Stolen Artwork of Bill Reid

It is with great sadness that I compose this post. Unfortunately, sad things happen and while sometimes we can do something about them, there are other times when we can only watch in helpless horror.
This past Friday night or early Saturday morning (May 23/24), eleven pieces of art, created by the skilled hands of Haida artist, Bill Reid, were stolen from the museum at the University of British Columbia. In my opinion, Bill Reid was one of the greatest west coast artists of all time, and his works are priceless! As the years of my life have passed and my own interpretation of west coast art has been expressed, the work of Bill Reid has continued to inspire me. In fact, in my home, I proudly display three pieces of Bill Reid art. How tragic that the legacy he left has been stained by greed! Perhpas the pieces will be recovered without incurring any damage.

Mighty Keystrokes, Pastel Paint and Soft Wood

Hi everyone!! A big welcome to all my visitors, especially the new ones from Cote D'ivoire (Ivory Cost - Africa), Argentina, Romania and Sweden. It has been a long time since I posted, but I’m still here. I hope you are all doing well and enjoying my blog. My editing is coming along and I’m over half way to the end of 3 Seconds On, 3 Seconds Off – Volume I. The Copy Editor’s suggested changes are often unexpected and even though I agree with the vast majority of them, a few seem to jump out and demand careful consideration. All in all, I’m having a great time reading through the manuscript and tossing my two cents worth in here and there. Once I am done, my publisher will do a final read-through. If he likes it all, then the manuscript goes to final layout for printing! Yes!!
My website is also progressing, but I’m still not sure of when it will come on line. (No pun intended.) Writing On Stone Press just asked for a list of page ideas for the site. I created the list and sent it off this past week.
My picture editing is still ongoing. I happily found a set of ten medium format slides (film about 3x bigger than ordinary 35 mm film). My mother created the collection in 1983 – all looking at Pointer Island Light, from various spots along the shores of Hunter Island. By the look of structural development of the lighthouse, the pictures were taken over a year after I left and just before Mom & Dad retired. The images are perfectly exposed and preserved! I’m trying to get them digitized so I can show them to you. Unfortunately, I don’t have the equipment to process them myself, or you’d already be enjoying them.
In addition to my book work, and, of course, my job, my wife, Diana, and I are repainting one of our bathrooms. The room is small, but there are numerous angles and tiny alcoves to dab paint on. To further complicate the project we have employed two shades of blue – one very light and the other a touch darker. The effect is beautiful, and we are nearly finished. I can’t believe how much masking tape was used! This is the first time we have painted this room since we moved here nearly 20 years ago! I think it’s due!
My carving is also progressing. I created, laid out and traced the design onto the wood. Then, I swallowed hard and put blade to wood on my grand son’s birthday sign. So far, it is going well. I’m trying not to rush, and so far, my pace seems to have saved me from any slips. I like the way the project is going. It is so magical to be able to transform an ordinary, plain piece of wood into a work of art! And I haven’t even cut myself – yet!

Poems, Knives & Soft Wood

Hi everyone,

Sorry I have not posted for so long. (Rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.) I have been my usual busy self, but I have occupied my spare time in pursuit of art. In the month of February, besides writing a cool poem called, "Feeling Froggy" for a local party, I have already completed two more pieces of my West Coast Art - and have loved every minute of the creation process. (I'll post the art soon.) Something that has been swirling through my "want to do" list is wood carving, and as of Feb 23, I tried it. In bygone years I have taken out my pocket knife and whittled, but prior to the day before yesterday, I have never tried any actual carving. I must tell you that the procedure is awesome!!! I want to push my style of West Coast Art to the next level and use wood as well as paper. The whole thing went something like this:

Early Saturday morning, while the house was quiet, I rummaged through some old things and laid my hands on a couple of ancient woodworking tools (that I had no idea what to do with). I located my x-acto knife and then procured a small chunk of scrap 3/4 inch thick cedar from my garage. Taking a deep breath, I drew a simple design with a pencil and began to cut. As the seconds passed, and the x-acto knife sliced along my pencil lines, I took courage. It actually looked pretty good! One of the old tools was a miniature version of a chisel and it effectively worked to clean out areas between the lines. In under an hour, I had a finished design!

A mid-day trip to the local House of Tools found me the proud owner of a new tool, and before I retired for the night, I had carved a second design in a scrap piece of 3/4 inch poplar! Are we having fun yet? Oh yeah!!

PS. I also put a set of multiple choice questions along the right edge. Don't forget to vote!