These are dry times. Summer slips away faster than you can catch it – a dime down the drain. The sky hangs damp and icy today. Across the globe, powerful little men toy with the world’s future like it’s a game of chicken. Hurricanes have ravaged large parts of our earth. Families will suffer the effects for years to come. Terrorists won’t let London sleep.
This planet can get so ugly. So broken. So disordered. So many of our mirrors are shattered.
There is order in beauty. A divine order, I believe, but whatever your theology you can feel it. The affirmation of disparate parts falling into place.
Jennifer Berkenbosch’s Cultivar matters because the world needs beauty today. We need to be reminded that there is goodness. There is a solid bed beneath this wild river.
It's #artTalkTuesday again. And today's question is very, very fun.
We're going to build the ultimate Christmas wishlist for artists.
What gifts can you share that are perfect for that creative side in all of us? What new tool of the trade would you most like to see under the tree this Christmas?
Share your own list, or your suggestions, below, and help us make the ultimate Christmas wishlist for artists - so big Santa can read it from the Pole.
(bonus points if you can share links)
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Saturday, December 6 was a historic Bleeding Heart day. We opened our new space at 9132 118th ave. Our first show, Blue Christmas, welcomed guests to take in blown glass by Keith Walker, landscapes by Dawn Saunders Dahl and participation by ... you.
Were you there? Do you plan on attending? Please share any feedback or questions below.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Tomorrow morning BLUE CHRISTMAS, our first art installation in our new gallery space, opens to the public. To you. For you. In celebration, or perhaps 'in contemplation' is more fitting here, I've compiled a list of 13 finds to get you in the Blue Christmas spirit.
Curl up with a hot apple cider, grab a box of kleenex, then read it and weep.
Our new video tells a BLUE CHRISTMAS story in just 1 minute. Because it is quick, we think it's very sharable. So please watch, and then please share.
Our video features a song by Over The Rhine called Let It Fall. I'm so grateful for their permission to use this song for our show and video this year. They've put out a free-or-by-donation Christmas sampler called 'Even The Snow Turns Blue'. Could there be a more perfect soundtrack to BLUE CHRISTMAS? Get it now.
Click the player or visit this link.
You should also check out the entire new Christmas album from Over The Rhine, Blood Oranges in the Snow.
While we're on great Blue Christmas music, you should also pick up the new EP from Karla Adolphe, Lingering. It's haunting. It's beautiful. It's right here.
If you're more into Christmas music that is just straight-up depressing, and sometimes laughably so, you need to check out this truly terrible Songza playlist – 'For Shame: The Worst Christmas Songs of All Time'.
If you are looking to follow the Advent story this Christmas, might I suggest the Advent Gospel readings from the Revised Common Lectionary?
Speaking of Advent, The Christian Year just began. This alternate timeline focusses on major events of the Gospel story, and lays out major feast days of the Church. If you are interested in following 'Christian time' throughout the year, you really can't beat the Salt Of The Earth Calendar and international art collection.
But let's get back to here and now. BLUE CHRISTMAS is all about grief, and for my money no one has written more eloquently on grief than CS Lewis, after losing his wife Joy quickly to cancer. You can read his journey out of the dark in A Grief Observed.
“For in grief nothing "stays put." One keeps on emerging from a phase, but it always recurs. Round and round. Everything repeats. Am I going in circles, or dare I hope I am on a spiral?
But if a spiral, am I going up or down it?
How often -- will it be for always? -- how often will the vast emptiness astonish me like a complete novelty and make me say, "I never realized my loss till this moment"? The same leg is cut off time after time.”
― C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed
Let's lighten the mood a little, shall we? You just can't beat Blue Christmas in a black leather suit.
How about a Blue Jean Christmas?
Back on track, our BLUE CHRISTMAS show features original glasswork from glassblower Keith Walker. You can find more of Keith's excellent work here, and even sign up for a glass blowing workshop (the person Blue Christmas gift to yourself).
Our BLUE CHRISTMAS show will also feature a couple of paintings from Edmonton artist Dawn Saunders Dahl.
