Sunday, September 30, 2018

Madhu Kumar paintings at Regina Beach

Margaret and I drove out to Regina Beach for the closing talk/reception of Madhu Kumar's paintings of immigrant women at the Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre this afternoon. There was an amazing crowd. I could see over 70 people in the small space and could not see that through the entrance way were at least a dozen more people. With most of the portrait subjects there on hand, the talk was more emotional than the art for lunch talk she gave on Friday but less descriptive of her process. The Regina Mayor was there as well as a few profs (David, Leesa, Robert) but mostly strangers, mostly friends and relatives of these amazing diverse people who told their stories and allowed Madhu to present their faces to the world. Margaret was invited up to speak, having written the program for the exhibition , but it was about the people today, not the theory. William stayed home, having homework due in all five of his classes. Great looking show that closed today.

Saturday, September 29, 2018

Nuit Blanche





It was cold and for a while snow flakes even came down. The presenters around downtown Regina seemed unphased as various art presentation, generally light/projection based with a few exceptions, filled the streets. Had the weather been nicer, I'd certainly have spent more time looking at each event. Film loops are a great pleasure to me but cold is a great dis-pleasure, so the contradiction was difficult.  Neutral Ground had a fine opening of work by Lisa Wood where I ran into John Hampton, a resident of Regina again as of 3 hours earlier, and Ella returned to Regina to project from the Filmpool windows down to the street below.The final event we hit was a bizarre string of Youtube clips strung together by a variety of curators, young and old, in the RPL. Got hooked on an elevator fan "Elevatours by Dieselducy", a guy who just seems to love going into elevators and discussing the motors and movements and buttons.



culture days

So far on this year's culture days I went to the Cathedral Festival's garage sale and found a manual typewriter that I've been wanting for a prop and a couple of art projects. William has become obsessed with it and has begun writing a story.
We went to the AGR where Michelle Brownridge was heading up a a print workshop.  I made a version of my camera. Chrystene was there, as was Sharon. As we were finishing, Mike Jozsa arrived, made a diver print, printed it, and let me print one for myself. We met in Jack Cowin printmaking class in the early 90s. Great guy.

Friday, September 28, 2018

Pile of Bones, my favorite film festival

Jon Tewksbury, host of Pile of Bones
Of all the film screenings and events that happen in Regina, the Pile of Bones Underground Film Festival is definitely my favorite. Jon Tewksbury and his team put together the most adventurous collection of films that are simultaneously challenging and playful. The shift in tone from one film to the next is often quite extreme with a mixture of formalism, drama, experimentation, animation, , melancholy, and humour - always lots of humour. As with last year, I came away from the evening with a strong desire to make something new, to contribute to this art form. I don't feel that way often enough these days (as my own film attested) so I am deeply grateful that this festival is here.
Matt Ripplinger showing a married print of his new project

Thursday, September 27, 2018

William's first studio visit

This afternoon William's teacher and her previous assistant Sarah came to the house to look at as much of William's artwork as we could throw at them. There was a great discussion about what to select for his AP portfolio.
Later we went to Caraway Grill with General Store artists and Jen, Wendy, and Eric from the Dunlop.

Wednesday, September 26, 2018

Painting super-8

I was painting without my sister today as she was traveling. Worked on the image of my first super-8 camera, the one I've owned since the mid 70s. Still works. 

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Talkies

William, Allan and I went to "Talkies" at the library. The film was the excruciatingly poorly written "Lady in the Water" by M. Night Shyamalan. The hosts were James Brotheridge and Sonia Stanger, who did a fair job commenting on it. Had a good laugh.

Monday, September 24, 2018

blood pressure

Had to carry around a blood pressure test all day today. While it isn't very big and I didn't have a very hectic day, it seemed very onerous. 

Sunday, September 23, 2018

Games

I ran the game over at Geremy's this week. For the first time with this group, I got my groove on and think that everyone had some fun and got to experience a twist and turn. 

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Ink day


We attended some sort of fountain pen obsession day at Paper Umbrella with people trying out pens and inks. We bought some after spending a great deal of time standing and drawing in a very crowded store. Nice cookies. All I did with the pen was sign a release for the videos being shot. 

