Ninety Minutes

in the presence of Barbara J. West, Ilse Anysas-Salkauskas and their work...and I very nearly succumbed (yet again) to The Mean Greenies, about which I recently wrote on the SAQA Yahoo conversation site, thus:

Having read of  recent successes...I decided a blanket -- but heart-felt -- CONGRATULATIONS! needed to be posted.  :-)

Not having time to respond to each one individually, I wanted to express how, nonetheless, I get a little thrill when I read about these events in the lives of my colleagues.

It wasn't always so...and I confess I still have to beat down the Mean Greenies (envy) from time to time! LOL! However, beat them down I do, as I have learned what it takes to enter competitions and calls for entry, and have these thoughts about it.

1.  Not taking rejection personally is difficult. Do it anyway. It's generally not about *you*.
2.  Celebrate with others always. One day they will celebrate with you.
3.  Decide how you want to 'get your work Out There' decision, whether it be entering lots of shows, posting on your blog or website, having an online shop, teaching, going international with your entries or sticking closer to home, submitting to galleries, submitting to quilt shows, being part of a challenge group on line or in your area -- and BE HAPPY with your decision. Don't let the way someone else chooses to 'get his/her work out there' determine what's right for you at any given time. (NOTE: This is the Biggie for me.)
4. Reserve the right to change your mind -- and the way you put your work 'out there'. :-)
5. Learn from the experiences of others, but remember your Art Journey is YOUR Art Journey and can be travelled by no one but you.
6. Enjoy the ride!

See #3 up there?  See it?

I very nearly waffled on that one yesterday afternoon, yessiree.  

"Hanging by a Thread" is powerful, provocative, occasionally poetic.  Barbara's installations are beautifully constructed, mainly hand-knit fabric combined with unusual materials, and they have an edge to them -- a mixture of tongue-in-cheek with "Whoa!", once you figure out what she's saying.  Ilse's wall pieces are equally beautifully made, with deliberate decisions re: colour and design, combined with exquisite quilting; it is in her artist's statements that you find the sub-text behind each piece.  There was a trio expressing the inter-relationships between generations of women in a family that very nearly reduced me to tears.

I had only brief opportunities to speak with Barbara and Ilse, both together and separately, as the gallery began to fill with family, friends, and other viewers for the opening reception.  They told me this work was the result of a three-year collaboration that very nearly didn't come together because, for a variety of reasons, Life got in the way, as it is wont to do.  They talked of getting a grant, doing research and conducting focus groups on their theme, which began as a study of the passing on of learning and tradition between generations.

Grants? Research?  Focus groups?

When I got home I dashed off e-mails about this process to three artists I admire and respect: Lesley Turner, Vickie Newington and my former C&G tutor, Linda Kemshall.  Lesley has a BA (Hons Textiles) from a university in the UK, as well as C&G certificate(s), and Vickie is also a C&G graduate.  I wanted to hear what each had to say about research, based on their experience and education.

Most likely due to the time difference (it's much later in the UK than it is here), Linda's response is already in my in-box.  She said -- and I quote:

"C&G are very hot on research especially when it comes to the higher levels of study. At the highest, Level 3 diploma level there is a complete unit devoted to a research project of the student's personal choice. Research is defined as a systematic study of a subject in order to learn all about it. The findings of the in depth study are recorded in some way that is useful to the user of the discovered information. Of course research can be extremely wordy but where the research is meant to inform choices in a creative pursuit it is probably necessary to make the research as visual as possible. Depending on the choice of subject I guess this is sometimes easier than others."

She added:

"The difficulty with research is the unknown! there is not much point in undertaking research to prove a theory or back up an idea you already have. You should just take a subject that fascinates you and be prepared to spend a lot of time understanding everything about it. There is no magic formula - just thorough investigation. There is also no need for much in the way of expense - your internet connection can provide lots of the information you need and trips to the library, museums or other places of interest will provide the rest depending on your choice of subject."  (emphasis mine)

And then she reminded me:

"You write as though you have never researched a subject but in fact you did that when you made the museum quilt for the course. Think of research as simply a quest for information and you'll realise it's not anything extraordinary. My own work always relies on research - I never work intuitively - it's always based on knowledge gained from prior research although that research may have been undertaken a long while ago." (emphasis mine)

Well, duh.  

And then I read the latest Guest Post over at Abbey of the Arts and was again reminded that as a "Monk in the World" and an artist, I am to follow my own path.  As Gretchen Ruben would say, I am to "BE Margaret".  

And wasn't that what I'd so recently said in my SAQA Yahoo post?

Research?  I've done that! 

Explore a topic deeply?  I've done that!

