just playing 

it's been a while since i've posted so i thought i'd give a snapshot of my summer months and what they've been full of... first of all, i've been lovin my cute bike. on windy days especially. this is the summer when i've gone from just admiring it esthetically to actually taking it on actually outings! :) 

when the spring term ended i was given the opportunity to do a co-op, being in my final year at emily carr.  i decided to take 2!  Mondays this summer I've been at the Seymour Art Gallery, one of the loveliest little galleries around.  the shows have a lot of heart i've gotten to meet a lot of  artists in different mediums at various stages of their practices.  it's been inspiring. 

some of my favorite people in the world are welcoming children into their lives this summer and so i've been working on a few quilts.  here's one of the girlier ones.  

my other co-op has been with arc'teryx- 

these are some shapes i cut out of gore-tex from the take home scrap box.

they will eventually find their way into some work in the future.  

oh, i opened an etsy store too!  

i called it selahmade.  

selah means an intentional rest between activities; a quiet rest... which is very much what my creative practice is all about.  i'd like to have a public studio one day by the same name, where i will welcome people to come and share some creative time with me.  

here's the ... i forget how to do an actual link... http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=7625075

February 5th, 2009

To Do List:

Update this blog.

Yep.  

becoming better acquainted with kiki smith

Born in 1954, a daughter of the abstract sculptor Tony Smith, she was raised in suburban New Jersey, went to Roman Catholic schools and didn’t consider art as a profession. As a child she wanted to be a nun.

Before and after moving to Manhattan in 1976 she worked as a cook, an electrician, a surveyor, an emergency medical technician and an artist’s assistant. Around the time of her father’s death in 1980 she picked up art herself in a serious way. She has not put it down for an instant.

She was largely self-taught and, obviously, fully self-aware. She paid attention to what others were doing, learning a lot from the work of artists like Eva Hesse, Nancy Spero, Leon Golub, Paul Thek, Hannah Wilke and Louise Bourgeois, as well as from her contemporaries in a fringy Lower East Side art world.

She sought technical instruction wherever she could find it and learned as she went. A collaborator and multitasker by temperament, she covered a lot of ground fast. That first gallery at the Whitney encompasses metal, plaster and glass sculpture, drawing, sewing and printmaking. She quickly added painting, photography, bookmaking and filmmaking to her repertory.

From the start her art was of a piece with her life, without being diaristic. The mid-’80s internal organs, and the full-body forms that followed, had sources in her childhood religion, with its cult of relics and fleshly mortification, and sensual saints like Angela de Foligno, who envisioned Jesus showing her his wounds and whispering, “Lella, these are all for you.”

The work was also the product of a specific social and political moment that saw the rise and spread of AIDS. One of Ms. Smith’s two sisters, Beatrice, died of the disease. So did many of her friends. And its trace, while rarely explicit, is omnipresent in the first two galleries of the show.

A couple of days ago, my history instructor Art, told us a story about Kiki's dad, Tony. A deep friendship lived between Tony and Jackson Pollack. One night after midnight, Pollack was close to his end and feeling exceptionally low, even for him. He called his friend Tony. He murmered that he was thinking seriously of suicide. Tony asked Jack what most friends would, where his wife Lee was? Jack said "she's hiding," which was common I suppose for them. She was his wife. And she needed reprieve; shelter from the intensity of Jack. After several moments on the phone, Tony drove to Jack's place and found his friend out in the barn; his studio; lit by a candle. It is very much Jack's dark night, in all senses. He was beyond consolation for a long time; confined by the pressure the galleries were putting upon him; cajoling him into painting more comodities, with drugs and whatever he needed to keep himself under their thumb; churning out more and more and more.
He was done.
He was spent.
He had reached critical mass.
The part of the story i like best is the next part. Jack's despair was beyond reason; beyond words. He needed his friend to woo him back to life without words. Tony offered what good friends offer: action. He lit a cigarette and he poured bourbon and he sat down.

Once they were good and drunk, Tony rose again to his feet, but not to go. In the style of Jack himself, he took fists full of paint and hurled the paint violently through the blank canvas. With the paint came his friend's pain; Jack's anger; humilitation; self disgust; Jack's shame. Jack was too tired so Tony did it for him, and with raw abandon.

Eventually Jack was enraptured and for hours together they violently assalted the canvas; releasing the demons within. Finally after the spectacular war, they collapse onto the canvas in a heap and sleep it off. I'm sure the next morning wasn't pretty. But the fact is, for Jackson, a new morning came. The light of another day shone bright and (probably quite painfully) upon him.

The way Art recounted the story said to me that he knows something about keeping a friend company in the midst of a dark night.

I remember a night my dad stayed on the phone with me for a long time, between the hours of 3 and 5. I wasn't reasonable. I wasn't consolable. I was the weakest and most unlovely version of myself. I guarantee it wasn't his favorite memory. But there he was keeping vigil over his baby daughter, as parents do.

Anyway, I like this story of Kiki's dad. Reminds me of mine, I suppose.

Alannah's pie from her Gramma.

It's becoming tradition to spend the last week of August with my mom and dad. This year was especially wonderful. I drank alot of coffee with my dad. He and I like swapping project ideas. I got to catch up with my big brother Jeff and loved reconnecting with his son and daughter. I enjoyed time with my mom, laughing mostly-- bike riding, napping in the hammock, learning family history stories that happened years before I was born, getting stuck in the mud after dark-which brought on a lot more laughing--and well... we baked and ate Apple Pie pretty much everyday.

teaching at the seymour art gallery

The Seymour Art Gallery is location on the main street in Deep Cove.

Workshops are open to kids 8-12.

If you know of any kids who may like to take part,

there are 1 or 2 spots still available in each class.

Gallery: 604.924.1378

The Newest Francis

(here's a current one of basil!- spring 2009) 

My sweet little nephew, Basil -- born to my brother Matthew and his wife Krista on May 19th. Basil arrived at 34 weeks and is a strong 4lbs 7oz. Much love sweet boy--x

one of my tapestry projects

any guesses as to what's going on here?

an idea for my jacquard project

these two belong to one of my dear friends, Alanna Clempson. Alanna is amazing at making beautiful photographs, aswell as chutney and children. There are so many things I LOVE about this image.

season of love--and flowers!

the wedding crowns over the gospel
the pasivirtas
the doorway the bouquets

a green tea rug--update

here's where i'm at with the rug. it's a much less vibrant green--more the colour of an aloe vera plant. it's coming along.... i'd like to go bigger. the first is 18" x 24" or so.

New project: green tea rug.

My friends Colleen and Sven, sent me this image a year ago. I was so inspired by it then and was pretty sure it would lend itself to a project idea one day. I love the lushness. Am off to scout for velvet or velour, or maybe even a cordoroy, to dye this amazing green hue. Then will somehow work it into a rug format. I see uneven rhythms and gradual depth of shade. Not sure about dimension, but I do know it is sure to feel amazing on barefeet! Stay tuned.

100 items piece

For my 3D Construction Class our assignment was to construct something using 100 of the same thing. I decided to make a swimsuit (not to be worn) out of silver dollar seed pods. What do you think?

making little rugs.

Back to School - Final Term of the Program

I try to document some of the work in our classes for a blog that I've been contributing to for the past year and a half. I'm hoping that when the time comes to gather images for our portfolios there will be some fun images documenting process.

The time sure goes by quickly. Our cohort is entering the final term of the 2 year textile program. Here are a few of some of my classmates from our 3D Construction Class today. Our first project will be to explore repetition in design, by constructing a piece made of 100! of anything... so today we were given bags of 100 random objects, and worked in groups to collaborate toward an interesting outcome.

The group I got to work in was given 100 plastic milk bottle tops and 100 safety pins. We built a.... well, see for yourself!

Maddy.
Kanika taking part in the procession of her groups object.Kat modelling the bottle caps and safety pins.
Our instructor Ruth took a turn.
Stephanie's group suspended balloons above some sharpened pencils.

textiles show at portobello west

It's been an exciting and wearying semester at school this term.
A lot of hard work--but well--a lot of doing what I really enjoy.

My classmate and good buddy Jessica's made some Animal Badges for the Portobello Event! During the sale, a fellow from an Ecological Group came by and expressed some interest in having Jess design something special for his society. The "flying squirrel" caught his eye. It's fun to see how members of the public connect with our work. Some fun conversations and collaborations often take place. Anyway, the monkey and the owl are my favorites! If anyone's interested...I think Jess may a few left! (under-line unintended...but not sure how to remove)These flowers were selling like hotcakes at the school sale, and so I made a few more for this weekend. They are little lapel pins that one could pin to a hat, a handbag, a lapel...or even a pippa! Ava from Barefoot Contessa came by and remembered me from a time Victoria and I visited her new Commercial Drive Store. She placed and order for her store...so that will be fun to make a few more for her!

These little guys... many of you have seen before. I'm now doing them in silk and baby alpaca.

That keeps them really light and cool, but warm when needed.

Another change are the hand-drawn baby bugs (by classmate, Emmily).

I'm silk-screening them onto dupioni silk patches and stitching them on, for fun!

Our space at Portobello. In the pic is our Instructor/Co-ordinator of our Program, MaryLou; and classmates, Liz and Krystal. We had a good time. That's Liz's stunning shawl in the foreground. Krystal made these awesome canvas clocks, that several people purchased to give as gifts.

Here's Liz and her sweet shawl.

Krystal and I, happy to be at the close of a long but good day--

colour colour so many colours. my hands look like i've been canning a giant crop of beets; but i haven't. such anticipation for next june! something-- so special-- is happening!

irina napping beneath one of my cozy felted silk blankies.

my latest weaving project

icelandic wool, linen, ultrasuede, found willow branches

12" x 36"

untitled

if you'd like to see some of my classmates work just click here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=16883&id=692821432

okay try now!... this takes you right to me! ;)

http://www.spiltmilk.ca/Spilt%20Milk%20Website/Spilt%20Milk%20-%20JosiahTouque.html!!

sweet friends from afar

i got to spend a couple of days with a really special friend and her amazing little guy.

i love it when little ones find their play in stones.

i still play with them daily, and have little piles of them around...

in the bathroom sink, bowls of them in various places...

maybe something about growing up in a river valley?

