Miracles -- part 2

At this very moment a cute furry friend is lying at my feet.  A SILENT furry friend.  In just over a week a miracle has occurred.  Toby no longer barks at every noise he hears.  He no longer barks at anything at all!  AND he sleeps SILENTLY all through the night in a crate beside my bed.  Call this an ad for Bark Busters!  As I knew, it's all about me.  I have to be top dog ALL THE TIME.  Toby has been relieved of security duty.  He's still learning to love the crate so I've been told to feed him in there.  The idea is to make the crate a place of all good things.  Apart from the door, of course -- but he's becoming okay with that too.  Once he's in there he doesn't fight it.  Notice I say "once he's in there" -- that is, once I've pulled him out from under the bed and placed him inside.  The hallelujah day will be when he walks in on his own and lies down.  We're getting there.



The dog that barked and barked and ...

I've had a rough few days.  Yes, he does bark.  Of course, only when we're home and surrounded by neighbours.  He barks when he hears anything from the hall.  I guess he's defending us.  I'm sure it's my fault.  I was already feeling guilty and madly trying to correct the problem when on Thursday an anonymous note -- an angry, aggressive, long, detailed and inaccurate anonymous note -- was posted by the elevators on my floor.  I freaked.  So upset that someone out there hates me and Toby so much.  I should say that there are 4 dogs on this floor and not all the barking is my Toby.  Anyhow, we're all chilling out for the weekend.  Toby is staying with Brian.  I am living in peace as are my neighbours -- whoever they are who complained -- and on Monday morning Bark Busters is coming for a three hour training session.  And yes, most of the training will be for me.

Odds & Ends

I haven't written since I got back from Scotland -- partly because I brought back a wicked cold, now in its fourth week, which has left me temporarily (I hope!) deaf in one ear.  But also because I seem to be taking a breather.  A summer holiday.  No art classes.  No summer music school.

Yes, no summer music camp.  I thought about deleting the post but that felt a bit scary.  Could I actually erase the past?  No.  I'm not going to camp because I'm saving for Scotland.  This is true -- but also memories of past summer school experiences came back to haunt me.  Starting with French school after grade 11 and I couldn't help but wonder -- what if it's a nightmare?

Never mind -- I am saving for Scotland.  My next trip will be at Christmas -- including the holiday itself.  Horrors!  Is that allowed?!  Yes, I will make it so.  And there is no question about continuing with Senior Band.  I love it.  This weekend is our year-end party.  And the clarinets and flutes have already scheduled a meeting in July.

Saving also involves being more careful about the classes I take at the Toronto School of Art.  As I've said, I'm taking the summer off but I also have another dilemma.  Should I finish off the diploma quickly?  (I have half the credits.)  Or perhaps not at all?  Who cares?  Don't know.  But I'm looking at an art school in Ullapool for next summer.  A week long course.

I didn't actually write about the latest Scotland trip.  The photos seemed enough.  Beautiful and calm.  I love it there.  Tangled up in history, of course.  My history.  Reminds me, I have to see the new animated movie called "Brave" which is set in medieval Scotland and starring a young girl.

And speaking of young girls, we had an eight year old with us on the mini-couch.  She was such a live wire.  I enjoyed her company.  Here we are on the last day spent with the leader Karen.  She took us to Iona and Skye.  Another leader/driver took us north to Orkney.





Toby is also on a summer break from his daily group walk -- saving money, talking holidays.  So, instead of Brian mid-day he'll have to rely on me.  Not a problem.  For the most part, walking with Toby is relaxing.  Except for when the humidex is 40 or Toby needs to go THAT way to visit a dog he spies way off in the distance.  My favourite are our morning walks.  As I've said, the only thing I miss about working is the morning walk there.







Music Camp

I'll probably take a TSA summer workshop on colour mixing but I'm also planning a week at summer music camp!  All day lessons and ensemble playing.  I hope to improve quickly and have some fun.  Meanwhile I continue with my Monday afternoon band -- which I love.  While I'm in Scotland all four bands will perform the annual concert at the Glenn Gould Studio.  I'm sorry to miss playing in a 3-minute massed-band Bolero!

A gratuitous shot of Toby to remind me that whenever I'm away he stays with his walker Brian.  Two weeks seems a long time but let's remember he's a dog and I'll be in Scotland!  Or the wilds of Ontario.   Or ... !?



