Small Pond Trading Cards, Part 3

Here's the continuation of our "trading card" series celebrating
and looking back at the first six years of Small Pond Arts.

Banner by Leanne Shea Rhem

Installation by Georga Ryan

SEE PART 1

SEE PART 2

SEE PART 4

How to Build a Giant Lantern

For our third annual Firelight Lantern Festival I wanted to build something really special for the parade. When I saw pictures of giant lanterns from the Minneapolis Lantern Festival, I was totally inspired. I contacted my friend, fellow puppet artist Mary Plaster, as she'd assisted in making the lanterns, and she gave me some great tips.

The inspiration came from the MPLS Lantern Festival.
Photo: Dusty Hoskovec/Minneapolis Downtown Council

With artist friends Susanne Larner and Nell Casson on board for this project, we decided to make two giant lanterns, a rabbit and a turtle, to go with this year's theme of 'earth.' Both animals are local to our area and are resplendent with symbolism, from fables to literature to First Nations' mythology. I had seen the sketches the MPLS Festival artists had made; they were very elaborate. I guess we're into a more organic approach.

Planning? Yeah, that's enough planning.

We acquired the requisite materials: 6-foot lengths of bamboo, lots of plain white sheets, masking tape and hot glue. To begin, we had to split the bamboo, which was its own learning curve. Pro-tip: wear gloves! Split bamboo is very sharp and splintery, our hands got terribly cut up the first day. I found the easiest way to split the bamboo was to use a pair of garden shears to split the end and slide the shears down the split. Generally splitting them into quarters seemed to work quite well. The bamboo becomes very flexible yet is still very strong.

L to R: Nell Casson, Susanne Larner, Krista Dalby
with our bunny skeleton

We started out building the frame of the rabbit's body, a big oval shape, and made cross-bars from unsplit bamboo for structural support. We attached the bamboo together with joints of masking tape. Once we'd made the body, we could divide up the different tasks: someone made the hind legs, someone else the head, tail, and front legs. We attached it all together, but left the head separate. When the structure was finished we sprayed the joints with Rockerguard - an automotive product that is basically a rubberized glue that ensured that if the masking tape dried out all the joints wouldn't spring apart.

Nell channelling her inner bunny.

Next we had to install the lights. This was a bit nerve-wracking as once the fabric was applied to the outside, it would be difficult to change them. We did a few tests using a three different types of LED lights: strings, hanging bulbs, and push-lights. We needed somewhere for the battery packs to go, so we hot glued some tube socks to the inner part of the frame, and fit a few battery packs in each one. 

Lighting test

We wanted to be able to carry the lanterns atop of large poles, but have the ability to take the poles out for transportation and storage, so we added cardboard tubes and sealed up the tops, so the poles could easily slide in yet be quite stable.

Carrying test

Satisfied with our structure, we started applying the covering. We worked section by section pulling the sheets tightly over the structure and hot gluing the fabric to the bamboo.

As we needed access to the battery packs to light up our lanterns, we decided where the best access points would be, and created flaps held in place with velcro.

Artist Don Maynard (R) joined our lantern-building crew

I'm glad we started this project early, because it took quite a long time. Final touches included adding black felt for eyes; being a puppeteer I know that eyes really bring characters to life. We left the head off until after it was lit up, and attached it with zip ties, then tied a flowy ruff around the neck to hide the seam.

We were all really happy with how our giant lanterns turned out, and they looked so magical floating down Main Street Picton in our parade.

Photo by Ramesh Pooran

The lanterns were very lightweight and easy to carry. We provided our "lanterneers" with cumberbunds, small pouches worn around their waists, giving them a place to rest the ends of their poles.

Team Turtle having a great old time. Photo by Ramesh Pooran.

Photo by Eve Harvey

Big thanks to everyone who helped make and carry our giant lanterns. What should we make next year? 

Autumn Crazy

Prince Edward County is a crazy place to live in the summer. Crazy-beautiful. crazy-touristy, crazy-busy. Yet throughout it all, there is an understanding that come Autumn, the leaves will turn brilliant colours and things will slow the hell down. Apparently our lives did not get this memo (although the leaves did change colour).

September saw us hosting Stickfest, another Creative Rural Minds networking event, plus trips to Calgary (my sister's surprise wedding!) and Barrie for Culture Days, where we built a cardboard village with a few hundred strangers. 

October saw us hosting our annual Scarecrow Festival, and I dashed off to Toronto to work on Clay & Paper Theatre's Night of Dread as I do every year (great photos HERE).

Me & Sandra Henderson have been working on
Night of Dread together for 7 years!

Then there was the Picton Zombie Walk, presented in collaboration with the library, which has over the past four years turned into a hilariously family-oriented activity. 

Me and my ghoul-friends post-Zombie Walk

For months, Milé has been working on an epic painting project, To the Sound of Trumpets, commemorating the centenary of the start of WW1. 

The 100 paintings he's created have an incredible range both in content and style. The show opens in Picton November 11, 2014; details HERE, great article from the Toronto Star HERE.

November 15 is right around the corner, bringing with it the Firelight Lantern Festival. We're in the midst of hosting 20 lantern-making workshops all over the County, and planning a very special celebration for our community. A few days after that is over, I'm flying to Cambodia, bringing my project Puppets Without Borders to a group of 100 kids in collaboration with Let Us Create.

I have to admit, it has been a little much, all this muchness. When you're a freelance artist and a generally yes-minded person, it is difficult to say no to anything.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, as it were, it's time to get ready for winter. The firewood is piled high on the front porch. 

