Deborah Borsos’s Weblog
The Art of Philately Project- about art, community culture, mountains,stamps…and moreSmall Town Do Lists
As Im sure it is with most small and smaller towns, I see people I know on the street, and in the bakery and at the health clinic…etc and that is where a lot of tasks get completed; discussions on the main street of town, which are a good thing to be able to do, particularly when everyone is so busy during the summer.
Due to the various events and projects I do, I also have an on-going “to-do” list when I go to Kaslo or Nelson. Town lists are a must in our house, where it may be a few weeks or more between trips “down the lake”.
As I had JUST completed the binder with the collection of stamps which will be given to Touchstones Museum in Nelson, I was of course musing (as I drove to Nelson on my way to the airport this morning) over whether or not I had missed any information and if I got all the dates correct or not, etc. One doesnt want to get historic fact wrong, when presenting something (about local history) to a museum.
As I rounded the corner to head down to the “Evil Empire”
(yes on occasion even I shop there…) at the mall, I saw out of the corner of my eye, a familiar face – ah ha! the curator of the Touchstones Museum. Perfect! I could way lay her and arrange a time and date to present the stamp collection to her.
She crossed just in front of me and headed down a short cut to the parking lot behind the mall. I screeched around the corner, drove by her in order to park,(waving as I did so) and leapt out of the car.
Shawn! I called; Shawn, Shawn!.
Im sure she has lived here a long time and knows when to ignore half crazed people yelling her name. And she did. (Im hoping she just didnt hear me.!… ) . She took a different route and headed to the front of the mall.
Back into the car I got, and drove around the front, just as she was going in the entrance. Parking again, I ran in….and could not find her anywhere. Vaporized. And its not that big of a mall….
Oh well, the best laid plans sometimes go awry. All this to save myself time in trying to phone her.
Guess I will have to put that task back on the list for the next time I have a minute. Dern!
Off to Pemberton for a day or two. more soon.chrs,DB
About that exhibit …
About that exhibit opening on July 1?
I know that if you got your invitation, (what? you didnt get one?- well just send me a message and Ill mail one out to you right quick), you have noticed that there is an address for this blog, but no address for the gallery in New Denver.
I decided that cute little New Denver was small enough that all you smart people would either A. find the gallery yourself, or B. Ask someone for directions, once you got there.
However, to make it easy on you, the Hidden Garden Gallery is on the corner of the main street and a side street, across from the food store. There; that should help, eh?. (I couldnt for the life of me find an address for the place…)
The garden is actually hidden. The gallery part is easy to find!.
Opening is from noon to 5, with food,music, art and artist all there.
What better thing to do on Canada day, eh?
And if you have been slavishly excercising and getting in shape in order to go up to the Kokanee Glacier hut with me on July 13 to 16th, well good on ya! I have been mildly doing the same thing…..but Im kinda busy with a few other events so Ill get around to the “getting in shape” part, shortly. (I hope…).
We had our first half decent thunder storm go rolling through this afternoon, but happily it had rain with it, so the chances are lessened for any wildfires. Yep, the season seems to be starting a bit early this year. (there are fires around, just not at the north end of the lake; yet).
Best go do some weeding. See you July 1st! DB
Spring into Summer
Dam Dam Double Dam
Well its spring and almost summer out there and Im finally getting back to the blog. Sorry! not enough hours in the day. Ive been to the coast, the Okanagan and lovely vancouver island in the past few weeks and realize (as ever) how lucky we are to live in BC. The Kootenays of course, take the cake, (but Im just biased!)
Im about to finish making the stamp sets; frame them, and then they will be ready for the July 1st opening.
Hidden Garden Gallery, noon to 5 pm. Its in New Denver. Food, libations, artist and great live music from 1 to 3 should you care to join us. Its just one more way to celebrate Canada Day…..
Then July 13-16 its off to the high mountains I head to the Kokanee Glacier Hut. Have booked perfect weather for that time, but one never knows if the order will get lost or mixed up. I shall pack for all types of inclemency (or clemency….), along with art supplies and camera, of course.
This is a very busy time, but lots of fun. The garden is very happy now that we have had a few days of decent temperatures. And more sun to come, apparently.
June usually produces some rain; but it may not arrive as readily we hear. Thus, another very dry summer and interesting fire season.
Never a dull moment.
And I see the lovely chicory is rapidly advancing along the roadways. I cant believe its been almost a year since I started the blog. (I know this since I did a blog about chicory in early July 08).
Keeping track of time by the flowers. Now theres a concept. More soon (I hope!) chrs, see you in New Denver! DB
A Cause to Celebrate…!
They are done! all 24 are completed and the balance of them gone to be scanned. But the biggest cause for celebration (this week)?….the snow is almost all gone from the garden. HOORRAAAYYYYy!. This winter has been far too long here in the W.Koots. I mean, at least that was good in terms of having time to finish my paintings, but now Im itching to get into the garden. I tried digging out there t’other day, and got …blocks of ice in with the garden soil. hrrummph.
But I see the croci and daffodils are bounding up now, so there is reason to hope.
