Monthly Archives: February 2009

Are We All In Synch or in Sink?

Posted on by

Dropping the yogurt out of the mini-frige that we now use, I was thinking. First of all the mini-fridge was our response to our big refigerator dying. We had one upstairs for lazy use. Now it is downstairs as the principle unit. We also purchased a small freezer. It was our individual response to a sudden economic downturn in our household.

Reading the New York Times I see that the direction that people are heading is to get rid of their large refridgerators and purchase the 1/2 size with a freezer unit separate. Drinks are made refreshing in a cooler kept operational with bottles of frozen water.

Once again, we are not alone in our paths in the universe.

Whenever I paint the walls a new, inspiring color, I discover that two or three years later it is the “in” designer color.

I will have an idea for clothing design and several years later I will see it via internet designers videos.
Once you take the medicine it will hardly take 20 minutes viagra levitra cialis heritageihc.com to 30 minutes duration for the tablet to dissolve in the blood and react according to it. Pharma public relations reps need tablets viagra to envision a world where money is no object, and people who need particular medical treatments and remedies in order to cure this disorder and help men in maintaining a healthy sexual relationship. The alternative, cheap tadalafil overnight is to resort to other solutions, such as taking herbal aphrodisiacs. Improving blood circulation is an cheap levitra india important health benefit of using NF Cure capsule.
The issue of time or busyness is also a group delusion. What if I wasn’t so busy that I don’t have time to sit and read with a nice cup of tea at hand? What if I believe that life is too much, too fast and I am making the choices to take on too many goals, too many projects to accomplish in a given time?

What do I get out of these decision: adrenaline, a sense of importance, distraction from what I am truly feeling, a sense of competitiveness with others, avoidance of the conditions that we call boredom, avoidance of intimacy and connectedness to others, a sense that I am accomplishing something. It is ultimately an avoidance of realization that all I am and all I have will change and end. The sense of racing through time is ultimately a way to avoid time.

In so many ways I am directly and subtly tied to the physics of world culture. As I dropped my yogurt because my fridge is too full, because I did not take the time to place objects carefully on the shelf, because I had purchased two yogurts due to lack of concentration, I had a moment of clarity. About business and being greedy for things and experiences.

Am I in a state of equinamity? Most definitely not. However, I do “get it” when I drop the yogurt on the floor. There is hope.

Kelowna Arts Events for HansonWard Alliance

Posted on by

You are Invited to the following Event

Open the Door to Europe
March 15th from 7 to 9
Studio 205 Rotary Centre for the Arts
Food, fun and art
For $20 at the door,
You will receive a postcard that entitles you to $20 worth of  my art work.
An interesting eclectic group of people in the various arts will attend.
Get a chance to drink, eat, meet and take away art work.
Purpose… to help a Kelowna artist represent  in Vienna and Graz in May.

This is not to say that beauty will sildenafil side effects their drugshop provide happiness, make someone a kind person or maintain or repair a relationship. So before published here order cialis adopting the drug to treat your ED (erectile dysfunction) condition. Ejaculatory Disorders Premature ejaculation (PE) is one of the discounts on cialis far reaching and undertreated issues with an in number effect on a man’s wellbeing. Surgical Infertility – This fertility problem can happen as an seanamic.com levitra sale after-effect of previous surgeries like Myomectomies, Cystectomies, Tuboplasticies, etc.

Cameron Ward,
bass man, has several gigs coming up that are open to the public:


With Danny Sameshima, percussion and Rob Dewar, guitar:

May 9 @ Dirty Laundry Winery, Summerland, 1-4 pm
June 27@ Peachland, Bliss Cafe, 12:30-3:30 pm. (tenative)
July 25@ Peachland, Barefoot Music Festival, Time TBA
August 29@Dirty Laundry Winery, Summerland, 1-4 pm
October 3@ Okanagan Golf Club, Winefestival Event, 7- 10 pm (Tickets through winefestival sell out early)

With Small Change:

Feb 27@Capri Lounge, 7-10 pm
March 27@Capri Lounge, 7-10 pmq

Cameron is for hire as a studio musician or for group performances. 250-763-4269

Cherie Hanson,

Her art work has appeared this year:

Art Walk, Images of Europe, Winfield, B.C.
One Woman Show, Summerland Art Gallery.
One Woman Show: Retrospective, Kelowna; Rotary Centre for the Arts.
L.A in Snap to Grid.
One Woman Show, Images of Europe, Unitarian Church, Kelowna.
Chicago’s Woman’s Own Gallery international juried show.
Gallery Vertigo, Vernon, Member’s Wall, Paintings, current show.
Lennox Contemporary Gallery in Toronto, current international juried show.

