Category Archives: Poached Egg Woman

Befriending Wildflowers (the noisier version)

It was a very hot and humid day when we set out to explore the wildflowers of Pheasant Creek Coulee, with small sketchbooks in hand. Each sketchbook had several line drawings of flowers we hoped to find, with a space to name it ourselves, and a space for the common name. I had anticipated moving quickly across the pasture to the hills below but this gaggle of 5 girls and 2 moms stopped to look at and appreciate every wildflower – they did not miss one – and gave each some very fun names. We collected a few to paint later and proceeded to a very steep hill full of western wild bergamots and a scary climb down (for some!) that ended with a slide several feet down to the road!!

We returned to Kerry Farm a little overheated, but cooled down with a delicious potluck lunch. We found some shade to really look closely at our wildflowers and experiment with watercolour painting. Along the way, we visited Grandmother Willow (for a little tree climbing and some feather collecting) and said hi to the horses. We ended the day with some flower yoga and gymnastics as you can see.

This is a companion piece to Befriending Wildflowers (the Quiet Version)

Into the Hawthornes

Down on hands and knees

through the door of thorny branches,

just big enough

and into the hawthornes

right in the middle

sssshhh…if you can stay quiet

long enough

they come back

the birds, the squirrels

to eat the red berries

if you can stay as still as a hawthorne

you can hear the soft wingbeat of a fairy

if you can stay quiet

you can catch the scent

of the coyote who slept here last night

you can feel the slow heartbeat of the earth

that is holding you

loving you

back to life

Dolores and Alma

Dolores, left and Alma, right with “Four Directions”

I want to share this simple, sweet story.

One of things I like about hosting my own art show is that I witness when a person falls in love with a piece of art. On the second day of my show, my friend Alma told me that she loved a watercolour painting called “Four Directions” and that maybe she could afford to buy it in September. This was a painting I had begun for a specific project. Partway through painting this piece I learned that my art was not what the client had in mind. Funny thing, this piece had moved right into me, stirred me up and I needed to finish it for myself – project or no project. I couldn’t not finish it! I was so delighted that it touched Alma.

I woke up the next morning with one thought. It seemed to me that the painting should be Alma’s. When I arrived at the show, I put a “sold” marker on it.

Enter my friend Dolores. When Dolores first saw “Four Directions”, her hand went to her heart and she said, ” I want to buy this painting. I just love it.” I told her about Alma. fullsizeoutput_1a4a

I pondered this the next few days and phoned Dolores with a proposition to loan her the painting for four months until Alma’s birthday, at which time I would offer it to Alma.

I intended to pick it up from Dolores and deliver to Alma, as a surprise. Then I had a better idea. These two women had at least two things in common, so I asked Alma to come and meet my friend Dolores, which she did. She didn’t even ask why!

It was the sweetest get together. These two elders have each meant so much to me, as friends and as teachers. Alma is also my relative now, by the sweet virtue of my daughter and her grandson falling in love. Alma was the presiding elder at the first women’s sweats I ever attended. We have known each other for many years. Alma offers her wisdom and knowledge, her love for her native Cree language and the teaching embedded in it to many people of all ages and all nations. Alma’s voice soothes and gentles me. My friend Dolores epitomizes hospitality, the generous heart. I can talk to her about almost anything. Her hospitality comes as naturally as breath. She is a listener. I always leave her home feeling nurtured and treasured, not to mention well-fed. To sit in Dolores’s welcoming home, enjoying cookies and tea while these two wonderful women got to know each other was more dear than I can say.

Dolores, Alma, Sue with Cherie Westmoreland photo in the background

Dolores gave Alma homemade socks. We shared stories. We took a selfie! Alma carefully carried away her painting wrapped in the garbage bag Dolores had given her. The gratitude and warmth I felt for these moments and the gifts of these two women in my life expanded into the next day, and the next, and today as well.

