Wreck City: I purchased a hot dog, dressed with mustard and relish, at 805.

By donation…in house 805, I was served a hot dog.  Check out the menu!  I loved the atmosphere here…loved the menu. Thanks to artist, Jeremy Pavka. Somewhere around 2000 people attended opening night and I really treasured the positive and engaging conversations that I shared along the way.

Magic is created in house 805 by artists, Andrew Rodrigues, Janet Mader & Cimmeron Meyer, Jeremy Pavka, Kelsey Fraser, Mackenzie Boyle, Nate McLeod and Randy Niessen.

Biographical info on Artist-Curator, Matthew Mark Bourree  is directly from the Wreck City blog site.

“MATTHEW Mark Bourree  is a recent Graduate from the Alberta College of Art and Design in Calgary, Alberta. While attending ACAD, Matthew participated in the exchange program with Cooper Union for the Advancement of Art and Science in New York. Since graduating, Matthew has launched MMJT contemporary furniture with Jeremy Pavka, co-founded studio collective “The Bakery” and local art periodical “Fresh Bread” with Nate McLeod, and opened Haight Gallery, where he has curated over twenty shows and brokered art sales for emerging artists in Calgary. Matthew and his collaborative partner Sarah Malik were recently awarded a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts for a kinetic public sculpture. In 2013, he finished a residency at the Banff Center on partial scholarship and was awarded a Calgary 2012 grant to continue his ongoing endeavors with Haight Gallery.”

and artists

P1100522 P1100523 P1100524 P1100525

Gorilla House LIVE ART: November 28, 2012

It was a blustery night and the temperature was falling quickly.  My eyes watered as Max and I hiked around the pond before dusk, the tears forming crystals on my eye lashes. When I walked to the van and loaded up my supplies, a biting wind hit my face.  It was difficult to get motivated and head out onto the Deerfoot, but with thoughts of comradery (Try spelling THAT word and get it right the first time…in fact spell check is still telling me it is wrong!  Alternative spelling: camaraderie.) and painting under pressure of time and interpretation, tentative thoughts turned quickly to excitement.

The themes for last night’s painting were, as is typical, random! 1. Trust is the daughter of Truth (This concept became my focus and a note here, looking at the internet this morning, much is written about Truth being the daughter of Time…so there you go!) 2. “The stranger was sensed as the greatest menace in ancient communities.”  This, from The Only Published Poetry of Jim Morrison: The Lords/The New Creatures, and 3. From Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon, “Enjoy captivity”.

I prepared my panel at home, sanding lightly and then pulling a ground of burnt umber, burnt sienna and gloss medium over the surface.  I incorporated two pieces of my mother’s sewing patterns…keeping them front and center and creating a nice surface for my evening image.

When I heard the list of concepts, I knew that I wanted to explore the idea of trust being the daughter of truth.   I still haven’t wrapped my head around the performance piece that I witnessed this past weekend, where my daughter, at the end, was shorn.  Her beautiful copper hair was left on a make shift altar, surrounded by words of poetry.  It was a very powerful experience and in some ways, a huge statement about vulnerability and trust.

To begin with, I attached a couple of collage bits…and worked in some ultramarine blue washes, to push the umber into a darker plane.  I chose a small passage from the book of James and a vintage illustration from one of my books.

Birds navigate using the sun and the stars.

Blessed is the person who perseveres in spite of trial.

I was a bit distracted by the crowds last night and found that ultimately, I had to turn my panel upside down so that I stopped feeling the pressure to make this about two figures, but just to go searching instead for dark and light shapes.  This is an exercise that I had once practiced, creating a depiction of the Pieta in charcoal with my students.  It worked for them…it might work for me.  I found this idea years ago in the book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Dr. Betty Edwards.  Doing this, I could continue to chat with the evening’s participants.

Some folk would step up and say quietly, “If being here bothers you, just let me know.”

This gave me pause…I realized how much this process has changed for me and how painting and creating has become a very public thing for me now…less precious or intimidating.  The public experience of LIVE ART has opened up the dialogue and truly removed the art from the walls and put it into the hands of all of us.  Interesting.

