Life does have its twists and turns

Getting older is a right pain in the behind. There are some benefits, if you are lucky enough, but generally the physical side of things just steadily deteriorates. The only variable there is the speed of the deterioration!

That said, onto some other stuff!

As my vision is not what it used to be I’ve had to rethink my Master’s proposal. My ability to focus visually is essentially gone now, and isn’t stable even on a good day. Doing anything requiring fine attention to detail and working with sharp objects is no longer on the table. On a really good day I might be able to read a label, with my prescription glasses only; most days I have to ask someone to read them for me. So reading warning labels, instructions for mixing materials, etc. is not possible. Why oh why do manufacturers insist on printing instructions in a font size of 0.002?

I’ve discovered that monoprinting is something that I can do without having to be concerned about my ability to focus! I can get assistance from the in-house studio technician to find the ink colours I need (as I can’t read labels and actually can’t tell brown from purple anymore, amongst a few other colour identification issues.)

Also monoprinting is something that doesn’t need precise detail; it is a more intuitive process of creation. No two pressings will be the same, no matter what you try – and that, I am discovering, is exciting about it. What I’ve made so far I like and am stoked to continue to create in the technique. I plan to incorporate mixed media into a lot of my work too, playing with different mark-making methods, media and collage. It is getting my enthusiasm levels back up to where they used to be when thinking about my upcoming projects! I didn’t realize how much of that excitement has been missing.

Back in November and December I did the induction workshops for the Screen Printing studio and the Printing studio and I blogged about those here. And next week I will be doing the induction for Collagraphic printing as we didn’t cover that in December – now that I am interested in exploring it more.

I’m planning to do most of my experimenting at home, and then use the studio for the larger formats and scaling up ideas I tested at home. Also, printing the backgrounds in the studio is a lot faster and smoother.

I like utilizing uncommon methods to get an end result. Usually involves using craft materials or techniques to make “fine art”… to me it is all art. It is the creative process that is used to create something to been seen that is the “art” part to me.

We have a lot of crafting equipment and supplies at home. While I had to disburse all of my lifetime inventory when I moved to the UK, my friends have TWO lifetimes worth of stash which I now can access! I’ve already been utilizing the die cutting machines to make the cutouts to use with monoprinting. There are also embossing machines, cutters, a Cricut, thousands of metal dies, many types of paper and cardstock, stamps, inks, markers, adhesives, fabrics, fibres, stretchers, ribbons, floral crafts, wire, beads, and a lot more. There is an entire room in the house that is floor to ceiling art/craft supplies.

I’ve also managed to accumulate a fair amount myself lately – those art and craft box subscriptions are helping with that. I’ve now got a fair stash of lino blocks, cutters, screens, printing inks, rollers, markers, bookbinding supplies, as well as the usual paints, etc. So I have MANY ways of making marks.

I haven’t been back to the glass studio since before Christmas – which is when my eyes started to get bad. Hopefully, once I’ve got my school work up-to-date (was totally unproductive for most of January and all of February due to my eyes) I can get back to that, carefully though – blood can spill quite freely working with glass.

I picked up the prints I did last Friday in the studio yesterday – quite a few aren’t dry! I was a bit heavy handed with ink as I was using a palette knife to apply it as well as the rollers. I did 21 prints in total and about half are still sticky – I had them laid out all over my room, trying to balance them near the radiators. Then I had an epiphany… bought a two pack of those wire drying racks that sit on the radiator! Perfect! I’ve got two – one on each radiator in my room… Fits (just) on the radiators, sits behind my table so no contact with anything to transfer ink onto. The other one is also blocked from any contact. So glad that occurred to me before I started playing with wet inks at home.

I think my drying rack is actually better than the one in the studio! What do you think?

Monoprinting means you get one impression, and subsequent pressings (the “ghosts”) are faded versions of the first. I mess around with the plates after the first press, moving things, adding things, removing things, even re-inking parts, etc. And you NEVER know what you will see when you pull the paper off the plate. That’s the really exciting part I’ve discovered.