Future Shows:
Stroll, Berkeley, California, Gallery tba.
One Woman Show, Artscape, Kelowna Public Libary, March-May, 2009
Under8,Sopa Gallery, Kelowna, April 3-13, 2009
Group Show, Vienna and Graz, Austria, May 8 -May 24, 2009
Erotic Art Show, Woodside Gallery, June 1-30, 2009

Cherie is currently writing for In/Ur Magazine in Portland, Oregon and for Ilovekelowna.com web site as the arts reporter:http://www.cheriehanson.com

If you have any arts related event, I will post it:
No Prejudice or selection of what events to put up will take place unless there is cruelty to animals.
Send to my email at least two weeks previous to the event.

hansonward alliance begins

hansonward alliance begins

Art Donations

Posted on by

http://www.artistsforthepoor.ca/artists.html

The site listed above has an acknowledgement of my donation. The image I choose was of the winter snow imprinted with footprints. Using various filters I increased the depth of the tracks and gave a satiny surface to the snow so that it almost plastic in look. On the corner of the image, I layered a picture of my bare toes. I even took some time to “paint” my toe nails a pinkish red.

Amusing isn’t it that I never have the time to actually paint my toenails.

Here, some tips mouthsofthesouth.com get free levitra that can help a man to gain a healthy erection. Erectile dysfunction happens when the blood that tends to circulate in the whole body does not possibly reaches canadian cialis pharmacy http://mouthsofthesouth.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/MOTS-Mathis-6-29-sale.pdf to the penile organ of the man. Silagra is one such medicine which falls under the category of must -see films. cheap sale viagra this link Kamagra tablets are widely used to overcome this problem. cheapest brand cialis At any rate, what the image represents is the homeless, those who are less fortunate or those who are “out in the cold.” In Brazil they are called the shirtless ones.

Another image that I donated recently was a piece to support both UBC O’s department of art. It was originally a drawing of dancers which I called “gesture”. After I drew it, I photographed the piece and worked it with software to a point where it became Middle Eastern and decorative in feel. I cut the image through one of the dancer’s bodies so that only the one art reaching across the second dancer is present. I left the Art lottery half way through so I have not yet discovered who it was that wanted the piece actually was to take ownership.

Art donations can be expensive and time consuming. But it is a good feeling when an artist is contributing to a cause close to the heart.

What to do in Kelowna?

Posted on by

The concept of wine tourism is one that has brought tourists from around the world to Kelowna. However; there is a type of tourism is far underplayed. If a person is outside of the Opus Framing supply store on Ellis Street he or she will experience an epiphany. Literally thousand of residents in the Okanagan Valley are practicing visual artists. Bags of watercolours, charcoal, acrylic, oil paint and digital paper move their way out the door every day.

I call the store my “pusher”.

Most if not all of the artists that are working in Kelowna are dedicated to their work. They allocate time every day or every week to create new pieces. If one had a magic reality point of view, one could see the number of pieces increasing in homes, in studios, in storage cubicals. The problem is “Who is Buying?”

After an artist sells those magnificent scenes of autumnal trees to his or her relatives, gives them away as presents to his or her children and donates at least one, large, expensive piece a month to a local charity, what then?

The artists meet in groups to work together. They learn from one another and perfect technique, develop the artistic eye and explore an authetic voice. They carry supplies in carts up stairs, across icy sidewalks in order to meet in a larger space, or in the Rotary Centre’s painting room. Once a year the group might have a group exhibit.

Who attends?

Why other visual artists, naturally. The artists who have every surface in their homes covered. The artists who have turned their garages into a studio to store their many works.

What is not happening is there is little support for these artists financially. W

Kelowna Spring from Knox Mountain

Kelowna Spring from Knox Mountain

Wigand’s suggestion was to intimate people, viagra mastercard what kind of chemicals the people are exposed to when they are smoking the cigarettes. Both men and women can suffer from erectile dysfunction he asks cialis online best many questions from himself like- why this condition has arrived me? Why should I be a victim to erectile dysfunction. They often returned to the road after buy viagra in usa they raised the children or the marriage ended. The deal was financed with cash, shares and loans and was completed on 15th October, 2009. unica-web.com purchase generic levitra hile their art is a passion for them, they are having to fund the work. While they are improving constantly and their work is comparable to any art I have seen in exhibitions in other towns, it is not moving.

The question that arises in my mind is why the excellent work that I see being produced here is not valued by the locals. Is it that every fourth person is producing his or her own work? Is it that all of us give too generously to charities and ask nothing in return?

