Come Rain Or Come Shine

Light Hunters: Getting Through the Grey started yesterday. I'm still in a bit of a fog after the crazy busy week that was volunteering at the 2011 Grey Cup, but I still managed to work on my first image, as you can see. I think that's one of the best things about photography for me-it's completely accessible. (By which I mean that no matter how cruddy or exhausted I may feel, I can still pick up my camera and be creative, with minimal effort.)

Come Rain Or Come Shine* is another in a series I am calling Postcards to Myself, though I suppose it could also be counted as part of my hands series as well. Two birds, one stone!** I shot this during the storm we had over the weekend. I'm one of those people who loves a good storm. We've sure had our share of them in November. It's been a very blustery month on the west coast of Canada!

 There are only 33 days left of this year and I'm looking forward to compiling all the images I shot in 2011. I have plans to share them here on my blog on New Year's Day, so keep your eyes peeled.

I was in a state of bliss when I saw that my classmates had begun posting images yesterday afternoon. I love the creative energy of Viv's classes. I love that we show up not only for ourselves, but for one another. As I've said before, my learning experience is directly affected by the work that my classmates do-I get inspired by them and it raises my game, which is wonderful. It's not about competition at all-far from it! What it does is it empowers me to be a better artist-to dig deeper, to take risks, to experiment.

Another thing I love about these classes is that even if there are 35 or so artists involved, everyone's visual and creative voice is uniquely their own. Through photography, we're celebrating those things that makes what each of us special. I find myself scrolling through my classmates work and saying "WOW!" alot. I sit here and dissect why things work and which elements create the magic. Every photograph is a lesson.

This edition of Light Hunters runs through to the end of February.

It's going to be an interesting winter

*Lyrics from a Billie Holliday song.

**Who made up that idiom anyway? It's pretty barbaric! 

2011 Grey Cup

"2011 Grey Cup"

It's taken me a few days to get these posted-I've either been on the run or falling into bed exhausted. It's been a hugely busy week, but alot of fun.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I was down at the beautiful Vancouver Convention Centre, in the Transportation Dispatch office. My job was to organize and run a fleet of 27 cars to pick up and drop off VIPs at various locations. It sounds simple enough, but I was really juggling a phone that never stopped ringing, calls coming in every single second via the radio and fielding questions from people walking into the office. It was a litmus test of my multi-tasking skills. I am grateful I had 8 years worth of crisis line skills to draw on, not to mention hands-on dispatch experience from the 2009 World Police and Fire Games! I found myself saying "I think I'm losing my mind!" a few times. *laughs* Fortunately, I was working with a fantastic team and everything ran smoothly.

One of the really great things was talking with everyone I was helping. I have to say that the VIPs I dealt with were really friendly and I had tons of "Thank yous" which was so lovely. My experience volunteering with the Grey Cup was excellent. Christine Nicholls, who is the manager of Workforce (the volunteers, essentially) came into Transpo every day to say hello and see how we were doing and she always brought us boxes of treats-mini mandarins and Timbits. Our supervisors, Brad and Ray were really helpful and supportive and made our job fun. They took good care of us, making sure we had lunches and helped out wherever they were needed. It makes all the difference in the world when you are volunteering your time to help your city and the people you are helping take a moment to let you know your hard work is appreciated and you're doing a good job.

I went to the Vanier Cup game (the collage football final) on Friday night. Laval and McMasters (Quebec & Ontario) were playing. My husband and I adopted McMasters, mainly because we were surrounded by hardcore Mac fans. Up until the 3rd quarter, Mac was beating Laval, 20-0. Laval's won the cup for the last 6 years. In the 4th quarter, they made a spectacular comeback, tying the game up. It ended up in a nail biting double overtime, which ended with Mac winning the Vanier Cup. So glad the Grey Cup gave me free tickets. It was a great game!

Saturday, despite the rainstorm, we went to watch the Grey Cup Parade. It was a long one, but people were in good spirits. By the time it was over, I was quite literally soaked to the skin. It didn't matter-I'm glad we went.

I have to mention that the Saskatchewan fans crack me up-I am not entirely sure that they know that their team is not in the Grey Cup this year. I've seen more green around town this past week than black and orange. They are nothing, if not enthusiastic and loyal and they seem to be everywhere!

