Happy New Year!
1. The books of Stuart Wilde. Wow! I like listening to random stuff on Youtube while I work and find this really good background listening, a lot to do with Taoist philosophy. Youtube randomly recommended one of his audiobooks and I've since listened to The Little Money Bible and Infinite Power. My big resolution for 2015 is to put more consciousness into my art, so listening to these audiobooks and lectures seems helpful to this end.
2. #CalmDownABand This was a twitter hashtag that started up last weekend I think and was soon trending worldwide with people altering Band names to make them more "calm". Eg, "The New Pornographers = "The New Stenographer" or "Nine Inch Nails" = "Nine Inch Nail Clippers". Fun, and a cool example of the power of social media.
3. Dr.Suess' Rhymes and Reasons Documentary. Super interesting History Channel documentary about Dr. Suess.
4. Miracle Farms, A 5 Acre Commercial permaculture orchard in Southern Quebec, Canada
Great example of how abundant the earth can be without the intervention of Agribusiness.
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
This Week's Favourite Things! December 15th - Sunday December 21st, 2014
Merry Christmas Everyone! Or whichever winter holiday you prefer! All the best and a giant thank you to all the customers and merchants who've supported my art practice this season.
Favourite things...
1. Christmas Carols, especially "O Little Town of Bethlehem". The lyrics for this carol in particular (which I spent an afternoon playing on piano last week) made me see Christmas in a whole new way. Especially the lines "above thy deep and dreamless sleep" and "yet in the dark streets shineth the ever lasting light" and "in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in." Anyhow to me the whole song seems to me to be about Christmas being a time where everyone realizes humans have the capacity to live in Christ consciousness and experience heaven on earth. It's a nice idea. I was raised Catholic but as a kid, and as with most Western religions, I think my understanding of God was more dualistic than that.
2. A sign I saw in Bridgewater advertising a community Christmas Carol sing along that said something about "putting the Christ back in Christmas" which, with respect to point #1, and some other Christmas Carols I've been enjoying, sounds like a fine idea.
3. This one is more fascinating than favourite, but Elf on a Shelf and the book that came with the elves' Reindeer Pet. Wow. I'd never heard of Elf on a Shelf before this year and will say that I think the practice of people creating creative vignettes with the Elf to share on Social Media seems to be a fun, entertaining use of the internet, and from what I've heard kids seem to enjoy having the Elf around as part of a Christmas Tradition. But there's something a bit slick and commercial about marketing Elf accessories and pets, and the storybook that comes with the reindeer seems to make Christmas all about getting presents (rather than receiving Christ consciousness). Plus there are a couple interesting articles around about how the elf may in fact be grooming children to accept an untouchable, surveillance-presence in their life, though members of the pro-elf camp may dismiss those claims as hum-buggery. Still, as marketing and branding to kids - wow, fascinating, and in a way, inspiring. It also reminds me of the simplicity and spirited message of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", merchandise for which became marketable after the fact because the book was so great, not the other way around; with a book written to sell merchandise.
4. Further to #3: All the writings of Dr. Suess.
5. Further to 'merchandise' the whole Jonathan Adler brand and story. I didn't know anything about Jonathan Adler other than I see Jenny Jib sells some items by the brand, but the story is super fascinating: a potter in NYC who expanding his business dramatically by use of fair trade shops in Peru. The whole backstory can be found on the Jonathan Adler website. It has made me consider changing identities from "Artist" to "Designer", even if I only make a few of whatever I designed, something about the word "Designer" strikes me as having more... cachet... while the word "Artist" can unfortunately evoke images of an impoverished mentally ill Dutch painter who just lopped off an ear or similarly broke and downtrodden people. Something to think about, in any case.
6. War is Over (If you want it)... Happy Christmas from John and Yoko. This is a link to a10 minute youtube documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono, their interest in peace, and ending with a music video for their Christmas song from 1971, War is Over.
7. Portland Street shopping in Dartmouth. Cool! I heard about Kept Shop and The Dart Gallery but finally made it in for the first time during this week. Both are really great shops full of awesome local work, plus there seems to be more going on in the downtown Dartmouth area in terms of restaurants and other shops. If I didn't live so far from town I'd be a more frequent frequenter for sure.
Favourite things...
1. Christmas Carols, especially "O Little Town of Bethlehem". The lyrics for this carol in particular (which I spent an afternoon playing on piano last week) made me see Christmas in a whole new way. Especially the lines "above thy deep and dreamless sleep" and "yet in the dark streets shineth the ever lasting light" and "in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive him, still the dear Christ enters in." Anyhow to me the whole song seems to me to be about Christmas being a time where everyone realizes humans have the capacity to live in Christ consciousness and experience heaven on earth. It's a nice idea. I was raised Catholic but as a kid, and as with most Western religions, I think my understanding of God was more dualistic than that.
2. A sign I saw in Bridgewater advertising a community Christmas Carol sing along that said something about "putting the Christ back in Christmas" which, with respect to point #1, and some other Christmas Carols I've been enjoying, sounds like a fine idea.
