a bit of shade

Collaging Together on Our First Day Back


The Magic of Mirrors


                                                                     Looking at what's behind me in the collage gallery.

Simple fun is the best

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

water

floating balls

feet


A struggle to get through to open sky


 

 

No sky

but a path

and a place to sit


Collage in the Time of Corona

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During these past three months Eron Boyd has been

unusually prolific creating collages. It is this work

that we have chosen to be the reopening exhibit in the

Collage Gallery. It will be available to view as of this

Tuesday June 30.

 


Good News


Today we had our first meeting with everyone at the gallery to discuss when we will reopen.

It was decided that next Tuesday June 30 we will be our first day back.

We are looking forward to seeing all of you sometime soon.

If any of you would like to come at a time when you could be assured of having the space to yourself

we would be happy to be here at 11am for you.

Eric at his Studio Up North


From His Studio Up North


Painted sketches by Eric McConnachie

 New work in the Up North Gallery


Creating the Subject for a Painting


In the corner of the Genesis Gallery

Three Dimensional Collage


In the presence of green


Today we moved the plants from the east genesis gallery to the upstairs library.

In this different space each plant became revealed again

unique and exquisitely beautiful 

their energy surprising and overwhelming

quiet and contained.

They know how to be what they are.

 

Clarity


Cleaning Day


Today the sky was high, the wind was strong, the air was fresh.

 

It may not be possible to bring order to the world but we can clean and order our own environment.

 

The act of cleaning is physical it pulls us into our body and quiets the mind.

 

At the end of the day there is real satisfaction. This was today.

Heat Inside and Out


Trying to Keep the Appearance of Calm


Hard to Comprehend


puddles and clothespins

scissors and cups

holding together

cutting apart

as different as coffee and tea

reflecting choice

Stop and Go


Challenged to be an Individual

 Collages by Eron Boyd


Who Is Being Hurt?


 A question to ponder

A Bit Scary to See Through Today's Lens



Wet


The Day After The Day Before (we missed the day between)


Just Landed in Tropical Heat Wave


Sunny Skies, Underwrap and Stacked

Still, no way in.


The Rhinos Are Out!


A Little Bit Out A Little Bit In


Things are Looking Up


A Sense of Space


Social Distancing



                                                                                                                                 West meets East

                                                                                                                       The dog park at Allan Gardens

A Meeting of the Guardians


                                             from above and below


"Hello Neighbour"


Having Nothing to Say


Being Cawled to Look


Facing one way or the other

                 Looking From Both Sides


Not Quite There


 

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'

In Through the Back Door


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.

Today was a good wind...


A Small Window on the World


The Moment Lives On

And what is the moment?

 

It is a unity, a circle of beings,

 

 content in that moment.


Fabricland


A Meeting in Shadowland


Inside/Out


Not reflected

We see our selves most clearly, most truly, in the eyes of those we communicate with.

We reflect each other.


Looking at the world upside down


Looking for Direction


Waking Up


                                                                               

Sorry we were late.

Moved by Wind


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

 

Connecting from a distance


Sidewalk Art


Stretched into the Blue


"Caught in a web of contending forces..."


                                  
                                    
                         "Caught in a web of contending forces, he is at once a protector of good and a doer of evil;
                           a builder and a spoiler; a man of principle and an opportunist; ..."
                                                                                                                                   William Shakespeare, Henry V

If Only We Were Pigeons...

"I guess a lot of people are feeling that" says Sae.

 

"Yes, a lot of people are wishing they were pigeons!!!" says I.


For the new blue flowers


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.

Sending Our Prayers on the Wind


In the Twilight Zone


                                                                                                                        ...trying to find the light

For Our Dear Friend Eron...

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

Reconnecting 'Round the Table


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.

cOFFEE IS eSSENTIAL


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.

Hold On...


The Outside Beckons Us


In the World But Not Of It



Don't Be Scared It's Just Us


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)

Preparing



                                                                                                                                  ...it's not all bad

Remember to Step Outside


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.

 

Today was a difficult day

...confusing and messy

ragged and sharp edged

There is a lot happening that we have not encountered before

inside and outside

we are challenged to be balanced

to use our common sense

to remain calm and disciplined

Today we were not quite there yet.


Where Is Home?


How Differently We Each Interpret The World!


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.

 

 


A Different Blue A Different Circus


The objects and subjects of the gallery basement.

The World is a Blue Circus

Marc Chagall

Blue Circus

1950

Pacino di Bonaguida

The Creation of the World

1309 - 1347


How the Body Remembers



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.

Becoming Animated

                                                                                                                                                                   ... thanks to Eron Boyd

Picasso Steps Upon the Medieval Stage



St Francis Renouncing Worldly Goods 1295

         The Mountebanks by Picasso 1905


A Reflection of Today


The First Star I See Tonight...

Today Sae 'n' I  worked on designing a new web page.

We will let you know when it's up and running, should be in two to three weeks.


Fishing for Mary


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

                                                                                                                                                                     possibly by Pietro Lorenzetti  1310

Collage by Sae Kimura

Collage by deborah harris


Clearing the Visual Palette


The Near and Distant Past

Vivian Felsen

Le  Duo                            The Presentation in the Temple

Georges Braque                 Giotto di Bondone

1937                                   1267 - 1337

deborah harris                                                Sae Kimura


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.

Not sure where the forest ends and I begin


                                                                            and home is a thought I can't quite touch

T T C Looking for Alternatives


Illuminated


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


Cardboard is our new canvas



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.

Alterations # 2, 3, 4, 5, 6



Opening the drawers of the past/ Turned to the future/ Drawing in the present


Alteration #8


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.


The Space Where We Work... Lit by the Sun


This is where your blogs are born.

Very Far From Here


It's either an uphill or a downhill climb




Rogue Twins


Working with Perspective


Look Out


Holding a Moment of Peace


The Story Must Continue


                    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.

Still Life with Black Jug


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. 


Sneaking out through the back door


A Winter's Retreat


Will the Real Paul Klee Please Stand Up


...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS

A CoRnucOpia of WoRk



                                                                                                                                                  ...continuing LESSONS WITH THE MASTERS

A Meeting Place


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

As Above So Below




Becoming Like Children


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.

Reading Music of the Day


Body So Full Head So Empty

collage ensemble by Vivian Felsen


A Parting of the Ways



Year Ending and Beginning


 

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.