This afternoon is the volunteer's Grey Cup viewing party. We're meeting at a location downtown to watch the game together. I'm sure it will be a great party. I usually cheer for BC, except when they are playing my Bombers. It will be interesting to see how many Bombers fans are amongst our ranks. Either way, I'll be happy with the outcome since both my teams are playing. Good luck Bombers and Lions!

iLike: Things To Inspire

Frosted Oak Leaves (which iLike too!)

It's been awhile since I've done an iLike post, so let's get to it!

First of all, the fabulous Zaac Pick of Vancouver, BC has just released his second album, Whitewater today. I've already purchased it and I'm sitting here listening to it on an endless loop. LOVE IT! I posted the video for the title track last week which is worth watching, if you missed it-it's beautifully shot and so charming. You can download the new album here for a mere $4! If you get it now, you'll also get a bonus Xmas track Finding Christmas.

Secondly, I got my library to order Catherine Anderson's new book, The Creative Photographer, which was had so much useful information, I renewed it twice so I could take it all in. I like it so much that I am going to buy myself a copy. If you're someone who has caught the photography bug then this is a good book for you-in it she talks about what to DO with all the photos you've been taking. She covers a ton of techniques as well. It's a great book to have as a resource and with the coming winter days, it's the perfect publication to curl up in a favourite chair with.

Thirdly, Seth Apter's The Pulse of Mixed Media is now available for pre-order on Amazon. YAY! (Canadians can pre-order here.) My copy has been ordered and I can't wait-I have some work in Seth's book. It's always exciting to flip a book open and see my work on the pages. It just never gets old. The Pulse of Mixed Media is going to be a juicy read with 100 artists featured! It's due out in early March, so it should arrive just in time for my birthday!

***

In other news, we had one heck of a wind/rain storm here overnight. It woke us at 11:30 p.m. and raged all night long. It was so loud, it sounded like a freight train roaring through the house and the rain was being hurled at the windows. We get pretty good winds here because they come straight up off the water. It's a wonder we didn't fall off the grid-there were tons of people who lost power overnight. We got lucky, I guess! Finally at 4 a.m., we gave up trying to sleep and got up. The storm finally subsided at about 7 a.m. It's supposed to be windy and wet for the foreseeable future, so that's going to make Grey Cup festivities interesting. Stay tuned!

Artist & Observer

The goodness of my weekend:

 Totem, Deep Cove

First Frost

These late days of Autumn on the west coast of Canada have been incredibly beautiful.

Lately, I've been pondering this photographic journey I've been on for the last 11 months. I think you can tell alot about a person by the photographs they take. It's a glimpse into how they see the world at any given moment in time, but also of what really matters to them. As I'm looking back at all the images I've shot this year, I can see themes developing. I keep discovering and uncovering parts of myself I didn't know about. Photography has allowed me to be both the artist and the observer.

When I'm out with my camera, I feel like there's a different level of awareness happening. It's almost as if everything becomes sharper somehow and I hone in on things that I might not ordinarily see. I shoot entirely on instinct.

 On the rare occasions when I am without my camera, my brain is constantly taking mental shapshots around the city of things I want to come back and capture with my camera. It's so weird to have a memory catalogue of photographs I haven't taken yet.

Light Hunters: Getting Through the Grey begins in 10 days.

The journey continues.

Des Maisons

My friend Lisa Ryder and I are making wee houses to exchange with one another as part of a collaborative project she dreamed up. These are the ones I've made in the last couple of days as time allowed. I will also be adding a few houses that were a part of my Rue du Maison zines as well.

We have a plan for what we're going to do with them once we've received each other's-you'll have to wait to see though!

Snippets

Still really loving self-portraits and photography in general. I'm taking my 4th class with Vivienne starting at the beginning of December. Come December 31st, I will have taken photos every month this year. I really, really love that I've been documenting my life this way. I'm going to work hard in 2012 to keep doing it. It's really cool to have a body of work like this.

When I shot this photo, it was not like this, (my husband was entirely in the frame) but I like to crop images in interesting ways. Often, I find the magic comes by focusing on one small aspect, rather than the entire original photo. Sometimes paring it down tells the story better. I really liked how cropping it like this tells the story from Indy's perspective.

