fortune-workshops

Good-bye, Fortune Workshops

2011-06-12T06:17:00.000-07:00

This is my 85th and last blogging post. It comes to almost 3 years of sharing my activities and thoughts. I always enjoyed it.

As a good-bye offering, I would like to present this photo of the former St. David's church just north of St. Eugene, Ontario. Like the other 1,100 little churches in Ontario, no longer supporting itself with service to a community, it has gone on the real estate market. Now it belongs to me.

... and I totally love it, ancient carpets, lack of plumbing, peeling paint, bulging, cracked brick walls and all. I can so relate! It is an appropriate project to end my blogging days.

Everyone asks: what will you do with it? This church will get a transformed purpose to serve. Right now it is storing my gardening equipment and undergoing a mild facelift to keep the exterior from falling apart. Then, slowly, it will be surrounded by gardens. The inside will be left "as is": open concept. Then, some very gentle activity, worthy of its 110 years of existence.

Good-bye dear readers and God bless!

4 months in India

2011-03-31T03:34:00.000-07:00

Just a few days ago, I landed at Montreal airport. It was a long (30 hour) trip from 33 degrees in Pondicherry, India to minus 4 here. Now, I am emerging from the 10 1/2 hour time change and sorting through the pictures taken during my stay.

What did I do during my winter-long participation? I never really left the community surroundings because I was fulfilled with my activities there. Early on in December, I began to teach the children of the workers, who were living in their own village on the property. They all came from the Orissa province in the north and now enjoyed a life of relative security and comfort. Without the school, the children, aged 5 to 15, would be left on their own to roam and wait for their parents to return from work. The community yoga teacher, Raju, who spoke Hindi, was my partner in teaching English, mathematics and crafts. Every morning at 10, the children assembled for a short yoga class given by Raju, then they had a break to drink a glass of milk (from our own 2 cows!). Raju helped me to communicate with the children aged over 7 to begin learning new sounds and a new alphabet. We had so much fun together and I learned at least as much as my students. Their way of life was a mystery to me! We created some School Rules to help our life together function.
#1 Keep the schoolroom tidy
#2 Pay attention to the lessons
#3 Help each other
#4 Keep school materials and toys in the school
#5 Be happy!

During the rest of the day I was busy helping to create ornamental shade gardens in different areas of our property; there was much to learn about the needs of of tropical plants and trees.
My favorite tree must be the frangipani, because of the shape and the seductive scent of its flowers at night. Here you see the sample, planted in front of my house as a 20cm stump in December!

I was also baking cakes for our community restaurant and participating in retreats, practicing practically, being a member of a new humanity that loves, cares and shares. So the 4 months flew by without ever a thought to posting in this blog. Now I'm back and plan to report regularly about my gardening adventures and my new home in Hawkesbury, Ontario as of April 28th.

Saturday Openair Market

2010-11-21T03:01:00.000-08:00

Join me in a stroll through the open market, found every Saturday on the oceanfront promenade in Empuriabrava, Spain. The weather was a nippy 12 degrees and a strong cold wind (Tramontana) made up for the bright sunshine.

Fast Forward to Spain

2010-11-07T04:09:00.000-08:00

Right now, it is raining in Empuriabrava, Spain. Time to write about the past week spent in the Pyranees mountains in the province of Cerdanya, staying at a lovely accomodation, just south of the border to Andorra. Our host, Hugh, took the time to show us around his huge property and explain the long-term vision for this location: a center for respite and well-being. Much care is given to provide delicious organic meals and a relaxing, casual atmosphere.

My son and I took some long hikes into the neighboring valleys, where we first came across the local breed of horse on the steep pastures, wearing bells around their massive necks!.They wear the bells so they can be located when they break out of their fencing to look for better pastures. These sturdy creatures are bred for their meat, but also serve to pull wagons and occasionally for riding.

On our way home yesterday, we stopped at the city of Puigcerda, which hosts a traditional annual horse fair, honoring the best examples of this breed, as well as mules, donkeys and miniature horses.

In the afternoon we spent a few hours at the Roman thermal baths in Dorres, France. Then it was just a few more hours via Perpignan to get back "home" to the Costabrava.

Easy Rosehip Jam

2010-10-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

This is the perfect time of year to use those bright crimson seedpods from your rosebushes for a delicious and very healthy product. When I look at recipes for rosehip jam, it surprises me that people are willing to do so much painstaking work and add so much sugar. If you have a Passevite (get one now!) it will make the job so easy.

(Top Photo)First, collect the hips by cutting them off the tip of the branch, which you hold with a good protective glove (those prickly branches could spoil your enthusiasm!).

(Photo #2)Here you see a 10" colander filled with 1 kilogram (2 lbs. 4 oz.) washed and picked over rosehips. Cover them with water in a saucepan, place a lid on the pan and cook gently for about 20 minutes. From time to time, stir and mash the fruit.

(Photo#3) Now put about 1/6 of the mixture in the Passevite (using the medium-sized sieve) and let this gaget do the hard work of separating the seeds and stems from the fruit. Throw out the debris after each portion has been pressed through the sieve.

(Photo#4)You will get at least 2 cups of very thick rosehip puree. If you are not a fan of jams, freeze the puree in portions (for example in an ice cube tray). Use the frozen portions in your smoothies, to add zing to a gravy, or for a wonderful mousse dessert. If you get more puree because you had more cooking water, it is fine: you will just need to cook the fruit a bit longer to get the jam.

(Photo #5) Now cook the puree with only 1 and 1/4 cups sugar for about 7 minutes, stirring constantly because it is thick. If your puree is more liquid, then you must cook the jam longer and it will get darker. You will know the jam is ready when you drop some in a glass of cold water and it holds together at the bottom of the glass.

Sterilize 2 small re-cycled jam jars (350 gram capacity) by washing them with boiling water and placing them upside down on a clean tea towel to dry. Have them ready before you cook the jam!

(Photo#6)Pour the finished jam in the jars and screw the top on tightly. When they are cooled, you will hear a popping sound as the vacuum inside pulls the lid down. Add a label with the date.

This jam makes a perfect Christmas or birthday present for those health-conscious friends!

Garden Story

2010-10-10T05:59:00.000-07:00

There is a row of apartment buildings in Hawkesbury that have only a strip of lawn and a row of honey locust trees in front of them. I asked the property manager whether he would object to my creating some perennial gardens.

He gave permission and I started in May by stripping a 12' by 9' area of the lawn and putting a 5" rubber edging around it to keep the grass out.

In June, I got some help to ram in 2 t-bars to hold up my trellis for the honeysuckle ("Lonicera"). In front of that, I planted a dappled willow ("Salix integra") and, in front of it, three Sedum. Behind the trellis, to one side, I sunk a perforated tin pan with two wild summac saplings. They have to stay in the pan to keep their pesky runners from invading the whole flowerbed. I love their foliage and brilliant crimson leaves in the fall. In the empty spaces, I added some campanula for next spring.

Later, in July, I put in lots of Cana lilies and snapdragons (the garden supply stores were throwing them away!). This project was so much fun that I went ahead and made two more flowerbeds.

Now it is time to say good-bye to my gardens for the season. The Canas have to be dug out and stored in peat moss, the salix cut back and the snapdragons composted. I will leave the sedum: they stay gorgeously maroon in the winter snow.

September ATC

2010-09-28T11:59:00.000-07:00

The title I gave this month's ATCs is "Starry Nights".

As I was cutting down the poppies in my garden and collecting the seeds from the pods, I noticed how the "lid" on each pod was star-shaped, Interestingly, the number of "rays" on each lid was not the same, even though they all came from the same type of Oriental Poppy. The lids from the Icelandic Poppy are altogether different: much smaller and many more rays.

After all the pods were collected and emptied, I removed the lids and painted them silvery gold. Then I glued them to a piece of ATC-sized black paper and drew a line with a gold jellyroll pen to indicate the horizon and to add some more faraway stars. Finally, the black cards were glued back-to-back with a recycled watercolor painting that I had cut into ATC size pieces. My name, the date and the title were hand-written on the back of the finished ATC.

Rainbow

2010-09-15T05:30:00.000-07:00

It has rained every day all week. Yesterday, the sunny afternoon was followed by a shower. As I sat here upstairs at my computer, I looked east at about 7 p.m. and saw a double rainbow. By the time I had run outside, only one was visible. The "pot of gold" had also disappeared!

August ATC

2010-08-31T16:24:00.001-07:00

This months Artist Trading Cards were inspired by photographs I took of the country roads in my area. I found the perspectives fascinating. Here is one example of a crossroad near Dalkeith:

My cards were all made in the vertical format using collage technique.

Vacation

2010-08-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is what we decided to do with our "time off" this summer:
1) Drive along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River to Metis-sur-Mer to visit the Redford Gardens.
2) Cross the river on a ferry from Trois Pistoles to Les Escoumins on the north shore.
3) Visit the Saguenay fjord on the east and west coasts of the river
4) Bike around L`Ile aux Coudres, an island in the St. Lawrence river, just out from Baie St. Paul.
5) Last but not least...spend an afternoon at the Montreal Botanical Gardens.

It was an inspiring 1800 km, 6-day trip. Reto took the 2 pictures of me at the right: one where I am behind of a pair of Alder Buckthorn trees and the other where I am reflected in the window of the Insectarium, just behind his shot of a Monarch butterly!. The other photo was taken at Baie d`Èternite on the Saguenay: we took the 3.5 km hike up to the statue of Notre-Dame-du Saguenay, where we got this view to the north.

Fireworks

2010-08-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

Did you miss last night's fireworks at La Ronde? It was Sweden's turn to show their best for the International Competition here in Montreal. I was standing on the Jacques Cartier bridge at 10 pm: it was worth the trip! See for yourself!

July ATCs

2010-07-31T07:26:00.000-07:00

This month I was inspired to use the "rubbing" technique to create my miniature artworks.

We all know this method from our school art classes: place a piece of parchment paper over a textured surface and lightly pass your pencil over the paper in a windshield wiper motion. The texture is captured on the surface of the paper. This is a handy method to copy engravings that cannot be moved or are not suitable for photography (gravestones, wall carvings, embossed texts).

The design was borrowed from classical still life paintings. I made a sketch of the shapes on my ATC sized parchment paper, then went around the house looking for different textures to use for each shape: a cardboard book cover, a brass plate from Morocco, a tablecloth, etc.. Using different colored pencils, I filled out each shape.