The latest entrepreneurial endeavours

One of my favorite things to do to relax is to make these knitted toques. In the past 7 years I'm sure I've constructed over a thousand and it's interesting that they're all out there in the world somewhere, keeping little kids noggin's warm on the toboggan hill or playground.

One of the coolest moments I've experienced as an entreprenuer: I was having a coffee with Phil at eA in Langley and a little girl came in wearing a hat i'd made. It was VERY well worn and the dad said that she had barely taken it off for two years. It's exciting to create cozy wearables that become little kids favorite childhood items.

This past weekend, I participated in the Deep Cove Art Market. My friend Lindsay has just launched her own little company called 'SPILT MILK' and so it was cool to have a buddy take part in the exhibition.
Lindsay and her neighbour have come up with these great images of classic film stars simple line drawings, which are then silkscreened onto tiny tees and onesies.
Some of you might recognise one of the past season's models.
This little dress is my favourite item in Lindsay's line--a little sparrow.

It was a great turn out and we both left with some profits in our jeans.
For more information or to purchase something:
check out http://www.spiltmilk.ca/

if you click on the touque! it will bring you to me!

i thought this graphic was cool. see invite below ;)

Invite to Art in the Park--SUNDAY! Aug 26th noon to 9pm Deep Cove

Sunday, August 27th- Noon to 9pm
Free - Live Music - Art Market - Chilling in the Park
I (and so far...Lindsay and Steph) will be selling some of our cool textiles at the art market.

what we're up to:

me: the usual stylin' baby and kid hats
linds: a new line of onesies with
steph lau: her awesome freeform necklaces

http://www.musart.ca/

let us know if you're planning to attend.
we'll bring some extra cold drinks for you.

hanging with the ewings before they become A Rocha-ites.

We came upon a street festival on our rainy walk.

I always like to check out the upright bassists. ;)
We ended our evening with the Beckums (aka Hadleys) for some drinkin and card playin. aida snuggled with ange.

kayaking with melissa

hey it's me! okay so most of these are for ramona.

so it's May of 07. in January of 00- i wrote on a page a list of dreamy dreams and it's remarkable how many of them are becoming really real realites. Yeah. Feelin' quite loved by God. i'm heading to Granville Island right now to have a chat with a designer about helping her one day a week with production of her line. She called a couple of days ago, after I whimsically left a business card with her current helper, telling her I'd be pleased to just work for clothing! :) (Her pieces retail for 1-5 hundred bucks) which is what local artists need to charge when things are lovingly made here and not made offshore) it's pricey but i LOVE her line. she works with wool felt on silk; saturated in colour. her coats are warm and funky and timeless. I'm pretty stoked as she would be a perfect mentor for me over the next few years. Yepah! Yayyy!

the feast at ..the UCC to celebrate the marriage of ...

Mira and Matthew. It was one of the lovliest receptions I've been to.
Here Krista and Matthew show off some moves. When Matt was a little kid he dislocated his shoulder (or was it a hip) do little kids dislocate hips?.. anyway throughout the evening I caught glimpses of him continually defying gravity and normal joint occilation. i got to thinking the old injury might be facilitating some of the 'extreme' dancing i witnessed that night. Some things that unfortunately were not able to be photo documented from the festivities were the 'kidnapping of the bride', holding her

until $1000 in ransom was raised by the wedding guests.

I think $1400! was raised in about 5 minutes.

Those pics were on Vic's camera, STOLEN.

Which gets me to thinking about some of the other ones, priests striking some noteable poses, a newly ordained deacon leading the congo line late into the evening with a few disco strutts and I believe there was even some clerrrrrgy bbbbrrreak dancing going on. It's all a little blurry- but kind of innnnteresssting that the camera capt-uring occurred before any of that could have been downloade....never mind...

Matthew, me and Mira.
The beginning momments.
The beginning of the dance of Isaiah.

James and Margaret, some friends of Mira's from Calgary, we got to know a little better.
The prelim. Matt and Kurt set off on a mission.
Baby Aida Ewing with the Francises.

mira and i playing in her livingroom.
matt and krista stepping out.
mira and krista.

fr john telling us and the newly crowned couple that marriage means listening so so so so so much, and becoming smaller ourselves to let the other become bigger, to grow into who they are meant to be. of course this works optimumly when both partners are doing the same. he also spoke of how when the husband protects the wife by honoring her always with his attention, listening and by physically being by her side, the wife just naturally looks to him with respect. i love hearing what fr. john says, especially on occassions like these.
i love this one of matthew and mira, so lovely.

king and queen.

matuska jenny making us laugh at the dinner in mira's honor. (no details will be shared. all top secret.)

ella carrying mira's train. i always loved being little and attending weddings. the bride just seemed so mysterious to me. i love that ella is kneeling and still holding the train. she was taking her responsibilities very seriously.
krista matt and ella downstairs. this picture has a bit of an alice in wonderland quality to me.

les fleurs. i love getting to help out with flowers for friend's weddings. it gives me something to do with all the creative energy beautiful events inspire in me...and so the morning of I got to spend about 3 quiet hours in the church basement making corsages, and candle flowers and of course the very special task of the wedding crowns themselves. i love the flowers that mira chose. freesia, spray roses and beautiful simple greens. achilles and brianne worked their magic in the church making beautiful garlands of ivy and roses. and krista and i got to transform the gym into a lovely afternoon tea parlour for the wine and cheese following the ceremony a couple of days before. it was all really fun! krista and i had some good laughs.

dave on the side porch at the church...RINGING the bells as Mira approaches with her dad in the car. The bells at all Saints are not the usual 'pull the big string and it GONG GONG GONGS', but more like the ones the monks have at the monastary--big empty Co2 tanks cut at different lengths, that one plays like a bit xylophone! Dave was having a pretty good time.
The moms. Matthew's mom Josie and Mira's awesome mom Valeria.
Just after Mira's entrance. I have to say I know Mira pretty well, have spent lots of time with her, and even so...when she made her entrance I completely was in awe. She was a Queen.

This blog is quickly becoming a photo album. Maybe it's time for a flicker account. Oh Well!

miss mira motet sips her wine prior to the girls night out!
matthew contemplates his quick dinner, just before the guys step out for their night on the town.

thursday afternoon, we pause for a little dejeuner in the square.
krista and i colour in my sketch book while we wait for ashira and mira.
kurt moves his stocks around, while matthew basks in a moment of leisure, at the end of a busy busy day! i think this pic could be set in spain. i like the davidsons yard and home. very friendly decor.

krista and i out for lunch in 'something square'. it was a nice little break in amongst the busyness. we felt like we were in tuscany. it was so pretty there.
mira ashira and krista striking poses.

ashira and mira attended school together as seven year olds in romania. ashira now lives in boston and i thought it pretty cool she made the trip to the west coast to see her sweet friend get married. the childhood friends told us lots of cool stories like the one about mira wanting to treat all her classmates to ice cream--a rare treat in romania during those years, and so mira would arrive to the american school, via her driver, with her lunchbox full of already melted ice cream, and spoons ready to share it!
more poses.
more poses. this actually went on for about 45 minutes. :)

Textile Arts Grad Show....

A fun day out with Kerry and Kailen!

eleanor's skirt...(resourcefully recycled from Christo project wrapping.)

hannah, emm and av. (in the middle of the night at Pascha)

jenn right after her baptism
gabe--asked if it would be okay for a quick swim in the font--
he was quite at ease. :)

the newly illumined little super hero, gabe.

jenn - newly baptised; squeaky clean!

some old pics from pascha

jamison models his bacon cooking apron.
3am: the little newly illumined contemplates ALL that CHOCOLATE.
3:15am: Pascha morning My little Irina and her dad
2:50am: My Irina catches a quick nap in her mom's arms.
after the big sleep, Abbi makes a quick call to Dubai.

One of the beautiful moms of the world.

One of my dearest friends in the universe and her joy!

kurt

athina + her grandkids

jess

teresa and brocyp

fr. lawrence + eddie

davide

mr james moes

mme lerche and steph

a beautiful day....

so good to be at church today.

Theo.

The adorable Theo. I was cuddling with him after Liturgy this morning, while his mama Rhiannon went for a stroll to Starbucks.

He's such a chilled kid. And he's a good hat model, too. :)

Victoria took these pics.

This was one of the pieces that inspired my woven piece.

It was done by my classmate Liz.

mille de (photos) from school

For our final design project, our instructor Eleanor Hannan guided us through a way of evaluating our method of design and examining our process. Some of the themes were: the quest to find the materials, to create the garment in silence and to come to terms with things that must remain "unfinished".
This is the first work I've done on a floor loom. My piece is called "Ocean Girl". It was inspired by the eight or so years living very much ON the ocean. From the age of 18-26 my work took me to various coastlines of the world. While my mailing address changed every month or so to whichever post office we were docked closest to, the one constant was the sea beneath me. The colours are all tones found in and around the sea...kelp green, med and carib blues. The turquoise was hand dyed, all the rest were remnants from my knitting basket at home. A classmate suggested that I construct sleeves, and make it into a wrap. It seems right. Since childhood I have had a special kinship with water in general and 'the sea'.

Messy, fast portraits from design.

The reverse applique.

A rainy day at Capilano, taken I think one of the days we were scouting locations for our Christo project.

The plan for my poppy duvet, with my before sleep prayer.

i spoke too soon. ron sexsmith is THE guy.

so a month or so ago vic mentioned that he was coming to town. i sussed it out and found he was part of the 'great canadian songbook' concert, a lovely afternoon, for fifteen bucks. with him and the ethereal sarah slean singing some joni mitchell and other legends of the great canadian sheild. ironically i think it would have been almost fitting for some young upandcomer to be singing ron sexsmith's stuff, but that's beside the point.

so tickets in hand the day rolled around. vic and i were both running a smidge late. (ubc is always further than it seems) i got there first and 'mr sexsmith' was already singing. the place was the chan centre so the accustics couldn't have been better, not to mention the cbc orchestra adding their layer of sound...but for those who know ron sexsmith, you'll know what i mean when i say i entered a different realm hearing his voice in stereo all around. i joined the latecomer cue feeling keen to get in there. we were informed we'd be seated as soon as his set finished. KAGH!

