I became incredibly stressed the other day, over something that under normal circumstances would not have bothered me at all. Sweating profusely and feeling tremendous anxiety, I had to curl up in bed for a few minutes to calm myself down. As the episode passed, I began wondering if I have a form of PTSD
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“There is so much talent in this community.” I have heard that statement, in various permutations, at least a hundred times over the years. It is often spoken because it is true. Part of my joy has been to contribute to initiatives that shone light on people who have artistic gifts and aspirations. Whether it
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First of all, my apologies for any confusion caused by the notion of “festival of arts” being knocked about for August 8 – 10, the traditional weekend of interPLAY, our former signature festival that is in pause mode. The term “festival of arts” is merely a placeholder, a temporary moniker to describe a collection of
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One month ago I began my new adventures at the United Way of Fort McMurray. The time is flying by and I am having a blast. What an amazing group of people to work with, both on the staff and all those who connect with us from the agencies, the board, community investment committee and
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I could tell from the words being used in reaction to seeing the Bob Dylan portrait that it had hit the mark. I’m glad it turned out that way, because there was a moment in the process, when the bulk of the work was done and I was just about to start the splattering, that
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One of the things that has inspired me the most over the years, is watching the talent emerge from within our community through the Homegrown Talent Search, Search for Cosette, Oilcan Talent Search and a long list of events where performing artists got to share their work with an audience and a panel of judges.
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Over the years, I’ve had amazing luck and no luck at all, when fishing Willow Lake, or what most refer to as Gregoire Lake. My normal spot has been the boat dock in the provincial park. On good days, even when boats were coming and going, it had one fish on after another. It was
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Sometimes, all I need for creative inspiration is a suggestion, a mere whisper of desire to have me explore a particular project or subject. As I was in the process of finishing up my portrait of Miles Davis on Canada Day, a fellow on Facebook made a comment about Oscar Peterson, the legendary jazz pianist
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This seemed like an insurmountable plateau when I first started on this writing journey. Reaching 100 felt like a stretch let alone 1000. Four and a half years later, here I am. Almost every morning I wake up and write something. Sometimes it is very purposeful, with a topic or issue that I know is
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On Tuesday, July 8, Wood Buffalo municipal council will entertain 2nd and 3rd reading of a Public Art Policy. In essence, this means that a percentage of all capital projects that fit the criteria of the policy would go toward the procurement of public art. Unfortunately, I don’t know what is being proposed within the
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