Subscription boxes… this could be addicting

I’d heard about, and seen posts, from people who subscribe to various subscription boxes. People I follow on social media would post “unboxing videos” of whatever boxes they were subscribed to. I thought it was a neat idea but didn’t really think it was something I would necessarily be into.

Well… let me tell you about my last 12 days…

While randomly bopping around my feeds, in particular, YouTube (as I do subscribe to some artists’ channels,) some unboxing videos popped up for Artful subscription boxes.

Hmmm… Well, as you may know if you follow my blog, when I sold my house, and then eventually moved to the UK, I had to “get rid of” my lifetime accumulation of art and craft supplies and equipment. The hardest was when I was packing to move over to the UK – I only had three suitcases and a backpack to contain my entire life.

I arrived with minimal materials – some needlework items, a few sketchbooks, my watercolours, brushes, fine liners, pencils, pastels… Well, I suppose that doesn’t seem like I’m deprived, BUT, as someone who always had everything possible and stashes of scrap and reusable materials on hand, it is a bit of a challenge!

When I got here I went and bought new acrylic paints as I didn’t think packing used tubes was a good use of my luggage weight limitations (and what if they leaked in transit?)

So on Saturday, January 14th… I started Googling art and craft box subscriptions… just as a survey you understand, to see what they were like, and how they were rated. That may have been a mistake… or not? Jury is still out on that.

I checked out some blogs that ranked the various subscription boxes, looked at the websites, checked out a lot more videos of unboxing and artists using the materials from the boxes, and some of the instructional videos the various companies had up.

The Artful box subscription looked pretty good – the boxes looked to be good quality, containing everything you need (for the most part) and the value/cost looked very reasonable to me. They are a quarterly box, and there was a coupon if you subscribed to their newsletter. There was also an option to pick your first box, or go with the current box. So, I subscribed that day for one year (four boxes)… I chose the Gouache box for my first one. I’ve never actually used gouache so that seemed a good one to start with, to get a feel for how comprehensive it was – materials, instructional videos, etc.

I also ordered the “upgrade kit” for the Gouache box which contained a ceramic mixing tray and more brushes, and a few other things from the Artful store site – Ohh Deer.

Then, on Tuesday, January 17th… sigh, I started looking at craft boxes. Oh man… Again, I looked at reviews, videos, etc. Cosy Craft Club looked good. (BTW, these are all UK based companies that I was looking at due to postage costs!) All these companies have “old” kits available for individual purchase, so I ordered five kits from Cosy Craft Club: 2 x Mini Junk Journal Kit, Twine Basket Weaving, Loom Weaving, and Softcut Lino Printing.

I was impressed with the customer service from both Artful and Cosy Craft Club. The owner of Cost Craft Club immediately makes contact and engages in conversation via email which I thought was great. Artful responds quickly to questions and issues too, resolving them promptly.

The first order to arrive was Cosy Craft Club. It arrived around noon on Saturday, Jan 21st. That is one thing I love about the UK – Royal Mail delivers on Saturday. I immediately unpacked the shipping box – then had to open up each kit to check them out and, of course, took photos…

The five kits ordered…

Mini Junk Journal Kit (green cover option)

Twine Basket Kit

Softcut Lino Printing Kit

Loom Weaving Kit

I immediately started on my Mini Junk Journal. I had to email Cosy Craft Club as I couldn’t get the link to the instructional video to work and she responded right away! As I said above, I am really impressed with her customer service!

I watched the video through once, then got going. I had done bookbinding in school, once, but it was a riveted cover. The instructions were clear, and everything needed was in the kit, including templates for the hole punching so no measuring of anything was required. The video was very thorough, and easy to follow through the entire process.

Each kit is put together by different artists – so branding varies, and they make their own videos. So far I am impressed with the instructions given in the two videos I’ve watched.

I really enjoyed this kit! I made a few “mistakes” – I think I flipped the template on one of the three signatures as it is out of alignment with the other two, but it is a learning curve, and I am really pleased with how it turned out. When I was finished I went downstairs to show it off… and it was 8 p.m.! I had no idea how much time had gone by.

As this was a “junk journal” the included papers were a little too messy for me – tea stained printing paper, odd sized scraps of lined papers, etc. So I replaced and added to it – artist paper mostly. Also, I created some pockets using card making supplies. On the artist who created the kit’s YouTube she had videos of other journals and books she made and many of the larger ones had pockets, etc. so I decided to make some for mine. There is a roll of funky tape included in the box so I used that for the edges/sealing of those pocket pages.

I haven’t tried the others yet. I passed along the Twine Basket Kit, as after watching the instructional video, I realized I won’t be able to manage it as I’ve some arthritis and RSI issues in my hands, and it requires at lot of tension, grip and twisting with your hands/fingers.

I was having such an enjoyable time with the book binding that I got back on the computer… oh yeah. I did a thing. So on Sunday, Jan 22nd I ordered a “Complete Bookbinding Starter Kit” from Learn Bookbinding, and several (as in five) refill kits – with the two included in the starter kit that is seven books! That is next Christmas sorted! They are really responsive to inquiries too.

