Early Days of Summer

The month of June has been full of a number of marvellous thing. Most recently, I was pleased to be able to visit FibreArts in Madeira Park (on the Sunshine Coast), for the opening of the exhibit Architextiles. The yurts gallery was the ideal venue in which to exhibit five pieces from each of six artists. The interpretations of the theme varied widely, from inukshuks to cod fish to gargoyles, but each grouping formed a cohesive whole - each was an example of "working in a series". I had never been to the yurts before, but it was well worth the two ferry rides and very long day to do so. I would highly

 recommend it to anyone venturing up the Sunshine Coast this summer. Most of the month of June has been spent over on Hornby Island, though, where I have gathered images, both in my mind and in photographs. I'm not sure where they might crop up in my work, but am certain that observing keenly and just be-ing time is just as important to the creative process as making art. It's as though in so doing, I am training myself to really see. Sometimes I chose to put the camera away, and just be in the moment - watching a pod of killer whales swimming close in beside the ferry on our way to Powell River

on Saturday, or drinking in the scarlet and magenta of the sun setting that night, hearing the birdsong of at least 6 different birds early in the morning, gathering rocks with my grand-daughter on the shore, and later, watching her sturdy little naked body going running across the hard packed sand and into the water at Tribune Bay. All of it is part of living a creative life, and I love it. I wish each of you a summer full of great adventures and small wonders.