NOEL MIDDLETON : ORDER OF OPERATIONS

Walking into Noel Middleton's Order of Operations at Narwhal Gallery brings me back to the hall of plaster casts at the V&A Museum in London.  He has filled the modest gallery with plaster sculptures evoking Roman statuary, columns and artifacts.  He is intentionally calling the viewer to think back to objects of antiquity through his presentation and yet the pieces are casts not of ancient carvings but rather the detritus from renovations that happened in the the very gallery he's situated them.  On closer inspection the statues can be seen as effigies to various trades associated with building; the plumber, the electrician and the framer.  Middleton even marks the passage of time through a tower of cast toilet rolls that evoke a measuring stick at an archaeological dig.

Like the previous renovations that Middleton peeled away, the work also can be viewed as many layered, referencing the demands and restraints that materials place on process, the restoration and appropriation of past cultures, and the importance of seeing the value in cast off and abandoned objects.

The show is absorbing and, like many museum displays of antiquities, overwhelming in content and volume.  The individual pieces each carry their own power and battle for attention and place.  The sublime texture of the plaster and majesty of the constructions contrast sharply with the textures of mundane materials found on closer inspection.  I was delighted to witness Middleton's veneration of tradespeople, having prayed and cursed to their earthly counterpoints time enough.

photos courtesy of Narwhal Gallery

AMANDA BURT

I've known Amanda Burt for many years and her statuesque beauty and brimming energy have always cheered a room.  We headed to her house on Concord for late afternoon tea as the last light of the day filtered through her new windows to talk renovations, retirement and reinvention. (Mercury is in retrograde after all)

Amanda seems poised on the precipice of a new chapter.  After working as a producer at the CBC for years she's "retired" and has just launched a life coaching business. Calling herself a "Creative coach", Amanda is employing the aspects of producing she most enjoys; helping people realize their creative potential,  honing in on promising directions, making vague ideas into concrete plans, and using sparse resources to achieve big goals. With an education in Art history and journalism combined with training as a yoga teacher and life coach, her CV expresses one who is more than qualified for this new endeavour.  The culmination of her diverse studies and life experience is truly inspiring. Basking in her energy alone is enough to get motivated and activate that underlying ambition.

She's also recently reinvented her home to allow space for both socializing as well as reflection and repose. The cold weather has left the patio lights dreaming of the coming spring but the kitchen was warm and inviting with lavender earl grey and homemade banana bread.  Baby Sheba snoozed on in the setting sun.  

You can reach Amanda Burt : Creative Coach here.

BUDGET LESSON

My Grandmother has been keeping a ledger of all her expenditures since she started to spend.   Dating from 1947, these books are both fascinating and beautiful artifacts; a history of her life as illustrated through the mundane (you'll notice she likes to splurge on candies, fresh fruits and other sweets).  She learned the habit from her father who saw her through both the great depression and Japanese internment camps during WWII, giving him reason to watch every penny. My Grandmother says that she doesn't know why she continues to make these documents and that perhaps her time could be spent better through other pursuits. However, a creature of habit, she likes to know where she spends her money and how much she spends.  The final photo in the following series is taken from her most recent ledger book.

Interestingly my father, since I can remember, has kept his own log marking down car millage and gas prices for each stop he's ever made at the pump and with every car he's owned.  This number recording gene somehow skipped my sister and I, but my husband has taken up the interest with our new car.  I now find myself jotting down the date, millage and price spent on gas when we stop to fill up.  A funny exercise, but perhaps if we all took a page out of my Grandmother's book we may be better poised to live comfortably, like her, well into retirement (she just celebrated her 92nd birthday).

 

 

PRE FALL 2015

The Samuji Pre-Fall 2015 collection (pictured above and bellow) sparked a fashion survey.  Here's Wardens choice from other favourite collections including Stella McCartney, Lanvin, The Row and Vionnet.