Here is what I produced last week – some will be used to create mixed media works, others I am going to leave as is as they are really cool (at least I think so!) I used cardboard cutouts and die-cuts, and pampas grass (the curly stuff) and plant parts I’d collected while walking the dog.

I am partial to the ones that are messier looking… I think because the results are more of a surprise. Once I get more familiar with the whole process I may be able to better predict what I will get, but, maybe not. That keeps it exciting. Right now, the predominantly yellow ones are my favourites – might be because of the contrast as I can see them better.

I’ve collected a lot more grasses (the pampus grass grows all over the place here, and I just love the curly strands,) spent seedheads, twigs, and other things to use in my next batch. I’m also pressing flowers to use in the mixed media aspect, or maybe even in the printing process if they lose their colour when dry.

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.

Christmas… it’s coming!

Today was the first day of the Buckland Abbey annual Winter Food & Craft Fair. Today was a lot quieter than the Friday was last year. Probably has to do with the economy and lack of disposable income. We are hoping for more traffic the rest of the weekend.

We like to have a lot of items that are priced so that people can afford them. Anne always stocks items that she says are “for the kids to buy as gifts.” Our Christmas ornaments start at £,2.50 – very simple but pretty – and go up from there.

I spent most of today in production mode – made stars and my first sheep and dog ornaments. Both kilns are on and I should have these out for sale tomorrow afternoon. I was going right up to the last minute as I wanted to completely fill the kiln with a few more critters, but Anne was turning the lights off on me!

Last week I did a couple load of wreaths (my best seller), many Christmas trees and lots more icicles. We are selling the small wreaths mounted on a handmade Christmas card.

Tomorrow I’m assembling a new “Icicle Swag” with large icicles and silver chain – it will have five icicles and be made to hang on a mantle or in a window. There will be a limited number available. I’ll share a photo once I get one put together. I’m quite excited about the design.

I’ve also made tealights and many scenic hanging ornaments.

Tomorrow I’m going to take a bit of time to take photos of all the different things I’ve been making. I am really bad at remembering to take photos as I make things.

June’s projects

I’ve been productive this month.

Spent a lot of time sorting out approximately 15 kg of scrap glass we acquired from another glass artist. Most of it was in containers by colours (i.e. “blue”) but not all of them by specifics (i.e. “transparent turquoise” etc.) I like my bits of glass to be sorted out so when I want something specific I can find it without digging through a large bin. It was a treasure trove! So many shades of blue that we didn’t have. I love both Turquoise Transparent & White Streaky AND Aqua Transparent & White Streaky – they are absolutely gorgeous and perfect “sky” glass for landscapes/seascapes. Watch this space to see what I do with all of it!

I made several lanterns in the last several weeks. All different – size, themes, etc. I’ll soon be making more as we’ve acquired a large selection of new lanterns of various styles. Some of these pictured are still available in the shop at Serendipity Glass Design.

Multicoloured dots

A mosiac perennial border

A rainbow/Pride theme

A campfire

1/2 Plymouth Hoe with Seaton’s Tower

2/2 Eddystone Lighthouse

I made another big bowl last week. I had one large circle of transparent sitting on my shelf so on the spur of the moment I decided to create a fruit bowl. I sketched it out on the “back” of the glass and then used tiny bits of scrap to create the mosaic. Working with scrap can be a challenge, in that sometimes you aren’t 100% positive if what you think the colour is, is actually what it is. Makes life interesting.

Before and after being fired in the kiln – the white was a reactive glass that changed colour. Oh well…

After the fusing – still a flat circle

After slumping, still in the mould

Despite the watermelon rind interior ending up pink, I love it. Next one I’ll take the white from a labeled piece of glass! This bowl is now in the shop, Serendipity Glass Design, for sale at £75.