From the top:
Martha Alf: Pears Series 11 #7, 1978
Paul Cezanne: Still Life with a Basket, 1888 (used only the top right corner).
Georges Braque: Still Life with Fruit and Stringed Instrument, 1938
Frida Kahlo: Still Life with Parrot 1951 (without the parrot)

Wildflowers

2010-07-26T16:15:00.000-07:00

This is the best time of year to take a walk in the vacant wastelands to pick a bouquet of wonderful "weeds". As a gardener, I would not welcome any of these plants in my garden: they would take advantage of the fertile soil and regular moisture to overwhelm my cultivated plants. No, these beauties thrive on poor soil, intense sun and drought.

Here is a list of some of the flowers I was able to identify:

bulrush
yarrow
clover
purple loosestrife
wild rose
vetch
goldenrod
mayweed (daisy)
cinquefoil
toadflax
chicory
viper's bugloss
bird's foot trefoil
bladder campion
Queen Anne's Lace
August flower (or lionstooth)
everlasting pea
common tansy
goat's beard
creeping bellflower

To identify your own collection of weeds, check out this great website.

Exotic Flowers

2010-07-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

Last month, I attended a special exhibition at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. Horticulturalists from far and wide presented their special products: garden tools, floral arrangements, unusual perrennials or rare cultivars. I bought a small plant for $4.- that had no tag. Here you see the beauty it became. Sorry, no idea what the name of the plant is.

Another flowering plant (actually a vine) originating from tropical climates is the Aristolochia gigantea. They are grown by a nursery in St.-Remi, Quebec. The flowers are a feat of Nature's creative powers: purple brocade velvet bags about 12" across with a disturbing scent. Here is a picture of the one I saw in Montreal. Now I have the plant too. It can be kept outdoors in the summer and I am waiting for the first bloom.

Inkblot Landscapes

2010-06-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here are my ATC cards for this month. We trade today at 2:15 p.m. in Dunvegan, Ontario......so they are fresh from the artist's oven. Which card would you pick?

Method: I dropped some orange, blue and black ink onto one long side of an ATC-sized piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper. Then, I folded the paper in half, lengthwise. Presto! When I turned the card so that the fold was horizontal, there was my inspiration for a landscape reflected in the water. With a few dashes of colored pencil, markers and my favorite reflecting acrylic paint, my landscapes were complete. I glued the mini-artworks onto ATC-sized pieces of sketching paper, cut from a drawing I wanted to recycle.

My inspiration for these ATCs came from the famous Rorschach Test inkblot. Psychoanalysts used certain inkblots in determining unconscious associations. I only saw landscapes this time..............

Sunset

2010-06-08T16:35:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I will bring in my submission for this year's Art Fayre in Dunvegan, Ontario.

My painting is titled "Sunset". It is 48" wide and 24" high, acrylic on canvas.

The inspiration for this painting came partly from my regular trips to the Carillon dam to see the sun setting over the water. Another element of inspiration is my regular drives though the Eastern Ontario landscape, cruising over hills to discover new views. Finally, my imagination played a large role in designing my artwork.

"Sunset" is about the time of transition.....from the activity and structure of daylight time to the mysterious and restful darkness of night. Also in life we have these transitions: the glow and extroversion of public life gives way to our private and inexplicable nightlife. It is a force of Nature that we need rest, that we must dream, that we return to where we came from, over and over again. So it is in my painting that the sun sets between the sky and earth and between the wild and secretive interim periods.

house for sale

2010-05-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's true. My house is for sale! It is 6 years ago that I first saw it and fell instantly in love with the brick exterior and white verandas and the huge green barn (now weathered down). What a history this house has! It tickles me to know that my parents, who immigrated to this village from Holland in 1949 and only stayed a few months, must have walked past my house on their way to the store and waterfront.

We have renovated the house completely, leaving all the original historical (1905) elements, such as hardwood floors, 12" baseboards, plaster columns and ceiling moldings. The doors were stripped of 4 layers of paint to the original solid British Columbia fir. It is not a big house by modern standards. At one time though, in the 1960s when the Carillon dam was being built, 4 families from the Canary Islands lived here.

Why we are leaving? Our mission here is fulfilled: to polish this gem till it shines. Now we are ready for a life of zen simplicity and mobility. Our lives have followed an 11-year cycle and 2011 is the beginning of a new phase.

Welcome to a virtual tour of our "home for now".

April ATCs

2010-05-01T09:38:00.000-07:00

My Artist Trading Cards for this month were inspired by a tutorial on the site of lynne hoppe. I read the instructions and then, in my own way, adapted the technique.

I started with a square piece of regular cheesecloth
and applied lots of different colors of water-soluble acrylic paint.

This I let dry and then cut it into slightly larger than ATC size pieces.

I gave each piece a light spray of water to soften it and then
spread it onto a blank ATC card
already prepared with a layer of liquid matt medium,
allowing the cheesecloth to make irregular patterns by bunching and stretching it.

When the cards are dry, I apply a layer of cream colored acrylic paint.
Depending on your choice of paint, a second layer might be good: dab away at the paint where it seems too opaque.

The acrylic paint colors will seep through the cream-colored layers for that dreamy effect.

When the cards are dry again, I trim away the stray threads.

For this series I felt like "framing" each card with a line of India ink.

These cards were titled "Indra's Net". They remind me that all beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Beginning Monday, May 3rd, my ATC collection will be on exhibit all month at the Pointe Fortune, Quebec post office! There will be one binder of originals kept from every collection I made since November 2002. Also, one binder of scans of whole collections made since June 2007 and a binder of cards that I collected through trades. Of course, there will also be a poster explaining the Artist Trading Card phenomena in English and French!

Painted Flower Box

2010-04-23T16:59:00.000-07:00

I have a solid pine flower box that I bought a few years ago. It is made to hang over a balcony. My plan was to carve geometric patterns into the front. After one attempt I realized that the wood was not suitable and put the project aside.

Recently I stumbled upon a box of thick acrylic paints from my art classes at university. Since those days, I discovered liquid acrylics and never got back to the old medium. Suddenly, I had a brainwave: paint my pine flower box, using these relegated acrylic paints.

First, I sandpapered away my efforts at carving and filled the dents made by the screws with plastic wood putty. The next day the sandpaper was used to soften the sharp edges and rough spots and smooth out the dried putty. The box was wiped clean with a moist cloth and an hour later I applied my first coat of crimson paint to the front, back and sides only. Both sides of the bottom and the inside of the back were left unpainted.

After the paint was perfectly dry, I went to the next step: add some marble texture. Lightly and quickly, I covered the front of the box with a layer of Red Oxide acrylic paint and sprayed some rubbing alcohol over it to keep it moist. Then I scrunched up a rag and pressed it onto the paint, pulling it away after 5 seconds. This removed some of the Red Oxide and left a pattern. I repeated this process all over the painted part of the box.

Once this was dry, I proceeded to the third layer, using the color Portrait Tone and just a few brushstrokes of paint with another spraying of rubbing alcohol. I took the same crumpled rag and made swirls by twisting my wrist back and forth as I moved over the surface.

The next day I made a stencil for half the width of the box, turning it over to do the other half for a mirror effect. The design was created to imitate fretwork. After this was dry, I used the same green (Christmas green, from the $ store) mixed with a drop of black to create shadows around the patterns for a `trompe lòeil`effect. A tiny line of white on the edges of the green and of black between the fretwork pattern and the background, added more depth.

Finally, I used the Portrait Tone paint to cover all the unpainted surfaces. I was having so much fun with this project that I added a butterfly to the top of the bracket. The finishing touch was 2 coats of clear exterior satin varnish.

My flower box is ready for some pansies.

Oh, Canada!

2010-04-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

My last 6 weeks in India were so wonderfully quiet and fulfilling that I did not think of reaching out to write a post. Especially the last 3 weeks, when the temperatures rose to 35 degrees C., my life had a pleasant routine: wake at 5, drink tea as the sun rises, walk around the gardens till breakfast and then organize the workers for planting and maintenance projects. After lunch and at 5 p.m. I gave English classes to the Indian staff. Evenings were spent together singing, watching a movie or playing UNO, my favorite card game. The jackfruit were ripening...what a joy to experience. Now the mango, papaya and banana trees are bearing their fruit as well. India, I miss you!

Now I am back since one week....it is quite an adjustment. So much space, so few people, so many clothes to wear! I'm shocked at how much "stuff" I have. Slowly everything will get a new home or go the way of all material things. I began with a huge fire on Easter Monday, where I burnt 30 years worth of personal diaries. Who cares anyway? Life is happening now.

I was tempted to go back to horse-back riding when I saw all my equipment stored away in the barn. Then I thought about it: 1 hour of riding lessons costs as much as one friend in India earns per month, in 200 hours of work building walls or painting window frames. No, I am beginning a new life of simplicity, needlessness and sharing.

This picture shows one of my favorite spring-time sights: a flock of Canada Geese taking off from a cornfield early in the morning. The sound and sight of them reaches back to my first days of life on this planet. The sun is rising over the Ottawa river beside my house. Thank you Nature, for this experience!

More Houses........ and Ashram Dogs

2010-02-20T01:10:00.000-08:00

Here is a selection of some more cheerful houses in this area.

On December tenth last year. one of the ashram dogs, Brownie, gave birth to two puppies under a bush in the rain. I covered her hiding place with some plastified cardboard but when that finally wilted, she was taken to a place under the staircase. There she brought up her two girls, named Candy and Chocolate. They have become regular guests at my house, sleeping on the old coach on my terrasse and enjoying some treats I keep for them. Unfotunately Chocolate had an accident on the construction site 3 weeks ago. Yesterday she was finally euthanisd after all our care was not able to help her. Candy is well and joining her cousins, two boys and a girl, born on Christmas day, as they discover the ashram world.

Do you like it colorful?

2010-02-01T03:03:00.000-08:00

Last week I spent two days in the holy city of Tiruvannemalei in Tamilnadu state. Every month on the full moon night, millions of Indians go to this city for a pilgrim's walk around the mountain Arunchala, which was the home of the saint Ramana Maharshi. It was the full moon during our stay and we walked around the mountain the day before the crowds arrived, begining at 6 a.m. to avoid the heat. At the end, we landed in a small village on the outskirts of the city. It was the most beautiful example of people living simply in harmony with each other. The clay streets were swept clean. Everyone was out in the street plying their trade or milking the cow or bringing the childen in their perfect uniforms to school. Another delightful aspect was the colorfully painted houses. It was as if children had used pots of leftover paints to decorate the surfaces of the house...with plenty of fantasy and freedom.

Happy Pongal

2010-01-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

Today is the second day of the 3-day Pongal festivities celebrated in the Tamil Nadu state. We are also experiencing a full eclipse of the sun today between 9 am and 4 pm. Most natives stay inside and fast during this time.