Drawing as a contemporary practice week 10

This week we spent the entire time critiquing the results of assignment #1, the visual diary.  I presented by book and it was quite well received.  Here are the pages, dismantled, beginning and ending with the covers.

Drawing as a contemporary practice week 9

We did our final visual diary this week -- in which we see Toby's face!  I'm including a recent photo for comparison -- my drawing (with my left hand) is certainly not the greatest likeness.  Later we each spoke with the teacher about that project and the self-directed one.  Next week we'll critique the visual diary.  I'm going to turn mine into some kind of a book -- a work very much in progress.  And my self-directed project has evolved as well.  I'm excited for that one too.  It's due the final week which is during the make-up week.

Drawing as a contemporary practice week 8

Our visual diary today was with our dominant hand.  We have one more week to do the diary and at the same time we need to be working on how to make one thing out of it all.  The teacher liked my wonky perspective today and like the drawing overall.  ("Wonky" seems to be my word for the day.)  I was struck this morning on our first walk by the towering building and how the red of Toby's coat matched the Rabba sign.

I also did my presentation on an experimental drawing practice.  My question was whether drawing needs to leave a mark.  Or how permanent must it be?  I illustrated this with sparklers and glow sticks.  I was the third person to use fire!  It seemed to be fun for everyone which is the main idea.

Drawing as a contemporary practice week 7

We began with our visual diary using our non-dominant hand.  I found it much easier today with my left and really enjoyed it.  I used a larger piece of paper than I have so far.  Soon we'll be combining all the diaries to make something new in some way.  The teacher said that my drawing today was more expressive and gestural than ever before.

Before class started we all hung our Allan Gardens/artist drawing ready for critique.  Mine went over very well which was great, of course.  This drawing is bigger than anything I've done before.  It's maybe 3 feet square.

Contemporary Practice week 6

We're a week behind of course so we'll have a make-up class in April.  We started with our visual diary.  I did a drawing of Toby in my arms which is what struck me most about the morning.  A huge snow storm had been predicted but instead it was pouring rain when I took him out -- in his rain gear.

Then we worked on our large drawings from Allan Gardens and our artist.  We were to add duplication of some kind.  Tracings, transfers, whatever.  Next week we present the final work as if to a gallery.  I've got the drawing home now.  I know what I want to try -- adding transfers of some Allan Gardens photos.  We'll see how that works out.  Here's what I have so far after another class session.  Also each of us met with the teacher to discuss our self-directed project.  I'm back to the drawing board -- literally! -- to refine what I want to say and present.  I'll meet the teacher again next week.

Contemporary Practice week 5

First we did our morning visual diary with our non-dominant hand.  I forgot and the first two drawings are with my right.  I'd bought a pad of paper on sale that was long and thin and tried it out.  Last week the teacher suggested when I get an image to then do it again and again which I did.

A visiting artist gave us a slide presentation on her work and then we watched part of a video called "Manufactured Landscapes" by Ed Bertinsky -- and drew as we watched.  The next thing was to combine images from the video with images from Allan Gardens.  (I am no longer Gabriel Orozco.)  We worked on huge sheets of paper -- mine is maybe 5 x 3 feet or more.  I look on what I did this week as the background.  I have a lot more to do  -- though I don't know what that will be.

We had two more presentations on mark-making.  One was drawing with straws glued together with a glue gun.  (What is drawing?)  The other was using a propane torch on ink!  Don't try this at home OR tell the school management.  We all survived!

Drawing week 3

We began today with 20 silent minutes to do our visual diary of the morning.  I seem to settle on a mood for my piece rather than narrative.  Today was melancholy and enclosed -- even shut off -- in the morning with Toby.  I noticed well before the teacher did that the figure looks like me as a child.  Not a surprise or a problem for me.

The presentation this week was drawing with red ink and a bubble-blowing set.  Art-making is meant to be fun.  That's the take-away from all this.  I still have no idea for mine.

Next we worked with "our" artist.  I'm Gabriel Orozco.  Another student as William Kentridge gave me an assignment that he (Kentridge) would like to do -- that I then had to tackle as Orozco.  I was to make a charcoal drawing of Toronto including a social problem that upsets me.  I began in a way that I myself might have done and had to regroup.  I drew on some photocopies from the recycle bin and included a homeless man begging on the street.  A bit of a mess.  Next week we meet at Allan Gardens where we will draw as our artist -- that is, use their materials and techniques.  Orozco is very much about found stuff, responding to what he finds, change.  We'll see!