And here are a few photos from the garden, which is doing phenomenally well! I’ve been eating salad daily as I over planted the lettuce (should have succession planted, not all at once – I do know better, just didn’t.) I’ve got masses of baby cucumbers starting and the zucchini are setting as well. Not to mention all the herbs flourishing. Also, finally, the garlic has started. I was worried about it as it took so long, but it is looking good – but won’t be ready until late Fall.

As it is officially Summer I’m hoping the weather will settle into a calmer pattern. Although, I will not hold my breath – this is England after all. The winds really smack around the plants in the garden and the heavy rain beats them up! Not to mention walking the dog in the wind and rain isn’t fun.

Hope you’re having a good start to Summer wherever you are.

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.

Sunflowers and more

Our two auctions of fused glass mosaic sunflower pictures are complete – one went for £60 and the other for £55, we’ve also donated another £18 from our sunflower sales. So far our total is £133 to the DEC Ukraine Appeal via the Red Cross in the UK. We have more sold which is still to be processed, and more items were put out yesterday. And I’ve more in the kiln!

50% of the sale price of all sunflower themed items is being donated to the Ukraine Appeal on an ongoing basis.

I’ve been making small sunflower pieces as fridge magnets which we are selling for £5. My first batch of seven sold to a customer before they were even finished! He saw them on the work surface where they were waiting for the magnets to be affixed and bought the lot of them! I’ve another 30 in the kiln so they will be out in the shop on the weekend.

Fridge Magnets – fused glass sunflowers, size varies but approximately 2″ (6 cm) and “squarish”

I’ve created five more pictures that are now for sale, these are smaller than the ones we auctioned off. There are three in the plain wood frames, and two in the white frames.

Next work session I am planning to make windchimes using the same colours – it is a bit of an experiment. I know the glass has a nice ping, but playing around with the length of the rods to make it melodious will be interesting. After that I am moving on to create some bowls and tealights.

It is always exciting to open the kiln in the morning as glass can have a mind of its own, so it is a relief when everything looks like I intended it to!

Most of my time is spent preparing the glass I need to make all of these items. I spent days snipping yellow glass for petals, breaking up the blue for backgrounds, and cutting stems and leaves. But the hardest is making dots. For the larger items I am planning to make I need small round dots of glass to create the centres of the flowers so I have to make them. It means I need very small pieces of glass, which I put in the kiln neatly so they won’t touch and fuse together, then I have to pick them out one by one…

This lot is around 1200 dots, near as I can figure… so that means I performed a repetitive motion 4800 times in around a 24 hour period. My right wrist and shoulder are still sore.

Yesterday we created a new window display out at Serendipity Glass Design which is in the Ox Yard at Buckland Abbey (National Trust property – Sir Francis Drake used to live there!) with the sunflowers and tied in the colours of the other items in the shop.

If you are interested in any of the items I’ve posted you can message Serendipity Glass Design via Facebook or email at sales@serendipityglassdesign.co.uk

Our second fundraiser for Ukraine

This week we are auctioning off a second fused glass mosaic picture I created to raise funds for the Red Cross Ukraine Appeal. 100% of the winning bid amount will be donated.

The frame is 33 x 28 cms and can be wall-mounted or free standing.

Auction runs until Friday, March 18th at 4 p.m. GMT. Further details and bidding is on Serendipity Glass Design’s Facebook page – Click HERE to reach the auction.

Our piece from last week went for the winning bid of £60 and it was quite a bit smaller that this work. This one took a full day to assemble, not counting all the pre-cutting of the petals and the rest! But I really enjoy the process even with the cuts, pokes and blisters.

Further sunflower themed items are ready to post once we get them mounted. These will be for sale with 50% of the purchase price being donated.

I’ve spent days pre-cutting petals, leaves and squares to use in the making of the sunflower designs and I have enough on hand to go straight into mass production starting tomorrow. There will be smaller framed pictures, standing panels, suncatchers, keyrings/magnets, tealights and possibly lanterns, coming soon.

