Celebrating Surrey's Student Artists!

Celebrating Surrey's Student Artists 

On Monday I checked out  the Surrey School District's student art exhibit on now at Central City Shopping Centre. I was so impressed by the calibre of talent shown.  The students and teachers can be very proud of the work they're doing.  Arts funding is taking a beating. We need to pay attention to art and recognize it when we see it. Everything is designed. What device are you reading this on? Well, take a look at it. It was designed by an  artist!

A few images of the exhibit, on now til May 20th. 

Near Future Shop  and Winners .

 Black and White collage

Disregard the reflection!

Love the Colour!

Artist's Statement

Lots of different styles and techniques in play.

Later in the day, was treated to a performance by the Semiahmoo Secondary Jazz band. They performed at my mother's care home in South Surrey.  My 25 year old  son,  a jazz pianist & former student of Surrey's Jazz Festival founder Bob LaBonte's music  program at Sullivan Heights, accompanied me and was impressed by the skills of these fine young men.  My 90 year old mother sat in the front row and thoroughly enjoyed the show! 

There's a famous quote attributed  to Winston Churchill (although there's debate about when and even if he really said it)  Still, it bears mentioning. 

When Winston Churchill was asked to cut arts funding in favour of the was effort, he replied, "Then what are we fighting for"

  For some students art, music, dance, drama are what gets them through high school in one piece. Arts programs are as essential as learning to read  and write.  Our Surrey students and  their dedicated teachers talent and hard work need and deserve your support. 

Attend a concert, performance or exhibit at your neighbourhood school.  You won't be disappointed!

Aura Photo (and the Zen of De-Junkifying One's Life)

 Reposting an archived post.... this one from 2008.

I have been spending quite a bit of time de-cluttering my living space in the hope that by having less stuff to distract me, I will be more likely to get way more important things done. It is a monumental task, and requires a lot of ''grinning and bearing it" as I throw away memorabilia from days gone by.
However, I refuse to part with a 30 year old high school photography class collage that has this image of me at its centre. I love the way the light and shadow play against each other.
These days many of us struggle with clutter. We who came of age in the 60s and 70s were raised on a diet of steady acquisition. More equals success!
It seems that the longer one lives in a particular home the worse it gets! Relocating forces you to get rid of stuff. I have lived in my home for over 22 years and in that time have acquired so many "treasures" that it has started to interfere with my daily life. I have bought vintage items with every intention of turning them into cool conversation pieces, only to find them shoved into some corner years later. My new mantra is " NO MORE STUFF!".
Now, you must excuse me as I toss out the baby teeth my dear old departed dad saved every time I lost a tooth. He had them all carefully labelled and stored in a little jar in his dresser.
Sigh... it's a good thing memories take up zero space.

Class of '77 or.. A Long Time Ago- in a galaxy far, far away, (Chilliwack)

Me and some of my best friends from school. Don't we all look incredibly happy!

Just returned from SFU after moving my son into his dorm. More on that later. Here are a couple of pix from my reunion. It was so good to see old friends, especially those from elementary school. My throat was hoarse the next morning from talking so much and also from trying to be heard above the band ( were they loud or am I just getting old?).
Anyway, it was really interesting to see how our lives have evolved. The thing that stands out in my mind is how over the last 30 years, our personalities have become visibly more fine tuned. Kind of like focusing a fuzzy lens til the image becomes crisp and clear. We have become who we were meant to be.
If you were there, leave your comments. I would love to hear your thoughts.