Searching for St. Nick

Now, I know what you're thinking.. this will be a blog on some sappy Christmas tale. Incorrect. This is a story of a man that i barely know, but deserves to be written about.
There is an older man that often comes into the gallery, usually on the quietest of days. He is Polish, with a thick accent,and just recently i found out that his name is Nick. He stands a strong 5'5",83 years young, round with a smile (despite a few missing teeth) that brightens the room. He has always had such a great draw to the work of the late Doris McCarthy; at least a draw to her work or the fact that a woman older than him had such an amazing career. He would come in and ask questions like "dis artiste ladey .. she is still alife?" At the time he asked that question, i said yes (she passed away just last week at the age of 100). He asked questions of her life, and to me profoundly said, "when she arrives at da gates, she will have such a story to teyl St. Peter and St. Paul".

With every question he asked about Doris McCarthy's life, travels and art, i asked about his. I found this man so curious, i had to find out more. He revealed that he came to Canada when he was 17, alone he found himself in Winnipeg for the first years in Canada. He told me it was much too cold there and moved to Boston, but didn't like it there either and found himself in Toronto until now. He worked his whole life, in a factory. He didn't marry or have a family. He said he had many friends, but never trusted their knowledge in art or culture. He never returned to Poland, when i asked him why he said "it would be too hard to return, no matter what it would be changed". His stories of his life in Canada, and his search for belonging hear was fascinating.

Over the past two years his visits became less and less, and anytime we had a show on for Doris McCarthy i noticed that he hadn't stopped in. I did get worried, i wondered if i would be able to track him down, only knowing his first name and neighbourhood.. almost an impossible task in downtown Toronto.
Then, finally about a year since i had last seen him, he came in. I literally jumped from my desk chair, greeting him i asked him how he had been. He told me, "not. gootd." It turns out he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, he was going to have an operation, but he didn't think he wanted to have chemo because he thought he was too old, why spend the last years or days under chemo.
I asked him if he had someone to help him after he got out of the hospital, and he replied a straight forward "i have nobody". Now this pulled on my heart strings, this man that i have grown to miss over a year has no one. At the end of his visit, after discussing what his doctors said, how he thought the health care system was corrupt, i gave him my card with my personal cell number on it. I told him that he didn't have nobody anymore, he had me. He could call me. He smiled that smile, put the card in his pocket and walked out of the gallery.

Its been a few months, and i haven't heard or seen of Nick. I will continue to search for him during our shows, and hope that if he does need anything, he calls his somebody.

Online Find

If you are interested in photography, mystery and nature... then i have a blog for you! It caught my attention because i'm very intrigued by local history, or the things in today's society that have been over looked or forgotten. I also love a good mystery and ghost story!

The photographer of Sweet Juniper - Jim. He takes pictures of feral houses, or in otherwords houses that have been abandoned and transformed by wildlife. Its a form of earth art. Earth works such as Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty are man made , these feral places are turned into an art form through nature. The Toronto Zoo attempted implementing an Earth Work by Ian Lazarus (codesigned with Badanna Zack) Serpentine Mounds (see image below) . It was unsuccessful because it was uprooted before its deterioration, or art proccess occurred. Guests decided that a mound of cars next to the giraffes were an eye sore. Go figure.

Back to Sweet Juniper! He doesnt stop at houses, Jim explores abandoned zoo's, schools, projects, buildings etc through photographs and candid story telling.
It's truly is captivating.

Check out the link to Sweet Juniper and the abandoned places : http://www.sweet-juniper.com/search/label/abandoned%20places

Art Lesson #2- "the time my brother broke his leg, and how i helped"

It was the summer of 1990. I was sporting neon pink shorts, a visor and was hosting a play date with a school friend.

My brother Jamie decided he would join us and put on a show of his latest ninja turtle moves (he was 3). Not really that interested, I asked him if he wanted to play butler, and bring us some juice on a platter. [I know this may seem mean, but i was 7.. lets not judge. Older sisters are allowed, I’ve paid him back over the years. By the way, this is the same year he ripped the head off of my favorite doll and then proceeded to hide the head as far away from its body as he could.]

Like a good little brother he clambered upstairs and got us juice on a platter. On his way down the basement stairs, he decided to combine his talented ninja kicks with talented butler skills.

This ended how you imagine it did.

Spilt juice, and a broken leg.
I blame the ninja turtles, and not my efforts to include my brother in playing house.

He was screaming "turtle power" when this photo was taken.

How is this an art lesson? My play date consisted of making our own playdough. Find the recipe below:

Rubbery Playdough

2 cups baking soda
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup cornstarch

Mix with a fork until smooth. Boil over medium heat until thick. Spoon onto plate or wax paper.

Add food colouring for rainbow pleasure.

enjoy:)

Art Lesson #1

Lets talk art people.