3. This one is more fascinating than favourite, but Elf on a Shelf and the book that came with the elves' Reindeer Pet. Wow. I'd never heard of Elf on a Shelf before this year and will say that I think the practice of people creating creative vignettes with the Elf to share on Social Media seems to be a fun, entertaining use of the internet, and from what I've heard kids seem to enjoy having the Elf around as part of a Christmas Tradition. But there's something a bit slick and commercial about marketing Elf accessories and pets, and the storybook that comes with the reindeer seems to make Christmas all about getting presents (rather than receiving Christ consciousness). Plus there are a couple interesting articles around about how the elf may in fact be grooming children to accept an untouchable, surveillance-presence in their life, though members of the pro-elf camp may dismiss those claims as hum-buggery. Still, as marketing and branding to kids - wow, fascinating, and in a way, inspiring. It also reminds me of the simplicity and spirited message of "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas", merchandise for which became marketable after the fact because the book was so great, not the other way around; with a book written to sell merchandise.
4. Further to #3: All the writings of Dr. Suess.
5. Further to 'merchandise' the whole Jonathan Adler brand and story. I didn't know anything about Jonathan Adler other than I see Jenny Jib sells some items by the brand, but the story is super fascinating: a potter in NYC who expanding his business dramatically by use of fair trade shops in Peru. The whole backstory can be found on the Jonathan Adler website. It has made me consider changing identities from "Artist" to "Designer", even if I only make a few of whatever I designed, something about the word "Designer" strikes me as having more... cachet... while the word "Artist" can unfortunately evoke images of an impoverished mentally ill Dutch painter who just lopped off an ear or similarly broke and downtrodden people. Something to think about, in any case.
6. War is Over (If you want it)... Happy Christmas from John and Yoko. This is a link to a10 minute youtube documentary about John Lennon and Yoko Ono, their interest in peace, and ending with a music video for their Christmas song from 1971, War is Over.
7. Portland Street shopping in Dartmouth. Cool! I heard about Kept Shop and The Dart Gallery but finally made it in for the first time during this week. Both are really great shops full of awesome local work, plus there seems to be more going on in the downtown Dartmouth area in terms of restaurants and other shops. If I didn't live so far from town I'd be a more frequent frequenter for sure.
Friday, December 19, 2014
Now Available At The Dart Gallery!
Today I took a few favourite pieces to The Dart Gallery in downtown Dartmouth. I'm very excited about having more work here at this very awesome venue in the new year, and have been working away in the studio on some new pieces. In May 2015 there will be a group show with a Jim Henson theme which sounds like lots of fun!
Here is the work that's now available:
Here is the work that's now available:
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| Sullivan's Pond Goose, stoneware, 14" tall x 10" wide x 9" long. $175. There will be figurine-sized Sullivan's Pond Geese coming in 2015! |
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| Spirit Animal - White Stag. Wall hanging, stoneware 11" tall x 4" wide x 14" long, $95 |
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| Owl Statuette: stoneware, 11" tall. This wise owl is a very favourite piece that has long been the 'mascot' pic on my blog: $175 |
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| White Rabbit #1, stoneware 5" tall x 5" wide x 10" long $150. Like all my pieces, each of these bunnies was hand-sculpted without the use of molds - although I don't use molds, sometimes I create work in series. |
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| White Rabbit #2, stoneware 5" tall x 5" wide x 10" long, $150 |
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| White Rabbit #3, stoneware 5" tall x 5.5" wide x 10" long, $150 |
This Week's Favourite Things, December 8th - December 14th, 2014
1. Dragonfire Pottery over in the Burnside area of Dartmouth. It's always a treat to go get pottery supplies here and browse through their display of work for sale by several potters. When I visited last Thursday I was excited about all this new work with the initials "DF". WHO is DF?? I asked the owner thinking some awesome new potter has moved to town. Turns out DF stands for Dragonfire and is the initials on pieces where various staff played together on company time, trying things out. Very nice! And all the other work is awesome too! They also have really nice angels that some women made together out of scraps of donated fabric and assorted bling, to raise funds for orphans in Africa that had parents who died of AIDS.
2. The Mary Pratt exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, on til Feb 25, 2015
3. Holiday Inn, 1942 - awesome holiday movie with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby
2. The Mary Pratt exhibit at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, on til Feb 25, 2015
3. Holiday Inn, 1942 - awesome holiday movie with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby
Friday, December 12, 2014
Now Available at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Gallery Shop
Yesterday I visited Halifax and took some new stock to the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia Gallery Shop including more copies of What If Michelangelo Was A Telemarketer?, more ceramic ornaments, some pieces from my recent firings, and a couple of flying crows.
Now that I'm making stuff again I'm excited to start regularly bringing work there. Where the shop gets visited by quite a few tourists I thought it'd be fun to call the Canadian wildlife figurines "Canadian Souvenir Animals" though I'm still figuring out how best to label them.
Everyone loves a sale! So it is worth noting that the shop is offering tax-free shopping on the Thursdays before Christmas, so December 18th, with an extra 10% off for gallery members! And on Friday, December 19th, as part of their "12 days of shopping" promotion all holiday ornaments will be 25% off.