Here you see me helping to prepare the special sweet pastries for the first day of this Thanksgiving holiday. Today our cow is being decorated because it is the day to honour the sacred cows. Tomorrow is the day to visit the family guru. It is also our guru's birthday!

Welcome Home

2010-01-03T21:34:00.000-08:00

The top photo shows the entrance to our community site as it looked a week ago. Everything is in flux as we continue renovating and planting.

Finally! Outside my apartment, it is still a construction site, but I moved in on Christmas Day. There is a bed (borrowed) and a mattress (coconut fiber filling, new). I sewed together a few strips of leftover material at the tailor shop to make do as sheets until I find the time to go to Pondicherry and get some conventional ones. I am recycling a few cardboard boxes as tables. One long narrow box, that was used to deliver the solar heating system is now upright and serving as my "armoire". It is fun to live so simply. The shower and toilet are working and today they started to put in he windows.....wonderful!

During my first week here, I helped to make this little Zen garden. We made it with bits and pieces that were left over from the stonemasons and bricklayers. I go by everyday to pull some weeds and sweep away the leaves. The second photo shows a flowering plant growing through a former wall decoration.

No matter how chaotic things may seem sometimes, visiting this garden keeps me stay grounded.

Christmas Retreat

2009-12-22T05:55:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of our Christmas Retreat at the Sri Vast Ashram. It has been very (unseasonally) rainy. The vegetation is lush and growing by the minute. Here are some samples of plants decorating our gardens.This is my daily schedule:The chimes are heard at 5 a.m. , inviting the community to the tea ceremony, in which we celebrate our existence by sitting quietly, listening to the day awakening around us and sipping ginger lemon tea.At 6:oo yoga classes begin. Some days, we go to the ocean, about 10 minutes away.At 7:30 is breakfast, eaten in the open air dining room. For the next few hours, we choose the way we would like to contribute to the maintenance of the community. I go straight to the tailor shop, where I am busy with Shiva and Ayepa, sewing clothes and interior decorating items. Soon we will be making, bags, hats and slippers to sell in the boutique.After lunch at 12:30, we take a little rest. I go back to the tailor shop around 2:30; others my go for a walk or atend to some personal interests. At 5 p.m. e meet in the Satsang Hall to sit quietly. This sitting is not considered a meditation since the whole day is a meditation!After supper at 6 p.m. we meet again for Satsang (Being in the Presence of Truth). This is an inspiring occasion to ask questions of our teacher Guruji Sri Vast and share in his wisdom. There is a lot of laughing and singing. I am filled with gratitude and joy to be here.

Kuilappalayam

2009-12-10T04:14:00.000-08:00

This is the name of the village next to the community I am living in. It is a typical South Indian farming village, despite the influx of tourism over the last decade. Here above you see the winding narrow raod leading to the village. On both sides there are flowering vines growing up into the trees. One of the first sights on entering the village is this collection of staues of deities. A bit further on I saw this goat resting on a pillar!

The first time I visited the village 4 years ago, my senses and sensibilites were assaulted by the sight, sounds and smells of it all: the dozens of street dogs , seeming of one family, aged beyond their years by fleas and relentless reproduction, the motorbikes spewing a trail of exhaust, cow dung and dog droppings mixing with the layers of garbage, a woman squatting on the ground selling fresh fish arranged on a wooden box, aromatic chai tee and pungent coffee sold in tiny chrome cups. None the less, the dogs sleep obliviously in holes they dig in the dirt, or wander around looking for anything to live off, miraculously avoiding being hit by the motorbikes, cars, taxis and busses pushing through the narrow passages. Looking down the street, it is hard to tell what is a boutique, a vegetable stand, a cafe, a bank or a bike rental. All businesses are multi-purpose. All signs blend into one image of daily life here. Between it all, the schoolchildren in their beautifully combed and/or braided hair, in their pert uniforms and bare feet, wearing backpacks full of books, wind their way home slowly, chatting and playing with their friends. The most cheerful and polite children I have ever seen!

At the top you see a picture of the Indian Ocean at dusk, just a 10 minute bike ride away from our hilltop community. We can see and hear the thundering waves when we sit on the rooftop of the main building. With this image I bid you all farewell, till next post. Best wishes for a speedy recovery to my hometown, now coping with a massive snowstorm.

India!

2009-11-27T04:05:00.000-08:00

After a detour to Switzerland to visit friends from my past life there and four days in Freiburg in Germany, I got on the plane in Frankfurt for Chennai. Now, here I am at my station for the next four months. It is hot and there is so much to do in the community where I am staying near Pondicherry. Internet is a bit shaky.... so here are some pictures before I'm cut off again.

Here you see the workers doing their best to get my house done. Next is the community garden and finally three women who work on the construction site.

Good Bye Spain

2009-11-15T05:15:00.000-08:00

Today is my second to last day in Spain. This morning we went to the flea market, one of the biggest in this province. It was about 22 degrees Celsius and crowded. I shopped successfully: a Walkman to replace the one I broke (it actually worked! 5 Euros), a pair of new suede gardening gloves that go halfway up my forearm (3 Euros), a bar of chocolate-scented soap made here in Castello d´Empurias (2.5 Euro) and a pair of well-worn funky shoes (3 Euros).

Here are some photos of the beach at 8 a.m.

More Catalonian curtains.

These cows came toward me as I went along the bike path yesterday.

That wierd lemon I saw on my first day here has ripened. It´s delicious and so aromatic.

The river Muga going out into the Mediterranean sea.

It has been a wonderful 22 days!

Maribor menu

2009-11-12T05:13:00.000-08:00

Saturday afternoon I needed a break from watching all the energetic Latin dancers so I wandered from the arena towards the Old City of Maribor. Most of the shops were closed and I began to feel hungry. On a corner near the cathedral, I found a little restaurant that offered a complete meal for 8.90 Euros (about $15). The descripton was in Slovenian only and I was sure it would all be delicious...but I had no idea that the Slovenians must have ENORMOUS appetites.

Follow me through this meal, starting with the photo at the bottom. The first dish was a platter of excellent prosciutto with bits of Parmesan-like cheese, served with bread made of pizza dough brushed with rosmary and olive oil: so delicious I ate every little bit. Next came a cauldron of home-made broth filled with little cheese dumplings. After that: an enormous plate of pilav rice, grilled chicken and sauteed bell peppers, leeks, onions and mushrooms. I had to pass on the mixed salad that was next on the menu so that I would have a bit of room for the jelly roll with nuts and cream for dessert.

All of this was accompanied by a white Maliborcan, the local favorite wine, a small bottle of AntiStress drink (it has aloe vera, ginseng, magnesium and lots of B vitamins) and an expresso to finish off. What a feast!

DanceSport Championship in Latin Dance

2009-11-11T09:54:00.000-08:00

Last weekend I was in Maribor, Slovenia, to attend the International DanceSport Championship competion. It was a one-day event featuring 96 couples from 51 countries. My favorites were the Italian couple, Gabriele and Antonio Goffredo, who placed 5th. The winners were the sensationally powerful and elegantly controlled Russian pair, Alexey Silde and Anna Firstova. Two couples danced for Canada: Anton Belyeyev with Antoaneta Popova and Maxin Fomin with Alina Litvak. Here are some random photos, taken early in the afternoon, to give you an idea. The finalists were still on their (high-heeled) feet at 11 p.m.! Bravo, bravo to these heros of dance.

catalonian curtains

2009-11-04T07:00:00.000-08:00

Of all the typical and beautiful sights in the area I am staying at right now ( Catalonia, Spain), I love the hand stitched white linen curtains. Usually I spot them in the windows of the oldest houses. Simple, timeless traditions.

change of scene

2009-10-29T13:02:00.000-07:00

Dear readers, I retired on October 16th and flew away on the 23rd! After landing in Frankfurt, Germany, I took the train to Arnhem, Holland. There I visited my 98-yr. old aunt. We went out for a walk in the nearby park, admiring the ducks and swans in the pond and the lovely scarlet Japanese maples. I was picked up by my cousins for a stay with them in Bergeijk for a few days. On the 19th, I flew with Ryanair to Girona, Spain. My son, John, picked me up and brought me to his home in Empuriabrava. The first photo shows the canal behind his house in the evening. The backyards here are boat parking lots. All the canals join boaters to the Meditteranean. Then there is a wall of morning glories, and John´s lemon tree. The one in the middle is a strange mutation!

local monastaries

2009-10-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

On this brilliant Thanksgiving Saturday, we decided to make an excursion to see two monasteries, located in the Laurentian foothills just north of the Ottawa River. We took the ferry over the river at Carillion and drove toward Lachute and then west to Brownsburg-Chatham. The monastary of the Greek Orthodox nuns was found about 8 km west, at the end of the Chemin de la Carriere. The Saint Monastere Vierge Marie La Consolatrice was founded in 1993 by a few nuns from Greece, who brought their yoghurt- and cheese-making skills with them. There are now 22 nuns living in the monastary and visitors are very welcome to stay in their guesthouse, to picnic outside their little store and to buy their products. Women must put on a long skirt (can be borrowed at the boutique) and cover their shoulders if they wish to walk the grounds and enter the chapel. I took a photo of the river rushing down the middle of the property . There is a small park, with gardens and benches just beside the river.

After a lunch stop in Brownsburg, we took the route north and soon turned west toward Harrington and the Riviere Rouge road north to the Buddhist Monastary. It was a magical experience to enter the gates and find the exotic pagodas, temples and commemorative statues of Buddhist heroes set below a hillside of autumn foliage. We were greeted very warmly by a Buddhist monk, one of the many living there year-round. It seemed a place of joy and prosperity, although there were no flower or vegetable gardens. Why? For the love of the deer, who came out of the woods to eat away whatever the monks planted! Here I am with the statue of a jolly Buddha, greeting visitors at the entrance.

I would like to try standing in this goddess's shoes for a while: all those heads and hands available to take care of earthly tasks!

Golden Puppies

2009-10-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

My friend Rosanne, whom I met at work, breeds Golden Retrievers. Her last litter of 9 puppies was born May 8th; I have been visiting her almost every week, watching them grow, helping to clip their nails, to weigh them and bring them to the vet for their shots. Now they are all sold except for Caprice, the one she decided to keep, and Puce, my favorite, that Rosanne "secretly" wanted to keep too. It looks as if Puce will get a new owner this week anyway! So we had a photo session with our darlings. They now weigh about 30 lbs!

Fundraiser

2009-10-04T17:15:00.000-07:00

My artist friend Anne Babbage, who studied art education with me at Concordia University in Montreal,asked me to submit a painting for a fundraiser. It was held to help her work colleague Sue, who was stricken with breast cancer. The silent auction took place yesterday at Sue and Anne's workplace, the Whitlock Golf and Country Club in Hudson, Quebec.

