Reflections

So Long and Welcome to the Future

So Long and Welcome to the Future

I have big, exciting, and difficult news for you today.

And the end of June, I will be leaving Bleeding Heart Art Space and my position with St. Faith’s Anglican Church as Arts Chaplain. I will step back for at least a year. I may then have the time, capacity and desire to return, but those decisions are for another time and context. 

Today, the heart of it is this; I’m tired and I may be in the way. 

To survive and thrive, Bleeding Heart Art Space must be a team-led, community-driven, supporter-funded movement disconnected from any one person.

I have hope.


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"Pressing for Progress" by Filling in the Gaps of the Historical Record

"Pressing for Progress" by Filling in the Gaps of the Historical Record

On this International Women’s Day we’re gearing up for Regarding Mary, a brand new exhibit by Marlena Wyman that is scheduled to open March 10th.

Marlena has served on the board of the Women’s Art Museum Society of Canada and worked as the Audio/Visual Archivist at the Provincial Archives of Alberta for 28 years. She has always created art, even when she was a single mom and working full-time.


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Be Original | Buy Original : Thoughts on the Value of Original Art

Have you ever come across a painting, sculpture, piece of jewelry, or other original piece of art that just spoke to you? Was it as if you were being lured in by an invisible force, calling your name, begging you to make a place in your life for this magical creation? This has happened to me before, and I’m pretty sure this scenario has happened to you as well. But what does it all mean?

Perhaps the best way to explain this “invisible force” is through an experience that I had last spring while attending a local hand-made exhibition. It happened when I walked past a jewelry booth displaying necklaces, nothing like I had seen before. The depth and richness in the colours of the hand-made clay pieces drew me in, begging me to come for a closer look. After browsing the collection of necklaces, I noticed that there was a small assortment of stud earrings. Simple yet unique, each set containing just 2 colours. One pair in blue and black immediately spoke to me, asking me to take them home and make them a part of my life. I knew there was no going back now. If I didn’t buy these earrings, I would be thinking about them after I left, and then I may not have the opportunity to buy them at another time. So, I asked the artisan for the price (not that it mattered because I knew they were mine at that point), and at just $20, I felt like I had won the lottery.

I wear these earrings at some point every week, and they have become an accessory that I work into my regular wardrobe. The best part is that I continue to be drawn in by their invisible force, like the first day I spotted them at the exhibition. These earrings have a way of making me feel like my unique self, and I always feel great when I wear them. These are feelings of great value that never diminish, and all it took was that single purchase. Art like this will keep you looking at it and will leave you in wonder. When you buy original art that speaks to you, you are not just exchanging money for a finished product, but also for the artists’ process, time and energy that went into creating something unique. Ultimately, you receive a piece of the artist themselves. Art of this nature will hold its value, because YOU see the value in it – and truthfully, isn’t that really all that matters?

Art is personal and speaks to people in different ways, so why not surround yourself with art that is as unique to you as you are to the world? The next time a piece of art speaks to you, remember this:  buy original art that reflects your original self, and its value will never diminish.

Stay creative!

 


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Beauty in a Time of Dryness

Beauty in a Time of Dryness

These are dry times. Summer slips away faster than you can catch it – a dime down the drain. The sky hangs damp and icy today. Across the globe, powerful little men toy with the world’s future like it’s a game of chicken. Hurricanes have ravaged large parts of our earth. Families will suffer the effects for years to come. Terrorists won’t let London sleep. 

This planet can get so ugly. So broken. So disordered. So many of our mirrors are shattered.

There is order in beauty. A divine order, I believe, but whatever your theology you can feel it. The affirmation of disparate parts falling into place. 

Jennifer Berkenbosch’s Cultivar matters because the world needs beauty today. We need to be reminded that there is goodness. There is a solid bed beneath this wild river. 


Blog for Bleeding Heart!

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ArtLuck: Origin Stories

ArtLuck: Origin Stories

Every ArtLuck takes on a different character. The people who attend and share give each gatherings a unique flavour. A theme often emerges to define an ArtLuck–a thread to tie each offering together. 

March 30 landed in the middle of spring break, which meant five kids joined their parents for ArtLuck. Five, where there are usually none. I love it when kids share their work. Their unfiltered comments are refreshing. 

As I look back, the kids helped define this ArtLuck’s theme. This outing was all about origin stories. What inspires and shapes us. How we become artists, if we are willing to call ourselves artists at all.


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A Poem for Holy Saturday (Revised)

A poem for Easter
A poem for Easter

I hope you have a meaningful Easter. I hope you experience the richness of the Story - the movement from darkness and death towards light and life.

Smack in the middle of all this comes Holy Saturday. I wrote a poem on Holy Saturday a few years back - here is a newly revised version.

 

HOLY SATURDAY

And this holy Saturday is
An elastic band, stretched taut
A kingdom held back
just one more day
kinetic
energetic
propulsion potential

 

The hand
calms the waves
The voice
stills the voices

 

Not yet,
not yet
But soon
and then ... oh, then!

 

You will let fly the smile of love
Zip!
To the back of the head
Snap!

 

But not yet

 

The band may yet break
The dark is still pregnant
A belly stretched taut

 

Soon.


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Are You an Artist?

Are You an Artist?

Are you an artist?

I am a lot of things.  So are you.  

You might be a dog-lover or an avid reader.  An extrovert, nature-lover or traveller.

But are you an artist?  

Of course you are.  But precious few of us would ever describe ourselves that way.


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On Stepping Up My Local Arts Game (A 20 AND 17 Update)

On Stepping Up My Local Arts Game (A 20 AND 17 Update)

January. I put out a challenge. Support more local artists this year. Tangibly. With money. I’m not out to blow the bank or revolutionize the local arts scene singlehandedly. We’re going to do that together. You and me. We are going to ‘vote with our wallets’ in 2017 and see what we can do collectively for the Edmonton arts scene.

The breakdown? $20 dollars towards local arts experiences and $17 towards local arts products. Every month. That’s my goal, so what’s my reality?


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Seeking Common Ground

Seeking Common Ground

I've been thinking a lot lately about the theme of common ground. I'm sure many of us have been. It's a frightening, divisive time politically and culturally, and the volume of this noise seems to have increased greatly in the past couple of months. 

I believe and hold onto the hope that if two parties that are diametrically opposed had the opportunity to sit down with one another one on one, slogans and banners and prejudices aside, we would see some sort of common ground we have as humans.

This is to say that at our core, most of us share the emotions of fear, hope, desire, anger, joy, despair - those are all HUMAN feelings. They do not belong to the left or the right; to people with any certain shade of skin. They are common ground. 


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Your Time is Almost Up to Give Four Gifts at Once at OPEN WALLS

Your Time is Almost Up to Give Four Gifts at Once at OPEN WALLS

Art is a fantastic gift idea. Who doesn’t need more beauty in their life? When you give an original work of art you are giving a gift that is literally one-of-a-kind. Rather than being shelved or given away, your gift winds up on the wall, looked at daily, perhaps for years to come. I have many pieces in my home from friends and artists I know, and I think of those people nearly every time I view that work. It’s a great way to build on connections with friends and family.   

Art is a great gift for the receiver, but did you know your art gift becomes four gifts?


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