Have a subject (or two) that fascinates me such that I'm prepared to spend a lot of time understanding it?  I have that!

And grants and focus groups are wonderful things, but using those resources won't make me a better artist.  Only practice will do that.

Finally, my current Art Journey is not calling me to make thought-provoking installations, or to move someone to tears in the way the work of Barbara and Ilse can do.

Lessons learned?

Continue the Artist's Dates.  Visit exhibits that with provoke, prod, pull me outside my comfort zone.  Encourage others to do so too.  Continue to take notes, to learn, to seek advice, to study -- in directions appropriate to my Art Journey -- and get into the studio and make art!

Oh... You want to see photos of the exhibit?  I was permitted to take some, but they are for my own use, inspiration and learning.  I'm not going to share them here.  You'll just have to visit "Hanging by a Thread" for yourself.  It's up through September 28.  That's in the Feature Gallery, Alberta Craft Council, 10186 - 106 Street, Edmonton, Alberta -- Mondays through Saturdays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (6 p.m. on Thursdays).

My Own Calcutta

This week I've been reading Happier at Home, Gretchen Rubin's sequel to her popular tome, The Happiness Project.  If you've not read either book, seeing those titles, you might dismiss her books as yet another couple of 'feel good' additions to the plethora of self-help material already on the shelves.  If this is indeed the case, I urge you to take a second look.  There's much more to them than meets the eye.  In fact, as I read I've been wishing I were as intentional about my own examen -- looking at my own thoughts, words and behaviours -- as she has been learning to be over the course of her study of the cultivation of one's own happiness.  And while Ms. Rubin is careful not to tout any particular religion or theology, her work seems to me to carry kernels of faith within it; the practices she explores and undertakes in search of ways to bring richness and joy to her own life and that of her immediate family echo in practical ways the words of the Judeo-Christian scriptures and the Rule of Benedict, to name just a couple of foundational spiritual resources.

Which brings me to the subject of today's post.  This morning I was reading the chapter entitled "April: Neighbourhood", in which Ms. Rubin writes about her efforts to "concentrate on the sense of home [she] felt outside [her] apartment."  She describes broadening her outlook, first by 'being a tourist without leaving home', then by 'practicing non-random acts of kindness' -- specific acts for people with whom she had at least a passing acquaintance -- and then by reaching out to support a particular cause in which she believed: as Sr. Teresa of Calcutta would say, "her own Calcutta".

I too, have "my own Calcutta" -- and it's Type 1 Diabetes, the death-by-inches illness that took my husband's life in 2006 -- and more specifically, the work of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) in Canada.  

Today is World Diabetes Day -- observed because it is the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, the Canadian doctor and medical scientist who, with Sir Charles Best, worked to discover insulin, its role in the body, and how it could be used to prolong the lives of those suffering from certain forms of diabetes mellitus.

My husband was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes around age 7, and once put on a regimen of insulin injections and dietary monitoring, was able to live a seemingly normal life.  Trust me; it's not "normal" the way those of us without this affliction experience it!  And the disease continues to take its toll on the body -- often unobserved from the exterior -- over time.  I say this regularly and I'll say it again: insulin is not a cure! Neither are transplants -- for someone has to die before his/her insulin-producing islet cells can be taken from his/her pancreas and donated to someone in need.

And the person who's the beneficiary of that wonderful gift still has a long row to hoe: he or she is on anti-rejection drugs going forward, which have a serious impact on his/her immune system, and he or she may still need additional insulin injections from time to time to combat even the common cold.  (I learned this first hand over the past couple of years as I've watched a friend receive his transplant...and enter an entirely
different battle for life and health.)

(An aside: if you haven't already, I urge you to sign the organ donor portion of your driver's license, or whatever your jurisdiction requires, and ensure that your family knows you want to donate whatever organs possible in the event of your untimely demise.  Your gifts could save a multitude of lives!)

So...what do I do for "my own Calcutta"?  I've signed my organ donor authorization and my children are well aware where I stand on this issue.  I've named the JDRF as a beneficiary in my will.  I try to participate annually in either an activity to raise funds, and I make at least one monetary donation each year.

In mid-December, you'll find me in the Edmonton City Centre Mall, behind a desk at Guest Services, greeting passers-by and offering to gift-wrap their Christmas parcels, with proceeds going to JDRF.  This is, I believe, the second year that the Mall has chosen JDRF as its charity of choice for this venture, organized through the Edmonton branch of the North Central Alberta NWT Region of JDRF.  If you're in the Mall on December 18 between noon and 4 p.m., c'mon by and test my wrapping skills on your purchases.  Weather permitting (it's a long drive up Highway 21 from here to Edmonton), I'll see you there!  :-)