Thursday, February 28, 2013

FIRST SATURDAY OPEN STUDIOS AND A BIT OF HISTORY!

I am opening my studio with other artists for First Saturday Open Studios....check out www.firstsaturday.ca for the list of artists participating this month.  I will show my six Ceremonial Blankets which I made and showed in Amsterdam last Oct on my sabbatical.  My hours are noon to 5pm on March 2. 

wool, buttons
wool, felt

I also wanted to share with you a bit of history.  I went with my husband Arnt  on my first day of urban logging.  He cuts fir, cherry, birch, chestnut, alder or oak logs that have either blown down or been cut down by the city and has been doing this for over 20 years.  He then dries them for one and half years before they can be used.  Check out the amazing furniture he creates from these slabs of wood.  www.arntarntzen.com  The other day he found a birch log and I went along to help.

making the plan of best way to cut the 8 foot log
Arnt's invention on how to use the alaska mill saw on your own
9 beautiful planks which will become furniture
When I first met Arnt we were both treeplanters.  I planted for 5 years and Arnt for 6 years and between us we planted 1,500,000 trees.
My friend Doug Cowell (freelance photographer who specializes in forestry and treeplanting) took this photo of me in 1987, the year of my final contract in Fernie, BC.
photo by:  Doug Cowell   1987





Tuesday, February 19, 2013

MEXICO 2013

As Arnt was telling someone "it is in his contract to go surfing a couple times of a year".   So we went back to Zihuatanejo to the surf camp just north.  You leave Vancouver at 6 am and arrive for sunset.

2012 we stayed here
2013 we stayed here
we are on the second floor
entrance to our casa
kitchen
our bedroom
we leave these doors open at night to hear the surf
there are 2 single beds on the porch for siestas
the second bedroom
this is our scrabble, surf watching, sunset cocktail space
dining al fresco

Our lovely landlady Esmeralda invited us to her house for lobster lunch.  We walked from our place to her small village.  There are roosters, chickens & chicks, burros, pigs and goats wandering the streets.  The boys showed us an ocelot they had in a cage.  Not sure what they were doing with it.  It was definitely wild and not a pet.
lobsters are covered in garlic, butter and fried on the barbque
served with homemade hot sauce and tortillas..yum! yum!
this is a huge one...about 5 pounds


Even the dogs watch the sunset!
Checkers the new puppy at Rusty's Surf Villa
I was offered this puppy...so cute but no.
This puppy was at the fair in La Union
Leif, Arnt's brother from New York met us again for a week.  We decided to take a taxi to Zihuatanejo, do the shopping and pick him up at the airport.  He was not on the plane, hmmmm that was disconcerting.  Once back at the the beach we checked the email and he said he was at the airport in LA and got a call to go back to work.  So sad!  Two days later Esmeralda came by and said she had something for us...out popped Leif.  Turns out it was a positive business event at work and then Kathy, his wife encouraged him to complete his vacation once he had dealt with the work thing.  So happy!
hot walk in the coconut grove
Arnt does the cooking and Leif and I assist.
Arnt makes a wicked margarita as well as the food!
Mexican chicken role ups with beans and salsa fresca
Leif serenading us during sunset cocktails
Beach walk everyday
The boys hired a boat for the day to go surfing and fishing.
8 fish...mackeral, sierra and yellow fin
Esmeralda taught an old fisherman new tricks...how to skin the mackeral
Team Saladita!
 The following are photos I took either on my daily walk or from our porch.  The beach where we are has no facilities other than places to stay and 4 restaurants.  The closest town to buy food is about 10 kilometers away and there is a farmers market once a week with great fruit and veg about 20 kilometers away.
net throwing fisherman
How to enjoy a hot day at the beach
The nanny knows how to play
boys and trucks
fish pieces
trigger fish bodies
the sea and metal
colourful
a diver's bike on the beach
cool beach shack
coconuts and grass shacks
Rusty's Surf Villa
pink beach shack
just trotting by
time for extensions and repairs
Esmeralda cut us coconuts
these horses gallop down the beach and stop at different coco groves to graze
the cowboy
left over from xmas...the Virgen lights up
sombrero salesman
keep your hands free
bug carcasses are taken by the ants to the nests in the ceiling
pink broom
brown broom
As I said, there is not much to do at this beach, but here was a couple of events.

Josh and Pedro singing the country blues rock



watching the super bowl at Lourdes Bar with the Mexicans
 On one of our trips to the farmers market....

check out the wiring
these are the fishermans' co-op's plastic bins
great mud construction
Arnt was out surfing and saw these three young guys with beards...looking a lot like Canadian tree planters.  He asked and they told him they are from Alaska and left Juneau in June in kayaks and arrived in Ladysmith three months later.  They jumped on bikes and are heading to Argentina.  The beards will be taken off once they get to the end of their trip.  We had them over for beers one night and then fed them an Arnt pancake breakfast to send them on their way.  Leif had left his fins and we passed them on...they were stoked.   Check out www.atripsouth.com to read their stories.

the morning surf before they go
pancake breakfast
this is one of their bikes packed for the road
all sun screened up and ready to go
Esmeralda invited us for an adventure and we ended up at farms and hot springs.
banana farm
papaya farm
very hot spring
we have to go in slowly
fish farm for talapia
farm horse with colt
large hardwood tree
delicate little flowers on water plants
OOPS....a flat tire
to the rescue...the whole family works at the tire shop
 So the whole reason we are here is for the surfing......

Says it all!
this is how they spend their time...staring out to sea waiting for the wave
important part of the prep...stare for a long time at the break
lots of board rentals
the break in front of our casa
Steve from Colorado brought 7 blanks to shape
he has set up shop at the treehouse

The waves got small one week, so we made a shrine to the goddess of the waves!

 
Arnt
Arnt

Emily
Arnt
Zolly
Arnt
Arnt at the end of the day!

At a surf break up the coast there is a sweet little restaurant set up on the beach.
welcome sign
bee nest about 3 foot long
no mistaking the bottle recycle box

my kind of action at the surfspot!
We finally made it to the traditional Mexican town of La Union.  They were celebrating an anniversary of some sort.  They had a big stage for music, rides, midway and decorations around the town.  We were the only gringos in town.

a two tier trampoline?
not sure if you buy these and get them painted or win them
 
barbeque ready to go
where is it's soil?
 
the church was celebrating 50 years for their pastor
the valentines beet, carrot, oj drink

fantastic doorways in this town
paper decorations all over the town
Our friend Zolly bought some property and is building a home away from home...he has done a lot of work since last year and planted some awesome palms all around the property.

I will miss Esmeralda as we became quite good friends despite the language barrier
adios until 2014