early this morning
looking through the skylight,
a glimmer of sunshine,
too brief
by Marja-Leena
by Marja-Leena exhibit in Squamish
I’m pleased to announce that my friend Bonnie Jordan and I have a selection of our prints on exhibit in the new Artisan Gallery in the town of Squamish, north of Vancouver.
Here’s how the space is described in the Squamish Arts Council‘s newsletter:
For the past three years, Squamish Arts Council Directors have been working with the DOS [District of Squamish] and developer Talisman Homes to bring to life a District required amenity contribution art exhibition space at 1336 Main Street. The space is defined as a window gallery which is intended to be viewed form the outdoors 24 hours a day. The unexpected infusion of 80 feet of visual art enhances the downtown outdoor experience and ambience, and provides much need exhibit space for local and visiting artists. [This space] is particularly beautiful at night with the gallery lights, colors and shadows redefining Main Street.
The space is managed by Maciek Walentowicz and Susan Remnant, both artists and teachers. They were a wonderful help in hanging our works. Our thanks to them and the SAC for this opportunity to share our work with this community and to extend support to the efforts of the Arts Council.
Above is a glimpse of Bonnie’s work. Some readers may remember Bonnie’s name in these blog pages. She was one of the artists who exhibited with me in Vaasa, Finland in 2002, our most exciting one we’ve had I think, so please check out my micro-site Traces. And here is an article I did later of her work. The top and bottom works are in the Artisan too!
And here’s a look at my section. Our exhibit will be up for about three months, so if you are visiting or live in the Vancouver area and you are planning a trip up the Sea-to-Sky to Whistler, please stop in to Squamish and see our display.
Out of town readers may be interested to know that the town of Squamish sits on the north shore of beautiful Howe Sound next to the Sea-to-Sky Highway and the magestic Coast Mountains. It’s only about an hour’s drive north from Vancouver, so it has grown a lot in recent years as a bedroom community and as a popular recreation area as well as for being close to Whistler. It’s a mind-blowing gorgeous drive, but there’s some major reconstruction of the highway in preparation for the Winter Olympics in 2010 that astonished us with it’s immensity, but did not slow us too much.
by Marja-Leena June beginnings
The Opera Gala with Anna Netrebko, Elina Garanca, Ramón Vargas, and Ludovic Tézier performing opera favourites in a live concert from Baden-Baden, Germany. My husband joined me for a most pleasurable two plus hours of wonderful music by these superb young artists, all new to us except for Netrebko. I think we’re going to purchase this DVD or CD!
A late bedtime, then I was awake at 5 this morning, restless in body, still sore from the weekend’s labours, and a wee bit anxious with the work ahead of me today and tomorrow. An afternoon nap is on the schedule!
by Marja-Leena onion skin
…one day in the kitchen…
by Marja-Leena a letter from Teju
My friend Teju Cole is the author of Every Day is for the Thief, which began life as a temporary blog, and was published in Nigeria last year. He is at work on another book, a novel about a young emigre psychiatrist in New York. In the meantime, he is also taking photographs, including these, which he sent me recently in this beautiful letter:
Dear Marja-Leena,
I am more conscious in spring that everything has its own life. It is most obvious with plants because that is where the visible drama is. But, because of the activity of form and color going on in them, I also notice what is happening elsewhere. The rain, the setting sun, puddles in the street, even statues: everything seems especially full of presence at this time. I would almost say that the world appears to be thinking, or lost in thought.
love,
Teju
Thank you, Teju, for allowing me to share your letter and your powerful and mysterious photos with my readers here!
This is the perfect opportunity for me to very-belatedly mention that I purchased a copy of Teju’s novel some time ago and truly felt moved and changed by his amazing words and photos, just as much as I loved his writings on his several too-temporary blogs. (Did I ever write to tell you this, Teju?)
Every Day is for the Thief is published by Cassava Republic and is available through Amazon. Here are two great reviews, by Languagehat and by Ethan Zuckerman.
by Marja-Leena ‘Centigrade’ wins Leos
I’m thrilled to share the news that a certain special film has won five Leos just a few days ago here in Vancouver. The Leo Awards honor the best in British Columbian television and film production every year.
Centigrade is a short thriller that took home five of its seven nominations. The film has been recognized in several film festivals and is now qualified to enter the Academy Awards!
Congratulations to everyone involved in the making of this film! Our special congratulations go to Jonathan Tyrrell, the picture editor, who also happens to be the person who encouraged me to start blogging, is the designer of this weblog and is our son-in-law, the father of our delightful grand-daughters.
Centigrade is about a man stuck in a trailer and desperately searching for a means to get out before he burns inside the vehicle. Now we can hardly wait to see this film, though judging from this Teaser Trailer, it may be a bit too exciting for me!
by Marja-Leena time for play
Alternating between gardening and utter exhaustion these May days, I’ve not being doing anything in the art-making side of my life. Interrupted by showers in sunshine this afternoon, I had time to play! Wanting to try making a birthday card for a gardening friend, I picked these raindrop covered petals off my favourite rhododendron and tried some scans. I like this one and hope it will print well.
Update May 28, 2008: There’s actually a name for this process – scannography!
by Marja-Leena lines of age
The lines on the rock are like the lines on the face of an elder.
What events have created them?
Where have these rocks come from?
What tumultuous journeys have they suffered?
How old are they?
by Marja-Leena summer’s here
Today is the Victoria Day holiday and what a busy long weekend it has been. My husband took Friday off work and we’ve been working hard in the garden for three days in a row. Three gorgeous sunny days, the first of summer at 30C (86F), much too hot for us heat wimps! After a cool wet spring, the heat has made everything lush and green. The tulips and magnolia were finished off by last week’s rains. Now the heat is bringing forth lily-of-the-valley, lilacs, laburnum, clematis montana, azaleas, rhododendrons, forget-me-nots, bluebells and yellow poppies.
I’ve been hardening off pelargoniums and other annuals to plant out in a few days, and repotting tomato plants to go outside a little later in the month when the nights stay above 10C. We brought outside patio and deck furniture and umbrellas, and one evening enjoyed sitting outside until after dark while waiting for the house to cool down, enjoying much talking and spirited games of Liverpool Rummy with our visiting eldest daughter Anita.
Saturday evening, husband and I went out for a delicious Thai dinner to quietly celebrate another wedding anniversary. I was much attracted by the interesting reflections in the windows across the street from the restaurant!
After the meal, we went for a stroll along the waterfront park where many couples and a few young families were enjoying the warm evening and the view of downtown Vancouver on the other side. As we sat for a few minutes on a bench, another middle-aged couple walked by just as my husband said to me, “We live in the best part of the world”. The woman turned around with a smile and said, “I think so, too”. Surprised, we laughed. On our stroll back we discovered a secluded garden between an adjacent office building and a condominium, with numerous gorgeous wisteria in bloom – a gift!
Today is pleasantly cooler and rainy, Anita has left and we are enjoying a quiet and restful afternoon, reading books and catching up on some blogs and blogging. Like looking back through a diary in my youth, I find it interesting looking back at past blog posts on the same date or theme. In this case past Victoria Day weekend articles were revealing. We seem to always work on this weekend instead of going away camping or visiting. And this year’s blooms in our garden are quite a bit later than these past years: 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.