Rollin' Right Along

 Several years ago, author, speaker and podcaster Gretchen Rubin opined, "The days are long but the years are short."  She was right then, and that thought still rings true -- at least for many of us.  When I was in my teens, my mother told me, "After [age] 21, time simply disappears."  She was right, too.

Outside observers -- at least in the culture in which I live -- would look at all that I've been experiencing in the last six or seven weeks and comment, "You've been busy!"  And I suppose that's one way to look at it.

I've decided, however, that I'm going to drop the word "busy" from my vocabulary.  "Busy" and it's close relative, "productive", have nearly undone me as I've gotten older -- and particularly since I entered my 8th decade last fall.

Instead, I've decided to define what occupies my time as -- quite simply -- living.  Some days the pace is faster; some days there are several other people involved.  Other days...not so much.  Each day has a flavour and tenor of its own.  

I've discovered that looking at my life in this fashion keeps me from dwelling in the past, keeps me from wallowing in self-pity and regret, and brings me much more peace and contentment.  It might even help me have live longer -- and heaven knows, my stash(es) need that to happen!

Enough philosophizing! What have you been up to, girl?!

Lots!  

When I last posted, I was in the middle of the first in-person Lacome Encore! Art Show and Sale since 2019.  It was a terrific weekend.  I loved telling others about my work -- and did my best to grin and bear it when someone referred to it as a "nice little hobby".  There will always be folks who just don't 'get it'! I sold enough to buy a bit of art from other artists there, and went home exhausted but happy.

Less than two weeks later, I was on a plane to Toronto for the 2023 SAQA Conference -- again, the first in person since 2019, and the first in perosn conference held outside the US.  It was another whirlwind -- meeting up with old friends, making new ones, taking in the excellent speakers and visiting both the Textile Museum of Canada and the "Colour with a 'U'" SAQA Canada exhibit at the Campbell House Museum -- both within walking distance of our hotel downtown.

I do confess, it's been a very long time since I've seen that much pavement all in one place! 😉😆

I won't overload you with photos, but here are a few.  This first trio were part of the Textile Museum exhibit, "Refuse", created by artist Padina Bondar.  I was completely fascinated with this work, the textures and the sculptural nature of it took my breath away.

Knitted lace -- from recycled black
garbage bags.
Artist: Padina Bondar

Material samples - 2019-2021
Artist: Padina Bondar

Cosmic Waste Dress (2021)
Artist: Padina Bondar

After the Textile Museum, my friend Bethany and others all trooped over to Campbell House Museum to see "Colour with a 'U'" -- an all Canadian SAQA member exhibit that was created originally to open at the Toronto conference -- when it was supposed to be held, in 2020.  Since then, it was in lock-down for a while and then, as venues opened up, it toured parts of Canada.  Alas, it made it no farther west that Saskatchewan, so I wasn't able to see it out here.  That's why it was so good to be able to be in TO to see it at last -- in this, its final venue before being retired.  

It's up till June 5 if you haven't seen it yet and are able to get to TO to do so!  And if you simply can't get there...here's a video slideshow of the full exhibit, from the SAQA website. 😊

I did get a few photos, but it was a very busy and somewhat crowded venue at the time.  Here are a few favourites:

Three Artists -- Three Amigas! 

Left to right above: my friend and intrepid room-mate at the conference, artist Bethany Garner; our friend and artist of reknown, Mary Pal (watch for her episode this weekend on The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims and Alex Anderson!); and me.  

Behind us: celebrated author and Canadian icon, Margaret Atwood, done in Mary's unique style with cheescloth, fabric and thread.

Typically Canadian, here are a few examples from this diverse exhibit:

36 Million Stories: The Fabric of US (2019)
Artist: Linda Finley, Bear Cove, Nova Scotia

Green to Make My Heart Sing (2019)
Susan Selby, Navin, Manitoba

Cold Magic (2020)
Janet Harper, Vancouver, B.C.

Rue de Buade #2 - 2014
Heather Dubreuil, Hudson, Quebec

The Urgent Colours of a Summer Garden - 2019
Wilma Brock, Surrey, B.C.

