Celebration Part 2

When we got down to the beach all of our friends and family formed a circle around us. John's uncle Jim read a passage that he had written regarding love, kindness and strength. Our good friend Bob spoke about what being "a friend" really means. Both of my daughters read a passage that they felt was revelant. One was from the book "The Prophet" and the other a native blessing. Various people spoke from their heart and at times I was having a difficult time not bursting out into tears.

John's family has a family ring which represents their connection to Lake Superior. Everyone of us has one except for my two girls. When they both finished reading their pieces, John's mom and her husband came into the circle and presented the girls each with the ring. Now I really felt like crying. The ceremony ended with our friends Marilyn and Charlie. He accompanied her on guitar while she sang. Beautiful.

Rather than have our guests sign a traditional book we had them leave a message on one of the rocks from the beach.........this way when we are at camp the rocks will always remind us of what a wonderful day that was..........filled with love, good friends and kindness.

Still Basking in The Glow of Lake Superior

I'm finally back from vacation but I left kicking and screaming. It just didn't feel like we had enough time to "just relax"......but I'm not complaining......it was simply amazing.

We arrived at camp on the 19th on a beautiful sunny day. It felt like a wonderful welcoming from the lake. John left the next day with his brothers for a few days of camping and I spent most of the week working out the details for the party which at this point had grown from 30 people to 86. Much of my help came from my sister in law Rachel who was surely my port in the middle of the storm. On the Wednesday we found out our dear friend Tom, a native Cree elder who was to officiate at our ceremony, had fallen ill. Of course our first thoughts were of him and of him making a speedy recovery but now Rachel and I had to put together another ceremony, one of our own making. Yikes!!!

Our friends began arriving on Friday night at which time we threw together a pot luck of burgers, salads, sausages etc. I don't know how we managed to squeeze so many people into our tiny cottage but we did and had fun doing it.

I woke up Saturday morning to a gloomy day and immediately began panicking........yes, we could move the party indoors at the lodge if it rained but I so didn't want to go there. Our ceremony on the beach was to begin at 2pm and I was praying it wouldn't rain. The sun finally began shining but around 1:30 the clouds came back in again. John, being John, said, "it will be what it will be, we can't control the weather". I hate it when he is so sensible in the middle of one of my "freak outs". The picture I have posted is of the pathway down to our beach. At 2:10, hand in hand, we walked down this path to greet our guests and to celebrate.

I'll post more tomorrow...............

Me on TV????

Isn't this fabulous???Here is my new storage unit for the hundreds of spools of thread I own. It was such a crazy story ........I was picking up a few spools of thread (ok, more than a few but I always tell John a few) at my local fabric shop. As I was leaving I saw this unit sitting outside in the parking lot, looking as if it was destined for the garbage truck. I asked one of the salesclerks if I could have it and she said sure as they had decided not to carry Mettler thread any longer and had no need for the unit. Some very kind little old man helped me load it into my jeep (it was extremely heavy) and off I went. With John's help we set it up in my studio and I am overjoyed. The fact that it was absolutely free is an unbelievable stroke of good luck.

Yesterday I did an interview with our local newspaper for an article they are writing on my work. They did a story on me a couple years ago but the editor wanted to really showcase my new stuff and who am I to argue with free publicity. I also got a call from the Communications Director at the local television station to inquire as to whether I would like to participate in a show called "Woman To Woman". It is in conjunction with the Images Studio Tour and is based on my art as well as balancing family and work. I agreed to do it and come September will post about the experience. I just hope when the camera goes on I don't freeze and start rambling on and on about stuff that makes no sense at all. They mentioned there may be a call in from viewers which I find rather strange.......I can't see there will be many people sitting at home wanting to call in and ask me about thread selection etc. ... but I'm up for whatever they have in mind.

Hope everyone's week is sailing along..............

New Weddings and Twenty Years of Marriage

Our friends Andy and Laurie are getting married this weekend and the weekend after, John and I are celebrating twenty years of wedded bliss.......somedays more blissful then others of course. Andy and Laurie are getting married in their backyard, John and I am celebrating with 85 of our friends on the shores of Superior.