Seriously? What was I thinking lollygagging the morning away with bill payments and drafts of artists statements not due for atleast 3 days?! and then late!!?? I figured he would be on last somehow, but yeah...ahh... so the momment came when they prepared us to sneak in stealthily to our seats. applause applause turns into standing ovation. the door opens and he's right there like 10' from the door kind of thing and then he started signing again and so the inside usher tries to scoot everybody back out??! No non non non no. i being the first in line froze did what came naturally. i flattened my being against the wall and didn't move. i tried my hardest to make myself as invisible, as little kids think they can, by being really still and avoiding eye contact with the authority figure. the truth was i really couldn't move. the usher laughed and resigned to take his place next to me. (to my credit i was atleast dressed like a cat burglar in black from head to toe.) and then the sound just swam over and around. deep discord gave way to melodic harmony and the orchestra just made the whole scene all that much more surreal. He's good in the car stereo but there's not much like him singing 10 feet away. He wasn't singing his own stuff, but it was his a couple of notes in. Yeah for any of you that don't know him yet...you'll be glad to make his acquaintance.

sarah slean was good too.

she made vic and i miss our friend elise.

one of the coolest guys around

real change is best understood by staying in one place --andy goldsworthy

i'm finally figuring that one out --kimberley francis

Tech Help?

Um...so I don't know what I do to this blog, sometimes. The little comment thingy is MIA. Does anybody know how to fix it? (It's nice to chit chat.)

my awesome mama

My mom turns 62 today. It's just after midnight and I've snuck home to wake up here to eat breakfast with her in the morning. Here she poses with her favorite child Jules.
Pama and Matt and I joke about Jeff being her favorite, but the truth is...I am.

Some of the things I like best about her are these:
1. That when we were young and she would feel it necessary to punish us, the punishment wouldn't last too long. And it would usually end with her taking us for an ice cream out in Rosedale.

2. She cares for animals. Even the ones that kick her and throw her off. She seems to spend extra time with the ones who have issues.

3. She's not easy charmed. She somehow sees through whatever exterior (either rough or slick) people display, to the heart of what's really going on.

4. She's not that great of a driver (something I've learned in the past couple of weeks, that she comes by honestly), but has given us and her grandkids all some decent memories of 4x ing out at the river in the back of the pickup truck.

5. There's almost always some good dark chocolate stashed somewhere.

6. She doesn't take her age too seriously. I used to say she always seemed about 36 to me.
Lately I've been telling her that she doesn't look a day over 70, to which she replies, "Well Kimkid you better watch out, cause you're going to look exactly like me."

7. She's not romantic. I'm not sure why I like that but I do. She's the real deal.

8. She grows sweet peas for me every year, so I can come home and pick bunches of them.

9. She likes a good 'who dunnit'.

10. She gave me three of the most diverse siblings one could imagine, which means things are rarely boring.

Yeah. She's cool.

some wonderful things to come home to

The beautiful Aida is born. I got to meet her when she was three days old.

She actually smiles. Check out her grinning proudly of her wonderful mom and dad.
A nice cup of tea with my sweet God Daughter, Irina and her mom Judy at the Liberty Bakery on Main Street. Irina is delighted to be chomping the ears of her rabbit.

A wonderful Palm Sunday. Owen is not sure about all the palm branches.

This Sunday in particular was so glorious. So much good stuff happening all in one day!

some pics from our family trip to Ontario

kiera and i playing
our friend's daughter mika sporting one of my hats
my cousin Shannon
Us waiting in Calgary in the middle of the night.
Waiting waiting...
Shannon and her daughter Kiera.
My Aunt Marion, and cousin Wyatt's little guy Cameron.
Jeff was really missing his little guy Kolby and so played tractors with Kiera for a few minutes.
Kiera, Kyle and Claire. Claire is one of the coolest kids, i've met in a long time.
My cousin Wendy's husband Richie, Jeff and Matt.

Matt and Mom at Matt's first preschool.A closer upper.
Our idyllic "back yard" in Ontario. For those of you who have been reading my blog a long long time...this would be the site of the infamous "dragging" of yours truly, behind the snowmobile....when my nine year old bro Jeff, urged me (a four year old) to "not let go!"
Pam and Jeff smokin at Pam's old high school.

Mom and I posing with the wildlife in the middle of the night at Calgary Airport.
Ditto.
Ah ....the backyard...again.
Pam with one of her childhood friends, Angie.
Angie being hugged, by everyone in the van.

It was fun riding around all 6 of us...sort of had a

"little miss sunshine" quality to it.

a tired mom and kim fly home (there?) I've lost track.

The flying days were worse than crossing oceans. So many stops and middle seat assignments.

jeffy surprised my mom by being able to come too.
It kind of changed the focus somewhat from it being a sad trip,
to my mom having all her kids in her sight at once...something she likes SO much.

my mom and her dear friend kathy, in the middle of the night
waiting for what seemed like a long time in calgary.
jeff, dad and our friend gary, the ever gracious

airport picker uper.

rivers and tides

when i was a little kid, the way i would play would be to go through my toys and books, putting them into some kind of symmetry / balance.

these past few weeks have so full. joyful - i met aida last night, a beautiful 5 day old girl, and witnessed a glorious milestone in the lives of two of my best friends this morning. sorrowful - i said goodbye to my grandma.

i feel like i need a good long day at the beach playing in the stones. spending time in the quiet to replenish.

but not yet, maybe in another week and a half or so. i need to dig back into my term paper for art history and when i have that wrapped i should start thinking about what kind of yardage i'd like to create for surface design, and then what to choose for my final weaving project, and then actually get going on it. i'm not complaining. these things all bring me delight, but yes...still lots more to see to, before the beach.

a few years ago my friend elise called from chicago to tell me about a beautiful film they'd just watched with her dad. it was called rivers and tides, and told the story of andy goldsworthy a cool guy from Yorkshire (the same place my mom's dad was born) he creates time sensitive peices outside from the things children play with: leaves and stones, ice and twigs. Matthew sent me a card of his leaves a year or so ago and just two weeks ago i finally got to see the film. it's good. it speaks volumes so quietly.

this picture above is his too.

some sampler ideas...

Learning that, I'm not so good at the whole Group Project thing

So after 15 years or so now of sincerely trying to be the good team player in the workplace and all, I've come to realize that there are aspects of the "working together" that I'm really not that good at.

I must say that my team mates were even two of my favorite classmates. My classmates are all amazing in their own right, and I say how remarkably diverse and cool they all are. These two in particular are patient and articulate, have a good sense of composition are colour, and during our brainstorming session spoke thoughtfully of ecology, western consumerism and assimilation. We had roughly five hours to transform limited supplies into our installed work. At the end of the day, I was more exhausted than usual. (My classmates had similar looks on their faces.) I realized how little I like to comprimise, how impatient I am when others are not as "ready to move on" as I am, and how generally how much more I'd rather to work alone.

Evidently, I need more of these projects.

Some Dyeing

The Finished Product.

Winding it from skein to ball.

The other side of the equation.

The turquoise being cooked.

The all important chopstick stir!

Or not too much stirring, for that irregular colour thing going on, that I'm partial to.

My Container Project at the half way point

One of the photos I transferred of me and my dad. That's me in the backpack.

Several weeks ago, in my surface design class, we were asked to create a "container".

I chose to create a study on DNA as they "contain" the blueprints of us!

To illustrate the DNA, I painstakingly crafted the 23 pairs of chromosomes (glass beads on wire) into somewhat of a karyotype layout.

I photo transferred several family photos onto silk using various techniques, and then

tucked questions and anecdotal comments into the pockets that the photos were sewn onto.

One of the interesting turns my project took, was the evening I showed it to a dear friend who is also an artist. She gave me some feedback and then we called her husband to come check it out. Being a physician, he asked me a few questions for clarification and then kindly and but decidedly, asked if I'd like to borrow one of his first year biology texts. It seemed that my chromosome construction, while visually quite lovely, was not so accurate. I accepted the advice and the textbook.

I really enjoyed doing this project, and would like to revisit the subject sometime in the future. During the working on it, I was taken with the intricate design going on in us, that we rarely consider. yeah...billions of miracles going on beneath the surface of our skin, and in each cell of our skin. Yep.

Reverse Applique Portrait

hand dyed fabrics (various)

9 x 12"

This process is a little like the childhood trick of colouring on a page with different colours and then colouring over the whole thing with black crayon. When the black is scraped (or in this case carefully cut) it reveals an image based on your cutting. This was an "okay" result. This project was during the rib fiasco. So I just felt pleased that there was a resemblance.

really randomly ordered pics of matt's visit out

On the Saturday morning Matthew made his famous maple cream cheese french toasts for Milissa, Andrea and I. We missed Jay but the our sorrow was eased by extra round of toasts.
Matthew came to school with me. Our dye samples hang in the backround. Some of my classmates Caroline and Emmily get a little weaving done.
Oh okay...skip to the next night. (Someone will have to show me the trick of putting pics in order...) So after the chorale concert, I was delighted to introduce Matt to Lindsay and Nathaniel. We stepped out for gourmet comfort food at Feenies. The Iron Chef himself prepared our close to midnight supper.
So back to Milissa's. She was telling us that during her pregnancy she's
developed a keen interest in kitchen gadgets, such as the pineapple core-er, she demo'd for us.
It turned the pineapple into a nice slinky type item.

Ah, and Pippa, the littlest Ewing, for a very limited time.

Miliss supervised the breakfast making while keeping Pippa from supervising the bacon Andrea was cooking up.

Later on, we stopped for tea and good treats with Paula and Andrew.

Before Christmas I put these sticks in a jar of water and voila, they are beginning to have some new baby leaves. I like this colour harmony...so just holding on to this image to reference down the road.

