I love this spot which is just off the Kilarney Lake trail heading towards the meadow. There is a short bridge that crosses the river and it’s a wonderful spot on a sunny day to see the surrounding trees and sky above reflected in the stillness of the water.

This was the first time in a year I’ve taken photos with my holga. It felt really good to be shooting film again.

I’m really happy with the selection of images that have been included in the showcase. Featured here are photos taken with a holga, Vivitar Ultra Wide & Slim, polaroid, and a P-Sharan pinhole camera.

When Boris and I were in Victoria earlier this year I came across the motherload of medium format expired slide film in a small camera store in Bastion Square. At first I was hesitant to buy it all because most of the film was 220 and I wasn’t sure I could shoot this in my holga. For those not familiar with film formats, medium format film come in 120 rolls which allows for 12 exposures or 220 rolls which allow for 24 exposures (this varies with the type of camera). The larger roll also doesn’t work with every medium format camera, at least that’s what I’d been led to believe. I went ahead and bought the lot deciding to take my chances because of the cheap price of four year expired film.

The shots I’ve included in this blog post were the first taken on the roll of 220 with a holga. As you can see, I had a lightleak and it went through the entire roll. With 220 film the whole camera has to be taped up, including the window at the back of the holga, because the film doesn’t have a paper backing the way 120 does. I’ll add more tape for next time. The trickiest part of shooting 220 is keeping track of the number of exposures because you can no longer see the numbers at the back, as well as being careful to count the number of clicks between frames.

For more detailed instructions on shooting 220 film go read “How to Use 220 film in a Holga.”

It’s Wednesday, the day of the week that rests exactly at the point between the previous weekend and the one to come. I’ve been having a series of awesome weekends and I wanted to write up a “Good Things” list before the next one happened. Here goes:

1. Hanging out with Boris enjoying some excellent quality time and adventures. I couldn’t ask for a more fun person to spend time with.
2. Taking myself on a movie date to see the documentary Earth. The cinematography is stunning and spectacular, and showcases scenery and animals all over the world. I left the theatre feeling uplifted and inspired.
3. Making plans with a friend to get back on track with a long neglected photo project.
4. Taking a day trip to Stevenston where we spent a few hours wandering around enjoying the fantastic weather.
5. A bit of unexpected retail therapy at the Orb & Arson warehouse sale, which was located where we changed buses between Vancouver and Steveston. I picked up some great bargains.
6. Lunch on the Wharf in Steveston at Pajos. Yum. Good.
7. Sitting in the grass relaxing and watching people fly kites.
8. Taking an afternoon nap on Saturday.
9. Making dessert from sad fruits wizened with age and neglect, and turning them into a delicious apple, pear and rhubarb crisp.
10. Talking to my mom and sister at the same time through the magical powers of three-way calling.

A few days ago my mom called to tell me the news of my old friend David Somers passing away. She’d been reading the local paper and came across an article in the Brampton Guardian reflecting on his many contributions to the arts and culture in Brampton, Ontario. It mentioned his recent passing at the end of April. I hadn’t been in touch with David in a few years but I had been made aware through a mutual friend that he’d been diagnosed with cancer more than a year ago.

My mom has been diagnosed with cancer twice in the last twelve years. She went through surgery and extensive treatments and has been in remission for a few years now. Boris’ father was diagnosed with cancer last year and has also gone on to a complete recovery with relatively little effect on his overall health. Sometimes people aren’t so lucky, or maybe we (their loved ones) are the lucky ones not to have lost them. My heart goes out to those David has left behind.

I first met David almost fifteen years ago on my first visit to the Peel Heritage Complex, a public art gallery, museum and archive in Brampton. I was interested in becoming a volunteer and David is the one who interviewed me about my interests. My volunteering eventually led to paid work at the complex in various ways, much of it working closely with David and assistant curator, Judy Daley. I can’t really imagine one without the other because they are both so much a part of my memories there, and they made a great team. They were a pleasure to work with and provided me with great opportunities despite my complete lack of experience working in that type of environment. It was an invaluable experience because I learned what goes on behind the scenes of a museum/art gallery, gave me hands-on experience of putting a show together, and was the first push I needed to start showing my own work in a gallery.

David was more than just my boss at the Complex, he was also a friend. I think that’s how everyone who ever worked under him felt because he was such an engaging person. He was known for his infectious sense of humour and charismatic personality, and always had something hilarious to say. I worked with David and Judy for four years before moving away to Toronto and eventually to Vancouver. I’d been good about keeping in touch with them and would regularly go back and visit, but over the last few years I’d lost touch. It saddens me knowing it is too late to remedy the situation, and I will never get the chance to laugh with David again. He will be greatly missed.

The Art Gallery of Peel and Peel Heritage Complex will hold a celebration of David Somers’ life for friends and colleagues on Thursday, May 28 at 7pm.

