Winnipeg Beach, Manitoba
My girlfriend Evelin Richter has been busy in her ceramics studio (What? Clay Art & Curios) over the past months. I thought it was time that I post a “work-in-progress” update with a sneak peak at some of her recent figurative work… the studio pics above are of current ceramic sculptural pieces at various stages in the process. See more of what Ev’s been up to here.
Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
I arrived here to art-direct a photography shoot on Tuesday, just as a blizzard was closing in on this remote Inuit community on the northwest coast of Hudson Bay. Our crew has been trying to leave for days now… but true to the notoriously stormy reputation that Rankin Inlet has, nothing’s flying in or out (due to near white-out conditions). Current temperature: minus 55° C wind-chill (minus 70° F) with visibility ranging from 30 to 300 meters. Hoping that a flight may open up on Friday…
Lots of power outages, and Internet access from the hotel we’re in has been pretty dodgy as well… ergo, no blog posts for a few days.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Louis David Riel was a Canadian politician (elected three times to the Canadian House of Commons, although he never assumed his seat), the leader of the Métis people of the prairies, and is considered to be the true founder of the province of Manitoba (in these parts he’s now regarded as our greatest folk hero). Today we celebrate his contributions by means of an official provincial holiday—125 year sago he was hung for treason… his body is buried here in the churchyard of Saint-Boniface Cathedral.
“My people will sleep for one hundred years,
but when they awake, it will be the artists
who give them their spirit back.”
—Louis Riel
Edmonton, Alberta
Truth is where you find it… and sometimes in the most unexpected of places—such as the tailgate of this beat-up pickup truck that I encountered a few years back while in Edmonton (capital of Alberta, Canada’s equivalent to Texas—with cowboys, red-necks, and rig-pigs* from the oil industry in the majority) to give a lecture at the University of Alberta. Pleasant surprises and “exceptions to the rule” are thankfully everywhere…
*Seriously. That’s what these guys call themselves.
Winnipeg, Manitoba
If you’re in or near the ’Peg on Saturday, 12 March, please consider coming out to this gig at the West End Cultural Centre in support of the West Central Women’s Resource Centre—a community-based initiative in the diverse West Central neighbourhood of Winnipeg that is empowering women to help themselves, their families, and their community to safer, healthier lifestyles.
The fundraising concert features hometown girrrl Romi Mayes (pronounced “raw me”) along with the flamboyant Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers. Local crafts will also be in abundance; all proceeds go to WCWRC.
Image: the event poster we designed for WCWRC at CIRCLE.
Winnipeg, Canada
I’m happy to be able to announce the launch of The Canadian Gallery, a collection of exquisite outdoor and nature photographs by friend and client Mike Grandmaison. The Canadian Gallery offers images of our great land specifically selected for their appeal to collectors—as fine art pieces, for corporate decor, and for use as corporate gifts.
My CIRCLE colleagues and I have been working with Mike over the past half year in preparation for the launch of the gallery’s new website (which went live earlier this week) and in preparation for the opening of The Canadian Gallery’s physical exhibit space (which is scheduled to open here in Winnipeg two months from today). Check out the imagery on display here.
Above: a few select images from The Canadian Gallery. All ©2011 Mike Grandmaison.
Winnipeg, Canada
I felt privileged to spend a few hours at the studio today with Gerald Kuehl, a remarkable portrait artist who has been described as a historian, storyteller and visual poet. Portraits of the North, a collection of his portraits depicting the Indigenous people of the north, reflects his fascination with their cultures. (I had posted about Gerald and a presentation of his I attended at the Winnipeg Art Gallery a few months ago, here).
Gerald has met with and photographed subjects from Ojibway, Cree, Dene, and Inuit communities, focusing his efforts on their oldest living members, the Elders. He has conducted interviews, researched their cultures and taken part in sweat lodge, traditional pipe and fasting ceremonies. A self-taught Manitoba artist, Gerald’s photographs are used as a point of departure to create super-realistic pencil portraiture, each drawing taking approximately 70 to 100 hours to complete.
Gerald has also written riveting biographies to accompany the portraits, poignant stories from the fascinating lives of his subjects along with insightful remarks about the impact they have made on this earth. The Manitoba Museum began touring 30 portraits and biographies of Gerald’s work in 2006. The Portraits of the North exhibit is literally a celebration of the lives of our Indigenous people. The show has toured nationally and internationally and is currently on display at the Wanuskewin Heritage Park in Saskatchewan.
The images above are a small sampling of Gerald’s work (screen resolution does not, however, do these justice): some of the drawings of First Nations & Metis Elders of Northern Manitoba; Frank Moneyas of Hollow Water First Nation; Joseph Irvine Keeper of Norway House; and Helen Jane Ross of Cross Lake (detail). All images are © Gerald Kuehl.
Frosty rural Manitoba, Canada
Thank You! for visiting this blog in 2010—more than 113,000 unique visits from 188 countries (traffic was up 66% from the preceding year with over 80% from first-time visitors). And thanks again to all who have contributed ideas, inspiration, suggestions, and comments.
Happy New Year! to friends far and near…
Cheers!
Purcell Mountains, British Columbia
Just confirmed—in a little over seven months I’ll be back in one of my favorite alpine places, The Bugaboos—on a week-long climbing trip with a dozen or so long-time friends from our local chapter of the Alpine Club of Canada. We’ll be using the Conrad Kain hut as a luxurious base camp (after a 3.5 km slog [700 m vertical gain] from the trail-head) offering propane powered lamps and stove-top, and as of late, hydro-electric power (from continual glacial run-off) for lights, heating and even hot water.
The Bugaboos’ awe-inspiring mountain and glacier terrain draws climbers from around the world to its airy, glacier-sculpted granite spires (many of them over 3,000 meters in elevation). On three previous trips there I’ve met enthusiastic alpinists from Europe, Asia, South America, and Oceania… along with lots of Canucks and Yanks of course.
It’s time for me to get back into shape…
(photos above are all from Wikipedia)