 

The Here and Elsewhere Bee - 2017
Andrea Tsang Jackson, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Through My Eyes - 2019
Michele Craigen, Weyburn, Saskatchewan

As to speakers, the highlights for me were Dorothy Caldwell -- the keynote speaker first thing Friday morning; Lindsay Olson, one of the 'break-out' speakers on Friday afternoon; Lorraine Roy -- the keynote speaker first thing Saturday morning; and my friend, Susan Lenz -- the keynote on Sunday morning.  All the speakers provided inspiration and food for thought, but these four stood out for me.

After the conference ended early Sunday afternoon, I was driven out to Don Mills, and spent a very hectic day and a half with my old university friend, Karen, her husband Brad and their family.  It was their daughter's birthday on Monday, so the family -- said daughter, her hubby, their two little ones; her older brother and his wife and two little ones -- all gathered at K&B's home on Sunday evening for dinner and celebration.  It was a swirl of activity, noise, good food, conversation, excitement, Lego, dogs etc....and then at 8 p.m., it was all over, and the three of us left -- K, B and me -- had a quiet drink and went to bed! Monday, Karen and I had lunch with a friend of hers; then K napped while I stitched and Brad worked in his upstairs office.

Tuesday a.m. found me on a full flight home -- and I was glad to be on my own again to process all of the activity of the last week.

What made this easier was that I could channel energy in to yard work.  The weather had warmed up and there was plenty to do.  

Now all is planted, and when it's not too smokey -- due to a record number of wild fires in the northwest part of the province as well as in BC -- I can sit outside and stitch, while I listen to the bees humming in the blossoms of my ornamental fruit trees.

I've been able to trim some deadwood, and have added more wildflower seed to my meadow garden beds, in addition to planting fresh annuals in my decorative planters.

The outdoor studio is open for "business" -- but I can't burn the deadwood (yet) due to the province-wide fire ban.  I certainly don't want to tempt Fate by even trying!

Instead, Miss Pookie and I sit and stitch, and watch Flosstubes on my laptop! 

The other Outdoor Adventure (of sorts) that will be happening around here in the next week or so is the replacement of the shingles on the roof of both my house and my garage.  The existing ones are twenty years old or more, and are curling badly (especially on the garage), so it's time.  The packets were delivered on Wednesday afternoon, and await installation, depending on the schedule of the crews (there are 6 crews working for this company) and the weather:

Shingle packages on the garage

Shingle packages on the house

It will be a blessing to have this done!

Before the smoke hit in earnest, and before the roofers run their truck over my 'meadow', I managed yesterday to harvest some of my dandelion crop, for the first batch of jelly this year:

I managed to cull 6 cups of petals from the first picking.

Here's Batch #1 from the first 3 cups of 
dandelion "tea"

Here's Batch #2 from the next 3 cups of
dandelion "tea" - the 'remnant' on the right
will be eaten first!

I got 6 cups of 'tea' from the 6 cups of petals, but as I was boiling jars and lids in my largest pot, I could make only 3 cups of 'tea' into jam/jelly at the same time.  The first batch was made last evening (May 19) and the second, early this morning (May 20).  I let the second boil more aggressively so it was finished more quickly and is a darker colour and more jelly than jam -- but still delicious!

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On the stitching front, I've been marking "Maynia" this year with a selection of five WIPs, each of which I've been working on for five days at one go.

My first one was "Here Be Dragons" from Modern Folk Embroidery -- and I've made terrific progress!

The second piece is one I started in on the plane flying out to Toront; it's for a friend's birthday next month.  In the five-day focus period set aside for this one, I got very close to a finish.  It's the second in the "Kitchen Counter" series from Hands On Design, and is called "Take Whisks".  (Yes, my friend loves to bake!)

The third in the 5 x 5 project was the "Summer" Bird from a trio of "Loose Feathers" from Black Bird Designs.  I'd started it almost a year ago, when my friend Annette lent me the patterns for all three.  Last evening, I came up with a Friday Finish!

As I reported to fellow-stitchers on a couple of FB groups, it's not perfect.  I've no idea where I erred in the spacing but I've decided to leave it alone -- I rather like it this way!  I used a 32-count Antique White Belfast linen from Zweigart, and most of the called-for DMC cotton floss, substituting colours to transform the bird from a brown one to a red-winged blackbird, as we see lots of them in these parts in the summer.  

The "Autumn" bird is designed to butt up right next to the right border of this one, and that's fine as I have enough fabric for all three of them to be in one piece.  I'm not going to change up the colours of the wee brown bird in that one, though, as it rather suits the autumn theme, and looks like a sparrow, which are ubiquitous all year 'round here.

