Friday, December 10, 2021

Christmas 2021

 


Wendy Willaims
Australia

Wendy Williams is an Australian textile artist. She has an online shop called Flying Fish Kits where you can order kits and supplies for quilting, appliqué work and embroidery. This Christmas Tree has been hand-appliquéed and machine-quilted.


Christmas baubles by UK textile artist @NancyNicholson.


St. Georges Chapel Choir sings We Wish You a Merry Christmas!


Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Have a Great Summer!

Hello everyone, I'm going to take the summer off from blogging - too difficult with lack of wifi at the cottage. Here are a few photos from my 2018 trek up Offa's Dyke Path, from Chepstow in the south, at the Severn Estuary, 177 miles/285 Km north, with a total elevation gain of 30,000 ft/9100 meters, to Prestatyn on the Irish Sea.

These particular photos were taken at Castell Dinas Bran, the remains of a  medieval castle and, before that, an iron age fort near Llangollen in Denbighshire. I almost didn't go up there because there was a steep climb and it had already been a long day in which we had seen Chirk Castle and walked across the spectacular Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Like a horse heading for the barn, I was just looking forward to getting to my B and B. The Dutch couple who befriended me urged me on and with the clearing weather and views so spectacular, it turned out to be my favourite place along the entire route. I can't look at these photos without marveling at the stunning beauty of Wales.

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct





Have a wonderful summer. See you in September.


Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Canada Day 2021

Canada Day 2021 is different. A spotlight is shining on racial discrimination in a terrible way.

Recently the remains of 215 children were discovered, buried on the grounds of a Kamloops, BC former residential school for indigenous children, part of Canada's history of the subjugation of native people. The entire country has been shocked and many people are feeling uncomfortable about being Canadian. We are mourning this year and face a future in which probing into other residential schools may uncover more shocking discoveries and horrible treatment of native children. It is not a happy time.


Canadian country and folk singer-songwriter Don Amero performed this mournful version of O Canada at a recent NHL game to honour the lives of the 215 children.


Then, on Sunday, June 6, in London, Ontario, a young man with no sense and a lot of hatred, made the shocking decision to use his truck to murder a Muslim family out for their customary evening walk. Four members of the family, Salman Afzaal, 46, his 44-year old wife, Madiha Salman, their 15-year old daughter, Yumna Salman and 9-year old son, Fayez as well as Salman Afzaal's 74-year old mother were mowed down intentionally by this young man in his truck. Young Fayez, severely injured, is the only member of his family to survive. 

photo from The Globe and Mail

This kind of racially motivated hatred is unacceptable anywhere. How do we change these awful attitudes? 

And how can we celebrate Canada Day in the face of such sadness.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Cornelia Konrads


How inviting does this garden doorway look!

Cornelia Konrads is a German artist specializing in installations in gardens and public spaces.

I recently saw this first image on Twitter and was instantly intrigued.

 

Looking online for more of her pieces, I found that many of them have a delightful playful quality.

 

Others are determined to defy gravity.



Many more images of her work can be found on her webpage: 
Cornelia Konrads

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

Vodka from Milk?

Traditionally the distilled alcoholic beverage known as vodka, as we generally know it, has been made from cereal grains or potatoes. Now farmers have found a way to make vodka using the by-product of cheese-making, whey, which is otherwise dumped at a cost to the dairy producer. 


Whey is collected and fermented, making beer, which is then distilled into vodka. While this technique of using milk in vodka-making seems revolutionary in Canada, it is well known to Mongolians who have been turning yak milk into vodka for thousand of years.


In Canada, a new distillery, Dairy Distillery, in Almonte, Ontario, just west of Ottawa, is leading the way. 


The final product, Vodkow, as they call it, is a pure colourless see-through vodka, sugar- and lactose-free as well as gluten-free. I'm not a vodka aficionado (i.e. I haven't tried it) but apparently, Vodkow has a mouthfeel that is smooth and creamy and it's tasty in a way that gives a nod to the specific yeast that is used. 


Here's a video that explains more.


A few more bits of info:
  • Dairy Distillery was one of several Canadian companies that changed over to producing hand sanitizer during the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Vodkow is available at the LCBO. 
  • More info on the Vodkow website.
  • You have to be over the age of 19 to enter the website and to view any of their YouTube videos.
  • There are distillers in Dorset, England, Oregon and New York State that are also converting milk waste to vodka.












Tuesday, June 15, 2021

The Girl From the Channel Islands

 The Girl From the Channel Islands                                                                   Jenny Lecoat


This debut novel by screenwriter, Jenny Lecoat, is set in the place of her birth, Jersey, one of the small Channel Islands just 14 miles off the coast of Brittany in France. 

The World War 2 story is a retelling of actual events. The main character, Hedy, has survived the Anschluss in her native Austria and finds herself working as a mother's helper on Jersey just before the island is invaded and annexed by the German army in 1940. In spite of being Jewish, Hedy is able to find work as a translator for the German authorities, a position that enables her to defy the Germans and aid her community. She ends up in a relationship with a German officer who is then instrumental in her survival. 

I don't know if most people realize the extent of the hardships faced by the Channel Islanders during the German occupation. Personal rights were obliterated overnight, most foodstuffs were requisitioned by the Germans, leaving the locals in a position of near-famine. Radios were seized, electricity was sporadic and fuel for cooking or keeping warm was hard to come by. People became so desperate that they would do almost anything to survive. 

