Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Another “short update” from my brother Jim’s Central-American road trip (previous posts here, here, and here)—he’s now working his way back north…

“Bonny & Joey (Jim’s wife, my sister-in-law—and her sister, Bob’s wife) arrived in Panama City on Feb. 12th. We’ve explored (and experienced) the Panama Canal. Amazingly interesting!

Spent two days at Bocas Del Toro (islands that were the original headquarters for the Chiquita Banana Company, but are now more touristy). Wild boat ride there and back. A full day boat exploration of the mangrove forests, dolphin watching, snorkeling through the corral reefs (WOW!), crashing through the surf of the Caribbean on an amazing white sand beach reachable only by boat… and then a trek through the jungle, dinner on a stilt platform over the ocean waters, etc. And then the celebrations of CARNIVAL (Mardi Gras–Panamanian Style) during the evenings and into the night.

Then, the world’s most astonishing border crossing bridge (border at Sixtoala Panama, into Costa Rica)—unbelievable in almost every astonishing way. (Ask us about it some time).

Two nights in the highlands of Costa Rica at the town of La Fortuna. Our resort hotel was on the northerly slope of Volcano Arenal, an active volcano that spews lava and steam daily, apparently quite a sight! (Apparently, because it was cloudy and rainy the whole time we were there; never saw a thing). We’re told that it is more likely that the weather is not clear, and that many visitors never see the volcano. Oh well, the crocodile, butterfly, and ant farm that was part of our resort was amazing. The rain forest beauty of the flowers, forest, waterfalls, and steam baths made for an enjoyable time despite the weather.

Today we’re at Playa Hermosa (36C, 97F), a beach on the Pacific side of Costa Rica. Tomorrow we head into Nicaragua…”

Bowen Island, British Columbia

“This year, my Valentines are lasercut from used Christmas cards. I made about 500. Each is different. This one is for you.”

As in the past few years, it was a delight (and an honour) to once again receive a personalized Valentine by post this week from the lovely, passionate, driven, über-talented, and filigree-obsessed Marian Bantjes.

Thanks—and a big hug to you, girrrrrl!

Winnipeg, Canada

A handsome presentation box from Nova Scotia Crystal has arrived at Circle… containing the sand-blasted crystal trophy for the Icograda President’s Award that I had received back on 26 October 2009 (at the opening ceremonies of the Xin: Icograda World Design Congress 2009 in Beijing). The 35-cm-high piece is now on display in our forum area—due to logistics complexities (involving the “import of creative works” to China) I had only been presented the framed diploma portion of the award at the ceremony in Beijing… which saved me the effort of lugging the chunk of crystal back from China.  :-)

(Hmmm… not a very good photo of what is actually a very attractive trophy…)

Winnipeg, Canada

Digging through some old files at Circle recently, we came across this 17-year-old clipping from the Winnipeg Free Press, which ran just before we moved from our original studio on Albert Street to the space we’ve occupied at the corner of Princess Street and McDermot Avenue since 1993. Our saying “No” to a cattle-call RFP by a prospective client caught the attention of journalist Martin Cash, who penned a mostly complimentary story about our design practice and ethos…

Mr. Cash described Circle as “having become known for a certain thoroughness and a high level of quality”—traits I would like to think have remained with our little team to this day.

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

My friend Patricia Leguen,* the renowned Saskatoon sculptor, has just returned from Italy where she represented Canada at two international snow sculpture competitions with her team-mate Helena Bangert from Amsterdam. Patricia won first place and jury choice in Cortina d’Ampezzo on 22 January 2010 at the International Snow Sculpture Festival in a competition against nine other teams. The event’s theme was skiing, movement, and speed—as the world female downhill skiing championships were taking place at the same time. Patricia’s design, Schuss, was carved out of a 10-ft. cube (3 x 3 x 3 meters) of snow over three days in 25 person-hours.

On 24 January, Team Canada headed to San Martino di Castrozza to the 7th International Snow Sculpture Symposium (26-30 January 2010) to carve another 10-ft cube of snow in 3.5 days. The snow block was very hard and icy and, since no chain saws were allowed, it took 34 person-hours to carve the sculpture entitled Winged Victory, a tribute to the upcoming 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Their sculpture won third place, with Italy second and Russia first.

*You often meet the most remarkable people when you travel. In June of 2003 I was on my way to an Icograda board meeting and the launch of the Icograda Archives in Brighton, U.K. Patricia was en route to a sand-sculpting event in Belgium (where she and a female colleague from Bellingham finessed a 60-ft.-high sculpture that “the guys were afraid to ascend.”) As fate would have it, we were both upgraded to 1st class on the Toronto-London flight… and so a seven-hour conversation as seat-mates began an interesting and surprisingly enduring friendship—I’ve had the chance to follow Patricia’s winning streak (she’s one of the world’s top ice, snow, sand, and fire sculptors) ever since.

Photos © 2010 Patricia Leguen: the finished Schuss with Patricia alongside; the finished Winged Victory.

Mizen Peninsula, Ireland

A picture is worth a thousand words; Tomi Ungerer’s simple yet insightful illustrations speak volumes with narrative clarity and power.

(original source unknown)

Happy (Chinese) New Year, my friends! Kung Hei Fat Choi!

“Time is the substance from which I am made.
Time is a river which carries me along,
but I am the river;
it is a tiger that devours me,
but I am the tiger;
it is a fire that consumes me,
but I am the fire.”

—Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986)