Decay-okay

Dear Manitoba, too quick I was to associate the boreal forests of our vast country all to Ontario. No no no, this province is as diverse as they come. Rocky, sandy, high, low, swampy, tall, flat, mucky, wet, dry. You name it. Coniferous, deciduous or no trees at all. Instead you can cut through prairie grass as tall as your lover. You decide. Pick a spot on the map and go. Simple. No need to wander too far beyond. Manitoba, you really have it all.

Took a drive out to this quiet place on the very last lovely day of Autumn of 2014 in Manitoba. Ate salami and havarti on bread en route. The air was crisp and held that unbeatable smell of sweet dry rot. Decay-okay. I love nature's shut down. It is always a pleasure to behold the process firsthand. I want to come back to this very spot by the river in June to swim. Lazy up to a point and clear as a bell. My kind of river.

Home and native land.

ps. Say! Sky detail and chicos in the same frame? You don't say.

New Mornings

Bea with milk.

Olive vs. Oatmeal

Portra 800 sure captures the weekend morning light just right. New routines, new roommates, new mornings. I enjoy breakfast in good company these days, to say the least.

Jibber-jabber jaybirds

Illustration. Natalie Baird / November 12, 2014

Here is the a freshly scanned illustration by Winnipeg multi-disciplinary artist Natalie Baird! I sat across from her late last night as she built up the work layer by layer, stroke by stroke with fancy markers and a felt tipped pen and didn't realize she was shaping up a portrait of me until it was finished and slid across the table with a "Here! Let's trade!". So we did. Love those naked bodies dancing above my head of hair. It was a paper gift I felt free to share on my funny platform. Grateful for her friendship and the ease of sharing a table with another creative soul as Winter gets crackin'.

At home with the Viks

My favorite family photo captured to date.

Nils, Melissa, wee Marte and Poncho the poodle invited me into their striking Winnipeg home a few weeks back. These are some of the color and contrast photos I felt free to capture while watching them move around their space as a family. Marte is nine months old and sweet as pie! To closely witness families go about their normal swing of things through my scope is something I delight in. I hope to do more of this type of work in the future. It is a damn treat to be invited in for a slow morning of quality coffee and play, free to raise the Kiev to capture when the spirit leads. I prefer the contrast work here, though the color definitely holds its own. I mean come on, that family photo with Poncho and his paw! Much too much for the quiet spectator in me. While the photo of new mama Melissa holding Marte on the kitchen counter is a little unconventional, I love the offbeat beauty of the scene. Two girls in the kitchen. One makes a point while the other makes the discovery she can handle the weight of an orange with her own two hands. The wonder of it all! The shot of the three Viks on the loose in the kitchen is very dear to me. Nils and his cheek stuffed with toast. This is life as we know it. I stuff toast in my cheek too.

Ektar 100
Tmax 400
// Kiev 60

Mauve

Taking a break from churning the beurre (read: school work), I sit window-side in my rocking chair in my new bedroom in St. Boniface to take in the first cold winds of winter. Cold air blasts my insanely pretty and hardy potted begonias while I contemplate life as I now know it. I am ten bloody illustrations of precise muscle movements of the hand and one lonesome Table of Contents away from completing my first of six albums for school. Daily Life Activites, you can beat it. Wahooo! Cannot express the true depth and breadth of my joy over this near completion. Into abstract construction paper art and scented cotton ball territory I go hi ho. Jen, if you are reading this, can I take a stroll through your impressive essential oil library? Sensory overload, here I come.

Weird, je sais. Training to become a teacher of Montessori is the strangest and most beautiful thing that has ever happened to me academically. Wise old Maria Montessori knew a thing or two. Her philosophy on the education of little children remains as relevant as ever. Lessons gleaned from her writing worm their way into my center and I am affirmed over and over by the new way my hands are learning to speak. I am in this for life.

Today I went to visit the school where I will be working for the duration of my practicum. Upon arrival in full winter cyclist armor with blinking lights et al, I was swarmed by happy little faces at the door begging for information. WHAT IS YOUR NAME? I AM MISS MEG, RHYMES WITH EGG (there is another Megan on location, thus Meg it is). New territory to pioneer.

My first assignment for the work placement is to sit in complete silence and simply observe the patterns of children at work for two eight hour shifts. Essentially this means to become invisible and one with the fabric of the environment. No speaking, no movement. None. How ever will I keep the words from tumbling out as those beautiful creatures first swarm with questions of curiosity? The sparks in my eyes remind me there are other ways to communicate. Instantly, I felt the river of my soul begin to fill this morning after quite some time of running dry. There was one little creature who asked me with such earnest, WHEN WILL I SEE YOU AGAIN? that I nearly wept with thanksgiving when I was able to answer him, IN ONE WEEK!

Change is the only constant.

Jenn Grant's 'Mauve' has been a sweet, musical salve to my soul of late. Here is a line she sings so beautifully. When I hear her melody over and over in my head as I cruise from point A to B on my trusty Mercier, I rest assured that I am where I am meant to be.

Heartache let it go / Let it go / You are where you're meant to be / Heartache let it go/ Let it go/ You are meant to be free

Back to work I go hi ho. No rest for the wicked. Winter, welcome back you damn sly fox. Not sure how I feel about your fierce return, thus silence and stillness will have to suffice. Pictured above, an old photograph shot in December of 2011, at the tail end of my time in Montreal. One steady boot in Manitoba's winter in the bush near the King's palace, one foot in an old tiny bedroom with walls that read over and over: THE FUTURE IS NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW. Whenever power lines present themselves in my photo work, I am always pleased with their dissection of space in the composition. This shot is no different. Some day, I will live in a tree stand. No question there.