My baby bro and I in the middle of the road in Deep Cove, after happily gulping down a Honey's donut. One of the lovliest things about Matthew is how much he misses Krista when he is away. In his hand are a couple of pressies for her. Everywhere we went he would browse for something fun that she would appreciate. Good husband missing dearly his sweet wife.
Matt back at school, in my drawing class. It was memorable.

Here's Ryan Wugalter. It's hard not to say both the first and last names together. It's tradition I guess. We met down at his bookstore, and hung out enjoying some exciting artwork for sale there.

Nathaniel and Lindsay back at Feenies.

The Women's Retreat

One of the littlest women in the midst.

Keira May sports one of my little toques.

Mira's Matthew selected this one for Keira.

Keira and her mom Akiko.

Ashley's mama flew out to have some time with her favorite daughter. Fairly sleep-deprived but still keeping everyone smiling. Ashley comes by her quick wit and energy honestly!

A random shot of me.

The new Mrs. Klobucar! but Nikki B. to me...forever

One of my oldest and dearest chilliwackian friends got married in an intimate little ceremony a few weeks ago and jetted of to the Dominican with her new hubby Marc. Her mom hosted a sweet wedding shower for her upon her return. While she was quite adverse to the usual hideous tissue fashion creations, she did permit this lovely veil and headpiece. Nikki and I like to pretend that we're tennis superstars. We're not very good and in fact our performances have prompted strangers to initiate contact offering impromptu lessons but we enjoy getting all geared up with the headbands and whatnot, so this look seemed about right for her.

A long and beautiful marriage to you Nikki!

john mann + josh ritter and the vecc

aaron, jay + i on one of our attempts to go get drinks
the sweet beckums
miliss and i chillin' prelim...this was close to the end of my weird dislocated ribs episode, and so the robaxacet looks like it's just setting in. ;) milissa is lovely in her 7th month of pregnancy. i have a feeling ewing children will be stepping out to the good concert scene with their folks, in not so many years to come.
a bit of a tricky blurry sitch...but ah...what a glorious venue.

surface design

presently working on a project for surface design involving

karyotyping, dna, traits.

colour

in our colour theory class, we were told a while ago

that this years colours will be "raspberry" and later on in the year

"water"...hopefully not coal harbour colour...but more carribean colour.

(fyi: last years colours were turquoise and "electric mud") we like to snicker at the names.

this was a shot i covertly took at the urban barn.

this was one of the products of a design class downtown.

really random...still in process.

ashley's birthday, with gabe, andrew + tony
beach sky at dundarave

The last of my many awesome birthday wonder-twins.

One of my favorite things about birthdays is

decadent breakfasts...and so this morning

birthday girl Lindsay and I stepped out for some

apple pancakes and banana bread oatmeal at a little

tea shop up in Kerrisdale. The very same spot where

my friend Judy's etchings are being exhibited, actually.

Vancouver is starting to feel like a small town more and more everyday.

Saturday afternoon, I got to visit with some dear friends
in Bellingham. We had a beautiful lunch followed by some very
tasty homemade birthday cake made by Jude and Elise.
Elise's birthday and my birthday are just a couple of days apart.
After all the good treats, we spent some time painting + knitting +
browsing through some of Elise's current cool projects.
Esme supervised enthusiastically.

Birthday Party Pics

Here are a few pics from my party this year.

It was a fun evening.

The Girls and Lars

Last Sunday, I guided six girls and one german shepard (Lars) through the basics of knitting.

It was a fantastic afternoon workshop.

i found this pic the other day from one of my lazy days

this summer. my sweet nephew kolby celebrated his 3rd birthday last week.

my mom looks so happy. i like this image alot.

swooosh

I woke up this morning wondering if it could actually BE any MORE beautiful outside!
One of those spectacular commutes. A friend passed this on to me, and so I thought I'd mention...a bunch of girls from my program have been talking about heading up to one of the local mountains for some snowboarding...and well FREE sounds good. Check this out. Arcteryx is on my way home...so let me know if anyone's into this, and maybe I can pick up a few FREE passes.

For anyone interested: Join Seymour every Monday evening from January 15 - March 19 for a weekly on-snow party and ski/ride night. Get outside, ride with your friends, and make some new ones. Lift passes for Girls are FREE.

To receive your Girls Ride FREE area pass, simply head to one of the following retailers and ask for a Girls Ride Free voucher. Exchange it at Mt Seymour Guest Services anytime after 6:00pm (Monday evenings between Jan 15 - Mar 19) for a FREE area pass, and get your shred on.

Plus, each evening wraps up with apres in the Elevation Lounge featuring specials, prizes, and films profiling the best women in the industry.Vouchers available after January 12 at:Participating Retailers: Arcteryx Factory Store - Dollarton Road in North Vancouver *Committed Board Shop - Deep Cove in North Vancouver Call 604.986.2261 for further details.

my first tapestry sampler

8" x 8"
SAMPLER #1
linen warp/wool weft
woven on copper hand loom
december 2006

Samplers serve as an example of technical skill.

I'm at the very beginning and so this demonstrates

the important "kindergarten-like" acheivements of weaving.

The great weavers throughout the ages agree that tapestry should:

1. have an absence of linear perspective

2. contain a limited colour palette

3. contain techniques representative of tapesty and not other mediums

description: the kf demonstrates angles and curves, the vertical stripes a couple of different interlocking techniques; above the stripes are some line gradation with dots and and vertical lines; the upper left square shows floating shape building and then some hatchure techniques for shading.

8" x 10"

Sketches in felt

cashmere on merino

hand made felt / design added using dryfelting technique

december 2006

(potentially a pocket patch on a corduroy messenger style bag)

The Coptic Three

For my tapestry project I chose to weave this image that was brought back from Ethiopia, by my dear friends Andrea and Sam. The original is just 2 x 2" and is painted in a wooden tryptic with doors that open to reveal these three on one of the sides and Christ and his Mom in the centre. These three look on from the left. I like them, because to me they represent the faithful, though unknown, seekers of God's physical presence. It was challenging to communicate as much detail as the original, and gave me a good understanding some of the newly acquired shape building techniques. All of the fibres that I used would have been available to the Copts in the first to sixth centuries.

These are 2 of the 23 "sketches in felt" that i made while finally settling on my final project piece.

Their dimensions are approximately 8 x10", and are composed of many layers of corridale wool (fleece) and then worked using the three things that turn wool into felt.

1. soap! (a gooey mixture of grated ivory soap and warm water)

2. heat! (a kettle of boiling water, close at hand)

3. agitation! (textured surfaces such as sushi rolling mats, and old fashions washboards)

Unlike the modern method of felting (sometimes even done by accident) in the washing machine, we employed the ancient method used by nomadic people of mongolia who for ages, have made shelters, as well as clothing of felt.

I keep joking that I might make a yurt, but in the meantime I thought it'd be fun to create a series of lamps from my leftover "sketches." The transluscent felt diffuses the light and gives a warm quality to the watercolour-like images. I also like textile alternatives to the paper, glass or plastic choices that we find in the shops these days, especially for clean urban spaces.

My little wonder girl!

Prayer of Metropolitan St. Philaret of Moscow (19th century)



Lord, I know not what to ask of You.

You alone know what my true needs are.

You love me more than I myself know how to love.

Help me to see my real needs which may be hidden from me.

I dare not ask for either a cross or a consolation.

I can only wait upon You; my heart is open to You.

Visit and help me in Your steadfast love.

Strike me and heal me.

Cast me down and raise me up.

I worship in silence Your holy will.

I offer myself to you as a living sacrifice.

I put all my trust in You.

I have no other desire than to fulfill Your will.

Teach me to pray. Pray Yourself in me.

This is my cool God Dad David...with a sizeable chinook salmon caught off the north coast of Vancouver Island.
It looks like a good excuse for a BBQ to me!

Today my Sweet God~Daughter turns Two!

One of the greatest joys of my faith, has been to God Parent.

It is a beautiful priviledge to be invited to share in the lives and families of two children (Jude Hoogendyk and Irina Choi) and to watch them discover the world around them and grow.

Something that Irina and her

big brother Joshua like to do together, is play and sing! In the car, on the way to her mama's art show this past weekend, Irina sang to us the Trisagion over and over with her sweet deep voice. "Holy G-o-d, Holy Mi-i-ghty, Holy ImMORTal! Have Me-eee-rcy on Us." She and her brother sing other prayers and beautiful things to each other and to her mom and dad, while they are driving and walking and working on things at home.

And now she is 2.

Irina is Independant, Capable, Brilliant, Realizing that she is Lovely and Loved, and she is learning to naturally find her place and her peace in Jesus Christ, singing from her little heart, pure prayer.

She inspires me to keep my heart sweet and young and full of song...

Happy Birthday Irina!

(See you later for Cake!)

This has been a cool week.

I feel like I've made a new friend, gotten to see some old ones and

have experienced once again the incomparable blessing and renewal that family brings.

This sculpture is one of my favorites. These 40 foot tall people dance on the lawn of the Calgary Board of Education Office, and I used to go out of my way for them each morning enroute to work. Calgary, in particular, holds so many strong memories for me. And while it's a joy to visit (and now Edmonton too), is it absolutely not my home!

Being the delicate flower that I am,

the lack of moisture in the air causes me to be insatiably thirsty, and even my skin goes from being healthy to parched in a matter of days. With all due respect (to you lovely Albertans perhaps reading this), one of my most poignant memories of my time living in these parts was an afternoon driving out to WaterValley with my good friend, Kris. We were towing her two snowmobiles behind her truck. It was sunset and golden and I was thinking outloud to her about applying to Alberta College of Art and Design, for the fall term. She asked what I'd study, to which I replied, maybe Photography. Her response was so strong, I will always remember it. She began laughing. At first just a little and then it turned into a belly laugh and soon I was laughing too, without even really knowing why. I asked her what was so funny? I had travelled a little and knew a bit about aperature. I even had a few shots I was kind of proud of. She said so sincerely to me next, that while she and our friends loved me a great deal, I needed to go Home. And I knew she was right. And I did.

It's funny what memories a trip will conjure.

