I haven’t been blogging. I’ve been too busy designing some new pieces for my upcoming shows, as well as doing shows. In June, I did three shows – the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery’s very first Pow Wow in Sutton on Saturday June 7th. Brilliant day! Brilliant Pow Wow! I shared a booth with my friend, Photographer Jason Jenkins of Going On Dreams.
My next show was the All Ontario Chiefs Assembly at the Eaton Chelsea Hotel downtown from June 9 to 11th. What a great opportunity to meet some interesting people and to renew acquaintance with people I had not seen for too many years. Like Chief Janice Henderson and Chief Phyllis Williams. I was doing double-duty at the conference, covering stories for Windspeaker. Go on the Windspeaker web site to read some of my stories.
The next show I did was the NaMeRes Traditional Pow Wow on National Aboriginal Day, Saturday June 21st at Wells Hill Park in the Bathurst-St. Clair area. It was maybe the busiest show I’ve ever done, non-stop shoppers from the time I arrived at 10:00 am to set up until it closed at 5:00. My booth was situated in a wonderfully shady spot under a big old tree. I have a little dog Snack who does therapy work with seniors and many of them came out to keep me company and security. It was the first time they’d ever been to a Pow Wow and they were visibly moved by the sheer beauty of it. Good work organizing the Pow Wow, Blanche White! and all your volunteers deserve a great big hand. So much easier to put up and take down my tent with four sets of hands rather than just one!
Here is what inspires my work. Every morning I go out with my phone and try to capture summer with my phone camera.
These are some of the wonderful colours of summer that I see every morning when I’m walking Snack. 
The delicacy of the flowers is combined with ruggedness. The colours are unbelievable. These vivid colours are what I miss so much in winter when everything just seems to be white, or in the case of Toronto streets, a dirty grey slush.
I look forward to morning and sometimes afternoon and evening walks with my camera. I have to admit Snack gets impatient – she’s in too much a hurry to move on.
Lately, I have felt compelled to make necklaces with multiple strands. Could this be a lesson about harmony? I follow my instincts and below are a couple of pieces I’ve designed for upcoming shows – Purple Turtle Arts Festival, and the Wing Ding Festival – check my Events page for all the details. I will also be doing the Markham One Year Launch of the Pan Am Games. This takes place on Sunday July 13 in Markham. They’re expecting 7,500 people to attend and Amanda Martinez is one of the performers.
I’m modelling a 5-strand necklace on the left. Wood is mixed with freshwater pearls, facetted mother-of-pearl and vintage brass chain. All neutral colours so you can wear it with anything. One of the other things about this piece that makes it so versatile and desirable is I’ve designed it so that all strands are removable! You can wear it with just one strand or mix and match it yourself to create your own design to suit the occasion. I’m looking a bit too serious, almost grim, in this photo!
The seven-strand necklace on the right has freshwater pearls, wood, mother-of-pearl and sterling silver spacers. I inserted wood beads into the mother-of-pearl picture frames and used sterling silver spacers. The versatility of this piece is in the neutral shades of the beads, but also in the fact that the strands are removable so the necklace can have multiple looks. The MOP picture frame strand looks great on its own or combined with just the freshwater pearls. The whole thing, as you can see in the photo, looks very rich. I’ve worn it with a grey linen dress and I thought it looked spectacular!
Until next time!