Next up is my work on the Spanish sampler, "Bernarda Bellon" from The Wishing Thorn but I'm taking 3 days off to start a piece in honour of the "May Long" weekend, which is this weekend in Canada.  It's really the Victoria Day weekend, remembering Queen Victoria, but in these parts it's often called simply "May Long".  

For the occasion, I've dug out the first in a trio by Just Nan, called "Barnabee's Quest".  I've had these patterns -- and the accompanying beads and charms -- for years.  It was released in 2001 (!) and can probably be found only on the secondary market now.   As bees are "in vogue" and very much need to be supported nowadays, I thought this would be a great way to celebrate the weekend Canadians look at as the start of summer -- even if our schools don't let out until the end of June.  

I'm going to do each piece on its own, on three small scraps of fabric -- two of which are the same fabric and one of which is a bit of an oddball, but should work just fine.  They're roughly 32 count or finer, so each will be quite tiny; I'll probably make them into a set of little pillows.

********************

And then there's quilting.  I've returned to work on more scrap quilts.  With the wildfires causing so many evacuations and lost homes, I am hoping to get a few tops done so that they'll be ready to quilt and send off if or when they're needed.

In the week after I got home from the conference, I finished my "Triple Treat"-- a Bonnie Hunter pattern -- in browns.  It's a throw size, made that way by wide side borders.  It used up all the bits and bobs of fabrics in the colour theme, so I couldn't really make it any larger!  I've got a stack of purples, reds and pinks set aside to make a second one in those colours.

Meanwhile, I've started a batch of "Butter Churn" blocks -- based on Bonnie's pattern from her "Addicted to Scraps" column in the March/April 2023 issue of Quiltmaker Magazine.  I was determined to get a pattern that would use up my collection of "bricks" and 3" or 3 1/2" squares that I'd cut and packaged from Bonnie's Scrap User's System -- and this one fills the bill.  Here are some of the blocks on my design wall.  Each one will finish at 6" in the quilt, so you can see I have some distance to go before I have enough for a throw-sized quilt -- or even a lap-sized one! 

But never fear; I have plenty of scraps that will work!

And speaking of quilting, last weekend my friend C and I went to the first Central Alberta Quilters' Guild Show since 2019.  What a treat!  It was in the new hall at Westerner Park in Red Deer -- and it was huge!  There was lots to see and lots of great vendors, but the best part was the surprise and delight of meeting up with quilters I'd not seen in years.  It was Old Home Week at its best!

Here were a few of the pieces that caught my eye:

"Fabric Scissors Only"
Maker: Karen Yetter
The 'Tamarack' jacket pattern, 
with personal modifications!

"No Beard, No Way"
Maker: Thelma Mellafont
Pattern from "Fabriculous"

"Ewe Are Loved"
Maker: Diane Andrews
Pattern: One Sisters Designs

One of a trio from Patti Morris, this one was a collaboration.
"Festival of Trees Quilt"
Makers: Care Group, Central AB Quilters
Designers: French Braid (background) by Karen Montgomery,
Applique (foreground) by Patti Morris

There was a section devoted to the "150 Canadian Women" quilts -- mostly red and white -- made to honour 150 Canadian women in our history, inspired by Canada's 150th anniversary as a confederation (2017).  This one was my favourite:

And last but not least, this one got my vote for "Viewer's Choice".  I loved the use of colour and the placement of the fabrics.  The border is particularly appropriate and striking.  I just loved everything about this quilt!

"Luminaria"
Maker: Elizabeth Russell
Design/Pattern: taken from 
Quilters' Colors Club by Christine E. Barnes

As if we weren't already worn out from all the quilty goodness, this year the quilt show coincided with "Fibre Potpourri", a quilting retreat up at Red Deer Polytechnic, hosted (in turn) by the Calgary Guild of Needle & Fibre Arts or the Edmonton Needlework Guild.  And yes, of course there were vendors!   So C. and I drove up to the campus and checked it out.  First, one of the vendors -- and a teacher at the event -- was a long-time friend of C's, so there were hugs all 'round. She was selling off out-of-print magazines, patterns and kits at deep discounts.  I got a Lizzie Kate for my collection, plus a Winter 2004 issue of  Sampler & Antique Needlework magazine.  C stocked up on many more!

