Off To Niagara Falls

I'm off to Niagara Falls for a couple of days for a work conference, hope to have some cool photos to share when I get back as I am taking the good camera.  But I won't be getting any shots like this:

Photo courtesy of www.fallsniagara.info

although the weather is supposed to be markedly cooler for the next two or three days.
I haven't been to the Falls since May 2010 when I went with Kate McKinnon, who was visiting from Arizona and had never been.  You read about our visit here and here. 

Alas, I don't expect to be visiting any antique stores this time around - for one thing, we're all travelling down together on a couple of buses, so I won't have wheels of my own to travel about and for another, we have a jam packed schedule with little or no free time.  But that's okay, it should be fun. 

Oh yeah, and informative, sure, very important work things to be learned.

Two Are Better Than One

When it comes to cameras that is.  If I didn't have my trusty point and shoot nearby, I wouldn't have been able to snap this photo of Beans this morning as she rested her head on my DSLR while I was watching the latest video for the Supplies Me online class I am taking with Jane Davenport (which is amazing, by the way, it's not too late for you to join the fun!)

She actually had her eyes closed, trying to nap, but opened them just as I prepared to take the photo. (Notice the jumble of journals, gesso, pens/markers and paint containers surrounding her - yes, I am messy as I create!)

Maggie was hanging about as well, equally nonchalant about the whole thing.

She'd much rather be helping me type emails than watch videos, that's just the kind of laptop cat she is.

In the Presence of Royalty

Just a quick post tonight, as I'm just home from the September art journalling club meeting at Bizzy B and it was an exhausting day.

This month's theme was royalty. Here's how my page looks so far:

I painted the background royal purple.  Added a picture of a model (Christy Turlington, who still needs to be altered so it doesn't look like her) in a pose that suited the wearing of a crown.  Collaged bits of dictionary pages (using the definitions of "majesty" and "royalty") with pieces of the Union Jack and added pictures of Prince William and Princess Catherine (we can just call her Kate) as the circles on the points of the crown.  I really liked the Shakespeare quote.  Not sure I like the little gold crown (made using a Tim Holtz mask and Viva Pearl Pen gold) in the bottom left corner.  I am tempted to paint over it, although the ladies in the group (now officially known as The Journal Junkies) voted in favour of keeping it. 

The page doesn't feel done to me yet.  I was going to doodle on it more but couldn't find my black Sharpie extra fine paint pen after several attempts to find it (the horror! I suspect one of my furry housemates has absconded with it and it might be reposing under a piece of furniture at the moment).  There was nothing to do but head to Michaels at lunchtime today to buy another one. 

I'll keep working on it. That's the beauty of a journal page, you can keep playing as long as you want until it feels right, until it feels done.

9/11 +10

I am here, remembering that horrific day 10 years ago.  I've been watching the 9/11 memorial service on TV for the past few hours.  The images of that day are still hard to watch, the grief still clearly etched into the hearts of all of us and especially those that lost loved ones on that day as the planes crashed and the buildings fell.  Hearing the names of the victims is a poignant reminder that the lives of thousands were affected so much more intimately than those of us who just watched it from the safety of our own homes.

I was at work that morning, at my desk when someone said a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade towers.  Our office was open concept, so we were all sitting in cubicles next to each other, making it easy for us to talk to each other and share the disbelief over the images we were seeing on the Internet.  I don't remember much about the rest of that day, how long we stayed at the office.  I think eventually we were sent home, our employers knowing that people would want to be with their families and that no work would be done that day.  I know I went to a friend's house around dinner time, where a bunch of us gathered to watch the continuing news coverage.  Somehow I hadn't had the TV on before then so when I first saw footage of the plane flying into the North Tower, I thought it was a computer generation and I remarked on how well done it was, that they could re-create that image so well.  That's when someone told me it was actual footage of it happening and I can still recall very clearly how shocked I was to realize that's what we were seeing. It still pains my heart every time I see it, and there have been many times since then.

Today, I am also reminded of a trip to New York City I took in October 2006 with my friends Debbie and Bryan, who were visiting from Australia.  None of us had ever been to the Big Apple before and one of the places we were all anxious to visit was the World Trade Centre site, and I took these photos during that visit.  We were each very touched to visit that place five years after the fact, the images still poignant, the memorials still present.  It still means a lot to me today and I expect it always will.