This post is dedicated to my own mum, Alice Sylvia Frith Bland, who died 20 years ago on Hallowe’en. I feel her presence and love often. I am grateful to all the mother figures who have blessed my life, and who continue to bless it. Thank you. Hiy Hiy.

Water, Colour, Paper

Water

Colour

Paper

And a brush. (But not necessarily!)

“Follow the brush,” writes Lynda Barry. “The paint travels down the brush and the brush travels across the paper. Once I noticed this I found I enjoyed watching the paint meet the paper. I liked watching it so much, I forgot I had a part in it!”

Here are some photos from a recent Fearless watercolour PLAYshop sponsored by the Lumsden and District Arts Council. With thanks to all who made it possible and for the fearless participants, teachers each and everyone of them.

A maple bug loved this play sheet

paying with the “rigger” (brush

Fall Scraps of Sunlight

Having just spent two days playing with paper with others, one day being a collage PLAYshop at the Qu’Appelle Valley Centre for the Arts, and the second day taking place here at the farm (Scrap basket free for all), I can honestly say, I would love to spend a whole week like this. Except I might not still be married! My patient husband had to borrow a chair to sit down to eat lunch, his current reading material was hidden under a scrap basket and his usual paths had detours but he managed with good humour. It is all cleaned up now and I am still married.

Following are photos from the PLAYshop and scrap basket adventure. A few highlights first:

I liked that we had people from age 9 to over 70, grandmothers and granddaughters, mothers and daughters, aunties and nieces, good friends, people who had come before and people who gave it their first try.
Joanne brought a beautiful paper wasps nest, and this paper was used for many creations. See if you can spot them.
We visited but sometimes were so absorbed and other than music in the background all you could hear were so many pairs of scissors as they cut through paper.
It was November 7th and 8th and “the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all our senses .” (thanks Joni Mitchell). Who could believe this weather in November? The sun was so bright I was uanble to get a picture of Sunday morning’s scrap basket crew.
On Saturday, we got to pop in at the pop up market!!

Part Two- Scrap Basket Adventures

I have three big scrap baskets, full of treasure. Today’s challenge was to just use what was in the scrap basket to create something beautiful.

Joan’s beautiful creation from saturday’s PLAYshop. She came up to the farm Sunday and found just what she needed to complete her collage. see the next photo.

In Praise of Play

The absorption of the simple act of cutting paper

I recently had someone ask me if my art PLAYshops were for adults. Most definitely, they are for adults. Sometimes they are also for all ages and at other times exclusively for children and youth. Most often I tell people that PLAYshops are like WORKshops, only we play instead of work. I offer PLAYshops in paper collage and watercolour painting, but the spirit of playful exploration is possible for so many endeavours. People do learn techniques at a PLAYshop but almost by accident as they ask themselves “what if I tried this?” It strikes me as a sad commentary that “play” for adults is often the domain of adult only sexshops or professional football. The recent popularity of adult colouring books is one sign of how hungry we are for pure play in these busy and often serious times.

Here is what I notice about those who attend my art PLAYshops. Many of us learned in elementary school that there are one or two “artists” in the class and that that artist is not us! No wonder there is often initial concern about “getting it right”. Part of my job as a leader is the open up the space for experimentation, exploration, skylarking* and simple play. Once people get past “getting it right”, and they usually do, I notice the great comfort that comes with the simple act of cutting with scissors, tearing paper with fingers or wielding a glue stick. The same is true of dipping a brush in a tray of pure colour, dipping it again in water and applying it to paper. Many of us have not enjoyed these simple activities since we were in school, or perhaps when we sat down to show a child how to cut or paint. It is as if by cutting or gluing, we are remembering something, some pleasure, that we long since forgot. We feel that pleasure deep in our bodies.

Although there is sometimes chatter as we create and experiment, there are also often periods of silence, when participants are so absorbed and focused in what they are doing that they forget to drink their coffee or go to the bathroom or worry about when they will buy groceries. I love this feeling of a group of people being being wholly absorbed in what they are doing. I sense a sort of “hum” of contentment in the room.

