Category Archives: Fairies

The Fairy Meets the Inner Critic

Fairy bodies come in all shapes, sizes and colours

I planned a paper fairy PLAYshop for January. Omicron came along and knocked that out of the realm of possibility – at least as a real LIVE breathing and in person PLAYshop. The Pandemic is giving our adaptability muscles new opportunities to flex!

Fairy paper packets

Instead I offered an at home version where participants received a packet of papers to make their fairy, as well as access to instructions and templates and a short Zoom fairy consultation (really a fairy party) with me.

The night after mailing more than a dozen fairy paper parcels, I woke up from an unsettling dream. In the way of dreams, I can’t tell you anything about it, except that once awake, this sentence popped into my head, clear as a bell. “Fairies are so insubstantial.”

“Insubstantial?!!” retorts the fairy. “That’s our superpower! Most beings are far too substantial! Insubstantial, yes! Insignificant, NEVER!!”

I don’t think I laughed out loud then, but I have several times since. This first voice is clearly the voice of my own personal inner critic. She is not usually so funny!

Insubstantial. Flighty. Frivolous. Fanciful!! These are the kinds of words my inner critic loves to taunt me with.

One of the wise fairy makers said, ” I would just tell that inner critic to lighten up!!”

I notice that an enlivening spirit is with me when I am selecting fairy papers for people. I am happy as a clam, I love doing it, everything is a complete mess, and any notion of 1, 2, 3 or getting this done in a certain block of time is completely out of the question. Beside the point. It’s those darn fairies – trying to keep me messed up (in a good way)!

When creating a fairy, I am quietly delighted. Some parts of fairy making are quite finnicky and absorb all of my attention. Time slips through my fingers.

Abra-cad-a-bra! People appear on the my screen. Pouffff – they are gone!! When gathering on Zoom, we fairy makers notice a companionable gaiety and levity in the air. We laugh a lot!

Collaborating with other fairy makers has stretched my ideas about fairies and the possibilities they hold. A mom and her two young sons adapted the PLAYshop to make superheroes, which got me wondering about male fairies and why fairies are so gendered. Another fairy maker started with the thought of creating “Dreaming Fairy” – the fairy who would contribute to the world we want to live into. During one Zoom fairy party, participants had songs pop into their minds when making fairies. “Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes”…and “Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket, save it for a rainy day.” The songs found their expressions on the fairies created.

“Heart of Gold” Fairy

Sometimes I wonder, did I choose fairies as a project? Or, did the fairies choose me? I think the fairies chose me! In the midst of coldest winter, a pandemic that doesn’t seem to end, and a renovation job taking me deep into our stone basement to “mud” (reinforce the walls with a mixture of sand and lime), it seems that creating paper fairies is the perfect antidote, the best winter and pandemic elixir, a panacea of sorts.

The fairies whisper “Tread lightly”! They loosen my laughter and delight and playfulness. They lead me down new flight paths.

Up, up and away!!

To view an ongoing gallery of fairies created, click here.

“Revolutionary Dancing Fairies are Getting Out of the Kitchen” – by Diane Mullan

“Petra (green fairy) is off her Rocker!” -by Diane Mullan

“Up, Up and Away!” by Diane Mullan

Magic Wings

All my life, I have believed in the “little people”. As a girl, I loved making them small homes of moss, birchbark, sticks, shells, berries, seeds and leaves. My daughters also created these places for the fairies in the garden.

The past few days have seen me creating fairies – one for my favourite tree planter called “Tree Planting Fairy”, and a second for a dear friend who is in the midst of the adventure of moving called “Moving Fairy”.

“Tree Planting Fairy” in process (when she had a green face and was not yet stuck to the paper)

detail – “Tree Panting Fairy” changes to yellow orange face!! Note shovel.

“Tree Planting Fairy”
Rice and other papers, gum, cigarette and candy wrappers, doily from Paul Paquin’s house

“Moving Fairy” catches the morning sunlight

“Moving Fairy” has at least two sides. Created from a recycled watercolour painting, this is her autumn side. She is versatile and meant for travelling – old house, new house, moving truck, car, just about anywhere. She is dressed for any weather. In her satchel is everything she will need.

This is her Ice rink side – her dress is partly made of torn photos of the deep blue ice on the rink…..Other materials include rice paper, candy wrappers, cigarette foils, part of a badminton racket string, metallic thread

Dufferin Park

My class mates Jake and Meghan buying their supper

Community Garden

I am so grateful to my friend Erin for telling me about the Dufferin Park Organic Farmer’s Market and all of the cool community things that go on in this park just a couple of subway stops away from my class. My classmates Jake and Meghan came along… we got lost, got drenched, ate very well and had a great time. I was able to buy my supper and the makings of an OZ picnic with Alice before I set out to explore the park. To learn more about this great expression of community you can visit the Friends of Dufferin Park website.