On that trip, I had my picture taken with these firefighters - the epitome of handsome and brave.  If there's one thing we all learned on 9/11 in a painfully graphic fashion, it was a heightened awareness of the type of risks emergency personnel, not just firefighters but all first responders, face every day just doing their job. I for one am very grateful for all their efforts, there in New York City that day and all around the world every day before and since then.

What I also remember from that fateful day in September 2001, what stays with me most strongly today, are the images and the stories of people helping others in both big and small ways that day and the days that followed, from Canadians in Gander, Newfoundland who invited airplane travellers into their homes when their planes were grounded there to those who put their own safety at risk, and in the case of the passengers of Flight 93 who gave their lives, in order to save the lives of strangers.  The triumph of the human spirit, the courage, the bravery, the selflessness of all of these individuals is extraordinary and an example to us all that we can each reach out to help others every day in small ways that can change lives in a positive way.  That's how each of us fight back against acts of terrorism every time we do reach out to another with love instead of hate.

Farewell, Mrs. Sue

I'm going to a memorial service today.  A family friend passed away a few weeks ago from cancer at the too young age of 52. 

We called her "Mrs. Sue" because her sister-in-law (a.k.a "Miss Sue") also had the same name, so we needed a way to distinguish between the two Susans. 

Here's how her obituary reads:
"Susan was the beloved wife and best friend of Ray for 29 years and the cherished mother of Andrew, Simon, Carly and Oliver. Deeply missed by her mother Liz and sisters Jane (Marty) and Carol. Dear daughter-in-law of Dorothy and sister-in-law to Susan (Steve) and Steven (Alison). Aunt to Chris, Graham, Derek, Claire, Paul and Erin. Predeceased by her father Joe (2008) and father-in-law Fred (2003). Treasured friend to many, she will be missed by the countless people that she touched throughout her life.

Susan was born in Peterborough and spent her childhood in Brockville, Ontario. She graduated from the University of Toronto in 1981 with a degree in Pharmacy and in 1983 with an MBA. After traveling through Europe in 1985 with her husband Ray, they moved to Lindsay to join the family business and raise a family.

Susan’s interests were diverse. She loved travelling, cooking, mountain biking, running, snowboarding and reading. She was an avid gardener and long standing member of the Fortnightly Club.

She was passionate about physical education and fitness for all children and spearheaded the Alexandra School Gymnasium fundraising campaign. Susan devoted herself to launching her four children and had just begun to focus her energy upon herself when breast cancer struck in 2009. She took on the challenge of beating the disease with determination, her big smile and a positive outlook. Sue maintained her characteristic organization, grace and dignity throughout. She was a formidable Scrabble player to the end. Susan will be missed for her energetic spirit, generosity, intelligence and compassion. She embraced life and lived it large.

She was amazing."

As far as I am concerned, this is the best kind of obituary to leave behind.  One that describes a life lived large and passionately and as far as I can tell, without wasting any time and fully enjoying all of the opportunities for adventure that came her way.  It's something for which we all should strive.

While we will all miss Sue and no one can deny what a tragedy it is to have lost her, she certainly was an amazing person and all our lives are richer for having known her.

Playing with Gesso

As part of the first week's lesson in Jane Davenport's "Supplies Me" class (you can read about it here), I've been experimenting with gesso (rhymes with "jello"), which the back of the bottle describes as a "thick white primer that seals, stiffens and provides surface "tooth" for painting surfaces."  It also comes in black and clear.

I've discovered that my rarely used stove top makes a good working surface, it's just the right height.

I layered different things underneath to create texture - textured wallpaper, masking tape, lace, tulle, random bits of paper.

Beans helped me pick out the tulle:

I made little swirls using the small foam brush I used to spread the gesso.

I played around with both black and white gesso, which ended up being grey in certain areas but that's not such a bad thing. It took me a while to realize that the black gesso is very thin, like acrylic paint, while the white gesso is thick because the black covers easily and you can't see through it, while the white needs to thick so you can layer it on for as little or as much coverage as you would like.

This page is now reading to journal on.  At first, I wasn't sure what I was going to do next but now I have an idea.  I'll share the finished creation with you when it's done.

Goodbye August

As if we couldn't tell by the suddenly cool temperatures and grey skies the past few days, we've moved out of August and into September, which means it's time to flip the page on the calendar.

I didn't really want to say goodbye to Coda, the clearly happy mutt that graced the August page of the Toronto Humane Society's 2011 calendar - his smiling face had been making me smile me up all month!

But when I flipped the page, I fell in love with little Rex and knew I would be quite content to look at his adorable little face for the next few weeks, even if time is marching steadily on towards fall and it is cool and cloudy outside.