I have just started taking an art class based on learning some very specific techniques. I feel excitement about trying out new things. What I noticed right away though, is how frequently those of us in the room criticize and put down our own work, even though we are there to learn something new. We can’t help ourselves. We are afraid to make mistakes. We take ourselves pretty seriously.

I understand this terror of creating visual art a little because I am terrified to dance in the same kind of way. I don’t seem to have natural rhythm, I trip over my feet, I try to take the lead. I need to draw on this sense of play and fun when I hit the dance floor. Well, actually, first I need to get near a dance floor!!

Part of the appeal of the PLAYshops is the “play” part but another part of the pleasure is returning to work with our hands. We can get this same kind of tactile pleasure in a myriad of ways – carving wood, sewing by hand, kneading dough, painting a piece of furniture, raking leaves, polishing silver or leather. In an era when our fingers and thumbs are so busy sending messages via screens, we crave this ability to touch something real, something not virtual, something that we can transform and something that will transform us, even in the smallest of ways.

*skylark
n.
the common European lark, 1680s, from sky (n.) + lark (n.1). So called because it sings as it mounts toward the sky in flight.

v.
“to frolic or play,” 1809, originally nautical, in reference to “wanton play about the rigging, and tops,” probably from skylark (n.), influenced by (or from) lark (n.2). Related: Skylarked ; skylarking.

Rice Paper Birds on a winter’s day

Beauty Among Trees

Tree PLAyshop at Kerry Farm, Monday, July 28

A PLAYshop is something like a workshop except you PLAY instead of work. (No shopping is involved.) This PLAYshop focused on trees (and chickens), and was the first I have held, at our home, and the first that was for all ages. We were 4 girls and 4 women accompanied throughout the day by canines and felines, chickens, horses, frogs and dragonflies.

We gave ourselves crazy names (Branchy Brenda, Gracie Grass, Climbing Kamijo – you get the idea) – explored trees blindfolded, did tree yoga with sound effects, and followed the winding trail of a scavenger adventure to our lunchtime destination – the Queen Willow tree on the other side of the dugout. Once there we had a picnic, swung on the tire, heard a Japanese story, had a precarious drawing lesson before heading back to create some art. Off the beaten path, some of us learned to hypnotize chickens, collect eggs, had extra wheelbarrow rides, cuddled cats.

Special thanks to Brenda, Linda and Tania for their wonderful photographs, and to Vanneca, Gracie, Lilly, Kamijo for their tremendous enthusiasm. (And to my family)

Welcome to Kerry Farm - -cTrees frame the view out the lane

Welcome to Kerry Farm – Trees frame the view out the lane. Photo courtesy of Brenda MacLauchlan.

Poached Egg Woman flew amongst the trees all day – did anyone notice??

Scavenger Adventure: Finding the “branch pattern” in the vegetable garden. Photo by B. MacLauchlan.

Scavenger Adventure: sit on the willow bench. is it comfortable? What tree are you under? Can you find its seed? All photos with white frame are courtesy of Tania Wolk

Scavenger adventure! Photo by B. MacLauchlan

I get a ride in the wheelbarrow!! Photo by B. MacLauchlan

I give a ride. All photos with white frame are by kind permission of Tania Wolk.

Snack time. Photo by L. Stumpf

Scavenger Adventure: Leaf rubbings. Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Scavenger Adventure: What do you notice in the yard that is made of wood?

Scavenger adventure: what is in the tree, is shaped like a branch, but shouldn’t be in the tree? Photo by B. MacLauchlan.

Scavenger Adventure: the two headed tree. Photo by L. Stumpf

Queen Willow. Photo by L. Stumpf

Please stay away from the bees (but Brenda didn’t). This day is about TREES.Bees, who are (thankfully) NOT in the trees. Don’t be a tease. Photo by B. MacLauchlan.

Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Tania, meet Missy. Photo by B. MacLauchlanc

Slight diversion from the TREES because it is time to hypnotize a chicken and collect some eggs. Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Time to collect eggs. Photo by B. MacLauchlan

A happy chicken with a happy girl

What is hiding? Photo by B. MacLauchlan.

Surprise! A renegade hen. Photo by L. Stumpf

Getting closer to our lunchtime destination

Scavenger Adventure: What insects do you notice on the windy, grassy path that leads to our dining room?

Nap time. Photo by L. Stumpf

Vanica arrives first, and sets the table! Photo by L. Stumpf

Vanneca arrives first, and sets the table! Photo by L. Stumpf

China teacups in our under the willow picnic. Photo by B. MacLauchlan.

more picnic. Photo by B. MacLauchlan.

Plates handed UP to diners. Photo by L. Stumpf

Plates handed UP to diners.Lunch is served! Photo by L. Stumpf

Brenda’s toes

Lunch on a tire swing? Not!!
Photo by L. Stumpf

Aaaah…mint tea! Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Swinging on the tire. Photo by B. MacLauchlan

and the girls are ….OFF again!! Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Girl intrepid. Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Photo by B. MacLauchlan

Drawing class in the trees. Photo by B. MacLachlan

Photo by B. MacLachlan

Vanneca finds a tree chair. Photo by B. MacLachlan.

Playing with paper. Photo by B. MacLachlan

Goodbye…Hello!

*”Poached Egg Woman is Rooted” Photo by Cherie Westmoreland

These past few days, I have been moving plants from a thick tangle of grass which was once my perennial garden to a new spot out in the orchard. The thatch of grass has not been a perennial garden for several seasons now…. something I have been loathe to admit. Each spring, I have longed for the perennial garden of old and thought, “maybe this summer, I will find the time.” Finally, this year, I am able accept that I will not bring new life to this old spot, and that the time has come to let it go. As I have been digging and uprooting plants, I have also been remembering…I started this garden just before we had our first daughter. In this garden our daughters created magical homes for the fairies, picked bouquets and played imaginary games on our beloved chokecherry tree. Many of the flowers in this garden come from women dear to me – my late

old perennials are moved here to a new spot

mother-in-law Wanda, my dear friend Hope, my neighbour Wendy, our Aunty Joy. Through the years, this garden has given us joy, delight and colour. But as we travelled more often to Christie Lake in the summers, the garden got way ahead of me. Its fate was sealed a few springs ago when a mother duck laid 13 beautiful eggs right in the garden’s middle – giving me a great reason not to weed. As I take the roots and stalks of plants to their new spot, near the apple tree and by a willow bench, I think that it is fitting that this is also the year that our youngest daughters will leave home. The garden has lived its life. It has been the garden of our daughter’s childhoods. Freedom from this garden will give me more time to paint, more time to be with the wildflowers in the coulee. Some of the transplanted flowers will survive in their new home, some will disappear. I am curious to see what else will come to life.

A few weekends ago, I took part in “A Weekend with the Wildflowers and Grasses of the Qu’Appelle Valley” at Calling Lakes Centre (PCTC). Calling Lakes Centre is slated to close in August, after 60 years of making a difference in the lives of so many from all across Canada. For some, our weekend with the wildflowers was a way of saying goodbye to a much-loved place, of giving thanks for the wonderful memories. For others, this weekend was a way of saying “hello”. A mother and daughter who were new to Calling Lakes Centre reveled in the freedom of running up and down the hills and to the lake and back again. They said “hello” to this way of being together – just the two of them – without other family members. They said “hello” to their mutual love of wild plants, of fairies and of creating art. Our accompanying Elder, Dot, wrote “I recognize that for others it was kind a a good-bye time. For me, having not spent so much time there, it was more of a hello time. Hello to the flowers, some of them new to me, a Manitoba girl. Hello to a time of wandering up and down the hills, enjoying the view of the valley.” I love that the goodbyes and hellos, the new and the old, the memories and the possibilities are so intermingled.

