April's Last Kick

It is the very last day of April and I have to say April has been the meanest month in the Calendar this year so far.  I have no idea what annoyed April so much, but I'll tell you, I for one feel picked on and I will be glad to see the back end of her.  Instead of spreading soil on the garden beds and patting the newly awakening plants, we shoveled snow this morning.  Just look at these poor Peonies...

This is the fledgling raspberry bed.   Two days ago, fresh soil spread along with compost, stakes driven in, string tied to give the plants support while they hopefully rise up and bear fruit...but this morning...stalled... bent over and covered with a blanket of cold wet snow. 
It won't last and is already melting fast around here...and in truth, the moisture is welcome, but we have been dealing with snow for six months now and everybody I know, with the exception of Libby the Border Collie, is heartily sick of it.  We long for green, for growth, for warm temperatures.  We long for spring and April...nasty girl that she is, won't give it to us.  Today was her last day to throw a fit though...tomorrow is the first of May - Hooray!
Let's just hope May is in a better mood.

Studio Space

I happened upon a wonderful blog feed the other day,you can see it all here featuring studio spaces of some pretty famous writers, artists and creators, which got me to thinking about my own space, and where I hang out most days, trying to come up with ideas.  So I got out the camera and...
Here is my studio space, or workroom as I fondly refer to it:  It's cozy in here.

Over my desk hangs a lovely angel, made for me by my lifelong friend Margianna - Margie Swearington Thurman to her friends, who passed away 5 years ago.  She made it for me after I fell in love with a similar one in the window of a toy store in Victoria.  She said in her wonderful way "I can do better than that"  And she did.
Mine is a small space, less than 9 feet by 11 feet actually and full of all the "stuff" I seem to think I need around me these days.  Behind the camera the closet shelves are full of tubs holding yarn, beads, tools, etc, etc. - the stuff of my creativity.  
By comparison and contrast, here are some studio spaces I especially like.

This is Georgia O-Keefe's studio - very tidy..and very white.

And here is Picasso in his studio looking annoyed at the interruption.  It looks like an art gallery doesn't it?.

Here is Nigella Lawson in her work space, obviously a vertical thinker wouldn't you say? And a lover of books too.

The Bronte's worked  in this very tidy space.  Their inner world was much more colourful and chaotic than their work space.

George Bernard Shaw did his thinking and writing here.  It looks to me like his space was even smaller than mine is, but a lot more tidy - spartan even.  It looks like a garden shed he converted.

Roald Dahl wrote his wonderful children's books on his lap here, smoking many cigarettes by the look of the ashtray.

And Virginia Woolf set up her desk here so she could look out in her garden. 

Spaces that people go to be creative fascinate me.  What they have around them to inspire them or in some cases what they don't have, is equally fascinating I think.  It all comes down to what feeds your creativity, whether it be absence or excess.

It Must Be Spring

Look at these little babies poking through the cold earth, on their way up and out.  Spring is late, we are still getting frost in the mornings, but the bulbs will not be denied!  And, after a cold weekend and yet another dusting of snow, I am going out on a limb here, and predicting the arrival of Spring.  Yahoo!  The weather people are full of "shoulds" - as in, it should be 15 degrees, and it is only 2 degrees - all due to a stubborn high pressure system that is laying cold across the prairies.  But today - Ah, today we are enjoying sun with actual heat  in it that warmed my back as I walked the river path.  Libby had to dunk herself into the water at the edge of the river.  She happened to be carrying her ball at the time of the impulse and in the excitement of getting wet, dropped the ball into the water.  We watched it bob downstream and then turned our backs on it and found a stick and some rocks to throw.    

The river ice is melting.  We stay close to shore where walking is safe and the water is shallow.

If this lovely spring-like weather keeps going, I will get out the pruners and go to work on the bushes.  It is easier to see the shapes of things before the leaves bud out. 

In the Studio

This has finally come together - a mixed media fibre arts neck piece which consists of ribbon yarns, beads, and a unique felted bead which has itself been beaded.  It was fun to design.  I love the mix of the colours.