The next delivery was Monday, Jan 23rd, first thing in the morning. It was the additional order from Ohh Deer (Artful’s store). This was the Upgrade kit for the Gouache and a couple of Papergang stationery boxes.

Gouache Upgrade Kit

Eden Project Stationery Box

The Menagerie Stationery Box

The Eden Project Stationery box contained a “Grower’s Journal” which was why I ordered it… it was a disappointment. The print was light grey on white and in a microscopic font size. I simply could not read it. However, their return policy is great – return it immediately and they’ll reimburse postage. I emailed them about why I was returning it and they immediately responded to thank me for my feedback on the journal. I sent it back by mail on Tuesday, Jan 24th.

The Eden Project Stationery Box

Contents of the Eden Project Box

The Grower’s Journal… not useful to me.

The other stationery box, The Menagerie, was nice. It contained a calendar that you can start for any year (I’ll save for next year as I have one up for this year already.) These stationery boxes have one main item that varies, an art print, a couple of note cards, maybe something else (this one has stickers for the calendar,) writing implement(s) and a pamphlet or booklet.

Back of The Menagerie Box

Inside The Menagerie Box

First look in the Menagerie Box

Contents of The Menagerie Box

The Menagerie calendar – any year

The upgrade kit for the gouache box (they call it “Paint Mixing Kit”) was nice. I like the ceramic mixing tray/palette – very heavy and won’t shift if you are working the colours and loading your brush. It included two brushes – a fan and a filbert (which are different from what is included in the main box!)

First look at Paint Mixing Kit

Contents of Paint Mixing Kit

The Gouache Box arrived later on Monday, Jan 23rd. Which was amusing as I didn’t get confirmation it was shipped until the following day. I am pretty impressed with this box.

Gouache Box

The packaging – they really pack well

Nice box!

The paint I assume…

Nicely boxed set of 12 gouache paints

Nice size!

“Art print”,,, well, guess it will go in the stash with the rest of random things I can’t quite throw away.

25 page Mixed Media art pad

The paper quality is nice

Four blank note cards with envelopes

Blank colour chart

Pencil, F

Four brushes with storage bag

114 page magazine featuring Gouache

The amount of paint is great – proper sized tubes, not “samples.” And the magazine is full of examples and some instruction about gouache. The brushes are synthetic which is fine – I have a massive supply of natural brushes. They do appear to be good quality (there is a no. 1 rigger, no. 3 round, no. 3 angle and a teeny tiny 5/0 round) but I won’t know until I use them! An F pencil is good for sketching before painting – lighter marks. The pad of paper is nice – a full sized art pad (many other kits seem to only include a pack of small sheets for use.) The colour chart is handy, and fits inside the box of paints (presuming I’ll leave them in the box they came it – it is a nice box!) Apparently every kit has four blank note cards – I assume to make your own custom art cards using this month’s media.

There is a link in the magazine to “tutorial videos” on Artful’s YouTube page. These are private until a couple of months after the kits are sent out. I have to say I was underwhelmed with their “instruction” video. But when it finished, YouTube populated the screen with dozens of other videos from other channels about gouache – now THOSE were helpful!

The magazine does contain instruction and information about gouache. And includes a pictorial step-by-step of the painting of the art print that is included in the box (not sure why I’d want to paint that as they sent me a print of the original? I would have preferred a step-by-step of something else.) There are articles about multiple artists and examples of their work using gouache. So the magazine is very useful.

Here are the links to the places I’ve ordered these kits and supplies from:

Artful and Ohh Deer

Cosy Craft Club

Learn Bookbinding – I’ll post about the kit I ordered once I receive it! I’m pretty excited to make a “proper” sized book. ** Right after I posted this I received notification my package had shipped! Yay!

And 2023 has arrived.

Turn your back and the new year sneaks up on you.

The entire household has been down with the flu – we had to cancel all Christmas and New Year’s plans completely. For several days over Christmas (23rd to 26th) no one here could manage to do anything. I was the only one still able to get out of bed at a reasonable time (by 9 a.m.) The others sleep until after 2 p.m., sometimes 5 p.m. The dog needed to go out and be fed so I did that each day, then crashed for a nap.

We still haven’t recovered. The housemate who brought it home (because she stopped wearing a mask!) is the sickest of all – she’s on week four of it, and still very ill. She passed it along to the rest of us, and at least one neighbour. I’m feeling better and have a lot more energy – I’ve been cooking dinner over the last week so we’ve been getting hot meals – but still need to sit down between activity. Making dinner is a big production as I do it in stages so I don’t have to stand at the counter for an hour.

As we’ve been ill, the glass studio and shop have been closed – which sucks as the Christmas trade is the biggest period of income for the year. But… at least I’ve got a head start on inventory for next Christmas (trying to be positive.)

I’ve got until the 12th when classes resume to be “better”… hopefully I’ll make it. We can Zoom if we can’t make it to class, but that isn’t ideal.

Before I got sick I did manage to get my candy made – brittles and truffles – for gifting. Although, a fair amount has still not been distributed. But it keeps.

