Silent Auction

Well I've got an idea now for a series of blog posts (soon to follow) but before I get started I wanted to post this cartoon I drew this week.

No offense intended to anyone I've donated work to for fundraisers, I like other artists are pleased to have the opportunity to contribute in this way for worthy causes,and yes, most moms who have asked for school fundraisers aren't like the one in the pic.  The drawing is meant to poke fun at the fact that artists get hit up for donations a lot, and many artists aren't all that well off.    It makes me wonder if it'd be better to seek donations from people like lawyers and accountants. anyways.

The Future of Fracking In Nova Scotia

Well this is better, two blog posts in two days. 

I just drew this cartoon:

Big thanks to Bill Black for making me mad and sad with this article the Halifax Chronicle Herald published today

http://thechronicleherald.ca/business/530204-black-when-it-comes-to-fracking-enough-study-consultation 

 Yes, yes, Bill, enough with the study and consultation already lets get to work pumping those carcinogens into the ground to extract some gas.  Never mind the fact that relative to other provinces Nova Scotia has a tiny land mass and a population density second only to PEI.  Natural gas all the way! Forget about any sort of development that might be sustainable and earth friendly, um, like organic farming, ecoforestry, value added forestry products, help for landowners wishing to construct solar arrays or microhydro projects to sell power back to the grid (uh oh, Emera wouldn't like that at all!)*, IT, other technology, marketing the province as a haven for retiring baby boomers, tourism, finding ways to promote and develop the province's creative class... bah... forget all that and let's frack! and fill the province with mink farms and salmon pens while we're at it! Yes! 

from Bill's article:
"Although there have been isolated problems, as occur with any resource industry, fracking has been largely safe and is responsible for revitalizing many parts of rural North America. "

ah, so Bill says it is largely safe.  Good maybe we can start by fracking in his yard then.  I hope someone will give Bill a copy of "GasLand" (the documentary) as well as a map of Canada so he can notice how small Nova Scotia is, and how full of fresh waterways.

Maybe he has a point about not studying it too much. I quit my career as a biologist in BC when I realized I was a 'biostitute' and that corporations will pay people fat contracts in order to say they spent x amount on the environment.  And then they'll put the report on a shelf and go ahead and do whatever they were going to do in the first place.  So I decided to give up trying to be a 'conservation biologist' and I moved to rural NS to try and live off my ecological footprint, and protect my own bit of land.  So far so good, but  I really hope nobody fracks with my delicious well water!  

since writing this post I've emailed both Bill Black and the editor of the Herald, here's the note I sent with my post.

*****

Dear Bill Black and Herald editors,

I was greatly disturbed by Bill's pro-fracking article in today's paper.  I've published my response with a cartoon I drew here on my blog and will copy/paste below in case any part of it is suitable for the letters section. In fact I'll add this letter to my blog post.

Bill, I'd encourage to do some more google searching about fracking, its impacts, and the enormous volumes of freshwater it uses and pollutes, and watch some documentaries. I believe this is a terribly shortsighted thing to wish on this province. I have lived through 2 economic booms, one in Vancouver and one in Regina before moving to Nova Scotia, and I'd be pleased to meet with you in person to share with you further some of my own ideas for sustainable development for this province.  I think Nova Scotia has the potential for a much brighter future than what mere resource extraction and depletion would provide.  I think if you could see this and understand the problems with fracking you might change your mind.

Sincerely,
Susan Paczek.
BSc McGill - Biology, MSc University of British Columbia - conservation biology, former registered professional biologist (RPBio)

 
Wait, it gets better, I've decided to include some links on this blog to compelling resources that point out issues with fracking:

 http://www.watershedsentinel.ca/content/fracking-natural-gas-affects-water-quality

 http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/

http://www.dangersoffracking.com/

I could go on and on but you get the point...

* maybe Nova Scotia Power is more on the ball than I thought,  see
http://www.tomorrowspower.ca/

Sacred Economics

Ulp... thought I'd be posting more this year.  I've taken a wee break from sculpting and have been doing a lot of thinking.... about potential solutions to the state of the world, my life purpose, etc.  I've been a big fan of the Idle No More movement.  I also watched this video, which I like very much.   There are a pile of other lectures by this guy on youtube, really interesting stuff.
 

Sacred Economics by Charles Eisenstein.


 

Sculpting Mr Wonderful Part 3

Here are the finished Kevin O'Leary Christmas Tree Heads, clustered on a table.  They have holes in the back of their hats to I can wire them like I do my other ornaments, but the larger ones are heavy, and some may look more like him than others!

Sculpting Mr. Wonderful Part 2

Still can't find my camera!! so Brendan took these for me.  "Cold Hard Truth", Kevin's life story is very good and I read it in 2 days. 