The next booth was the purview of my former silk ribbon embroidery teacher and a dear friend, Betty Caskey of Olds, AB.  More hugs, and more yummies to see!  And then there was a new vendor to both of us -- Embroidery Marketplace.  Gold!  We both got fabric and threads.  

Here's my collection of goodies:

The 'white' fabric is really a print -- 32-count 'Vintage Smoky White' Belfast linen from Zweigart.  The 'green' one looks more grey in some lights -- and it's a hand-dyed piece: 32-count 'Valor' from Picture This Plus.  The 'fancy' flosses were three that I have nearly run out of and thought would be good to have on hand for future projects.  And then...one can't have too many tapestry needles in one's favourite sizes (mine are 24 and 26).

And that, Gentle Readers, is what's been feeding the fires of my heart and soul since my last post.  Every day brings something to do, to learn, to delight in -- whether indoors or out -- and as long as I have the work of my hands, my mind rests more easily, my sleep is deeper, and my tendencies to ruminate, over-think, and/or relive the past in grief and pain are kept at bay.

I like myself better this way, and I hope you will too.

Now, as I usually do, I'm closing with a link to Nina-Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and a wish to you for safe, contented, creative days until we meet again.  A bientot!

Waiting, Wondering, Working

The Seven Deadly Sins and 
The Four Last Things
Hieronymus Bosch (ca. 1450 - 1516)

It's the Season of Advent...a time of waiting and wondering about the meaning of life; to whit, death, judgment, heaven and hell -- also referred to as "The Four Last Things".

Christian eschatology is pretty heady -- and heavy -- stuff!  And as the days in this hemisphere get shorter and darker (literally as well as figuratively!) I've decided that spending too much time contemplating such things is not a particularly good idea for me -- at least, not this year!

So I've turned to Fabric, Fibre and Floss Therapy.  It keeps my hands and mind occupied, and soothes my soul.  😊

My weeks are punctuated by hours of work at The Shop, and my days are filled with knitting, stitching and quilting -- mainly, but not exclusively, focused on Christmas gifts.

My son's socks are finished -- as I showed in my last post -- and my daughter's pair is 50% complete.  My neighbour John will soon have a pair of grey "How Quiet Mitts" to match the purple ones I knit for his wife.

And I stumbled upon 3 embroidery patterns a couple of weeks ago -- ones I'd put away years ago -- simple and fun, and not yet done!  So...I'm making them up as gifts for various friends.  Alas, Gentle Readers, some of them read this blog so...no photos!  No peeking till Christmas!  😉

What I can show you is what I've been playing with in the fabric department.  Since the quilts for the latest family of refugees have been finished and given away, I decided to try to sort out the remains of my scrap box, calling on  Bonnie Hunter's Scrap User's System for help. 

As a Born Organized Person, I tried to incorporate this some years ago, and got side-tracked by what were -- at the time -- Far More Interesting Things to Do.  So while I have a collection of zip-lock bags with some semblance of a Carefully Cut & Curated Collection of Scraps, the rest of my scraps have been gathered in a deep cardboard box that could have been called "Mount Scrap-More"! 

"Enough of this!" I told myself, and dumped it out on my studio floor:

"Mount Scrap-More"

Now...look at that carefully, eh?  See the sharp corner at the top right of the pile of scraps?  Let your eyes follow to the left and down to the right toward the floor.  Maybe you can even see the ridge along the top of the pile.  That's the sign those fabrics have been stuffed in that box for far too long! 😆

The remedy?  Well, for the past 10 days or so, almost every day, I've been taking a handful of those scraps and dealing with them: ironing them to get out the folds and wrinkles, and then cutting them into squares or rectangles in some of Bonnie's recommended sizes -- ones I know I can use for future charity quilts.  I stack them in Light/Medium and in Dark piles, and put them in labelled zip-lock bags.  Though I'm determined to keep as much as possible out of the land fill, anything that's too tiny or too narrow to sew with successfully has been tossed.  I resolve to keep this up till that pile has been eliminated!

