How do we assess our place in the world? New Year’s Questions

Self series

Self series

I grew up in the U.S. school system which pretty much treated us like laboratory rats. We were measured, weighed, tested, assessed and compared from the time I was in kindergarten on.
My report cards kept reflecting that I was “unlike” other students. This presentation of anomaly was particularly problematic in the pool of acceptability.
I was slow to learn to read. Having to stay in at recess and after school until I caught up with the other third graders was humiliating. With hindsight I see what a dedicated, kind and disciplined teacher I had the luck to experience.
By grade eight I was reading at first year university level. We were streamed in grade nine after an appropriately named “battery” of tests. Separated from all of the lower cohorts, I was grouped with only those whose goal was university. In fact, over 80% of those I attended middle school and high school with went on to get a graduate degree as did I.
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In grade 11 I and my other “geekdom” dwellers who had scored in the top 95% of all high school students in the United States for academic ability were gathered to sit in chairs in a row on the gym floor. Over 1,000 students were ushered in to look down on us. The honor was usually for the jocks. Once a month the entire school for forcefully herded down to cheer at them. Now it was our turn. There was NO enthusiasm on either side. We felt marked out like trapped animals and they felt hostile at worse and totally bored with our presence at best.
What has the experience left me with? A competitive nature even with myself.
Probably, this is one of the reasons even though I received three academic degrees by the time I was 22 years of age, that I love multi-media art. I work alone. I work without an audience. I work without words. My work is strange, unique and incomparable. What a blessing.

self portrait, too many thoughts, visions

self portrait, too many thoughts, visions

New Year’s Resolution kept by what percent of the population?

Couple in inner city park $5 fridge magnet

Couple in inner city park $5 fridge magnet

According to Ross Freake in today’s Courier, only 28% of people keep their new year’s resolutions. My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to be more mindful of my use of time.

$5 mdf fridge magnet, tropical flowers

$5 mdf fridge magnet, tropical flowers

Old patterns are easy. Like trenches down a hill side, the water of time runs in those dug out places that practice has created. Did it work? Is it the best use of my time? Is it moving me toward my goals? These are questions I have looked at all morning.

magnet collection on cookie sheet, each for sale by artist

magnet collection on cookie sheet, each for sale by artist

My body wants to leap up and begin to do that which the mind has trained it to do, but I resisted and sat for hours this morning drawing up a calendar. Most of the morning passed in examining last year and looking toward next year. What is it I want? What can I do to move toward that which I want?

Cheerful flowers with jewels, $10

Cheerful flowers with jewels, $10

Calendar. Blocking out time. Watching the mind as it pulls like a four year old on one’s hands to become engaged in ceaseless and senseless activity.

Promoting my classes is a priority and allowing others to view my work for sale is right up there as well.

So:

Jan 10th, Saturday 10 am to 2 pm

A Gift of Yourself: Creating a Chapbook

Make a stunning hand made book of images, pictures, poems

Adult and Teen, $50

$5 comic fridge magnet

$5 comic fridge magnet

Jan 17th, Saturday 10  to 2 pm

Making Scrapbook Cards

Ages 11-16, $50

$5, mdf magnet StarFire

$5, mdf magnet StarFire


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Jan 24, 10-1pm

Poetry for the Fun of It

Explore your creative side in a relaxed, supportive atmosphere

Ages 14-17

Pink nude standing, heart jewel earrings

Pink nude standing, heart jewel earrings

Jan 26 – March 9 Term Class

The Craft of Creative Writing

Explore Blog writing, creative non-fiction, creative fiction

with support and guidance.

UBC Continuing Studies

http://www.ubc.ca/okanagan/continuing studies

250-807-8177

hand painted nude magnet $5

hand painted nude magnet $5

Jan 31, 10-2 pm

Writing Colorful Poetry

Use your love of color to inspire beautiful poetry

Adults and teens, $50

$10 hand painted fridge magnet, blue waves

$10 hand painted fridge magnet, blue waves

Okanagan Arts Scene, Etc.