So after some lovely days with Matthew and Krista it's back to Calgary tomorrow and then home from there.

road trip

... heading out for a drive through the rockies tommorrow,

to go pay my little bro a visit... we sure are lucky ducks to call these vistas home.

This sweet boy is Kailen. He belongs to one of my oldest and dearest friends Kerry and her husband Scott. Many of you will remember Kerry from over the years.

Kailen was born two weeks ago, and had an operation on his heart right away. He will need to have one or two more heart operations to switch some arteries and do some special things to his aorta, once he is a little stronger. He will be eating through a feeding tube until after his operations to conserve his energy.


The hospital has said it would be good for Kaelen to be at home now for a few weeks, and so his parents are learning about all the special skills they will need to take good care of him. Please keep Kailen and especially his mom Kerry, in your prayers.

My first Ocean and Mountain

My parents kind of had this philosophy when we were kids, that they didn't slow down; we had to keep up. This meant that our vantage point for the first few years, was often from my dad's back pack.

We were walking along the shore at either North Beach or Pres'quille Park. I do remember that as kids, on warmer days we'd cart down some styrofoam surfboards from the stationwagon. We'd call this the "Ocean Side".

...And here I am with my moma having just climbed the "Mountain" behind our House, in Trenton, Ontario. It was technically one of the rolling hills of the Canadian Sheild and not really a mountain at all...but it didn't stop me from feeling as proud as Sir Edmund Hillary himself.

Happy Birthday to my Stylin' Nephew, Todd

Todd and his grade seven graduation date, Michelle.
One of my favorite people in the world is my sister's son, Todd.

When he was a little kid, we would marvel at the stories he'd tell us, with all these incredible references. He's always been really good at making inventions out of random items lying around.

He's a no nonsense kid, and a bit of a renaisance man, brilliant on guitar, mastering the slopes on snowboard and he's proud of his big hair. Today is his 13th birthday.

+







= the perfect afternoon snack with my dad, while supervising him carnuba waxing his latest wood work piece de resistance, out in the garage... ;) Ah, the simple pleasures of life.

Saints Naomi & Ruth

"Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou go, I will go; and where thou lodge, I will lodge: and thy people shall be my people and thy God my God..."

I love these words. How like a little child I so often need to be entreated/given courage to not to turn back, to stay close and not wander off. Speaking of lodging and God's people... as some of you know I am taking a hiatus before embarking on a long awaited foray back into the exciting world of education. In the past few weeks I've felt I could really benefit from entering into some intentional silence and draw near to God, without interruption. I thought about maybe looking into a women's monastery or something for a few days of low tech living and quiet. My kind priest-friend offered to make a few calls, and, you know, before any provisions could be arranged...some dear friends called. They invited me to water their outside, baby trees for the next week and come stay in their home while they are out of town, taking part in camp. And so here I find myself...with my needs more than met...once again. I have a comfy, peaceful home to myself, a cool pool to refresh the body and good books all around to nourish the soul. This place conotates such security, warmth and joy. And It also brings back good memories of some weeks I spent looking after our dear friends' log cabin in WaterValley, several years back...with no other responsibilities than throwing sticks for their sweet dog Tokkie.

Blessed are those in our lives who bestow upon us exactly what we need, under the guise of us doing them the favor. Tonight I am abundantly grateful for God and His people.

This icon and inscription were found on the site of Erica, a lovely new acquaintance.

sisters close and far

My Big Sister Pam and I at Silver Lake.
Some of the Girls at the Canada Day Party at the Jordans.

my mom and i

my fun collection of children's hats

The latest cielo designs model has been recruited!

Check out what's happening these days on
"the clothes
line!"

a rolling stone gathers no moss...but maybe moss is underrated.

1. Catherine Street , Trenton, Ontario

2. Cliff Avenue

3. Menzies Street

4. Graham Island, Haida Gwaii

5. Barclay + Broughton

6. Langara Island, Haida Gwaii

7. Bute + Comox

8. Motor Yacht Double Haven, Singapore

9. Above the Atelier Gallery on Granville

10. 7th + Arbutus

11. Dundarave

12. Bellevue

13. Motor Yacht Caprice, St. Maarten

14. Sailing Yacht Flying Magic, Antigua

15. Lake Ponchatrain, New Orleans

16.Nova Spirit, through the Panama

17. Marda Loop, Calgary

18. Wells Gray Park

19. Menzies

20. 53rd and Granville

21. 7th + Dunbar

22. Lakewood + Venables

23. Chester Street

24. Menzies

i was having lunch the other day with one of my oldest and bestest friends, miss nikki b; co- resident of address # five on the list. we were dining at the lotus, and over our omlettes trying to determine who rivalled who for the most addresses, in the shortest amount of time. the crazy thing is that we decided she might have me beat!

my wanderlust has served me well in some ways. my life is full of long time friendships, and untradable memories. i've gotten to spend substantial time on three continents, and have had the opportunity to experience some pretty diverse lifestyles and living conditions; from a few blocks off east hastings to the 14th most expensive mega yacht on the planet.

in other ways, my transient tendancies have kind of taken their toll. when a friend recently came home from Europe a little while ago, it brought to mind, some unique memories of days that have come me in the course of living abroad and the various backpacking trips in between. what seemed like a month's worth of living in a day... watching schindler's list in prague amongst oldies with first hand experience of the story being told; waking up in my bunk and noticing my port hole being very much under water and us seriously listing to port, somewhere off the coast of cuba; driving along a freeway in Spain and having the car burst into flames, the seats slowly melting, and then the whole thing eventually exploding, as my new friend and i waited for the fire department to arrive, him running back to get my passport and journal from the glove compartment. similar episodes indelibly scribed within that i've yet to say outloud to anyone.

i take comfort in knowing that the fall will, God willing, bring some good blocks of time, for the first time ever... to explore some ways to express what's going on below. to distill some of the questions that nag at me, that i've yet to find the right phrases for. i'm curious to know what might come. and at the same time can't wait to be done with much of it...to kind of address it, and be done with it, in hopes that it will create new space within. ever had the feeling that you have about ten years you need desperately to debrief?

A fun day in the country...

Last Saturday, we piled in the car and went to pay a visit to the newest little foal.

Here Jude feeds the new mama Raven, some berry-apple treats. My Mom and Dad stay close.

Here the brave little jockey goes for a ride in the ring, on Beauty.
Holly (the new foal) at only 2 weeks old, is as tall as an almost 5 year old boy!

i miss these two, already.

dewy rosehips in the shape of a cross

...maybe a good image to scratch onto a plate

and send through the printing press...

us kids + grampa, with "grama at the farm" - bloomfield, ontario - circa 1979 or 80

jeffy, grampa russ, me, gram, matty + pam

the smell of strawberries, rosemilk hand lotion or the mere mention of "catfish" brings rushes of memories.

mom + dad (true love forever)

My dad and mom celebrated their 39th Anniversary on Saturday!

A pretty sweet couple they remain.

a beautiful weekend

You know those times, where you tuck in on a Sunday night... and you can't believe so much life was lived in one weekend? Well, this past one, sure was one of those.

The Lanteignes came in to enjoy a nice Saturday-about-town.It was so fun to hang with them as a family and get to know Owen a little more. I've known Gabe, since we both had big hairdoos back in the early 90's and it's cool to see him now 15 years later, so happily married to Amy with this new little guy of theirs. They have so much fun in the day to day stuff...and Owen is one of the most contented kids I've ever met.

Here, Owen and I are in the rainforest area...watching some red tucan type birds (like the fruit loop guy!) Here Ame is having a baby beluga moment with O.

Here we're checking out the mama and papa Zebra Eels..Amy thought the zebra eels looked like they were possibly beginning a family of their own. :)
After looking around the aquarium for a while, our close friends Muryn and Avery joined us for the beluga show and a stroll around zoo area before heading back home for some quiet time.

While Owen and his dad napped, and his mom caught up on photo albums, I snuck over just in time for evening prayers at the Russian Church, and was delighted to see some friends who are preparing for marriage, Sid and Melissa. Fr. Michael was so hospitable opting to lead the Joy of Canada Akathist with Fr. Chris, mostly in English, even though there were many who may have enjoyed it in Russian. It was also awesome to see our friend Alexei, who had just returned from a trip to France/Russia a few days before. After Melissa and Sid talked over some wedding details with Fr. Michael, the four of us picked up Gabe and Amy (and a still nackered Owen) to head over to one of my favorite spots for Indian food.

Sunday was a very special day. A pack of old and new friends gathered in Mt. Pleasant for the first Liturgy with the new mission parish of St. Nina. I picked up three of my favorite Fouriks, enroute. It was such a priveledge to sing with Akeiko and my old buddy James Mullin. Anastasia and M.Elena added their beautiful voices too. For about 3 years now, I have hoped for an English parish in Vancouver, and so this day felt in many ways a very personal answer to my prayers. It's not possible to put the plethora of emotion and thankfulness I have into words. All I can say is that it truly has been what I imagine a birth might be like...awaiting with hope and expectation, trepidation and protectiveness, then the pangs of labour and frustration for the waiting of it all...but finally just awe and elated joy! It was a such a morning of abundance and celebration.

After our lunch all together up at Douglas Park, I had to attend a less celebratory occasion. A co-worker from the marina went into the hospital about a month ago with back pain, and was diagnosed with cancer. He passed away last Tuesday morning and a memorial was held yesterday. His nephew Riley, and son Greg have both worked with us too, over the years, and so a few of us went to add our prayers and hugs. His family is really suffering (and probably still quite in shock). The Chaplain from the Royal Columbian who had gotten to know Brad quite well over some card games, in his last days shared some life giving words. I think it offered alot of comfort and hope. If you think of him and his family please ask for God's mercy for them.

From the yacht club, I headed back home to where some sweet friends (Josina and Jesse) were preparing my home for the open house I'd be planning for a few weeks. For the next several hours my favorite few dozen people came and went, and by 11pm I felt entirely renewed with love and friendship. Matthew called just as things were winding down and so we had a few laughs with him, before the last few stragglers headed off into the night. I feel gratitude in my life returning and so many or the pesky fears that sometimes get in the way... just falling away.