In addition, Bonnie has announced her 2019 Quilt Mystery, this year entitled "Frolic!", with colours that are not only right up my alley, but also in my stash.  So...I am following along and have finished the first clue:

True to form, bit by bit this Fabric Therapy has calmed me...along with the aforementioned knitting and stitching.  All of this ironing, cutting and piecing gives my mind time to ponder art pieces to make in the New Year.  Earlier this week we had some of that powdery, sparkly snow.  When I went out to clear the walks and fill my bird feeders, I was struck by the beauty of it on the trees, just waiting to be captured in stitch:

And one more thing on the art quilt front: this week I received the photos from my daughter that she took last month -- beautiful shots of the quilt I planned to enter into the SAQA all-Canadian exhibit, "Colour With a 'U'".  The online entry process opened December 1, and on December 4, my entry was in.  Done and dusted!  Now to wait...notification is in mid-February.

While Gina was here to take the photos, we took a tour around my new lot and she tried to get photos of the birds -- who didn't cooperate.  She did manage to take some wonderful shots of my Miss Pookie, though, so I'll end this post with my favourite one...and a link to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend...

Stretched

Be patient

toward all that is unsolved 

in your heart.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Quoted by Sue Bender

in 

Stretching Lessons 

I see by the calendar that I've been absent from this page for the better part of this month.  Some of that was due to work, travel, and other Aspects of Daily Living...

and some was procrastination,

plain and simple.

In my last post I mentioned I was starting work on a new piece -- a sample (or maybe the Real Thing) -- for a Call for Entry to an all-Canadian exhibit entitled "Colour with a 'U'".  A great deal of my procrastinating and just not blogging has to do with that work, which absorbed a great deal of my time for at least two weeks.

 My vision for the piece was BIG -- inspired by the lyrics from Gordon Lightfoot's Canadian Railroad Trilogy.  In particular, these:

"There was a time in this great land when the railroad did not run,

when the wild, majestic mountains stood alone against the sun.

Long before the white man and long before the wheel,

when the green, dark forest was too silent to be real."

I figured out very early on that painting the scene on fabric was several stories higher than my abilities in that department.  After sulking about that for a bit, I rethought the idea.  What do I do well?  "You can paint skies", came the answer (from my muse).  So...I thought about that.  I found a long stretched canvas (36" x 12") and gave it a go.

I was trying to paint skies that changed in character from West (on the left) to East (on the right).  My first attempt was a bust, but thankfully, with acrylic paint, you can paint over it.

Then I began to work out the foreground.  I wanted to put in the landscape from those "wild majestic mountains" and the "green dark forests", across the western plains to the rocks, lakes and rivers of central Canada...with a nod to more cliffs in the Maritimes.  Just a nod?  Well, my vision seemed to exceed the space available on the canvas.  😟

I was taking inspiration from these iconic Canadian views:

Emily Carr's painting, Mountain Forest

An eagle totem pole from B.C.'s Haida Gwaii

Photo from Neys Provincial Park, Lake Superior, ON

Maples in Autumn - photo from Mont Tremblant, QC

Cliffs on the East Coast Trail, Newfoundland

Still, I persisted.  I created those mountains and forests, including snow, from the West Coast:

I added prairie grasslands, water and more rock, an impression of colourful maples in autumn, and more rock -- and over these I stitched in impressions of native habitat, from totems on the West coast to tipi on the plains, a native longhouse from central Canada and more tipi -- shorter and squatter -- from the Maritimes.

Mountains and forests with totems.

Plains with tipi.

Longhouse in Central Canada

And below, you see the entire piece, hanging on my guest room wall:

I'm just not sure about it -- though it seems to look better to me in the photo than it does on the wall in my home!

First I wonder about its perspective.  There's that changing sky which moves from the cloudy "wet coast" to the clearer sky -- with clouds building and a storm coming -- over the prairies...and then a mix of autumnal sky and cloud over the Lakes and moving east.

I worry that there's too much of the west and not enough 'centre and east' landscape, and that the chunk of grasslands in the centre is too central, when perhaps it should be smaller and more to the left, more off-set.

Second, I'm troubled by my attempt to show the ghosts of what the land used to be when it was "long before the white man and long before the wheel".  Is it presumptuous for a Caucasian Canadian woman to try to replicate these symbols?

I don''t know.  I just don't know.  Thus it remains on the wall, and I carry on...albeit in a bit of a stale place creatively.  

