French Knots

French knots. A door in the abbey at Mont St Michel, France.

I stayed up late last night to do some internet gallery hopping. Always interested in what textile or diaristic ART is being produced (and shown in commercial spaces) I found some interesting work. These are all from the David Kaye Gallery in Toronto.
Valerie Knapp "My textile based pieces are dedicated to making. My compositions evolve from ideas of memory, concealment, time."
Sylvia Ptak "her work is born from an elaborate and almost obsessive desire to produce page after page of writing you cannot read, and to generate clouds of meaning you cannot fathom."
Norah Deacon - lace like paper about family and vulnerability
Judith Dingle - iconic elliptical mixed media constructions
Rosalind Goss - "A few years ago I began to scribble down things said to me and by me on scraps of paper. Getting the exact words down on paper gave me a sense of containment."
Katja Jacobs - encaustic paintings - she treats her canvases as over-size diaries, writing them in alphabets we cannot read.

struggling

Over the weekend I allowed myself to make a decision about the direction of my work. Getting ready to exhibit paintings and drawings in the Perivale and for the LaCloche distinguished artist exhibition has been difficult, and I don't think that my HEART is in those as much as it used to be. Twenty years ago, I eliminated knitting from my creative life in favour of quilting. Now, I'm giving myself permission to eliminate being an exhibiting painter too. Am rushing off to teach piano as I write this - may edit this post later this evening.

fantasy house

We visited two chateaux in Normandy and they were both so gorgeous. They had moats! These photos are of one that is maintained by the French government. We took the guided tour (in French) and enjoyed seeing the restored interior. The other castle (not pictured) (yet) was a ruin that we could wander around in. That one comes complete with a legend about a fairy. Both were so lovely. They bring back my childhood memories of fairytales and fantasy life that I've never let go completely. The blessing of Columba, exiled poet. 2004

Red stitching

Last night I spent some time with Dorothy Caldwell's work on the CCCA website. I am impressed that she is able to use the same technique (wax resist discharge) repeatedly for twenty years without duplicating her imagery.
I am inspired to add more time (and thread) to this cloth book.

Louvre

The Louvre is the largest museum in the world. It's impossible to see all of it in one visit - even if your visit is six hours long (as ours was). These objects from ancient Italy attracted me more than the famous paintings and sculptures. There's something so real and haunting about these objects.

Laughter, friends, memories

Wim, Marjan, Ned at the airport.

We spent a day at the end of our trip with Marjan and Wim before they put us on the plane in Amsterdam. Lots of food - all home made and delicious, lots of laughter.

We laughed about Ned and I going the wrong way TWICE trying to get into Paris on the outer ring road, giving up finally and following the traffic the long way round.

We laughed about how panicy I get at train stations. Ned had gone to look for a place to stamp our tickets when the train came in. "Ned, don't leave me!" I cried through all the backs and shoulders of the other passengers between us. Safely on the fold down seat of the train with our luggage all around me, watching the Dutch landscape I thought to myself "I never thought I would say those words."

Enchanted

Enchanted by the French cemetaries, these are some photos of the large one in the montmartre area of Paris. We looked for the marker for Edgar Degas, but no success.

Home

Valley of Avre by Hodler, 1909
We arrived home about four hours ago and are slowly recovering from our most wonderful time in Europe. It was a long time dream of mine to visit Paris during April - and the city lived up to my expectations. All the trees were in flower and the air was warm enough to stay outside late into the evenings. We walked and walked of course - one does that as a tourist - up to Montmartre and along the gravel walkways of the formal city gardens or along the left bank of the Seine.
La Lecture by Manet, 1873
We were there for three full days and of course it wasn't nearly long enough. Much of the time was spent in three major art galleries- the Louvre, the Georges Pompideau Centre and the Musee d'Orsay. These have important collections of the art that I am familiar with in reproduction. It was fantastic to see the originals - Van Gogh's brush strokes are even more powerful when you can see them up close I assure you. I was surprised that visitors to the Louvre and the d'Orsay were allowed to take photos of the work (without flash). Although I had my journal with me and scribbled notes and made sketches, I also took some photos of several pieces that I have not seen before in reproduction. These three are just some of the beautiful work from the d'Orsay collection of Impressionist art work. I think that this is a Renoir, but it might be by Berthe Morisot. I am not sure anymore. It's not on the gallery's website so if anyone can confirm who the artist is of the above painting, I'd appreciate it.