And last but certainly not least, speaking of Edmonton artists, you can't beat the Royal Bison Art + Craft Fair for original, local art and craft for Christmas gifts. The Fair's second Christmas weekend is this very weekend at 8426 Gateway Blvd. Put the smile of surprise on a loved one's face, support local makers, and make this Christmas a little less blue.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
On Saturday, November 23, Jim Robertson curated (and largely created) a worship experience called Reign of Christ the King. This 'Feast Day', in Christian tradition, focusses on the rule of Jesus in the world. What does it mean to say Jesus is king of all, when so many don't even believe in his existence, and especially not his everlasting life? What does it mean to say God is still in control, in the face of Ferguson and Ebola and the middle east? It means a lot that is perhaps best understood beyond reason and rationale – beyond the brain and into the heart. Through image, sound, language, dance and practice.
All of these elements were brought together at St.Paul's Anglican Church on November 23, when dozens of us came together to create an experience for 'one night only'.
I can't describe what that kind of experience is like – when artists get the keys to church for an evening. But I can show you. And I will, in 13 pictures and a video.
When one walks into the room, there may be confusion. Surprise. 'What the ...?'
You've got a lot of explaining to do, Jim Robertson. Here, Jim does explain, and does it well, walking us through the evening's activities and sharing words from his deep well.
The gathering is split into times of singing and reading and listening and sharing together, as well as time for a short dance. Then there is the bulk of the evening, the 'fat middle' where we are on our own to wander through a series of stations. This station, at the back, invites participants to pick up chalk and write (or draw) answers to some guiding questions. Questions like 'What do you see when you see Jesus in others?"
A poem written for the evening by EmTee (and featured in the video below), peers into the various names for Christ. So does the installation piece above, acting as another worship station.
Rocks feature heavily in Jim Robertson's Interface Worship experiences. This display is my favourite. I'm not alone. I once heard Jim recall the incredible story of finding these rocks, years apart and yet two halves of one whole. Behold The Blessings of Brokenness.
Another favourite piece of mine, this station features a large stone, the 'stone the builders rejected' crowned with some very painful looking thorns. It is accompanied, as all the stations are, with a written reflection, either curated or written by Jim Robertson.
In one of the evenings first movements, the congregation each brings a carnation up to lay at the bottom of this beautiful wooden cross. At the bottom of the cross regal robes are draped. It forms a beautiful backdrop to the rest of our evening together, and at the end of the night we will surround this scene for Communion.
Light plays a big part in the evening, and so it should, as Jesus has declared himself Light of the World. I can't get enough of this retro star lamp. If Jim ever wants to get rid of this piece, he knows where to find me.
Interface Worship uses prayer bowls heavily. These liturgical objects are accompanied by written meditations and invoke images of prayers rising like incense, burning in bowls.
The Prodigal Son story forms part of our evening. We are embraced by the king. We are robed in his righteousness. These colourful robes are put on by the participants near the end of the evening, as we gather round for communion. The colours also evoke 'the lilies of the file' - lilies which remind us not to worry, because if God dresses those flowers so beautifully, won't he also care for you and I?
These vintage windows rotate, and as they do, the view through them changes. Reflects. Refracts. Windows for a few newer stations at the back of the room, and offer rich metaphors.
And what would the evening be without these beautiful fabrics hanging above? These colours are rich with liturgical symbolism, and set the stage perfectly for the evening experience. Always look up.
Can you smell those fresh carnations? A reminder that engaging all five senses is a powerful way to connect with God and one another.
The simplicity of candles in the dark remains a favourite image of mine from this evening. Here, a trinity of candles shines small and unassuming. So low I have to nearly lay on the ground to photograph them. But if the Reign of Christ the King matters anywhere it is here, in the dark and low places.
I hope that from those 13 strands you can weave together something of the whole. And if not, perhaps this video will help. And if not, there's always another nterface Worship experience ahead.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
"Oh no!" mutters Keith Walker. Or maybe he exclaims something a bit more colourful.
The molten glass is dripping too fast. The weight of the teardrop pulls downward, stretching the droplet too long too soon. It could stop, frozen solid, any second. But it doesn't. It falls into its cradle and breaks. The piece is ruined.