Here are the Kevin O'Leary Christmas Tree Heads in progress, ready for glaze, as well as my first Nativity scene!  Minus the puppy, who has has run off somewhere.   I'm enjoying working in the low-fire white, which is grey as raw clay because apparently all talc in Canada is now grey.  So as the pieces dry they are different shades of grey.

Once I got the hang of Kevin's head, making more heads became easy.  when they're glazed and done I want to hang them all on a tree outside and take a photo.  I'm also thinking up a modern day legend to turn the Kevin O'Leary Christmas Tree head into a Canadian Christmas must-have.  Maybe written as a poem that scans to "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe.  so far all I have is:

Once upon a Christmas Cheery,
Floating there all smug and sneery
Was the Head of Kevin O'Leary
Hanging on my Christmas Tree...

Kevin O'Leary Christmas Tree Head #1 In the palm of my hand! later ones are smaller.

Kevin O'Leary Christmas Tree Head #1, side view

My first Nativity Scene

Update, and, Sculpting Mr. Wonderful part 1

So I've been remiss about posting more frequently on my blog... partly because I can't find my camera anywhere!! so here is a written report.

Last big objects (including the yin yangs and large bowls) blew apart in my kiln.  Oops, first such disaster since art school actually, and a good reminder to fire more slowly.  Good thing I'm all about process!  I'm glad the big pieces didn't take out more small pieces, and I'll definitely try to remake everything.

So I took a break from working in clay to work on some papier mache xmas decorations.  The ornaments I'm making are pretty ridiculous and need to be completed and photographed.

Then I started watching Shark Tank re-runs with a bag of Low Fire white clay because I've decided to have a go at sculpting Kevin O'Leary Christmas Heads.  The coffee table in my studio is now covered with 8 smirking Kevin O'leary heads wearing santa hats.  I'm pleased with how they're going as I haven't tried sculpting a human before.  At least not since I was about 5 years old.  They're big though, and may be heavy for an ornament so this week I'll be on to season II of Shark Tank and trying to make some smaller ones.

Today I went to Chapters to pick up Kevin O'Leary's biography "Cold Hard Truth" in order to get to know my subject better, and just found out I had just missed Jim Treliving's own book signing ("Decisions") at the same Chapters.  Drat!! I really would have liked to have met him!  Maybe some day on Dragon's Den I'll be able go in and pitch a proposal to license my "Canadian Celebrity Christmas Heads".  Maybe they could be produced at NSCAD.

In other gardening news I made my first ever pumpkin pie from scratch, including gluten free crust.  The pumpkins we grew were Connecticut Field pumpkins I believe, and actually surprisingly tasty! So this week as well as carving up my Christmas Heads I'll be steaming, mashing, draining and freezing more pumpkins, in order to make pies through the winter.  Might try making pumpkin leather in the dehydrator too.

Creature Feature prep and more...

So the Hope For Wildlife Art Festival was a fun day, but, wow, craft fairs are indeed a lot of work (packing, unpacking, etc).  I counted up 24 hours of time between Brendan and I just to do the sale!  Thanks to all who came out!

Pics of the finished pieces are now on the site at Swoon, thanks to Swoon owner/director Brandt Eisner for taking all the pics.  I didn't even finish the papier mache before the Hope For Wildlife sale, so it is now they're all at Swoon. 

 

Here it is, a papier mache Piping Plover.

Here are some works in progress that are about to get fired! A bunch of it is for Creature Feature, a Group Halloween Show opening at Swoon Sat. October 20th. I'm also repairing the outdoor halloween props to get out to the gallery tomorrow, along with a few new additions to the Swoon cemetery.

big bunny bowl; I'm using the opportunity of a very empty kiln to try out some large animal bowls

Big Crow Bowl

Big Dragon Bowl.. I'll be making a bunch of dragon stuff I think because I'm anxious to do a trade with Swoon's super awesome new folk artist, Jim Tracey, and he and his partner Alicia seem to dig dragons!

Halloween and Christmas Tree Snakes I thought I could make with my bead hanger thing, we'll see how they turn out!

Halloween/Christmas Alien Ornaments and monster figurines

Goat Bowl

Lion Bowl

Shot of all the Halloween Ornaments I'm making! skulls, pumpkins, crows, bats, black cats, ghosts... I want to put up some branches to hang them off.  The lighter coloured ones will show up well on a Christmas tree too! there are a few xmas ornaments mixed in here.

Santa Alien and Santa Santa.. Making Santa heads is so fun that for the one of a kind Christmas Ornament show/sale I'm gonna try some Canadian Celebrity Head Christmas Tree Ornaments.  Like Kevin O'Leary (been watching Dragon's Den re-runs on Netflixs).

This may not may sense yet, but is called "Baby, You're the Yin To My Yang - Angel/Demon Version" and will be a wall hanging Yin Yang symbol.

"Baby, You're the Yin To My Yang - Crow/Dove Version".