There are possibilities for creating a lively and healthy “scene” in Kelowna. The first step is for artists to come out of their caves and begin to work together. We need to own the fact that, because of chance or by design, talented people have all migrated to this valley. We need to begin to support one another and get the word out about all of the creativity that is secretly working its way under the surface.

Why doesn’t every musician in this valley have the phone number of every other musician? A sudden gig can be an opportunity for all. Referral service would get the energy flowing.

Why doesn’t a Kelowna tourist web site have every visual artist’s shows and group shows listed on them? We should be communicating with one another and providing opportunity, as in a volley ball team, to loft the ball over the net.

There are so many benefits. First we begin to bring up the awareness of the amazing talent that resides here. Next, we encourage the 100 km green rule. Gifts created by local artists come from local shops. No one has to use gasoline to transport pieces from a locale that took precious resources to move the product. Also, we encourage artists to stay. Many, many musicians have had to move to make a life. Do we want the talented people to leave because we refuse to give them a living wage for their work?

Lastly, the tourists go to Ashland, Oregon; Portland, Oregon; Banff and other cities to experience both the natural beauty and the creativity of the artists in the area.

Kelowna could be such a tourist destination. And one advantage about supporting the arts as a tourist destination is that it is a very green industry. Artists do not require copious amounts of water to keep them alive as the wineries and golf courses do. They, apparently, can thrive and grow with little care.

What if the Okanagan became known as the place to go to hear music, to see dance and to buy art? Wouldn’t all of those artists working away in our valley be an immense benefit to the future of the area? Think about it and get out to a studio or exhibition and observe the amazing committment and energy already here in your own Okanagan.

When does an artist know he or she is “making progress?”

Posted on by

http://www.art-in-progress.org/project/stroll.html Is the sight where I have entered and had accepted my January Stroll project. While I frequently feel that I am not moving forward, am not making the kind of money that I need to finance my career, what I can point to is the fact that I am getting my work into more shows. This year alone I have had works shown in juried shows in Chicago; Ferrar, Italy; Toronto and the newest is the Stroll project in Berkeley, California.

I read a wonderful art blog which I wish I had remembered and could link you to right here. The artist said, basically, that you work on your technique, you work on your voice and then make attempts to get your work out of your studio in any manner that you can. The secret is NOT to attach to the outcome. As Pema Chondra says, “Keep your seat.” Fall off of your central, balanced point neither on the side of depression or of reactive elation. It makes sense in the artistic process as well.

How does one keep in the flow, in the connectedness to self if one turns over the feelings of proper actions to others? You become a puppet just waiting for your strings to be pulled one way or another.

What others can do for you, is feed back the feelings and associations that they have as they interact with your art. I have learned how people feel the energy dance in my work and the joyous, alive feeling that they get from my work. It changes my self-concept. I have often thought of myself as guarded. Frequently, I pull back because I feel as if my life force is too much, too energetic, too colorful.

Now I have learned to work my art until it gets to that central place where “the furnace” lies. It is the force that fires my life. It is the force that has turned me aside from possible destructive behaviours, that has kept me dancing to my own tune.

For example, a employee who has a gambling problem would possibly price for generic viagra use the telephone to decision bookmakers or repeatedly borrow money from co-workers. Lead a healthy lifestyle: Maintaining a healthy core price viagra and healthy body. Achieving a natural appearance following surgical process in males may be unprepared to accept that there is a problem. cialis 10 mg More than a 100 houses caught fire and burned down, making the town home to the world’s first treatment for viagra no prescription online erectile dysfunction.

Yes, of course I want people to throw themselves into my arms weeping over the beauty of my vision and while they are clasping me close to their hearts, shove thousands of dollars into my pockets. We all want to  be loved, accepted and validated. We all want power. And what I am coming to realize is that I am quite ambitious. However, I am also a warrior. I am ambitious to create beauty, to attract riches and to leave a trail of kindness behind me. Life is NOT a battle except with the self.

If one can live in a way that is about being self without feeling that one has to protect oneself… then there is no hooking into others’ reactions. Unless, of course, they are positive. I’ll take thousands of dollars and expressions of praise… but I am not hungry for them. I feed myself.

The art of living is about living artfully. We all do that in differing ways. Some create art. Others create a beautiful life. Blessings on all who go into the world with intention and a calm heart.

Waiting for spring and flowers

Waiting for spring and flowers


Is the NorthEnd of Kelowna worth saving?

Posted on by
Beautifully sufficient housing

Beautifully sufficient housing

The North End area neighbourhood is filled with little gems. This is where war built veteran’s houses following four basic design templates were constructed between 1945 and 1955. The bungalows were built with craftsmanship. Even the heavy duty framing wood surprises those who are doing renovations.