The beads are the end result of a fun felting day.  After they dried I started  embellishing them.  They look a bit like mutant licorice allsorts don't they.

The felting frenzy continues.  These roses are felted in pieces and then cut into shapes and wrapped.  The stems were wet felted around wire and then beaded and carved so there would be leaves and beaded prickles.  At first I thought the rose would be a neck piece, but now I'm not so sure.  It is still a work in progress, but I'm pleased with the progress I'm making on it.

Libby and I walk by the river a few times a week, and the river rocks are starting to show as the snow and ice recedes.  Pummeled by the force of the water and weather, most of the rocks have been smoothed into  round or oval shapes.  I usually pick up one or two because they feel so good in my hands.
And then...I found  Margaret Oman's lovely crochet rock creations.   You can see Margaret's lovely blog here  Margaret crochets snoods onto random rocks she finds in her travels, and then gently leaves the decorated rock on the beach near her home for people to find.  I'm quite enchanted by that.  You can also purchase one of Margaret's creation's on her ETSY site if you've a mind to. 

This neck piece is bead crochet medallians.  I made the medallians individually and then crochet them together in random order...It's a soft piece and easy to wear but I think the medallians need more structure.

Weekend Doin's

Saturday - Teaching gig at Stash Needle Art lounge (her website is here)   On the agenda - Teaching the fine art of knitting socks - which is one of my favourite knitting things to do.  It was a small class, but being as how I haven't taught in quite a while, that was probably a good thing.  By all reports, everybody had a good time, and accomplished the first phase of sock construction, knitting the leg - or they will have by next week because I gave them homework. 
Next week, we will be turning the heel.  I always tell my students that turning a sock heel is one of the magical bits of knitting - it makes no sense, but it works and you have to suspend your disbelief and just go for it. We will accomplish it together and hopefully take the scary bits out of the process.
Stash Needleart Lounge, owned by Veronica Murphy - no mean knitting teacher herself - is a delightful little shop in the Inglewood district of Calgary.  I love the antiques and vintage bits scattered around the shop and used as shelving and decoration. Don't you love the old frig's - cold storage for yarn.  Lovely.

There is something very comforting about being in a yarn shop surrounded by all that texture and colour.  It sort of makes up for the bad weather around here.
I beat the predicted storm home and decided in the interests of sanity to just close all the drapes, light candles and plug in a film to watch while I knit...what else...a warm, woolly sock.

Sunday - woke up to this

For heaven's sake, this needs to stop!  There seems to be a high pressure system that has it in for the prairies.  One small consolation- Libby loves having a back garden full of soft, white snow to roll in, jump in and  run through.
So.. once I had cleaned off the sidewalks and the car, (again in the interests of sanity),  I ventured back out into the weather, and headed for the Calgary Horticultural Society's Annual Garden show out at Spruce Meadows, a spot better known around the world, I think, as host of International Horse show jumping competitions.  Today the barns were full of garden and landscaping displays.  Just the thing to brighten my spirits.

You have to be an optimist to be a gardener - even if you do resort to a bright plastic flower in your outdoor display.  Actually this is a pretty neat water feature that  looks surprisingly good in the snow.

Inside was warmth and lots of fun and colour.  But it is very early in gardening season in my little world - especially since there is 10 cm of snow covering most of my garden beds.  Never mind.  I splurged on some seed potatoes for my potato barrel, and some Dahlia tubers.  A girl can dream can't she?

The last word goes to Spruce Meadow's wonderful stop sign. 

Eating Around the World in Calgary

There are nine of us, if we all attend.  We are former broadcasters, news hounds, photographers and writers who all worked for CFAC radio and Television under the charismatic Ed Whalen when CFAC was an independent station and at the beginning of the Global network days in the 1970's and '80's.   

This quest to eat ourselves around the world in our own city started slowly..  Four of us met soon after I moved back to Calgary at a great little Mexican Restaurant in Bowness called Salt and Pepper.  It was just a casual get together, no pressure and good Margarita's.  But it was fun, so much fun we started to think about who we could invite and where we could go next time, and it has now evolved into a solid group of nine of us and counting, on a quest to try different foods from different countries represented by restaurants and bistros in pretty much every district of our city. 