Drawing week 2

Like Composition we have four projects in Drawing class but unlike Composition these 4 are running simultaneously.  The first is the memory diary.  Today we worked with our non-dominant hand.  We'll rotate from week to week, left to right and back.  Later we'll transform the work in some way.  (This applies to all the projects.)  I have lots to go on for next week.  Greatly helpful  comments from the teacher.

The second assignment is a 5 minute presentation of a process of drawing that hasn't been done before.  We had our first presentation today.  The student showed us drawing with linguine, using it as a brush and a stamp.  Now I have a bit of an idea -- I'm in week 8.

The third assignment is about a contemporary artist who uses drawing in their work.  We drew names for this and I got Gabriel Orozco.  Some of  the other artists were William Kentridge, Christo and Jean-Paul, Jenny Saville, Banksy, Anthony Gormley and Anselm Kiefer.  We're to research our artist and learn about how they work, how they draw.  In week 4 we'll be at Allan Gardens drawing plants in the style of our artist.

The fourth assignment is done at home.  We're to produce a series.  I'm planning some self-portraits.  More on that later!

We also did an exercise today that was fun and instructive.  The idea was to show different ways to generate images.  We began with a stack of separate sheets of paper equal to the number of students -- 9.  Also some ink, two sticks and a q-tip.  Everyone was given a magazine.  We opened it once only and at random and drew on our first page something that drew our attention.  The we passed the book to the left.  Same again on a new page and so on.  Meanwhile the pages and the drawings could connect in any way.

Drawing as a contemporary practice

My second course is called Drawing as a Contemporary Practice.  At the first class we got exact instructions for 4 assignments due at various points in the term.  In contrast, the work itself is meant to change and evolve as we go.  Many of the mornings will begin with 20 minutes of silence to record a diary of our morning so far.  These pieces will be gathered together later on.  It's about memory, how and what we remember.  Having tried it this week we're to plan how we want to continue next week.

Dog Whisperer

There's a man in my neighbourhood who I call the Dog Whisperer.  He walks and boards dogs.  Toby stayed with him while I was in Scotland last fall and will again when I return in May.  Toby gets a walk with him on weekdays and there's nothing he loves more.  It's like a play-date with his friends Tiger and Eden.  Yes, it's a different world for dogs in 2012!

I first became aware of Brian last summer as I started to get out more with Toby.  Brian would come to my building with some dogs in tow to pick up more.  He'd leave the dogs tied up outside.  They each sat facing the door waiting for Brian to return.  Completely silent.  No barking, no fighting.

That's when I started to speak to Brian and ask him his secret.  I don't think he has one beyond loving dogs.  He has 2 of his own and usually has a few more staying with him.  Some days he walks 17 dogs in total.  Here's a couple photos to give you the idea.

Toby goes to the hospital

It started on Tuesday morning.  The first thing Toby did was throw up a piece of paper with a staple in it.  After that he refused to eat anything at all.  His favourite treat couldn't tempt it.  He just lay in his usual spot on the couch.  By early afternoon we were at the vet.

Toby loves going to the vet.  When we walk by on the sidewalk he pulls to go in.  Same with the groomer.  But in both places he starts shaking as soon as we're inside.  This time he had to stay and ended up being there for 3 days and 2 nights.  An x-ray showed a "foreign body" in his colon and he continued to refuse food.  He was fed intravenously.  I imagine the x-ray looked like this though they had no clue what he had swallowed.

I have to confess that at first I kicked up my heels.  Fancy free with no dog.  I slept in to 8 both mornings and then lounged about in my long undies.  That didn't last long.  After a day I could feel myself reverting to old ways of anxiety and withdrawal.  Of course I was worried about Toby but I had a hard time holding on to the enormity of any potential disaster.

The vet called me in on Wednesday evening to see if I could entice him to eat.  He refused even me.  However the next morning he finally pooed and another x-ray showed the thing was gone.  They never found what it was.  Too bad.  It might have helped my guilt.  I have to be even more vigilant on our walks to make sure he doesn't pick up anything.  It's a battle sometimes because he loves to sniff about.  Sometimes he walks with his nose along the sidewalk like Sherlock Holmes.

I brought him home last evening with 3 medicines for the next several days.  He ate his dinner and we had a walk.  And then at about 1 in the morning he vomited once more.  (Or I hope it's ONE more time.)  I'm assuming it was eating after so long that upset his stomach but it was pretty scary during the night.

After medicine, breakfast and two walks Toby seems himself again.  Back to his favourite spot on the couch.