Spring flowers

Yes- that's my baby outside in a shirt and diaper only,
my theory is that you have your whole adult life to wear pants in public, live it up bottomless while you still can.

This post is basically just a barfing up of photos from my camera- "Blech!" to you on the screen. Ditch Lady Slippers and Lily of the Valley, Bleeding Hearts, Muscari. These are the only spring flowers I've photographed this year- no Lilacs at all- weird! and none in the house either- they're all done now- but the sweetly scented Lily of the Valley made it inside to the table- never did anything smell so sweet.

Another sweet thing was the Victorian Tea the Village held- we got all dressed up in Antique clothes (except the girls- those are 1980's dresses), they belonged to my husbands great grandmother and are circa 1910. Very Very beautiful hand sewn work, the lace is amazing, and things are fragile- but it's nice to get them out and wear it. It was such a different time period clothing wise- where you adjusted your figure not by dieting, or trying to actually sculpt your flesh in the shape you want- but by corseting here and padding there- making your waist 20 inches one day, 22 the next, your bust ruffle going up and down to adjust to your shirt, your bum padded out to fill out your bustle, so Foreign to us now. Also the layers and layers of gauzy clothing- at first you wonder if it could possibly be right that they wore such flimsy skirts- but when you have four of them on you're so totally swathed in fabric, it seems like you'd be fine going outside in winter as is.

I love this big floppy bow in her hair, and how her new lace up boots go so well with the dress. 

 The tea itself was really lovely too- china cups and homemade mints, tiny sandwiches, and dainties, the girls were over the moon! They had sugar cubes too which the most satisfying thing to my kids- you could give them a choice of cake with decorations and chocolate oozing from it, sprinkles, candles, icing roses- the works- or one sugar cube and I truly think they'd choose the cube- well,  it would be a BIG decision anyways.

Monday Inspiration: Roman Bartkiw

Bartkiw, Pommes Dore, 1996, (source)

Roman Bartkiw, (1935- 2010), was a Ceramist and Glass artist. He is apparently known for his innovations in glass work- though I can't seem to find out what those are or see any of his glass works online. There are some ceramic birds online- but mostly on ebay and Kijiji, and I can't seem to find the real site only find them on google images. Someone could doubtless find more images of his work in person, or also if they had more time to search online ( I have the time bomb of a soggy diaper soaking through my pants- Oh! that reads as though it's MY diaper! If this is the first time you've read the blog- rest assured I have children- it's almost always their pee on me- not my own.)

I really love this work though- the simple lines and distilled forms are so soothing, and powerful at the same time- it's really lovely. You can read quite a bit about him here. He's collected in several museums, the AGO, and the Museum of Civilization.

Monday Inspiration 2014 is all about Canadian artists. Each Monday I'll pick a new one to profile- If you can think of any that you think I ought to look up- please let me know in the comments- I'd love to hear from you. You can find a list of the artists I've done so far here. 

Monthly Photo Challenge: Stormy Skies

I've had to reach into the archives for this one- no photogenic storms yet this year- I thought about including a photo of my little ones with their stormy faces- (we've certainly had our share of dramatic storms on that score...), but settled on this photo of Lobelia after a storm from 2012- not quite the directive- but close I think, artistic licence and all that. The Bike photo is one of my favorites from the summer of 2013, and the Hoar frost covered tree is from winter of 2013, it's my favorite tree in all the yard I think- so stately and gracefull.

I'm joining in with a Personal Photo Challenge  for June- check out the other entries over there it's fascinating.

Old George's Hidden Village

 Last week we went on a day trip out to Old George's hidden village in Whitewood, it's a couple of hours from here and it's a neat place to go (if a little dusty), part Museum, part antique shop, part something else entirely, Old George is the owner and quite the character- happy to tour you around and explain the place, and it's a great place for kids, (well maybe it's just that way for our kids, they're well versed in looking at old junk and finding it interesting). If your kid has any sort of imagination they'd love it- there's tons to look at and imagine about, N was almost every shopkeeper there was, a sheriff, a shoe salesman, a pioneer woman, a kid about to get eaten by a bear, you name it.