Yesterday I took down the silo banner. Normally our old banners get ripped up to be recycled into puppets and things, but I wasn't ready to say goodbye to this gorgeous woodpecker by Leanne Shea Rhem, so I hung him up in the barn.

A soft rain is falling today, and there are no appointments on my calendar. I'm going to sit by the wood stove and enjoy some peace and quiet. All this work provides much to reflect on. What I've been doing, and what all of these activities add up to. Snatched from the jaws of busy-ness, days like today are to be cherished.

Sumac against naked silo

Lighting Up History With Contemporary Art

A few months ago I connected via Twitter with Jennifer Lyons, the head curator at Museums of Prince Edward County. She sent me an article about a historic house in New York City that had invited contemporary artists into the house to create work to be displayed on site. Jennifer and I got together soon afterwards to discuss how we might be able to collaborate on a project at Macaulay House, built in the 1830's, and located just a few minutes away from Small Pond Arts.

At this time I was heavy into planning for the Firelight Lantern Festival, and as the museum’s Doors Open event was happening the week after our festival, I thought it might be interesting to create lanterns in response to the historical objects on site. Made of bamboo, tissue or rice paper, masking tape and glue, these simple materials are extremely flexible, and can be used to rather quickly create sculptural art pieces. Jennifer was game, so I invited three other artists to come on board, Chrissy Poitras, Nell Casson and Hri Neil.

On a cold day in early April we met up at Macaulay House. Jennifer took us on a tour of the house, and there was no shortage of inspiration to be found. We sat down and discussed what approach we would take. We spent the rest of the day in the cozy kitchen, making lanterns. This is what we came up with.

Teapot and Teacups by Nella Casson

Artist statement - Nell Casson

We began our tour of Macaulay House through the door of the servants’ kitchen; a warm fire was brightly burning and the vessels and objects were lined neatly on the shelves. We continued into the main house, where the fine objects similar to those owned by the Macaulay family were displayed in the grand rooms. I was instantly aware of the difference between the two classes that had lived in the house. Although their lives were obviously different I looked around for objects that both classes would have handled and used. The ceramics and fine china in the cabinet in the main dining room are preserved perfectly. The patterns on the teacups and teapots are so ornate and precious - some even in gold, I was instantly dawn to the pattern and the design of these objects. While working on my lanterns I began to think of these fragile objects as a kind of bridge between the classes. These teacups would be handled by both the lady of the manor and her staff. This teapot would be presented to guests and cared for by the kitchen help. It amazes me that these artifacts have survived. Their fragility is reflected in the fragile nature of the lanterns I have created.

Inspiring inkwell 

Artist statement - Krista Dalby

I was drawn to focus on objects in Reverend Macaulay’s study because this room is a private one, devoted to personal work and reflection. Being a writer, I was easily charmed by the quill in the inkwell; I’ve often thought that you would have to be very serious about writing to use such tools. I chose to create a Bible because it was an object which would have figured prominently in the reverend’s life. I thought it would work well as a lantern, being lit from within, as I imagine his belief in God might have done for him. As my final object of inspiration I chose the clock on the mantle. Wandering through the house you are struck by the sense of time, the lives that have lived in these rooms and handled these antiquities. As the clock was so ornate I couldn’t hope to emulate its details, opting instead to add the Latin phrase Tempus Fugit, “time flies,” a poignant inscription often found on clocks.

Bible, Inkwell and Clock by Krista Dalby

Detail of clock by Krista Dalby, "Tempus Fugit"

Chrissy Poitras with boots

Artist Statement - Chrissy Poitras

We entered through the back door into the winter kitchen. A fire was built and a pop-up studio was created. Memories of class trips and Christmas visits with my family came back to me while we walked through the house and peeked in all the rooms. There were so many objects to appreciate and spaces to inspire, but I was quickly attracted to the two-tone leather children's boots, with the tiny little buttons, sitting on the trunk at the foot of the bed. These boots inspired me to focus on fashion, including the top hat that could have belonged to Mr. Macaulay and the bonnet, perhaps similar to one owned by his wife or daughter. As we sat by the fire, drinking coffee, chatting and building our lanterns I started to realize that these accessories also spoke about family. This association seemed fitting as it related back to my nostalgic feelings upon entering the house. Once the structures of my lanterns were completed I brought them home to my studio on County Rd. 5 where I hand-painted and printed monoprints onto Japanese rice paper for the covering of the lanterns. I appreciated being able to interact with a space that was part of my past in a way that truly connects to my present.

Chrissy Poitras with boots, bonnet and top hat lanterns

Detail of top hat by Chrissy Poitras

Hri Neil outside Macaulay House

Artist Statement - Hri Neil

My piece, Tree House, is a meditation on the relationship between the grandeur of the Macaulay House in juxtaposition to the majesty and isolation of the natural world where it was situated. Set and setting, it's hard for us to imagine the sense of isolation the early settlers would have felt as they engaged the wilds of Canada, struggling to establish an outpost of civilization in what was primarily raw forest at the time. Winds rattling the windows and the shadows of trees dancing in moonlight. Tradition and the vestiges of God and culture holding fast with only a thin skin of wood and brick as a bulwark against the quiet mystery of nature. A home amongst the trees.

Tree House by Hri Neil (click to play video)

Having the opportunity to work in this beautiful historic home was really wonderful, and as artists we appreciated this unique challenge of merging the historical and the contemporary. Our lanterns should be on display for at least the next month, so if you're in the area, stop by Macaulay House and check them out!

Breakfast at Macaulay's by Milé Murtanovski

We weren't the only artists to hone in on this beautiful spot; Milé painted a door depicting both the exterior of the house as well as a scene in the dining room. The door was auctioned off yesterday, with the proceeds supporting the Museums of Prince Edward County.