We have been planning this for the past year and were so pleased to know everyone we invited was able to attend. You know you've got "good friends" when they are willing to drive eight hours to help you celebrate. This week I am finalizing all the details.....caterer, wine, accomodations for guests etc. I think it was a bit more stressful than I imagined it to be but were in the home stretch now. I'll post about it when I return.

This piece was inspired by our trip to Toronto where my youngest daughter was quite mesmerized by Tamara Jaworski's "Modern Quartet". I couldn't track her down to get permission to use the image so I just threw one of my own in. The entire piece is painted in acrylic except for the weaving, that I completed in thread.

Hope everyone is well and enjoyed a great weekend.

The Feel of Fall in The Air

I really don't like thinking that we are into August already. Here in Canada the summer is short enough but wow....today I can feel autumn around the corner. This morning as my kids were getting ready for music camp they began talking about back to school shopping and timetables. Kelly and I were just discussing the other day how autumn feels so much more like the new year coming in than January 1st ever did. It seems to signal all kinds of new change. Change isn't something I relish but am wise enough to understand (yes, it does come with getting older) that it is a constant in all our lives.

This small piece was sent off to the framers yesterday. I am quite pleased with it. I used acrylic paint on the sky and thread everywhere else. The flowers in the foreground are lavender as well as queen annes lace, which is growing profusely in my backyard.

Hope your well and not quite ready to let go of summer just yet.

Friends, Karma and Yet Again......Celebrations

The house has been a hub of activity this long weekend. I only seem to catch the back end of both my girls as they race in and out of the house with their friends. Our good friends Bob and Marilyn of the Livingstone Peforming Arts Project had their annual summer party yesterday to celebrate Bob's birthday as well as their ten year anniversary. Lots of food, babmington, horseshoes and later into the evening about 10 local musicians began playing everything from a guitar to a violin to african drums. It was certainly a night to be remembered. My oldest daughter pitched our tent in their backyard and spent the night giggling and "hanging out" with her friends. Bob and Marilyn are leaving in January for Africa to begin a new adventure in their lives. They will leave a tremendous hole in this community when they depart as they have been at the center of everything that has gone on here. To Christmas Music Concerts, Community Clean up Days, Musical Theater Camp.....I could go on and on. They are wonderful friends and we will miss them deeply.

The above photo shows just how disorganized my thread bins are. I have had many people email me to ask me how I organize my threads.....well this is it. I bet you expected nice, neat, stacked spools. For some reason this is how I work best. I have gotten rid of almost all my fabric now which leaves so much more room in my studio. My good friend Marg is going to become the lucky receipient of my stash which I think proves one of my most favourite points which is "everything that goes around comes around".........you know that great belief in karma.

Although my grandmother taught me to embroider by hand, Marg took me under her wing ten years ago and was instrumental in not only teaching me how to use a sewing machine but helping me choose one also. It seems only fitting that she get my fabric.

The piece above is one I just began working on. I have painted my background and have just started to embroider some of the trees. By the time the trees are finished I will have used approximately five to six different browns and perhaps a couple of olive greens to create depth and highlights. I will post the piece when it is completed.

Hope your weekend has been a good one.

Work, Work and More Work

This morning I took a break from work to take my teenage daughters shopping for some back to school clothes. Yikes!!

I might as well have stayed at home and pulled my hair out one strand at a time. The didn't like anything I thought was "cute' and they rolled their eyes everytime I mentioned the word cute. Oh well, at least they chose clothes I approved of and we got some fairly good deals so all in all it was a success.

I was happy to get back home and return to the studio. I picked up five of my new pieces yesterday from the framer and they look fantastic. I even received a cheque today from one of my representing galleries along with a note letting me know the wonderful response they've been getting from my new work. Thanks Michelle.

The piece I've posted is "Reds". It is quite a small piece but with the framing it comes out to about 6"x8". Surprising how such a tiny piece can take so much time. This is done entirely in thread.