Hendrik was framed

For the past few days I had been spending the long weekend away at a rented cottage on Salt Spring Island with Hendrik. We had a wonderful time exploring, relaxing, and just hanging out. The weather was mostly good on Saturday, and our walks on Mount Maxwell and then later in Ruckle Park were well timed to be rain-free. Both places have stunning, wide-angle views – Mount Maxwell overlooking part of the island, and Ruckle Park along the water. I’m hoping to do another trip to Salt Spring, this time in the summer because I’d really love to visit artist studios and the famous Artist Market.

Life & laundry

4 Comments

Laundry

As I came through my front door on Tuesday afternoon I was greeted by the latest issue of Ascent Magazine and its headline on the cover, “the yoga of everyday bliss: finding contentment in life & laundry.” It was a well-timed line for me to read as I was stopping by my apartment to pick up my clothes and head to the laundromat.

The article is a very good read, focusing on finding contentment in everyday moments rather than seeking out a short-lived happiness based on particular circumstances. This is refered to as Samtosa, “a state of contentment that relies on no particular situation….unlike the happiness, joy or elation that (I am) more familiar with, is a constant state of mind…. No matter what is happening in life, the state of contentment is possible.”

Right now I feel…content.

Waiting for the bus

2 Comments

Waiting for the bloody bus to come

In the mornings when it’s not raining, I love to watch all the overhead avian activity, as the sun comes up and I wait for the bus. None of the birds I see are very exotic but I take pleasure in witnessing how they make a start to the day just as their human counterparts do the same.

Often there is a large flock of pigeons gathered together along the telephone wires near where I stand, and I watch as they jossle for position or preen their feathers, letting loose ones fall to the road below. Sometimes there are tiny sparrows sharing the wires, and if I listen carefully I can hear their shrill cries above the noise of cars zooming by. There are also gulls flying overhead, on their way to somewhere, and many crows returning to their daytime territory after a night in Burnaby.

The birds have shown me that humans aren’t the only ones with a busy morning commute. And I wonder if they sometimes feel as we do, like staying in bed just a little longer and hit the snooze button.

Yellow ‘brelly

4 Comments

Yellow umbrella

I have a large stack of DVDs on loan to me for the next while, and last night I vegged out to watch Hiyao Miyazaki’s “My Neighbour Totoro”. I’ve been wanting to see this film for awhile because a friend of mine is such a fan. It’s a very sweet movie, filled with the unusual magical creatures, clever little girls, and beautiful scenery that is typical of Miyazaki’s films. If it could ever be possible, I would like to ride around the Japanese countryside in the cat bus just to sit in one of its warm and furry interior seats. I’d also love to live in an old wooden house just like the one featured in the film, with sliding doors, wooden bath tubs, and tatami mats on the floor.

(I hear Japan calling…)

2 Comments

Red leaves
This shot is from a few weeks ago, taken with an Olympus Pen EE half-frame camera and cross-processed slide film.

It has been a really good weekend, despite the almost constant downpour that may soon require us to start buidling an ark. I like listening to the rain outside my window, especially when I am warm and cozy inside.

Five great things from yesterday:
1) An absurdly early breakfast with Jamie at Patisserie Labeau, and a walk in the rain that soaked us despite our umbrellas.
2) Cleaning and organizing someone else’s workspace. (I should do this for myself too…)
3) A quiet afternoon of hanging out at Mandy’s place and working on my laptop while she made food.
4) A long walk with Kirsti after dark to get fresh air and a thorough soaking.
5) The definate pleasure of spending quality time with the above mentioned three people. I am very thankful for their thoughtful and intelligent conversational abilities.

Prayer position

2 Comments

Kristi

Ten good things from this week:
1) Booking a getaway to somewhere I’ve been wanting to go for a long time. I’m very excited.
2) Seeing all the colourful leaves on the trees as we drove to and from the ferry on the island last weekend.
3) Catching up with Simone and Jacquie over dessert at Sweet Obsessions.
4) Wandering around at lunchtime with Christopher, freezing our behinds off as we searched for a hotdog vendor to feed us. The delicious Japadog was our reward.
5) Listening to the heavy rainfall outside my window as I lay in bed reading a good book.
6) Calling Hendrik at home and the humour of neither of us recognizing the other’s voice. The funniest part about it was that we’d talked as recently as that morning.
7) Going through my stuff and selecting all the photos, papers, and random bits and bobs I may use in the workshop I’m taking this evening.
8) Finding in my closet a brand new shirt I’d forgotten I had recently purchased, and wearing it with pleasure.
9) Fighting my Wednesday afternoon lethargy, with a long walk, a workout and then a twenty minute nap.
10) Enjoying (what seemed like) a bottomless bowl of thai yellow curry for dinner with Mandy.

2 Comments

Self portrait experiment - revised
Today I am spending some time reviewing my work, trying to figure out what I should do with cradle frames I bought to do heat transfers upon. It’s a good opportunity to create new work, but at the same time I’m torn because I’d like to use some older stuff that hasn’t been shown before.

I found the above image as I was going through my digital collage work, and decided to post it here. I think it may be the strangest self-portrait I’ve done because it is so abstract. I have a love/hate feeling about it because, though I like bits and pieces of the image, I’m not entirely convinced it works well as a whole.

Autumn red above my head

3 Comments

Autumn red above my head

Two things I have enjoyed very much lately, and think everyone else should check out:
1) Watching every episode of the wonderful shortlived series Firefly. Bloody hell it was a good show!
2) Eating a delicious Japanese-style hotdog from the “Japadog” vendor at Burrard and Haro Street. It comes loaded with things like terriyaki sauce, shredded daikon, dried seaweed, Japanese mayo, and other things I can’t remember.
Two thumbs way up to both of these things.

Woodland elf

1 Comment

Woodland elf

This weekend I was away on the second annual Travis Smith birthday sleep-over extravaganza on Vancouver Island. As I reminisced about last year’s event I was reminded of this photo, featuring Noriko as a woodland elf with giant leaf. It was the first time I met her and Jason, and they have since relocated to Toronto. When I think about this and other more personal things, I am amazed by how much can happen and change in one year…

Butterfly rain

3 Comments

Butterfly rain

On Tuesday afternoon, sometime between my arrival home after work and departure a few hours later for a movie, the weather took a decisive turn into autumn. There was rain, gale-force winds and the kind of penetrating damp that seems to cut through every layer of clothing straight to the bones. Today I am wishing that it rained butterflies, as illustrated in the above photo taken of Toronto graffiti. Wouldn’t that be pretty?