I finished a portrait of Pippa the Morkie as a Christmas present – I call it “Pippa-rella” as she is in Cinderella’s dress. As you can see, it is a small painting. Done in acrylics.

For school, I finished my sculpture in polymer clay and baked it. Then started making the 2-part mold in the studio – I’ll be finishing the mold as soon as I can get back to the studio on campus (depends when I feel up to it at this point.) In my original timeline I wanted to have this finished and have at least one piece cast from the mold to work with over the holidays – obviously, plans have changed.

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The mold is silicone with plaster reinforcement. These photo show the first side being made. That is how I left it. I had planned to go back the week before Christmas, but obviously those plans changed.

I don’t see much point in doing a “year in review” post for 2022 as it doesn’t have too much to cover. Other that starting my MA Fine Art and examples of art I’ve made, which have been covered well in regular posts.

I hope for and wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2023.

What I’ve been up to for school

I’m finding working on my MA Fine Art to be a lot different from college/undergraduate studies.

I liked the structure of multiple classes running at a time (5-7 per semester), deadlines, due dates, assignments, lots of different professors/instructors to discuss things with, etc. In the MA we’re doing one course per year (it is a three-year part-time program.) We go on campus once a week for our seminars for that course. We have writing assignments for each seminar (the topic of which covers two sessions each at least) that are due before the second session.

We also have, on the same day, either workshops, tutorials or critiques with the whole group or individually (they combine all three years of the program together for this.)

Not that there isn’t work to do, but it is self-generated – research and documenting what we are working on for our proposals. Is a but of an adjustment for someone who is timeline driven. All those years of working to deadlines has really conditioned me to want things broken down into a hard schedule.

Now that’s off my chest, I have been enjoying myself learning about new media and updating my skills and knowledge in others.

I’ve taken the “introductory workshops” in the studios for Mold Making, Ceramics, Screen Printing, Printing and Metal Workshop, and in February will also be doing Letterpress. There are many others available in technology – 3D printing, Photography, Green Screen, Film and Audio, Virtual Reality, etc. but I swore I was never, ever, doing any of that again once I got through the courses at college. And I’m sticking to that.

The studios here at the University of Plymouth are extremely well equipped with a full-time technicians there to instruct, advise and assist!

Mold Making was a bit of a refresher for me, but the great equipment, facility and materials are something I’ve not been able to access on my own! I am going to be using it to create the main work for this year’s art project.

The first photo here is the silicone mold – I’d sculpted a relief portrait of Pippa (my furry friend who wakes me up every morning) and the next shows the results.

We also made some coasters.

The next was the Metal Workshop – I was curious as I though I might use metalwork in some capacity, but this is heavy duty metalwork! Interesting, but not something I think I’ll dabble in. Too much physicality involved for this old tired body. Plus, using a forge and different types of welders are a little out of my comfort zone! Also, couldn’t use the electric powered arc welder anyway due to metal implants in my body… go figure.

Then I did Ceramics – we got to build a pot. I think it is being fired as it has been missing from the shelf in the studio for a couple of weeks. I hope to see it again soon. I intend it to be a garlic pot.

I will be using clay to create my main work, which is then going to be cast to make a mold.

The next one was Screen Printing. This was fun. I wasn’t able to access Photoshop (long story, would take a whole post up just telling it!) so made up acetates of a drawing (the single rose) by hand at home using black acrylic paint. I wasn’t sure if the image I really wanted to do could be done the morning of the workshop. Ended up the tech in the print shop/paper stores was helping everyone photoshop and print their acetates, so I was able to get my skull illustration separated and printed.

As I had two sets of acetates ready I was able to make the screens to do two different prints, which was great. I was able to try two ways of aligning the second colours – the second (on the single rose) worked way better for me.

The last workshop was the Printshop. It was a two-day workshop, but as I have a medical appointment on the second day, I arranged to go in last Thursday (just for three hours rather than all day) to cover it with the technician by myself. The first day was Relief (woodcut, linocut, etc.) and Intaglio (etching, etc.) – I’d done some linocut before. I didn’t find these techniques of much interest/use to me.

BUT… the second session was Planographic Monoprints. THIS was brilliant and I think I will be doing a lot more of it! The technician said I had “a flair for it.”

It is a very enjoyable process, creating the different impressions of the monotype. The only problem is cranking the antique press – my elbow is still extremely painful – the cranking was done on Thursday afternoon, it is now Sunday afternoon.

I hope to be able to work on my sculpture in the Mold Making Studio this week… I have my armature ready to go. I’ll use waste clay (texture isn’t important) to do the sculpt, then we have to cast the mold. I think it has to be a two-part mold, but all that is going to have to be discussed with the technician once I have the item in the studio to show her. I need to make at least six casts so the mold needs to be durable.

All in all I am having a great time. There is also a Woodshop on campus and I really want to check that out too.

