More Grids

It rained the other day so finding some free time out of the garden I wanted to try out some ideas I had re drawing. One was to use a pen on vellum, [I love vellum], but have to admit to a certain distaste of how they work together; next time it's pencil on vellum. I miss that tiny amount of resistance as the pencil moves across the surface. And I thought I was drawing squares but realized these are really right angles.

640 right angles, pen on vellum, 11.7 x 16.5 in, 2014

altered,  11.7 x 16.5 in, 2014

altered 2,  11.7 x 16.5 in, 2014

The Grids

When I started my blog 4 years ago I searched for a way to organize my photos and started to use a grid; it's wonderful structure with endless possibilities and a structure I love exploring. So when I first conceived of how The Voice of the Line would be organized I knew that grids would be a large part. It's the last weekend for the exhibition at Galerie Art Plus, so if you haven't had a chance to drop by please do; 8 rue Maple, Sutton, and the hours are from 1 - 5pm.

The Black Notebook, 8.5 x 8.5 image, 13 x 13 framed, mixed media on black Cranston paper

Altered Drawings, 11 x 11in image, 20.5 x 20.5 in framed, digital on Somerset paper

The Fierceness of Winter, 14.5 x 14.4 in image, 20 x 20 in framed, mixed media on paper

The Voice of the Line, 15.5 x 11 in image, 20.5 x 16.75 framed, ink on Japanese paper

Working My Way Back

I put a tentative foot back in the studio during yesterdays storm; mostly playing with some cardboard I had saved and watching the shadows play along the floor. It always takes a while to find my way back. I expected to start with some drawing to see how some new pens worked on the vellum but it was so dark, with thunder crashing about that a more frivolous approach seemed right. Shape and shadow seem to be the theme of the day.

smokestacks, cardboard, 

landing, shadows from cardboard

Meanwhile, Back in the Garden...

The Echinacea are starting to bloom; last week I watched them form their crowns, which really do look like crowns and kept telling myself to go and get the camera. But I kept drinking my coffee and watching the clouds roll by. And when I was finally in the garden with the camera I needed to find some that hadn’t open fully. They thrill me these plants, I love their structure, the way they open peeling back layers to reveal themselves, I love the gray / green of the leaves and the hairy bits around each petal. Then there is the amazing pattern of the cone, the golden section in all its perfection.

the centre, echinacea, 2014

tiny spiders web, echinacea,2014

the cone of spirals, echinacea, 2014

forming the crown, echinacea, 2014

Good news

The Voice of the Line has been extended at Galerie Art Plus until July 27th. I've been at the gallery all week during the Tour des Arts and it has been great fun listening and seeing peoples expressions as they enter the gallery for the first time; oh wow, oh wow, most exclaim. Brigite is thrilled; I am thrilled as we feel the space and the work speak so well with each other.  The organ is still in place and I have been having a blast trying to figure out how to play it, I definitely need new reading glasses and the separation of hands on to different level keyboards is fascinating, next I'll try the pedals So if you have the chance please come and visit, it would be a pleasure to meet you.

west wall at Galerie Art Plus, 2014

west wall at Galerie Art Plus, 2014

south and west wall at Galerie Art Plus, 2014

drawings on the scaffold, north wall at Galerie Art Plus, 2014

north and east wall at Galerie Art Plus, 2014

other side of the scaffold looking west, Galerie Art Plus, 2014

a grid on the east wall,Galerie Art Plus, 2014

east wall, Galerie Art Plus, 2014

south east corner, Galerie Art Plus, 2014

south wall, Galerie Art Plus, 2014

While Deadheading the Roses

I had some serious deadheading time with the roses a few days ago and while I was snipping away I noticed how very luscious the shape of the sepals were. They are the green "leaves" that cover the bud and peel backwards as the flower emerges. As the petals ripen the sepals become dimples on a baby's bottom. And as a extra bonus these are some of the most fragrant roses in my garden.

