Hunger for Light

New Blog!

2009-05-06T20:09:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to get in to this account for ages, finally! I'm sorry for any inconvenience. Ok, so I have a new blog at www.kelly-day.com and a new email kellyday@kelly-day.com.

For a while I had been keeping up a few simultaneous blogs, this new blog just joins everything together in to one super blog. I am also selling hand wovens and jewelry which you can peruse on my new site. Come check it out!

Lauras Birthday/Game night

2007-07-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

This is Dana and I nonchalantly kickin' ass at games.

photo by Saami Siddiqui

This Week in the "Mini Galllery"

2007-07-19T14:14:00.000-07:00

I have been working on more crocheted wire samples and I'm on my way to making something beautiful and werable for my good friend Lavanya.

I decided to use the sample from the weekend to test out my "Mini Galllery" or the half a box gallery as I affectionally call it from time to time. I made it out of three pieces of foam core and a sheet of grey paper. It's orginal purpose was for working out installations, but the small space has taken on a life of its own as a miniscule movable stage that floats around my room. I've always loved miniature worlds, sets, things within things, but then again who doesn't? If you have anything to display in the gallery send me a description, I'd love to "display" a variety of work, but be prewarned it's itty biddy.

Crocheted Wire Experiments: New Wearbles!

2007-07-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

I've got quite a few plans for crocheted wire, this is my first sample.

Inside:

Outside:

Through:

Necklaces Galore

2007-07-13T13:21:00.000-07:00

Moss Agate, metal, glass, stone and wood:
This is a work in progress, I still plan on adding another strand of beads to this necklace. I've also reserved some beads for earrings. The stones are moss agate, and as per usual there is a mix of stone, metal, wood and glass beads. I like to use a variety of materials. I feel like having a touch of each makes the whole piece more textured and balanced. The idea of balancing one material against another may be all in my head, but it works for me. I guess it's similar to the idea of elements in the Chinease philosophy of Wu Xing; metal, earth, wood, fire and water, which aren't really "elements" at all. Regardless, I am possitive these types of matter really do have fascinating untold stories.
Sand morphed by fire into glass,
wood once alive and growing,
stones and metal ancient records of mountains and layers of life past, formed by heat and enormous pressure.

Little bits of things in slow flux on a string.

The fabric is handwoven alpaca lace on a tweed warp. I wove this a little while ago.

Necklace for Joy-loi: (she send me chocolate to soothe my broken heart)

Glass, wood, faceted bead, shells, small moss agate chips. This is on silk I dyed with Kamala, a natural dye.

Yellow jade, wood, metal, large gold glass beads, shell

Double strands in rich earth and amber tones.

Adventurine, shell, glass, faceted beads, duet clasps

Longing

2007-07-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

I had a day off yesterday, and luckily it poured. I had the laziest and most euphoric day doing little things and visiting friends in between my time alone. I've been really busy lately and I've been in need of a little solitude. It was a grey day, (secretly my favorite kind).

I got up late, and in the afternoon I took a bath and washed my hair with buckwheat honey, cocoa butter, cocoa, cinnamon and ginger (it was fantastic). My hair loves that kind of thing, and I've stopped using anything with plastics and potentially carcinogenic chemicals on it. I am so happy that I "swiched" that I would recommend this to anyone. You can get cocoa butter at most health food stores. It melts easily, all you need to do warm it and add a little to your honey mixture. My hair is red and curly so it is happy with quite a bit, but I'm sure if you have straight hair you wouldn't need nearly as much. Also, rinse really well.

I prepared myself for the rainy outdoor world. I found my spring jacket and dug my grandmothers felt boots out of the a box in the bottom of the closet. I spent the rest of the aftenoon promenadeing around in the rain. It was lovely.

I was happy to be alone and longing, surrounded by beauty and singing skys. I sighed with the trees in the wind, their branches heavy wet bent low around me. My hair crawled around the inside my umbrella. I laughed as the gail pulled it out of my hands at the top of the citadel hill. I waded along paths transformed into streams and chains of puddles. The scent of mid-summer held close to the earth and clung to everything. I took off my boots and walked barefoot for a while, then surrendered to the storm completely, put down my umbrella and stared up into the sky.

oh, and I smelled roses. I put a petal in my pocket, (which I found this morning on my way to work=).

I made it finally to Joshes house, I was a lot later than expected. Josh, Dan and I had a smoke and I ate a piece of lemon chiffon cake. I lay on the floor exausted. It was wonderful.

When Angela got back from work we made vegan pannacotta with mangoes. We got drunk on pinot.

What a wonderful night.

Indigo Shibori on Silk

2007-07-05T09:29:00.001-07:00

Wet

Drying in the fresh air

Necklace #4

2007-07-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

Making Summer Necklaces

I get a discount at Loomis now and I've been using it as an excuse to buy beads like crazy. As a result this is necklace number 4. I can't resist taking a quick glance at the bead tables every time I'm at work. I'm like a crow for anything shiney, so there is bound to be more where this came from.

Some will be up for trades.

This is made with glass beads, rose quartz stones, shell disks and has a silver toggle clasp.

Shell and Glass Beads

2007-07-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

Coppery Shell Necklace with assorted glass beads and round duet clasps.

The green hyperbolic form was hand beaded. I made it as a sample a while ago and it had led me to a lot of other work. I've needed a suitable necklace to hold it for some time so I figured I might as well make one for it. I now treat it as if it were my good luck charm. Just goes to show how valuable and freeing sample work can be. The Fabric underneath is silk shibori dyed with indigo.

Dark Shell Necklace with Glass Beads and Hematite.

Detail with wave tumbled shells and other little beachy things.

RArR!

2007-07-02T20:44:00.001-07:00

CUMULONIBUS!!!

2007-06-22T07:23:00.000-07:00

I've picked up a new book recently called "The Cloudspotter's Guide" which I am really enjoying. It has a lot of technical information about different kinds of clouds and the weather associated with them. This is cleverly mixed with good stories, wit and and a touch of myth. So far, I recommend it! I can't wait to test out my cloud knowledge. I think I'll plan a picnic with some friends. We can lie on the earth, look out onto the layers of clouds and into the space beyond and eat sanwhiches!