Thank you to Kevin who purchased this generously at auction and if Kevin or Geoff (Jeff) are reading this, would they please e mail me the photographs…especially the one of Kevin and me with the painting as I didn’t collect one of my own.  It was so good to have Andy back…and to see Lauraine and Wendy, along with several new folk.  I would like to credit Calgary photographer, Aran Wilkinson Blanc , for the reference I used for this painting.  Clearly, the pose of the figures bears some similarity.

One beautiful image! Photo credit Aran Wilkinson Blanc of Calgary

Weekend Blessing #1: Performance Art

Photo Credit: Aran Wilkinson-Blanc

My daughter, Cayley, and her friend, Crystal, performed a magical piece at the Untitled Arts Society on Friday night.  Fortunate were those who had opportunity to attend the performance, in addition to taking in the visual art exhibit because it was so fleeting and yet so intense.  I’m very proud of my daughter for this collaboration.  It was courageous.

As six inches of my daughter’s hair was cut off toward the conclusion of the performance, the audience members gasped in unison.  It was a stunning moment, leaving some observers quietly emotional and shocked…others, uttering their amazement in a whole number of ways.

The images, on their own, may not convey the narrative or the emotion expressed and the drawings and sculptural pieces that remain feel to be a mere residue to the experience.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Following the performance piece, the Haggard Beat performed in gallery and so there was an extension of magical energy and we all celebrated with great conversation and excellent music.

Hot Dang’ Darling by Haggard Beat

Hot Dang’ Darling

Coalesce: Cause to Grow Together

The arts continue to eek out their moments in the city of Calgary, more so with the Calgary 2012 initiative and the injection of funding in support of young visionaries in the city.  If we don’t wish to see our artists leave for larger centers (Montreal and Vancouver), we have to provide for the opportunities for them to produce and celebrate their forms here at home.

I, for one, think that emerging artists need our support.  Many artists leave the University of Calgary with degrees in dance, art, or theater, but then struggle to find opportunities that are local.  For an example, Decidedly Jazz Dance Works, while well-established, seems to hold a monopoly within the city and draws dancers into a professional program that holds promise for a very limited number of dancers and only after a huge financial sacrifice.  Dance, like all of the fine arts in our city, needs to have venues of expression, opportunities and somehow, a monetary reward.  So many of our artists absorb the cost of providing the public with entertainment, on their own.  Choreographers pay their dancers first.

I know that this discussion opens a can of worms because so much of the public thinks that artists must get out and get ‘real jobs’ and ultimately, this is what they do.  But I ask, at what cost to society and local culture?  Calgary 2012 has provided a year of diverse artistic events and I suggest that if you have not sought these out as yet, that you get going!  It is a wonderful thing to immerse oneself in the creative process, as a performer, but also as an audience.

One of the events that I enjoyed last evening was presented by Momentum Dance Collective at the Untitled Artists Society, a wrap-up event after several local performances at Stephen Avenue, Calgary Farmers’ Market, Kensington on 10th Street and the Peace Bridge.  A contribution to the artistry was the music of young artist, Matt Blais and the visual art of Cayley Hanrahan.  It was an inspiring evening.  You can find Matt’s music here. Matt Blais | Modern Roots, Rock n Roll | Home.

Marina Abramović: The Artist Is Present

I headed out to the train station, making it downtown to the Globe Theater by 7:10… time to pay for my Tuesday-deal-of-a-ticket, a big bag of popcorn and a medium sized Minute-Made orange pop.  I made it into my seat for the fading of the house lights.  Then…magic!

What a remarkable film about an amazing performing artist, Marina Abramovic.  I only wish I could have witnessed her retrospective in 2010 and been one of the people to experience her gaze!  It must have been remarkable!  Twice during the film, I shed tears…it was so dang beautiful!  I hadn’t intended to write another post today, but hoping that some of you might catch the HBO film while it’s playing in Calgary, especially if you are an artist.

Be obscure clearly. E.B. White