Feels like a second Pascha!

guess who's trading the 9-5 ...(well 8-4) grind, for a couple of luxurious years of exploration into the beautiful world of velvet and silk?

ME!

(okay... the last few years have actually been pretty lovely, from my little office by the sea--but I couldn't be happier about being accepted into the textiles program!)

I'll post some fun pics of some of my new projects soon enough!

Stay tuned ;)

This cute little swishy face

belongs to my Godson Jude.

When he and his folks moved to Chicago a couple of summers ago, he was a little guy. One of his favorite people is Biss. He enjoys playing soccer and kind of follows his own groove. He is an extremely bright light and a very creative soul. His mom and dad enjoy him so much. Their family is a beautiful experience to behold.

One of my nicest memories is a fun walk we took one time to Spanish Banks. His mama and I strolled ahead down to the point and when we came back we found he and his dad dancing and drumming amongst the tiki torches. They were having such a fun time. We stayed and enjoyed the warm night till it got too chilly and then headed back to my place for some hot cocoa. Jude fell asleep while we played guitar and told stories.

The Happiest News of 2006 is that Jude's family will be moving back to Canada in just a few weeks! I looking forward to some lazy summer walks to come, and the joy of meeting his baby sister Esme.

something coming up...

st nina of georgia

(the beautiful prayer spoken by Nina's uncle;
the Patriarch who commissioned her ministry)

"Lord God, our Saviour!

As I let this young girl depart to preach Thy Divinity,
I commit her into Thy hands: Condescend, O Christ God,
to be her Companion and Teacher everywhere that she
proclaims Thy Good Tidings,

and give her words such force and wisdom that no one
will be able to oppose or refute them.

Most Holy Virgin Mother of God, Helper and Intercessor
for all Christians, clothe her with Thy strength against all
enemies, visible and invisible, this girl whom Thou Thyself
hast chosen to preach the Gospel of Thy Son and our God
among the pagan nations. Be always for her a shield and an
invincible protection, and do not deprive her of Thy favor
until she has fulfilled Thy holy will!"

I like her story very much.

FAMILIA FRANCISCO, EST. 1967

Easter; 22 years ago

Churchyard, Chilliwack, BC ; circa 1984

My papa just sent this picture. It hung above our piano for most of my growing up years. In it, Mom, Jeff, Pam and Matt look like they're sharing a chuckle while my Dad & I look like we either missed the punchline "Huh?...". or a more likely explanation could be that we're just coming down from the Cad-bury EasterCreme-Eggs!/Jellybean-Hunt- Induced SUGAR HIGH, that Matthew would annually shake us out of our peaceful slumbers for, generally a few hours before the crack of dawn! :)

In either case, we had just moved from Ontario, land of toboggans and snowforts to a mysterious new land where Cougar Boots were no longer required. I think at this point I was still getting comfortable in my new footwear; the standard jr. high dresscode: stirrup pants and pastel jellybean sparkle sandals, not quite yet, (shall we say) "me".

Anyway, A Blessed Easter/Pascha! to all, whether you've just come through your celebrations, or you're in the homestretch this week. I'll be with the Motet's in Victoria for Easter this coming weekend and will look forward to add a few Romanian customs to my season!

Let us throw ourselves into the ocean of God's mercy,

where every failing will be cancelled and anxiety turned into Love.

- St. Paul of the Cross

Good old fashioned Quiet.

be still and know


a characteristic of my parent's home will always be for me, beautiful quiet. we didn't have tvs or even radios until i was about ten, i think. as a four year old, i'd wake up from my naps to watch my mom in the midst of her weeding the garden. sometimes she'd spend whole afternoons 'getting into the word', as she'd put it. if she made a phone call, she'd announce 'the purpose of her call, make the plan or the request, and close with a: "right then, goodbye". she's not one for idle words.

one lent, before i was baptized into the orthodox tradition, i gave up talking. it lasted about 11 days. it was extremely powerful. creepy crud seem to float to the surface throughout, but my sleeps were sounder and deeper than ever. my senses were enlivened. it was as though i were coming back to life.

in my many seasons of coming and going from canada in my early 20s, what would restore me most, would be to paw through a box of postcards and letters, stashed away, in what we call my parents loft. i'd spend hours up there.

i just read on 'come receive the light' that "one of the early church fathers declared that the language of heaven is silence. there seems to be a power to silence that allows all the noise of this world to die away and to help us focus on the “still, small voice” that reveals the true nature of things. our lives are filled with sound. everywhere there is “noise” for our eyes and mind as well. we are people who are suffering from sensory overload. it shows in the fractured lives we lead and how we have had to so compartmentalize our lives to survive this onslaught of “noise.” i remember driving back into vancouver one night, after a presanctified liturgy with my friend seraphim a few years ago. i was struck by the billboards along grandview highway in a new way. The preceeding hour and a half had so taken me out of my usual realm, and put me in such a different headspace that it was as though i was looking at the world through new eyes.

Jesus saw the need to regularly get alone with His Father to strengthen His soul, like my mom would. There is a story told by Metropolitan Anthony Bloom (of blessed memory) in his book, Living Prayer, about an old Orthodox man who would sit in church for hours in front of the icon of Jesus without saying a word. When asked about this, the old man replied, “I look at Him, and He looks at me, and we are happy together.”

the past couple of weeks have been incredibly busy, many days on end not sitting down in the quiet until after midnight.. i don't know why i've been choosing this way. it's terrible. it robs me of seeing the goodness in others and tends to make me impatient, ugly and eventually sick. i become nasty and ungrateful, the worst version of me.

so i need to get back on track. and in between the usual good lenten responsibilities, if it warms up i might sneak down to spanish banks to just stare out for a while.

Matty's coming to town.

Spring Retreat at UBC
March 24th-26th
(Registration Deadline: March 16th)
Open to Life Long Learners... of All Ages!
(...word has it that our dad will be there)
$46 (includes all sessions, accomodation on Friday night and all Saturday meals)
The Friday 7pm session is open to all; (donations welcome)

I would like to invite you

to a retreat the weekend of March 24-26th.

Matthew Francis will be speaking with us over the course of the weekend

on the topic of Living the Gospel in a Plurarist Society.

Matthew grew up in the mountains and valleys of Chilliwack,

and currently serves as the Coordinator for Youth and Young Adult Ministries

for the Orthodox Church in America’s Archdiocese of Canada.

Matthew has been a College chaplain, Amnesty International fundraiser,

Assistant to an eccentric Artisan Baker, Writer of History,

Landscaper, and Lecturer. He currently serves as Heritage consultant

for the Province of Alberta and a contributing editor of Beyond magazine.

After spending a couple of rain-soaked years in England,

studying the concept of “Sacred Space & Place,"

he ended up with a M.A. in Theology from the University of Manchester.

Matthew and his wife Krista, live in Edmonton, Alberta

where they are active members of St. Herman of Alaska Orthodox Church.

Please help us get the word out about this retreat,

so that we and others can pick up some helpful things

to equip us in the journey that is our life in Christ.

If you have any questions or would like a registration form, contact me at kimberleyfrancis@yahoo.com

or by phone at: (604) 626 3296.

There is limited space for those of you would like to sleep over

and take part in the Saturday too, so if you're thinking you'd like to come,

register soon.

If cost is an issue,
please indicate that in the space provided on your registration form,
and special provisions will be considered.

Love in IC XC,

Kimberley

These are two of the images that are being donated to the silent auction for the Project Mexico fundraiser, Friday night at Holy Resurrection. The photographer is Chris Bone. He captures action nicely too. His website is: www.chrisbone.com

okay, so victoria is helping me to be a cool kid too. i like what seems to land in the middle for everybody.

four jobs/movies/albums/places

four

4 jobs:
1. balloon magic sales clerk- during grade 9 (at five corners in chilliwack--now a tattoo parlour) okay and a sometime balloon-a-gram singer (my heart wasn't really into it, so the customers really weren't getting good value) that same year i had a string of one shift attempts at orange julius, a&w, boston pizza. i couldn't deal with the visors though. they left dents in my voluminous hairdoo, and i couldn't bear it.

2. dino flintstone- at flinstone park for the summers of grade 10 and 11. muy caliente!

3. florist - eau claire market in calgary

4. hotel concierge - granting whims to the likes of antonio bandaras, danny devito, and ethan hawke. (actually their whims were fairly reasonable)

4 Movies:
1. stealing home-mark harmon/jodie foster...i don't know why but i still love it...good soundtrack

2. reality bites-still watch it when i'm home sick

3. laurel canyon-reminds me of yachting days living excessively, but a decent story

4. barbarian invasions-a beautiful canadian film about life and death, defining family in the face of both.

4 Places i've lived:
1. trenton ontario

2. new orleans - 4 month stint summer of 1999

3. various coastal marinas of Mexico from the Baja to Acapulco 1995-1996

4. wells gray provincial park -summer of 2001

4 albums:
1. crowded house -woodface

2. holly cole - blame it on my youth

3. dale nikkel - still learning tricks

4. the prayer cycle - various artists (--by the way...phil...bis...if it's lying around...can i have it back? )

4 writers:
1. paulo coelho

2. henri nouwen

3. todd stewart

4. jean vanier

4 vacations:
1. spain

2. prague

3. to the maritimes with mom and gramma k

4. silver lake for the first ten years or so of life

4 foods:
1. provolone

2. callebaut

3. zachary's special pizza

4. my mom's yorkshire (nix the crunchy onions) with pam's gravy

4 places i'd rather be:
1. nova scotia hanging with Brod and Todd

2. the hoogendyk's livingroom

3. sleeping in the sunshine at our version of lighthouse park

4. hmm...i actually really like it right here... with the seagulls and the salty air.

4 sites:
1. spruce island

2. CRFQ

3. hannahs

4. stacy's

4 bloggers to whom i'm passing this burden:
1. kai-get a blog already kai!

2. theresia -get a blog already theresia!

3. hannah

4. stacy...have you already?

PROJECT LITTLE SHOE--collecting used kids shoes.