So much happening lately that it is like someone broke up the beaver dam. The water rushes, the energy swirls bringing art shows, a new place to sell my books and cards, a new show opens in Europe tomorrow, three new galleries have invited me in.

I have decided to stand once again as a director of my neighbourhood association with its comminserate duties and I have worked to bring in some local art galleries to the Okanagan Institute.

Balance is so hard to achieve. Drought or flood; feast or famine. It seems like my life is about holding on to the staff of the pendulum while keeping my legs firmly straddling to counterbalance the tilts from one direction to another.
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We begin to form our new Dharma group on sunday. Perhaps the presence of others who are hanging on, looking for moments of calm will help the process. Right now it just seems like looking for clams with the tide washing back and forth.

November's harvest of potatoes from the garden

November

Christmas Shows Kelowna’s Cultural Core

1. Ars Longa: nine person show

Art Exhibition and Sale

355 Cornish Road, Kelowna, B.C.

October 25th from 7 to 10 pm

Friday 24th, 12 to 6

Saturday 25th 10 to 5 pm

Sunday October 26 10 to 5 pm

2. “Reminiscence of Europe: Multi-media and photographic pictures of Rome, Florence, London, Paris.”

One Woman Show by artist Cherie Hanson

Unitarian Fellowship 1310 Bertram Street

November and December

Viewing available to all who rent the space

Open to the public 11:45 to 12:30 Sundays.

All images for sale. Just contact me.

3. Potters and Artisans 18th Annual Christmas Show and Sale

High Quality arts and crafts, gifts for every occasion

November 7, 8, 9. at the Rotary Centre for the Arts.

421 Cawston Avenue, Kelowna. B.C.

Friday 5-9, Saturday 10-8 and Sun. 9:30-4:30.

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4. Livessence; A gift of color

November 14th and 15th in the Rotary Centre for the Arts Atrium

colorful drawings and paintings from figurative artist members of Livessence.

5. Salon Refuse

November 1st

Presented by the Artists@Work group of resident artists

Rotary Centre for the Arts.

Great place and time to pick up gifts of art at a new, lower price.

6. “Off the Wall” art extravaganza

November 7, 7:30 – 10 pm

Food, champagne, live entertainment $100 for two people

art sale fun-raiser for the Summerland Art Gallery

Mainstreet, Summerland

contact slandarts@telus.net

Gray Globe

7. Gallerie Diamante

On line Auction

33 artist/50 works of art

www.galleriediamante.com

You don’t have to go 100 miles to find spectacular gifts of art.

Art for those on the Forward Edge

The glow of windows on the fabric of life, digital

I have been thinking a lot lately about who the perfect customer is for my art. Those who seem to fall in love with it are graphic and fine art students. Others are people who live in several cities. And, also, healing practictioners love the fields of energy depicted in my work. What have these people have in common: not income, not age demographics, not philosophy of life. They are all very much into exploring the Urban environment and finding unique ways to express themselves. Hence the slogan…

Another concept that I have been able to stand back and formulate from observing my work is that it has different life in differing light. Because Kelowna is brilliantly tropical in lighting over the summer and then plunged into a gloomy gray throughout most of the rest of the year, a work of art has to live in different levels of illumination. I have been painting into the images with the idea of giving the work a totally distinct personality depending on the conditions. The background blacks move to the forefront as the evening arrives and the art light bathes the surface. During mid day, the light washes over the surface and brings up the metallics, the layering of green, gold, red or blue beneath the glass bead. At times, the foreground is one structure and at another time of day, the foreground is another structure.

Compared to super viagra generic , it has less side effects and can last for weeks, months, and in some cases even years. These infections should be treated in early http://www.jealt.mx/aviso.html levitra 20mg uk stages to prevent the happenings of cardiac dysfunctions. Regular exercise, especially cardiovascular assists to keep up levitra de prescription the erection long enough for the duration of sexual intercourse. A lot of males that experience suffer with thoughts of incompleteness; they order cialis uk experience un-manly, poor, and very insecure. Like the personality of individuals, there is a shifting of qualities. Also, I have begun to realize that what I am painting IS energy fields. It is interesting to see that so much of my life experience is in my work: dance training, theatrical training, lyrical love of music and spiritual practice. The work has found me, I have not found it. I let the work itself drive the exploration.