Heading into Jubilee Celebrations

This weekend will the be designated period to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee here in the UK. Thursday and Friday have been designated as bank holidays (aka statutory holidays as they are called in other places) and Saturday is the big party day – community block parties, etc. Here on the estate I live on there is a community BBQ and party on Saturday afternoon. I’ll be staying home with the dog – still not interested in mingling with unmasked people in a crowd.

We put up Jubilee bunting out at the shop/studio for the occasion.

Have been working on more art over the last month – finished assembling my glass mobile yesterday and hung it up in the shop. Came out a bit longer than I was expecting in the end, but I didn’t want the glass pieces to strike each other constantly. I’m really pleased with it. I plan to make more but with fewer parts and more compact. I’ve figured out more efficient ways to make them now too.

I was planning to hang it in the shop window but it is too long to fit, so it is on the wall. We’re thinking of taking commissions using a “pick your option menu” for components and quantity, a header piece shape, colour scheme/theme, length, etc. with each option having a set price.

We accidentally ended up ordering three different types of chain for the mobile. I wanted stainless steel for it, but first order was miscalculated regarding link size (too small) so ordered a larger chain. Was supposed to be stainless… however it was aluminum and the links came apart easily simply by pulling. So, third try, got a good size and strength, even if not 100% what I was wanting. But it worked for this quite well.

I also finished up another batch of fridge magnets that are miniature acrylic and ink paintings of scenes of Dartmoor. The squares are approx. 2×2″, the larger are 2×3″ – I like painting little landscapes! I’ve got another batch with the bases done which will be sunrise/sunsets and seascapes/shorelines based on South Devon.

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I’m also starting a series of slightly larger (4×6″) mixed media paintings (on canvas board and framed) of specific plants and animals that are resident on Dartmoor. First one in progress is of bracken, then I’m planning flowers (i.e. bluebells, foxglove, etc.) and bushes (gorse, etc.) and ponies and other native animals and birds. I’m taking photos to use for reference for these.

Tourist season has started, albeit slowly. Coaches are starting to come to the Abbey now so we are getting little waves of people looking for souvenirs and gifts. I convinced Anne that we should put out a small display of our Christmas ornaments and cards… last year she wouldn’t let me put out Christmas items until November (even though we had people who wanted them.) And we’ve been selling them fairly steady! I explained to her, when I travel I look for items that can be Christmas ornaments, and the people who are buying them are doing the same! Now Anne is suggesting maybe I should start making more wreaths (which is my best seller!)

I remerchandised the shop – my sense of order was somewhat frustrated. So I moved some displays around – moved light coloured items from a white painted shelf to glass so they were more visible, spaced items out more, rearranged signage, etc. I was pleased with the results and it is really obvious that people are now looking at all the displays whereas before they walked by some without stopping to look.

We’re hoping the weather is going to cooperate for the Jubilee weekend as so many events are outdoors. Fingers crossed. Hope you enjoy your celebrations if you are participating in any.

What was done in ’21

Here is to wishing everyone a better 2022!

So far… it is okay. Betty White died yesterday on December 31, 2021 – so at least we aren’t going to blame 2022 for that.

Another year that seemed to be longer than it really was is now over. I really am hoping this pattern will end soon. Time is supposed to go by faster than this.

I have to look back at my posts on social media and in my day-timer to remember what actually happened. Parts of the year seem to be many years ago rather than just months.

2021 was both a drag and exciting. In no particular order (I tried to be chronological but it got messed up!) these are the highlights.