IN PARIS

Well, we have had a really amazing week driving around Normandy. We thought we'd be able to see some of Brittany as well, but there is just so MUCH to see in Normandy. I have learned so much about history and about how to live with European class. Even the trees have cool haircuts here. I shall post photos once we return - I'm using another hotel computer for this post and Ned has already crashed.

update

We are in a hotel in Holnon in France. I am using the hotel computer and am surprised by the keyboard. The letters and signs are in different places than I am used to. We have rented a VW Golf little black car and are learning about driving round-abouts. Our time in Holland was really nice because of Marjan and Wim's hospitality and I hope that our time in France will be as nice:
Several things have impressed me so far here.
- the tall trees that line the small roads on both sides*
- the high stone walls in many of the villages
- the lovely smell of spring in the French country side;

Hqppy Eqster to qll ,y fq,ily )

The above waq typed without worrying about correcting my type touching fingers. The keyboard is so different here. No picture again today - this computer did not accept my attempts. Next year I will bring my laptop!

flowers and tidal flats

Click here to see a beautiful (copyrighted)photo of the tulip fields in the Netherlands. Marjan and Wim took us into the country today and Ned took some beautiful photos. I took some too but since I don't know how to put them into this computer I am offering up an image I made a few years ago of one of my favourite wildflowers from Manitoulin instead.
After the tulip fields we spent some time on a beach at the North Sea. The tide was coming in really quickly and I found that so exciting. It's truly amazing.

old world culture

Today we visited The Hague with our friends. The government offices are there, although the capital of the Netherlands is Amsterdam. Pictured above is The Knight's Hall. We also saw original paintings by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Rubens and Holbein.

Wonder

We are in the Netherlands and visited Leiden this afternoon. I am most impressed by the gentle beauty here. Spring blossoms cover the trees, the quiet cobblestone streets are filled with bicycles and the interesting building facades are reflected in the many canals. It's just wonderful.

Leaving

There's still a little more stitching to do on this piece but I am taking a break. We're leaving for Europe! Blog writing will be sporadic over the next couple of weeks as I plan to depend on internet cafes. Thanks to all who have made encouraging comments on this piece. Stitching is a domestic technique, under valued and slow. Stitching has a long history of offering women quiet intellectual space to consider.

The Art Map

This is the proof of what will be placed in this season's art map. Barbara Pearn, the publisher of the map has also created a web site and a blog to showcase the artists in this out of the way region of Ontario. Thanks Barbara.

Gloria, my sign of spring

Today I drove the 40 minutes over to Mindemoya to visit Gloria, my framer. Water brimmed in the ditches and it was sunny. Together we chose frames for some of the drawings I did last summer and for this linen stitching. It's not often that I put textiles behind glass. These pieces are either for the Perivale gallery which opens in May or for my LaCloche gig in early July.

Studio time?

I spent most of the day preparing this piece for shipping to the Netherlands. My friend Marjan purchased it when she and her husband were in Canada last year. The idea was that we could bring it with us when we go to vist them next week. However, the piece is large and awkward to carry and so today I shipped it. It made me think about today's Robert Genn letter. He wrote about the low income of Canadian artists and that the more educated artists are, the less paintings they sell. He also commented on the fact that the average amount of studio time artists put in is only twenty six hours a week. He thinks it should be sixty. (p.s. That's ten hours a day for six days a week) A key to the lousy fiscal performance of artists could be the low number of hours they apparently spend alone in the studio. A twenty-six-hour week is not enough. Forty is more like it. Sixty is better because you can start to get good at sixty. Show me artists who have put in ten thousand hours and I'll show you a chicken in every pot. Robert Genn

My last two days have been spent doing income tax and preparing two paintings for shipping. Is that studio time? I think not.

Last week when she was ten

I had a nice phone chat with our daughter today. It was early in Anchorage, and she was helping our wee one get his own breakfast.

Waiting for spring

It's April today but still cold and white here on Manitoulin Island. Novelist Robert Goddard calls this time of year "the brittle edge of spring" and because I want to remember that evocative description I have noted it here in my journal.