New Appreciation for House Cleaners

House Cleaning Job: After 3.5 hours of house cleaning this afternoon I now have a soft spot for all those house cleaners out there. It is hard work and I don't see how you can ever think you have actually finished. This room leads to the next, that dust ball that rolled away while vacuuming in one room keeps reappearing in other rooms. Grunge hides in those spots that are just out of reach. Having never done this for money I am ever wondering if my standards are high enough. My rubber gloves, size large, were too big and my hands began to sweat after 20 minutes. I did a good job of using my baking soda and vinegar for eco cleaning. I mostly liked cleaning windows, instant gratification. My back is aching from crawling around on all fours and lugging the vacuum cleaner to and fro. I am going back on Thursday to tackle garden clean up and leaf racking. Stay tuned for another update.

Making Ends Meet

Well my full days of being an artist seem to be winding down. The studio in the backyard has taken over as the winner of consuming the bank account. I have really enjoyed the months of exploring and learning that I have some creative skills and that they deserve to have a point of expression. I will take some time to refill the coffers and explore art on my own. In the end maybe that is where the magic really happens. I have 2 more canvases and 2 more weeks before my painting class ends. There are of course 4 other paintings that never got finished so they will have to get in line too. The college has a show where we get to hang our work and offer up our paintings for sale. I guess this is my chance to see if others see value in my studies.
 

Self Proclaimed Social Artist

I have been struggling with identifying who I am and how I fit with art.
Today I decided that I can only be described as a Social Artist. 
What does that mean?
I am a social being and activist by nature, art seems to be the way that I can most easily express myself without the faux pas and stumbling about that it has caused me in the past. Somehow when I speak through art it seems true, easy and fun. That is what life should really be about, isn't it? 
I have challenged myself to produce 10 completed canvases in the month of December 2010. 
First the theme, then subject, style, and palette will follow. Four days to explore on paper, commit to canvas sizes and then GO!

Blues for an orange city

Should Federal and provincial officials have political influence in municipal elections?


Is this democracy?

Found Ice in the Alley

We found ice melting in the alley. 
A perfect art moment.

R is for Revolution

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason

Why the Gunpowder Treason

Should ever be forgot.

And so, our premier resigned yesterday. A relief, kind of. Those of us that think at all, know we are just waiting for the next power hungry politician on the list to fill his shoes. The colours, different; the outcome, the same. 

This scenario is repeated again and again, globally. What has become of us as a species? How is it that a system so dysfunctional continues to thrive? I wake each day hoping that this is the day that the winds of change will blow through our community: that young and old, rich and poor, male and female will be filled with such a sense of hope, knowing their voices will finally be heard. 

Will it ever be possible for a system of fairness? 

P is for Paparazzi

The PAP Project.
First interview today for the instalation I'm putting in the upcoming 16 1/2 gallery show, November 12th. Scribbled lots of notes. What ARE my talking points?

More notes. Typed them up. Probably won't use them anyway once I get going. Mark says when I talk from my heart, from my personal experience, he feels it. When I talk from my head, it's just more rhetorical blah blah. The world is awash in press releases, and op-eds. I'm the only one who has my experience and it's my right to feel. It's my civic responsibility to feel and express in art when open dialog has been compromised.

Funny, that when I took the effort to make myself heard, there are people who seem interested in hearing what I have to say.

Shannon's Birthday! Day of the Dead; All Saints Day; Shadows' Death Anniversay

So begins my blog. November 1st. Our New Years Day. 
This is to be a venue for my art, some complete, some in progress. I will test myself to post, to express, to question the whys and what fors of the making of art business. My test today is to take pictures. Off I go.