Gob-smacked -- and Grinning! :-)

I just had a wonderful two-day visit in Calgary.  I go down every six months or so to see my lovely dental hygienist and her boss, my handsome dentist, and I'm happy to report all's well on the dental front.  :-)

While there, I visited with several friends.  D and I went to Out of Hand, where I always have fun browsing the fabrics, magazines, paints, pens, threads... you name it!  I came away with some fabric for my Annual Christmas Project (wink, wink) and some Valdani hand-dyed perle cotton for yummy grass embroidery.  D spoiled me with the latest issue of Stitch magazine and the summer issue of Where Women Create.  Both are a real treat for this gal from the boonies!

I stayed over with Sha-and-Mary, and the former and I went out for a scrumptious dinner at Joey's (Calgary)...Shrimp with pesto on flat bread, quinoa and barley salad, sinfully rich chocolate mousse cake (aka "Happy Endings") and red wine...mmmmm...

S is taking her C&G from Linda Kemshall, so we spent a happy time looking at her samples, sketchbooks and work thus far in the program.  She's a very creative soul with a very different vision and view of the world than mine, so our artistic 'boxes' are stretched even as our friendship deepens over these times together.

This morning, arlee and I met at a gallery inside Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD, for short), to view "Indigo", a new exhibit that arose out of the latest residency of her friends in "Contextural".  It's small as exhibits go, but the pieces are an eclectic and interesting mix that, for the most part, works well.  If your in and around Calgary between now and Saturday afternoon, you might have a quick look.

After thoroughly digesting the show, arlee and I made tracks for a cafe on the SAIT campus where we lunched over more conversation about art, our respective activities and aspirations, and our beloved furry friends -- feline and canine -- and generally got to know each other even better (we've only met 3 times and only twice had time to really talk).  It's a bit of "Mutual Admiration Society" but it's wonderful to have face-to-face friends with whom to share.  :-)

After our lunch I headed up to Olds to meet with Deb, the owner/manager of Different Strokes Art Gallery.  I walked in with 3 large pieces:

Tree Line (c) 2013

Trio (c) 2012

 and

Abandoned: House I (c) 2012

Plus a mid-sized piece that I'd matted to 11" x 14"  (no photo, but it's a still life hand-stitched on hand-dyed fabric), and eight miniatures (the new ones and 2 from April of this year).

With the exception of the "Abandoned" piece -- which she really liked but would prefer mounted differently because she said her customers wouldn't like the fraying linen background -- Deb took them all.  We signed a contract for six months, and she said she'd have them up in a show of new work in late October or early November.

I'm going to explore her ideas for the "rejected" piece...and believe it will find a home someday, one way or the other.  She said if I re-framed it, she'd be interested in seeing it again.  :-)   

So...

Now it's back to work to finish my current 15 x 15 piece...and make a passel of new miniatures, as I have nary a one left in my sewdio!!

Do I mind?  Not in the least!  :-)

An Artist's Afternoon Out

"Dragon Vest" - Mona Ball

I''m posting from Edmonton, where I'm visiting my kids for overnight.  Saw two exhibits this afternoon -- the wonderful weaving, spinning, knitting, felting and hand-dyes from the HWSDA (Hand-Weavers, Spinners & Dyers of Alberta) at the Visual Arts gallery at Harcourt House, and a few blocks over, work in the 2 galleries and shop of the Alberta Craft Council.  Man-o-man, how I wanna have a show there someday!!

(L) Lavoie; (R) Nowak-Petrucci

Work in the Feature Gallery at the ACC was tapestry/weaving by several artists, show-casing Jane Kidd, plus the graduates of the jewelry and metal program at ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) in Calgary.  Upstairs in the Discovery Gallery were works by two glass artists, James Lavoie and Leah Nowak-Petrucci. 

Then there was the ever-lovely and inspiring work of my SAQA colleague, Margie Davidson, in the ACC Gallery shop...

The HWSDA show closes August 11; the ACC Feature Gallery exhibits run through September 29 (tapestries and jewelry) and the Discovery Gallery exhibit runs through September 8.  If you're in the Edmonton area in time, do go to see them -- they're a great Artist's Date!