Reto and I went by and found an enthusiastic crowd, milling around the great collection of paintings, photographs, gift certificates and vintage wines to bid on.
My submission was:

“The Wave “ 2008
36” x 36”
acrylic on canvas

This work is the second to last in a series, in which I focused on the theme of rocks. Using a newly acquired technique, I was able to capture the various textures and markings of rock surfaces. I was interested in the personality of each individual rock. The arrangement of the rocks gave the painting the appearance of a family portrait. Finally, I became interested in including the environment of the rocks in my painting and working with the depth of the painting materials and a larger format. The series of rock paintings ended with a 36” x 48” work featuring sand and aquatic materials applied to the surface with acrylic medium. It was sold at the Art Fayre in Dunvegan, Ontario, June 2009.

Cape Cod

2009-09-28T07:26:00.000-07:00

Our drive to Cape Cod was 750 km long and took us 9 hours, including stops for lunch and supper. Our route this time was along Highway 40 to Montreal, then on the 10 east to Highway 50, south to the u.s. border, Highway 91 and 93 to Boston, taking the 95 around the city and then Highway 3 along the coast, over the Sagamore Bridge onto Cape Cod. Highway 6 took us to our destination: Brewster and the Sweetwater Forest Campground.

It was great to be "home".....yes, we felt that way because we knew our way around this area from last year's vacation. The campground was almost empty (off-season) and our spot was close to the little lake, where we later rented a canoe to explore the shores. The next 10 days were sunny, sometimes with a crisp a breeze. It was a glorious time of cycling, walking the beaches and relaxing in front of the fire.

The return trip went over Highway 2 from Boston to North Adams , to spend a day at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, known as Mass MoCA. The most impressive exhibit was a retrospective of the work of Sol Lewitt, on three floors, to cover the 3 stages of his life's work. More about the exhibition in my next blog.

At 4 p.m., filled with fresh inspiration for our ATCs, we drove north into Vermont, following Highway 7 all the way to the 89 and the Canadian border. This home route was only 50 km more and well worth it: we must go back one weekend to stop at all the sights south of Burlington!
P.S. I found the name of my "miracle flower": it is an Hibiscus!

Little Miracle

2009-09-08T10:25:00.000-07:00

Last summer I spent two weeks in Cape Cod in August and was enchanted by the bushes of magnificent flowers that were blooming at that time. I found examples of different colors, all equally impressive. Before going home, I decided to visit a nursery and purchase one of these shrubs for myself, although I was warned that my climate was not ideal.

Well, a small miracle has happened. I think this plant enjoyed the cool and rainy summer we had here because it is covered with buds and blooms right now!. The top two photographs show my flowers; the bottom photograph is one I took last year in Cape Cod. Sorry, but the name of them has escaped me. Anybody who can help? We are leaving next Sunday for another 2 week stay so I can find out!

August ATCs

2009-08-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

This month, our ATC group has become integrated with a Wood Fair being held in the community center where we usually trade. For the occasion, we were given a theme for our cards: wood , of course! I cut a sheet of wood veneer, used to make "floating floors", into card size and glued them to a matboard backing. I went to work with my wood-burning tool to make a frame, a different one for each featured tree.

Since I had recently read "The Soul's Code" by James Hillman, I was inspired to see the seed produced by a tree as a capsule of it's future possibilities. Luckily, I had some rubber stamps of an oak, pine and spruce tree to use for the "genius" image. Then I got out my felt pens to draw the fruit of each tree. The final touch was a background, using my trusty liquid acrylics.

End of August and getting cooler already. On the way to work at 3 p.m. I have my AC on at 19 degrees and on the way home at midnight, I turn on the heater! It's already dark at 8 p.m. when I look out the window of the cafeteria. That's Nature.

First anniversary

2009-08-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I celebrated the first birthday of my Fortune-Workshops blog with Kate, who got me started and inspired me with her own blog. We had lunch on my veranda, enjoying her scrumptious cheese and onion pie, followed by mesclun salad and my black currant parfait for dessert. Sorry, no photos! We were too busy ruminating about art, work, food and plans for the future. Although the sky was sunny with billowing cumulus clouds, we heard thunder rumbling and sudden flashes of lightening. All of a sudden, dark clouds moved in, wind whipped the treetops and sheets of rain pounded down. We watched, heard and smelled this drama from our table: it was over in a few minutes and the world seemed newly born. The air fresh and cool and the colors bright and clear.
Thank you August 11th 2009 and Lady Fortuna for all your blessings!
Another gift: this crocosmia blooming!

Daylily Season

2009-08-09T18:00:00.000-07:00

Last fall, I made a flower bed in which I planted all the day lilies that were spread over my garden. They seem to like their new sunny spot and the cool and rainy weather we are having this summer.

July ATCs

2009-08-02T18:40:00.000-07:00

This month I decided to use the matte medium transfer method to take images out of a magazine and re-design them into ATCs.

The method is this: choose an image and brush on a layer of acrylic matte medium. Let it dry well and apply another layer. I did about 20 layers until I was satisfied that it was really solid.
Step 2: Place the image in a bowl of water and wait a few minutes until the paper is well soaked. Then rub the paper away. The ink of the image will be imbeded in the medium....in mirror form. That is why this method doesn't work well for text transfers!
Step 3: Turn the image ink side up and glue it onto your ATC card with some acrylic medium. Now add color, lines and words with paint or pens to integrate the image is into your artwork.
p.s. I used the rubbed off paper to make a little "papier mache" bowl, by spreading the paper mush thinly over an upside down wire sieve. When it was dry, I cut the edge smoothly and painted it with acrylic paints.

The magazine I chose for this project was a 1980 edition of "Art-das Kunstmagazin" I had stashed away in my barn. I gave this project the title "woman Series, 1-13". Here you see 6 of them.

Message for Wise Women

2009-07-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of my pink and blue garden this morning....and a transcript of Divine Bean's message for the Wise Women's Circle.

Dear Divine Bean, what do the spirits of the people of Le Chenail want us to know?

The spirits of the people of Le Chenail want you to know that they are deeply moved by your interest and your care.
Us, that is us: Wise Women, who wish to be in contact with their land and culture and history.
What I say to you Wise Women: nothing can be done. Please accept this. Where you stand is a monument to change. Everytime you come here, remember us and...our time, like the towering forest is gone. What is still here is the Outaouais and the sky. The healing is the honouring of our lives and your own. Although you are not our children, we came before you.
Things have changed. Move forward now. I suggest that the people now create a beautiful garden in honor of this land. Plant again the native plants to close the circle of Nature.

Thank you, Divine Bean!

Wise Women's Circle

2009-07-15T10:57:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, blessedly sunny and warm, the Wise Women's Circle met to honor the village of Le Chenail. It had been dismantled before it was flooded by the waters of the Outaouais River after the Carillon dam was built in 1961. The only remaining house was a stone building from 1810 that had served as the office and store of the Hamilton Mills. The house now serves as a tourist office.
I was asked to give a short history of Le Chenail ("The Snye" for English-speakers) and it was a fascinating project. In only 200 years, the area around the Long Sault rapids had been through a transformative period and now that the island was once again uninhabited, we wanted to honor its story. I also asked my Divine Bean to add some insight. The message is to follow in my next blog.

Sunday

2009-07-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a standout Sunday: finally the rain and cold has stopped to bring out a breezy, clear and temperate frame for a fun trip to Montreal. First stop: Botanical Gardens. As a passionate gardener, I cannot get enough of all that splendor and variety. Here is a picture of Reto under a Maidenhair tree (Ginko Biloba). I have a tiny one growing in a sunny spot at home. Maybe in 30 years I will stand under it!

After a few hours of walking through inspiration, we hopped on our bikes and followed the designated path into downtown, where the Jazz Festival was in full swing. So much free and fun stuff! Drummers, magicians, marionette shows...and the people-watching.Here is a shot of the fountain with art-worthy reflections.

June ATCs

2009-06-26T07:32:00.000-07:00

This month we are having a special ATC meeting in Dunvegan: our "Christmas bash" has been moved to the middle of summer. We will meet as usual to trade cards and then stay on to share in a potluck buffet, scan over our ATC collections and check out the Swap Table. Each of us brings 3 things of quality that we wish to give away and put it on the Swap Table. Then we help ourselves to any object we would like to keep. Even those who don't bring anything can take whatever they like!

I'm in the middle of my one week vacation and I decided to sit down with my trusty 20-year old Pfaff sewing machine to repair some clothes. In the back of my mind, I was pondering what I would do for ATCs this month. After finishing my mending, I took one of my empty cards and tried out one of the 300 patterns that the machine can sew automatically. I played around with variations on the length and width of the stitches and different colors of thread. Once I had my 11 cards (9 to trade, 1 for Reto and 1 to keep), I took out my colored pencils and put my embroidery into a setting. Then I went over it all with Gloss Medium and added leftover snippets of the threads I had used.

That is how my "Pfaff Art Cards" were made!

May ATCs

2009-06-15T10:18:00.000-07:00

Time is just flying by: how could I have missed posting my last month's ATCs?
The theme of these cards is "My Garden at Night". They are pastel, colored pencel and Gellyroll pens on black mat board.

I'm thrilled!! My painting sold at the Art Fayre.

Art Fayre

2009-06-11T09:41:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Pioneer Museum in Dunvegen, Ontario is hosting the Art Fayre, a show and sale of artworks created by 17 local artists, including me. My submission this year is "Waterfront", a 36" by 48" acrylic painting. It is a bit 3D, with the "mirror effect" paint on the surface of the water, the swirling lines giving a connecting texture to the whole image, and the raised stones with inclusions of sand, pebbles and snail shells along the bottom third.

Here you also see my newly opened irises in the evening light. Nature is astounding!

Irises and Puppies

2009-05-31T18:52:00.000-07:00

The month of May has been cold and wet. My irises were waiting for a warm day to finally bloom....and bloom they did.... yesterday. They have a very special exotic scent to match their spectacular form and color. I'm a happy gardener today!

My friend asked me to help her weigh her 3-week old golden retriever puppies. They weigh between 1.5 and 3 lbs. We also clipped their tiny little claws so they wouldn't hurt each other as they pile up on top of each other for a nap. Here you see them all snoozing away in a big cuddly heap.

Morels

2009-05-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

I have a week off work and I am LOVING IT! Time to muck around in the garden, go shopping, clean up my barn and ....blog. Here is a picture of myself with the harvest of morel mushrooms found last week, when it was cold and damp. My pet man, Reto, found them when he lifted up a pile of branches. Later he found more under a wood palette that was near our pile of composted leaves.