( Speaking of which, some night I'd like to lie awake all night in the grass and really feel aware of traveling away from the sun and back again. The dark side of the earth, facing out into the void and aware of my own travels through the (false) swirling of the stars. It's times like that when you really know gravity, that the whole of the earth and everything in it is holding you. Mass is a curious thing. If anyone wants to join me, let me know! (Then it won't be so scary out alone in the night. We can drink coffees and make veggie smores.) Then again, I'm off on a tanget forgetting about clouds. )

There most romantic story I have read so far is about "The Meghaduta" or "cloud messenger", a sanskit poem witten between 50BC and Ad400 by the poet Kalidasa. A demi god, 'Yaksha' is cursed by the Hindu god of wealth, Kubera. He is banished to the Vindhya mountains, where he must wander aimlessly for a year. All he can do is pine for his wife, unable to communicate with her and lovesick he counts the months until he may return to her. On the eight month of his exile he finds a Cumulonibus cloud clinging to a mountain peak. He knew this to be a sign of the monsoon season, a time when traveling men returned to their wives and he begged the cloud to bring a message to his beloved. He gave the cloud directions and pointed out the rivers it could drink from and mountain ranges where it could rest.

The cloud goes on it's way, showering temples and crackling with lightning. It find his lover exausted from weeping and rouses her with a cool breeze. It consoles her with with low thunder and tells her not to give up waiting, for her husband has been banished and will return to her when he is released from the curse.

The Drawing Conclusions show

2007-06-21T06:43:00.000-07:00

I recently took part in a group drawing show curated by Angela Enman. It brought together a mix of artists using varried mediums to exploring mark making and drawing processes. Drawing can be as traditional as marks on paper, but it does not need to be limited to this, since it has more to do with being engaged, the process, markmaking (which is also a very slippery term to try to nail down). Everyone involved in the show had vastly different work, some of the drawings were created outside the gallery, quite a few were site specific.

Those of us creating work in that would only exist in the gallery for the duration of the show had from sunday morning to monday morning to "draw", which meant an all nighter for Dan, Abby and I. Despite the lack of sleep we had a lot of fun. Abby helped me nail over 200 nails into a frame I needed to install, turns out she has wood working experience. She was a lot quicker about it than I was, and I am so grateful! She also helped me fend off very drunk men who kept hitting on us in the courtyard while we were trying to get the work done. We were a odd sight, two determined girls hammering nails into long white boards outside the bars on granville in the middle of the night for what must have seems like no apparent reason. We did get a lot of questions and curious looks.

Just as we finished our work the skys opened up and it continued to rain for the next two days. I was glad for it, I love the rain. When I got tired I ran out into it, the plesant chill on my skin helped keep me alert. Sometimes I'd stand at the doors of the gallery looking out for a bit, then stand outside looking in. I like the space between. Abby was dancing in the gallery between drawing, I think she must be in love.

Dan was generally cranky about his computer, but I can't blame him, as always anything that could go wrong with his computer did go wrong. In the end his drawings were fantastic, they looked cellular and organic. I don't think he knows it yet, but he's going places.

The opening the next day went well, there was a good turn out regardless of the heavy rain and people seemed excited. My friend Nikolai made it out, and made a point to tell me he "wasn't bored", which may sounds bad, but really isn't. We've all been to way too many boring shows, where we just haven't felt engaged. Unfortunately, and as much as I hate to admit it, this is often the case.

My work: I used threads as 2d lines and pulled them out into three dimensional space. They moved out and away from themselves at every point, resulting in a form that was airy, but felt like an explosion of line and loosely defined planes. I was exploring themes of space time and the fabric of reality with this drawing. I may try to do another drawing with yarn in the future, when the time constraints aren't so tight.

Unfortunately my photos don't do it justice, they flatten out something that was meant to be viewed at different angles and interacted with. So all of you who missed the show, sorry you're out of luck. I'll put up some longer shots later though.

Abby and her work: it's made of magnetite circle she extrated from beach sand near her home.She had a huge pendulum shift it around during the opening.

Brazilwood

2007-06-17T14:51:00.000-07:00

The dye pot.

I dyed two meters of silk gauze using a shibori technique. The fabric was folded and marbles were tied into the layers.

The thin silk gauze turned a warm and complex shade of pink in less than an hour. The shibori is reminiscent of repeating patterns of the earth and biology, groups of organic circles. They remind me of deer spots. I am going to try to turn this into the best summer dress ever, check back for more photos and my technical notes from this dye session.

Dyeing with Brazilwood:

Cords

2007-04-29T08:59:00.000-07:00

I've been really getting into to dyeing lately, and now that it is sunnier and I am comfortable using the acid dyes I've been having a lot of fun with bright colours. I also have fallen in love with using knots and braids as resist. So much so that I now I almost can't bear to untie them and weave 'em up! Dana has since claimed my braided scarf and I am working on more of them. I have lots of ideas for projects with braids, I am working on some based on seaweed with bits of tumbled shells I find along the shore and some others based on life through electron microscopes. I am also planning on making cords that can be tied and untied by the wearer to reveal different colours based on their mood or what they are wearing. These feel like a cross between huge beaded necklaces and scarves. They are so chunky and tactile.

Now I am considering these my prototypes and I am excited about putting together a website and gallery of one of a kinds. This is me wearing red cords, the thin cord was originally a green/blue and top dyed scarlet. the thicker one is made of tweed singles in pink, straw and golden colours then tied and rainbow dyed fiery reds with a bit of gold and ocher.

Here is Dana wearing the braid scarf "prototype", braided and then rainbow dyed in a large pot. It is a rich earthy orange brown with bits of ultramarine, green and yellow.

If you would like me to make you something custom, or make a trade, let me know!

Space Scarf

2007-04-28T19:13:00.000-07:00

That warp is Light Speed.

