And now for my studio update...

Last year my intentions were to finish sculptures that had been started but put aside for some reason or other. I want to complete those unfinished sculptures as well as work on some new pieces.

The last six months, waiting for surgery and then recuperating, is all in the past, HOORAY! Working in my studio is so much fun!

Last Spring I mentioned my GRAND INTENTIONS in this blog post. This sculpture was put aside until early September, to be completed by late October or early November. That was the plan, but we all know what happened in early September. I want to finish this sculpture!

These great metal frames...

have been turned into shadow boxes.

One frame, mentioned in this post, will have the fireworks, pictured below, attached to the outside. A bust portrait of the founder of the "Oh My Stars Fireworks Manufacturing Company" will be in the interior.

This blog post showed the making of the massive amount of fireworks for the shadow box. I'm looking forward to finishing this piece.

This metal lamp base was going to be turned into...

 a tufted bench somewhat like this settee, it didn't come to pass as you can read here. I want to revisit that bench and create the prop that is still sitting in my mind.

These amazingly detailed small carpets are waiting to be used; one will be turned into a flying carpet. Have a look at the original blog post here to get a better look at the size of the carpets.

In this blog post I mention the carpets and also that I was collecting items for the flying carpet. I have been collecting "treasures" to go on the flying carpet over the last few years and finally I have enough to choose from. I am very particular about size and detail in the items that I purchase which means the treasures take a while to come together.

I have kept these small cakes to use in a sculpture and that is all that I want to say about them as it is still percolating in the brain. They were originally used in a Christmas display along with some very over the top Christmas presents that have since been dismantled, I can't keep all of the props or I would need a warehouse! Check out the post about those presents and cakes here.

So, there we have it, good intentions that will finally be finished.

More snow pictures.

I realize that there are a lot of people out there that really don't want to see any more snow pictures but it is such a novelty in Victoria that I am going to indulge myself. On the isIand we don't get 6 months of snow. A bad winter is more than two weeks of snow all totaled and for that reason I can honestly say I love it!

I took these two pictures yesterday when we walked to the mall. It looks like we are out in the wilderness but this stream is tucked between the residential area and a major road.

There is a wooden bridge to cross over it. I photographed the stream from both sides of the bridge. This stream is so beautiful during the different seasons. When we walk to the mall we usually stop to have a look at it.

I will do a post tomorrow about some of the items that I have been working on.

We have snow!

I thought that I had better do a post just so that no one thought that I was lying comatose on the ground sucking jujubes with my hands twitching at my sides full of licorice ropes, toffees, and chocolate covered coffee beans.

There was only supposed to be about 3" or 4" of snow yesterday...

...but we ended up with over 30cm/12"! There was supposed to be another 25cm/10" coming last night but it didn't arrive. It is supposed to snow today so we shall see. Tomorrow I believe it is all to turn to rain and start to disappear.

(I spray painted four columns for a party last year and liked them in the garden so much that I left them there. There used to be a tall bright yellow column beside the watermelon pink column - top picture - but it is now in the Spring window display at Hillside Shopping Centre.)

I will do an update tomorrow about some of the things that are going on in the studio.

It Snowed Last Night!

It snowed last night and everything looks like a Christmas card.  There is more snow on the ground than on the urn arrangement, it is tucked in an alcove by the front door.

People have the opinion that Canada is a land of ice and snow, it isn’t. On the lower end of Vancouver Island we don’t get that much snow. We have had a maximum of 2 weeks of snow in any given winter that I can remember. Some years there has been no snow fall what so ever. Locals refer to the West Coast as the Wet Coast, we get rain.

When I design and make items like "The view from the rim of the 20th century snowbowl was spectacular" it is not only fantasy in that snowmen are alive but that there is snow at all. When it snows here no on is prepared and no one can drive in it properly.

My brother lives in Dawson Creek up north and drives a truck for a living. He said that he wouldn’t drive in this snow. The snow tends to be wet and slippery like soapsuds, it is not fun to drive in. The snow outside right now is powdery so we will be going for a snow walk later. As you can see when the landscape looks like a Christmas card it is a novelty in some areas in Canada.

Have a Merry pre-Christmas.