Peel Heritage Complex
Historic Peel County Courthouse
3 Wellington St. E. in Brampton

“Pain and conflict are, to a large extent, the result of a discrepancy between the way we think others should treat us, react to us, and appreciate us, and the way they actually do. Many of our miseries are thus rooted in self-pity, the most worthless of all human emotions.”

–Ann Davies, Qabalist teacher

Too true.

Each is a handmade aluminum metal print mounted on a wooden cradle frame. Size: 7″x 7″ with an image size of 5″x 5″. These prints are made using a heat transfer printing process, and the imagery are my photos taken with a holga camera.

rashe.etsy.com

It is Sunday afternoon and I’ve decided to take a break from the frenzy of Christmas baking I’ve been up to for the last few hours. I haven’t done baking for Christmas in a few years and I am trying all new recipes. I started with a batch of candied orange peels, then onto chocolate almond bark, with a finale of chocolate truffles. I am waiting for each batch of yummies to cool and set, but otherwise I am done. Overall these were really easy things to make though the citrus peels were the most labour intensive, requiring multiple reboils in hot water to soften and remove the pith. I may do a second batch of these and do a better job with pith removal because they make the taste more sour than sweet.

Good Things from the Weekend:
1. Getting set up with a new cell phone (and plan) that is about one thousand times more advanced than the one I’ve had for almost five years.
2. Baking chocolate chip banana bread
3. Making and sharing Saturday brunch with friends
4. Having a recovered Boris back to the land of the living
5. Getting out for a walk on a rainy but lovely Friday night

Traveling to Bowen Island just got a whole lot faster, easier, and fun with the introduction of the Granville Island Water Taxi service. Boris and I took it over to Bowen on friday evening, and came back on it Sunday night. It costs more than the regular bus and ferry combo, but getting home in an hour makes it all worth it. I’m looking forward to making the trip during daylight hours sometime and enjoying the view of Vancouver from the perspective of the water.

Good things from the weekend:
- Long naps on both Saturday and Sunday
- Adventures around Bowen with Boris and Kirsti that included a stop for hot chocolate
- Finding interesting objects for future art projects at the wild and crazy community garage sale
- Walking through the rainy darkness to and from the ferry
- Eating German apple cake and many other delicious things

The problem with looking back at what I was up to this time last November is realizing I was a much more productive artist then, and I was actually selling work. It’s easy to focus on the things I’m not happy with when comparing to last year and I think it’s a counterproductive thing to do. I need to reflect, but not compare so much because a year later often means different circumstances that factor into artistic productivity.

And on that note, I do have a few things to be pleased about with my work. I have one photo published in the current issue of Geist Magazine that doesn’t seem to have translated well into print but in print it is nonetheless. I’m also pretty sure I have some work in the Plastic Photographer – Low Tech Photo Show , opening Thursday at 2221A Artist Run Centre. I say “pretty sure” because the person I talked to about whether or not my work had been accepted wasn’t very clear with me. I’m planning on checking out the opening regardless.

A few shots taken with my holga inside an abandoned house, from a few weeks back. It’s a location I’m hoping to return to sometime soon and do a more thorough job of photographing.

I really wish I was better about keeping up with what’s going on at local galleries, because too often I see shows just before they close or miss them completely. In some cases the shows I do catch at the last minute are ones I would definitely recommend to others, but then it’s too late.

Such is the case with the show I went to see on Saturday afternoon at Jacana Gallery. The show featured the work of artist/illustrator Soizick Meister. The series of paintings focuses on easily recognizable landscapes around Vancouver, with plenty of iconic imagery of crows, herons, tanker ships against the north shore, logs on Kits/Jericho beaches, and other things easily recognizable as “Vancouver”. In every painting there is the mysterious figure of Mr. M dressed in hat and trench coat, turned towards the scene to contemplate the landscape. The scenes are peaceful, sometimes with playful details of paper boats or piles of books. This is magic realism at it’s best, and I found the show to be a wealth of inspiration.

Jacana Gallery has the full show online.

This is my favorite shot taken on my Portland trip. I love watching birds take flight.

I keep meaning to write about the good summer I have been having but so far I haven’t been able to find the time. Here are a few good things:
1. Slowly transforming my apartment into a more inspiring space just by changing the art around on the walls and adding more.
2. Fun dinners with various friends on various days.
3. A cycling trip to Agassiz a few weekends ago with the lovely Mann family.
4. Moving to a new work space, and liking it much better than the old one.
5. Feeling inspired again and beginning to plan and prepare to submit work for shows in the fall.
6. Having too many good things to actually mention in the short amount of time I’ve taken to write this.

I was less impressed with the Saturday market in Portland on my latest visit than I was the previous time I was there. It seemed much more crafty and junky with fewer “gems” here and there. My favorite artist from the visit is Theo Ellsworth, a writer, illustrator and comic book artist. His drawings are intricately detailed and feature fantastical scenes, people and creatures from his own made up world. His style reminds me a bit of drawings I’ve seen by Clive Barker but without the dark twists. I bought one of Theo’s lovely prints (and wish I’d picked up more) as well as a copy of his book Capacity Number 7.