My True Self

2009-05-17T12:11:00.000-07:00

Last month, I participated in another three-day retreat given locally by Sri Vast, the enlightened master I first met in India in 2005. The main thrust of his teachings is the use of Self-Inquiry to discover who we really, truly are and then, to find the right environment, company and activity for that True Self to thrive. It is a given that your True Self is a happy healthy and fruitful person, caring for the planet Earth and all Beings, no matter what your specific talents and interests are.

I have always been fascinated by the question "Who am I?". Through astrology, numerology, palmistry, tarot and art therapy, I have approached the question from many angles. Yet Sri Vast brings an added element. He asks us to investigate who we are without "domestication"! What is the pure essence of our Being before we were trained, subdued, educated and adapted by our parents, schools, social environment and media inputs? The dictionary says that to domesticate means to "make (a wild animal) able to live with people and work for them". So what is the unique nature of that animal?

Our next meeting of the Women's Circle will approach this question. I was asked what my genuine, authentic person would have been....if all that domestication had not gotten in the way! My first answer was that I would be exactly as I am now. Whatever I did came out of the person I was at any given time and led to the next step in life.

Now, a few days later, I am wondering if maybe, had I had the support and means to bring out a the talent and joys that were in me......... I would have become a comic strip author! My style would be a bit like Hilary B. Price's "Rhymes with Orange" (fresh and pulpy"). I also like Dan Piraro's "Bizarro" and Wise and Aldrich's "Real Life Adventures".

Laughing and humour are timeless, indomitable ways of experiencing and expressing the beauty of life. Sri Vast knows: he loves funny movies!

My Seniors

2009-05-02T18:10:00.000-07:00

Today I went to visit my favorite senior citizens at a residence in a nearby town. For the first time, since meeting them a year ago, I took their pictures. Please meet Margery, Doris and Dorrit!

Margery asked me for some magazines: I brought her a pile of National Geographics from the 70s (that I had saved to cut out pictures) and she was delighted. When I dropped into her room she had the TV on and asked me to turn down the volume...she was so excited about having a visit! She is always concerned about my well-being!

Doris had just switched to a different room that she shares with a new room-mate. She seems to have adjusted well to this change. The door of her room was open (because she is interested in all the coming and going in the corridor) and she called when she saw me walking by. We always have a great laugh together because her mental state causes her to make up very fanciful stories. Her favorite theme is "I have to pack my bags and get ready to go home".

Dorrit does not look cheerful in this picture but she was not keen on having it taken. When I showed her the result on the screen of my digital camera she asked "Is that me?? Oh well..."
Since her son came to visit her at Easter, she has been in good spirits and today was willing to go on an adventurous journey...out the front door of the building. Due to her mental state, she has a difficult time understanding my explanation about how I get into the building....so I decided to show her. It was a bit chilly outside and she was anxious about "finding her way back" but, once we had returned to familiar territory, she had a big smile and said " I learned something today"!

I really enjoy visiting my seniors and I have learned so much from these women. They are about the age my mother would have been, if she had not passed away in 1990. Have you ever thought about where you would like to be and how you want to live when you are 85?

View from the Top

2009-04-21T17:16:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I took a walk to the top of Rigaud mountain. It has a cross at the top that is lit up at night, like the one on top of Mount Royal, the "mountain" in the middle of Montreal, which is about 60 km away to the east. It is a tradition in Quebec to place giant crosses on top of prominant hills.

I walked up with a friend and my dog, Trinkette. Although the day was overcast, we enjoyed the pleasant walk through the woods and over some rock-strewn fields, starting at the Sanctuary of Notre-Dame and reaching the wooden lookout on the peak about an hour later.

Here are some views from the top, looking northeast and northwest.

5 ways to end suffering

2009-04-04T16:17:00.000-07:00

Today I want to write about the Art of Living Level One course I took from March 19th to 22nd at the North American ashram. It was the second time I took this course and it was very different and quite wonderful because it was intensive (3 days instead of 6) and Guruji Sri Sri Ravi Shankar was present at the ashram. All course participants had the privilege of meeting him personally and attending Satsang on two evenings.

I would like to share with you some of Guruji`s wisdom. He gave us 5 ways to end suffering from problems.
1. Realize that all in life passes and this problem will also pass.
2. Look back on your life and see all the problems you have overcome. Also this problem you will overcome.
3. Look around and see that others have even greater problems to deal with. This puts your own problem in perspective.
4. Have faith. Believe in happy endings.
5. Give your problem to your guru, priest or counsellor and then let it go!

I took some pictures during the Satsang and decided to try out the video option. Being a neophyte, I didn`t realize that holding my camera sideways will also make the video sideways! Just before I began filming, a question had been asked: "What is the role of sincerity in spiritual practice?" It is simply no coincidence that I filmed just as he answered. At the level of universal wisdom, Guruji`s answer was like a huge gong vibrating into my deepest Being.

It was not until the course was over and I was back home to meditate on it all that I made a profound realization. Everything that happened was exactly what I needed to experience. I did not have an exstatic and joyfull meeting with the guru but I also did not approach him with joy or devotion. My mother once said to me: "The way you call into the woods is the way your echo will sound".

Thank you, Guruji, and thank you, Mother!

March ATCs

2009-04-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

March 28th was the date of our most recent ATC trading day. There was a huge turnout, so I'm glad I made a lot of cards. Here is a sample page from my first series.

I titled my cards "Batik" because I used the classic color resist method. All of my cards were made with beeswax on card stock, but I used 3 different methods. For my first series, I painted designs with a #6 brush loaded with melted beeswax and I also made some finer lines with Windsor & Newton masking fluid on the ivory card. Then I covered the marks with a layer of "Arylide Yellow" liquid acrylic by Tri-Art. Step two was to make more marks with the beeswax and cover them with a layer of "Alisarin Crimson": these two layers created the brick red color. The third layer of marks was covered with "Indigo" acrylic paint. When I went to iron away the beeswax, some of the paint that had stuck to the wax melted down into the card and created the unusual spots.

My next series was made with an Indonsian Tjintang tool. The beeswax is poured into a little brass cup with a tiny spout that is attached to a wooden handle. I held the Tjintang over a candle to melt the wax and the wax flowed out onto the card stock. Careful! If the wax gets too hot it gushes out and if it's not hot enough, the spout is blocked. For this series I used watercolors: Cadmium Yellow, Cadmium Red and Prussian Blue.

The third series was done with the Tjanting and liquid acrylic paint. I thought it was the least successful but they turned out to be the favorites at the trade.

Wise Women's Circle

2009-03-30T18:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the monthly meeting of the Wise Women's Circle at Enrico's in L'Orignal, Ontario. We are a group of women, led by our loving Joni Elborn, who get together regularly to share our interests, find inspiration and support each other.

This time, I offered to lead our group with a creative art workshop. We started with "The Song of the Vowels". This is a healing ritual originating in ancient Egypt. Eight energy centers in the upper body are stimulated by singing a vowel; each center has it's own corresponding sound.

After this pleasant and refreshing meditation, we sat down to paint. Using Lascaux Resonance paints on an 11" x 14" sheet of 90 lb. art paper, I invited the 15 participants to spontaneously choose colors and make marks on the paper. After 1o minutes, the artwork was passed to the person on the left, who spent another 10 minutes adding their own creativity, inspired by what they saw. Then the paper was passed on again after 10 minutes. Finally, of course, the paper came back to the original artist, who could then add or delete any part to make it their own again.

It was a lot of fun and here are some samples of finished paintings. Mine is the one with the orange sun in the top middle!

It`s a Boy!!

2009-03-16T16:31:00.000-07:00

A foal was born at Reto`s workplace two weeks ago. here you see him just 8 hours old.The mother, Smartie, is doing well. The little guy was wobbly on his long toothpick legs for a few days but is now growing in leaps and bounds. He has been given the barn name Moon because he has the same coloring as his blonde father.

Just look at how Moon has grown within a few days! He hasn`t been outside yet because the ground is still too slippery. The filly I wrote about on February 25th has been named Toots. You can see how she has grown in ten days. She went out for a few minutes on a sunny day and went wild....jumping and kicking and circling around. When she came inside with her mother, she was panting and trembling. The big wide world made an overwhelming impression on her.

February ATC

2009-02-28T16:30:00.000-08:00

The Artist Trading Card group met again today in Dunvegan, Ontario and we had a great turnout. It was a sunny and extremely cold afternoon as we began our trading punctually at 2:15. I made a dive for Brenda Kennedy's multicolor woven yarn (card#1), Evelyn Fortier's felt pen and tinted paper collage (#2), Chuck Stake's "Nakusp Tartan #0617" (#3), Dot Pisarro's "Dollars and Sense" (#4), Bernard Gauthier's digital art (#5), Susan Jephcott's "Hidden Hearts II (#6), Ronna Mogelon's "Your the Cat's Meow" (#7), Barb Glen's thread-and-textile-on-decorative-paper collage (#8) and finally Perry Bedbrook's "potato head" portrait (#9). Perry is 91 years young!

My cards showed a miniature "birth chart" of the dawning of the Age of Aquarius in Greenwich England at 7:25 a.m.( see my post of February 22nd ). Above the chart is a stylized rising sun, colored in with Sakura Gelly Roll pens. Some visitors may remember the 1968 musical "Hair" that included a song called "Aquarius". The intuitive text was:

When the Moon is in the 7th House
and Jupiter aligns with Mars
Then, peace will guide the planets
and Love will steer the stars.

Harmony and understanding,
sympathy and trust abounding.
No more falsehoods or derisions,
golden living dreams of visions,
magic crystal revelation
and the mind's true liberation.
Aquarius! Aquarius!

This sounds like a tall order placed 40 years ago. What can we do to manifest this vision now?

New Born

2009-02-25T16:53:00.000-08:00

Guess who just arrived at the farm where my husband Reto works? This little filly, born a bit prematurely, to the mare named Peanut. Mother and daughter doing well. A few hours after the birth, the whole stable full of horses started whinnying...and then the baby chimed in! What a welcome! Going in to see her Saturday. This photos shows the baby one day old with her mom.

Just Fine

2009-02-22T16:23:00.000-08:00

Hard to believe I was able to refrain from blogging for 4 whole weeks. Nothing's wrong.....I'm just enjoying my life and it's daily little wonders. One was my birthday just after the official beginning of the AGE of AQUARIUS. My gift was 6 planets in the 5th house! Oh yes, this is "Astro Speak" and means that this year I have a lot of energy available for fun, creative expression, growth and expansion and tons of LOVE. I also had a wonderful warm and sunny day in Ottawa enjoying the ice sculptures of Winterlude and an afternoon at the National Gallery. And friends over for dinner.