We've been blowing glass teardrops all day for the upcoming installation, Blue Christmas. Despite the repetition of forging 60-some nearly indistinguishable teardrops, every piece is a challenge. Unpredictable. Uncontrollable.
Less than ten minutes later we are back at that critical moment. Another chance to get it right. The heavy bottom of the teardrop sinks fast. I'm tense. I blow on the bottom of the drop with a 'sofietta' to cool it down. Keith torches the stem to melt it faster. He knows when to blow the torch and when to lay back. His mastery shows. We dance with the molten glass until it harden back to its solid state. This teardrop is perfect. Or as close to perfect as we can hope to get.
Tension. Timing. Knowing when to push forward and when to pull back. When to give and when to demand more. This process is packed with metaphors.
Blue Christmas, our first show in our new home, opens December 6. The installation will create a space for grief in a time declared joyful. Grieving needs space and time. Sorrow bears weight. Like a forming teardop, it can be heavy. In its intensity–its immediate heat–that heaviness can pull us down too hard and fast. It can break us.
But we can learn to dance with sorrow. To give it space and time. To know when to close the book and move forward. We can even draw beauty from it.
In grief we all become fragile. For a time brittle. Once passed through fire, stronger. Like this glass teardrop we have made.
I'm still processing much of what I learned in Keith Walker's glass studio yesterday.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
You can follow these conversations easily with the #TalkbackTuesday hashtag. You can comment below, or post to your favourite social network with that hashtag - which will really help us keep the conversation rolling. That's my goal on Tuesdays - to get people talking about art, wherever they may be online.
I visited a Marcel Duchamp exhibition in Paris. But it was of his paintings (he's known as an experimental/installation artist and scultpor mostly). I took in the Dali Museum, which showcases his sculptures (he's mostly known as a surrealist painter).
So many of us have side pursuits. I'm going to share one of mine, and I'm curious to hear about yours.
Bonus points for pictures or links!
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Do you know what a blessing it is to have artists grace your living room, bringing their brightest beauty through your door? To have your kids watch, wide eyed, as a painter reveals his new canvas, or a poet shares her verse?
I know that blessing, and I am grateful. I'm grateful for the 20 people who joined me last night for what may be the last ArtLuck we host in my living room. My family will miss hosting as we move to our new space, but what a finale.
For those who couldn't make it out for our ArtLuck, those who want to delve deeper into what was shared, and for the curious, here are 13 moments from our November 13 ArtLuck.
At 6:25, before anyone arrives, the house is warm. Ready. Quiet before the beautiful noise. There is something about that moment, waiting for friends and strangers to arrive. You don't know who will come, or when they will arrive. At an ArtLuck, you hope there will be enough food, and enough art, to go around.
There is always enough.
This photo reminds me of the beginning of The Friendly Giant. 'Here's a chair for two to curl up in.'
Wenda is first to present. No stranger to the Bleeding Heart Art Space, Wenda Salomons has shared her ethereal pinhole photos, and charming Instagrams, with us before.
On this night, she begins our evening with two blessings written by John O'Donohue.
You can find his book, To Bless The Space Between Us, at the EPL here.
We were indeed blessed. A perfect way to begin our evening.
You can see Wenda's work at http://wendasalomons.com
Next up was a newcomer to the ArtLuck scene, but an old friend of Bleeding Heart and Alberta Avenue. Photographer Rebecca Lippiat has strayed from her more commercial photography work for a series of well-planned images focusing on menacing red figures.
As we pass the lap-top around, these evocative images draw out varied feelings and associations, which makes for great conversation.
Image by Rebecca Lippiat
Discover more of this project at http://rebeccalippiatt.com/?s=monsters+in+my+head
Edward Van Vliet, in classic Edward style, is armed and dangerous with art references. He points out a resonance with the work of Joel Peter Witkin. His work is certainly fantastical, and very well executed. His images are often also difficult to digest and controversial.
I am reminded of some works by Fritz Liedkl I saw at the Glen Workshop two summers ago.
