Tina Mammoser

Brightlingsea  by Tina Mammoser
acrylic on canvas    70 cm x60 cm

I first learned about Tina Mammoser when Lisa Call featured her in one of her newsletters.  Tina is an American painter who has resided in England for many years. She was originally trained in geology and physics but is now a full time artist. Her work is primarily focused on coastlines and water which she conjures in fabulously rich abstract paintings and in pencil drawings. I love the fact that she allows her early training to affect her painting in ways that matter to her. In this blog post she discusses some basic geology and how it is revealed in her recent paintings.

A few years ago I treated myself to a small 5" x 5" painting by Tina. It sits in my office and l look at it every day. I am fascinated by how much I see when there is really nothing there.

I am on Tina's email list and occasionally receive updates about her activities. This week she highlighted the fact that she is now selling prints of her work. I immediately clicked on the link. Even on the small screen of the iPad the essential nature of the original paintings shines through. The improvements in printing and paper technology appear to have made owning a print or a stretched canvas a very close second to the real thing, excepting the magnificent scale of her larger work. I plan to spend some time drooling over the website and thinking about who needs a gift in the next few months.

Dogs live here

Four dogs live here - two Bearded Collies and two Cairn Terriers. We have had as many as eight dogs at a time and that's too many. Four seems just right. There is a range of ages and play styles so each dog can get what it needs from the others. We truly enjoy watching the interactions, especially when we add a puppy to the bunch.

It is practically impossible to get video footage of Gage (5 years) and Tock (6 months) at play but here is a short segment. Gage has always self-entertained by dragging toys on a rope. He often wedges the rope in a crack to create his own game of tug of war. In this video he is playing with the feeling of resistance created by the back steps. Tock now has his own set of toys to drag. He learned to play from Gage - we didn't intervene except to provide the toys since Gage will not share his favourite string.

Veggie report

This is the list we receive on the Friday or Monday before our Wednesday CSA deliveries. We get entree boxes of both vegetables and fruit and a half dozen eggs every week and meat every two weeks. Soon we will also get flowers! Yes, it is a lot of food but we go through it all somehow. I really appreciate the advance notice so I can do some menu planning to deal with the most perishable items.

50 Week Veggie Share 2014

• Dilly Carrots - 1 jar (Appetizer Share); 1 jar (Entree Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Non Organic
• Celeriac - 1 (Appetizer Share); 1 (Entree Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Certified Organic
• Beets - 1.5 lb (Appetizer Share); 3 lbs (Entree Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Non Organic
• Beet Greens - small bunch (Appetizer Share); large bunch (Entree Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Certified Organic
• Leeks, overwintered - small bunch (Appetizer Share); large bunch (Entree Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Certified Organic
• Stinging Nettles - large bag (Entree Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Certified Organic
• Asparagus - 0.5 lb (Appetizer Share); 1 lb (Entree Share)
  Vermeulen Farms - Non Organic

Egg Share 2014

• Farm Fresh Eggs - 1/2 dozen (1/2 Dozen Eggs); 1 dozen (Dozen Eggs)
  TapRoot Farms - Certified Organic

Fruit Share 2014

• Rhubarb - 1 (Appetizer Share); 2 (Entree Share)
  Noggins Corner Farm - Non Organic
• Idared Apples - 3lb (Appetizer Share); 5lb (Entree Share)
  Noggins Corner Farm - Non Organic
• Grape Tomatoes - 1 pint (Entree Share)
  Non Organic
• Frozen Blueberries - 1 (Entree Share)
  Noggins Corner Farm - Non Organic
• Beths Raspberry Jam or Apple sauce - 1 (Appetizer Share); none (Entree Share)
  Noggins Corner Farm - Non Organic

Meat Share 2014

• Whole chicken - 1 (Meat Share)
  TapRoot Farms -
• Rabbit Pieces 2/pack - 1 (Meat Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Naturally Grown
• Ground Pork 1lb/pack - 1lb (Meat Share)
  TapRoot Farms - Pastured

This week's haul, minus some asparagus that we already ate.

When I grow up

My favorite piece of email each day comes from TextileArtist.org. Each post contains a profile of a textile artist or information of interest to artists in any medium. For example, they recently posted a very good piece on how artists can improve their websites. When I read the artist profiles I enjoy playing "When I grow up I want to be like her/him." Here are a few of my favourite "wanna-bes" from the last few months.

Heather Pickwell

Bethany Walker

Pate Conaway

I can trace my cat series directly from the impact of Pate Conaway's "This is not a life preserver" series. And I think my ideas about how to distort the cats have been influenced by my reaction to the many textile artists who are now working in three dimensions.

