Things are happening or shameless self-promotion

This particular post is simply to provide an update of activities that are coming up for me as far as summer shows and other interesting dates and developments:

On June 27th, at 2PM, my jewelry will be featured alongside the spectacular work of Viktor's Blue Rose Salon, Spa & Boutique at Fusions, Main St., Woodstock. Models will be sporting hair and make-up from the salon and wearing my gorgeous jewellery. A great time to enjoy some of Fusions finest coffees, relax and browse.

The City of Fredericton, as an arts capital of Canada, is hosting an Artist's Market from July 2-5 at Officers' Square. This market will be a visual feast, as it is designed specifically for practicing artists and artisans who paint, sculpt, draw and create one of a kind work. This is not a craft show but a real exhibition of one-off art pieces. Not to be missed if you appreciate fine art and handcraft.

The following weekend, I am in Rothesay at the New Brunswick Crafts Council Fine Craft Festival being held July 11 & 12. Crafts Council events are wonderful way to acquire quality handcrafted goods. Council members' work is held to a high standard even for production pieces. Come on out and show your support for artisan work in NB.

A short break and then Halifax.... for the Nova Scotia Designer Crafts Council Summer Market, July 24 - 26. Again, high quality artisan goods, since you can't be in show if you haven't met the standards of the coucil. The market is held at the corner of Spring Garden Road and Queen Street in Halifax. That will be a busy area on Saturday afternoon as the Halifax Pride Parade passes the show grounds. A great opportunity to show your support for both artisans and our human diversity. I know that I have some great pix from last year's event and look forward to this year's.

That about sums up July which will be busy, and I'll be making new things for the shows.

This month, there is still some custom work to finish up, like this piece that I just completed the weave on last night:
It is ammolite, that flashes orange to green with a strong blue segment at one side of the fossil. The top stone is a 2.7ct fire opal with a smoldering yellow tone with interesting plays of red and green, and the bottom is an emerald cabochon weighing in at nearly 4ct. The three stones are all ones that I cut. It is 14K gold-fill, which I don't work in often, opting for sterling mostly. The beads that are incorporated into the weave are emerald, citrine and carnelian facetted rondelles. It isn't often that I make a custom piece that I wish I could keep, this is one of those rare occasions where I am totally smitten with my work. Fortunaltely though, I do know the lady (Mom of a good friend) that requested this piece, so it is going to a good home.

For those that are interested, Fredericton's Pride Week is June 20-27. BOOM nightclub on Queen will be hosting events and has been busy with fund raising activities.

The New Brunswick Crafts Council is opening Productive Hands, a NBCC initiative, gallery store at the Casemates on the corner of Queen and Carleton. Sometime this summer I will be doing some demo work at the casemate, I'll tell you when I know more.

I have an application in to the Fredericton Arts Alliance for their Artist's in Residence program, also held at the Casemates. I won't know if I have been successful in securing a week long residency until next week sometime. Keeping my fingers crossed for good results though.

Even if the residency doesn't come through, you can't go wrong when you get an email like this one from a long-distance but frequent client:

"WOW
Hello Cynthia - The necklace is here and it is perfect! I love the shapes and the size - it will be just right for our friend ..... I always really appreciate the time you take to write about the stone and how you worked with it. You even made it in March which the Irish girl will like since
that is when St. Patrick's Day is.
And then . . . I found a little something extra! Thanks so much - I'll wear them today and tomorrow for the party. I really like them a lot.
You're the best, Cynthia. Thanks for the speedy response, checking your stash, and the wonderful pieces.
Take care,
P.... "

Completely unsolicited and just in this morning. WOW, a little praise never hurts an artist's feelings. When the party is over, don't want to spoil a surprise, I'll edit this and post a pic.

Yesterday, while I was out running around Freddie, I had an accidental lunch with a gentleman who is a rep for Crocs... you know, I may just have to change my opinion of them, especially after seeing some of the heels that they are designing now.

Hope your week is going well and coming together too.

Off to run more errands and go to an appointment.

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Spring

A selection of spring narcissus and daffodils:


Salmon pink daffodils:


Trout Lilies or Dog Tooth Violets:


Rhododendron in bloom buzzing with bees:


Painted Trilliums:


My favorite fluffy yellow and orange daffodil:


Maple leaves just starting out:


An early narcissus:

Pileated Woodpecker totem:

Winter Pix

Winter has never been my favorite season. The damp-cold gets me as it sets off the Raynaud's Syndrome or Phenomena that I've experienced for 25 years. The effects include sudden numbness or pain combined with a complete lack of circulation in my hands and feet. It's not pretty when they go funny colours but it's a cool way to freak people out. I try to avoid exposure to temperature extreme's this time of year and stay indoors, but then I can miss out on a lot too.

There was a light dusting of snow last evening. The dark red sumac blossoms still held the fluff.

Beautifully formed snow crystals, large and glistening.

The fir limbs held the snow as if it were angel hair, while the snowshoe hares traced paths hither and yon.

Sunlight streamed through the woods casting light and shadow on the old beech tree. The young beech will try to hold their fall colours till spring.

A little Chickadee, New Brunswick's provincial bird, makes its stand on a seed laden table.

A red squirrel, a favorite wild pest, that can be coaxed to be quite brave when they know that there is a regular food supply, especially if it involves peanut butter. We call all reds by the name 'George' after a red-headed friend we had. The human George could be equally entertaining.

Winter really can be quite lovely as evidenced by this photo with warm pastel colours from the sun washing across the snow.

Winter ice has the ability to cast an ethereal effect on trees.

