Stormy weather...

Light-tower, near Cobourg* W.H. Bartlett 1839

...literally and metaphorically.

"Character is formed in the stormy billows of the world." Goethe

*Gull Island is about 2.2km off shore midway between Cobourg & Port Hope.

Tuesday Rant... (not urgent nor important)

Pro eto. Ei i mne (About this. To her and to me),
Aleksandr Rodchenko 1923

I am annoyed (although sometimes guilty) of the constant sense of urgency infused in daily life.
I am equally perturbed by the confusion between what is urgent and what is important.

Why is it that we feel compelled to confess our own stupidity?

As I entered the house, I could smell something...

Strong yet familiar...

I cast my gaze around the room...

Then followed the thick fragrance to the basement...

And there I found it...

Like a laundry crime scene...

The extra-large econo-size container, void of it's contents...

Oozing into the crevices and divots of our very old, very porous concrete floor...

Concrete divots looking like alien tide pools...

Lesson learned...

When doing first load in brand spanking new washing machine, do not leave laundry liquids perched on top. That super-high rpm feature that sold you on the machine may cause liquids to migrate.

On the up-side, thanks to the laundry chute acting like a scent diffuser, our home smells like a 'fresh breeze'.

Looking forward to...

Lucy Fiona Crangle
See more of Fiona's work here:  KWT Contemporary

...attending Fiona Crangle's "Be Prepared" opening today!

"Crangle's paintings explore the fiercely stubborn vulnerability of adolescence. Through their common iconography, the trials of young female saints merge with the contemporary Girl Guides' quest for badges of honour. Be Prepared is a voyeuristic glimpse at youth's idealism, a time when awakening desire quarrels with the desire to be good...." (from KWT Comtemporary web-site)

Family Day* Fun...

Shinny under the lights. Competitive spirits warmed

by love and laughter.

*Provincial holiday falling on the third Monday in February

Monday Smiles...

#2's terres du petit peuple (fimo)

...I just love that #2 is having so much fun continuing to create these little people. So many lessons are learned through the creative process... patience, problem-solving, acceptance, tenacity.

Timeless...

Gertrude Hubbard with baby, circa 1855-1859

I'm struck by the timelessness of this photo... Gertrude's expression. Love? Pride? Happiness? Joy in the thought of the moments, days, years ahead?

"And so our mothers and grandmothers have, more often than not anonymously, handed on the creative spark, the seed of the flower they themselves never hoped to see -- or like a sealed letter they could not plainly read." Alice Walker

Hoping Valentine's Day...

Rinaldo conquered by Love for Armida, Anthony van Dyck 1634-5

...brings you delirious contentment

in the arms of someone you love.

"It's Complicated..."

Beneath the Surface, Rachelle Kearns via AGO

The challenge is to find ways to make complicated matters simple.

Perseverance...

#3 2005

Happy thoughts...

The Happy World, Carl-Henning Pederson 1943

I realized that my posts have been a little dark lately & decided to take some of my own advice (why is that so hard to do?).
Choose optimism.
Choose happiness.
See the good in dark situations.

Transition...

Girl before a Mirror, Picasso1932

There are many interpretations of this particular Picasso work. Today, I read it to represent the transition from youthful, childhood innocence to a more world-aware, sexual self.
Sadly, this is not always a beautiful transition.
I worry about the lasting impact on a young girls' sense of self.

Bad Advice...

via MoMA The Story of Film: An Odyssey

When dealing with adolescent homesickness do not advise to “Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, there's no place like home.” This is not helpful.

"Logic will get you from A to B.

Imagination will take you everywhere." Einstein

Saturday Smile...

Kiki
Just one of #2's many recent Fimo creations