One of the highlights of our trip was a walk on Columbia Icefield's Athabasca Glacier which is located between Banff and Jasper in Alberta, Canada.
Here are two pictures of the glacier as you slowly approach it. Click on the second photo. Those small dots are people and the rectangles are the special vehicles for traveling on the glacier. They are called all-terrain Ice Explorers.
Here is a close-up of an all-terrain Ice Explorer
This is the road we traveled on in the all-terrain Ice Explorer. Be sure to click on this photo also. The road was very steep!!!!
We spent about 20 minutes walking on the glacier. This is a photo of looking up at the glacier from its base.
In August we spent about 8 days in the Canadian Rockies. Unfortunately, I came home with a terrible cold, so I took it easy for over a week.
I am back to my routine of working in the studio, teaching, and walking 12 miles/week.
Our trip to the Canada was beautiful. We spent two nights in Waterton Lakes National Park on the border of the US. In 1932, this park along with Glacier National Park in the US were combined to form the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, a celebration of the friendship between Canada and the United States. Below are pictures of Waterton lake and the town. The lake is feed by glaciers which make the water such beautiful colors.
This is the view from the town. The wind comes flying into the valley causing whitecaps on the lake.
This waterfall feeds into Waterton lake.
In the town of Watertown, we saw many deer, which just roam around the streets, sitting on people's lawns and eating their flowers.
Last week I mailed my postcard entry for the upcoming postcard exhibit, Wish You Were Here. This exhibit will be held at Tohono Chul Park in Tucson, AZ from September 10 - November 16, 2009. Tohono Chul Park is a "49-acre desert preserve featuring nature trails, demonstration gardens, art and cultural events, and more."
Last year, Ali and I visited Antelope canyon on the Navajo reservation in northern Arizona. It is a slot canyon - one that you can only walk through. We spent five hours on a photographic tour with our guide, Carol Bigthumb. It was truly a magical experience. The inspiration for my entry was one of the over 200 photos I took in the canyon.
Yes, I finally feel like my hibernation is over. Actually I was not sleeping. I have been trying to organize my life. Last week, I finished reading The Success Principlesby Jack Canfield and Janet Switzer. It contains 64 principles for achieving your dreams. You know how we all write the goals and file them away. The authors suggest that you write an affirmation for each goal on an index card. You are then supposed to read them at least twice a day so that you keep focused on those goals. They have all kinds of wonderful suggestions for achieving your goals.
As a result, I have been busy putting together classes for this fall and winter. Saturday, I started teaching a fabric collage class at the quilt store in Green Valley. I am happy to be teaching one of the seven classes I proposed for the summer. I know here in Green Valley everything slows down in the summer because the snow birds leave; however, three classes were offered in Tucson. I was hoping things would be better there. I guess things are slow even in Tucson.
Several week ago, we were inundated with hoards of beautiful yellow butterflies. They come every year, but not in the numbers we saw this year. Most of them stayed over a week. Here are some photos I took of them on our Mexican bird of paradise plant. All the very light yellow spots are butterflies. Click on the picture to see them better.
There are still some here now. Usually, you seen them in pairs and they seem fly after each other in a three-dimensional spiral. So last year after doing some design exercises, I created thermofax screens of dancing butterflies!
I love the thought of Cactus and Roses. Below is a picture of our front yard with a luscious rose bush growing close to a small saguaro cactus - you know the ones that Arizona is famous for. Below are some more pictures of the many flowering plants (saguaro and cereus) around my neighborhood. I took these pictures while recuperation from my artist in residence, followed by a long hibernation.
On April 20, I started my artist in residence at Sonoita Elementary School in Elgin, AZ. This small town is approximately, 30 miles from Tombstone and is surrounded by ranches, vineyards, and wineries. As you can tell from Elgin's welcoming sign showing girls stomping grapes, its wine business is flourishing.
I am teaching grades 2 - 5. I spent one hour each day for two weeks with each class. Each grade used a variety of resource materials to create historical, fabric wall hangings about Ranching Through the Ages. Approximate time frames for each of the major ranching periods in the history of Arizona were assigned to different grades:
Grade 2: Current (1975 - 2009)
Grade 3: 1901 - 1974
Grade 4: 1857 - 1900
Grade 5: 1691 - 1821
Before I began teaching, I spent many hours preparing. This included buying supplies, cutting 30 yards of fabric and over 5 yards of 90" wide batting. Early one morning (around 3:00 AM) about three weeks ago, an idea came to me to mount the children's compositions (12" X 18") on jean material. I asked the school and friends here in Green Valley to collect old jeans. Consequently, I have also be spending time cutting them into long strips that will be sewn together.
During the first week we concentrated on drawing our compositions and making pattern pieces for fabric appliqués. At the beginning of the second week, students painted their background fabric and fabric for their appliqués. Then fusible webbing was used to appliqué their pieces to their background fabric. Of course, adults did all of the ironing. Below are two drawings created by a second and a third grader, respectively.
We decided that the second grade would make a whole scene designed by them. Students were divided into groups to design the sun, the clouds and birds, mountains, animals, jeeps (ranch equipment), etc. After two students put a river into their designs, we added a river that flowed from one end of the scene to the other. The horse see in the above drawing was one of the animals appliquéd. I helped them with their patterns and then they cut out all the pieces except the mountain, hills, and river. When we ironed all their appliquéd pieces to the backgrounds, even their teacher was blown away. The twenty 12" x 18" wall pieces were pinned to a sheet to view the semi-finished project. Be sure to click on the photo to see a bigger image of the project.
Last Thursday, the school had an art night to display the art work the students have done over the year. I have included some photos of the Ranching Through the Ages wall hangings created by grades 3 -5 below. Over the summer, I will finish cutting the jeans apart and mounting all the pieces on them. Several staff and parents have volunteered to help with the sewing.
Third Grade
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade
I had a wonderful two weeks at the school. The students were enthusiastic and did some incredible work. I also learned a great deal from them; some of which will help me be more prolific with my work. I feel blessed to been able to participate in such a rewarding experience. The staff at the school was very helpful. And I cannot sing enough praises for the four teachers (Mr. Smith, Mrs. Coleman, Mrs. Vanden Berge, and Mrs. Cartter) I worked with.
