A Phenomenal Job

This was sent to me by a friend, Leslie Vandas, who has put a lot of work into an amazing project. Read on...



She writes..."I saw an ad in the local newspaper asking for volunteers to paint murals for the Alzheimer unit at Capilano Care Center.  I really felt that I should call as Milan's mom [her husband] is now living there although not on this particular floor.  The woman organizing it is an artist now living on the Sunshine coast whose old friend is living at Cap.  When she visits there she hates the institutional look and felt the staff and residents would benefit from a series of murals along a very long hallway.  Her hope was to challenge artists across North America to use their talent to make institutions more stimulating places to be.

Originally we met at a very yucky location and it was to be a commitment of two days a week 3 hours per day.  It ended up in our garage, six days a week, for two and a half months.  There are five panels of 10 ft x 4 ft and four panels 4 x4.
There was a core group of 4 committed ladies who became very good friends during this very amazing experience.  I remember you telling me that it is important to paint every day and wow did we ever!
I have included some photos of the large ones here.  Mine is the one with the two pots of the left and two pillars on the right.  Some aren't finished yet.

Meanwhile, our house was for sale during this time and people would be blown away when they came into the garage and saw what was going on there.  The first family that looked at the house were very interested in the murals and she emailed a colleague in Singapore (where they just moved here from) and explained what we were doing.  They actually bought the house and the other day she was here and said a prominent artist in Singapore is now overseeing two mural projects there.  One in a children's hospital and one in a home for handicapped kids! 

What happened in that garage changed all of us forever!  The one with the rocks across the bottom was done by a lady who has never painting before!  She hooked rugs before but is now selling all her equipment and is buying paints!
There will be a big fund raiser to cover the cost of the project in the fall and all of us would do it again (but not for such an extended time period). It was all documented by a professional photographer who will produce giclee prints on canvas for sale as well as prints for "our portfolios" (which none of us have!)
Anyway, I thought you might be interested to see what we did."

South Coast of Devon

We took a trip a while ago to the south coast of Devon, England. It was beautiful!

Stanage Edge

Close to where we live is Stanage Edge that draws climbers from all over England. We can hike to it from our flat. It is absolutely stunning. Nigel took me there one of the first evenings I visiting him in Sheffield and I thought it was the most romantic evening with the sun setting, the sheep wandering around us, and the distant voices of climbers over the edge.

The Creativity Test

The Test.

My results:
Left Brain 36%
Right Brain 64%

Yeesh!

Funny Cards

There are some funny cards out there. This is one that makes me laugh every time. It was a birthday card for Nigel from his brother's family (who happen to have two boys...can you tell?).

This is a Test

This photo is posted to see if I am still experiencing photo-posting-problems. It appears I am not. Hooray! Blogger has also kindly accepted my request to remove the word identification when I add a new blog. This had been causing me heaps of trouble.

I have been saving this picture. I had meant to use it when I wrote a long blog explaining my hesitations about becoming a parent. I am not pregnant and I do not have any kids. My main question is whether it is possible to be both a parent and a successful artist. I like my independance. I like being an artist. I like my freedom. But as all things go, I don't see how I am limited by being an artist as much as I see how much freedom I have to move. One example of this is my ability to travel. I want to maintain my ability to travel even with kids. I know it can be done...I have seen it in those who simply believe it is possible to do it with kids. But what I don't notice is that my choice to be a full-time artist these last 5 years has limited my ability to travel. In fact, it cuts at the funds so hard that I only occassionally could get a ticket on sale for another Canadian city (never more than a province away).

Blogger Frustrations!

Is anyone completely frustrated with the new format that Blogger has transfered into for managing your blog? I AM!!!! I don't know if they have not worked out the glitches for Mac computers or what, but it is almost impossible to blog anymore. If I post any pictures the blog is fine until I check it the next day and then none of the pictures are there anymore. I have to go through the whole process of uploading them again. This last time I have already erased them. Secondly when I write a blog there is a Word Verification that I have to type in. If I am on the same page for more than a minute it says the page is expired and erases everything I have done. I have developed a tricky way of copying everything, renewing the page, pasting it all again then hoping I have typed in the word verification quickly enough that it won't erase my new blog again. Another problem includes Spell Check not working at all at any time! Excuse the typos! I have had it. Any thoughts from anyone out there?! Explanations?!

Whistler

Banff

Skiing in Banff was great this last January! We highly recommend the Ski Big Three: A joint venture company of Banff/Lake Louise's three ski areas: Sunshine Village, Lake Louise and Banff Mount Norquay. You get 6 hour lessons for 3 days, each day on a different mountain.


The view from Chateau Lake Louise. There was an ice sculpture contest that we had a chance to view. I prefered the ice castle on Lake Louise surrounded by a skating area with the rockies in the background.


Hiking along the river that runs by Banff and Banff Springs Hotel.


A view of the rockies from the ski slopes.


The rockies again.


Seems like Switzerland, doesn't it?


A skiier.


We were taken by our instructor on Norquay to a chair lift that had a big sign saying "EXPERT SKIIERS ONLY! DOUBLE BLACK DIAMONDS ONLY FROM THIS CHAIR". (gulp). This was the view of Banff from the top before we threw outselves off the cliff-like run.


A view of the Banff Springs Hotel.


The town of Banff.


Good bye Calgary...leaving Alberta.

Whistler

I realize I have to finish posting the rest of our honeymoon. So I will scoot through the rest so you can get an idea of where we were and what we were up to!

We got suckered into a time share talk that was promised to be no more then 1.5 hours. Three whole hours later we left with our free $100 gift certificate for any shop or restaurant in Whistler. We spent it at a nice restaurant.


Nigel in the restaurant.


Me in the restaurant. I think I look natural in this picture.


Nigel liked this picture better of me. (Does anyone else feel it looks a bit posed?)


The rest are pictures of Whistler lit up at night.