View Rebecca's Fine Art Photography at http://rebeccalippiatt.com
View Rebecca's Lifestyle Photography at http://dragonflyphotography.ca
Edward himself is up next, with 3 new poems. It's exciting to hear Edward's recent surge of poetry. While I cannot play any audio for you here (because I have none), I can share, with Edward's permission, his new poem "Forgiveness"
I
it was not at all
what I expected. nothing
really changed.
not then.
later, however –
later it was all
different. later,
there was recognition
of loss. the violence
of assumption
lost. something
we both took
from each other.
yours was the better bargain.
II
at that moment
all i felt was surprise.
that you didn’t stop
wouldn’t stop
when I asked, stop
i carried all that
unspoken
for years,
the weight
of that exchange
growing larger.
then forgotten.
or ignored.
III
i recognize the weight
of chains, what burdens
i carried forward.
i remember
how sharp
the hook, how deeply
buried, sweetly disbursed.
this is how we share
and in this sharing
i carry it away.
all that waiting.
Read more of Edward's work, and discover his visual and installation art at http://etechne.blogspot.ca/
Marcie is a flurry of thoughts, inspiration and emotion, as she shares where her art and her heart have been leading her lately. She shows us some beautiful books, including I Saw a Peacock With a Fiery Tail.
She also reads a gorgeous passage to us from The Rest of The Earth by William Haywood Henderson.
Marcie's own piece is in a new style - fine-point drawing in black and white covers the matte, while bright, bold colours splash in similar, but less controlled, watercolour patterns within. We all love this piece, which captures Marcie's passion for creativity perfectly.
You can find Marcie's work at Papercastle.ca
Erin and Megan from Hope Mission's Tegler Youth Centre are with us tonight. They share opportunities for artists to impact the lives of kids with limited access to art inspiration, education and materials. Even with that limited access, these kids are showing their talent, as we see from sample works Erin and Megan pass around.
These talented, creative kids are looking for mentors. Perhaps you can help?
If you have a creative gift you'd like to share with a small group of kids who need positive influences and opportunities, contact Megan (for elementary age kids) or Erin (for youth).
You can find more information on our site here.
Jared Robinson is a fitting follow to the art of the Hope kids, because his work has such joy and youthful energy. And a squid.
Jared's new painting is awesome, with wit and layered meaning. He presents a very strong visual that we all want to see painted large on a wall somewhere.
Anyone need a mural? Send this guy a challenge!
Discover Jared's work at http://jaredrobinson.ca
Michelle has so many creative interests, and is always looking to experiment, grow and have fun making art. She is most often a writer of poetry and fantasy, but tonight she brings us a drawing made at, and of, the Alberta Legislature. Or more specifically, two columns framing a portion of the grounds.
Not able to stop her creativity for even an evening, Michelle also snaps photos on her new camera throughout the night.
You can hear Michelle read her poetry on her podcast, The King's Poetry, on Soundcloud.
https://soundcloud.com/michelle-earl
Read Michelle's blog at http://michelleearl.wordpress.com
Our youngest ArtLuck participant of the night (but not our youngest ever), is Quetzal. Attending with his mom (up next), Quetzal shows a drawing he has done of a 'Mech', which, he explains, is a type of robot that people wear to give them extra abilities. The drawing is pretty awesome. Perhaps Quetzal has a drawing-enhancing Mech of his own?
Night Bird, by Penny Torres
Penny, new to our ArtLucks, brings two very different works to show. One was extremely tactile - with dozens of small plastic creatures fused to the canvas in bright ordered chaos. It reminds me of the work of Chris Millar. The other is a painting of a bird with a wily eye, full of expression and mystery.
You can discover more of Penny's work on her website at http://eloovias.wordpress.com.
Dan brings us back to the raw power of language with his two poems. We note how closely Dan knits spirituality with the body. There is no division between the spiritual the physical in his poems. Edward Van Vliet is reminded of the metaphysical poets, like John Donne. He is also reminded of Leonard Cohen, and any time the spirit meets the sensuality of the body, how can anyone not be reminded of Cohen?
You can read Dan's work on his website at http://thedanloweshow.wordpress.com
There is another author in our midst, and this one can also dance the tango. We don't get a tango demonstration from Aydan Dunnigan, but discovered that Aydan's work also traverses the territory between body and spirit. Aydan tells us a bit about his journey out of a dark, shameful view of the body and sensuality, discovering a way to dance towards hope.