• My final semester started in full lock-down in January – we were 100% online until mid-term.
• In February I was notified that I was the recipient of the 2020 Sabat Family Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Fine Art ($1,000) by Durham College.
• My midterm marks were 91%, 97%, 98%, 100% and 100%.
• I received offers from three schools to complete a degree in Fine Art
  • from IT Sligo in Ireland (which is now becoming Atlantic Technological University) for a BA (Hons) at the Yeats Academy of Arts, Design & Architecture. This is a one-year (Sept to May) add-on to get the degree – they gave me credit for three years advanced placement.
  • from the Arts University of Bournemouth in the UK for a MA Fine Art. This is a 12-month program full-time. They also awarded me a £5,000 bursary for tuition. (They suggested the MA, bypassing the BA, due to my three year advanced diploma and over 20 year career in the arts!)
  • from Plymouth College of Art in the UK. Their offer was for a BA (Hons) but they would only gave me credit for one year so I would have to complete a minimum of two more years with them to get their degree – I declined this offer outright.
• I applied for the Government of Ireland – International Education Scholarship and was notified I was a finalist for consideration.
• I deferred the offers to 2022 as I didn’t want to continue in the pandemic caused “hybrid learning models” that post secondary institutions were/are operating on. It is a lot of money to attend school as an international student and I don’t enjoy online learning models.
• Was able to get back into the campus studio mid-February to continue working on my Fine Art thesis project – I spent on average four days a week there!
• I had three works in the Annual All-Student Juried Show at the Station Gallery in Whitby, ON which ran for the month of April. It was limited attendance due to the pandemic restrictions.
• I was nominated (one of three students from our program) to represent Durham College’s Fine Art program in the national BMO 1st ART! 2021 art competition. The nominated work was my thesis project so I had to install it in the college studio to get photographs for the competition submission by the May 15th deadline.
• April 16th was the last day of classes – my last official day of my Fine Arts – Advanced Diploma. I, however, continued to work on my thesis in the studio until June!
• April 16th was also the day I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine!
• My final grades for my last semester at Durham College were 93%, 97%, 99%, 100% and 100%. Out of seven semesters I had four with GPAs of 5.0. My overage GPA was 4.98.
• End of April we were back in full lockdown.
• Received my credentials from Durham College in the mail. My diploma was sent in a cardboard mailer with a form letter. Pretty anticlimactic really. Ontario Colleges Diploma in Fine Art – Advanced, with Honours, from Durham College. On the President’s Honour Roll and College Honour Roll.
• Finalized my thesis project and installed it in the studio on campus. As we were not going to have an actual gallery show due to the pandemic, I created a dedicated blog for my thesis – “Anthropocene of the Crime.” I put a lot of work into the project and not being able to have people interact with it in person was a huge disappointment – the blog at least lets me share that research and the 58 individual paintings that are part of the project, representing 60 threatened species. You can check out that blog here Anthropocene of the Crime.
• June 14th we had our virtual show and artists’ talks with the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa in lieu of our Annual Grad Show. It was a live event -they now seem to have removed the links from their website which is a bummer, but it is still up on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nEaRwXsthU my segment starts at 57:07.
• I applied for a UK Ancestry Visa (I’ve been planning to move to the UK since 2015 but got delayed due to various life events) and received it within a week of the in-person appointment at the Visa office in early July.
• Received my second dose of Pfizer on June 28th!
• Spent all spring and summer downsizing my life – selling and donating belongings, selling as much art as possible, scanning and tossing paperwork – in anticipation of having my entire life fit in three large suitcases (plus carry-on luggage.)
• Sold most of my thesis paintings – kept three for myself which are in my room. My favourite ones, that I had been planning to keep, sold right away – which is because they were the BEST ones!
• Booked and attended appointments in anticipation of leaving the country at the end of August. My flight was booked for August 26th. There were lots of medical and other things to deal with before leaving!
• I left Canada from Pearson International in Toronto on August 26th and arrived at Heathrow, London around 10:30 a.m. on August 27th. I then quarantined for 10 days and two negative PCR tests. I’m living with friends in Plymouth, England.
• We went on a week holiday to Yorkshire in September staying in a gorgeous cottage – we took daytrips to York, Bridlington, Harrowgate, Harewood House, the Wensleydale Cheese Factory, Bolton Castle, etc. Traffic was manic on the motorways – should only have taken 5 hours to drive there, but it took 11!
• Got on with a surgery in Plymouth (that’s a doctor’s office if you aren’t English!) and got referred to Ophthalmology for my eyes. I am VERY impressed with the NHS. I’ve had two treatments in each eye to-date, with another already scheduled have been waitlisted for surgery prior to them switching treatments…
• I’m working with Anne in her glass studio and having a load of fun creating all the fused glass Christmas ornaments for the shop and how starting on spring themed items. Current project is a clock with a rose trellis on it.
• Got my booster shot on December 14th – this one was Moderna.
• And I’ve just received my unconditional offer letter from IT Sligo for the one-year add-on for a BA (Hons) in Fine Art for September 2022 start. I’m not sure about what my final decision is going to be about going for the degree… the pandemic has messed up my timeline and caused a major rethink of my goals in that regard. I’ve got until March to let them know.

“Birds on a Wire” one of the works in the April 2021 show at the Stations Art Gallery.

Final finished thesis project “Anthropocene of the Crime” May/June 2021

Harewood House in Yorkshire – they filmed part of the Downton Abbey movie here. It is stunning! September 2021.

Fused glass Christmas ornaments December 2021 (this was early on, more and different items were made as the season progressed.)

Current fused glass project – 10″ diameter clock face which is a rose trellis. December 2021.

The Great Barn at Buckland Abbey. Anne has her glass studio in The Ox Yard there (which is just behind me as I took this photo!) This is a National Trust property in Dartmoor National Park – used to be Sir Francis Drake’s place. October 2021.

All the best to everyone for 2022. Fingers crossed we can get out of this cycle of pandemic variants and get back to free travel and movement!

Double vaxed at last

On Tuesday I got my second dose! My original second appointment was for August 6th, but lots of supply has been arriving and the Delta variant is gaining ground so the provincial government started opening it up. As of this past weekend everyone can book. I was automatically notified of my rescheduled appointment by the clinic I had my first one at.

The challenge for many is getting booked through the online system, which isn’t necessarily easy. There are pop-up clinics in hot spots too. On Sunday June 27th the City of Toronto and Scotiabank Centre (where the Maple Leafs and Raptors play at home) held a clinic all-day and vaccinated 26,771 people! A new world record for the most vaccinations in one day. The previous record was 17,001 in Texas in April.