Volsk orphanage for disabled children (Russia) is in severe need of shoes and sandals. We are collecting lightweight reliable new and used summer shoes, made of leather or other good-quality material, of Canadian sizes 8 to 12 (for ages 4-8.) Other types of lightweight shoes will also be gratefully accepted. Other needed items include tights and socks, underwear and t-shirts, and “Centrum” vitamins for kids (this brand is sold in Russia and hence will be accepted.)

If you would like to help, please contact Anna and Alexey at alexanna@pinewoodland.net or (604) 224-2266, or in person.
Or give me a call to come pick them up. (604) 626 3296.
Alexey will mail what has been collected on February 20th.

Bono's best homily yet:
Remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast
(jeanclaude forwarded this to me...it's a good read--inspired me to check in and evaluate what my own percentages are these days...i've got a ways to go...)

kay...it's super long...but it's worth it... somebody! read till the end, it took me hours to transcribe it.

"If you're wondering what I'm doing here, at a prayer breakfast, well, so am I. I'm certainly not here as a man of the cloth, unless that cloth is leather. It's certainly not because I'm a rock star. Which leaves one possible explanation: I'm here because I've got a messianic complex.Yes, it's true. And for anyone who knows me, it's hardly a revelation.Well, I'm the first to admit that there's something unnatural...something unseemly...about rock stars mounting the pulpit and preaching at presidents, and then disappearing to their villas in the south of France.Talk about a fish out of water... Mr. President, are you sure about this?

It's very humbling and I will try to keep my homily brief. But be warned -I'm Irish.I'd like to talk about the laws of man, here in this city where those laws are written. And I'd like to talk about higher laws. It would be great to assume that the one serves the other; that the laws of man serve these higher laws...but of course, they don't always. And I presume that, in a sense, is why you're here. I presume the reason for this gathering is that all of us here - Muslims, Jews, Christians - all are searching our souls for how to better serve our family, our community, our nation, our God.

I know I am. Searching, I mean. Seeing what religious people, in thename of God, did to my native land...and in this country, seeing God's second-hand car salesmen on the cable TV channels, offering indulgences for cash...in fact, all over the world, seeing the self-righteousness roll down like a mighty stream from certain corners of the religious establishment... I must confess, I changed the channel. I wanted my MTV. Even though I was a believer. Perhaps because I was a believer. I was cynical...not about God, but about God's politics. (There you are,Jim.) Then, in 1997, a couple of eccentric, septuagenarian British Christians went and ruined my shtick - my reproachfulness. They did it by describing the millennium, the year 2000, as a Jubilee year, as an opportunity tocancel the chronic debts of the world's poorest people. They had the audacity to renew the Lord's call - and were joined by Pope John Paul II,who, from an Irish half-Catholic's point of view, may have had a more direct line to the Almighty. 'Jubilee' - why 'Jubilee'? What was this year of Jubilee, this year of our Lord's favor? I'd always read the scriptures, even the obscure stuff. There it was inLeviticus (25:35)...'If your brother becomes poor,' the scriptures say, 'and cannot maintain himself...you shall maintain him.... You shall not lend him your money at interest, not give him your food for profit.' It is such an important idea, Jubilee, that Jesus begins his ministry with this. Jesus is a young man, he's met with the rabbis, impressed everyone,people are talking. The elders say, he's a clever guy, this Jesus, but hehasn't done much...yet. He hasn't spoken in public before...When he does, is first words are from Isaiah: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,' he says, 'because He has anointed me to preach good news to thepoor.' And Jesus proclaims the year of the Lord's favour, the year of Jubilee (Luke 4:18).What he was really talking about was an era of grace - and we're still in it. So fast-forward 2,000 years. That same thought, grace, was made incarnate- in a movement of all kinds of people. It wasn't a bless-me club... itwasn't a holy huddle. These religious guys were willing to get out in the streets, get their boots dirty, wave the placards, follow their convictions with actions...making it really hard for people like me to keep their distance. It was amazing. I almost started to like these church people. But then my cynicism got another helping hand. It was what Colin Powell, a five-star general, called the greatest W.M.D.of them all: a tiny little virus called AIDS. And the religious community,in large part, missed it. The ones that didn't miss it could only see it as divine retribution for bad behaviour. Even on children...even [though the] fastest growing group of HIV infections were married, faithful women. Aha, there they go again! I thought to myself judgmentalism is back! But in truth, I was wrong again. The church was slow but the church got busy on this the leprosy of our age.Love was on the move.Mercy was on the move.God was on the move.Moving people of all kinds to work with others they had never met, never would have cared to meet...conservative church groups hanging out with spokesmen for the gay community, all singing off the same hymn sheet on AIDS...soccer moms and quarterbacks...hip-hop stars and country stars.This is what happens when God gets on the move: crazy stuff happens!Popes were seen wearing sunglasses! Jesse Helms was seen with a ghetto blaster! Crazy stuff. Evidence of the spirit. It was breathtaking. Literally. It stopped the world in its tracks.When churches started demonstrating on debt, governments listened - and acted. When churches starting organising, petitioning, and even - that most unholy of acts today, God forbid, lobbying...on AIDS and global health, governments listened - and acted. I'm here today in all humility to say: you changed minds; you changed policy; you changed the world. Look, whatever thoughts you have about God, who He is or if He exists,most will agree that if there is a God, He has a special place for the poor. In fact, the poor are where God lives. Check Judaism. Check Islam. Check pretty much anyone.I mean, God may well be with us in our mansions on the hill. I hope so. He may well be with us as in all manner of controversial stuff. Maybe, maybenot. But the one thing we can all agree, all faiths and ideologies, is that God is with the vulnerable and poor.God is in the slums, in the cardboard boxes where the poor play house. Godis in the silence of a mother who has infected her child with a virus thatwill end both their lives. God is in the cries heard under the rubble ofwar. God is in the debris of wasted opportunity and lives, and God is withus if we are with them. "If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger and speaking wickedness, and if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom with become like midday and the Lord will continually guide you and satisfy your desire in scorched places."It's not a coincidence that in the scriptures, poverty is mentioned morethan 2,100 times. It's not an accident. That's a lot of air time, 2,100mentions. (You know, the only time Christ is judgmental is on the subject of the poor.) 'As you have done it unto the least of these my brethren,you have done it unto me' (Matthew 25:40). As I say, good news to the poor. Here's some good news for the president. After 9/11 we were told America would have no time for the world's poor. America would be taken up with its own problems of safety. And it's true these are dangerous times, but America has not drawn the blinds and double-locked the doors. In fact, you have doubled aid to Africa. You have tripled funding for global health. Mr. President, your emergency plan for AIDS relief and support for the Global Fund - you and Congress - have put 700,000 people onto life-saving anti-retroviral drugs and provided 8 million bed nets to protect children from malaria.Outstanding human achievements. Counterintuitive. Historic. Be very, very proud. But here's the bad news. From charity to justice, the good news is yet to come. There is much more to do. There's a gigantic chasm between the scale of the emergency and the scale of the response.

And finally, it's not about charity after all, is it? It's about justice. Let me repeat that: It's not about charity, it's about justice.And that's too bad. Because you're good at charity. Americans, like the Irish, are good at it.We like to give, and we give a lot, even those who can't afford it. But justice is a higher standard. Africa makes a fool of our idea ofjustice; it makes a farce of our idea of equality. It mocks our pieties,it doubts our concern, it questions our commitment. Sixty-five hundred Africans are still dying every day of a preventable, treatable disease, for lack of drugs we can buy at any drug store. This is not about charity, this is about justice and equality. Because there's no way we can look at what's happening in Africa and, ifwe're honest, conclude that deep down, we really accept that Africans areequal to us. Anywhere else in the world, we wouldn't accept it. Look at what happened in South East Asia with the tsunami. 150,000 lives lost to that misnomer of all misnomers, "mother nature." In Africa, 150,000 livesare lost every month. A tsunami every month. And it's a completelyavoidable catastrophe. It's annoying but justice and equality are mates. Aren't they? Justice always wants to hang out with equality. And equality is a real pain.You know, think of those Jewish sheep-herders going to meet the Pharaoh, mud on their shoes, and the Pharaoh says, "Equal?" A preposterous idea:rich and poor are equal? And they say, "Yeah, 'equal,' that's what it says here in this book. We're all made in the image of God." And eventually the Pharaoh says, "OK, I can accept that. I can accept the Jews - but not the blacks.""Not the women. Not the gays. Not the Irish. No way, man." So on we go with our journey of equality. On we go in the pursuit of justice. We hear that call in the ONE Campaign, a growing movement of more than 2million Americans...Left and Right together... united in the belief that where you live should no longer determine whether you live.We hear that call even more powerfully today, as we mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King - mother of a movement for equality, one that changed the world but is only just getting started. These issues are as alive as they ever were; they just change shape and cross the seas. Preventing the poorest of the poor from selling their products while we sing the virtues of the free market...that's a justice issue. Holding children to ransom for the debts of their grandparents...that's a justice issue. Withholding life-saving medicines out of deference to the Office of Patents...that's a justice issue. And while the law is what we say it is, God is not silent on the subject.That's why I say there's the law of the land¿. And then there is a higher standard. There's the law of the land, and we can hire experts to write them so they benefit us, so the laws say it's OK to protect our agriculture but it's not OK for African farmers to do the same, to earn aliving?As the laws of man are written, that's what they say.God will not accept that. Mine won't, at least. Will yours?[ pause]