Blessedly there remain Other Things to Do -- such as baking two bumbleberry pies for last week's Fall Supper at the church.  And making four dozen oatmeal raisin cookies for sale at the church's next event -- the Annual Bazaar & Bake Sale -- coming up this weekend.  Like joining my friend G. -- the knitter and relatively new quilter -- at the Joint Quilt Show put on by the Black Gold Quilt Guild of Leduc, AB, and the Edmonton Modern Quilt Guild -- where I was inspired by this wee gem:

Catch Me If You Can!
Mariel Enders
Thread sketching, coloured - likely water-colour pencils.
Outlined by hand-quilting. Appears mounted on board.

 Apologies for the angle, but it was a small piece hanging high up in a narrow booth!

On Saturday of this past weekend, G. and I travelled again -- this time to Camrose to see the most wonderful production: Jake's Gift -- a touching, heart-warming, funny, poignant one-person, one-hour performance about an aged WW II veteran who travels to Juno Beach for the 60th Anniversary of D-Day.  It's a touring show, and the link I've shared has a section for tour details. If you live anywhere near any of the venues and can find your way to see it, please do.  It will capture your imagination and hold your heart close in its message.

Now to link this -- late as usual! -- to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and head back into the sewdio to work on a second quilt for the Syrian family we're expecting soon.  Yesterday at church we found out they have a flight date at last -- November 19!! -- so I'd best get on it, eh?!  

If you've been stretched like I have lately -- especially creatively -- may the week ahead bring you blessed rest, refreshment and restoration of perspective.  Let's together learn patience "...toward all that's unresolved in [our] heart[s]".

"There was a time in this great land when the railroad did not run..."

-- Gordon Lightfoot

October -- Already?!

Yes, and we're well along.  We've had snow -- thankfully now gone -- but even though now the days are mainly clear and sunny, there's an edge, a sharpness, to the air.

I've put much of the garden to bed -- bringing in my geraniums (pellargonia) to over-winter, and transplanting my basil to a pot in my kitchen window, where it is growing new leaves and seems very happy.  I've cleared out the lettuce, cut back the mock orange and the rhubarb, put away the 'burner' and plan to put away the faux wicker bench this weekend, as it's far too cool to enjoy at any time.

On Wednesday, with my "every 8,000 km" maintenance service, I had the winter tires put on my car.  I've cleaned the car's interior and swapped the "spring/summer" mats for the "fall/winter" mats.  And I bought a small cordless electric snow blower because...well...I will have more sidewalk to clear once I get title to the lots next door.  A few days ago the lots looked like this (that's the east wall of my house in the centre-right of the photo):

I'm gratified by that sign every time I look at that sign!  

This morning, the young man charged with mowing etc. showed up for one last cut-and-mulch (paid for by the vendors), and we talked about what I might do with the trees -- especially the willow.  I am going to start to clear out 'sucker' branches in a couple of weeks (I take possession October 24) and will finish up in March before the sap starts to run again if I have to.

Meanwhile...I've been working on a variety of things.

• I'm finishing up a batch of small knitted items -- cowls, hats, phone and tablet cases -- for my church's annual Bazaar & Bake Sale on Saturday, Nov. 2;
• I've only 7 pattern sets to go before I finish the lace edging on the Shetland shawl I've been working on for several months. Each set is 28 rows -- over 13 stitches...;
• I've assembled all 36 blocks of the string quilts into 3 panels, and now that my year-old Pfaff Performance 5.2 has returned from her "spa treatment" (she's had a busy year!) I will get them all together and bind them up for the first of 3 quilts for that Syrian family we continue to expect any week now.  Here's what the blocks looked like over time:

First few blocks completed

Rows sashed together, prepped for assembly!

In addition to the lovely phone message I received from my client about the Wall-to-Bed quilt (aka Prairie Quintet), I got this photo from her nephew:

Yes -- just as she wanted -- the 3 "main" trees and sky etc. are the focal point on the top of the bed; everything else hangs below.  I'm just happy that it fits and it was exactly what she wanted!

That said, the most gratifying thing I've done lately is something that completely came out of serendipity -- and out of history.

Here's the story:

This man was my father, John Gillies Rennie (November 14, 1904 - February 13, 1952 -- seven months before I was born):

Portrait by Wadim Dobrolige,
Heidenau, Germany, 1946.