I am glad my appointment was at 8 a.m.; it was already 24C and I was walking there. I don’t like heat. When I got home before 9, it was up to 26C and I was pretty uncomfortable. Thank god for A/C. I really feel horrible for everyone out west getting hit with the record breaking heat wave – the city I moved here from is in the mid-high 40s right now. I am so glad I’m not out there.

It was really busy at the clinic too. They’ve got the drive-thru option going with two lanes, and inside the rink was packed (socially distant, of course). Way busier than when I went for my first shot. But it was moving very fast. I was in line inside by 7:57, shot in the arm by 8:04, then had to wait 30 minutes (historically I’ve had a vaccine reaction), and was home by 8:45.

I remembered to take my little sketch book with me this time, so the 30 minutes went by in a blink while I was sketching some ideas for a commission.

And the only reaction I had was a sore upper arm around the injection site, again, same as the first shot. So that was great.

There are lots more doses in the pipeline so it looks pretty good for most Canadians to be fully vaxed by the end of summer, which is awesome. I will, however, be continuing to wear a mask for quite some time. I like not catching colds and having a reduced allergy response to pollen! Plus, no sunburned nose.

My plans for heading abroad are moving along – visa applied for, flight booked, notice given to landlord, selling/donating/disposing of stuff, bought two huge suitcases and fully vaxed! Now I just have to wait and hold my breath… and hope for no delays.

I finally stopped working on my thesis project “Anthropocene of the Crime.” I got the additional paintings I decided to do finished, and did end up doing just one more to make it a nice round total of 60 threatened species.

Giant Armadillo (listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List) the last painting, species #60

We did our live virtual show and artist’s talk with the Robert McLaughlin Gallery on Zoom on June 14th… still waiting for a link from them to share with everyone, once they have it up on their website. This is the link to the live presentation invite that quotes our professor and the featured art is my project: http://rmg.on.ca/events/emerging-visions-artist-talks/ I’m hoping they’ll post the recording soon.

The project is still up in the studio for now. We are supposed to hear from BMO 1st Art around July 9th on the results of their judging. Then I’ll be taking it down and, if I happened to be the chosen Ontario artist I’ll have to mount it all on a sheet of plywood to be transported to their show, if not (most likely) I’ll just retrieve my paintings and scrap the rest. Some of the paintings have been spoken for and there are some I want to keep.

My project blog, which covers all the species I’ve painted and explains my project, is at https://anthropoceneofthecrime.wordpress.com

The final and complete crime investigation board of “Anthropocene of the Crime”

Received my credentials in the mail yesterday. I have to say I was underwhelmed. I was expecting the college to include some swag at least, not just a cardboard mailer with the diploma inside. I’ve seen what other schools have sent their grads and was expecting there would be something. They didn’t even include what normally is given out at convocation in a normal year.

They saved massively on the budget for convocation for two years now, and they also kept charging us ancillary fees for services and facilities that were NOT available during lockdown – so why couldn’t they have at least provided a decorative folder for the diplomas?

It truly is, literally, just a bloody expensive piece of paper.

Day 447 (of the Pandemic)

Another month gone and we’re getting close to summer now – just three weeks until it is official.

The last 14+ months have seemed like both the longest AND the shortest of my life. Time has dragged out something awful, but also things have happened and gone by so quickly.

My timeline for moving abroad is now less than three months – 87 days precisely. That is the date my lease here is up, so that is the date I’ve been aiming for as a departure date. However, now that it has been announced by the Provincial government that our second vaccinations are being moved up due to lots of supply, I may be able to go sooner! My current appointment is August 6th, but if I can get one in July I could leave at the beginning of August instead of the end.

There are a lot of things that have to be done in a specific order, and then all the rest of the details that one has to take care of when moving, and moving internationally takes it to a more intense level.

I’ve continued to paint more threatened species to add into my thesis project. I ended up installing my display in our studio on campus and finished it for photographs on the 13th of May. After that I decided to keep painting. I’m enjoying the process and it is keeping me occupied going over to the studio to work on them.

This is my thesis project, which I call “Anthropocene of the Crime.” In this there are 43 paintings of 45 different species that are under threat. Along with information, articles and papers on the threats to the species’ survival, suspects, and lots of string.

I have completed another eight paintings, and have six more in progress, that I am going to add into this before we do our “Live Virtual Show & Artists’ Talk” for the Robert McLaughlin Gallery on June 14th. Most are smaller – ten are 3×4 inches, with four 5×7 inches – and will fit in where there are openings in the existing layout. With those included there will be a total of 57 paintings of 59 different species… I feel like I need to do one more to make it an even 60.

When I was mounting it and putting in the map pins, I suddenly realized that I had somehow missed including any South American species! Oops. So I did three the next day to add in before photographing, and I’ve also added another species in the batch I’m currently painting.

I shot a video explaining the project and what is on the crime investigation board in detail and posted it to YouTube. Here’s the link Antropocene of the Crime – it is just under nine minutes. I wasn’t sure how it would work, as I was holding my camera and talking without planning a script, but it turned out well enough that I’m willing to share it.

