Author Archives: sbland

About sbland

Sue Bland (aka Poached Egg Woman) is a visual artist who lives on a farm in rural Saskatchewan. A chicken farm, to be exact, hence she eats a lot of poached eggs! Sue works primarily in paper collage and watercolours, and offers art PLAYshops to anyone interested in exploring their creative side and having fun.

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.

The Choir of No

*”Poached Egg Woman Listens to the Choir of No” Photo by Cherie Westmoreland

I am having one of those weeks!

This watercolour was done about 5 years ago, when I decided that creating art needed to be more central in my life. I became aware of all the voices in my own head telling me that this was sheer lunacy!

I am glad the this version of Poached Egg Woman is with me still. Because you can be sure that the Choir of No still visits from time to time! This week I have dithered about what to donate to a charity auction, what the title of my upcoming art show should be, whether and when to have a PLAYshop this spring.

Regarding the title of my upcoming show – should it be “Winging it”, “Taking Flight”? – heck, I don’t know. Something to do with birds in flight, but hard to imagine what when I am feeling – well, grounded!! This week, I have started paintings and been unable to finish them. I have started cleaning my art space and stopped right in the middle. It is like I have a lump in my throat. You know the feeling!

One of the fun things about having this print on hand at sales, is that even people who aren’t artists “get it”. They get the “Choir of No.” They laugh. Most of us are familiar with some version of this chorus!

If you want to know who Poached Egg Woman is anyway, click the link and check out the bottom of the page. Poached Egg Woman does other things besides listen to the Choir of No. For a sampling, see the gallery “Poached Egg Woman and other Feathered Creatures“.

An Exultation of Larks!

birds in flight, rice paper and candy wrapper foil

A riot of colour

Noon sun – birds meet their shadows

a few of my favourites

late afternoon sun shadows

A simple mobile. I like watching the birds move.

birds in blue bowl in snow

I wanted to try the birds outside, but it was pretty windy, so tried this sheltered tree

“Are they really larks, mum?” asked one of my daughters. “No, they are just birds, but I love the phrase “exultation of larks”! (I also like “a labour of moles” and “a parliament of owls”.)

Apparently, some people think the correct phrase is a “exaltation of larks”.

Although both words mean extreme joy or happiness, exAltation also means to raise up, lift or promote to a higher place or position. ORIGIN late 16th cent.: from Latin exsultare, frequentative of exsilire ‘leap up,’ from ex- ‘out, upward’ + salire ‘to leap.’

I enjoy creating these birds. I am also having great fun playing with them – how can I arrange them to give them that sense of flight, of leaping into the air, of exultation? I have posted some more photos of these little birds in the Gallery entitled “Recent Work.”

My garden is blooming!!

Okay, so it’s a PAPER garden!!

Close up of flowers, Missy in the background dreaming horse dreams of luscious green grass!!

a bird’s eye view of my garden in bloom!

Some birds see the flowers and fly over!

Deep greens and blues are the colours I choose. (Birds love Gramma Alice’s Nova Scotia plate- me, too)

I have been having lots of fun creating my own paper garden, along with birds of all colours. Every garden needs some birds. Mostly I am using Japanese rice paper, along with some other papers. What I especially love is the way the light shines through this beautiful paper allowing us to enjoy the various textures. I love how it looks when paper is layered and one colour shines through another. Many of these birds also have candy wrapper shiny bits which the camera is not picking up. Hey, these are GLAM birds! (Plus, I think I need to clean my camera lens – see that blotch!!)

What to do with these birds and flowers? Hang them in my window? Create mobiles? Put them on lampshades? I am not sure. For the moment, I feel utterly happy playing with all this colour and fashioning flowers and birds. Spring is beginning to bloom in my heart, even as I enjoy some fantastic cross country skis.

Water Snake #4 – Process

Water Snake #3 and #4 were done while I was at Christie Lake in Ontario this past fall. The first picture gives you a little context, the view from the cabin each day. I occasionally worked out doors, but mostly worked at the table (second to last photo) in a small cabin with beautiful light, and no heat!!! It was a great adventure. (Although I did swim, it was freezing and I did not swim every day. I enjoyed the company of the loons.)

Through the screen door. Photo by Ellen Bradley

Celebrating Year of the Water Snake

I have been dreaming about water snakes for quite some time. Drawing them, trying to urge them to life with watercolours and collage, imagining them. When I began, little did I know that 2013 would be Year of the Water Snake! What a happy coincidence!

I am working on a series entitled “Creatures I Swim With” – which depicts some of the creatures I share the waters with at Christie Lake near Perth, Ontario. This is the lake of my childhood, the lake I have returned to from Saskatchewan with our family every second summer, the lake that calls me still. “Creatures I Swim With” has a cast of two so far: Loon (Deep Diver) and Northern Map Turtle. Water Snake is the third creature.