Then, when the Allies attacked the French coast during the June 1944 D-day raids, Islanders' hopes of rescue died as they came to realize that they were being passed over. The actual rescue did not arrive until nearly a year later. 

Despite the riveting details of all these troubles and hardships (I had to put the book down and walk away a few times) I enjoyed reading  The Girl From the Channel Islands and recommend it to others. 




Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Edible and Non-Edible Art #5 and 6

A continuation of the food-related art series.

#5 Prudence Staite, Food is Art




Prudence Staite is a UK artist specializing in the sculpture of food materials - chocolate, cheese, fruit and vegetables, even cupcakes. Inspired at an early age, sculpting a penguin from a pear at age 6, Staite has always wanted to work with food. Her success is evidenced by the business she has grown, with many clients requesting custom work and a team she can call on to help. Her website, Food is Art explains the processes involved, from ordering, designing, delivering, installation, breakdown, disposal and recycling.

Staite holds demonstrations, workshops and provides photos and even time-lapsed videos.

100 kg of red cheddar were used to make this sculpture.

Kilmeaden Cheese Greek 'Discobulus' Statue

This 10-ft long caterpillar, made of whole-grain cereals, went on a tour to London, Liverpool, Brighton, Glasgow and Bristol.

Nestle Cereal Caterpillar


Prudence Staite and her team can create whatever the mind can conceive, from chocolate sofas, a likeness of a celebrity and even this working chocolate record that works just like a vinyl record and plays "You Sexy Thing" by the band Hot Chocolate.



#6 Sarah Illenberger


German artist, Sarah Illenberger loves to create visual puns using food. Hot peppers become the flame of a lighter, a slice of watermelon rains seeds, beets are exquisite rubies and a pomegranate becomes a grenade.

  

Illenberger is a Berlin-based artist, illustrator and designer. Her photographs of her art can be found in public places, books, magazines, digital media and window displays.

  

Food art is only a small part of her business - she also creates jewellery and fabric art. Prints of her works can be found in her online shop

  









Tuesday, June 1, 2021

Gabriela Montero

Gabriela Montero is a Venezuelan pianist well-known for her skill at improvisation. She can take any tune, even one she's not familiar with, and without any previous preparation turn it into a much more complicated piece, with key changes, inversions and so on. She enjoys interacting with the audience, asking them for suggestions, but suggesting that the tunes be well-known in order to enhance the audience's listening pleasure.

More of her work is available for all to watch/listen to on her YouTube Channel GabrielaMonteroTV.


Tuesday, May 25, 2021

The Island Project: Emma Massingale


Emma Massingale is a UK professional horse-trainer, specializing in liberty training and she's also a self-proclaimed lover of adventure and wild places. 

Emma has just recently released an hour-long film documenting her journey to a remote island off the coast of Connemara in Ireland with 6 horses, two of them untrained, and her camping gear.

She says:

Alone on an island with just my Ponies for company - Over the years I have started many young horses but I've always wondered if I didn't have any tools such as a halter, lead rope, saddle or round pen would it be possible? 

I found an island off the west coast of Ireland that had everything the ponies needed to live without needing me - they had water and food aplenty so the decision whether or not to interact with me would be based purely on a relationship, not through necessity.

I took two untrained Connemara Ponies and survived alone on a 70-acre island while trying to start these ponies without any tack or fences I took with me four of my trained Connemaras and they were the key to communicating with the new boys! 

Now, if that wasn't hard enough, I thought, as I'm on an island, it would be fun to go all Bear Grylls and catch my food as well! I took just rice and for a month foraged and fished for my one meal per day...oh and filmed the whole adventure for your viewing pleasure! I hope you enjoy sharing my time on the island. Emx

If you would like to follow more please find me on all the usual Social Media Channels @EmmaMassingale

If you're looking for an alternative to Netflix and love horses, adventure and stunning views of coastal Ireland, you might really enjoy this film. Full disclosure, there are pop-up ads, but for the most part, they're either fairly short or you are offered the option to skip some of them. All worth it for this wonderful film.

The Island Project: Emma Massingale





Tuesday, May 18, 2021

Beethoven's Fifth

St. Michael Garicoits de Cambo is a school in the southwestern French town of Cambo-les-Bains. The kids and staff have been active during the pandemic learning rhythmic exercises such as line-dancing and clapping. They recently put this outstanding performance on YouTube.

 



Tuesday, May 11, 2021

Edible and Non-Edible Art #3 and 4

A continuation of the food-related art series.

#3 Julie Lee



Julie Lee is an LA-based artist and photographer who freely confesses that she's a food-playing nerd. She visits farmers' markets, gardens and even forages in wilder places for inspiration for her collages which she then photographs and adds to the stock in her shop. 


Strawberry Fields

Patty Pan Squash

Summer Love

Here are Julie's links:

Next up:

#4 Takayo Kiyota 


Takayo Kiyota is a Tokyo-based illustrator and makizushi artist who creates maki rolls, that in cross-section, reveal images that wow.


Kiyota, who goes by the name Tama-chan, lays out the ingredients with precision onto the rice, imagining what it will look like when rolled and sliced. She says distortions happen easily when things get moved or squished a certain way in the rolling or slicing. 


The rolls are quite large, not like the maki we get at our local sushi bar. 



This next one she created for an article on the globalization of Japanese food.


Tama-chan has even created a roll of a fetus in utero where each slice revealed a different stage in its development. 



Tama-chan gives workshops and has written a book in English in case you want to check it out.


Here's a short video about Takayo Kiyota's art.