I urge you to sign up for a free subscription to the newsletter even if you have no special interest in textile art. You will receive some wonderful, and sometimes thought-provoking, eye candy and no annoying extraneous junk.

Speed dating

I admit it. When I read about the icebreaker at the recent SAQA conference I expressed scepticism and some disdain for the format. It was described as speed dating. We were each instructed to bring 50 business cards or postcards or pieces of fabric. It was clear that we would somehow be meeting new people and exchanging these tokens.

On the first night the room was set up with round tables with ten chairs at each. People were originally encouraged to sit with their regions. My table was the international hub. We had people from the following regions, Atlantic Canada, Central Canada, Western Canada, South and Central America and Mesico and the Caribbean, Africa, Oceania, and finally, Europe and the Middle East. All that and there were only ten people at the table!

We then received instructions and the 'dating' began. Each of us had 90 seconds to introduce ourselves to the others around the table. When it was my turn I was surprised by just how long the time seemed. When all the tables had completed a round of introductions, we were asked to go to another table where we knew no one. We repeated that a second time. Over the course of three rounds each of us met 27 new people. The familiar faces and the little bit of their story that we learned made a huge difference over the course of the next few days. I spent quite a lot of time with several of the people I met that night. And when I entered a room and didn't know anyone I would almost always see someone from speed dating. When I sat down beside them we were not strangers to one another and could do more than just exchange a polite smile.

I look forward to repeating the speed dating at the conference next year. And I recommend it to anyone who is organizing a multi-day event which includes many people who do not regularly meet one another.

Some of the people I met on that night:
Gillian Cooper, Scotland
Heather Dubreuil, Canada
Pat Pauly, New York
Delaney Cate, Maryland

A good helmet on your shoulders

Christine Somerville and I often sit on the deck at the Bike and Bean, a coffee and bike shop which adjoins a nearby rails to trails, and watch the cyclists go by. We comment privately on their bike fit, their riding mechanics and, most of all, on their helmets or lack thereof. Shortly after I became a CAN-BIKE instructor I had a vision of setting up a lemonade stand on the trail. The promise of a drink would lure people in and we could talk to them about helmets and other bike safety topics.

A few weeks ago we were able to do just that. Christine enlisted the support of a local yoga studio where she teaches Pilates and Yamuna body rolling. Fran, the owner, did some publicity, printed handouts that I provided, brought a table and delicious cucumber flavoured coconut water and we set up beside the trail on a busy Saturday afternoon.

We didn't count how many people we talked to but it was a lot. I had made up laminated bookmarks for kids with cartooned fit instructions and we were able to go through the steps with them. Adults appreciated that information as well as a handout on a quick bike check that might prevent problems somewhere down the trail.

I don't think we saw a well-fitting helmet and almost no one knew that helmets should be discarded after a certain period. We certainly saw a lot of hand-me-downs on the kids as well as adults wearing helmets well over a decade old. In one scary instance we met a young boy wearing a completely crushed helmet.

It was sometimes a stretch to step out and invite people over for a drink when we knew that we had an ulterior motive. And it was even more challenging for me to walk into the parking lot and talk to a father about my concerns about his kids' helmets. But our 'galloping' approach was really well-received and ultimately we made a difference in a few lives. I truly believe that there will be a ripple effect in our community because of the information we provided in a supportive and constructive manner.

A good day

Finally - a sunny warm day. George and I spent it in the Mahone Bay Area with the cyclists who might want to ride the Cabot Trail later this summer. For the first time I divided the group along gender lines. George took the men on a 55 km ride which went along the shore and in a big loop inland back to Mahone Bay.  Christine and I accompanied the women on a locally organized women's ride and then led them on a portion of the same loop as the men. Both groups ended up doing the same distance.

I wasn't sure about the idea of having two groups. In other years it wouldn't have worked at all. This year we have a number of compatible men who enjoy a fairly fast paced ride. In the women's group we were joined by someone who rode the Cabot Trail with us in 2012. She hadn't been on her bike in eighteen months. Her original plan was to do just the first easy 17 km but she decided (with very little input from me) to ride the entire distance. She wasn't fast but she was pretty darn perfect. I was so pleased to see her excellent skills in bike handling, shifting, effort management and manners and safety on the road. I rode sweep behind her and we had a fantastic conversation for the entire distance.

I am proud to have created a structure which allows so many people of varying skills and interests to come together to share some time on the road and in the sun. Did I mention that already? It was sunny, sunny, sunny!!!