I am intrigued, and more so when Aydan reads from his book Trauma to Tango. The writing is tight and engaging. Funny and relatable. Thankfully, Aydan is ready with copies to sell.
I buy one, and intend to dive into Aydan's story very soon. You can get your copy at http://www.traumatotango.com.
I'm fairly certain that Adam Tenove has been to more ArtLuck's than anyone. Each visit from Adam brings new work, exploring new territory. And a new culinary experiment. Thankfully, Adam's experiments turn out very well.
This ArtLuck offering (in addition to cookie pizza), is a new painting in a series. These works explore still, abandoned Edmonton spaces. This space, an immediately recognizable LRT tunnel, gains new significance through the care and attention of Adam's brush.
There is a long conversation about whether or not we want to see people or action in the scene, and why that is. Adam asks for feedback, as the piece is not done. He gets that, and I look forward to seeing the end result.
You can discover Adam's work, and his writing about art, at http://ellipsisartcollective.com.
And there you have it. Another fantastic ArtLuck in 13 moments. Let's do it again in the new year, shall we?
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
Hope Mission's Kids in Action Program connects with kids from low-income homes and challenging situations, so that today's kids won't become the homeless and addicted of tomorrow.
"we recognize the importance of connecting children to the Arts and desire to give them the opportunity to explore and develop their skills and interest in that area. As such, we want to connect children to people who are willing to share and pass on their passion for the Arts.
We are piloting a program this year at KIA called Kids In Action’s Emerging Artists. The program consists of six week sessions (fall, winter, and spring) on Tuesdays, after school. We are looking for 3 artists: one artist for each 6 week session. Each artist would come once a week for 6 weeks to teach (through the use of art projects) a group of 10 children in Grades 4-6 about a specific art medium. "
If you are interested, download the PDF and take the next steps.
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
This week, we're changing up 'ArtsTalkTuesday'. Pertly because the phrase could also be interpreted as 'ArtStalkTuesday', which is creepy, but mostly because of what my intention with this has been along - to hear from you. But you are not always here, on this blog. You are everywhere. On social media, mostly. Twitter and Facebook and Pinstagram and ...
So we're bringing the conversation there. And maybe it will move there entirely. Let me know if that would be a loss to you. Last week there was some great conversation on where we create. Mostly, it happened on Facebook.
You can follow these conversations easily with the #TalkbackTuesday hashtag. You can comment below, or post to your favourite social network with that hashtag - which will really help us keep the conversation rolling. That's my goal on Tuesdays - to get people talking about art, wherever they may be online.
It is Remembrance Day - a day we pause to reflect upon, and honour, those who have fought for our freedom in Canada. If you're like me, you've never been anywhere near combat, and it is only through the power of art - storytelling, film, painting, photography, poetry - that you have experienced war.
What piece, or pieces, have left the greatest impact, moved you the most or taught you the most, about war?
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.”
To achieve great things, two things are needed; a plan, and not quite enough time.
Leonard Bernstein (via 99u)
Good books tell the truth, even when they're about things that never have been and never will be. They're truthful in a different way
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,' - that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
So please, oh please, we beg, we pray,
go throw your TV set away,
and in its place you can install,
a lovely bookshelf on the wall.
If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.
Ivan Turgenev
And when people cease to believe that there is good and evil
Only beauty will call to them and save them
So that they still know how to say: this is true and that is false.
Czeslaw Milosz, One more day from New and Collected Poems, 1931-2001 (via Edward Van Vliet)
If the word of God were proclaimed in the modern world no one would hear it; there is too much noise.
Therefore create silence.
Soren Kierkagaard
What is the point of being alive if you don't at least try to do something remarkable?
You use a glass mirror to see your face; you use works of art to see your soul.
George Bernard Shaw, Back to Methuselah
... the one thing you can do right now is keep going. And when you keep going, eventually, you will be able to look at a piece of your work, step back and say,
“That’s beautiful.”
Ian Harber, writing for Socality
The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.
Marcel Proust
You have something to say–why not say it here? Email your blog post idea to dave@bleedingheartart.space and let's chat.