It's like an old curio cabinet you can walk around in, and it's really interesting, and inspiring to see this place, because it's huge and built out of one man's imagination and passion for old things and times. And also because there's a treasure trove of stuff to get your juices flowing, at least two new ideas for pots came out of this trip, and lots of designs that I'll appropriate, as soon as I get the chance to work in the studio again.

If you're passing by Whitewood Sask. this summer I highly recommend a little visit to Old Geo.

Monday Inspiration: Hannah Maynard

Hannah Maynard, Self Portrait- Trick Photography, 1893 (source)

Hannah Maynard, Captain Jack, chief of the Rupert Indians with his wife, 1868-78 (source)

Hannah Hatherly Maynard, (1834-1918), was born in England then immigrated to Ontario where she learned photography. After that she and her husband (also a photographer), moved to Vancouver Island where she opened up a portrait studio. I suspect this woman had guts, seriously, she also had four kids, which makes her one of the only female artists I've profiled to actually have children and a husband.

The Maynards did Landscape photography, but Hannah also did these wonderful 'trick-photograph' self portraits- in which there are several 'Hannah Maynards' all serving tea to each other and looking at art etc. They are really spectacular. These photos wouldn't be out of place in a modern gallery except we'd all be talking about post-modern ideas of the self, and service and motherhood, and a woman's position, or possibly mental health, or spirituality or something,  but because they're old you just sort of have the sense that they're really about the technical aspects of the medium, about exploring what she could do in the darkroom. They're probably really about both.

I think what I like best about these photos is that it gives a sense of who she was. That is so rare- to see people from that long ago and find a sense of kinship with them- that it happens with these photographs, that you feel as though you could sit down to tea and have a chat with this lady and it wouldn't be totally alien, like you get a glimpse of her as a real person, is extraordinary.



Monday Inspiration 2014 is all about re-discovering Canadian Artists. After completing a bachelor of fine art from a Canadian University you would think that you'd be well versed in Canadian art- but actually -not so much. Ask me about renaissance, or abstract expressionism, and I'm well versed, but beyond the Group of Seven or Emily Carr I'm a bit lost when it comes to my own countrymen- (let alone country women!).

 I'm not really meaning to do all women- but so far that's pretty much been so- I figure that the male artists are pretty well represented so I'll try to highlight more female artists than men- though I'm not doing only women. If you can think of anyone else you think I should look at leave a note in the comments- I'd love to hear from you! 

Lately

These days are feeling too busy, To Do lists spiral out of control even as we chisel them down, expanding like some sort foam insulation, growing like fungus. We are swept away in our days. Children go feral, parents seethe with the need to be 'doing something', except when we are awash in nature, when everyone calms, sweaty heads, dirty feet and all, we stop to listen, and look, and notice.

And so I'm putting up these photos from the last week or so- later than I'd planned, and less organized- but still they're a record of sorts.

::Translucent sage leaves,
::Baby feet dancing in the dirt
::Whispery yarrow
::Inoculating logs with Shitake plugs and finding them a nice shady spot
::Asparagus finally providing meal after meal sweet juicy stalks
::A walk down below to see how things are growing,
::A dry old shitake from the old logs
::A bright summer dress, newly sewn.

Monday Inspiration: Ruth Salter Wainwright

Ruth Salter Wainwright, Hauling the Nets, (source)

Ruth Wainwright (1902-1984), lived in Nova Scotia and painted watercolour paintings- she studied at the Halifax ladies college, and spent the first part of her career painting in watercolours. Later she studied at Hans Hoffman's Provincetown school in New York and began to paint in abstract forms. These works seem lovely but the only image I can see of them is here at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, and it's not really a complete image either, it seems to me to be a cropped section of one of her paintings. 

I love the lines in her work though- the square jaws of the fishermen, and the transparency she's managed to hint at with the nets. The colours are lovely too.