Musings

I have been building birdhouses for 15 years now but have built very few these past few years as I've been having numbers of hand surgeries however, having had a surgery this spring as a result of too enthusiastic knitting I think I can return to birdhouses, but on a lesser scale. The secret, no doubt, is in learning to pace oneself.
Instead of trying to sell my houses all over the Kootenays and Northern Idaho I plan to only build and sell a limited number from our own gallery here at home, and that will also give me time to work more in fabric. I am planning on taking a couple classes this summer.
Also, The College of the Rockies Creston campus is again offering classes this summer in the arts. James will be teaching his Exploring Experimental Approaches to working with Acrylics.
This year the classes are of a 3 day duration, most on weekends.
I will teach a class on Building a Functional Art Birdhouse, showing people how to build a birdhouse that is playful and decorative, but also a safe healthy home for the birds.
The brochure is poorly done this year but I am glad to send people details myself.
The college can be reached at 1.866.740.2687 or 250.428.5332 or emailed at creston@cotr.bc.ca . The brochure lists my class as "Birdhouses" and gives no indication of the rustic, funky houses I build.

Here's Skeeter perched on Garth Huscroft's panther,

and trying to look innocent like she doesn't hear any baby birds!

And here is Bandy doing his Yin & Yang thing with the panther.

My how the times do fly .......

So, somewhere the last month and a half has flown by. When last I wrote Arts and Culture Week was just on and it seemed very soon after my most recent hand surgery. During that week there was an afternoon workshop and presentation by Don Maybe on Artist Trading Cards and this is a photo of the cards I made that afternoon. They are primarily fabric though there's a bit of detritus from the back lot made its way in too. The glue I used is an excellent heavy bodied glue called "Yes."

This picture was actually taken May 8 just after a lovely heavy shower. The forsythia, which I had threatened to hack down because it had bloomed so poorly for years rewarded my good pruning last year with a wonderful show of blooms this year.
We have a little chestnut tree my sister brought as a seedling and it has "lived" and grown imperceptibly for about 15 years but this year it is putting on new growth and has rewarded us with a blossom. Never give up!
For Arts and Culture Week the show at the Blue Awning was called Forty and on and was honoring this, the 40th year Creston has had a Community Arts Council. On that theme I displayed my knitted touques in groupings of 10, from infant, to child's, to youth, and to adult , with the highest grouping representing all ages and the future.