I am working on a dedicated blog to accompany my project – as we aren’t having a public display it loses impact completely. In the blog I will have each painting posted with information about the species on their own page, with links and other information. It actually will provide a lot more in-depth detail than just examining the physical display in person, and show off each painting individually. There are a year’s worth of paintings in this project!

The blog is called “Anthropocene of the Crime” (of course) and once I’ve got the last batch of paintings finished and the photos added to the blog, it will be ready to go live. It will be available no later than June 14th when we do our virtual show, but I’ll put it up as soon as I’ve got it ready.

The current batch I’m working on. The eight on the left side are finished, and the rest tomorrow maybe.

I am planning to create note card sets with all the paintings and possibly prints and other items. So I’ve scanned them all as I’ve been finishing them. That’s a summer project, along with a low carb cookbook/e-book a friend is insisting I put together. I scanned all my recipes and once I’m done with this whole thesis project, I’ll start working on that.

Day 416 (of the Pandemic)

And so it continues. We are back in a hard lockdown here because of record numbers of cases with the third wave of Covid, full ICUs, younger people dying very quickly from the variants… and a slow vaccination rollout.

I was able to get my first Pfizer vaccine on April 16 – I was really emotional about it. I had to wait 30 minutes after it and while I was sitting there I starting crying. Combination of relief and letting go of some of the fear I think. Also was the biggest group of people I’d seen in over a year.

School finished on April 16th – my three-year Diploma is complete. I am still working on my Thesis project in anticipation of our grad show, however, that may not be happening at the gallery – we don’t know yet. The lockdowns have caused the public galleries all sorts of issues so we don’t really know what will be happening. Our prof has called an online meeting with everyone for Monday. I still need to get mine assembled and photographed in the next week or so to submit to the BMO 1st Art! Competition.

Very happy with my marks again. This semester I received 100%, 100%, 99%, 97% and 93%. The 93% was 3D Printing which stressed me out a lot, so I am very pleased and relieved about that. Another 5.0 GPA – so for four of my seven semesters I had a 5.0, that makes my average GPA 4.98.

The two lowest grades I had were in my first year: 86% in Photography and 87% in Digital Drawing. I did not know any of the programs that people were using for Digital Drawing as I’d never done any (had zero interest in it and that has not changed.) I was pretty lost and, as we were told to “use what you know,” I ended up using the Windows photo editor, Paint, Word and Excel. It wasn’t fun but I managed to do the projects, but I wasn’t happy with any of them.

Photography was challenging due to my sight and hand problems – I can’t see the manual camera controls without my prescription and even then it is still difficult; and I can’t see the subject with my glasses on. I also can’t hold the camera and manipulate controls at the same time as I have grip problems. Was so frustrating. I would take 400-600 photos for each assignment and wouldn’t know if I had anything useable until I got them on the computer. I would just randomly change settings without knowing what they were until I could check the metadata and hope I’d used the right ones! By fluke I nailed a couple of the assignments and got really high marks, which made up for the duds. LOL Very frustrating as I can take pretty good photos… on AUTO SETTING!

When our final grades posted I copied and sent my transcript off to the schools that I have conditional offers from for finishing my degree. IT/Sligo, the Irish school, immediately sent a new unconditional offer letter.

With the state of the pandemic I am waiting to make a decision on my offers – I do not want to continue with online learning. While I did well, I did not enjoy it, nor do I feel I learned as much as I could have with in-person instruction and the interaction with other students. As a international student the tuition and fees will be very high (for instance, at my current school they are six times more than domestic students pay.) I want the in-person, hands-on, social interaction aspect to be there; it is a huge expense and I want the most I can get out of it. I will leave it as late as I can to make that decision, and hope that if I do decide to go that I can still find private living arrangements! If not, I will defer for a year.

It seems that most schools are anticipating a “blended” delivery model – some in-person and some remote. But things are in such a state of flux. Part of the issue is that the 18-24 age groups are not being targeted for vaccination in most places yet. Seems that the schools are looking at the number of people vaccinated on campus as the marker for how much they can open back-up.

I’ve got extensive lists of things I need to do preparing to move overseas, but there is an order that they have to be done in and getting the process going involves making the decision about which school’s offer to accept or defer for a year. I’ve got just over a month before processes have to start – visa applications, finding accommodations, making deposits… some things can be on pretty short notice (like booking flights… right now super easy) but others it can be a couple of months.

Here are some of the 41 paintings of 43 threatened species that are part of my final Thesis project. This part of the work is done, and now I start on the actual physical construction and assembly.

I’m really pleased with how these have all turned out. Of course I have my favourites, and there are one or two that I may actually not use in the final display as they didn’t translate as I had hoped. But I am happy with this body of work.

21 Days and One Year (of the Pandemic)

How’s everyone holding up? I’m getting antsy to get vaccinated. My region is opening up appointments in five year increments (started at 80+ years), Monday they opened it up to 70+ years. So… based on the timing of the last increment, I hopefully can book by the end of the month! Fingers crossed.

Until I get that first shot I am in limbo mentally. I can’t start making firm arrangements or accept one of my offers for schools abroad, until I am pretty sure I CAN travel in September. I figure once I get that first one I should be good to go, literally.