I currently work at a downtown Toronto, commercial art gallery. I have had the amazing opportunity to have met Canada’s most influential contemporary artists, such as Gerald Ferguson. If you dont know that name, google it. Seriously.. because you should know him.

Gerald Ferguson became my friend. At 72 years old, Jerry walked into my life.. no introduction was needed. I was supremely intimidated, almost star struck. Little did i know, he was going to be one of my newest cherished people in my life. (He would hate me using the word cherish).

It didn't take me long to learn that Jerry was a no muss no fuss kind of guy. He told anyone and everyone what he thought, and didn’t care if they liked it or not. As gruff as he was, he and i really hit it off. When he came into Toronto from Halifax, NS for exhibitions or art fairs i knew to be on my game. Not that i feared the wrath of Jerry, just because it was a challenge i could meet. If he got gruff with me, i got gruff back. Then i would get that smirk from him.. like "oh, so you arn't a mouse".

An installation week with Jerry would be more than just hanging art on walls. Jerry would arrive before the gallery was open, rattle the door handle, disgruntled to any onlooker-- coffee in one hand and a cig in the other (had it been the afternoon it would be a bottomless diet coke can). I would open up the doors and ask " Hey Jerry, how are you?" He would reply "Fuckin cold. Why does it have to be so goddamned cold?" I would just laugh. I would then settle in for a morning filled with Jerry chats. They might have taken away from my work, but i'm not complaining. He would just talk, sometimes complain, but always leave me smiling. He was one of those grumpy men you couldnt help but adore. After long days of installation were over, and Jerry left with his Torontonian family and friends, i would still have the aura of Jerry around me in the place of empty diet coke cans.

Over the course of getting to know each other, Jerry told me of his most recent obstacles. He told me of his accident that nearly killed him, leaving him with one good arm. Luckily not his right. Although it still put a damper on his work.

[The majority of Jerry's work was done by a technique called frottage. He would place an object under an unprimed canvas and then rub enamel over the surface with a roller. To find out more please visit http://www.ccca.ca ]

Gerald Ferguson One Drain Cover image curtosy of Wynick/Tuck Gallery

Jerry told me of his new series, which brought him back to painting. Still with a roller, but not frottage. It was the closest he came to real painting in about 40 years of his artistic career.

I asked Jerry why he got into the accident -- was it bad weather etc. He told me, "nah.. I was thinking about my work". He was passionate about his art, and the art of others -- that he liked, or desperately disliked. As horrible and strenuous his recovery was, his new series , Landscapes was amazing, and had rave reviews. Below is my all time favourite. Jerry sent me a sketch of it, which is proudly installed in my home.

Gerald Ferguson Rock Pile 2008 Image Curtosy of Wynick/Tuck Gallery

Following his Landscape show, his arm healed. With the assistance of an arm band he was back to frottaging. In the summer, Jerry and I emailed about his new work, the damn tall ships coming into Harbor and how he hated tourists. The new work arrived in the gallery and it was fantastic, a series of frottaged chain works New Chain Paintings. I wrote him and told him how much i loved it, and how excited i was to see him in January. We heard from Jerry less and less. We thought a lot of his aloofness was due to his studio move, and maybe new work. I started wondering about him more and more. I asked the director about him, and she said she was worried about him. Jerry was bipolar and suffered the lowest of lows at times.

We both agreed to email him. I came in to work the following day and heard the news of Jerry's death.

It was too late to email him.

It was a shock to everyone who knew him, and Canadian art suffered a huge loss. I really wish I had gotten closer to Jerry, to learn more from him. I will miss the diet coke cans, the wafting cig smell and his smirk. I know i was lucky to have gotten to know him. The man behind the art. The man behind many beloved family, friends and fans.

During his last visit, I asked Jerry for some advice. I was in a real slump, I didn’t know what direction to go back in or towards in regards to my art work. Jerry told me something very similar to what he wrote of his last series:

When I am stuck, looking back at my earlier work is consistent with my long held belief that an artist should copy, copy, copy everyone until eventually he can copy himself. Or put another way,“ the only thing new in the world is the history you haven’t read” (Harry Truman).

Gerald Ferguson 1937-2009

Who forgot about her blog?

I didnt.

seriously.

Lets just spare the excuses and get going.

I'd like to discuss something that i've been noticing recently, a new trend if you will, with todays hypster. A trend that brings flashbacks to a not so glamourous childhood past. Retro -take over my entire face- glasses. I'm not talking sunglasses, i'm talking seeing glasses. Or.. how i like to refer them as, the glasses of my past. The pictures of my childhood that i would like to burn most, are those featuring glasses of rainbow hues taking over the entire top half of my head. I wont even describe more, i'll just show you.
....just darling right? I joke and tell my mom that it was a form of child abuse, having me wear glasses with frames the size that they were. Her response, "they were THE style." Not just IN style, but THE style.