We watched a dvd last night called “Cooking your Life.” Focused on a Zen retreat whereby the participants cook and bake in order to explore themselves, the video is inspiring. One Zen student said, “When people ask, ‘ how are you?’ I answer, ‘I am baking bread.’ ” When people say to me how do you get the idea for your art, I know that the art has the idea of me.

Simple

Drinking water issues in the Okanagan

Kelowna from Knox Mountain, Bridge over troubled waters

Honorable Kevin Falcon

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Minister of Highways
Province of British Columbia
Victoria, BC
Dear Minister;
Re: Plan to Sink Bridge in Okanagan Lake
Using Okanagan Lake as a landfill site for the old bridge demonstrates a profound lack of awareness and public stewardship for land and water uses, public policies, drinking water supplies and human health in the Okanagan.
Bid documents prepared by your ministry show bridge contractors knew the plan to sink the bridge may not be acceptable.   Contractors were encouraged to make contingency plans for various on-land disposal options.  They should use on-land disposal – not the lake.
It is your government and your ministry who wants to sink the bridge in order to save money – not the contractor.
Drinking water in the Okanagan is a precious resource.   Water reservoirs require the highest level of protection from waste dumping activities and should not be used for landfill projects of any kind.  Period.
Your support for this plan is unacceptable.   Advocating that the public drink the water from landfill sites is unacceptable.
What’s next?   Asking residents to drink from our toilets in order to save money on sewer infrastructure costs?
Richard Drinnan, M.Sc.
669 Greene Road
Kelowna, BC
V1W 1B7
The issue of water quality here is about the sediments which are stirred up by the disposal of the old bridge. Sediments found in the lake include various toxic and poisonous substances.
Contact Richard, who is an “ecologist and environmental consultant” for more information. Election time is a time to seriously consider what our future world will look like. It makes developers of us all.

Art Shows: Opportunities

This morning I entered Snap to Grid with The Los Angeles Centre for Digital Art http://www.lacda.com/. I have entered many of their competitions previously and always make a point of being in their unjuried art show because it is good to have my work out in a field of other digital artists. The entry deadline is October 3rd so if YOU are a digital artist jump on the opportunity. I wished they would list the names of the participants because I really enjoy following other artists’ work.

Locally, I received the opportunity to hang work in the Mission Library. It is really wonderful when the local arts council takes on the responsibility of finding venues for artists to present their work. I was working on my business plan just this morning and examining my “perfect customer.” Most of my sales have been to people living in the Mission, so this is really a happy coincidence.

Arriving in my email was a newsletter from my hard working friend and fellow artist, Julia Trops. She has a studio downstairs from mine in the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna and she is actively helping the Livessence Figurative Arts Group with a newsletter. In the following sections, we will know where it came from and how it varies from company to company. overnight viagra By going together, the doctor can fully extract soft tadalafil the needed information from the couple. You can sit back at home and order for the medicines that you want and feel embarrassed when being cialis without prescription asked intimate questions. No one likes to fight with their loved one, but there are many unresolved issues that are get viagra cheap choose here surrounding a relationship and health standpoint. In addition, she has set up Gallerie Diamante as a fundraising site for the Rotary Centre. The idea of the art exhibition this year is to create an art auction open to the world through the web site www.galleriediamante.com

Livessence will hold a holiday show on Friday and Saturday, November 14 and 15. A Gift of Colour will exhibit the work of members using the elements of color. I don’t see the hours posted in the newsletter however, the Rotary Centre at 421 Cawston Avenue is open from 8 am until 10 pm most days.