I close this morning on...very...thin...ice. This is a dangerous idea I've put on the table: my God vs. your God, their God vs. our God...vs. no God. It is very easy, in these times, to see religion as a force for division rather than unity. And this is a town - Washington - that knows something of division. But the reason I am here, and the reason I keep coming back to Washington, is because this is a town that is proving it can come together on behalfof what the scriptures call the least of these.This is not a Republican idea. It is not a Democratic idea. It is not even, with all due respect, an American idea. Nor it is unique to any one faith. 'Do to others as you would have them do to you' (Luke 6:30). Jesus says that.'Righteousness is this: that one should...give away wealth out of love for him to the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer and the beggars and for the emancipation of the captives.' The Koran says that(2.177).Thus sayeth the Lord: 'Bring the homeless poor into the house, when you see the naked, cover him, then your light will break out like the dawn and your recovery will speedily spring fourth, then your Lord will be your rear guard.' The Jewish scripture says that. Isaiah 58 again. That is a powerful incentive: 'The Lord will watch your back.' Sounds likea good deal to me, right now.A number of years ago, I met a wise man who changed my life. In countless ways, large and small, I was always seeking the Lord's blessing. I was saying, you know, I have a new song, look after it¿. I have a family, please look after them¿. I have this crazy idea...And this wise man said: stop. He said, stop asking God to bless what you're doing.Get involved in what God is doing - because it's already blessed.Well, God, as I said, is with the poor. That, I believe, is what God is doing. And that is what he's calling us to do.I was amazed when I first got to this country and I learned how much some churchgoers tithe. Up to 10% of the family budget. Well, how does that compare with the federal budget, the budget for the entire American family? How much of that goes to the poorest people in the world? Less than 1%. Mr. President, Congress, people of faith, people of America: I want to suggest to you today that you see the flow of effective foreign assistance as tithing.... Which, to be truly meaningful, will mean an additional 1% of the federal budget tithed to the poor. What is 1%?1% is not merely a number on a balance sheet. 1% is the girl in Africa who gets to go to school, thanks to you. 1% isthe AIDS patient who gets her medicine, thanks to you. 1% is the African entrepreneur who can start a small family business thanks to you. 1% is not redecorating presidential palaces or money flowing down a rat hole.This 1% is digging waterholes to provide clean water.1% is a new partnership with Africa, not paternalism toward Africa, whereincreased assistance flows toward improved governance and initiatives withproven track records and away from boondoggles and white elephants ofevery description.America gives less than 1% now. We're asking for an extra 1% to change theworld. to transform millions of lives - but not just that and I say thisto the military men now - to transform the way that they see us. 1% is national security, enlightened economic self-interest, and a better,safer world rolled into one. Sounds to me that in this town of deals andcompromises, 1% is the best bargain around.These goals - clean water for all; school for every child; medicine forthe afflicted, an end to extreme and senseless poverty - these are notjust any goals; they are the Millennium Development goals, which thiscountry supports. And they are more than that. They are the Beatitudes fora globalised world. Now, I'm very lucky. I don't have to sit on any budget committees. And Icertainly don't have to sit where you do, Mr. President. I don't have tomake the tough choices. But I can tell you this:To give 1% more is right. It's smart. And it's blessed.There is a continent - Africa - being consumed by flames.I truly believe that when the history books are written, our age will beremembered for three things: the war on terror, the digital revolution,and what we did - or did not to - to put the fire out in Africa.History, like God, is watching what we do. Thank you. Thank you, America, and God bless you all."

Mark your calendar!

The MaRimba SoiRee!
Fundraiser to benefit Saint Innocent Orphanage/
Project Mexico 2006 Team

7-10pm, Friday, March 3rd, 2006
HOLY RESURRECTION UPPER AUDITORIUM
75 - 43rd Ave, (one block west of Quebec and Main), Van
Contact: Kimberley Francis cell: 604.626.3296

Those interested in helping out are invited to one of two
planning meetings: Monday, February 6th at 7:30pm
Sunday, February 19th at 5pm

At: 6229 Chester Street, Van (49th and Fraser area)

January 31, 2006 was a VERY good day.

Owen Pierre Edward Lanteigne, his adoring mama and proud papa. You're in good hands, Owen. xo

and so it goes...well, we're definately getting there!

Generosity and resources are coming from all angles, it seems. As of yesterday we have $285+$300 that a dear friend is donating from a surprise overpayment he recieved! This morning I opened my email to read that another friend from Calgary who has done projects in South Africa and India has put a generous cheque in the mail, in addition to my friend Sam's coffee can of loose change. I bet there's $15 in there and so without even beginning our Coffee House/Silent Auction Efforts, presently we are hitting the $700 mark. Josina has joined the project mexico team and so we are upping our goal to $2000. We're 1/3 of the way!

It's been super encouraging to have the early bird silent auction donations, to get us off to a good start, and the anonymous $40 that arrived in front of me yesterday (as I looked the other way, over my coffee.) Also there was a fun offer of some good Marimba music for our coffee house. It's inspiring to be on the recieving end of such gracious generosity.

I'll continue to keep you posted and let you know if our needs change. Keep us and the boys of St. Innocents in your daily prayers.

$1600 required. ...we now stand at $17.

My enthusiasm was re-engaged last night
for Project Mexico / Saint Innocent Orphanage when I was driving with Sarah Beley and her friend George (Jchorgjay!)
Sarah and I signed up for this a few months back to drive down with a team mid March 2006, and we need to get our act together in regards to fundraising so...here's the deal... She and I need to raise $1600 in the next month.

I bought these cool sweaters knit in Ecquador and have sold eleven raffle tickets

1 for $2
3 for $5

so far this morning at work so that brings our grand total to $17.

Sarah, is talking to fine art classmates about donating photography, paintings etc for a silent auction/live music/coffee house to take place sometime in the next month or so, for which we will certainly let you know about... also her friend Malcolm is going to make some buttons/pins for us to sell too.

It's a beautiful project. Help widows and orphans and families that need homes. We're going to tell you all about it when we get back so get on board with us. Give me a call if you want to contribute anything to the silent auction or if you'd like to play some music. Or it's okay too, if you'd like to hand over some cash to help us get from $17 to somewhere closer to that $1600 mark. We'll give you a receipt for tax time even.

I'll keep you posted.

love is all around us...

Macarius

Today is my Names Day. I like that so much. Sometimes I wonder if it might have been good to choose a woman saint, especially when so many mistake me for Macrena, but I am indeed Macaria!, and each time I read his story I am so encouraged. This is the fullest collection of his life I have heard. It's a long one, but each part is so valuable to me. Much to learn from this Great. I am Grateful for his prayers. He fell asleep in the Lord on the Eve of my Birthday (different year...), but two of the reasons I chose him are 1. He struggled to not care what people thought of him, only being mindful of what his Heavenly Father thought, and 2. He was an artisan, a weaver of baskets. I can relate to that. Anyway here's his story.

Saint Macarius the Great of Egypt was born around 331 in the village of Ptinapor in Egypt. At the wish of his parents he entered into marriage, but was soon widowed. After he buried his wife, Macarius told himself, "Take heed, Macarius, and have care for your soul. It is fitting that you forsake worldly life." The Lord rewarded the saint with a long life, but from that time the memory of death was constantly with him, impelling him to ascetic deeds of prayer and penitence. He began to visit the church of God more frequently and to be more deeply absorbed in Holy Scripture, but he did not leave his aged parents, thus fulfilling the commandment to honor one's parents. Until his parents died, St. Macarius used his remaining substance to help them and he began to pray fervently that the Lord might show him a guide on the way to salvation. The Lord sent him an experienced Elder, who lived in the desert not far from the village. The Elder accepted the youth with love, guided him in the spiritual science of watchfulness, fasting and prayer, and taught him the handicraft of weaving baskets. Having built a separate cell not far from his own, the Elder settled his disciple in it. The local bishop arrived one day at Ptinapor and, knowing of the virtuous life of the monk, ordained him against his will. St. Macarius was overwhelmed by this disturbance of his silence, and so he went secretly to another place. The Enemy of salvation began a tenacious struggle with the ascetic, trying to terrify him, shaking his cell and suggesting sinful thoughts. St. Macarius repelled the attacks of the devil, defending himself with prayer and the Sign of the Cross. Evil people slandered the saint, accusing him of seducing a woman from a nearby village. They dragged him out of his cell and jeered at him. St. Macarius endured the temptation with great humility. Without a murmur, he sent the money that he got for his baskets for the support of the pregnant woman. The innocence of St. Macarius was manifested when the woman, who suffered torment for many days, was not able to give birth. She confessed that she had slandered the hermit, and revealed the name of the real father. When her parents found out the truth, they were astonished and intended to go to the saint to ask forgiveness. Though St. Macarius willingly accepted dishonor, he shunned the praise of men. He fled from that place by night and settled on Mt. Nitria in the Pharan desert. Thus human wickedness contributed to the prospering of the righteous. Having dwelt in the desert for three years, he went to St. Anthony the Great, the Father of Egyptian monasticism, for he had heard that he was still alive in the world, and he longed to see him. Abba Anthony received him with love, and Macarius became his devoted disciple and follower. St. Macarius lived with him for a long time and then, on the advice of the saintly abba, he went off to the Skete monastery (in the northwest part of Egypt). He so shone forth in asceticism that he came to be called "a young Elder," because he had distinguished himself as an experienced and mature monk, even though he was not quite thirty years old. St. Macarius survived many demonic attacks against him. Once, he was carrying palm branches for weaving baskets, and a devil met him on the way and wanted to strike him with a sickle, but he was not able to do this. He said, "Macarius, I suffer great anguish from you because I am unable to vanquish you. I do everything that you do. You fast, and I eat nothing at all. You keep vigil, and I never sleep. You surpass me only in one thing: humility."

When the saint reached the age of forty, he was ordained to the priesthood and made the head of the monks living in the desert of Skete. During these years, St. Macarius often visited with St. Anthony the Great, receiving guidance from him in spiritual conversations. Abba Macarius was deemed worthy to be present at the death of St. Anthony and he received his staff. He also received a double portion of the Anthony's spiritual power, just as the prophet Elisha once received a double portion of the grace of the prophet Elias, along with the mantle that he dropped from the fiery chariot. St. Macarius worked many healings. People thronged to him from various places for help and for advice, asking his holy prayers. All this unsettled the quietude of the saint. He therefore dug out a deep cave under his cell, and hid there for prayer and meditation. St. Macarius attained such boldness before God that, through his prayers, the Lord raised the dead. Despite attaining such heights of holiness, he continued to preserve his unusual humility.

One time the holy abba caught a thief loadng his things on a donkey standing near the cell. Without revealing that he was the owner of these things, the monk began to help tie up the load. Having removed himself from the world, the