Newcomers Art Exhibit

I will be showing my fiber art piece, "St. Patrick" in the Gallery at the Guild in Charlottetown as part of the Newcomers Art Exhibit.  St. Patrick is one of a series of saints, including "St. Michael," "St. Anthony," "Our Lady of Mt. Carmel," and "Our Lady of Guadalupe."  St. Patrick is made of hand-dyed and painted fabric, commercial fabric, embellishments and polymer clay.  Here is a detail photo:

St. Patrick drove the snakes out of Ireland, according to legend, and escaped from his Irish captors on a pirate ship.  He later returned to Ireland to convert the Irish to Christianity.  The show opens March 5.

April will also be a busy month for art.  The Open House for my LEAP project at the Clyde River Women's Institute will be held on April 10 at the Riverview Community Center, Clyde River.  My students will be able to show their work that day.  Most will also be hanging their work in a show I am curating which opens April 20 at the Cornwall Library Gallery and runs through mid-May.

Dinner at the Wilberts

Last night, we went to Jeff and Karen Wilbert's house for a turkey dinner, complete with all the fixings and dessert!  We ventured out in the snow storm and headed towards the north shore.  We had not been to visit in the snow before, so we passed the house, realized our mistake and turned around.  Christine and Alicia were there, too.  It was so nice to have both of our families there, complete with all the kids.  I had been meaning to call and invite them over for quite some time, now.  Time just flies by and it is important to find the time to connect with friends.

Tonight I was supposed to have tutored ESL, but my student cancelled, so I am home for the evening.  Kathryn and I will go to the UPEI pool tomorrow and veg in the hot tub.  I will also try to get some laps in, too.  I have a drawing class tomorrow afternoon at 1pm, and I will try to make it.  I think Kathryn can keep herself occupied reading about the Irish Reformation, her thesis topic.  I don't think she has been getting as much study time in as she planned, so maybe three hours alone will be good for her.  I wish she and Aaron did not have to leave next week.  I really looked forward to them coming to see us,  and I know it will be a lot quieter around here when they leave.

My art quilting class is officially over, and I think it was a hit.  All the ladies wanted to know when we will be starting up again.  I just saw a grant opportunity for community based art on the south shore from the PEI Cultural Council, so I plan to apply for it and continue the classes.  I am thinking of a two-part workshop on surface design.  Having been on the Lowell Cultural Council for all those years has really taught me how to write a grant!  Thanks, Max!

The Gang's All Here!

Yesterday was Abby's birthday.  On Monday, Aaron called to tell me that he was planning to drive up and stay with us until school starts up again at the beginning of March.  Kathryn had planned to fly in from Montreal and stay until the beginning of March several months ago.  So we are very happy to have the entire family together at the same time for a change.  Dad had no idea Aaron was coming up.  It was to be a complete surprise.  I knew Aaron was leaving early in the morning to drive up.  Of course, it snowed all day steadily.  Around 7pm, I was beginning to get a little concerned, since I was not too pleased with the road conditions at that moment.  Abby and I sat and watched for cars on the road, and saw headlights.  We went to the porch and unlocked the door as we saw red tail lights on the lane.  Abby and I then went back into the living room and sat with Dad.  Aaron took off his shoes, walked into the house and stood right behind his father, who had no idea anyone was there, and said, "Hey, Dad, nice place you have here!"  What a great moment; what a great triple take!  Complete shock and surprise.

When we went to pick Kathryn up at the airport, Aaron hid in the trunk of the car.  (It is a small stationwagon-style car, never fear).  When she opened the hatchback to load her stuff in the back, Aaron jumped out and yelled, "Surprise!"  She just started laughing.

Today was the last day of the Clyde River Women's Institute art quilting and surface design series.  What a fun class it was!  I got to know a group of women in the community, and they made me feel very welcome.  The work they have produced is quite wonderful, and I know we will hang it proudly in the Cornwall Library Gallery space.  This morning's Guardian had a very nice article about the whole LEAP grant program across the Province, and our work was featured quite prominently.  You can read the entire article in the post below.  LEAP is such a great program.  It really gets people out to learn and socialize during the long, cold winter months.  I met so many wonderful people whom I would probably not have met otherwise.  We will be having our open house on April 10 with Julia Purcell's class, and the combined multimedia event includes poetry, journal readings, personal artwork and the art quilts from my course.  I hope we have an excellent turnout, because the women in these courses are very creative, very imaginative, and have a lot to say!

From April 20 to mid May, the art quilts will be exhibited in the Cornwall Library Gallery, and I am sure they will generate a lot of interest.  I hope we can continue with this work on some level, and I hope to teach the course again next year.

Charlottetown, The Guardian: Lifestyles | A leap of creative faith

Charlottetown, The Guardian: Lifestyles | A leap of creative faith  http://www.theguardian.pe.ca/index.cfm?sid=328336&sc=100

Happy Valentines Day, Chinese New Year and Islander Day!

I have been substitute teaching at Study Abroad Canada for the past few weeks.  This job is great fun!  I teach adults English as a Foreign Language.  These students range from beginners to advanced, and come from many different countries, including Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Afghanistan, Korea and Japan.  They are all very bright, well-educated and adventurous people with very interesting stories and viewpoints. 

I  just graduated from my settlement interpreter class at the PEI Association of Newcomers to Canada.  I am tutoring two adults students in English grammar. My Saturday afternoon fiber art class runs for two more weeks, and we are nearly finished with our projects, which will hang in the Provincial library gallery in Cornwall.  They are looking beautiful.  I will have pictures of them on this blog, so stay tuned!  The show opens April 20.  Of course, I am also three weeks into teaching my Legal Environment of Business course for UMassLowell.  On top of all of this, I have been taking an advanced drawing class with Seniors College at UPEI.  I have been very busy, but enjoying every day of it.

This is a big weekend all over the world.  Sunday is Valentines Day.  Monday is a day off here for everyone.  It is the monthly Monday holiday for PEI, called Islander Day.  I am not sure how it is celebrated, but I think it somehow involves staying on the Island and watching it snow.  This is the year all my American friends made fun of me for going north for the winter.  I guess the joke's on them.  Winter has been rather pleasant here, not terribly cold and with light, fluffy snow.  Down south has been blasted over and over with big snow storms this winter.  So I guess you never can tell!

Sunday is Valentines Day.  Monday is Chinese New Year.  Abby's birthday is next week.  A big holiday week for everyone!