Pont Pleasant

2007-04-28T19:04:00.000-07:00

Surface of another planet

Grass Waves
Hive/ Cave walls

Downside Up!

2007-04-28T18:48:00.000-07:00

Weavin'

2007-03-20T21:04:00.000-07:00

Ikat

For this piece I used plastic ties as a resist. The wool was dyed twice, once with ultramarine, after which more ties were added and it was dyed a brownish plum. The weft is a thin tweed and with strips of handspun with fleecy "clouds". It was pleasantly storming as I wove this. The tail end of a snowstorm brought a crisp rain that pooled and covered our backyard in s sheet of ice. The resist pattern reminds me of downpours as well so I've started referring to this as my storm shawl.

Knotted Resist

I found out through dyeing these samples how much I love knotted cords! I am going to do something great with cords soon.

Blog Super Review!

2007-03-08T18:04:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I've posted so I think it's time for the BLOG SUPER REVIEW, to make up for the fact that I've been busy spending days on end away from the house and therefore haven't posted in a month.Here is one long random post to sum it all up, have fun clickin' on the visuals.

I go through periods where I am quite social, but I can also be pretty solitary.
Lately I've been enjoying a lot of good company. The kind of company that stirs up feelings of well being that last for days and brings out good will and a lot of affection. Sometimes I forget what social animals we are, but at times like this it seems painfully obvious. I am feeling wildish and high as a kite on whatever your brain releases when you are having the best of times.

Around the Dinner table: dan tried to make a panorama

danes

josh (hitsman)

dan c matheson

me kelly

Dans panorama plan may not have worked out, but it was fun anyway. Myself, Josh, Angela, Dana and sometimes Dan are quite the dinner party team. So far we've made a lot of delicious food, and most of it was vegetarian/vegan. (Dana cooked some chicken once, but most of us don't eat meat). The first time we had a dinner party we made homemade croissants and Josh made pad thai! Last time Angela made this fantastic coconut mango rice pudding thing that I had many bowls of, I wish I had a picture. YUmmmm.

Angela checkin' out baking books

Night photos: container yard

carousel horses under lunar eclipse

Light Experiments: Threads

Thinking about weaving and multiple dimensions:

I've been having so much fun dyeing warps and weft for my ikat samples. Lately I've been spending more time in the dye kitchen than I have been weaving, so I am all set to weave more than a few samples over the weekend. (That is between all the birthday nonsense I decide to engage in. Party @ 5571 fenwick, Sat 9pm)

First Ikat Sample on the loom at home:

Working in the Dye Kitchen: The plastic ties were used to resist the dye, I have been tieing and untieing so many knots! (for those of you at home who want to try ikat you can use old grocerie bags. They work just as well apparently, but be sure to tie them really tight.) It's made me realize how much I love plaits and knotted cords, I think I am going to make some pieces that are a combintation of the two with woven areas in between.

Still trying to get the four layer doubleweave on the loom at school:

The Dye Kitchen;

freshly dyed alpaca lace:
bird wings and muscles

Here it is drying on top of the radiator at work: (leaning against the radiator is also nice on cold nights like tonight!)

Ice walk: (frost burnt hands)

2007-02-11T16:32:00.000-08:00

Hips at the Bus Stop:

I went for a walk down the beford hightway to see the waterfalls I glimpse through the bus window every morning. I usually walk down the sideway often during the summer, but this time of year it's exposure to the open harbour makes blustery and biting cold. The small sidewalk is a narrow passage way between a four lane highway and a heavy steel guard rail. Out of reach, well beyond the fence is the sheer rock face. It must be where they cut into the bedrock when building the railway which runs by the shore, or maybe the later highway.
Any water running toward the sea near there reaches the face and falls down and it trapped in a deep ditch below the sidewalk. In the winter, despite feeling so close to speeding cars, it is a spectacular walk.

Near the start of the walk:

Water always travels back toward the sea

The end of the walk:

Weaving

2007-01-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

I've been spending a lot of time away from the house working and socializeing, so today I decided to stay home and have a weaving day. I have so many things I want to get finished as well as lots of loose ends I need to tie up, figuratively and litterally. I took the early afternoon to sing along to some tunes (my space mix, Bowie, Joanna newsom) and document some of the things I've been making and dyeing. I took the Ice River Scarf off the loom yesterday.

Ice River Scarf:
This was woven by hand on a four harness Jack loom. The warp is scottish tweeds with a supplementary warp in icey and watery blues. The weft is a delicate cotton and linnen slub. The weave is open and airy with a subtle waves due to the varying thickness of the weft. I am happy with the results so far and once I ply the ends it will be ready to go. (This may end up being for my friend Danes, but if not I will put it up for sale on my website, which is currently in the works. I will post an update whenever Dan and I finish putting that together. It may be a little bit though.)

Foliose Scarf:
This was crocheted with cream coloured wool and mohair, which my friend Dana Lumby dyed with acid dyes. It's curly and hyperbolic, very comfy and textural. I am definetly making some of these to sell as well. I will post some other photos of it being worn soon, so you can really see how neat and biological it looks.

Space Elevator

2007-01-14T15:17:00.000-08:00

The idea of a space elevator is pretty far out, but now seems entirely possible due to nano technology.

From an intuitive standpoint the space between earth and sky appears vast, the landscape seems to move away from us in every direction, but really it is only thinly spread around the planet. We forget that space really isn't that far away, it's only about 80 km up. That's a sunday drive away! (At that point you would be in the thermosphere, the area above auroras that stretches further still.)

The elevator would move from a platform at sea up a huge cable made of super strong nanotubes. The whole thing would be powered by a lazer beam and it could cheaply transport cargo, and people, out of the atmosphere. I'm glad I'm alive to see these types of things in the works, even if it is just the beggining. Rockets are too expensive, use too much fuel and an elevator would be much more efficient. Plus it's really quite bizarre. I think it will help renew the publics interest in space and at the same time it could be humbling. It might help us to realize we are anchored to this thin veil of habitable space.