This Thursday is the First Thursday Art Crawl with free food and wine. Come down with your family if you are visiting Kelowna as a cultural tourist or if you are a tourist in your own town. To check out events and classes offered at the Rotary Centre go to http://www.rotarycentreforthearts.com

Now I am off to crate up my art to ship to Ferrar, Italy and to write some poetry for tonight’s reading at the

library. Sunlight beckons.

aluminun paint tray for Ferrar, Italy show

WineFest in the Okanagan

Okanagan Valley Sunset from winery

The Rotary center for the arts will have two events. The first thursday art crawl is from 4 until 7 pm…October 2nd at 421cawston avenue. We invite you to come down for food, drink and to meet the artists. Also, WAM is Wine Art and Music om October 11th. We hope to see you.
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For more information about the Okanagan Wine Festival and the fantastic events go to www.owfs.com/

Thank You, Rick Mercer

Original image is of a paint tray

URL: http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2008/9/28/Who-can-survive-a-good-googling

Chris Reid, the recently dumped Conservative candidate in Toronto centre believes socialism has turned us into a nation of effeminates. How else, the longtime conservative activist argues, can we explain how a deranged killer managed to decapitate someone on a greyhound bus? It turns out that it’s not the killer’s fault. It is the fault of the limp wristed schmucks who were trying to catch some shut-eye between Portage la Prairie and Brandon, Manitoba. The solution Mr. Reid believes is to simply arm the population – or at least the women and homosexuals – with concealed handguns.

Personally, I’m hoping that in the future this bright young man takes a run for the Conservative party leadership. It would make for an interesting campaign – homosexuals of Canada, lay down your Botox needles and pick up a Colt .45.

Are we a nation of effeminates as Reid suggests? I’m not sure. I do know that if I’m ever on a bus when the stabbing starts – call me whatever you want because I’ll be the one screaming like a girl and heading for the exits.

And then there is Ryan Warawa. Mr. Warawa, the current Conservative candidate in Vancouver East thinks Canada’s defense Minister Peter McKay is actually a pipsqueak and not fit for public office. Mr. Warawa is a new type of Tory who calls male politicians he doesn’t like “bitches” and “whores”, believes that heroin should be legalized, and that prostitutes should work in legal brothels so we can tax them on their activities.

Among Conservatives there is a lot of grass root support for Chris Reid’s brand of conservatism. He wants to close the CBC, scrap the Indian act and seems to have deep seated rage issues – but team Harper still dumped him for his views. Word is Harper draws the line at homosexuals with guns; and really, considering his record on that file I can’t say I blame him.

As for the pro drug, pro prostitution Warawa, he still remains Stephen Harper’s chosen candidate in Vancouver East. A spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s office says the Mr. Warawa has, as of three days ago, changed his views and no longer believes anything he ever said on any issue whatsoever. Rumour is that once his blog came to light he was immediately run through a Conservative reeducation camp. A few pistol whips from a flack jacket wearing Peter McKay (“Who’s the bitch now Warawa?”) topped off with a chemical lobotomy and the boy is good as new, a virtual Bev Oda – happy to be seen and not heard from ever again. He will make a hell of a cabinet minister someday.

By the sounds of it, when it comes to dealing with party dissidents, the Chinese government could learn a thing or two from our sweater wearing prime minister.

Of course, as voters, we only know what Mr. Reid and Mr. Warawa actually believe because they have both, in the past, had online blogs.

The irony is, like most blogs, nobody really read them at the time – ordinary Canadians don’t spend a lot of time reading blogs because ordinary Canadians know that blogs are basically the domain of idiots, mad people and news anchors. This is by and large true. I should know, I’ve had one for years. And like most bloggers I have a love hate relationship with my online diary.

Constant monitoring through use of a home blood pressure monitor or regular checkups by your doctor so as to be certain of the condition’s status. order generic levitra However, at the same time ALA could be a major relaxant and if consumed correctly for a long period of time, it will improve blood circulation buy cheap viagra look at these guys and results in erection. Nowadays there are many men who are looking for the right relationship therapists also needs to consider the type of a blue pill in milligrams of 25, 50, and 100. acupuncture4health.ca low cialis cost is only offered via prescription and while you will find merchants that offer the drug at the discounted prices because these stores buy drugs directly from the pharmacies and sell it directly to the customers. Let her know what you are going through and the two of you can work through it together. cheapest viagra uk At first it was a heady experience. I would go online and in seconds whatever thought was running through my head was available for the entire world to read.