I took part in an open day for the post-grad program at the Arts University of Bournemouth last week – watched a recorded presentation, then there was a live Q&A. They inferred things will be “hybrid” in the Fall (all going well) – they were talking it up as something they’d been planning pre-pandemic. I’m not completely keen. I know it is a Masters and self-directed, but I like more personal contact and being in a setting with other people. I am so over working in my room alone! The course leader did put me in touch with a student from the US who is there now so I could chat with them about their experience travelling to the UK in February and how the program is going.

I also submitted an application to the Government of Ireland – International Education Scholarship last week. IT Sligo sent me the application – I’ve an offer from them for the BA (Hons) Fine Art. This is a very prestigious scheme – they choose 60 international students from countries other than EU/EEA and award:

• A €10,000 stipend for one year’s study
• A full fee waiver of all tuition and other registration costs at the higher education institution

Would be amazing to get that – makes it very, very close to a full-ride! They have a very stringent criteria and would be a huge honour to be chosen! Won’t know what happens until after June 1st. So, I will just not think about it and carry on with getting things done!

My last official day of classes here is April 16! I will still be working in the studio after that on my thesis project as the show, according to the latest update, won’t be held until June. So our professor has said we have time to continue work. That is comforting – I would have been able to be ready earlier, but the extra time allows me to complete more individual paintings to include in the installation.

But I do have to make a submission by May 15th for the BMO 1st ART! 2021 art competition -I’ve been nominated for it and it is for my thesis project! So I need to have it ready to photograph the week prior.

The Annual All-Student Juried Show is opening this week – April 1 to April 28. I put three works in: one from last semester (mixed media,) one from Fall 2019 (a diptych acrylic paintings,) and one that was my own project in 2019 (not school.) I am hoping I can get over there to take some photos of my work hung up. They are currently open for limited occupancy. I wouldn’t go until classes are done, so hopefully they’ll still be open to the public then.

Here are some recent paintings I’ve completed for my Thesis project (since my last post) on Threatened Species: West African Slender Snouted Crocodile, Elkhorn/Staghorn/Pillar Corals, Island Oak, Gooty Tarantula, Little Brown Bat, Great Hammerhead Shark, and a Polar Bear.

Hammerhead Sharks are the strangest looking creatures!

These two paintings are still in progress – a Mexican Wolf and a couple of Gilbert’s Potoroos:

And this is a shot of all 34 paintings that are completed or in-progress right now! I’ve an additional 12 small canvases prepped and ready, if I decide I want 52 to be in my final installation. I’ll see how much progress I make over the next four sessions in the studio then decide.

Our weather is settling to the unsettled spring pattern… frost in the morning and t-shirts in the afternoon. But it is so nice to get out for a walk in the sun – which is warm when you are out of the wind but that isn’t very often!

Year One (of the Pandemic)

Well folks, it’s been 365 days since the W.H.O. declared the Covid-19/Coronavirus a Pandemic.

How are you doing? I survived a probable case of it (sick for three months last Spring/Summer) with no noticeable lasting effects that we know of – other than taking months to get my energy back and lose the aches and pains; saw some specialists with no discoveries of anything new. So that’s all good.

Now I’m just waiting to be able to get the vaccine. Hopefully soon as I have plans!

Last week I received an email from the Arts University of Bournemouth, who had offered me a spot in their MA Fine Arts course, informing me that they had awarded me a £5,000 Global Bursary! Very, very cool.

I am thinking about possibly deferring my offers for school this Fall though. I’m worried about the pandemic and the variants, and as I have absolutely zero interest in doing any further education online or in hybrid models, I think it might be the best option to just put it on hold for now. While I am getting the grades I want, I am not enjoying it. Art is a hands-on activity for me, not digital, and I am so, so tired of being on the computer day-in and day-out. This is supposed to be fun and it really isn’t.

Here are a few of my latest smaller paintings for my Threatened Species thesis project. That is ticking along well now that I’ve been able to get back in the studio. These are still in progress, but I’m getting there! We prepped the wall in the studio so I can start arranging everything – 8’x4′ is a heck of a lot more space than I was seeing in my mind’s eye! But I’ll use it.

These are 5×7″, 4×12″ and 6×6″. I’ll be starting on 8×10″ canvases next – I’ve got ten prepared with the backgrounds. Also, I was given four more smaller canvases so I’ll be adding them into the collection too. We’ve only got six more weeks until the end of the semester!

I’m getting a bit confused about our year end shows but I think the Thesis show for graduating students will be in June, and the annual all-student juried show is actually before the end of semester – I believe we were told we have to submit for April 1st. Semester isn’t over until April 16th. We haven’t received the information in writing so that’s why I am confused. usually these all happen after the end of semester. We also don’t know for sure if they are live AND virtual OR all virtual.

As we did not have the annual all-student juried show last year, due to lock-down, we all have completed work to submit for it without rushing to get things finished from this semester.

I’m having a hard time with accepting that in only 36 days I will be finished my program here, and have graduated. Wow. Doesn’t seem that much time has passed. But… it has been a very weird past year.