It is amazing that this is only possible due to Nano technology as well. The cable is made of Nano tubes. They are spun to create a fabric which is thirty times stronger than steele. I watched them spin the miniscule tubes in to tiny threads on Nova, it is the same as spinning fleece. It's strange to see it on a microscopic level. This huge undertaking will only be possible due to the strength of the very small. The estimates for the cable at the present is that it will be 3 feet wide and thinner than a sheet of paper.
Watch the program on the net at the Nova website

New Brunswick Power Trip

2006-12-29T21:40:00.000-08:00

Interior/Exterior Landscape

I've had a whirlwind couple of days. I managed to weave half a scarf, make it to Moncton, bake a birthday cake from scratch, eat Christmas dinner, hang out with babies, buy and give Christmas presents, play Wii and drink wine, lounge in a hot tub in -14 degree weather, go for breakfast and still make in back in time for work today! I slept for one night (barely) in two days, with a little power napping here and there. I topped it all off with martini's after work (thanks Kathleen). It's now almost 2am and I'm finally thinking about sleeping. I rarely enjoy having so many things on the go, but every once and a while it's truly invigorating. I feel like I've had a short but welcome break.

At afterwork drinks tonight we talked about memories punctuated by lightning and of interactions with whales and dolphins. Erin recommended I check out an old imax movie called "The living sea". Part of the video contains footage of a closed and undisturbed ecosystem that functions much as it had millions of years ago. The area was once the ocean and had become cut off from the rest of the sea, so the creatures have not changed or interbred with their cousins in the ocean. She said there are jellyfish that float around what is now a salty lake have no stingers and they circle the perimeter with the seasons. (Check out the trailer, looks beautiful despite the celebrities.)

Petals of light:

Cheers!

2006-12-25T20:01:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas!

This photo was taken my lovely classmate Juliette Launois. She sent us all some great photos which she took during our time spent together during the installation class. This is me, Michael Fernandes, Jyelle and Abby. Jyelle just started a blog too, I added it to the links so you can check it out.

The Opening

2006-12-12T12:58:00.000-08:00

I wish I had more photos from the opening. There were so many great pieces, but I was too busy having a good time to remember to document them all. The group show was great, I really enjoyed everyones work. I love the people I've met in my installation class, I hope that we stay in touch. Francesca from the Gallery Deluxe Gallery ask me to get in touch with her about the possibilty of doing a show. I'm feeling hopeful. Hurray for art!

Abby and I had fun chillin' in Margarets recycled tents. I had a picture of Nikolai in there too, but the photo didn't turn out so great. I think I'd had a few drinks by that point. She made two, one was recycled cardboard, and the other was plastics.

Speaking of Nikolai, I wish I had a clear photo of his work. It resembled a business letter in a frame and read "I propose an attempt to tape the walls of the ballroom together". Dan told me he thought it was "best in show". As per usual with his work, I am still thinking about it and looking at it from different angles.

I wish I had a shot of the works Chris, Scott, Abby and Jyelle installed too. Maybe I'll go back later in the week.

We also played with Sparklers (I couldn't resist bringing them)! Here's Abby and Jyelle drawing with light on Barrington street.

OK, Show

2006-12-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

I'm up late testing things for my installation. The group show is opening tomorrow night, the 11th of December, 7pm at the Khyber . Come and check it out if you are in the area, otherwise there will be some form of documentation soon more than likely. The bar will be open as well, so lots of wine, yay!

The First Snowfall

2006-12-04T17:46:00.000-08:00

The first snowfall is the true start of winter for me, luckily the snow started just after I made it home from Class. Dan wasn't so lucky, he ended up stranded downtown and walked for hours to get home passed traffic that was at a dead stop. People were getting out of their cars to pick up Fries and Co on Chebucto rd.
Nova Scotians are used to this kind of weather, but the city seemed unprepared for snow. It took all afternoon to clear the roads, I'm sure people will be talking about this tomorrow. It might even make our super lame local news.

Regardless, it was a beautiful day.

New Blog in the Links: Antarctica

2006-12-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

Here's an something worth checking out. It's the blog of an artist named David Ruth who has received a grant to travel to Antartica. This is one of the breathtaking photos from his blog. It's hard to imagine visiting such a magical place, and it's hard to imagine how much of it is melting into the sea.

Coffee Filter Experiments

2006-12-03T18:49:00.000-08:00

These are part of an installation I wanted to come to fruition last week, but I ended up getting sick. Damn. As a result I am going to try to make it happen this coming wednesday. I'll post photos or video afterwards.

Today I decided to try to think of myself as a microcosm of humanity, a reflection of the larger whole: the body of our species in time. It's a new (additional) contemplation for me, and I hope that I can remind myself of it and alter my reactions to the world accordingly. I don't mean to limit or mask my actions, but to become more aware of where, what and when I am and how I fit into the larger whole. It is action with intention and thought.

We are social animals, we define ourselves by our relationships to others yet we feel strong separation. This postmodern age is so exciting, change is happening so quickly, but it's also such a social downer, in ways. It's easy to foget that we are a very short moment in what, I hope, to be a very long chain of life. We can only hope to work with passion, curiosity and kindness, to live to the fullest and to have others continue in this fashion. Now is it for you and I, but humanity is the sea.

2006-11-27T16:51:00.000-08:00

Bill Nye the Science Guy on Pluto

Good one Bill Nye

Artin' it up

2006-11-27T16:09:00.000-08:00

More Sparklers!

I like this drawing, I'm still not sure what this whole project will turn into. I'm enjoying the process and it's progress right now. In this image I am apparently absent, but I am still controling the path of the energy. This and my ideas about the universe are guiding my experiments right now. The images below remind me of brush and ink.

I managed to get the new book of Carl Sagan lectures thanks to my mom, who picked it up at what I will call a "secret" book sale. The book is called "The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God" , and so far I will say I am really enjoying it. I've been thinking about cosmologies, our place in the universe and how it relates to craft/art pretty obsessively lately, this helps to keep me all fired up and wondering. Yeay Carl Sagan!