Canadian Souvenir Animals! $25 each
More "Lunenburg County Christmas Ornament Factory" Ornaments, these ones are available among others, $19.95 each; 25% off on Friday December 19th!
Flying Crows:
Now that I'm making stuff again I'm excited to start regularly bringing work there. Where the shop gets visited by quite a few tourists I thought it'd be fun to call the Canadian wildlife figurines "Canadian Souvenir Animals" though I'm still figuring out how best to label them.
Everyone loves a sale! So it is worth noting that the shop is offering tax-free shopping on the Thursdays before Christmas, so December 18th, with an extra 10% off for gallery members! And on Friday, December 19th, as part of their "12 days of shopping" promotion all holiday ornaments will be 25% off.
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| Crow cup, stoneware (food safe, dishwasher safe) $65 |
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Crow bowl, stoneware (food safe, dishwasher safe) $75 |
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| Crow bowl, stoneware (food safe, dishwasher safe) $95 |
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| Pheasant and Squirrel, stoneware |
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| Beavers, stoneware |
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| Black Bear, earthenware |
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| Buffalo, stoneware |
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| Nova Scotian Duck Tolling Retriever, stoneware |
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| Brown Rabbit, stoneware |
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| Fox, stoneware |
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| Mallard and Piping Plover, earthenware |
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| Moose, earthenware |
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| Atlantic Puffins, the two largest are available at the gallery shop, earthenware |
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| Snowy Owl, earthenware |
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| Ermine |
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| Flying Crow, stoneware, $55 |
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| Flying Crow, stoneware, $95 |
Thursday, December 11, 2014
This Week's Favourite Things! December 1st - December 7th, 2014
1. All the wonderful craft markets that were at Annapolis Royal last Saturday: here's a pic. There was so much great stuff to see! And I picked up a few lovely ornaments. There was the weekly farmer's market, plus 3 other (big!) craft markets. Definitely worth the trip from out our way and in my opinion, worth a trip up from Halifax if you like craft markets. Here's a map listing off what was happening:
2. The stained glass artwork of Jay Leblanc. Jay was a presenter at the Farmer's and Traders market in Annapolis Royal on Saturday, it was so lovely to see her and her work. I especially love her figurative pieces which have such great gestures and energy.
3. The ceramic art work of Brad Keeler, and this biographical blog about him by his granddaughter. Here's a blog post by his granddaughter explaining more about the site she built for him.
4. Speaking of using the internet to document our stories, here is the link to The Lake Trails Living History Project. Excellent concept, full of stories from Vancouver Island. The project executed by one of the leaders of a fantastic community band I played saxophone with in Vancouver.
5. This video by Awolnation, It's Not Your Fault. I think it's so sweet and I love how it ends with everyone dancing together:
6. The movie Gandhi which I finally watched all the way through, currently on Netflix, awesome evidence that one person, acting peacefully, really can make a difference.
2. The stained glass artwork of Jay Leblanc. Jay was a presenter at the Farmer's and Traders market in Annapolis Royal on Saturday, it was so lovely to see her and her work. I especially love her figurative pieces which have such great gestures and energy.
3. The ceramic art work of Brad Keeler, and this biographical blog about him by his granddaughter. Here's a blog post by his granddaughter explaining more about the site she built for him.
4. Speaking of using the internet to document our stories, here is the link to The Lake Trails Living History Project. Excellent concept, full of stories from Vancouver Island. The project executed by one of the leaders of a fantastic community band I played saxophone with in Vancouver.
5. This video by Awolnation, It's Not Your Fault. I think it's so sweet and I love how it ends with everyone dancing together:
6. The movie Gandhi which I finally watched all the way through, currently on Netflix, awesome evidence that one person, acting peacefully, really can make a difference.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
New Stoneware Pieces (December 5th, 2014)
Photos of stoneware pieces from a firing done this past week. The cups and bowls are all foodsafe and dishwasher safe, though I'd recommend handwashing carefully to avoid damage from dishes hitting eachother and sticking-out-bits chipping
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| Owl Cup: available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Cat Mug; available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Chimp Mug available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Giraffe mug; available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Owl Cup; available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Sheep Mug; available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Sheep Bowl; available at Jenny Jib $65 |
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| Raccoon Mug; available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Pheasant Mug, available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Bunnies Mug; available at Jenny Jib $50 |
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| Beaver Figurines |
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| Fox Figurines |
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| Largest Crow bowl |
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| Large Crow bowl; available at Jenny Jib $125 |
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| Medium Crow Bowl |
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| Crow Cup |
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| Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever figurines, the standing one on left available at Jenny Jib $25 |
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| Pheasant and squirrel figurines |
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| Rabbit, Polar Bear, Buffalo figurines |
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| Polar bear figurine from above photo (sold at Jenny Jib) |
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| Rabbit ornaments available at Jenny Jib $22 each |
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| Stoneware mouse and earthenware pig ornament; available at Jenny Jib $22 each |
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