Heritage rose, 2014

Gertrude Jekyll rose, 2014

Queen of Denmark rose, 2014

Gertrude Jekyll rose, 2014

Summer in Sutton

It has started, what J. and I call the summer crazies. There are dozens of events and shows and markets that it hard to fit everything in, but we accept the challenge knowing what January is like, so for anyone in the neighborhood here is a partial list. I’ll be at Galerie Art Plus, every day from 1 pm to 5 pm, July 12 to 20th, during the Tour des Arts, and it world be a pleasure to see you. Brigite Normandin will have her studio open downstairs in the gallery at 8, maple, Sutton.  And across the street from the gallery André Pelletier and Sanders Pinault will have a vernissage in their studio L'Hémisphère Droit, 4 Maple, Sutton. And just around the corner at 6 c Pine St, the divine La Cabane, has a pop up store. And the library has its big sale today at the John Sleeth centre. The Tour des Arts was started 26 years ago by Maya Lighbody, Stanley Lake and me as a way to show the working environment of our studios and hopefully sell some work. It also has great evening events from poetry / prose readings to Jazz concerts, theatre and improv. And I need to get a pot of Crocosmia that I bought yesterday planted, not one of the bulbs I planted months ago came up. And, because I'll need strength to do all this I'm meeting a friend for breakfast at La Cafetiere. It's my favourite way to start a day, a huge bowl of latte. 

a droplet of dew on the crocosmia leaves, 2014

the beauty of the crocosmia leaves, 2014

I did it!

My main hard drive on my computer failed on Wednesday, and although I am good about backing up files I hadn't backed up my OS for a year. So I spent a LOT of time trying various schemes to try and retrieve my up to date OS, not too successfully. Time to replace that hard drive, and I would really like someone else to do that but I didn't want to loose my computer for 10 days, so I bought a hard drive and installed it my self, and am pretty chuffed about it. So now it time to bring the OS up to date and make another backup boot drive that I promise faithfully to back up every month. That and maybe once a year blow the dust out of the computer; there was an impressive amount in there.

photo from the web

Back to the Weeding

I have to admit I'm a person who loves to weed. I love how my focus changes to small from the usual overview, and I love recreating order. Weeding lets me see things I would normally overlook, the intricate pattern of the leaves and petals, the play of subtle shifts of light and shadow, of colour, and especially scent, whether it's catnip, roses, or ferns.  And at the end of the day as I walk around the garden, I start to plan where I'll start tomorrow, and I can hardly wait.

Queen of Denmark, covered with rain drops, 2014

White astillbe, 2014

the small purple poppies are starting to bloom, 2014

The Vernissage

Thanks so much friends and family, and all the wonderful supporters who came to celebrate the opening of Galerie Art Plus and my exhibition The Voice of the Line. It was an electric night, both exhilarating and exhausting, and so good and full. So good to see old friends and meet new ones. And  to Brigite and Peter a huge congratulations for creating this wonderful new space. Sutton has embraced it.

Vernissage, Galerie Art Plus, photo © Lynda Graham

Vernissage, Galerie Art Plus, photo © Lynda Graham

Vernissage, Galerie Art Plus, photo © Brigite Normandin

Rampant Growth in the Garden

While I was running away and setting up the show the garden continued to grow and grow and yesterday when I found a couple of hours I began to try and bring back some small semblance of order, deadheading, cutting back and still pruning deadwood from the winter. Every year I find it staggering the rate of growth, and this year it's beginning to feel like a jungle. The great lesson of the garden is that as soon as I finish, whether it's weeding or deadheading or another job I need to start again. And so the great circle continues.

studio garden looking east, 2014

studio garden looking west with my shadow, 2014

Zoe surveying from the terrace where we sit and drink our coffee, 2014

Day One, Installing The Show at Galerie Art Plus

We are at the exciting part, the plans have been drawn, mock-ups made and adjusted, and now the physical part of actually hanging the show can start. The glorious space is empty, silent and waiting and so the fun starts. For this exhibition there are 4 grids of framed works interspersed with medium and large sized works on paper. So we started with the grid figuring they would be the most time consuming. And thanks to Brigite they went up like a dream.

most of the east wall, before the work goes up, Galerie Art Plus, 2014

looking towards the south west, Galerie Art Plus, 2014

Installing The Voice of the Line grid, Galerie Art Plus, 2014