Dad met the painter -- Wadim (or Vadim) Dobrolige, a Ukrainian -- in one of the three camps over which my father was employed by the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) to manage.  I believe that when they met, Dad was still a Captain -- a member of the Black Watch of Canada, Royal Highland Regiment, seconded to the British military government for most of his WW II service (1944 - 1946).  

Book on Dobrolige...

Anyhow, my father became a fan -- a patron, if you will -- of Mr. Dobrolige, who was then in his very early thirties.  Dad bought several of his paintings, and brought them home after his war service ended abruptly (through illness -- a reported heart attack -- in 1946).  I grew up with these paintings in our family home and in the home of my godmother, Georgina A. Davison (aka 'Nina').

When my mother and step-father retired to the Okanagan from Quebec and down-sized, I acquired some of these paintings -- and a couple more when Nina died in 2004.  When I lived in Calgary, there was one in our dining room one over the stairs to the lower level of our home, and one over our fireplace.  My sister has one in her home too.

When I moved to Mirror, I had far less wall space -- but one of the paintings hangs in my guest room:

And one is now in my living room here -- a small one of trees against the sky, which reminds me of what I see whenever I look up the street from my home.  In Mirror, all the streets seem to end in trees.

A few years ago, I tried to track down the artist.  I found out he'd emmigrated to Edmonton, Alberta in 1948 (aged 35), and had become somewhat celebrated.  Of the Ukrainian Orthodox faith, he'd created several religious paintings and iconostasis for Edmonton and area Orthodox churches.  I inquired of one -- located a mere 10 blocks from my daughter's home -- if I could make an appointment to see the work, but was rebuffed by total silence -- both from the clergy and the elders.  

Time passed.

A couple of months ago I tried again and found a link.

It turns out that in recent years, Drs. Peter and Doris Kule donated funds for the founding of the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta, Edmonton.  It's a research centre and link to the Ukrainian Canadian community in Alberta.  The current President of the Friends of the Ukrainian Folklore Centre is Natalia Toroshenko (nee Dobrolige).  Yes; she is Wadim Dobrolige -- the painter's -- daughter.

And this year, the Centre is producing a short video featuring three Ukrainian Canadians who have impacted their communities and beyond -- and one of them is Wadim Dobrolige!

I made a connection -- and it excited those who received it.  I met with three associates of the Centre on Monday -- and gave them five of the eight paintings I have, all painted by Mr. Dobrolige.  I agreed to be interviewed and video-taped for the Project, which features those community contributors; the video is due out near the end of November.  I won't be seen much, but mine will be the voice-over for the Dobrolige paintings I've given to the Centre.

Here are the five I am leaving with them at the moment (two of which were wrapped by the restorer/cleaner and were of such a size that I left them that way for the photos):

"Lilacs" -- hung over my cousin/godmother Nina's couch
in Montreal and Ottawa - and later, for a short time, in my
dining room in Calgary, AB

"Peonies" - it hung over the stairs
from our main floor to the basement in our
raised bungalow in Calgary

Hung in my parents' home and later -- as I recall --
in our dining room in Calgary, but was supplanted
by the lilacs and transferred to a spot over our fire place
(or so I recall, but I might be mistaken)

The staff at the Centre affirmed that the brown wooden frames around several of the pieces appeared to be the original European frames.

Once the video is finished, I will be notified.  There are tentative plans for a reception for the release of the film, and with those plans, a hope that Natalia and I might meet.  I also hope I will have my children with me to share this occasion.  (It would be in Edmonton in early December; prayers to Mother Nature to cooperate for travel are appreciated!!)

And going forward? 

Well, Wednesday I bought two new canvases -- of a different shape than I've tried before.

And...today I mapped out on paper and on clear plastic (remnants from my daughter's office laminate machine) my sketch for my entry into "Colour with a 'U'" -- the (so-called) 'regional' All-Canadian exhibit destined to open at the March 2020 SAQA Conference in Toronto (first one outside the U.S.)

That subject (i.e. my process etc.) is an entirely different post...so...stay tuned.

Meanwhile I leave you with Happy Thanksgiving wishes -- for all Canadians celebrating here this weekend -- and prayerful thanks for not only my Canadian readers, but all those Gentle Readers in the U.S. and around the globe.  I am thankful for each and every one of you!  

Linking to Nina Marie's "Off the Wall Friday"...and praying mightily for the U.S. -- my friends, my family there and the entire populace...