The story begins as the narrator fails out of college. His father offers to send him to Europe to learn languages he could use to help his business. While in Vienna, the narrator meets a Jewish girl named Leah who attempts to give him lessons in German as he introduces her to pieces of Americana. He frequently stumbles over his new language while ingratiating himself with her and her family. They both spend time in his apartment, which is above hers. Some time passes before the narrator transfers to Paris, and then goes back to college in America where he receives a letter from Leah informing him she is married. News begins to spread that the Nazis have invaded Vienna, and he enlists as an infantryman. Since he is in Intelligence, he uses some of the skills acquired while studying the various languages. The story closes as he is in Vienna, after the war, and hears that Leah is dead, presumably sent to Buchenwald.
**To view previous images in this year's 52 WEEKS::Storytellers project, please click here. One of my favorite things about working on these annual projects is that they are small and can be created anywhere. My pochade helps and it's cute as a button. In it I always keep a few tubes of paint, a small sealable water dish, a spray bottle for water, a couple of brushes, a rag and a stay-wet palette. This kit has travelled across the country with me and has been all over town. Whenever I know that I might be waiting for someone at a cafe I will bring the pochade with me and then waiting becomes a pleasure. P.S. Books work great for passing the time, too.
With the colder weather these days all I want is to be surrounded by warmth and so this new canvas will be about summer. It always interests me how different colours feel. With these oxides, reds and oranges, even my studio feels warmer. Being surrounded by warm tones makes me want to paint something related to summertime, perhaps something that I haven't painted in a long time. I think that's what the 52 WEEKS projects do for me, allow me to focus my attention in a new direction and to take the leap to try something different. We'll see how this transpires. And, please wish me luck, today I write a final exam and I'm a little nervous. Deep breath and fingers crossed!
This weekend I had the greatest privilege of being one of the Adjudicators at the Airdrie One Act Play Festival. What a fabulous event! It was difficult to select a final recipient of the award as every play was engaging, all funny and/or sad, and the playwrights and actors were such a talented group. As an artist myself, I always want to award everyone especially since each play was so very different. It is in taking part and watching these types of events in my community which makes me very proud of our arts community.
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is set in a Soviet labor camp in the 1950s and describes a single day of an ordinary prisoner, Ivan Denisovich Shukhov. Its publication was an extraordinary event in Soviet literary history-never before had an account of Stalinist repression been openly distributed.
**To view previous images in this year's 52 WEEKS::Storytellers project, please click here. I have missed spending time in my studio over the holidays...with work, company, an essay and research paper to complete I've spent very few hours here and I sure do feel it. It's great to be back! Not that it wasn't all fun, it always is, but this is definitely where I recharge and only spending a few hours each week here has left its mark on me.
Yesterday my daughter and I enjoyed the Beaver Hall Group exhibit at the Glenbow Museum's Free First Thursday evening. It's fantastic! And tomorrow afternoon I will be an Adjudicator at the Airdrie One Act Play Festival which I'm really looking forward to. Next week is busy, too, as I'll be writing a final exam for the Indigenous Literature course I've been taking and there is so much to prepare and plan for 2017 in my role as the Arts & Culture Coordinator at the library. So, over the next few days I will spend as much time here as possible. Time to plan my next large canvas as well as work on another 52 WEEKS painting...very excited about it. It's supposed to be cold outside so I can't think of a better place to be. As these holidays have come to a close I have also been finishing up a few things....like completing this sketchbook (thanks to The Game of Thrones marathon for the inspiration!), writing my final research paper for the year, and sending most of my work out into the world as new exhibits. I still have to wire and varnish my 52 WEEKS::Heroes series but am kind of excited to be working on a new series. And I am looking forward to other new beginnings this year. Currently I don't know what they are, but I can feel something new stirring in my bones.
Wow...what an amazing year! Not without it's ups and downs, mind you, but definitely more ups....thank goodness! Over 80 paintings have found new homes this year and another 52 WEEKS project is under my belt (beginning year five!). There have been workshops, exhibits, demos, and concerts (just for pleasure). My book, Sacred Vessel, is now in the Alberta Libraries collection, there have been collaborations and public art projects. My artwork is now available on beautiful merchandise through Society6 and I have experimented with a wide variety of new work including ornaments and the True North Tarot deck. And I have been able to contribute to amazing causes once again. And, you know the best part? I have connected with so many incredible people this year. I feel like I'm growing wings once again.
Querencia (Spanish): Well...it's that time of year again, the time to select my guiding word for the year. This year, with both of my daughters' impending graduations a day apart this summer, I've been giving a lot of thought to this year's word. I guess I always do, but this one is particularly meaningful for me as the year will mark the beginning of adulthood of my youngest child which, in turn, means more great changes ahead for me as a mother and a woman. I chose to add the image of a feather as a symbol of a quill to mark the beginnig of writing my own new story, as well as representing flight from the nest for my children.
I've been asked to consider more teaching this year which I'm very excited about, and the completion of more university courses ahead (year three is challenging and thrilling all at the same time). A new 52 WEEKS project has begun and there are so many wonderful (and scary) things happening in my creative career in general. So here's to the year ahead! Previous words have been:
To be honest, I have struggled (once again) with the beginning of this year's 52 WEEKS project. And yet, once again, I am finally committing to this project. I am an avid reader and have always found solace in the words of others...whether that be poetry, plays, or stories of any kind. The library is where I felt safe and understood.
Over the past few months as I began researching which authors and books to focus on, I was overwhelmed...but then I stumbled upon a list of 52 favorite lines from books and I was thrilled. It was a 'Eureka!' moment, for sure and s0 this year's project will focus on the writing of 52 talented authors beginning with Willa Cather. As in the past, I kept changing my mind until the paint was put to canvas...just so you know that this isn't easy for me either. I also wanted to focus on work that was, once again, quite different for me so I will be creating more illustrative pieces this year to push myself out of my comfort zone. The character I chose to paint has received a slight homage to Star Wars, and in particular, Carrie Fisher in her cute hair style. My vision is to create storybook characters and images and am nervously stepping off this ledge to begin again this year. So my hope is that you'll join me in this year's 52 WEEKS project...in whatever you choose to do. I know (from previous experience) that it does easier as the year progresses...and harder...all at the same time. ;) My Ántonia evokes the Nebraska prairie life of Willa Cather's childhood, and commemorates the spirit and courage of immigrant pioneers in America. One of Cather's earliest novels, written in 1918, it is the story of Ántonia Shimerda, who arrives on the Nebraska frontier as part of a family of Bohemian emigrants. Her story is told through the eyes of Jim Burden, a neighbor who will befriend Ántonia, teach her English, and follow the remarkable story of her life. **To view previous images in this year's 52 WEEKS::Storytellers project, please click here. |
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