Day 20: Recent Acquisitions

A few things that I picked up in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia recently.

I found this basinette in a local thrift store.

Baby basinette with fold-out wooden stands.

The hood part hinges back and forth.

Label inside.

The Barden and Robeson Corp. The Mark of QUALITY Penn, Yan NEW YORK

I was in St. John's driving in the country and a man in his forties was clearing out the family home.

He was putting stuff out to give away.

I took four chairs (their family dining room set) and these three, ornate, old wooden, silver frames.

The decorative part is moulded plaster.

He was grateful that I took the things and said, "Thank god for the ends of driveways!"

Below is a small, green, wooden table with pull out leaves.

I bought it at a local used furniture store (some time ago).

Another chair from St. John's.

 I found this print in an old wood frame in a thrift store in Nova Scotia this summer.

It was $5.

Detail of print.

I found this box at the local Salvation Army thrift store last weekend.

I paid $2.

It's handmade, wood, quite lovely. 

It is very solid. Very sturdy. Like a plinth.

I have no idea what it would have been used for.

It is 11.75"h x 12.75"w x 19.75"l

On the ends, there are handles, of a sort, that look like they have a hole for metal rings.

The interior had been papered a few times.

Woodgrain paper and decorative pink flower pattern paper.

 

If you have any ideas as to what it might have been used for, let me know.

Day 19: Vistas

Humber House in the summer.

An overcast day.

Lots of green.

This large Maple in the front yard is beautiful.

But, the other day, I was looking at it from the deck and noticed that... it was huge.

Taller than the neighbours' houses on either side.

This made me very nervous.

We have storms here: wind and snow.

I looked at the roots. They didn't look deep.

It was time for it to go.

I hired a local man to fell it. 

He came prepared: several chainsaws, scaffolding, a pick-up truck,

a thoughtful approach and a sense of humour.

He arrived at 9:30 am or so, and worked all day.

Despite the wind and rain, he didn't stop until it was down around 5 pm.

He went home to clean up and have supper and returned at 8:30pm to remove the wood and branches in the semi-darkness.

 He came again the next morning for several hours to finish the job.

He raked up and took away every last branch and leaf.

I let him keep the wood (I don't need it).

He will split it and sell it.

He did a great job.

The next day, I worked on my bedroom window.

It is high and narrow: 60" x 22" and faces south.

It had a sheer curtain on it that created diffused light but was too transparent at night.(http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/90111980/)

I took the curtain off, installed mini-blinds and put the curtains on top, again.

Result: diaphanous privacy!

I took a walk in the backyard and found an overgrown rhubarb patch.

I harvested the rhubarb and some cherries and made a pie.

Day 18: Homage to a Friend

This one is difficult to write...

Colette bequeathed me her Russell Spanner dining set: vintage, mid-century modern, iconic Canadian design.

I, and so many others, shared many fabulous meals with Colette and many others at that table.

I am happy she will have a presence in my house.

I also bought, and was gifted, a few other things from Colette's estate.

Colette had impeccable taste. 

She had a great eye for good design and colour.

It must be genetic because her sister Julie does, too.

Julie made sure everything was labeled properly, according to Colette's wishes, so that there was no confusion.

Soon the chairs will be occupied by friends at a dinner party.

The house is still a work in progress.

I am looking forward to getting the floors refinished soon.

Label verso on chairs.

The hutch, that goes with the dining set (table and six chairs), still contained Colette's things: Full Tilt Green candles and linens.

The candles look radioactive in this picture: like Kryptonite. They glow.

A Warholian, Campbell's Soup plastic table cloth and a Full Tilt Green table runner I gave her a few years ago.

These are some of Colette's books that I now own.

They create a portrait of who she was.

Animals were a motif in her work.

She often assumed the guise of an animal in her performances: an owl, a bear, a moth.

From the performance Hoot (2010). Image from: www.coletteurban.com

From the performance Bare (2008). Image from: www.coletteurban.com

She was interested in ritual and formalized it in her work.

For example, in the piece Thirst (2010).

Participants were given a drink of water in a paper cup in exchange for a story.

Colette Urban and Gerri Lynn Mackey in "Nellie" (the Trillium trailer) performing/participating in Thirst (2010) at Full Tilt Creative Centre, McIvers, Newfoundland and Labrador. Image from: www.coletteurban.com

She was an organic farmer and built Full Tilt Creative Centre.

http://www.fulltiltnewfoundland.com

Cut paper, collage.

Matisse, a master of colour and two dimensional space.

She was a teacher. I'm reading this book now.

It argues that "teaching is a performance that incorporates the personal in acts of im-personation."

So many great art books: can't wait to read them all.

The creative disruption of everyday life?

Perfect description of Colette's performance below, Consumer Cyclone (1993/2008) originally performed by Colette in shopping malls in Montreal, Windsor and Québec City. Colette wears a costume that is fabricated to make it look like the performer is covered in trash. She uses a toy megaphone to announce, "Look at you. Look at me."

This is a page from a brochure, the REEL ARTISTS FILM FESTIVAL (2010) Toronto. It was the premier of Katherine Knight, David Craig and Marcia Connolly's feature film on Colette, Pretend Not To See Me (2009). http://sitemedia.ca

Meanwhile, in the garden of Humber House, the cherries have ripened. 

They are bright red and quite transparent. They are on the sour side and have a high water content.

I pick my first cherries at the house.

I wash them in my colander, coincidently, it is one that Colette gave me -- Full Tilt Green, of course.

I made a delicious pie with the cherries. I added peaches, pears, and apples. 

I have decided to plant a tree for Colette in my yard.

I bought this one. It is a 5 in 1 Pear Tree. Just quirky enough for Colette, my friend Marie commented. And she was right. Five varieties, each grafted onto the main trunk, six varieties in total.

It is already bearing fruit.

Day 17: East End of London: Street Art

I will get back to the house but in the meantime...

more inspiration from the larger world.

This time, London, UK.

Most of this street art I found is located in Shoreditch, East London.

 Interesting conversation: Mondrian inspired architecture, wooden tower, tiled wall.

 Giant, subterranean mole becomes super-terranean.

Love the scale.

"eat, shit, fuck, die"

Neon artwork at Brick Lane Coffee. Their Flat White (or Fat Wife) reigns supreme.

No idea what area of London I was in when I took this (below).

I was near the Olympic site, Canary Wharf, and I walked along the Greenway for a long time, and then, took a turn and walked along this major road.

I saw this: 

SUGARHOUSE STUDIOS

WORKSHOP BAR CINEMA

The sign is made of sequins circles and ripples in waves from the wind.

Super cool.

Love the intense, ultramarine blue.

Large wall in Shoreditch. Three friends with solid coloured t-shirts.

Really nice stencil piece. Too bad about the intervention.

Broken tile, freestyle mosaic.

Nice street painting: impressionist.

Looks like a blurred photo.

Even more interesting with the tags on top.