Night on the side of our building

Working on a Map of the Universe in Time

2006-11-21T21:41:00.000-08:00

2006-11-21T16:44:00.000-08:00

ZKM Space Invaders Installation

More neat stuff from Computerland, as Lavanya calls it.

Suggestion Box

2006-11-20T23:06:00.000-08:00

The Suggestion Machine is up and running!

Wilderness of the Mind

2006-11-19T23:37:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what kind of trees these are, but they remind me so much of Dendrites! I am excited about this upcoming project, but I am not sure how long it will take me to "spin" the wires and threads to make this work. My first experiment with this kind of installed spun sculpture took thirteen frantic hours to spin, so I am kind of worried. I have the seminar room booked for the 29th, but it seems pointless to put something like this up and take it down a few hours after completion. I'm trying to find a better location.

Who are we anyway?

2006-11-19T21:36:00.000-08:00

Tonight I have decided to stay up all night and finish writing "the letters" to my class. I keep feeling unsatisfied with what I've written, so I start again and peel off what feels like another layer of social film. Obviously I hadn't pushed it enough, so now I am trying to do just that, push this as far as it can go. The writting is broadening out and at the same time becoming more random and intuitive. I've begun to feel like I am speaking continuously in an empty room. Ironically, what is ultimately an attempt at connection has made me feel separation more acutely. So many unanswered questions. Everything is becoming a reflection of myself.
I am nervous of what people will construct from this experience. Relationships will be permanently altered based on what they "see" in these words.

Today: I made notes frantically, went to Tamaras wonderful jewelry sale, had coffee and breakfast sandwiches with Nick and Laura, crocheted hyperbolic forms, talked to Amanda on the phone, made homemade cocoa, drank wine, and read science magazines.I did manage to make it to the hardwear store today as well. I picked up some wood and other supplies, as a result my red suggestion boxes are drying out on the deck as I type this. So I should put those up tomorrow sometime, I'll post updates and locations as soon as it's on the go. I'm crossing my fingers they won't get stolen. I picked up some zipcords to attach them to things, but that won't really stop anyone from cutting them down. (I think I might put one on our apple tree, Lavanya.) It's definitely worth a shot.

Last night the Earth moved through the Leonids, debris from the comet Tempel-Tuttle. As a result there was a meteor "storm" predicted and it should have been visible from Nova Scotia near the constallation Leo. I went in search of shooting stars with a nalgene bottle full of rose, but alas it was way too cloudy. I bet I'll find some videos on you tube eventually.

Today Dan and I took pictures of beautiful messes.

2006-11-18T19:45:00.000-08:00

Skateing bulldog

He's cruisin'.

Suburban Wilderness Adventure!

2006-11-13T14:54:00.000-08:00

Dan and I decided to have a little fun on our way back from my sisters birthday on sunday. We made our walk home more challenging, climbing rocks and lurking around the woods between the condominiums. We stopped to listen to crickets and admire the last wild rose clinging to bare branches by the roadside. The day was strangely warm and heavy with the weight of falls coming to an end. It will snow any time now, we are on the cusp of winter.

2006-11-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

Spinning notebook is up!
Yeay scanners. I've started documenting everything, it's good fun. Plus I have a dog that will eat/tear up anything. She doesn't discriminate between toilet paper rolls and notebooks. I love her, it's annoying, but on the upside it does remind you that things are impermanent.
Here she is:

Puddles and Sky, behind the Motor Inn

2006-11-10T22:17:00.000-08:00

Walking today on the way back home to pick up my cake decorating supplies. I always cut behind the Motor Inn.

Walking through puddles

2006-11-10T22:12:00.000-08:00

2006-11-10T18:54:00.000-08:00

Toriton Plus: Water Surface as Music Controller II

ok, I just found this video on You Tube and I must say I am amazed. I wish I could have thought of this! The sound is beautiful. I commented on this persons blog and asked if they had any tips on the faraday waves. Crossing my fingers.

realities blending day

2006-11-10T11:45:00.000-08:00

I started reading Sylvia Fraser's "The Green Labyrinth, exploring the mysteries of the Amazon" on the bus today. En Bref, so far is is a womans journey to try Ayahuasca, a powerful hallucinogenic drug used by shamans for further spiritual enlightenment and to find cures. It is the plants that share secrets with the shamans and inform them how and what to use in order to heal.
It is fascinating and I am right at the part where she is about to take Ayahuasca. Shes been interested in exploring just what is real, and the validity of her western view of reality. I can't wait to read about her trip, I expect it must have had life altering consequences.
The whole day today has been quite a mind bender, in Architecture and Craft class we discussed new architecture, robots, virtual Space, virtual Reality, second life and teledildonics. All that talk of the mind just led me thinking more about the body! Our mind is just one part, despite it's pivotal role. History has proven we don't give the sum of our parts enough credit.
I also walked through puddles!

Thursday Already?

2006-11-09T10:50:00.000-08:00

This week is flying by so quickly, it feels like sunday was yesterday! I've been felting away, making polyps (like jellyfish polyps) and other things. Everything is coming together at once, I was hopeing to get some wood or metal to make the suggestion boxes today, but it is pooring down rain and it's so grey out I slept until noon. Don't get me wrong, I love the rain, I just really need to be more productive right now.

I have so many ideas for my installation class I don't know what to actually put together, I have to get the colony/entity project finished asap. I'd like to start working on synapse; a sound/fibre installation that involves the human mind bridging the figuraive "synaptic gap" between the sounds and the spun sculpture. Also scrying bowl; my attempt to create sound controled faraday patterns on the surface of water in a large bowl by surrounded with speakers. These are very brief explanations, of course, I just don't feel like getting into the whole artist statement/proposal thing right now.

Here are some of the interesting spots I checked out at nscad for installtions, I don't really know if any of these spots will work for what I'm doing, but exploring is always fun.

