The Glint

Annie and her man. Roseisle, Manitoba / August 2012

Rain day \
Work day \

Turns out, all I needed to light the fire under my ARSE were six sheets of sparkly poster board from Dollarama and the '71 album from Sugarman Rodriguez called Cold Fact. Damn, what a listen.

The beat of the pouring rain against the roof of the lean-to kept me focused this afternoon as a new stencil crawled up the wall. And OH how long it had been since I had last been moved to make. It has been nearly a year since shooting the photo of the couple above (shot at the Rainbow Trout Music Festival). Annie and her man; never caught his name. It took many months to complete carving out a stencil from the 16"x16" hand printed photo enlargement to then project for the large work I had in mind as soon as these two entered my line of vision.

Giant wall hanging on army duck. Her little teeth. The worn curve of his jean pocket. The rose tattooed to her chest. His twinkle. Those beads.

Sharpened pencils at ready behind both ears, one in the mouth and a pair chasing the lines of projection at home on a Sunday. Working hard in a straw hat. If one can carve with two hands one should be able to draw with both too. Practice makes perfect so I hear.

The carving process is now underway. Not bad for a day's work. It is days like this that keep me coming back, keep me looking, shooting, printing, carving. The circle spins me towards the place I cry for longingly in the wintertime. There is a strong sense of purpose to this strange stencil practice I can't describe. All I know is that I have to keep going until my arms fall off.

And that feels good.