1. Getting my apartment sorted out after too many days of living in the mess created by repairs in part of the space.
2. Starting to read The World Without Us.
3. Having my hair cut shorter, but not yet as short as before.
4. Keeping up with my goal to write letters to send home every two weeks.
5. Dancing together around the living room to the lovely sounds of Beirut.

The Holga Show is our second annual show of fine art photography produced from toy cameras with plastic lenses, such as the Holga. Thirty-seven images by thirty-three artists were selected for exhibition from the entries received from our open call. Best of show honors were awarded to Tread, James Arnold, Nicolas Bellion, and Kelsey Jarboe.

And now I need to take my Holga for a spin. It has been awhile since I’ve shot anything with it. I blame the rain.

With the dedication of our wonderful volunteers, we are currently providing 315 girls with the support of a caring mentor– thank you! But for 2008, Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland is on a mission! We know that there are many more young girls who need a mentor in their lives, so we want to serve even more girls in 2008! In order to accomplish this, we need more women to volunteer with us AND more families and community workers to know about our programs so they can refer girls to us who could benefit from having a mentor.

In the spring of 2007 I was looking around for volunteer work and I decided to give Big Sisters a try. It was something I’d been considering for awhile, especially after hearing about it from a friend who’d been matched with a Big Brother (the boy version of Big Sisters) as a young boy and his good experiences within their relationship. I didn’t know much about the program at the time, other than it involved volunteering my time and working closely with a young girl I would be paired up with.

My first step was to attend one of the many Info Sessions Big Sisters hold regularly around the Lower Mainland, to learn more about the program and it’s requirements. Once I decided I was definitely interested I filled out an application package, attended an orientation session with other hopeful candidates, and then a one-on-one screening interview with a Big Sister councelor. It was a couple of months before Big Sisters got back to me about a potential match with a teenaged girl named Lauren. They put a lot of care and attention into finding just the right combination of people because they want the relationship to last.

In the beginning it felt very odd and awkward, to both Lauren and I, to hang out because essentially ours is an arranged relationship even though we are both willingly involved. It has taken time to get to know one another and become comfortable talking about ourselves, but it’s totally worth it. It was also tricky between both our schedules to come up with a regular day and time to get together, but seeing each other the same day every week has been key in helping the relationship grow. My “Little Sister” is a wonderful beautiful person, full of life and intelligence, is lots of fun to be around, and shares my love of photography.I feel lucky to know Lauren and she would not have come into my life any other way.

If you are interested in becoming a Big Sister yourself, please call Call 604.873.4525 ext. 300 or email info(at)bigsisters(dot)bc(dot)ca. Information about qualifications can be found here.

The title of this entry is the gist of something my yoga teacher said in class on Saturday morning a few weekends ago. We are so much more than the thoughts that limit us.

I’m up for the second time this morning after a very late night of going to bed at the magical hour when 2am becomes 1am again.
I was looking at my cell phone when it changed back.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen it happen before.
Neat.
And even though I went to bed THAT late my body clock still insisted I be awake for 6am.
Blergh…

“I like to live in the sound of water, in the feel of mountain air. A sharp reminder hits me: this world is still alive; it stretches out there shivering toward its own creation, and I’m a part of it. Even my breathing enters into an elaborate give-and-take, this bowing to sun and moon, day or night, winter, summer, storm, still –- this tranquil chaos that seems to be going somewhere. This wilderness with a great peacefulness in it. This motionless turmoil, this everything dance.”

- Wiliam Stafford, “Time for Serenity, Anyone?” from the book *Even in Quiet Places*

I was in San Francisco for nine days at the beginning of October, and even though I was able to get my film back two days after my return I have still haven’t managed to upload many shots to Flickr. The above shot was taken in the Japanese Tea Garden, located in Golden Gate Park. It was a lovely place, but I think my favorite Japanese style garden is still the one I visited in Portland. The rest of the shots of this same location can be seen on flickr using this guest pass.

I’m trying to figure out the best way to upload the seventy-two shots of San Francisco graffiti without overwhelming myself or my audience…

World Toy Camera Day was a very rainy one here in Vancouver, so Kirsti and Christopher came by to shoot indoors with my lights. As you can see from the photos, we were a bit goofy (or at least I was).

Their photos can be found here:
www.flickr.com/photos/mimsybee/tags/worldtoycameraday/ – Kirsti
www.flickr.com/photos/czarf/tags/wtcd2007/ – Christopher

I love this series of photos by Susan Burnstine as featured in a gallery at File Magazine. It inspires in me both a desire to run out and photograph animals, and break out my neglected pinhole camera.

If you are looking for a new coffee shop to try in Vancouver, do check out Re-entry on Main Street near 28th Avenue. I can’t recommend their coffee personally (because I don’t drink it) but I’m told it’s really good. I had an ovaltine, because I was impressed they had such a thing on the menu, and was treated to a “pull-apart” made of the most divine flaky and buttery pastry I’ve ever had the pleasure to eat. Seriously.