As Calling Lakes Centre is winding down, new life is emerging in surprising ways. Close by, in Fort Qu’Appelle a dedicated band of volunteers and visionaries have invested much time in renovating Central School, built in 1911. Together, they are creating the Qu’Appelle Valley Centre of the Arts. This fledgling centre has already nurtured musicians, artists, poets and yoga practitioners with more to come.

Calling Lakes Centre nurtured many people during its 60 year life. Those of us who have been privileged to work there were inspired to explore learning which uses all the senses, which allowed people time with their own creative spirits in a peaceful place away from it all. You could say our own roots were strengthened at Calling Lakes Centre. I notice how many alumni staff continue to offer opportunities to learn – by offering retreats, readings, opportunities to explore art and poetry, PLAYshops. Seeds of ideas that may have emerged first while at Calling Lakes Centre, ideas that will germinate and flourish in other places. One program staffer, Jenni Krall along with her husband Jason, have started the Wild Spirit Prairie Sanctuary on their beloved land, where they hope to celebrate spirit in this beautiful wild place in a simple way and off the grid.

The closing of Calling Lakes Centre has had me looking for new venues to continue to offer PLAYshops. I have always returned from visits to my friend Debra’s farm in the eastern Qu’Appelle Valley feeling renewed and refreshed. Could Debra and I work together to offer a PLAYshop? After dreaming, and discernment and discussion, we decided we could. The particularities of place at Valley View Farm encouraged me to take a new look at PLAYshops, and so in August we are offering “Immersed in Nature: An Art Retreat at Valley View Farm” in the spirit of a “trial balloon”. Coincidentally, Debra worked at Calling Lakes Centre for many years.

Goodbye. Hello. Some parts of what we have loved survive. Some parts do not. The new emerges in the midst of the old. The new is inspired by the old. The spirit of the garden, the spirit we found on the hills during the wildflower weekend, the spirit of a group engrossed in creating something beautiful together lives on and takes fresh and surprising forms.

Off the Beaten Track – An Art Haven

Jada and I in “Sue’s Art Haven”. Thanks Dawn R for the photo!

As I accept invitations to create art with different groups of people, I notice that I am really exploring. I am trying to figure out the ways that I want to move art out and into the world, and to learn which ways don’t work so well for me.

Take the recent Cathedral Village Arts Festival. I had a sense that I wanted to be a part of it somehow and an even stronger sense that I did not want to be a vendor and have a booth. So, I invited myself to two different places.

The first was Westminster United Church, located on 13th Avenue and a vital part of the Saturday street fair, hosting the first ever Saskatchewan on line art auction, 5 musical concerts and a pancake breakfast. Minister Darrell Reine offered me the “multi purpose room” and I liked the feel of it and decided to show some art and have a space for people to play with paper, called “PaPer Play”. The second place I invited myself was the Paper Umbrella, that beautiful and inspiring shop on 13th Avenue. Some of my rice paper bird panels hang in the windows there, so owners Theresa and Brad, said I could come between 2 and 4 to create paper birds with anyone who wished to stop by.

At Westminster Church, I hoped that lots of people would come by to look at my art, and I also hoped to display it in a way that they could take some time with it and really see it.

a panda, a bat and a bird

Nancy’s rainbow bird

All in all, about 100 people came, only a fraction of the mobs out on the street. Some of them were indeed able to take their time looking at the art. A few surprised themselves by creating paper creatures. A man with a headache came in to rest while his teenage children created birds. Another person came in and said… “Phewf, an art haven.” People came to rest while an energetic spouse checked out the Art Auction. Our small corner did have a haven like feel about it.

Jayne’s bird meets LeeAnn’s Dragon. Sue forgets to turn her flash on. Sorry!