Deep Diver and Northern Map Turtle involved some preparation and a few preliminary sketches, but I very quickly got to the final products – both are a mix of watercolour and paper collage.

Water Snake has been a different matter. I have worked on 5 versions, trying to get it right, feeling my way as I go. From a recent journal: “I am loving the struggle. I am learning what the struggle is about by playing with each of these versions. Loon is identifiable as a Common Loon, turtle is Northern Map Turtle, but this snake – although definitely a snake does not look like a Northern Water Snake. It is the feeling of Water Snake that I want. I seldom see Water Snake. Mostly, I imagine I see Water Snake. I saw one once, swimming across the water and I could not believe my eyes. I was terrified. After that, it seemed, every dark stick lying on the sand and lent motion by the water above it was a snake lying deep in the water. Or every dark ripple on the surface of the water was a snake. Every brush of seaweed along my thigh felt like a water snake. They are seldom seen. Often imagined. Not dangerous. But, I think they are!”

My heart always skips a beat when I see this tiny snake!

One day, early in my relationship with Water Snake, my friend Dolores found a little Smooth Green Snake. Something had very recently killed it. Other than a small wound part way down its body, this little snake was perfect… a most beautiful vivid lime green, with tiny scales, an irridescent gleam… something I could study for hours. You can see it in the photo above (top right) with a watercolour sketch beside its now wizened body.

The day before starting to paint Water Snake #1, I found a perfect (garter) snake skin on a coulee hill…laying there like a gift. A gift indeed.

What is the feeling of Water Snake that I hoped to capture? Here are some of the words I wrote down:

coiled power mystery sheen depths glitter sparkle surprise danger beauty fierce fear terror ominous flexibility agility shifting elegance power hidden dark revealed

Over a period of months, I worked on four versions of Water Snake.

Then, other projects took precedence. I knew that Water Snake was not done with me, but there was something holding me back from continuing to explore.

My friend Mary called. You should check out The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, she said. So I looked up Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s book, and just as Mary said, the water snakes play a pivotal role. In this ballad, the ancient mariner undertakes a sea journey and mistakenly kills an albatross, usually a symbol of good luck for sailors. He hangs the corpse of the albatross around his neck. Things go from bad to worse, from worse to desperate – even his crew dies, and rather than rotting, they stare reproachfully at him. He is so distraught that he cannot even pray. And then,

Beyond the shadow of the ship,

I watched the water-snakes:

They moved in tracks of shining white

And when they reared, the elfish light

Fell off in hoary flakes.

Within the shadow of the ship

I watched their rich attire:

Blue, glossy green and velvet black,

They coiled and swarm; and every track

Was a flash of golden fire.

The sight of the beautiful water snakes lifted his heart so much (“Oh happy living things, no tongue their beauty might declare”), that he blessed them and was able to pray. At that moment, the albatross falls from his neck to the sea.

Of course, we know that snakes are an ancient (and current) symbol of healing. Asclepius was the god of healing and medicine and could restore the dead to life. The two snakes intertwined on a rod are carried by Hermes, who was not a healer but who was a messenger of the gods with a strong connection to the underworld. This symbol is associated with both pharmacy and alchemy. But this reminder of snakes as beautiful, as agents of healing, transformation and rebirth was what I needed to get me started on the fifth version of Water Snake. Joy, play, movement were added to my list of words.

I was further encouraged when I learned that 2013 was the Year of the Snake. Something loosened in me and out came the scissors, glue, papers, paintbrushes, yogurt container of water (!)and tubes of colour. Water Snake #5 is a little bigger than the others.

Because Water Snake #5 is so precise, I felt a great wiggle and desire to move inside, so began a more fluid watercolour piece which I called Water Snake Wiggler. Some images of the process of creating these two pieces can be found in the gallery entitled “A Close Look at Water Snake #5”

: Water Snake #1

: Water Snake #2

: Water Snake #3

: Water Snake #4

: Water Snake #5 – detail

: Water Snake Wiggler, watercolour, January 2013

Rebekah’s PATH Party

Jenna, Bonnie, Heidi, Rebekah and Ruth
All photos courtesy of Brenda MacLauchlan, except where noted

Judy and Kennen

Jayne and I putting Rebekah’s North Star on the wall

As you can see, Rebekah’s PATH was a great party, with her friends and family all attending in good spirits and ready to eat lots of delicious food. After supper, facilitator Judy explained how the PATH process worked. First off, she shared some of the dreams and goals Rebekah had already come up with throughout the last couple of weeks. She explained how the PATH process begins with dreams (which include what might seem impossible) and then works backwards to figuring out how those dreams might come true.

R is for Rebekah

Everyone was invited to flip through a big stack of magazines, and without over thinking was asked to tear out images that grabbed them or made them think of Rebekah. Rebekah, along with her friend Ellice and Brenda sat down and sorted through the images. While this was happening, people visited or made letters (like this letter “R”) for a sign that would read “Rebekah’s PATH”. Clearly, Rebekah had the hard work to do during this process! Then Judy and Ruth put the images chosen by Rebekah in groups on the North Star to represent her dreams.