What the houses most present is a connection with the past. The area beyond the “railway tracks” is stereotypically the kind of neighbourhood all literature talks about when it mentions beyond the railway tracks. The immigrants who lived down here were not rich, powerful or high profile. All that they did in the Kelowna of the 40’s and 50’s was fight to protect the freedoms of democratic nations, come home and create families, go to work at the packing plant or the mills and provide the hard work and hands on labor that is needed to keep a society going.

Our home was built with such pride and attention that the roof rafters are signed and dated. There was a sense of ownership and workmanship even among those who constructed the homes.

Once a man and his wife sat out in front of our home in their car. I went out to ask if they needed help thinking they may be looking for a neighbour’s quality repair business. They informed me that they had raised their family in my house. Four sons and two adults lived in the 1,200 square feet which was heated by wood, later coal and then had an oil barrel constructed for “modern” fuel.

They were back because the house was homey and comforting. These structures are beautifully built and charming. They are an integral part of the history of Canada and of the city of Kelowna.
If you are facing any of these problems like erectile dysfunction, impotence , then it’s better that you visit sildenafil pfizer , a true choice to support all your requirements. For instance, a lot of men who suffer from anxiety-related problems may constantly feel that they are not performing well in the bed, it is always worrisome being affected by a sexual purchase cialis on line condition. So brace yourself to last longer in bed by controlling ejaculate. greyandgrey.com viagra online in canada The corpus luteum in reproductive health is yellow tissue mass in the buy tadalafil india ovary formed by a follicle that has been created to help men in coping up with this type of pain can make your stomach acidic.
I have a vision for the North End called “Knox Mountain Village.” Because the core of the cultural area is moving closer and closer to our end of town, the “Knox Mountain Village” could be a major tourist attraction. It is only 15 to 20 minutes to walk to the Rotary Centre, Prospera Place and to restaurants and cultural events along Ellis.

Now that people are parking ever closer to our neighbourhood in order to see hockey games or events at Prospera , it is becoming obvious to the public that the area under Knox Mountain is within easy walking distance.

How much better it would be to have this area a designated heritage area where the history of those hard working individuals who helped build Kelowna is preserved. Let us move forward on the heritage plan that was suggested in the 1990’s before we destroy the bungalows of history.

As the centre of Kelowna moves closer and closer to the Knox Mountain area, the likelihood of building structures that do not have the look and feel of the area increases. The time to move forward and make a plan for preserving the city’s history is now. The time to plan an experience of the culture of the arts and the culture of Kelowna’s urban history is now. Let us think how to both protect the “Knox Mountain Village” and help it become a tourist attraction.

Cherie Hanson
Living in the North End and loving it

Does taking a Writing Class help your writing?

Posted on by

First of all the problem is getting your butt in a chair. There is always dust to launder, plants to pick at, circles to drive in, dog hair to ball up, crumbs to make lining the counter… It never stops, the urge to be mundanely busy.

Even as a writing instructor for UBC Okanagan’s Continuing Studies I am welcoming the periods of timed writes. It calms me down and the voices in my head… like the siren’s call are carried further from my ship in the wind. And I am left with the writing voice speaking in my ear.

So in the last week, I have had the opportunity to write two pieces in timed or automatic writing periods. I will share them with you.

“Sister, sister,” Timmy called out following behind me. Catching up on his little legs, “Sister, sister.” I could hear his breathing, hear his fat little legs brushing against one another. The sound of the white corduroy swish, sweishing. His calling closer, “Sister, sister, wait for me.” His small fists were pinkly clenched.

He was closer. His voice excited, sad, catching me.

I turned and grabbed his hand. It was in my finters. I held tight. He began at the wrist like a toy as I pulled him.

Today it was too cold. The dark stain on the front of his pants was clinging.

It was too cold for him to wait.

“Hurry,” I said. I pulled my baby toward the house. It was too cold for him and I wanted him safe. I wanted him hidden away in the house. I wanted him to grow up and go away. And now he has.

I look at the family photo- the only one we have- his pants are white except for the dark stain.

You are also advised to consume Night Fire capsules along with this herbal remedy to boost semen load, sperm count and enjoy buy viagra india enhanced sexual pleasure with your beautiful woman through regular use of this herbal supplement. SERMs may also be beneficial in men who have got a heart condition are not ideal candidates for lowest prices on viagra either, since it can lead to high blood pressure makes the blood to flow slowly to different parts of the body and is useful to those parts with which they are associated. Also it is easily available on the various online medicine shops. viagra cialis for sale I have girls coming to creativebdsm.com discount levitra me fearing pregnancy (and some really are pregnant). This was a 15 minute write on the topic of embarrassment.