Also I've been busy getting my posters ready to announce the Level One courses that will be given here in two months. The first week of April for Anglophones and the third week of April for Francophones. The teacher will be Antoine Tinawi, an exuberant, bilingual official Art of living instructor. If you are interested in participating, please email me.

Today, I spent the morning at the Wise Women's Circle in L'Orignal, Ontario. We are a group of about 15 women who meet once a month to share subjects of common interest. Today's theme was "What do we want to change?" and we welcomed two newcomers to the area. Our next meeting will be in March and I will be hosting a "Paint-In": we will experience a non-verbal communication with paints on one big piece of paper!

The ART of living

2009-01-28T16:13:00.000-08:00

"Blue Rocks" 2008
Diptych, 48" x 18"
Acrylic on Canvas

One of my hobbies is astrology. Whenever humanity reaches a new level of awareness, astronomers discover a "new" planet. The planet was always there, of course, but astronomers are suddenly able to become aware of it through improved technology or understanding. For example, the planet Uranus, which represents radical and surprising breaks from tradition, was "discovered" around the time of the French Revolution, when, for the first time in history, people freed themselves from being ruled by kings. Pluto, the planet representing transformational power, was "discovered" around the time that Einstein presented the formula E=MC2 and the splitting of the atom.

Now I have discovered something that has been around for 25 years, practically in my back yard, while I was looking for it all over the world. I am referring to the Art of Living Foundation that has a center just northeast of Montreal. I already mentioned Sri Sri Ravi Shankar in a previous post. In his book "Wisdom for the New Millenium" I read about the courses that teach Sudarshan Kriya, a method that uses the natural healing power of breath to "enhance the blossoming of one's full potential". Lucky me! A course was being given in January that I could participate in without taking time off work. At first I was a bit concerned that I would find it difficult to manage my full workday and the evening courses......but I got more and more energy as each day passed! By the end of the 6-day course I was blissfully enjoying every minute of my life! Today, 10 days after finishing the course and continuing my daily practice, I know I am on the right track: some health issues have simply disappeared, I sleep very well and I am so much more present in my life.

Now I would like to find 20 people in my area to take the course. My teacher Antoine will come here on the last week in April and I know of a very nice, sunny, spacious spot in a natural setting with a huge parking lot. I have already signed myself up for the advanced course taking place over Easter at the ashram in the mountains. Yes, living as an art form: making life a creative, harmonious, meaningful experience by using our talents and expressing our unique, divine Being. Life is beautiful!!!

January's Orchids

2009-01-09T17:26:00.000-08:00

Imagine walking from an icy-cold and windy snowstorm environment...right into a tropical forest. Then, as you inhale the steamy air and encounter lush blossoms and ferns one-on-one, you catch a view of snowdrifts piling up outside the thick windowpanes. It is not a wonderful dream. You are at the Botanical Garden in Montreal. My afternoon visit had the effect of a mini-vacation to an exotic island without the time and expense of travel. Here are some of the rare and delicate orchids I met.

On my way out, I scanned the Botanical Gardens boutique and could not resist taking home this magnificent Euphorbia pulcherrima "Cinammon Star" (common name: poinsettia). It is 4 feet (about 1.2 meters) in diameter and graces my dining room table. I found out that the rosy-peach "flowers" are actually leaves! The true flowers are the tiny yellow baubles in the very middle of the colored leaves.

0 comments

2008-12-27T07:53:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of my friend Silvija's magnificent real Christmas tree. She has done this every year I have known her (since Grade 9). Inspiring!

Here is another inspiring text I discovered. It takes such a load off my mind (which I realize is the Small Mind). It is so easy to be happy and relax when the Big Mind is taking care of everything.

This is a quote from the book “God Loves Fun”
by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

“Turn back and you will see that the whole life is like a dream. Isn’t it?
See the past. Is it not like a dream?
Till today, till this moment?
You came here, you settled; the day before, you had started from somewhere.
Before that you did something, something else on New Year...you enjoyed your
Christmas presents. The Year before, and the year before, you cried and yelled
and much before you shuttled back and forth from school for years- bored,
waiting for the weekend. Isn’t it? That is all gone. Is it not like a dream?

And what is going to happen? A few more days, what can happen?
At the most, you will laugh and jump, or you will cry and sit. So what!
Anyway, it is all going to pass, however you spend your time. Why bother so much?
In order to smile and laugh, you are bothering so much. Your effort to smile and laugh
is making you cry and weep. There is nothing you need to do.
Just smile and laugh. Life has no purpose, no mission. It is a game, it is a play.
Life has no message. Life itself is an expression of joy.
There is nothing you have to do.
Everything is being done by the Big Mind.”

ATCs

2008-12-24T18:12:00.000-08:00

My Artist Trading Cards for this month were inspired by the challenge set by Ronna in the ATCQuarterly. She asked for a card inspired by the theme of "Dollars and Sense". I have an old wallet with currency from the countries I have visited and decided to sacrifice the paper money for this project. Does it make sense to cut up money? If you are an ATC artist, yes!

I mixed pieces of bills from Hungary and Bali with Canada Tire money, newsprint from a local oriental daily paper and bits of gold paper to represent the real thing. When all the pieces were layered onto my ATC-sized cardstock with Mod Podge and then completely dried, I punched in some holes. Then the collage was glued onto another card of copper cardboard, so that the copper peeked through and looked like "cents" (pennies). It was a great way to spend this wintery afternoon.

I look forward to the trade this Saturday in Dunvegan, as always, but this month is special. We will stay on after the trade for a party, sharing some finger food and bubbly. This is a great tradition and we get inspiration from opening up our collections for review.

Soltice

2008-12-21T05:52:00.000-08:00

It is early in a deliciously stormy day: sleeping in, waking to the sound of the wind snapping the flags above the town hall across the road, listening to seasonal music from around the world on the CBC (with my budgies chiming in), the scent of Reto's freshly baked "Hazelnuss Stengeli" wafting upstairs and now connecting to my family/friends/visitors through the net.....all heavenly!

This day begins two glorious weeks off from karma-yoga type work. Time to spend in my art studio, reading The Gazette in front of the fireplace, skating on the Rideau canal in Ottawa, and just Being at home. Thirty two years ago I was expecting my daughter's birth "any minute"...she arrived on the 23rd. Happy birthday, now in India, dear Simone!

I offer you this photo I made yesterday in minus 26 degrees. It expresses to me the essence of this shortest day of the year: pure and simple, deepest inner life. Like the New Moon, we have reached the Nadir of Nature's cycle, the darkest time with the most potential.

Winter

2008-12-13T08:26:00.000-08:00

As of next Monday, all car owners in Quebec are required by law to have four winter tires installed on their cars. It seems that many drivers were stalling with the decision to make this big investment. Four new tires can slide you back about $700.-!

A recent snowstorm was a joyful event for our local snowmobile owners, snowman builders and photographers. Maybe it was not so wonderful for all those driving (or stuck in slush) with their summer tires. Freezing rain was the icing on our cake: I went out to take some pictures of Nature's poetry to share with you.

Expiry Date

2008-11-21T05:27:00.000-08:00

This Bruxmania bloomed inside my studio recently. I thought the plant had stopped blooming for this season but it seems to have liked the move inside and the dose of fertilizer. I feel the same way sometimes: a period of creativity ends and I feel burnt out. All it takes is a change of scene and new inspiration and there I go again. That is spirituality at work, like this pure white, light-filled flower, in itself a perfect mandala.

Do you buy things that have a "best before" date that has passed? The product was still good yesterday..... but today it is no longer up to standard. How many of us buy it anyway at a lower price and figure it is still good, that we got a deal? I used to. Now I ask myself if it's not a better deal to let it go. If I didn't have it on my shopping list, I don't need it. "Enough is a feast" is a way to be self-sufficient. After the expiry date has passed, there is no guarantee of quality, no more refunds and maybe there is a risk to our health. Whoever made it says it isn't good anymore.

I was wondering if the expiry date is there to check out how "poor" we feel and to check out our values. A long time ago, I lived in the Alps and had employees from Sri Lanka. They were asylum seekers with nothing but a small bag of belongings. It was amazing to see how these people coped with the trauma they left behind and their new environment (by sticking together, having a dream for a better future, making music). One day I ordered fish from the local supplier. The Sri Lankans had a look at it and said they would not eat it. They were used to fish that had just left the water it lived in hours before. It took time to get the fish to where we lived, so maybe the freshness was pushing the expiry date. It was not good enough for the ("poor") asylum seekers but it good enough for us.

What is good enough and what is past the expiry date? I would like to investigate it in keeping with my intent to have spirituality as the main theme of my blog. In moments of doubt, I look for inspiration from Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who said "It is difficult to be materialistic. All the important things in life cannot be bought". My other source of truth and wisdom is my very own Divine Bean (see my labels list).

Divine Bean says:
Dear Marlana, you can trust your instincts every time. Ask: is it good for me? Take only what is good for you. Don't worry about the last time or the next time. Right now tune in and trust the answer.

Thank you, thank you as always my Divine Bean!

Spirituality

2008-11-11T16:11:00.000-08:00

A recent visit from my son John, a computer genius who was kind enough to format my new computer, helped me know more about blogs. He gave me a little booklet by Quamet that said a blog needs to have a "content with a purpose" that I can stick to. Othwerwise, it's just a facebook.

The title of this post is the purpose of my blog. I write about making art, my daily work, Nature and mysteries. These are all forms of spirituality to me. Something divine and timeless is expressing Itself in endlessly fascinating ways.

In today's post. I would like to introduce some people I work with. We all have similiar tasks in this factory that produces ready-made meals but, in some ways, the factory is like an ashram! We wear white and follow a strict daily program. We repeat and repeat. We all focus on one goal. We sacrifice. One difference is that Ashrams are usually in a secluded, inspiring, natural location...ours is noisy, stinky and ugly. Oh well. Still, in this uninspiring environment, I found beauty in the other people who work with me.

At the top meet Wil from Florida. He is a trained electrician who still needs to get his permit here. His goal is to save up some money and start a new life in Canada. He is fun to work with, waving to me and smiling across the huge production halls. I love his Florida accent!

Then, middle left, you see Andree. She took care of her elderly mother and younger dependent sister all her life; now her mother is going into a home and Andree is going out to work and moving out of her home into an apartment with her sister. She is showing me her fingertips all blistered from sorting deep-fried food all day. Somehow, she still smiles!

