*** July 4th ***

To all my American friends, I wish you a

Happy and Safe

4th of July Holiday!

That One Piece

I love to sculpt and create little people figures and I usually fall in love with them as I am working on them. After they are completed though, I have no desire to keep them. Cold? Maybe, but I would rather send them out in the world, either by gifting or selling then to have them hanging around my house/studio.

Over the years, I have had two pieces that have 'spoken' to me, and one piece that I will never part with. That piece is my "Woman's Work Is Never Done" (shown above). I started this piece, as I always do by sculpting the head. It was to be a small child. I then received a call from Vancouver, that my 68 year old mother had passed away suddenly. This was in 1998. When I returned home from the funeral two weeks later, I didn't go into my studio for approx. a month. I also did not pick up the little head I had been working on for almost six months. I had no desire to.

One evening I picked it up, thought it needed some adjustments on the face and before I knew it, I had a kindly old woman looking at me. From there, this angel developed. I have no recollection really of working on it. It does not look like my mother, however there is such a tangible bond with this piece and my mom, that I know that I will never part with it.

I have only had this strong feeling of connection once before, when I did a piece called "Not Amused". The inspiration for the piece was my 4 year old daughter constantly teasing and annoying her 10 year old sister.

The little imp sticking out his tongue and the young lass, in no way resemble my girls, however it took me several years to let this piece leave my home. When it did, it went to a very dear friend of mine, and I can still visit it if I wish.

How do the rest of you feel about your work? Do you hold on to just a few special pieces? Do you want to keep the majority of them? I'm curious.

(I apologize for the above pics. They are old scanned images from my files)

Canada Day!!

Canada Day - Montreal 1987

Canada Day, commonly called "Canada's Birthday", is always celebrated on July 1st, unless it falls on a Sunday, in which case July 2 is the official holiday. This day celebrates the joining of the British North American colonies of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick with the Provinces of Canada - Ontario and Quebec, into one federation on July 1st, 1867. It was originally called Dominion Day and officially changed in 1982 to Canada Day.

Small Town Dominion Day parade 1908

So, today is Canada Day - time for parades, picnics and fireworks, a fun day to celebrate everything that is great about Canada

*our freedom

*multiculturalism

*vast, varied and beautiful landscape

*quality of living

*healthcare

*peace-loving

*recognize diversity of lifestyles

*Tim Horton's coffee :)

*and so much more......

I wish everyone in this fabulous country of ours a safe and joy filled Day

Pride

Sunday, June 28, 2009 marked the culmination of a week of Pride festivities in Toronto with the 29th Annual Gay Pride Parade

Over 1 million people attended - some lining the 29 blocks of the city and others watching from other vantage points

Once the rain stopped there was still the chance of getting wet

An incredible variety of costumes was to be seen - on the floats, and on people on foot (and on several occasions, stilts)

Sometimes it was the lack of costume that caught the eye

A multitute of service and community groups participated, including several churches, and fire and police units

(photos - David Chan for National Post and CP24)

The Toronto Pride Parade is the largest in North America and it is definitely worth attending. The intense feeling of diversity, love, tolerance and community can not be beat. What a shame that this could not last throughout the year.

A Song, A Dance and Extraordinary Dolls

Tribute to Neda

This lovely tribute song to Neda Agha Soltan was composed and sung by several local Dallas musicians. I found this on the Pegassus website and here is what one of the musicians had to say:

Cho says:

Milad - "Green Leaves"
written by Mishanmusic by The Axis (Cho & Milad)
Concept to completion in 1 day.

This process was cathartic for my Tehran-born production partner, and this song & video are dedicated to Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman who lost her life in the Iranian Election Protests this week.
The ending contains some brief words from Ghandi, King, Obama, and Mandela

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1,000+ CPDRC Inmates Dance Tribute to Michael Jackson

Back in 2007, the inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center, Cebu, Philippines put together a dance to Michael Jackson's Thriller as part of their exercise routine, and also to show how well they 'worked' together. Upon hearing of MJ's death, and in approx. 27 hours the above dance routine to honour Michael was created.

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Artdolls of Lidija Fairbanks

I don't do much beading, I do however have an incredible appreciation of the talent and knowledge it takes to create intricate, beaded works of art.

Lidija Fairbanks creates unique one of a kind art dolls. Each one is reminiscent of an olde world icon (reading her bio on her site, one can understand how she was influenced in her art). I am totally blown away by the amazing bead work on her figures. (Make sure to check out her jewelry on her site too).

Oh Yuck

Woke up this morning with my left eye glued shut and really itchy. After decrusting (there is something so obscenely gross about the word 'crust') my eyelid, I looked in the mirror and I now have one eye that looks like it came straight from the pages of Hell. I'm trying some homepathic eye drops in it today, however if it is not showing improvement by tomorrow, I'll have to go to the doctor as I may need antibacterial drops.

Speaking of eyes, the video below is a literal translation of the iconic 80s song by Bonnie Tyler, Total Eclipse of the Heart. Aside from a couple of seconds of straight talking in the middle of the video, it is hilarious. So many music videos are just so bizarre and really don't have much to do with the song that is being sung. The literal translation songs use the original video, a singer that sounds close (hopefully) to the original and words that actually describe the video. There are quite a few different ones on YouTube, but I think this is one of the best.

Look At Me Ma! Wordless Wednesday