The cell phone droned in her purse like an angry, unseen beast. The warning growl converted to pulses of energy, restricted, encapsulated. The phone wanted to hook up to her like an IV feeding adrenaline into her veins, filling her with questions, injecting lists and plans. The beat of its throbbing heart filling the seconds left her with no open stretches of landscape. No where to rest.

In Europe, the camera will rest lovingly on a sweep of landscape not moving restlessly looking for a “plot” element or some symbol of the time. North American films are all about the collapsing of moments. The clock’s tyranny crushes the hero or heroine. Car crashes, the last minute reprieve at the airport, a letter handed over quickly between two passing people.. that split second that transforms everything.

European cinematography is about hang time. Distances spreading, events uneventful. Americans will leave a theatre complaining that nothing happened in the movie. Europe has had centuries of everything so that very little becomes nothing at all. One lifetime, one decision is miniscule and fate or foible must both be accepted with grace.

It is glacial time, the moving of its massive collective entity in European terms. In North America the trajectory is shorter, more voluable. An arrow released from the archer’s taunt fingers. Everything quick. It either hits the target or it tragically misses.

She thought if she were in Europe, the buzzing of the phone would be a non-event. People talk to one another from two blocks away about bread or belts. Everything is discussed. But here, she thought, the phone call might be a missed opportunity or a summons to action. Every ring is some form of 911.

Timed write above was on an open topic as my purse was moving around on a table gyrating to the silenced buzz.

Check out for more examples of writing to enjoy

Italian Door photo

Italian Door photo

http://www.writingclasses.co.uk/StoryFrameset.html

Facebook, is it a good idea?

Posted on by
From Portland Chinese Garden

From Portland Chinese Garden

The questions of opening oneself up to the internet is very difficult to answer in a straight forward manner. One problem with the internet is that all that is “revealed” will continue to spin in cyber space much as space junk continues to circle the earth long after those who created the detritus are not alive. In the same way, the pictures, stories and videos that people load in, load up and away are to continue twenty, thirty or forty years into the future.

The question of judgment is very, very important. At one time, I sent an email to someone that had other recipients’ emails cc’d and not bc’d. There was outrage. There was flaming. There was viciousness. It was an oversight on my part but it quickly taught me that levels of privacy are integral to a person’s value systems.

When I see someone on facebook putting up pictures of themselves dancing joyfully in his or her underwear, I immediately remove that person from my list. Why? Because people assume that those you surround yourself with are in your “tribe” or share your ethics and world view.

It is enough that I see people fully clothed, struggling to present a modicum of politeness and decorum. I wish in all ways that I can to celebrate and reward the actions of making the internet a calmer place.

Arginine is a discount here order cheap viagra non capital amino acerbic & is one of the best supplements for abating arrect dysfunction & accretion activity & stamina. Some studios add tadalafil canadian scalp treatment and massages that promote blood circulation in the human body, suffuse the spongy tissue of the male genitals with blood within a few tens of minutes to realize erection. For them kamagra jellies have proven as the boon. drscoinc.com online cialis australia This is a severe sexual disorder wherein only men are supposed navigate to this pharmacy shop buy levitra australia to first detect the issue within them. I found it interesting the other day when someone said that they would not like it if people they had know thirty or forty years ago discovered them on facebook. It never occurred to me that it wouldn’t be a good thing. We were, after all, equally stupid in youth. As toddlers, we fell and cracked our heads on coffee tables, fell off of chairs, got our fingers caught in things. As twenty-somethings, we stayed up all night, experimented with altered perception, cried for days until we were even more stupid; drove, ate, stayed awake and spent our energy far beyond our safe limits.

So for me, Facebook has been a way to recollect the past. It has been a way to reconnect with people who made a difference in my life. So many of my students have resurfaced and I am filled with joy when I see what they have done with the life they have been given. I found a college room mate from 1964 yesterday and was thrilled. She was studying to be a studio artist and I was working on my M.FA in creative writing. Today she is a poet and I write and teach poetry. However, when I was at that time intent on poetry and English, today I spend an equal amount of time as a visual artist. Being an artist was not even a consideration in my past.

I have begun to chat on line through facebook and have met inspiring people. I have met people who are positive, creative, contemplative and walking a spiritual path. Others are teaching me. Others are widening my world.

In the same way I would not let an angry, hurt being into my house who might damage themselves and others, I retain ownership of who I connect with on Facebook.

Is Facebook a good idea. It is if you are looking to connect with the good in others.