And here's my beautiful boy having a dip in the Pacific Ocean in November. A friend asked me if I worried he'd get too cold swimming in the ocean at this time of year. Labrador Retrievers have short, dense coats that are naturally water repellent, so they don't get cold being in the water in winter. They were bread to be gun dogs, meaning their main purpose was to retrieve wild game (ducks, geese, etc.) from the water. They have webbed toes and an otter-like tail, making them excellent swimmers.

When Indy's in the water in the colder months of the year, we make sure his dips are shorter because he loves the water so much it would be very easy for him to over do it. He's never happier than when he's in an ocean, lake or river. That's his bliss. He swims almost every weekend, year-round.

Switching gears, here's some things of note:

The fabulous Seth Apter's upcoming book , The Pulse of Mixed Media: Secrets and Passions of 100 Artists Revealed is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Go check it out!

Helga posted my house talisman on her blog yesterday.

Vancouverite Zaac Pick who is one of my fav artists is on the verge of releasing his second album, Whitewater any day now. He just put out this wonderful video of the title track. 

Artchix Goodies!

By the Sea Talisman

Awhile back, Helga, owner of Artchix had a giveaway on her blog for some really cool wooden frames. I won! She sent me a trio of house shaped frames and a sheet of Nature Filled Houses transparencies to play with. Things got a little crazy around that time because my best friend was seriously injured in an act of dog and needed my help while she underwent emergency surgery to repair a broken knee. The goodies were set aside, but yesterday I finally got around to making something with them.

I printed four of my favourite sea images from the photography classes I've been taking since the beginning of the year and carefully centered them in the windows. I used gesso to age the house (I was going for a worn beach house look) and added some aqua highlights with watercolour pastel. I added a real tiny starfish and threaded some pretty sari silk through the top to create a talisman. I love little houses!

I still have two smaller houses to do something with, so I'll be working on those over the next couple of days, but I thought I would share the first one in the meantime. I think these would make cool ornies for the tree. You could tie them to the outside of a package as a pretty extra gift or put one at each place setting at your holiday dinner. There are so many ways to use these frames. I can't wait to see what the other winners did with theirs!

11-11-11

Remembrance

In honour of my Grandfather,

Kenneth George Chick

who served as Homeguard with the RCAF during WWII

&

For our Canadian servicemen and women,

both young and old,

whose sacrifices keep us safe and free

THANK YOU

May those of you on active duty 

return safely to your loved ones.

Getting Ready For the 99th Grey Cup

So back in the summer, when I was volunteering at Vancouver Summer Live, I happened to run into someone I'd volunteered with at the 2009 World Police and Fire Games, on the transportation team. (We were dispatchers for the fleet of cars for VIPs.) We shared a shift together checking in Volunteers at Summer Live and in between waves of people, we chatted about where we'd been volunteering since. Gerald mentioned that the Grey Cup was coming to Vancouver and they were looking for people. When I went home I went online and signed up.

Fast forward to this past Saturday, which was the orientation for the transportation team. We met in an office building downtown. The first half of the session was going over the volunteer and driver's manuals. I didn't see Gerald (I think he's involved in a different department) but I did spot Laurie, whom I also met at the World Police & Fire Games and who volunteered at the Stadium during the 2010 Games as well. We keep running into each other-I guess we're diehards! It's kind of nice to have a friendly face in the crowd.

Afterwards, we went upstairs to get out photo taken with the Grey Cup. Now this isn't something I would necessarily normally do, but they had arranged for this to happen and after the Grey Cup is over, they will be sending us our photographs as a thank you. I have to say that it was kind of cool to get to touch a 99 year old piece of Canadian history.

(The door leading to the room where the Grey Cup was housed and where we picked up our uniforms.)

While it's treated with a certain amount of respect, the Grey Cup is not like the Stanley Cup-there's no guy (that I saw anyway) travelling around with it to guard it and you do not have to put white gloves on to touch it. In fact, when they took the photo, I had my arm around it. While the Stanley Cup is like a flashy diva, the Grey Cup is more like a cherished old friend.