Next, (as well as making the stamps!), planning for the Kokanee Glacier excursion are on the Art of Philately list, and just prior to that my W.K. (full) exhibit at the Hidden Garden Gallery in New Denver. And it will be a sad one also, without a visit (as ever she did before) from Lorna Obermayr at the opening, (since she lived just a spit and a whistle away from the gallery). Well, Im sure she will be there, if only in spirit. Heres to you Lorna; I hope you are having a grand old time, whereever you are.
Til next time.
DB
And Others…
Sacred Places
Sooooo, here are two more. I finally figured out a system of subject matter. Two of the 5 or 6 subject areas are “the Roots that Connect Us” and “the Routes that Connect us”.
Frog Peak, sacred to the Sinixt people is under the Roots category. We are all connected one way or t’other. and Coming Round the Mountains eludes to The Routes….section and the history in the Basin of mining and trains,trains,trains used to remove the goods. Quite a history there is of train travel here, though these days you would be hard pressed to find a train anywhere.
More soon.! DB
Coming Round the Mountains
The Final Toad and others…
The Final Toad
Well here is the final toad. No, it isnt like the others. I felt something was missing, and eventually realized that in order to reflect the colour and exuberance of J.Coopers work, this toad needed to be tarted up. Thus the orange and purple you find in the picture. And if anyone (by the way) personifies the arts in the Kootenays it is John Cooper, due to his free spirit and love of life and art. So there you have it.
More in thenext post.chrs,D
Almost there…
Well the images for this project are almost done. Most have been digitized, and there are only 3 left to create, then off to picturepostage they will go. (cant wait!).
After that,framing and planning for the wee little artists residency in July will be on the agenda. That of course involves a bit of excercise to hike up to the Kokanee Glacier hut, but Im looking forward to it. I will be there July 13-17, just after my Hidden Garden exhibit.
The first exhibit of the show is booked; July 1st from noon to 5 pm at the Hidden Garden Gallery in New Denver are the time and place.This also includes munchies, a live performance (from 1 to 3) with a fabulous singer (Pat Henman of Nelson) and oh yeah; I will be there too. Other than September when the whole exhibit will be in Cranbrook, this is the only time you will see the entire show together, with stamps.
The other set of stamps will be given to Touchstones Musuem sometime in April. And this is just one project I have going…yikes! In another form of life Im involved with community arts councils, as well as emergency management; and then theres springtime, which means the garden will call. Never a dull moment.
I will post a few more images from the show shortly.chrs,DB
Art of (Philately) Lesson Plans…
So they are finally ready. Well as ready as they will ever be, anyway!
Yes I’m speaking about the lesson plans for elementary age kids. I’ve made a separate page for them “Philately Lesson Plans” that you can open separately from these posts. Things never move much faster than molasses around here and I appologize for the tardiness in posting them. Once again, a clear case of “Kootenay time” imposing itself on my life. I’ve also added another “pastel on sandpaper” sample here below for your perusal. Sandpaper is such fun; though it does use up a lot of pastels quickly…. Now off to work on more images! til next time.DB
the light returns, perhaps spring will follow soon.
Finally…some pictures!
It’s been a long winter in the tiny ill-lit attic room in our cabin where I have been working, (because the studio still isn’t insulated and therefore; a tad cold to try and work in) but I finally have some of the images completed for the show. In fact, most of them have had the preliminary sketches done and a chunk o’ them are complete. Ahead of schedule. (remember my previous comments about never getting used to “kootenay time”?. ) ya, well, it continues to this day, always much happier when I’m ahead of schedule. The most interesting part of this has been the mixing and matching of materials in the creation of various pieces. Mostly I use chalk pastel, or Pan pastels (specifically) either under or over other lyers. Using pastel as a base then taking a watercolour brush to it (yes, wet) can offer some wonderful textures. The difference between using hand painted pastel board and commercially made pastel board as a support offers more lessons in just what you can get pastel to do for you. I have yet to explore further with gold leaf and pastel, but it is on the list. The most delicious mix most recently has been faux suede with soft pastel. Kinda like velvet painting, (but without Elvis anywhere in the room……!) but to date my running fav is still sandpaper; 600 grit wet/dry. Cant beat it for buttery texture and popping colour. Use the dark grey though; lighter colours just dont have that…..oomph… that the darker paper offers. And o n that note, below you will find two of the images from the collection. The first, a tip of the hat to the days when people actually logged around here….(!) (which ended a few weeks back when the economy went to hell , even here!) and the second, perennial favourite subject matter and another “culturally observable” pasttime here in the Basin; Fishing. Not that I fish much; but I do love painting fish. They have turned up in my artwork over and over in the past several decades..
“In The Days of Logging” (above) is pastel on paper; “Spawning Channel” (below) is a bit darker than the original,(and is one that I like quite a bit for its looseness and for how fast it came together) and is done on (commercial) sanded pastel paper. Very expensive and absolutely lovely to paint (with pastel) on.
And on that note, I bid you goodnight and sweet pastel dreams.Til the next installment….DB.