Like most bloggers (and perhaps my audience of family and friends) I quickly grew tired of my own thoughts and instead of updating my blog five times a day I started aiming for once a week and then once a month. Somehow the world survived.

But now I love blogs again. Blogs are serving an exciting new purpose: making politics interesting again. When I turn on the news and hear that another candidate is in trouble because of something they said on their blog I am like a kid at Christmas.

We are in a brave new time. In this election, like all of them before, there are people stepping forward for the first time. Candidates in their 20s and 30s (Reid is 28 years old, Warwa is 32) represent a generation of Canadians who’s every movement from the womb to the ballot has been electronically recorded.

A home video camera didn’t just roll on their first adorable steps and their first header into the coffee table; it was also running when they smoked lousy hash in an apple and then opened their zipper, pulled out their front pockets, exposed their man-tackle and did the elephant impersonation. There are now candidates running for all parties who know that their every embarrassing moment at university has been forever cached in numerous Facebook profiles. And this new generation of politician have all, for the most part, experimented with blogging.

This is a harsh contrast to our current crop of politicians sitting in parliament, the vast majority of whom have no idea how to power up a laptop let alone publish every bizarre opinion and thought they have ever had without a spell check, let alone a sober second thought.

It will change the face of elections forever.

Who will run? In the past politicians had to survive a party background check if they wanted to offer themselves for public office. And by and large most Canadians could pull that off. The question for candidates of the future will be “can you survive a detailed Google search?” Who among us will be us can do such a thing?

I know I won’t be able to. When I read back through my blog archive I see opinions that make me cringe. I come off alternately as a crazed left leaning liberal and a crazed right leaning conservative; rarely does any opinion come across as moderate. Because let’s face it, on the World Wide Web, that’s just not interesting. Taken out of context I would be sunk.

And yes I have published, with the aid of photo shop, photos of Stephen Harper, Stephane Dion and Jack Layton in situations that would be considered by most community standards to be disrespectful and tasteless, but by my standards is good clean fun.

Luckily I have no immediate plans to change occupations. So by all means feel free to check them out at rickmercer.com – destroying my future in public life since 2005.

Studio Fair, Prince George

I am just completing my shipment to the wonderful arts festival in Prince George. Studio Fair has as its coordinator Jennifer who is delightful to work with. Dealing with artists can be stressful at the best of times and Jennifer makes her job sound like just plain fun. Ha!

Once I get that shipment off, it is time to get the shipment ready for Ferrar, Italy for the Trevisan Art show. One piece is coming home from Chicago and then it is time to address my web presence.

Marketing on the web is something I intend to learn much as a person dedicates him or herself to learning a foreign language. The temptation when one has a career in the arts is to become very scattered. When I was working withing the system… teaching high school the deadlines were clear. Attendance, bells, narrow hallways, finals. There was a rhythm of order.

Being an artist with the ability to make so many choices is a bit like falling down the rabbit hole as depicted by Disney. All of the objects of desire fall past, this thought, that show, perhaps an opportunity, a flash of inspiration like a passing mirror. So much that can possibly happen. But, what, can the artist do which is the best use of time, energy, materials and money? That is the challenge.

So often we continue to work to the siren song of “exposure”. Why if you donate to us, if you do this event for free, if you enter this show, it will give you “exposure”. So many artists are exposing themselves to the elements of the cold wind of pauverty that a hand could just snap right off from the cold as it sticks out of the snow bank of hope.
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Finding the path that is easy, give me primroses, fountains of delight and a laurel wreath of thousand dollar bills. Here, you take this old trench coat. I am tired of exposing my art without culmination of pleasure.

http://studio2880.com/

http://www.trevisanarte.com/eventi-eng.htm

Europeans treasure antiquity