My brother got me portable chopsticks for my Christmas present!
They may almost have qualified to be chindogu, but they have been marketed and sold, so they can't qualify. I have been wearing them around my neck every day.
I saw Eric and Kelly Thursday, back from the East Coast for Christmas, and we did a lot of catching up. I never have to explain myself around them, and we get each others' jokes and mannerisms. It's like my generation has it's own culture and diaspora. Eric says my new trumpet is actually a cornet, and Kelly's dad was able to unstick the mouthpiece. Eric played it for a good 2 minutes before the hammer came down - but he got a tune out of it...
Hot water is back, and better than before!
Off to Toronto today for a Tibetan VAJRAKILAYA empowerment. This retreat removes obstacles to Dharma practice and destroys the hostile forces to Compassion.
Friday, December 29, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas!
I've had no hot water in the house since the 23rd, which means I've been shower hopping the past few days. Anyone willing to offer me some warm water will receive gratitude not only from me, but also from people next to me. All the gifts are exchanged but one, and I have a Uakti CD playing - Brazilian made instruments and Philip Glass composition. Mom made macaroni and cheese for Christmas dinner, and I've watched Better Off Dead, so I am basically in Laurie heaven right now (with Punk Rock Girl, of course).
Uakti (pronounced wah-ke-chee)
Uakti (pronounced wah-ke-chee)
Friday, December 22, 2006
Big Black Oak desk
Today, I knew I had plans to take my neighbour to Toronto to pick up his son for Christmas. So much more happened than that.
Elizabeth called to ask for help to move a desk. An architect had donated a heavy oak desk to the Arts Council, but more people were needed to get it out and away. I told her I would wait at the Strega until the truck was ready. While at the Strega I drank coffee and shot the breeze with Edwin and some fellow reading some papers. He had a stack of photocopies and papers on the table. I said: "If you read all that, someone should give you a certificate." He wasn't a student, but an instructor from the University of Toronto, marking papers from a class on structures. Elizabeth and Matt pulled up, so I left. Joe Lapinski was walking down the street so I called out to him.
When we arrived at the architect's office, we realized we needed more bodies to move the desk. I recalled seeing Joe, so Elizabeth trotted to the Strega to see if he could be recruited. Instead, she returned with Jesse, the fellow who had been marking the papers. We also managed to snag a mailman away from his route.
After the desk made its way to the Arts Council office, I showed Jesse that the Fine Grind Cafe also had Art Under Glass. He and Rob started talking, and it seemed to me that Jesse was seeing about booking a show. Turns out he also teaches at OCAD. We may be seeing some outsider art in St. Catharines pretty soon. Elizabeth drove us all back to the Strega and Jesse picked up one of my business cards.
Matt and I went off to Toronto making bad puns there and back. I can't recall them all, but I do remember seeing a store in Oakville: The Merchant of Tennis. One stop at the Whole Food store for some cheese and vanilla tea, and then Toronto. Matt pointed out a few murals along the Lakeshore an old accomplice had installed on local storefronts. The highways were jammed up like a dog eating a peanut butter sandwich.
Elizabeth called to ask for help to move a desk. An architect had donated a heavy oak desk to the Arts Council, but more people were needed to get it out and away. I told her I would wait at the Strega until the truck was ready. While at the Strega I drank coffee and shot the breeze with Edwin and some fellow reading some papers. He had a stack of photocopies and papers on the table. I said: "If you read all that, someone should give you a certificate." He wasn't a student, but an instructor from the University of Toronto, marking papers from a class on structures. Elizabeth and Matt pulled up, so I left. Joe Lapinski was walking down the street so I called out to him.
When we arrived at the architect's office, we realized we needed more bodies to move the desk. I recalled seeing Joe, so Elizabeth trotted to the Strega to see if he could be recruited. Instead, she returned with Jesse, the fellow who had been marking the papers. We also managed to snag a mailman away from his route.
After the desk made its way to the Arts Council office, I showed Jesse that the Fine Grind Cafe also had Art Under Glass. He and Rob started talking, and it seemed to me that Jesse was seeing about booking a show. Turns out he also teaches at OCAD. We may be seeing some outsider art in St. Catharines pretty soon. Elizabeth drove us all back to the Strega and Jesse picked up one of my business cards.