Through the black window, under the deck:

You can hear people walking above you, it's unusually warm and light streams down from between the boards above you:

Hallways:

The inaccessable room:

Sunday, procrastinating and some work

2006-11-05T20:38:00.000-08:00

Still thinking about that one.
Otherwise the polyps are coming along. I have been mostly making ivory coloured vessels, but I'm still debating using some colour.

Dan and I had a fairly productive day, he worked on drawings for his animation and I made more polyps (see the shapes next to him on the VCR). We snacked and baked and I put off studying for my exam, until, well, I'm still putting it off. Oh well.

Work best working random

2006-11-03T12:09:00.000-08:00

Outside:
I've been taking a lot of photos of screens lately, tv screens, window screens, computer screens. This might lead to an interesting installation, evenutally. Right now I'm just in the experimentation stage using my digital camera. I've also been taking a lot of images and video out my window. Which could end up being an interesting collection of visuals and audio captured at that in between point. I'll try to post quite of few of the bits here.

I have also been thinking (and searching for images, if any of you out there have any) about seeds and seed structures. This electron microscope image of hexagonal architecture of the seed led me to start playing with prototypes made of coffee filters. I plan on finishing this large sphere tonight, hopefully. (I just need to save a few for coffee tomorrow or I'll be pissed.) It also turns out that it is mathematically impossible to create a spherical tesselation with just hexagons, you must you pentagons too. I looked up images from nature just to be sure, don't believe me, look at this Antarctic krill eye.

Stage 1:

Stage 2: At this point they are starting to get a little out of hand. It's been quick to put together so far with staples, but if I were to make something more permanent it would have to be sealed together properly. I also thought of making textiles based on this experiment, and so I think I may integrate the hyperbolic, lichen-type shapes I've been crocheting into a colony like textile. It's exciting!

I've been doing all sorts of fun tests and experiments, including pulling out the waves of fabric in bath puffs and dreaming about recontextualizing them, I love the mesh.

My Hair

2006-10-31T16:34:00.000-08:00

Printy Gallery

2006-10-30T15:49:00.000-08:00

Check out the Printy Gallery.

I began making these cards last year when my good friend lavanya introduced me to what I now call "printy-ing". I use a my trustee Printy 4953 to make these cards which I sometimes send out and give away, but mostly stash around the city.

The Spinning Notebook

2006-10-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

I just bought a scanner and now I am in the process of scanning notebooks and other 2d stuff. The first of which is my spinning notebook, which I will be posting here soon. Check back soon to view the whole thing!

2006-10-26T20:30:00.000-07:00

Bristol Balloon Fiesta 2006 Brunel Stunt Ian Ashpole

2006-10-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

flock

birds of a feather flock together

2006-10-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

Reno Balloon Race 2006

Isn't life bizarre and fantastic. This looks like so much fun. Humanity is weird, this makes me laugh and us.

2006-10-26T11:02:00.000-07:00

Flocking Starlings

I almost can't believe that this is real. The school of fish animation is starting to look more like this than fish. I am truly amazed.

2006-10-26T10:13:00.000-07:00

Bird That Uses Cars as a Nut Cracker

I love crows, they are so smart. If they are truly teaching each other how to do this, I would argue it is a sign of culture among Japanese crows.

Proposal

2006-10-11T20:05:00.000-07:00

I have decided to try to do some work a little more spontaneously. I have lots of ideas for work, and sometimes it is easy to overanalyse and plan things, when really the idea should be followed through in order to move further in questioning. Experiments are necessary. I am working on something like this right now.

This work involves my installtion class, not because I HAVE to do it for them, but because I really find the group pretty fascinating.

I am writing an intimate letter to each of them, even though I barely know most of them. In each of these letters I will say how I feel towards and percieve them, as well as write anything I would like to say to them, but will more than likely never say. Then I will cut them into individual words and send out the letters to each of them. It is up to them what they do with them, they may or may not try to piece it together. Even if they try they should never be able to put it back to it's original state and read the message in its entirety, but they may decode some of it,and some of it may not be anything like what I had written. A sort of puzzle.

Isolated words lose their context, without this they revert back to triggers for memory and signs. For example, if I see the word pumpkin I think of what I, personally, would usually think of / associate with the word pumpkin. It reverts back to how it relates as a sign and trigger to my consciousness, not how it relates when placed in a sequence. Our own assumptions colour our idea of what we imagine the context to be and makes it more difficult to determine the context in which they were used in the letter.

This piece is about the inadequecies of language, and how interpretable our subjective experience is, especially in terms of communication. This will be written in the spirit of honesty, curiosity and passion, but recognizes (and dialogues with) the existing social filters that prevent us persuing communication this open in person. I will keep a copy of each.

(Also, check out the Mail Art List)

Art Slides

2006-10-11T07:20:00.000-07:00

Check out Carsten Hollers Giant Slides!
These slides measure 55.5 meters and drop 26.5m. Holler believes that our lives would be transformed if we used slides as a mode of transportation from point a to b, even if only once a day. He has also said that the play ground experience is underrated. I have to agree.
I would love to see this piece, and of course slide in it.

The idea of a pleasant fear, which is really what a thrill is, is fascinating to me. We're not talking scary movie kind of thing, but something real and felt with intensity. I would definitely agree would make me feel like a stronger individual, mentally at least. I really dig art that inspires strength, there is quiet a bit around right now that leaves you feeling weak.
What would you rather have a hand in?

(photo care of Ananova)

Sorting and Preparing Lichens

2006-10-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

Separating the lichens from debris:

So far I am not entirely sure what some of the lichens I've collected are. I have managed to identify one, Parmelia Sulcata, which is common here in Nova Scotia. I am still on the hunt for the names of the others. Last night I separated the lichen from any other debris. In the case of the Parmelia it involved scraping off as much attached bark as possible (bark will darken or "sadden" the colour of the dye). The others mostly involved removing twigs and leaves.

