Rebel Birds

In all reality the birds are not really the rebels, I am shooting with my old standby 6pix the original Canon Rebel that has to have been the best camera Canon made, being the first camera out in the Rebel line this one has been steadfast and true. It does need a cleaning as dust spots are showing in the images, but I am not going to test fate and the dust spots can stay for now for who knows how long it would be in-shop-for. Maybe I should go get a blower and attempt the cleaning myself.

Gerald took grumpy woman to the feeders in Hawrelec park on Sunday and patiently froze while crazy grumpy one got her bird photo pleasure and donned a beautiful, though slightly frozen smile. As you see the gulls are back and blend beautifully with the snow.

 The geese are asserting their dominance, either that or they are just complaining about the cold, ice an snow.

 Two other photographers were at the feeders and said I had just missed American tree sparrows, so we hung around and they did come back as this handsome bird shows.

 Chickadees are hard to photograph right now as they are busy playing chickadee dee tag.

 Male Downy woodpecker was coming in for suet as was the female below. A Hairy was present though I did not capture his portrait.

 Redpoles, male above and female below. Nice to get them so close up.

Big smiles and warm hugs to all, spread warmth and joy through out the day.

Slacking Not, Camera issue reruns!

Busy as a bee. My front room is looking like a gallery storehouse as the work piles up in preparation for my two upcoming Solo shows. I have not posted the latest paintings as my magnificent camera is back in the shop.

Renegade camera has been gone for four weeks and I've only this week received word that extended warranty okayed the job and granted Canon approval to now start repairs. There is a catch to it all, for if said camera requires more work than initially estimated then the frigging process of getting an okay to work on it starts all over again. If I knew when I bought my camera that the insurance company Vistek deals with was so slow I would have bought elsewhere. I will buy elsewhere for major camera essentials from now on as this is the third time I have taken the camera in; the second time the manager arrogantly suggested the problem was me and not the camera and he didn't send it in, he gave it to all the employee's to try out instead, is this proper protocol? Hence as it worked fine for them they concluded me as the fault, not withstanding that I had said it was an intermittent problem, that when it worked it was great, but not reliable as its tendency to jam and record, nothing, or a black screen. Then I would have to turn camera off and on or pop battery out and then back in and try again, meanwhile the bird I was photographing has now flown the vicinity, grrr!

I searched on-line to see if others had this same problem of the 50D jamming in use and found recorded issues of problems I stated. One person bless them stated to take down and record the error number that comes up when the camera faults. Now why did I have to search online for this information, why did not the people at Vistek tell me to record the error number? So back camera went to Vistek with the error code noted. I saved for a year to buy what I expected to be a good camera and expect it to work and if there are problems because I paid extra for warranty coverage I expect faults to be remedied in due time, not months later. This has become a major aggravation I would rather not have. Of course my daughter says "should have stayed with Nikon" and hastily adds I am not getting my old Nikon back that I gave her. Smart woman!

Successful Opening

Here is my textile piece that is now being shown at Alberta Craft council in Edmonton Alberta.

The opening reception yesterday was wonderful with many artists present. My dear friend Mary came up from Calgary as she also has a piece in the exhibition. The thought and diversity that have gone into the works that were juried in is amazing to say the least, I am thoroughly impressed and pleased to be showing in this historic exhibition. This is one show that is well worth seeing and hopefully it will be able to be shown in other places as a movement of artists visually expressing reverberations from government arts funds slashing.

Thanks to my sweetie for being a wonderful cameraman and capturing the moment so that I could mingle, meet other artists and the staff of the art gallery who by the way have done a wonderful job on this exhibition.

The previous night Gerald and I went to see the Forest show at the Mcmullen Gallery juried by the ASA.  At that show thought they are quality works I found myself disappointed by the lack of diversity.  I had expected the show to behold a forceful environmental theme that would make people really think, but aside from one piece which held a tree shaped air freshener which by the way is an outstanding piece wonderfully thought out and presented, the rest were just a bunch of "nice" forest paintings.

Roadside Conversation

Finally getting around to posting the piece I submitted for "The Road to Emmaus" Exhibition presently showing at The House in Calgary. I definately have fun and enjoy the challenge of creating images on themes presented by various shows. 

