September 2017

September 8, 2017January 28, 2018

Elemental Thanks

Conceiving and organizing this show presented a great opportunity for me to begin to learn the biz from the ground up.

These are the people who showed me great kindness, who answered my endless questions and provided physical and mental labour to bring my first solo exhibition to fruition. This was a Big Deal and I am very grateful.

With special thanks to:

Dave Andrews of Digital Art & Restoration Ottawa for his exquisite advice, careful eye and unbounded generosity in investing time (hours of talk therapy!) in helping me jump feet first into the professional ranks of fine art photography.

Sam Hopkins, Dave’s right-hand man, for his kind encouragement and unsinkable positivity and for keeping the wheels on the bus going round and round.

Paz and the staff at Framed!, not only for their impeccable work, but for patiently responding to my repetitive questions about framing and installation best practices.

Terry and Lee at Geronimo for having the BEST space and most welcoming coffee house for miles around. A special thanks for their patience in letting me “do my thing” in prepping the walls for the installation.

Lulu Hastings for being my perpetual sounding board and voice of reason: smart, thoughtful, unflappable, forthright, persistent, reliable and more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

Maitri Devi Tricya Morrice at TriWolf Shanti Healing for being a one-of-a-kind exquisite human being, a bringer of magic and beautiful energy. She lights up every room she steps into.

Eric Innanen for his humour, persistence and generosity of time invested in the Great Renovation Hoopla.

Jacob Dunning who dropped everything to help with the installation.

Chris Chinkiwsky at COBA for his enthusiastic and good-natured design help.

Craig Lane for his valued advice from afar.

My family who (mostly) willingly rides shotgun on my daily adventures.

September 6, 2017January 28, 2018

Installing Elemental

I don’t know why I should be surprised. Even when I’m uber-organized and have adequate time to complete a task, I rarely get done before the exact moment the clock runs out. It is the day before ELEMENTAL opens and, sure enough, we begin installing in the daylight but finish in the darkness.

I’ve consulted Paz and Dave about the intricacies of hanging art and I am as prepared as I can be.

I’ve made templates for every piece and have laid the walls out to scale, so there is no question about the spacing or the order or the height. I’ve brought along three sizes and kinds of screws (thickness and depth) and anchors and hooks for the brick wall.

We’re futzing with the cheapie laser level, some of the screws aren’t working as planned; their heads are stripped before they’re sunk deeply enough. The hardware store has closed a half-hour ago and Jacob needs to take off.

I start to sweat and whip out the mantra: Keep going, keep going, keep going. Lulu keeps her wits about her, we make adjustments, and press on. By 9pm we are done. The gloves are off, the tools tucked away, and the tables and chairs returned to their places. I sit down for the first time to admire our handiwork.

I am caught off guard by the deep satisfaction I feel in this moment. The others head home and I sit alone for another hour or so before I turn off the lights and lock up.

September 5, 2017January 27, 2018

Primping and Prepping for Elemental

Geronimo Coffee House and Gallery inhabits the most beautiful space in Old Town Kemptville. The building dates from the late 1800’s and is blessed with super-high ceilings, a plate-glass front window that streams the light, a period bar, original floors and fixtures and a 40-ft long exposed brick wall. It’s charming in all the right ways.

Owners Terry and Lee took a leap-of-faith when they agreed to let me re-work the main wall in preparation for my exhibition. I am a construction carpenter (I graduated from tradeschool a few years ago) so I do know what I’m doing. However, old buildings being what they are, it’s always a crapshoot when you touch anything. Drywall had been slapped over the existing lathe and plaster, making the walls sit proud of the trim. The drywall had to go.

Two long-weekends later, working while the shop was closed, it was done. The result was a simplified and more cohesive look. Of course I could have kept going and going, picking away, because vintage buildings are like that. There’s no such thing as perfection.

Up next – installation begins