Specimens:

The next step will be to prepare the lichens (that I have enough of) for the fermentation process and hope for good results in about three weeks time.

dye plants

2006-10-09T12:41:00.000-07:00

Dan and I went on yet another gathering trip today, we collected some milk vetch, butter and eggs, goldenrod etc. Just enough to try dyeing some samples. I realized today my spinning is not keeping up with my gathering, so I am going to have to make a better plan for this project. If anyone has any information, or knows a great site on historical Irish and Scottish Dyes, please let me know. It will help me with my research. I haven't been able to find sufficient information or historical recipes. Yet, anyway.

Large scared stones between the tennis courts and appartment parking lots.

Bowl of Wool

2006-10-09T11:06:00.000-07:00

Vessels; a gathering space

2006-10-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

This is just one of the felted vessels I have been working on over the past few days. I have been thinking a lot about space and emptiness thanks to my architecture and Craft class. I wanted to make some small gathering spaces that could also be held. Contact with craft objects is important. They are not meant to just look at, they are functional, sensual, active objects that are meant to be used in some way. This is what keeps craft objects alive. The act of holding a vessel like this is grounding, its a sensual link to the physical world. I like to think that they encourage contemplation, a gathering together of thoughts to peer into; to question and gain insight.

As I make a vessel I focus on someone I know, hopeing they may make their way to that person and be accepted. While I made this vessel I was thinking of a friend from school who I think is a lovely person and I have learned from. The fleeced used was unbleached wool, a blend of wool and silk, and a bit of flame coloured sliver.

The card above is stamped with my craft "logo", I guess you could say, a cross section of an apple. Which is an important symbol for me personally. This same shape comes up in nature again and again. The core shape as I like to call it, can be seen in the magnetosphere, oort clouds, and other things even closer to home.

Oort cloud and Magnetosphere

2006-10-04T23:57:00.003-07:00

Turtles Brazil Scuba Diving

A scuba diving video with sea turtles, beautiful. Posted by someone called Videosub on Youtube. (If lame guitar music irritates you just turn down the volume at the start.)

2006-10-04T23:57:00.001-07:00

The Little Girl Giant

This was a show put on by the Royal De Luxe puppeteers in London called The Sultan's Elephant. This performance lasted over several days. The marionettes are amazing, compelling and HUGE. Check out their website http://www.thesultanselephant.com .

Mapping out our surroundings

2006-10-03T18:07:00.000-07:00

Todays harvest was slim, we left late since I had been feeling sick earlier and spent a long while navigating the woods behind Mount Saint Vincent. There were so many fallen trees it was hard to move forward towards the campus without having to climb over or under a thick trunk every few minutes. A little St.johns Wort was about all we managed to pick up.
We did see some really neat orange mushrooms, but we don't know if ther are poisonous and its not best to experiment with something that could be noxious or a potential skin irritant.

We also found a long dirt road, which we followed for a while despite the "no tresspassing" and "private property" signs. We discovered a pond filled with waterlilies, but it was getting really dark and we didn't know where we going so we decided to head back. We went back through the woods behind the mormon church and went to run some grocery errands.

I'm glad that we are mapping out the areas near where we live. We are so often channeled through by signage, architecture, city planning, etc. We become unfarmiliar with our true surroundings. Never seeing some areas very close to us, deemed commercially useless they become "dead zones". Some are great greenspaces, others are manufactured, or a slow struggle between both. I feel it's nescessary for me to be able to visualize my surroundings. Not just the inside of my house, but outside and down the street. What does the land look like where I live? How can I get from point A to point B? What else lives here? Where am I anyway?

Lichen Hunting

2006-10-03T08:11:00.000-07:00

Weeks are starting to blend together and it finally feels like the crunch is on when it comes to deadlines and things. It was cold when I woke up this morning and the leaves are rapidly changing colour behind the house.
I won't have much more time to harvest dyestuffs before it starts to get cold so I am really focusing on that now. Dan and I know a super secret spot near the house where there are beautiful colonies of lichen, some I've never even seen before. It is only accesible through a narrow spot that is blocked off by huge trees that fell during the hurricane. The other sides are blocked off my steep cliffs and high piles off rock. There are a lot of fallen trees, stones, and a dense carpet of pine needles and fallen leaves. The wood is punctuated with large boulders just covered in curly, hyperbolic green lichen. It's our very own rotten secret garden.

Lichens are so fascinating, they are actually two organisms involves in a symbiotic relationship! They are a combination of a fungus and a green alga or a cyanobacterium. The green alga produces food both for itself and the fungus by transforming energy from the sun into nutrients, this is photosynthesis. The body of the lichen is much different from what either organism would resemble on its own, the fungus supports and surrounds alga cells (to a point). The alga receives minerals that the fungus absorbs through the rock. To learn more check out the wikipedia article on Lichen.

It was easy to get quite a bit of lichen and still be eco-friendly. We only collected bits of lichen that had fallen off onto the forest floor. It was easy to spot since the lichen was so green yesterday due to the mist and rain (this particular kind is usually grey and crisp if it is sunny, dry day). I know it is a foliose lichen, but I am still trying to identify it.

This fruiticose stuff (below) reminds me so much of coral. I took the tinsiest sample and left the slugs dozeing. I think this must be a choice spot for slugs.

This also ties in to the work I am doing now about the colony/the entity. When does a group of living things become an enity or a being? What if they are made out of different kinds of living things, like this lichen for example? Well, I will admit it sounds like a pretty solid argument that the fungus and the alga are two seperate life forms. Sometimes it's not so clear though. What about a portugese man o'war? If you are familiar with them you're probably thinking about something lika a dangerous jellyfish, right? Well it turns out they aren't a jellyfish at all, a portugese man o'war is a colony of assorted polyps that create a gas filled float and pack a painful and dangerous sting. The gas filled float works like a sail above water and the stingers, with poisoned filled nematocysts paralyze prey. Another polyp, called a gastrozooids surround and digest prey. It's all very Sci-fi and alien isn't it. This is what they looks like.

Life is strange and amazing.

Printy Stashin'

2006-09-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

At the NSCAD Library:

Click the photos to see the cards a little clearer. (My camera is an awful piece of crap that I need to use with a huge magnifying glass in broad daylight in order to get a photo to turn out.)