The outdoor oven the Friends of the Park use to bake bread

: a children’s area at the farmer’s Market

This bike was advertising a puppet theatre… I kept wondering if the puppets were in the blue box and might pop out at any time!

the knife sharpener

I would love a little gypsy cart like this for the Fort Qu’Appelle Market!

more gardens

There is a big spout of water coming in and great channels…perfect for playing with trucks and boats, sticks for fences, road building… this little guy was having a ball!

when I saw these little houses I thought they were for fairies and elves – the little people

I just kept imagining how I would love this as a child (hey – the CHILD in me still does!)

Close up

So, they are not fairy houses, they are cobs!

Taking Flight – The Show

My art show, entitled “Taking Flight: An Exploration of Birds and Other Flying Creatures in the Art of Sue Bland” took place Mother’s Day Weekend (May 11 and 12, 2013) in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan.

I learned that to mount an art show – and especially one called “Taking Flight”, I had to stay pretty darn grounded! It was definitely hard work, and absolutely full of joy for me. I was so thrilled that so many of all ages chose to hang around, drink some tea and make some beautiful art. Many beautiful rice paper birds, butterflies, snakes and pictures were created by folks from age 3 to age 88! Numerous people helped me but I would especially like to thank the volunteers at the Qu’Appelle Valley Centre of the Arts, and my family, especially Shane and Jessie and Marina.

On Sunday morning, the first hour was very quiet, so I sat in the gallery, listened to music and looked around. Some of the art in the room comes from 25 years ago, and I have never seen my art at all in one place before. I could see that as well as a fascination with birds and other flying creatures, there is both movement and colour in my art which has remained consistent over the years. I had never noticed this before. I have not yet finished my explorations of “Taking Flight” in the form of blog posts, but I hope to. (See former posts Taking Flight 1, 2 and 3). The art show perhaps marked a starting point for further exploration of the flight theme.

I have chosen 15 photos for this post – you can see the entire collection in Past PLAYshops, Shows and Sales. Most of the photos are courtesy of Susan Sorenson and Cherie Westmoreland. I thank them both.

The Qu’Appelle Valley Centre of the Arts was once a school

Flowers from Mary, Screen behind made by Justin

“An Exultation of Larks”
Rice Paper on plexi-glass

Tree of Birds – wax crayons, watercolour paint, 1991

: “Bird Woman” – Diana’s Magic Lamp, half a globe, a velvet hat, a heart, two rolls of paper, rice paper birds

Janaye and Natalie

Ciane, Jared and boys

L to R-
Print- Earth Dances with Sky
Where are You Now?
Collage- Earth dances with Sky
Collage- Autumn Flight
Collage- Sunrise Ceremony

Part of the Fairy Section 2 Star fairies, and 1 Gypsy fairy

Part of the Fairy Section
2 Star fairies, and 1 Undaunted fairy

Gorgeous butterfly created by Chrysa who said “I am not creative!” WHAT???

Some of the beautiful art created during “Taking Flight”

Spring Light

A little spring fairy with the winter woods behind

I just spent three nights in a small cabin in a coulee at the Qu’Appelle House of Prayer. A retreat, a time of quiet, a time to be still.

This time I brought a task or two – a writing project and some art experiments, but more often I come here just to be still, to sit and wonder, to nap. It was a rare and wonderful treat to focus on work with few distractions, and with the time and space to take in the beauty all around.

I have been revelling in the incredible light we have been enjoying this spring. It took a few days of quiet to realize that all of this white snow is contributing to the particular dazzling light that marks these last days of March.( I know there is a powerful wish to have this snow gone, and I kind of share it, but am savouring this light also.) I watched deer nestled right against the window of my cabin, eating the sunflower seeds on the snow that the chickadees, red polls, purple finches, nuthatches and woodpeckers had missed.Later on, a young deer settles down for an afternoon nap in the woods behind my cabin while bathed in the afternoon sun. Such a sight! At night, the almost full apricot moon rose over the hills in a twilight sky.

As I made a big mess with rice paper, I realized that part of the joy in creating flying birds and fairies, as I am doing these days – is that the light shines through the rice paper, illuminating the colours and the subtle textures of the paper. Soon this white snow will melt, giving moisture to the vibrant green moss tucked here and there in the paths on these hills. It was in moss like this that I first knew there were “little people” or fairies. I remember making small tables with sticks and bark, trying to write letters to the fairies with berry juice. Like me, the little spring fairies above know its winter, but the green sap of spring is running in their veins. The small deer who sleeps outside my window may be dreaming of tender buds and more plentiful food.

Poached Egg Woman

Exploring the art and imaginative world of Sue Bland