We have had excellent Italian food in Bridgeland, authentic Chinese on the North Hill, German Schnitzel and Indian food in the downtown core, Vietnamese cuisine in the southwest , Peruvian rotisserie chicken in the industrial district, Mediterranean food in the gallery district, Greek food out in Midnapore and gone back for seconds at the Salt and Pepper Mexican restaurante.

So, in the interest of fair play, we decided to bring it on home to Alberta this past week for some homegrown beef and lamb. We picked the Model Milk Bistro because it is known for its Alberta menu (here)

The photograph is courtesy of one of our intrepid photographers - Russell Moore, who does some magical shots with his I-phone.
It's a fascinating story, the story of the Model Milk Dairy.  It sits on the corner of 17th avenue and 3rd street SW and was a thriving dairy, apparently with a steam room in the basement that catered to an alternative clientele.  Both Blake and Russell remember having ice cream there when they were kids.  Luckily the building survived, and sat empty until the present owners of the Bistro came along, saw the potential, followed their dream, did an amazing restoration, and turned the old dairy into a thriving bistro full of noise and great food.  The place really rocks when the Flames play a home game at the Saddle Dome down the street.
We were treated like minor royalty the night we visited, given a private dining room, our very own waiter, and our very own menu of local appetizers and entrees, created especially to reflect our quest of eating authentic food from the region we are visiting. 
We reminisced, told funny stories, complained about the weather, and veteran news junkies that we are, hacked through the coverage of some of the top news stories while eating our way through some delicious steak medallions, lamb dishes and sharing some wicked ice cream deserts.  I'm now a fan of lemon ice cream.
By the way - it is still snowing.  When it will stop is anybody's guess at this point.

On the Weekend

I had a lovely Easter Weekend.  On Saturday, my friend, Elizabeth,  and I took a drive south of the city toward Turner Valley and the foothills, to the Leighton Art Centre here to see Calgary Fibre Artist Rachelle LeBlanc's hooked rug art exhibit.

Her show is entitled "Telling Stories one Loop at a Time - Beyond Traditions - Contemporary Rug Hooking"  Her medium is wool on linen using traditional rug hooking techniques.  Her subject matter is anything but traditional, using as her subjects children in various natural poses in nature.  She hooks her wall hangings with a painterly eye for colour and composition- thousands of tiny loops!   Whew!

The Leighton Centre itself is a wonderful destination gallery and an excuse, if I needed one, to take a drive out into the countryside on a gorgeous early spring day.  It boasts a big permanent collection too, contributed mostly by member artists, and changed fairly frequently.
 After A.C. Leighton passed away in the 1960's, his wife and fellow artist, Barbara, gradually turned their house into an art retreat, teaching facility and gallery.

I love this one at the top of the landing.  I felt I could walk up the stairs and right onto the pathway in the painting.  Glorious!
Saturday, the centre was hosting a big Easter Egg hunt outside, and the grounds were swarming with small egg hunters looking for the golden egg to win them first prize.  They had a gorgeous day for it. If you look closely, you can just make out the Easter Bunny hopping down the hill.

 For me though, the egg hunt had to compete with the snow covered Rockies and the warm spring temperatures and almost no snow to speak of.

The Leighton house cum gallery also boasts this amazing conservatory chock full of plants and just the place to sit for a quiet minute.

I've always wanted a conservatory. Even a small greenhouse would work for me.  You have to dream don't you?

Wandering around on the grounds, which are just losing the snow cover to the spring melt, I came upon Peter Vanteisenhausen's pole installation -  "Sanctuary"

There are 1000 wooden poles here, painstakingly installed by Vanteisenhausen in the prairie grass, marching in rows and clusters down the hill, west towards the mountains.  At the top of the hill above Sanctuary is a painting/meditation shelter.  The idea is to alter the viewer's impression of the landscape and the Rockies by looking through the poles.  The poles will be allowed to deteriorate and fall down on their own over time.  I leave you to form your own opinion on this one.
Personally, the grove of black and white birch trees won the day for me.