This card, was printed on both sides using my Printy then it was sandwiched in to a book of Da Vinci's notebooks. Finders Keepers.

This Card was hidden inside a book called "Genius and Disaster"

Fish Sphere

2006-09-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

Fish forming a sphere

Isn't this amazing. These videos from YouTube should give you an idea of how I envisioned the animation component of my work. The marks should appear to move as a school of fish or a flock of birds does.

School of Fish

2006-09-21T20:51:00.000-07:00

JACK FISH - SIPADAN

I've been working on an installation which involves an animation with marks that move like a school of fish. I'm curious about the abundance of life and the concept of the living colony and the entity. Here are some videos I found on you tube that have helped me think about the movement in the animation.

The Mail Art List

2006-09-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

Mailbox Lookin' Tired?

Yes, that's right. I'm starting a mail art list. If you would like to be included on the list please send an email with your name and full adress to pineapple-spirals@hotmail.com . By Subcribing to this list you will receive mail art periodically, which could be, but is not limited to paper, printed matter, fibre, cds. Your personal information will not be sold or given to anyone under any circumstances and will only be used for the purpose of the exchange of mail art. There is no money involved. If you are artist and would like to exchange works, please let me know that in your email.

I promise this will make receiving mail exciting again, or at least much more interesting than bills and flyers . When was the last time you received something hand addressed to you in the mail?

This is what we got today in the mail; a Sears bill, an Amex bill and a Dead Spider. Not much fun at all.

Wools

2006-09-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

Nova Scotia Sea Shell
June Sky
Kelp forest

Earthen

Nacre

This and the last post are featuring some of my first handspun. I was on a real handspinning kick last semester, so before I weave this into cloth I thought I'd document it and post it for everyone to have a peek. Some of this was done on a spinning wheel and some on the drop spindle. Most of the handspun I make is spun with a drop spindle, but for two weeks last semester I rented a spinning wheel and spun, spun, spun. I play with colour and fibre combinations and varied the thickness of the thread in more than a few. I like making chunky yarns on the spinning wheel, and plying too (spining more than one thread together). The drop spindle is better for finer singles.

I have a few more and some balls of yarn, but that will have to be another post some time later.

I feel like I have so many things I am behind in documenting. A lot of my work is transient or transforms through a series of stages. Some of it gets left on the street. Some of it is all about the process. I am planning an installation piece right now, and it's especially tricky to document because its time based.

Well, whatever documentation I eventually get I'll post on here, so more to come.

Handspun

2006-09-18T19:10:00.000-07:00

Snackin' on the Station

2006-09-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

Living in Space - Episode Three

Here we go: floating cans and fruit juice. This is a laugh, I wonder if they've ever had a space food fight.

The Space Station layout

2006-09-04T13:07:00.000-07:00

Living in Space - Episode 2

I have been thinking about making a comic strip about traveling in space. I know, it's been done a million times, but I am fascinated with the monotony of being stuck on a spacecraft vs. how amazing it would be. As well as the sense of claustrophobia that would result from being in close quarters for so long and the weight of the vastness which would surround you.

Space Ships sure are a mess of wires, steel, plastic,and other junk. The interior reminds me more of two dudes roughing it in a cross between an airplane and an old camper (especially in clip three. It was more akward than I had expected an "international Space Station" to be. Humbling, but awesome.

Living on the International Space Station

2006-09-04T12:55:00.000-07:00

Living in Space - Episode 1

I found these neat videos on you tube about living on the international space station. The music is lame, the video quality is poor, but the subject really is fascinating. These three videos cover all the typical stuff, for example how the space station is laid out and astronaut foods.

2006-09-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

Space Shuttle and International Space station.

Ever wonder what it would be like to rocket into space?

What's so Odd about this picture?

2006-08-29T17:51:00.000-07:00

This is the inside of a room in an elaborate dollhouse! There are quite a few photos on this persons blog, Check it out here.

2006-08-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

ISS - March 29 Solar Eclipse

Another awesome video from the International Space Station. This is a video of the shadow of the moon traveling over the surface of the earth.

2006-08-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

Aurora Borealis from ISS

Have patience watching this video, it takes a sec for them to get to the Aurora Borealis. At the end they point out a huge impact crater on the earths surface. The commentary is fascinating.

This Month in Space

2006-08-24T12:18:00.001-07:00

Pluto got the boot, I guess Xena won't become a planet after all. Click here to read a news article. Also you must check out the month in space pics halfway down the righthand side of the page on this link(it's under slideshow). They are beautiful and awe inspiring.

(photo of pluto from msn website)

Dark Matter

2006-08-22T22:39:00.000-07:00

Check this out. News Article: Proof of Dark Matter

Carl Sagan - Smarten Up

2006-08-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Carl Sagan

(*sigh* I wish I could have met him over coffee sometime.)

Carl, always poignant and romantic, warns us how it is. Inttermitent Seagulls.

Photo Shoot

2006-08-22T21:08:00.000-07:00

Thanks for droping off the photos, Sarah. This one reminds me of my mothers cosmetic books from the eighties. I'm an autumn ;P

I modeled for Sarah Fawson in last years wearable art show. These photos were taken by Chris Melanson, and showcase some of the garments she made for the WAS and The Off the Wall show. The top two pieces are related to puppets and childhood. Sarah dyed, printed, AND quilted the fabric for the first and second garment below.

She's now on her way to New York where I'm sure she's going to have a wonderful semester abroad. Yeay Sarah!

Dan and The Wool

2006-08-22T19:16:00.000-07:00

2006-08-17T21:21:00.000-07:00

Jellyfish at the New York Aquarium

Jellyfish video from Youtube

Jot Notes/Electron Spin

2006-07-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

electrons, just like the earth , and the sun, and the galaxy (local group); are constantly spinning.

The electron has three basic properties, electric charge, mass and spin.

Alive and Making

2006-07-16T13:57:00.000-07:00

Soon to come ; art, sensuality and euphoric existence.