This is the Emmaus Fine Arts yearly group show which travels to requesting churches for the rest of the year.

Media: Textile fabric collage, photo pigment printed on cotton, acrylic paint, embellished with machine stitching, antique buttons, ribbons, brass bells and a brass heart.

Dimensions: 33” x 12.5”

$229.99

Roadside Conversation

Two buddies trudge along the roadside, the receding sun enveloping into twilight the dark events that took place only a few days before. A stranger overtaking them intercedes their conversation, questioning, prying their torn hearts, interloping on their grief. Out of courtesy do they speak, telling the stranger of hope of rescue crucified with their prophet. The stranger reiterates prophesies of scripture, moreover, reprimands them of faltering faith and their lack of acknowledging the women who spoke of the empty tomb. Was it not foretold, he asks. 

In The Red Alberta Craft Council Exhibition

I am pleased to announce that I have a textile piece in this juried exhibition coming up at the Alberta Craft Council in Edmonton. I am so looking forward to the opening on April 2. We have friends coming up from Calgary for the event which will make for an extra special weekend.

Gerald drove me to Calgary for the opening of "The Road to Emmaus" an exhibition in which two of my textile pieces are now showing at The House in Kensington. It was a wonderful time in which we got to reacquaint with friends and meet new ones. 

I bought Diane Knight's book "Alive & Well; Discovering God's Presence in the Midst of Everyday Life" which she had available at the opening.

And to continue the good vibes of the weekend I happily sold the first two textile butterfly hangings which are on the Feb 21 post.

Thank you sweet wonderful persons who bought the butterflies, may they give great joy for many years.

The Road to Emmaus

The Emmaus Fine Art Group

   is proud to present our big show of the year     

           “The Road to Emmaus”    

                at The House, 126 10^th Street NW

                             Calgary, Alberta 

                               403-283-7879

            March 9 to early May, 2011

           hours:   9:00 am to 10:00 pm daily

         except Tuesdays 10:00 am to 10:00 pm

  All Welcome to an Official Opening

 Saturday  Afternoon, March 12, 2011    2:00 – 4:00 pm

 Artists in attendance           Snacks served

There will also be a book signing by Diane Knight of her  new book “Alive and Well”  

      

        © copyright 2011 detail of “Love” by Teresa Stieben BFA                                                                                                                   

I have two textile pieces in this show. I will be posting the images next week.

Hugs!

Sharing, the gift of Cranes

African Crowned  Crane

I was wanting to paint an African Crane for my up-coming Calgary show as the Calgary Zoo contains some of these strikingly elegant birds. Well wouldn't you know I dug through my photo files and found all but the image I was looking for. About 5 years back when I was dating my sweetie I would pack my work back and forth between my place and his and sketch or read while he was at work. At one point I had sketched an African Crane from zoo photos taken when film was king, problem is details are not as good as I need to translate into a detailed painting, sigh, so the search was on for the images which I know are lurking somewhere in a spot of disorganization since my move and will surface in due time. Otherwise I would have to visit the zoo for more reference photos and with the blizzards we are receiving this winter its not going to be any time soon.

 While puttzing cyberspace researching info on Sandhill Cranes I somehow ended up on wikipedia (which I never quote by the way as I have found incorrect info there at times, ok I'm off track now) anyhoo there I found a beautiful photo of, yes, Cranes and also African Cranes. I was delighted. So I decided to contact the photographer. Well in no time at all wonderful Luc Viatour granted permission for me to use his photo for reference. Well at that point I realized the sweetness life grants by sharing with one another.

Check his work out, there are some of the most beautiful images I have ever seen. http://www.lucnix.be/main.php

I normally work only from my own photos yet this time I made an exception. With the photos I had found I would have had to image the crane loosely as a background element but by the generosity of Luc I was able to focus on a Crane portrait. Thank you so much Luc 

And on the topic of sharing a few weeks back Carol painted a wonderful watercolor of a finch from one of my photos, please check out Carols blog

http://limitedspaceartstudio.blogspot.com/

scroll back to Feb 7 post to see the lovely finch.

So in essence as the world goes round and the sharing goes round it makes for a more beautiful day.

Hugs to all!