Early in the afternoon, I made my way down to the Paper Umbrella with my basket of paper scraps, scissors and glue.I could barely make my way through the crowd!! It was a beautiful day and it was wonderful to see so much colour, collective joy, occasional exhaustion, so much life on the street. Brad set me up at a table with – yes, an umbrella, but not a paper one – at the Paper Umbrella. A few stools, a very comfortable office chair with wheels that had me rolling backwards. This kept things exciting!! I began to do what I love to do – make paper birds. The river of people flowed by. Would anyone stop, I wondered? Maybe not….That’s okay, I told myself. You can be zen, and in this street of constant motion and stimulus, that could be a good thing. Then, a couple of families stopped by. They were totally keen to create paper birds, and so they did, happily, standing up, sitting on high stools, sharing glue and scissors. It briefly rained. The sun shone again. The wind blew some scraps down the street. More families stopped. To my great delight, my friend Cindy and her daughter Anieka’s found us. They had wheeled through the throngs all the way from Westminster Church where Cindy had expected to find me. It got really hot. The glue in the glue sticks melted. So after one hour in the limelight, with glue that was no longer serviceable, I made my way back to the calm and quiet art haven at Westminster Church. Grateful for the quiet. Happy to be far from the crowd. Happy also about the crowd and high spirits.

The day wasn’t totally successful – at least not according to my expressed hopes. I did not get as much exposure as I hoped. It was a learning day, with much to reveal about how I am most comfortable moving my art into the world. For a number of people of all ages, the room in the church was a place for focused and quiet play, a place to sit and rest, a contemplative space, a bit of an escape. I wondered if that was exactly right, and if next year, providing a quiet space in all the hubbub might be my best contribution?

The small write up in the packed Cathedral Village Arts Festival booklet might read something like this: Sue’s Art Haven: Step off the beaten track and away from the crowd for a few moments. Enjoy soft music in a room filled with art to nurture the soul. Come simply to sit and relax or come and create a paper creature from Sue’s extensive collection of wonderful papers- washi, tissue, candy wrappers, cigarette foils, wrapping paper. For all ages. Free. At Westminster Church, go south on Cameron Street and take the first door in. Up the stairs and you are there.

Lumsden PLAYshop for the birds!!

This past Saturday saw me in Lumsden with eleven other creative souls who came to play with paper, scissors and glue… We spent a companionable day contemplating beauty, exploring our own particular styles – some of us loving to tear the paper and go freestyle, others preferring the small, telling detail……We took note of what was difficult for us, what felt like “work” (not always a bad thing!) and what felt like joy? As we cut and pasted, some of us asked “What makes me hum? What gives me great pleasure and satisfaction? What tickled my funny bone and loosened the muscles around my jaw? Do I like to work slowly and carefully or is my way to move quickly?”

For me, each PLAYshop is unique, each a gift in its own way. One of the delights of my time in Lumsden was watching others as they played with the shape of birds – taking the same image and playing with it in so many different ways. This is something that brings me seemingly infinite delight! I was so moved by the beautiful creations – the soft-edged and tender birds of a young mom, families of birds in palettes of blues or of autumn colours or yellows and purples, birds with flamboyant tail feathers. Others created a flame, a dancing goddess, abstract pieces, an exquisite scene with a jewelled dragonfly, a line of dancing women joined by a single golden thread.

I firmly believe that a bracing winter walk in the middle of a day of collage play helps the creative process. But only one intrepid woman took me up on it. (Thanks Chris!) The rest preferred to let winter stay outdoors, except for the brilliant light streaming through the windows as we created a colourful and joyful spring within!

My thanks to all of the fine artists of Lumsden and district, for your dedication to creating space for art to bloom,for your love of beauty, and for the golden thread of friendship and support that keeps you loosely connected.

so many beautiful birds

Some scraps of beauty to take home!

Next Paper Collage PLAYshop will be held on March 22nd in Fort Qu’Appelle.