Matt and I went off to Toronto making bad puns there and back. I can't recall them all, but I do remember seeing a store in Oakville: The Merchant of Tennis. One stop at the Whole Food store for some cheese and vanilla tea, and then Toronto. Matt pointed out a few murals along the Lakeshore an old accomplice had installed on local storefronts. The highways were jammed up like a dog eating a peanut butter sandwich.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
Coming in January at the NAC
Which one is the fraud? Come see these tiny science experiments before they find their way across North America. Young Mad Scientists will be examining these tiny paintings trying to figure out which one is a fake.
Up to 80 pictures will be on display all at once, creating the illusion of a flock of birds flying towards a sunset as seen through a large scenic window. Once over, the set will be broken into pairs, each set containing a 'real' painting, and a 'fake' painting. The young students will then learn one way science can be used to help art historians determine the authenticity of artworks.
Laurie Boese has been teaching art classes since 1988. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1994, and a Bachelor of Education in 1996. He has been entertaining and educating children as a Mad Scientist for over 5 years.
Up to 80 pictures will be on display all at once, creating the illusion of a flock of birds flying towards a sunset as seen through a large scenic window. Once over, the set will be broken into pairs, each set containing a 'real' painting, and a 'fake' painting. The young students will then learn one way science can be used to help art historians determine the authenticity of artworks.
Laurie Boese has been teaching art classes since 1988. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1994, and a Bachelor of Education in 1996. He has been entertaining and educating children as a Mad Scientist for over 5 years.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Linoleum
When I went to Weber's today, I discovered they do indeed have linoleum, lino cutters, ink and brayers. CVT is cheaper and cuts as easily as linoleum. Let's see how well CVT can transfer ink. Perhaps a maze.....
Art Under Glass
Art Under Glass is now an organizational member of the St. Catharines and Area Arts Council. Look here for more information soon. I'll be setting up a blog listing artists appearing both at the Strega and at the Fine Grind, as soon as I get this double portrait done. The openings can now be listed in the Culture News and the artists should be able to directly load their images and text by themselves. Perhaps Thinner Smarter Younger will be having a show soon at one of these venues?
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Someday, my prints will come
What is it like to live in a town with a large art supply store? A store with clay, linoleum, silk screen ink, and brayers? Am I dreaming of a city that doesn't exist? My creative practice is, to a degree, necessarily, formed by my environment, and I am not complaining. I know that if I want or need a material or tool, I can go to Toronto, or order online, or Weber's can order stuff they can't maintain on premises.
Today I went to buy linoleum for making prints. There seems to be none to be had here, so I am going to try a 'composite vinyl tile' to see if it will carve readily, and take ink. I will find a brayer somewhere. Steve has loaned me his to use in my LTTA and Rodman Hall classes, but I would like my own. More clutter, but more convenient. There is a degree of whimsy in art that occasionally requires an immediate availability of tool or material.
I love reading about artists like Delacroix and Cavé, because of their confidence in tools they could acquire or produce on their own. I felt so 'capable' walking into Home Depot looking for art making equipment, knowing that Curry's is over an hour away, looking for lino, and walking out with CVT.
This urge to make prints IS partly due to a Christmas card making workshop I led last week at Rodman Hall. The kids drew on flattened styrofoam plates, which were then inked and pressed to paper. I think they look great, and so different from the computer printouts everyone else seems to satisfy themselves with. The cards felt fresh.
Today I went to buy linoleum for making prints. There seems to be none to be had here, so I am going to try a 'composite vinyl tile' to see if it will carve readily, and take ink. I will find a brayer somewhere. Steve has loaned me his to use in my LTTA and Rodman Hall classes, but I would like my own. More clutter, but more convenient. There is a degree of whimsy in art that occasionally requires an immediate availability of tool or material.
I love reading about artists like Delacroix and Cavé, because of their confidence in tools they could acquire or produce on their own. I felt so 'capable' walking into Home Depot looking for art making equipment, knowing that Curry's is over an hour away, looking for lino, and walking out with CVT.
This urge to make prints IS partly due to a Christmas card making workshop I led last week at Rodman Hall. The kids drew on flattened styrofoam plates, which were then inked and pressed to paper. I think they look great, and so different from the computer printouts everyone else seems to satisfy themselves with. The cards felt fresh.
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