There were a number of images of flight, a few of beautiful flowers, some of family. Judy and Rebekah attached some words or labels to each of these areas. Judy said that Rebekah could add images to her North Star in the next couple of weeks, or she could take some away. Because images mean different things to different people at different times, it is wise to keep our interpretations of them loose and fluid for a time. For example, there was a beautiful photo of two wolves which could mean any number of things – family, companionship, a life partner, the wilderness or calm and quiet – or – none of those things at all.

Choosing images for the North Star took alot Rebekah’s energy. The next stage in the PATH process was to identify Rebekah’s goals. Rebekah communicates primarily through gesture, body language, facial expressions and vocalization.Those present suggested certain goals and Rebekah affirmed them positively by lighting up the room with her beautiful smile or by showing a lack of enthusiasm by growing very quiet and still. As resident artist, I got to draw cartoons of the goals Rebekah chose on a large tissue paper flower.

We rolled right along to Rebekah’s NOW – what are the shapes, feel, activities and who are the friend and people that fill her days right now? For example, Rebekah has two homes, two vans and one fantastic friend Jenna, who comes to both homes. Rebekah works at the Astonished! Teaching and Learning Centre at the University of Regina as a lead researcher with YES WE CAN. She visits friends at Wascana. Some of these activities were also depicted in cartoon form.

This took us through three of the seven stages of the PATH process. Rebekah, Judy and friends and family will gather again in a couple of weeks to complete the PATH process. I have to say I marvelled at Rebekah throughout the evening. To figure all of these things out with all these people around would send me to the nearest gopher hole to hide out for the rest of the winter. Rebekah not only did what she came to do, but she also took care of all of us well, not even letting Ellice escape unseen to get some tea! And, she seemed to have a great time. I loved taking part… and continue to feel challenged and excited about the of art in charting our dreams, and specifically, how tissue paper or other art materials might become a part of Rebekah’s dreams and colourful life. Who knows?

The Big Sky Centre of Learning and Being Astonished (Astonished!) is an inclusive community where young adults with complex physical disAbilities can name their dreams, explore their strengths, and lead others to a more authentically inclusive society.

A wonderful way to contribute to the Astonished! dream is to purchase cards or prints of my collage piece “Earth Dances with Sky“. (See photo at the very bottom of this post!)

Definitely a PARTY!

Food for the Soul
Thanks Joy and Ruth!

Heather and Mike

Close up of North Star with images selected by Rebekah – where Rebekah can see it often

Close up of images on Rebekah’s North Star

More Close Ups of North Star

Rebekah’s flower with goals – right in the entrance way. Can’t miss it!

The North Star

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My recent creative endeavour, mostly centred around “Water Snake”, has been picky and finicky work. Don’t get me wrong – it has been absolutely engaging but has involved cutting fragile pieces of fuchsia candy wrapper with manicure scissors and applying glue with toothpicks. Definitely detail stuff.

Detail- Water Snake #5 in process

So, it is with great relief and a sense of fun that I have taken on another art project – this time one that involves other people and more specifically, my friend, Rebekah. An art project that is not finicky in the least! Rebekah, her friends and family will be joining facilitator Judy Humphries this week to begin work on what is called “Rebekah’s PATH”. It’s a way of identifying Rebekah’s deepest dreams, her goals, the people she needs to help her achieve these, the supports they all need, and specific goals week by week. (PATH stands for Planning Alternative Tomorrows with Hope. You can google this to learn more.) I have been asked to participate as an artist (and general fun person) because images as well as words are used to capture Rebekah’s PATH.

This most fun part of the process for me begins with the North Star, the place that images of Rebekah’s dreams are attached to. (I love that the North Star aka Polaris features here. The North Star stays in one place while the other stars wheel around it.) I have recently done a watercolour with a whole lot of funky stars so I send a picture of this to Rebekah and Brenda. If Rebekah likes one of the stars, I can replicate it in tissue paper. Of course, Rebekah picks the hardest star, the one that really doesn’t look like a star at all but more like a turtle with big wings. (It is the top star in the picture below). Keeping in mind that Rebekah has big dreams, and wanted the North Star to be big, I began cutting! Snickers the cat comes to help.

I am happily cutting large sheets of crinkly tissue paper, slapping the glue on, testing the colours out on windows where the sun shines through. I am being SLOPPY! Exactly the antidote I need to shift from the details, darkness and depths of the Water Snake series! Next blog, I will share photos and reflections on the PATH planning party with Rebekah and you can see what happened to her North Star.

Part of the North Star with sun shining through

Snickers the Cat helps with the North Star

Turtle Star with Pink Wing or Rebekah’s North Star