by Marja-Leena 
Yesterday came the spring equinox
Last night the full Lenten moon, (did you keep me awake, Moon?)
Today son-in-law J’s birthday, a make-your-own-pizza party! and cake!
Sunday is Easter, so early this year
An egg hunt for the granddaughters and brunch for everyone
May your weekend be a happy one, however you spend it!
(P.S. These eggs were decorated by our daughter Erika. Check out the photos and links in my Easter 2006 post.)
by Marja-Leena 
Amie Roman: Justice (after Allward), relief print.
As a print artist, naturally from time to time I write about printmaking and about the work of other artists who make prints. (If you are new here, check out the archives under the theme of printmaking.)
For a few months now, I’ve been reading the blog of a printmaker who happens to live in the same part of this world as I do. Amie Roman is based here on the west coast of British Columbia, working mostly in relief techniques, and writes an interesting blog about her processes and inspirations at Burnishings. Have a look at her lovely work which, she writes, ‘reflects upon the natural world and the irony of progress.’ I love her crows, and her latest piece above which she has kindly let me put up here.
Amie is doing an amazing amount of work gathering together information for another site that she calls Squidoo – All about Printmaking. Included is a growing list of blogs and sites by artists who are either printmakers or who discuss printmaking. If you’re a printmaker and you’re not on this list yet and would like to be, she’d be pleased if you contact her with your link to your site (either a blog or a website).
Congratulations and a big thank you for all your hard work for the printmaking community, Amie. Happy printing!
by Marja-Leena Yesterday we headed out to Burnaby (a city next to Vancouver) and the Scandinavian Centre where we enjoyed a recital of songs sung in Finnish, Swedish and Italian by a beautiful, rising talent, Finnish-American singer Maria Männistö. Here’s the announcement we received (hyperlinks mine):
Canadian Friends of Finland, Vancouver presents Finnish-American soprano Maria Mannisto in a recital of songs by Finnish composers Jean Sibelius, Toivo Kuula, Oskar Merikanto and Erkki Melartin. The program also includes two arias by Giacomo Puccini.
For the second half of the program, Maria will be joined by double bassist Scott Teske performing a selection of beloved Finnish folksongs and tangos.
Winner of 2007 Finlandia Foundation Performer Award of the Year, this talented young singer has performed to great acclaim in numerous cities across the USA, including Washington DC, Chicago and San Francisco. Maria is director of the Finnish Choral Society in Seattle and organist and music director of the Finnish Lutheran Church. She is studying operatic performance at the University of Washington under Thomas Harper and recently auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
We loved all of it, the Puccini arias the most of course, as well as hearing the Finnish language in song. My husband commented that my late father (a keen amateur singer) would have loved this, I agreed saying my parents were very much in my thoughts. The first half of the program, accompanied at the piano by Terhi Miikki-Boersma, consisted of the more serious music and showcased Ms Männistö’s beautiful voice and range of musical styles. The second half consisted of lighthearted popular Finnish and Swedish songs, with the singer accompanying herself at the piano and with Scott Teske playing a double bass, a curious guitar-like instrument we’d not seen before. It will be interesting to watch her career in opera take off.
Afterwards, because we were in the neighbourhood, we went to the Burnaby Art Gallery to see an exhibition of prints, drawing and paintings by Ron Eckert, recently retired from a long teaching career at Vancouver’s art school, Emily Carr Institute. We liked his looser drawings the most.
As always when we come here, we went for a walk around the lovely gardens and down along Deer Lake. As we returned it began to rain. We drove up to Burnaby Mountain Park. I wanted to revisit the Ainu sculptures, the Kamui Mintara (Playground of the Gods). I have written about them before, how remarkably similar they are to the Northwest Coast First Nations’ totem poles.
To cap the afternoon, we had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant overlooking the park and sculptures and with a fantastic view west over Vancouver (except we could not see it because the rain turned to snow!). We shared a dessert of a most divine chocolate mousse with pecan crust, mmmm.
by Marja-Leena
signs of bursting
delicate green buds on bushes
native flowering currants and skunk cabbage
early snowdrops and croci finishing
now hyacinths, daffodils, forsythia
spring has sprung
Addendum March 17th, 2008: I’ve been short on words so I think you may enjoy reading lichen, a beautiful post and photo by my daughter Erika. She lovingly describes last week’s walk together in our favourite park where we took our photos.
by Marja-Leena 
Busy with my art work this week but tired and jet-lagged, I must say that I dislike daylight saving time! Tell me again what we are saving.
by Marja-Leena 
Elaine de Kooning: Torchlight Cave Drawing 4, 1985
from a portfolio of eight aquatints, Crown Point Press
I’ve written before about Crown Point Press and founder Kathan Brown and their importance in the printmaking field with its famed studio and book publications. In fact, I purchased the book Magical Secrets some time later and have enjoyed it, as well as the accompanying website and blog.
Recently I discovered Elaine de Kooning and some work she had done at Crown Point over 20 years ago. Two things immediately excited me – first I did not know that Willem de Kooning (whose work I love) had a wife who was also an artist. Secondly, this beautiful series of aquatint etchings called Torchlight Cave Drawings is inspired by the cave paintings in southern France. (And you know that’s a subject dear to me!)
The point of departure for Elaine de Kooning’s etchings is the cave paintings near Les Eyzies in the Dordogne region of southern France. The paintings date back to Paleolithic times (10,000 to 30,000 B.C.) and the caves are thought to have been necromantic sanctuaries for the worship of the hunt. The primary subject matter is animals –bulls, stags, mammoth, and bison of a variety that have been extinct for thousands of years. When de Kooning first visited the caves she was captivated by the phenomenally lifelike appearance of the animals and inspired by the aura of magic in the underground enclaves.
More about Elaine de Kooning at Magical Secrets and at wikipedia
by Marja-Leena 
Here is a very exciting opportunity for artists who work in print:
The Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists (SNAP) is presenting an open juried print competition, the Edmonton Print International – EPI 2008, to be exhibited September 26th to October 17th, 2008 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
The Society of Northern Alberta Print-Artists (SNAP) is a non-profit artist run production and exhibition centre located in the city of Edmonton, the continent’s most northerly metropolis.
SNAP has provided workshop facilities and exhibition space for Canadian and international artists for over twenty-five years. SNAP has also organized a number of international exhibitions including: International Print Cooperatives, presented as part of Sightlines: an International Symposium on Printmaking and Image Culture; held in Edmonton in 1997.
In 2002 SNAP presented the True North International Print Competition which drew hundreds of entries from around the world. In 2007 the city of Edmonton was designated Cultural Capital of Canada. EPI 2008 will build on these achievements by exhibiting the best and most innovative prints and print-based work being produced in the world today.
If you are interested in submitting some work, read the Call for Submissions and the Entry Form for important information. The deadline for Stage One of the jurying is April 22, 2008.
by Marja-Leena
Walking along Chesterman Beach (on our trip a month ago), we were intrigued by something in the distance, hulking half-buried in the sand and washed over by the waves.
Horrified to see that it’s a rusted frame of an automobile… how did it get there?
Yet morbidly fascinated by the interesting rusted shapes of the frame and the almost organic center.
Like a beached skeleton of some sea monster…
by Marja-Leena 
Still remembering McKenzie Beach, near Pacific Rim National Park, BC, February 3rd, 2008
Happy Birthday to my best friend and husband!
We are heading out for a celebratory lunch and a long walk along the seawall.
