I just love communities...

...and the things that can be created when everyone pulls together.

This amazing banner will be wrapped around a donkey (burro?) sculpture that lives in downtown Creston on Sunday.  Brainchild of Tammy Bradford, the manager extraordinaire at the Creston Museum, it commemorates the 235 men who fought in WWI, all from the Creston Valley.

Emmie of ArtFoamies fame generously donated two sizes of poppies for stamping, along with some Stamp Buddies.  Lynne Mizera brought along several styles of her own poppy stamps and a whack of paint and stamp pads.

Tammy Bradford and Lynne Mizera

Here Tammy is testing stamps and Sharpies on the back of the canvas panel (30 foot long by 2 foot wide) that she created from a hardware paint drop sheet - a lengthy job on its own.

Lynne and I stamped poppies like madwomen, while Tammy wrote the names of all 235 soldiers - TWICE!  That way each of the names appear on both ends of the banner.

By the end of the war, there were 47 men from the valley who did not come home.  They are now memorialised on the banner with a black poppy each. 

I'll make sure to get some photos of the installation on Sunday.  As Tammy says, "Who has a better job in the world, when I get to Donkey Bomb as part of my day?"  Given that I can go along for the ride, I'm feeling the same way.

This week has been full of studio guests, and one of my students stopped in for a morning session.  Shelly and I had a blast testing colour after colour and some great techniques.

I love these one-on-one sessions - such a great way to really get into the creative juices, learn about the student's passion, and create deeper layers of meaningful artwork. 

And somewhere in the conversation was a prompt that led to this week's video.  It's all about string -

It's a favourite technique and a whack of fun to do.  Why not try it?  If you do, send a photo to me and when I have enough of them, I'll share them in a post.  

That's it for me, the soon-to-be-Donkey-Bomber, this week.  See you in the comments, my friends!

Retro?

You bet!  The Creston Museum hosted the most amazing opening for the Irwin & the Retro Girls exhibit this past Saturday, and in spite of working that day at Puffin, Bart kindly gave me a break so I could get over and see the shenanigans.

The artists - Sandy Kunze, Alison Masters (sorry, no close photo), Andrea Revoy, and Alison Bjorkman were all dressed appropriately for the occasion.

Andrea Revoy

 

Sandy Kunze

Alison Bjorkman

 With creative collaborations and unbelievable uses of clothing,

each display was unique.  Alison Masters' paintings were often coupled with dresses which she had also tarted up.

The first time I saw this mannequin, she was wearing a white fright wig.  I suspect that some attendee snaffled it in the 'donations only' sale.  I'm in love with that Masters painting behind her.

The shoe paintings thrilled me as well.  What woman doesn't have a secret hankering for more shoes in her life?

The all-dressed-to-go-out-and-party chairs by Alison Bjorkman just had me in stitches (pun intended) - retro indeed!

 Every corner I turned had something new and exciting to see.

The most amusing part of the afternoon was watching the attendees trying on (and buying!) all the retro clothing - there was more laughter and 'give me that!' than one could imagine.

Alison Masters - painter extraordinaire is second from the left

Do these photos take you back a bit, or a bit more?!  They certainly did for me.

It's a fabulous thing when a local boy hits and big time and the Irwin portion of the show certainly did during the fashionable 60's. His section was so popular and chatting with him was in such demand that getting pictures was a challenge.

Congratulations to these local artists - they have done a stellar job of creating a fun and interactive show.

Playing in Kimberley

Well, didn't we have a fabulous time in Kimberley this past weekend?  Eight or more 'starts' each, ten voracious students, twelve hours of frenetic energy and some twenty plus completed paintings happened in the Kimberley Arts Centre 64.

I made every effort to keep things relaxed and enjoyable, but within half an hour at least one participant was going up the wall.  I have to tell you, I was concerned the energy in there would blow the roof off the building.

Ilene hits the wall...

Holly, Carol and Wilma fly at it.

 The texturing implements got a tremendous workout,

the floor of the dance studio was soon covered with technique starts,

and participants began to enjoy the process, and the results.

Holly with her first finish

 They painted, and worked in their 'palette-paper' books (perfect for altering - thank you Tammy at the Creston Museum for these treasures),

Starts, in process & book

cut and glued and worked like demons.

Joy, left, Christine & Judy, all intent on their process

Christine worked so hard & fast I couldn't get a photo that wasn't blurred! 

And many thanks to Christine Besold, who did all the organizational work on the Kimberley end - a masterful job even before she hit the workshop!

Some of the more than 20 completed pieces

And more

I was astounded and amazed at the ease with which the participants dropped their ideas of what 'should' happen, the speed at which they worked and the exceedingly imaginative ways in which they used the techniques they learned in their artwork.

And on a side note, the Lazy Sunday B & B is the perfect place to stay in Kimberley - just half a block from the Arts Centre, and the owner Noreen Shaw is the quintessential hostess.  Do contact her (lazysunday@shaw.ca) for an artful sojourn.