To the right is Xin (pronounced Sing) from China. She speaks only Chinese and the strangest sounding "French" I ever heard, but we communicate pretty well. Her parents borrowed money to send her to Canada so she could save up enough money to pay the debt and bring them over. She didn't like the first picture I took of her so she posed for this one and o.k.'d it. She looks serious but actually giggles a lot.

Then at the bottom meet Laurie, a local women who has done a lot of amazing things in her life and is now settled into collecting some revenue to retire on. I wouldn't be surprised if that handsome guy in her production line whisks her away to a new romantic adventure. She cheers me up every time we have a break together. Is it her smile or her gorgeous green eyes?

There are about 20 other people from work I could blog about...but I am definately the only one in there who takes pictures or wears a cotton bonnet with flames or chili peppers under her hair net or eats lunch on a porcelaine plate (instead of a plastic one). Xin wanted to take a picture of me.....yes, next time!

Notan

2008-10-26T14:53:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I drove to Dunvegan for a meeting of the Artist Trading Cards group. We get together every last Saturday of the month to trade our original art cards with our peers. We can even trade with people who aren't there! Ronna brings in cards made by artists who send them to her by snail mail. We add our own card to the collection and then help ourselves to the one we like.

I made cards that had a haiku written on a piece of hand-painted paper. Each card had a layer of transparent embossed paper covering the haiku, making it even more Zen. My Haiku was:
In Dunvegan we
trade miniature artworks
one-for-one, for free.

This weekend was dedicated to doing what I love to do, so I sat down and made a series of ATCs for November. They are inspired by the concept of Notan, which I recently came across while Googling sacred sciences. Notan means "light/dark harmony" in Japanese. It is a concept that helps to design harmonious light and dark values in your painting. The idea is similiar to the Yin/Yang symbol: keeping light and dark in balance is the essence of harmony.

I invite you to try this out. Take a piece of 1" square white paper and cut out shapes. Use what is left of the square and all the pieces you cut out to make a design on a black or dark art card. The challenge is greater when you increase the size of your square to 2" ( like my cards # 5 and #6).

Art Classes

2008-10-24T14:23:00.000-07:00

To solve the riddle of the upside down photograph (see Gina's comment on my last post), here is the original. The tower is reflected, upside down of course, in the stream.

This is the fifth week I have been working full-time and today, being a Friday, I need to quote that most famous line "Thank God it's Friday". My self-description to the left of this post now seems a bit ironic. What happened to the leisure time, the indulgence and the passions?

I now feel for, and can relate to, all the people out there who go in and slug it out at their workplace. There are 350 people employed in the company I work for and that, I find, is the most interesting thing about it. All these unique stories and missions moving around "making a living" in the same place during the 8 1/2 hours I'm there. Every day is an incredible drama. Is it more like a battlefield or a jungle? All the people in there are, to some degree, intensely involved with producing stuff and getting things done and it doesn't always work. I practice detachment when things get ugly and I am really happy when some nice teamwork or simple graciousness appears. I am learning a lot about myself and how to stay who I am while adapting to all the demands and pressures. I sure don't run home at the end of the day to watch a reality show! Today I had some screaming/crying therapy in my car on the way home...............very helpful!

I'm excited to announce that I will be giving art classes at a gallery in VanKleek Hill, Ontario next month. They are not exactly like the creative art workshops that I have given in the past but I will include some relaxation and awareness exercises. This time the focus will be on how to get the image you want on paper. The inspiration will be a photograph of your choice. I would like the participants to enjoy what they are doing while they get the results they want. My inspiration comes from my own great teachers.

The Tower

2008-10-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

There is a nature reserve close to my home called "Baie Brazeau". The main trail in this reserve, a perfectly straight, grassy path through the woods and marshes, is part of an old railway line. The tracks were pulled up when steel was needed at the end of World War Two, but the solid ground built up under the tracks remained. A decade ago, the municipality decided to open up this area for the enjoyment of the public. The defunct railway station was rebuilt as a community center. Illustrated information boards along the trail educated visitors about the fauna and flora. At the end of the trail, you could climb a tower to get a panoramic view of the reserve.

Autumn is my favorite time to take this walk. The mosquitos and blackflies are gone. The slanting light creates a soft shroud between the trees. The bright palette of leaves keeps changing and eventually become a faded, rustling carpet.

I took these pictures last week during a morning walk to the tower. The picture to the left is actually upside down! See the tower in the reflection? You can see me in the photograph above, right:I am the little dot in the top of the shadow of the tower, reaching over the golden marsh grasses. Above left, you get a bird's eye view of the trail. These pictures play with unexpected perspectives coming out of reflections and shadows. Fun!

"The Tower"is also a symbol used in one of the tarot cards. According to the interpretation given by Liz Greene and Juliette Sharman-Bourke, the tower is a man-made structure created to impress others. It represents our socially acceptable side. Inside the protective tower are the parts of our character that we consider unacceptable but are really hidden treasures. One day, be it by lightning, earthquake or hurricane, the tower must crumble and allow the imprisoned energies to be free. I enjoy reflecting on the symbolic meaning of objects and colors. Every thing is much more than what it seems. We lead symbolic lives.

Closing Down the Garden

2008-10-09T08:24:00.000-07:00

Looking back through this summer's photo collection, I found these Bruxmanias, about to open. Their haunting pale lavender hue and their mysterious and exotic appearance fascinate me

That was July. Now it's time to pull the curtain. The show is over. Frost has determined the end of the blooming season. The once brightly colored maples and summacs are dropping their faded leaves. Today I am saying good-bye to all the daylilies that started off my blog adventure. They are put to sleep for the next seven months. I cut back all their foliage neatly and collected huge piles of compost. Isn't Nature brilliant?

This ritual of garden closure connects me to the Bigger Plan that insists itself on the lives of residents in this area. It is my choice to spend all year in a climate with extreme polarities and huge distances. It fits with my tendency to seek challenges and be part of what is happening instead of escaping into wishful thinking.

My latest challenge, thanks to the influence of Divine Bean, is my new full-time job. It sure makes a dent in the life of an avid blogger!....but I get a lot of satisfaction from this new lifestyle. My alarm goes off at 3:45 a.m. and I have a mission to fulfill. I belong to the world out there, creating my fortune with others. Every day is full of surprises and learning, a meaningful adventure, even if, believe me, it is a totally unglamorous activity! Sometimes I can sing mantras and do breathing exercises while my hands are busy. It's also wonderful to be home at 2:30 and have time to walk my dog and get some sunshine. I admit to the thrill of a paycheck, too, as fat as my pet man's. I'm also amazed at how much time I use to daydream, and dither and dawdle over trivialities. Thank you, Divine Bean!

Biospheres

2008-09-27T13:13:00.000-07:00

Speaking of different levels of reality, I was reminded again of my visit to Mass MoCA in North Adams, Massachusetts last month. One artist in the "Badlands" exhibition, Vaughn Bell, created
Personal Home Biospheres, which are miniature environments that visitors could feel immersed in. I put my head through an opening in the bottom of the small scale natural landscape. Once inside, I switched to feeling like a lilliputan in a close-up, humid, quiet world. One step up on the block placed below the biosphere and I was instantly immersed in this perfect natural environment: mosses, ferns and grasses native to the area were growing inches from my nose, eyes, ears and skin. Looking into the suspended plexiglas biosphere, I used my mind to appreciate all the details in the layers of growing earth. Looking out from the mini-dome, all my senses were activated and I cocooned in a meditative environment. Now, in the photo that my pet man took of me, I see another level: the reflections of the window frames in the exhibition room.... and the environment outside!! I could have missed it if not for the photo. Did the artist plan this into her concept too? I'm in awe all over again.

I was impressed by Vaughn Bell's creation. She fulfilled the task and opportunity given to contemporary artists in an original and thoughtful way, still leaving some mystery for the individual to solve. Anyone else out there looking for artwork that is both mentally stimulating and sensually satisfying? I'm excited about the trend that invites visitors to touch, participate and react to the artist's works. There was a book at the museum exit that invited comments...and I actually got a reply by email from a curator!

Here is a clip about Rupert Sheldrake that says more about the connection between our minds and perceptions...and about breaking habits and assumptions about our world.

synthesis of mind
and nature's senses find
my habits unwind

Palliative Care

2008-09-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

About one year ago I decided to volunteer a little of my free time to the local hospital. The area I was interested in was Palliative Care. First, I was interviewed and asked "why". I didn't have to think hard about my reason but I was a bit embarrassed to reveal it: I was curious about dying, the dying and death. I wanted to have first hand experience, get my own impressions and learn about the subject. Another reason was that I was not able to accompany either of my parents, or any one else I was close to, at the end of their life. I wanted to become able.

The hospital had some volunteers who had collected experience for many years and taken courses. I was sent along with one of the most seasoned ones and after a few rounds, left to go on my own. My instructions were to introduce myself and ask if anything was needed (fresh water, move a pillow, get an extra blanket) or, if there were visitors, to offer them a coffee or tea. Pretty easy, right? After that initial step, the adventure begins. I would like to write a book about the individuals I met, their journey, what I saw and heard, felt and thought. I have been deeply touched by the way a person may cling to life, no matter how dismal it may seem from the outside. I don't know if I have become "able"; I have never been present at anyone's passing, but I have approached the mystery. In the meantime, I have opted to volunteer in a senior's residence, meeting those making the transition from their own home into this new one and visiting those who are otherwise left alone in their last days.

The photograph I added shows my shadow at the beach in Cape Cod. The image seems appropriate to this blog because I see the different levels of reality that are sometimes taken for granted out of habit: the surface, what is below and above it and how a shadow is woven through it all. It inspires me to take nothing for granted.

Canadians for Sale

2008-09-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, my pet man and I drove off to check out an auction in a nearby village. A farmer, who had spent his working life raising Canadian horses was retiring. His farm, the equipment and horses were to be auctioned off. This traditional breed of horse was created to serve the farmers well. They are, without exception, pure black. Their character is docile, their needs are modest and they are hardy multi-taskers, pulling a sleigh or wagon or trunks of wood out of the forest. They also cut an attractive figure under a saddle or pulling the Sunday carriage. However, they are not talented for sports. As one equestrian said: "Canadian horse? No, I will never ride a cow!"

As we neared the farm, we saw that both sides of the road were packed with cars, trucks and trailers. There was a stand selling poutine, hot dogs, hamburgers and fries and the whole farm had been polished and painted for this public event. First the tractors, wagons and sleighs were sold off, then the horses, the harnesses and stable equipment and finally all the old machinery that the farmer had collected over the decades.

