Behind (Plexi) Glass

The Platform Gallery, located in the Artspace Building in the Exchange District here in Winnipeg, has a wonderful spot to showcase art.
In the lobby beside the Gallery and across from the Cinematheque ticket booth, you will see a nice substantial area of mounted plexiglass under which has an ever-changing variety of artwork by local artists. Every month, the area is refreshed with new work.

I was lucky enough to be invited to showcase my most recent ink painting portraits of some old folks there. The men are from my memory/imagination (but of course always informed by those I have met probably) and the women were drawn with reference to a hauntingly beautiful collection of photographs that I found in a book called; "The North End" by John Paskievich.
(The milk sniffing lady is on the cover!)

These are large drawings whose size has, so far, been hard to properly document so I have been putting it off- Recently, I got some quick snapshots as they will be coming down on Thursday. (There is some glare/reflection from the glass but you get the general idea.)

It was nice for me to see the series on a wall in a frame. I would love to know what you all think!

(Now I must get back to my ink-pot and giant paper to create some more!)

a moment in time

belly is growing, river is rising! art is percolating!

(note: that tree used to be up off of the edge of our river bank. now the river has swelled all the way up to the walking path- it;s been incredible to witness the winnipeg flooding this spring...)

spring has almost sprung

lately i have been remembering how the changing of the seasons are represented in a nursing home.

window stickies, dollar store banners, accordian-style 3d paper wall decorations, colourful themed napkins at over-the-top themed events and meals, the recreation board colour schemes and the bi-weekly crafts.

and this guy.

this guy whose dementia has rendered him always happy, saying 'yup' and walking circuits around and around the lounge. somehow the nurses got on to this thing where they would put themed headbands on him to spread good cheer as he walked around greeting folks around the home.

i will say here that i am not sure how i feel about this.
and i am not sure how he would feel about this if he was able to respond with anything other than 'yup.'

but thinking back on it, it does give me comfort that the holiday themed head-wear encouraged everyone to acknowledge him passing by, smile back, initiate a conversation about the season/holiday and be just as happy as him for a moment.

four heads

here is my latest (and last) illustration for the manitoban for awhile (as this will be appearing in the last issue of the school year.) the article is about the rather bleak election ahead of us.
the sub heading i was working with for inspiration was "federal election promises little change."