Please tell me that this is not going to be THE style again.. i just couldn't bear it. I mean, i totally understand old styles being recycled into new ones, I'm all for it. I love retro wear, i love vintage, i love fashion. I'm just saying that certain items should be left in the past.

Lets just spare the embarrassment of the future people!
I think its safe to say that all those flirting with the oversized perscription eye wear, are those who are currently not tourtured by childhood photographs.

I'll level with you. When shopping for my most recent pair of eyewear, i tried on an oversized pair. JUST to feel it out. Just to see what all this new hooplah was about. I felt kinda like Clark Kent.. in hiding.

I've grown up like any other girl in the world, with a stigma about personal beauty. When i was growing up i found that i was defined as "the girl in the glasses" often called names because of them. I began to resent them, not because they were oversized (because like my mom said they were THE style) but because i felt as though i hid behind them.

At the end of high school, I started taking them off, "going in blind" i would say. I felt like super(wo)man in the beginning. People started noticing me more, or so I thought-- regardless, i felt confident. I finally felt like that little nerdy shell was being peeled away.

I started to realize over time though, that i liked my glasses. I liked having them on. Coincedentally, I finally did get contacts, to be a little less "blind" and i do wear them when i'm at the beach, wearing sunglasses without perscription, sometimes when i'm going out. I have to say though, after all that self discovery i really do love my glasses. Not because they define me and not because they are not the huge- retro-cover the face of a child- ones, but because i just like them. My life wouldn't have been, or continue to be the same without them. They are an old friend. I love old friends.

Pale is the new Tan

Here is what i think.

Think of todays HOT books, movies and television for today's youth and young adults. From Stephanie Meyer's Twilight Saga to HBO's True Blood.

Vampires are the new fad.

Why i think the pale blood sucking hotties are popular? Melanoma and Skin Cancer.

Up until now movies and televisions were focused on beech loving california girls, The OC, Blue Crush, The Hills. All of which feature bronzed beauties as the objects of affection. With recent studies, medical researchers have noticed the increase of individuals under the age of 35 hopping in tanning beds are also hopping into the arms of Melanoma. The American Society for Skin Cancer May 2009 article said "People 35 or younger who used the beds regularly had a melanoma riskeight-fold higher than people who never used tanning beds. Even occasional use among that age group almost tripled the chances of developing melanoma."

So.. this increase in Vampire popularity, also increase the beauty of pale. Reaching back to our historical ancestors of Ancient Egypt, Rome and Greece. Those who were fawned after and adored (coincidentally usually the rich, royal or god like) were pale, they stayed out of the working fields and enjoyed their laps of luxury. Those who were darker, or tanned (due to their working class usually) were not viewed as nobles, gods or goddesses. Class was defined by their lack of sun exposure.

Now, by recent popular events society is pointing our youth and young adults who were once encouraged to be tanned, in a more historical direction.

Love the pale.

Love the non leather-ed skin of a vampire. Be so pale you sparkle in the sun!

I am happy with the turn of events, i very much enjoyed the Twilight Saga in addition to being currently addicted to HBO's True Blood. I am also pretty fair, so i am not one to quickly take the sun in a positive golden glow. I'm not saying i dont like the sun kissed look, but i am embracing the less scorched look.

Sincerely,

Mrs. Edward Cullen

When Lightning Strikes!

I went to work today in soaking wet however, very cute crocheted flats. Other than that, the misty day didn't seem to out of the ordinary. Aside from my bank calling me up and leaving an automotive message revealing that my bank card has been compromised and that i will have to go to my branch and get it sorted out. As horrified as i was, i wasn't surprised.. which is pretty sad. It has become such a common thing, its happened to my mom three or four times, Michael once and many other friends and family members.

Such a pain in the butt!

My question is, if this is such a common occurrence, this fraud bit.. so common that they have created an automative message for it.. why is it still happening? Why are they not telling us where to avoid using our debit cards (aka the dollarama that i'm pretty sure frauded me!). Or maybe.. why are they not just securing the problem.. they have enough examples to work/learn from!

Beginnings are always hard.. But you gotta start somewhere.

I am using this as a tool to work things out, I'm turning 25 very shortly and believe that it will be a milestone. I want to try to figure out all that i have learned about myself and others through this blog, by just letting it all out. I'm hoping this doesn't come across as melodramatic in any posts and if it does forgive me, but we all do it. We all have thoughts, wishes and dreams that we want to scream at the top of mountains. After reading a few amazing books, I've learned that going for your dreams starts with knowing what you dream of.

Before i start the gossip brigade i want to share my newest likes and dislikes.

Song, Falling Slowly from the movie Once. Amazing to say the least, download it or check it out on Youtube. ..Like!

Sweaty, stuffy, crowded streetcars on rainy mornings when your running late for work...dislike!