Going through my inventory 2...

For the Contextural sale on November 19th I am looking through my inventory from past exhibitions to see what I still have around.

More pieces that I think I will be bringing are...

From the UNESCO Heritage Site show "ExtraOrdinary Places"  in 2008 of UNESCO sites I have visited were the amazing Stave Churches in Norway. Christianity came to Norway between 995 and 1030 AD. As a result, churches were built which were ornamental, with carvings such as dragon heads, that showed a marriage of Christian and Viking symbols. These churches take their names from the distinctive building techniques using vertical staves. From over 1000 that were built, less than 30 remain today.
Norway's Stave Churches - Urnes

Norway's Stave Churches - Eidsborg

From the Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia study session in 2010 came the exhibit entitled "Bridging Waters" that toured England and across Canada from 2012 - 2014:

Erosion at Hopewell Rock 
The Hopewell Rocks of New Brunswick are the iconic Bay of Fundy postcard image. Erosion from the highest tides in the world going through twice a day has carved these red sandstone cliffs into strange and interesting shapes.
Full and Detail:

 

Always Something To Do
Based upon a photograph I took at the pier in St. Andrews-by-the-Sea NB this scene is recreated endlessly with men and their boats. The title refers to how it is a never ending job of maintenance against the ravages of salt water and marine life.

Going through my inventory...

For the Contextural sale on November 19th I am looking through my inventory from past exhibitions to see what I still have around.

Pieces that I think I will be bringing are...

From the Alberta Badlands study session in 2004, exploring the flora and geological formations of the Badlands:

Sedimentary Swirls 

Size: 19" x 11"
Water traces lines in the mud; the wind and the sun set them in stone. One of the wonders of the badlands is this ability to see the ephemeral motion of wind and water permanently etched in stone.

Desert Flowers
Size: 28" x 26" 
Here the fleeting, magical bursting to life of the profusion of wildflowers is framed by ancient weathered sandstone cliffs carved by wind and water.

From the Cold Lake study session in 2005 exploring cold and ice, that grew into a complementary exhibit with the brand new Opera being written and performed across Canada in 2007 and 2008 (the show was seen in Calgary, Banff and Halifax) about the British explorer Martin Frobisher from Elizabethan England and his search for a NW passage across the Arctic entitled "Meta Incognita":

A Blaze in the Northern Sky 

Size: 30” x 50” 

In the land of the midnight sun where the air is crystal clear, the sun burns with a fiery blaze in the blue sky. This piece evokes those flashes of gold in the shifting blues and mauves of the northern sky. 

Full and Detail:

 

Ice Binds Heaven and Earth
Size: 15” x 15”

In the undefined landscapes of the north, where even the horizon can lose itself, the dancing northern lights of the heavens are tethered to the shifting snow by the ice that captures their dance.

 

Inuit Tattoo
From a diary excerpt of a crew member of the 1576 voyage, his words upon first meeting the natives.
Full and Detail:

 

UNESCO World Heritage Site

Yes, another World Heritage Site!
In past years I have created pieces based upon these Canadian UNESCO sites: the Rocky Mountain Parks in Alberta + L'Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland + Haida Gwaii (SGand Gwaay) in British Columbia + Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta + Quebec City in Quebec...

My latest interest is JOGGINS FOSSIL CLIFFS in Nova Scotia on the Bay of Fundy.

Employing a technique I have used in other series, I am drawing with free machine embroidery stitch on archival tissue paper.

Piece #1 is fish fossils...

Close up - tea dyed, waxed, black thread...

Piece #2 is the Ammonite shell...
Starting phase - draw and colour

Close up of the stitching...

And the final pieces framed...

I can't wait to present them to the public and hear their comments on them!