Patterns and Colour

The late fall offers a range of patterns and colours that can be easily missed in the more flamboyant early fall and the garish summer.

This morning is a brisk, but not cold, overcast day, one that compelled a walk with camera in hand for a close look at small beauties.

Tiny cups and saucers are suggested by some of the fungus and the colours of quickly approaching Christmas in the other.

The growth on this decaying log seems to suggest that there is a whole micro-cosmic world of possibility in the small forest. For the insects that run rampant through it on warmer days, I am sure there is the same quest for food and shelter, lust and love, a battle of wills and stories of battles and survival that haunt our larger human world.

Bark always presents interesting colour and patterns and this is of a hole started by Pileated woodpeckers in a large hemlock. It has beat away the heavy bark layer and is now starting to peck away at the wood underneath. This is fresh activity because the wood is still very bright. The woodpeckers hunt for ants and other boring insects.

The slender branches of the wild cinnamon roses are a deep red and the leaves are surprisingly still on the bush, perhaps only now for a few more short days.

Fungi are perhaps some of the most interesting things to be examined. I particularly enjoyed this one that was growing on an old beech tree stump.


It is a banded and cascading thing of subtle beauty.

And perhaps the loveliest of the late fall blooms is the spidery yellow of the Witch Hazel. It waits in ordinary green leaves for the entire summer, and fades to autumn brown before breaking into a dynamic show after the first hard frost.

The hazel is like some people, it must first grow, and appear bland, then with the cruelty of life, the hardening in cold times, they burst open, blooming, exposing themselves for their real self. Colourful but hardy even if delicate in appearance.

For other images from today: http://www.mboot.net/imagetest.htm

© Cynthia Ryder 2008

Autumn...

... in our little part of New Brunswick.



This is one of the few look-offs on the Saint John River just up river from home. A beautiful spot but the turning leaves are not too obvious yet.



Here the oak leaves on single tree have changed to a deep red and the green ones are just showing the stain of autumn changes. The Maple trees however are in full regalia of reds and yellows.



It is gorgeous time of year, and one that I can easily overlook because it is the beginning of "show season". The weeks get a little bit busier because we're making jewellery for the shows and the shows are more plentiful now, taking up a full weekends with days on each side for travel rather than just a Saturday here or there.



Autumn is a season of celebration for many as it is a time of Thanksgiving for the bountiful harvests of the gardens and crops.



We planted squash in a compost pile this year, we didn't have great expectations as we figured the squirrels would get to the seed before they could germinate. Germinate they did and as a result of the nutrient rich compost, the vines grew well over 20' in some cases. This good sized squash is on a vine that climbed a small fir tree near the patch



A honey bee is making the effort to gather nectar from a golden-rod.



Crab apples at the ready await processing for the jelly jar.



The last of the bunchberries, which also makes delicious jellies, awaits harvest by birds or even the bear.



Autumn can also be a time of discontent as we slip from our long summer days to cooler shorter days and the changes denote the impending transition to the cold darker winter months but when spring does start to arrive the dried sumac blossoms are still in place for the first robins who feast upon them with gusto.



So instead of rushing through fall and into winter, I took the time to wander around our yard and enjoy the late blooming flowers and the changes in the foliage and to realize that the sky is the most vibrant blue and clear of haze, while the clouds are crisp whites and greys.



Painted daisies still bloom in our gardens.



Delicate poppies and ferny cosmos outlasted the summer heats and rains and early light frosts and have only now started to bloom and share their colours.



I have always liked cosmos, they have a sweet scent, but mostly because they were always in my grandmother's gardens and they remind me of her.



The nasturtiums, a peppery edible flower and leaf, are still glowing with colours that will rival the leaves until we have a hard frost that will lay the poor annuals low and mark the end of their season.



But the delicate pink tinged blossoms of the hydrangea can be harvested and dried and brought inside for a winter long bouquet that promises us the renewal of spring and all the opportunities for life that it brings.
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Jewellery Lessons

I have finally committed to teaching some jewellery lessons after being asked by numerous folks for quite some time. The Nashwaaksis United Church has generously opened their doors to us for this.

Classes will start on the 1st of October with the option to take 1 or both parts of any particular class as well as whether they are taken in the same week on Tuesday and Wednesday or on subsequent weeks Tuesday to Tuesday or Wednesday to Wednesday.

Class descriptions and prices can be found here on our web: http://www.mboot.net/Lessons.html

Call if you have questions and especially of you want to book a class as space is limited to 8 students per class.
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Viktor & Gerald

Good things happen when you don't expect it...

As you know from the last post we were in Woodstock a couple of weekends ago for a Women's show and we got a nice award. Tanya, the organizer, also placed a new exhibitor next to us and told us the "you will really like them." We do.

Viktor is a superb stylist and he and his business partner, Gerald, have just opened their new salon and boutique in Woodstock. So far the feedback has been terrific for them and they are so pleased with the positive and warm reception that they are experiencing in their new town.

Long story short, David and I hit it off with these two; and Gerald, who had a bit more chat time available than Viktor (who had scissors in hand) that day, was pretty taken with our jewellery work and they decided then and there that they wanted to carry our work.

Now we have always been pretty particular about who has carried our work as we try to place it with folks who "get it" or that we've known for awhile. Besides not every store owner or gallery rep gets it. These guys did & quickly.

We are very pleased to say that Viktor's Blue Rose Salon and Boutique will be featuring our work along with other fabulous finds very soon as Gerald just picked up the order today. So if you get to Woodstock, stop into the salon on Main Street and say "Hi" to two really great guys.

...and I do like nice surprises.