Adieu // MP

Let there be sky

Some recent photos from a single experimental hand processed roll. Stingy use of chemistry leads to great discovery. Just when my train started picking up steam down there, a flare on the track halts the whole operation. Dark times. It goes. So why not push the hell out of a boring old roll of Tmax 400? How hard can it be? Just do it. I love the moody and saturated results of these Ellice and Victor vibrations. Constantly whinging about no sky detail I am?! Most oft'. Shove that! Just glug in more developer, say a prayer, do a dance and blast the thing with hot water when it is all said and done.

Boom shaka-laka: Sky.

Darkroom Greats before me spin in their dark graves at the above recipe for development. I am stormy and words are few these days. School work piles on like cold hard butter and I may or may not be drowning in foolscap. Chin up, I'll be snowshoeing soon.

Ready for November reflection.

Kiev 60 // Tmax 400 pushed to 3200 #WHYTHEHELLNOT

Ex oh ex oh, Madge

Margot's mess

In the paint zone at last with black ink thanks to many, many cocktails. Tony Chestnut crown.

The truthful mess that is my main work station. Tape, Coors, candles, paper cutters, punches, ink, curiosities!

This process was inspired by Eadweard Muybridge's photo studies of motion conducted in the early 1900s.

Sphagnum overtaking the roof out my workroom window. No complaints.

The lines were frightfully fine so I ditched my pencils, found a slim brush and started painting. Very liberating!

Work room chaos. Papery refuse strewn about. Do Make Say Think on constant rotation.

A precious curtain from my dear Tante. Weaving by Tony Chestnut herself. Grandpa Syd's cast iron clippers. My teen ma, framed lovingly.

* Nikon F2 // vanilla 400 / Tmax 400

Equinox / Mabon

Seeking balance this equinox. The coming year is going to be a doozy, I can feel it building from underneath my feet. Quiet rumblings. This galloping horse is showing no signs of slowing, so I must jump or duck my head before he runs us straight into the barn's lintel and we all lose our heads. This found image struck me just so the other day. I saved it to use for a future illustration or stencil work but seeing as it so suits the quote below, I will let it lie. For now. I can easily picture this delicately carved out, those beautiful cheeks hanging on speckled muslin. Mmm mm, in good time. Photographer and source sadly unknown :/ Je m'excuse.

This Sunday is for carving out a new work for one of Winnipeg's many upcoming Nuit Blanche openings. 'Catharsis', a collective installation of TRUTH based mirror art is to be hosted by the brazen women behind Winnipeg's handcrafted Rip / Torn magazine: Tash and Gabrielle. They will be debuting their third quarterly R / T zine that night as well, get it while its hot. Showing this coming Saturday night, September 27th at the Rudolf Rocker. Climb up all those stairs and experience the house of mirrors for yourselves. Children are very welcome to explore also. Proud to work towards a collective exhibition alongside many talented artists from around this city. I am working in a new style of stencil and the process is exciting. Feels good to be on to something.

AUTUMN. You damn beauty, I love you so. Jackets and little shoes and bare ankles and felt hats and strategic wool wool wool. I am in need of a good seasonal howl at the moon. Get me out of this city, universe.

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Keep some of your attention within. Don’t let it all flow out. Feel your whole body from within, as a single field of energy. It is almost as if you were listening or reading with your whole body. Let this be your practice in the days and weeks to come...

Do not give all your attention away to the mind and the external world. By all means focus on what you are doing, but feel the inner body at the same time whenever possible. Stay rooted within.

                                                                                                                   - Eckhart Tolle

Pete and repeat

This proved to be a worthwhile listen. Have a go, hear for yourself, weigh in if you please.

Golden Bells for You & Me

JJ going in for the kiss.

Two gentle souls they are, Moo and Jackson.

Curious creatures.

Ian enjoys his wedding day; Shaun looks on. 

It's a good 'ol September love mash-up: scenes from Ian & B's wedding // B & Myles  river portraits.

Dad of the Year at B& Ian's wedding.

Portrait of student hood in the last days of August. Agenda, check!

Puch Monza Babe: soft looks, but complete at long last HALLELUJAH // September, 2014.

Slip of a nip. Shot from the porch.

Here is a nice August / September mash-up for your viewing pleasure. All from a single roll of Tmax 400 processed at home, scanned by Ashley of Photo Central. Merci.

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It's a zany time of year for the maker in me though I am head over heels for Autumn. Fall fashions. It is a great time of year to hurry hard, just like all those buck wild squirrels I nearly squash on my daily commute. EIII-YE-YEII. Living life on the edge, no less.

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Store, store, store! Winter is coming!!

+++

I am storing up. Tony Chestnut herself filled my well good and proper the other night as she roughed out her vision for the upcoming FW14 line she has asked me to capture once again! Can barely contain my excitement for the new collection. DAMN. Black crepe wool, I am ready for you. Tony knows.

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In other news, school is interesting enough to keep up with and I have finally found the 35mm camera to fill out my stable. A nice handmade tank of a Nikon F2 feels just right. Last time I shot an F2 was three years ago. Le Poulet's maman lent me her father's own then. Welcomed reunion between woman and camera.