Friday, September 21, 2018

Grapefruit tree returns

I somehow managed to cram my grapefruit tree into the back seat of my car and get it back to the office with very little damage to either the car or the tree.
Hosted the first year orientation this afternoon. It went ok. Good crowd. Gave away a sizable stack of books. 

Wednesday, September 19, 2018

New painting class


Started a new painting class with my sister, being taught by Deb Potter. Deb is coincidentally both the mother of one of my ex-students as well as being the daughter of my kindergarten teacher.  

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Modified "Talisman" game with Allan

Years ago, when Allan Dotson was finishing high school, he was playing a game called Talisman and decided it could use some upgrades. He fashioned about 1000 extra cards for it over a span of time. In the end, he realized that this time could be better spend creating a game of his own that he could then distribute or even sell. Regardless, this was his first real foray into game design and we played it this evening. While we hit an occasional hiccup, it was really fun and entertaining. We played until midnight, even though Margaret was tired at the start and we thought she'd likely not play at all. It was ever-changing, clever, and kooky. We'll play again some time that we can play even later into the night. 

Monday, September 17, 2018

doctor appointments

On my way from one medical appointment and on my way to a blood test, I got a call in the car booking me another doctor's appointment for the afternoon. This was a long one which included a heart test and a prescription, which of course let to a trip to the pharmacy. My day was completely eaten up. The only other thing I managed was to find some rubber for print/stamp creation at Michael's for William (with a 50% coupon it was a decent deal, but at full price it was severely above the online price). 

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Puppet Jam

The Puppet Jam went off without any troubles. We had to modify and improvise a number of things for the stage set up but nothing radical, just improvising. Margaret did a workshop on finger puppets and many people who created them ended up wearing them pinned to their clothing. William performed with the David L. puppet from a lying down position in front of the panorama stage. He seemed to be loud enough for people to hear (he was the only performer doing dialog, most were playing to music). Mooky was hilarious as always. Although it was put together in only 3 weeks, we had a decent crowd of about 60 paid people plus comps for performers and some of Mooky's crew.

Saturday, September 15, 2018

getting ready for puppet festival

I spent a chunk of today running errands to get materials I need, and some that Margaret could use, for the mini-puppet festival/slam this weekend (Sunday evening). Along the way I also found rubber stamp material for William, although he'll not have time to touch it until after this Sunday. 

Friday, September 14, 2018

Meeting with Angie

Went to the school today and had initial meeting with William's art teacher to discuss A/P art. We have begun to have a plan. The second meeting will be at our house to look at work. 
The rest of my day was spent running from one doctor or pharmacist to another. 

Thursday, September 13, 2018

grad meetings

I'm reserving my Thursdays mostly for grad student meetings. Today I had a couple exchange students who had a simple to solve question then met with Xincheng, Sandra, and Berny.
Rogerism of a rodeo clown? 

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Angie's house

 We stopped by to watch Angie's house getting torn down today. Missed the beginning, which was supposed to have been really something. The big machines can really be elegant.
Later I baked.

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Quick and DIrty


We went to Quick and Dirty #14 (People making things pt 2) hosted by the Dunlop at Creative City Centre tonight. The high points were definitely the baker Larry Gall (great and funny speaker) and Angie and David who did a very energetic performance taking turns with each change of the slide, giving us a bit of actual insight into how they collaborate on their books. 

Monday, September 10, 2018

panorama progress

The panorama background is getting final touches and the puppet itself is in mid-construction. The script needs a bit of finessing as it feels to "on the nose". Feeling for the first time that the puppet performance next week might actually happen. 

Sunday, September 9, 2018

Puppet project kicked into high gear

With only a week until show time, William and I threw ourselves into getting his puppet show ready. It will be the first project to use the panorama stage I commissioned two years ago, so I need it to work out.
We also went to a new little gallery downtown: The Junction, where some really cool work was on display by Patrick Fernandez whose layered painting are beautiful on their own, but when shown under lights that are shifting colours, different aspects of the painting present themselves making each painting at least three in one. Amazing.
Took a break in the evening to rediscover the donut goodness available at Country Corner (Thanks for the suggestion Geremy). 

Saturday, September 8, 2018

Swampfest on Willow Island

Kicked back on the island listening to music and watching the crazy monsters all day.