I recorded the stages, as each horse was taken away from its familiar stable, led to the showring and sold to the highest bidder. I heard the locals mutter that bidders were getting give-away prices this day. After the sale, each one was led away to the trailer of the new owner to begin a different life, away from its friends and family. In honor of these Canadians I wrote a Haiku:

Saturday: we hail
ebony palfrey for sale
with sleigh, reins and pail

P.S. The 1950s washing machine has a name that ends this story in a quirky way. Since my last post, I have been noticing the quirks of all my pets! and friends! and neighbors! I love their quirks.

Six Quirks

2008-09-12T17:58:00.001-07:00

Here is my 36" by 36" mandala "You Are Here". Look for the tiny red dot in the middle that marks where I am in this delicious and magnificent birthday cake of a world.

I have been tagged by Kate to write about six of my quirks. O.K. I will do it!! First...here are the rules for all those I tagged and want to play:

1. Link back to the person (me) who tagged you (on your blog)

2. Copy these rules to your blog for your players to see.

3. Tell us about 6 unspectacular quirks you have.

4. Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them (see below).

5. Leave a comment on each of the blogged taggers blog to let them know they have been tagged and can play.

The dictionary says that a quirk is a “strange little habit or part of a person’s character”. I don’t find anything strange. I needed to do some research first on how other people find themselves “quirky”. Kate remarked that my writing is quirky and also fun to read, so that made this project extra easy.

1. I love skunks. Sadly, they often get run over because they trust in their spray to protect them. It doesn’t work on cars. I wish that one day skunk mommies would smarten up and tell their kids to run, not spray! Other people gag and cover their noses at the skunk “scent” but I take very deep breaths. The smell connects me to some deep, tribal, archaic space, like the smell of marigolds and geraniums, which I’ve been told are “stinky flowers”. It’s hard to describe the smell: like a mixture of burnt rubber and extreme B.O.

2. I can fold myself in half like a jack knife. I guess I have double-jointed hips. It feels natural and relaxing. A Yoga teacher got really annoyed at me because he said he had to train for years to be able to put his head on his knees. I inherited this ability from my maternal grandmother and my daughter got it from me.

3. I talk to strangers. It takes two to tango, of course.

4. I avoid wearing underwear and NEVER wear shorts. I started this quirk in India when I adopted the traditional outfit, which is a shift over wide pants or a sari over a short-sleeved top. It’s so comfortable and looks elegant. In India, bare shoulders are considered risqué and bare legs almost obscene. Wearing shorts in India would be like walking around topless in Canada.

5. If I am ever overwhelmed with projects I stop and clean the bathroom first. I find that all the stretching to get to all the corners and the scrubbing on my hands and knees works wonders to clarify my world. The sparkling bathroom is a bonus.

6. I eat before going out to dinner or if I’m invited to eat at someone’s house. I do this because I never know how long it will take before the food arrives and if I get hungry and don’t eat….I get awful cramps and can’t eat at all! So painful and embarrassing.

It would be easy to go on with this because, in Astro Speak (for all the astrologists out there!) my Sun and Mercury are in Aquarius and my Moon conjunct Uranus is in the 11^th House. Quirk is normal for me. Now maybe six other artistic bloggers will dare to share. I have invited Nina, Frida,Cathy, Rudra, Bron, Forever Young.

Myopic World

2008-09-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

When I was about 7 years old I got my first pair of glasses. Pale blue frames. Pretty, my mother said. How I hated them...I remember so clearly how furious I was about the sensation of wearing this straight jacket on my face. Temper tantrums were the norm for me if anything was uncomfortable. Maybe, as a psychologist once suggested, I was in resistance to being incarnated, which included wearing clothes, going to school and generally being pressed into a form. There was no escaping though. Breaking or losing my glasses didn't help. The next ones were even stronger.

Hey, I still wear glasses (or "specs" as Guruji Sri Vast would say in his adorable colonial English)! What I love about them now is taking them off and seeing a whole different world...one that is mega close-up or Monet-like fuzzy. It is perfect for doing artwork because I can simplify the whole scene and break it all down to shapes and forms. There is a moment of surrender to the helplessness and limitations and then it is so relaxing....to not have to see everything. To daydream. To slow it all down, let my mind go to the back burner and.... call my chauffeur to drive my car!

Then at some point I can pop them back on over my eyes to protect them from the sun and my face from close encounters. Pretend to be all competent and incarnated. Look cool with these Ray Ban-type frames and drive myself around in my myopic world.

Conversations with Divine Bean

2008-09-07T09:19:00.000-07:00

Photograph of Amselm Kiefer's sculpture "Etroit son les Vaisseaux", 2002, exhibited at MASS MoCa until November 2008

If you lived in an area that had received a hurricane warning, would you evacuate or ride it out? Either choice is probably equally devastating. I never experienced a Tsunami or a Hurricane Katrina...or have I? My Natural Disasters never got any names as such. They hit without warning. No, that's not true. As an astrologist, I know what it means when Pluto and Chiron meet. I see the aspect approaching but I can't know how it will be for me. The last remaining mystery buried under a pile of knowledge.

There is no place in the world where a person can be safe from Natural Disasters... or any life that can escape the Wheel of Fate. Luckily, I am never alone. I met Divine Bean (Being) way back in 1988. Divine is a He/She living in my left hand. I never know what Divine will come up with because I am a mere mortal. So I have to ask, usually when I'm eating humble pie, stuck, down or in pain. The rest of the time I'm smarty pants independant. I get more of a monologue than a conversation because Divine's words blow me away. So different from real life, where Mortal Me can't shut up.

Today I'm ready to share with you my treasure:
Mortal Me: Marlana, you are feeling low. Tell me more.
Divine Bean: This hand is just doing what comes naturally when it holds a pencil. I know that I am part of Nature and there are hurricanes and sunny days. Right now it's raining, Thank God, to fill those cracks in the ground I watered yesterday. Those poor flowers. The leaves wilt before the flowers give up. My tears are now the rain for my dried-up soul. Right now there is no hope in sight. I am broke, that is a fact. The more I count my pennies the more I feel poor so stop now and be the frog card*; transform. Trance Form go in the mud. This is the season. Just take part.
Mortal Me: Thank you, Divine Bean.

* "Medicine Cards, The Discovery of Power Through the Ways of Animals" Jamie Sams/ David Carson. Bear & Company, Santa Fe, New Mexico 1988. Card # 38 Frog (Purification)

Inspired by Cape Cod

2008-09-04T08:41:00.000-07:00

While doing my favorite gypsy thing (living in a moving home) in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, I had a dream inspired by my study of the works of M.C. Escher. His graphic art plays with the way we see things: our eye/brain insists on seeing images as three-dimensional even if we "know" that the image is flat. Luckily, I had brought along some canvases and a small assortment of paint and brushes to start up.

My second inspiration was the sensual experience of being in, on and next to the ocean. We stayed at the protected inner bay where the sea quietly ebbs in and out, covering and later revealing huge flat marshlands. It was a safe and warm place for children to look for shells and walk out in the mud. After a short drive to the Atlantic side, I met the ocean's other face: pounding, thundering waves chopping their fangs into the steep shore. Excited children hypnotised by the natural drama, risking scratches, bruises and concusions to embrace the wild creature over and over again.

On the way home, I stopped at MASS MoCA, the Museum of Contemporay Art in North Adams, Massachusetts. I had planned to gorge on the place all day but after 5 hours I was saturated. One artist, Devorah Sperber, had a collection of her work exhibited under the titel of "Interpretations". She showed how our eye puts together dots of color to make an image. It's sort of scary that we don't really see what's there. We make it all up in our minds out of habit! The truth is often disturbing.

More about MASS MoCA in my next post! Here are my See'Scape paintings, finished yesterday. All 12" by 9" acrylic on canvas with natural materials worked in.

daylilies

2008-08-15T04:43:00.000-07:00

One more walk through my garden to say " see you again in 2 weeks" to all my flower friends. Here are some of them, smiling full blast. Their faces are so different, even if they all belong to the same Daylily family. I keep inviting other members of this family in and a new bed, dedicated to them only, is being prepared in a sunny spot. Mid-July to the end of August, they all come out to show off: as soon as one face wilts, a fresh one pops out on the same stem! But they get tired of this after a while and become introverted, showing only their slim foliage.

Yesterday's presentation went so well and my teacher asked the invitees "Doesn't she look like Lucille Ball"? I remember watching Lucille and Dezi Arnez in "I love Lucy" as a kid and she is a comic icon. More comments: my role was sad and funny at the same time, touching but not pathetic, "real" because I showed the motherly side of my homeless character. One director felt that my strength was in the writing of my dialogue. I am learning that the more often I play the role, the more it evolves and deepens. We are aiming towards not acting but BEING (as in life, I realize). The art is the performance and the actor is the canvas. I begin with a blank canvas. I work on the painting until I feel it is done but looking at it afterwards, again and again. I know what I would do differently and I can use that insight for the NEXT painting/ role.... refining and simplifying it until I reach the truth.

Inunnguaq

2008-08-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

I stand corrected about my rock sculpture......by coincidence. Kate helped me jumpstart my publishing skills and got a link going to Wikipedia. That site informed me that the rock cairns made to resemble human figures are named Inunnguaq and are not to be confused with Inukshuks. Definately, my pile of rocks is a male figure.

In the meantime, my sunburn has faded into a nice tan outline. I'm prepared to head out for our vacation on the Atlantic ocean at Cape Cod, about a 7-hour drive from here. It feels like an eternity since I opened my blog because so much has happened. I met all these amazing people who reacted to my write-up on Kate's blog and learned so much technical savvy by staying posted.

Tonight is the final evening of my 10-week acting course Phase I at the Montreal School of Performing Arts (MSOPA). I will be on stage performing as Sarah Blinski, a homeless woman. As a student, I was required to create a character from this name and write a monologue for her. I have a tiny bit of stagefright right now knowing that movie and theatre directors will be there. Since jumping out of an airplane at the "drop zone" in Empuriabrava, Spain I know it is all about the thrill of fear.

"If what Proust says it true, that happiness is the absence of fever, then I will never know happiness. For I am possessed by a fever for knowledge, experience and creation".
Anais Nin

Make an Inukshuk

2008-08-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

It is a hot July morning and my partner and I decide to make an Inukshuk, which is a figure built with rocks. Inukshuks were originally created in the northern parts of Canada by the aboriginal people, to help them find their way in the vast territories. If there is one thing we have plenty of on our one acre, it is rocks of all shapes and sizes. We rolled the larger rocks onto our dolly and then dragged them to our chosen spot.We are a good team: I design and adjust, he places and comments. Here is the result of our efforts. It took us about and hour and a half. Also the results wearing a bikini but no sunscreen.