12″ standing Sunflowers will be on sale next week.

Check in with Serendipity Glass Design on Facebook to see the latest items for sale as they are posted.

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.

Leapin’ Lizards… It is Leap Year!

I wasn’t consciously aware that 2020 was a Leap Year until the radio station started talking about it last weekend. As Friday was the 28th and thus payday, and the deadline for T4s and other tax forms, it wasn’t on my radar. But, it does explain why I had no “memories” on Facebook this morning!

Apparently this is my 15th Leap Year. As I wasn’t born on February 29th that’s an irrelevant fact. So… nevermind.

I’ve been on my “Reading Week” break from school this past week. It seemed like such a long break to me a week ago – I like being busy and having deadlines – but it now seems as if it went by very quickly. I did manage to work through most of my To-Do list. The two items not ticked off are in progress – finishing my Fabrication project (it was already marked but I need to do all the finishing to put it in the end of year show) and culling my stuff, again.

Mid-Term marks were posted this week – I’m happy. I received two 100% (Painting IV and Mass Extinctions which is a General Education elective), 96% in Art History II, 95% in Ethics (another elective) and 90% in Fabrication Studio II.

One of my paintings for class was on the theme of representing ourselves, so mine represents memories of childhood. We lived on the west coast of British Columbia overlooking Juan de Fuca Strait and could watch the Orcas and sunsets from our house.

My current painting is in progress with the theme of Mythology and/or Mystery so I am doing another painting of Rapa Nui – my go-to favourite subject currently! So far just the underpainting is done.

My Fabrication piece that is still being worked on is all fibre art – quilting, crewel work, embroidery, crossstitch, beadwork, etc. This is a photo of what I presented for marking – a lot was just pinned in place to show where it would (probably) be. I still have so much more to do on it.

I am doing this all by hand, so all the seams are being hand-stitched which is going to take weeks. I spent six hours simply stitching seams as shown below and only completed nine inches… I calculate there are approximately 12 feet more of those seams. I also have to go back over some that I did quickly in order to attach the main components for class… this is so much work! But… that’s what I do to myself on a regular basis. My ideas grow and expand as I start to work on a project, making it much harder on myself. But, honestly, I can’t do it any other way.

Culling is a never ending chore for me. As I am constantly downsizing my accommodations, I need to lessen the amount of things I keep. I currently have approximately 126 square feet of living/storage space. That is it. I don’t store things anywhere but in my room. So it is important to keep it all under control, and tidy! Everything has to be neat and put away or it gets me stressed.  If I am working on something, my work table will be covered with bits, but that is the only spot where I will leave things.

I need to go through my clothes again. I really reduced what I had when I moved into this complex in the Fall, but since then there are more items that I HAVEN’T worn than I have worn. So, time to cull the clothing again.

I’ve also got a surplus of art supplies that I think I will try to sell.  A classmate has had success selling off her excess and recommended a platform, so that is something I might go at this weekend.

Pride & Prejudice wrapped up on the 15th – it was a really well done show, full of talent. It was a pleasure to work with the cast and crew at Oshawa Little Theatre. I really had fun working on the hair styles of 1813!

I spent a day completely rebuilding my website from the ground (or template) up. I’m quite happy with it. I had been given a critique of my art and social media/internet presence as part of a workshop I took back in January and some excellent points had been made. So I tackled the website as it was a relatively simple, if time consuming, fix for me. Still tweaking it as I go but I think it is looking pretty good – check it out and send along any feedback to me via the contact page! Shannon Fennell Art is the link.

Only two more months of college this term and then year two of my Fine Art program will be complete. One more year here to finish the three-year diploma, then I will be moving on to another school to complete a degree. The college has articulation agreements with many institutions so I have lots of options – my plan is to complete the degree abroad as the adventure of living in another country is extremely appealing!