Bees on the Driveway

I am working with 100 lbs of dead bees trying to dry them to use in a sculpture. On the first really warm day this spring I spread them out on blankets on my driveway.   Prior to this my artist friend, Cathryn Miller and I, freeze dried them in a very cold place and put them in small bags.

Fingers crossed this sun drying works and they are in perfect form for our sculpture which will be unveiled this upcoming January.

 

Thank you to my ever understanding husband who helped me with this process.

Hexagon Linking Evening

Last night I had a great deal of fun working with teachers from St. John School, linking the hexagons that the students created as part of the "We are All Linked" project. The project is part of the Placemaker Program with the City of Saskatoon and the pieces will be installed in the trees around the Meewasin Valley Center in January of 2015.

 Hard at work

Who is the Fairest in the Land

This piece is a series that I am working on based on the selfie. It is called "Cellphone, cellphone in my hand, who is the fairest in the land?"

It is a pastel on canvas, on purpose, as I could try and remove all of the pastel but never be successful there would always be a stain, which is the same for the internet, you can try and remove it but there will often leave a trace.

We Are All Linked - Colony Collapse Sculptures

Georges Vanier Fine Arts School students have finished most of their clay interlinked hexagons as an exploration of colony collapse and how we are all linked in the world we live in. These hexagon clusters will be part of an exhibition at the Meewasin Valley Center in January of 2015. The projext is part of a City of Saskatoon Placemaker Project led by Monique Martin.

We Are All Linked - Placemaker Program Saskatoon

 

I am trying to create a visual, olfactory and sound installation to compliment my duo exhibition with Cathryn Miller at the Mendel Art Gallery in January 2015, which focuses on the bees and its link to our lives.

Concurrent with my exhibition; my students will be creating papier-mâché bees for a beehive-like installation, and a colony collapse sculpture from clay, that will be installed at the Meewasin Valley Centre. 

I am creating a multi-sensory link between the two exhibitions along the riverbank, creating a temporary art walk.  The project is funded in part by the City of Saskatoon - Placemaker program.

I will install interlinked clay honeycomb shapes in the trees, in clusters. These hexagons that are interlinked and can't separate and  will be dipped in beeswax; that's where the sense of smell comes in. they will be installed  in the trees about every 50 meters along the riverbank from the Mendel (beginning in the Conservatory) to the Meewasin (ending inside the 3D beehive made by my students) from December to the end February of 2015.  It is estimated that there will be 45 clusters for the riverbank walk and another 15 for the other locations around Saskatoon.  The interconnected hexagons are a symbol of colony collapse and the interconnectedness of all of us in the world.  The hexagons will move in the wind and will create an interesting sound along the riverbank.

Saskatchewan potters who are members of SASK Terra will be involved in the project, making hexagons in their studio, sending them to me and I will interconnect them in my studio.  This part of the project will really create the sense of a beehive where many people work together to create one piece.

I think it will be interesting introduce the visual and the smell of beehives to the trail in the middle of winter. It will be totally unexpected and will create conversation, which is what I like to do with my work. Plus, smelling part of summer in winter can't hurt in a place that is so cold.

I am also creating hexagon clusters with students and will post images here of that process as well. I have worked with students in three schools so far to create hexagon clusters for at the Meewasin Valley Center.  St John School, Pope John Paul II School and Georges Vanier School. 

 Hexagon tiles for St. John School drying

 

 

Hexagons for St. John School and John Paul II School in the kiln.

The team helping me to load the kiln.

  

More shots from St. John School, the presentation, the explanation and the creating.

 

Rolling the slabs in my studio

 

Explaining the Process

 

Making Hexagons

BIG INK - Big Bees

I am heading to the states next month to print this very large woodcut for The BIG INK project with Lyell Castonguay.

It is a tesselating piece in that the bees on the long sides match up and make a full bee. So I will be printing it on a very large sheet of paper 36 x 48" in size. I am super excited. The images below are of the process of carving the block.