It was dark. There was a chill in the air. I got up at 4:30, made coffee, brushed my teeth. When I arrived at Tim Horton’s to pick up Elijah, it was chilly and there were only a few people shuffling in for their morning coffee. I bought two fruit explosion muffins and waited for my buddy-in-art to arrive. It was all very exciting, but in a very surreal, understated way. I had only curled into bed at 1:30 a.m….this, after uploading Terry Storey’s fantastic time lapse stuff onto movie maker after a more than exhilarating night at the Gorilla House.
Elijah navigated the journey up to the CTV location…we entered, with the guidance of the security guard and found Chen, Des and Rich waiting. Nina did a wonderful job of orienting us with the program and how to conduct ourselves and arrange all of this artist-stuff that we had heaped into the space.
I thought Rich Theroux gave an exemplary interview that can be viewed on the CTV website.
We were all very proud and excited. Jefferson Humphries and Aisling Tomei were both genuinely interested in our process and were very helpful. It was just such a fun thing to do.
Photo Credit: CTV News
When in just a few minutes, the wheel was spun, we were given the concept….“feeling anxious one hour after another”. I thought this suitable for the moment, but once again, wondered what would actually land itself onto my panel. I felt the space was charged with the sense of team players, both in the news component AND on the tarp, where we began to paint diligently. Some of us were just beginning to feel awake.
Photo Credit: Chen Li
The news monologues and the interim conversations amongst the anchors hummed in the background…E. coli….rats in Medicine Hat…weather….traffic blocked in so many directions…time passed quickly.
Photo Credit: CTV News Battle in Progress
I thought of the twelve hours, representing them through the figures. I kept the eyes closed…limiting outside visual stimulation for the subjects. I allowed the colour palette to dictate a sense of anxiety.
Jefferson Humphries and another gent from the control room continued to visit with us as we heaped our belongings into our cars. I really was so impressed by the hospitality and the engaging conversations! A wonderful time!
Overlooking the city at the end of the Battle.
Driving home was peaceful…quiet exchange of stories…a good off-leash exercise for Max-man…and a day filled with positivity. I am grateful to CTV Morning LIVE for hosting an event that supports the visual arts in the city of Calgary and showcases a relationship between viewer and artist.
The scariest moment is always just before you start. Stephen King