After the photo was taken, I rounded the corner to pick up my uniform. They gave me an orange bag the size of a small suitcase loaded with goodies in the official Grey Cup colours: orange, white and black . When I got home, I unpacked it. Inside was a white jacket an orange toque, and a black and orange fleece, made by Reebok. They are really nice-I especially like the jacket.

 

My fleece is miles too big-the sleeves are about 8 inches too long and it fits me like a dress, so I will have to exchange it for a smaller size.(Which shouldn't be a problem.)

 

The toque is adorable and cozy. The little logo you can see is a commorative pin. (I'll show a close up a little further on in this post.)

Anyway, there are going to be a ton of fun things to do at the Grey Cup Festival. There's going to be a big parade on the Saturday and the Grand Parade Marshall is local boy, Corey Monteith who plays Finn on GLEE. There's the Vanier Cup, which is the college division football final happening on the Friday night of Grey Cup weekend. They generously gave each volunteer a pair of tickets for that and the hometown team UBC has a good chance of being in that final. They have one more game to play until we know for sure.

There will also be pancake breakfast-one put on by the Firemen (for charity, I believe) and two by The Calgary Stampede (both Friday & Saturday) for free. There's a ton more things happening-parties, music, a cheer off (by CFL Cheerleaders), contests and so much more. There will be something for everyone and the festival is family friendly. If you're local and want more info, you can view events by date or events by venue. The festival homepage is here.

Sunday afternoon is the Grey Cup game and right now the BC Lions have an excellent shot at being the Western Division champions, so it may be the hometown team playing! *fingers crossed* The only thing that would make it even more exciting is if the Winnipeg Blue Bombers get to represent the Eastern Divison. (Of course then there's going to be trouble 'cause if the Bombers are playing, you know I'm going to root for them. You can take the girl out of Winnipeg, but you can't take Winnipeg out of the girl! I root for the Lions as long as the Bombers are not involved!) There are 2 games to go till we know who's playing for the Grey Cup.

Here's a close up of the pin, as promised. It depicts BC Place Stadium as it appears now that we have the fancy retractable roof on it, along with the mountains and ocean, which are synonymous with Vancouver. We're raising the roof with the 99th Grey Cup-it will be the first major event to take place since the renovation.

Well will you look at that-if you didn't know me, you'd think I was some big football fan or something! Truth is, while I enjoy going to see the odd game, the Olympics are really my sports thing. I volunteered for the 99th Grey Cup because I love this city and it's my pleasure to serve and give back. I always learn alot and I love helping people. The delicious irony of giving is that the more you give, the more you get to keep for yourself and the best part of what I get to keep for myself are the memories of some very wonderful experiences. For me, those experiences are what make my life so rich.

Catch Up Post

 I have a new free desktop wallpaper for November for you to download if you like. I know this is a bit late, but it couldn't be helped!

Just click on it to get the full sized image and then right click on it and choose "set as background" and you're all set! Enjoy! This photo was taken at Stanley Park yesterday. I loved how the Japanese Maple leaves were in varying states of decay. Nature so beautifully illustrates the end of the life cycle at this time of year.

Seth Apter gave me the head's up that I'm one of the artist being featured today in his Technique & Tools series. Pop on over and have a peek to see what technique or tool I cannot live without! Seth shares a new post in this series every Sunday, so be sure and visit every week!

In other news, I spent the lion's share (pun intended for those who get it) of the day yesterday at Grey Cup volunteer training. The 99th Grey Cup is being hosted in our fair city. For those of you in the US, it's like your Superbowl, but without the wacky commercials and wardrobe malfunctions. *grins* I will post more about this tomorrow.

Remains of the Day: 2011 Journal

Okay! I finally have a new Flip video to share with you of my 2011 Remains of the Day journal. It's taken me all year, working on it in fits and starts to get it completed, but I was perfectly okay with that.

As I was uploading this video, I realized there's a ton of ROD journal videos on Youtube now. I find that really amusing because I was the first person in Mary Ann Moss' class to create one and now everyone's doing it. Apparently I have brilliant ideas every now and again!

Anyway, without further ado, here's the latest ROD in my personal collection!

If you would like to see the videos of my other ROD journals, you can find them on my Youtube channel here.