Up North

Meenos

BUGS!

I have just discovered the most amazing site ever www.whatsthatbug.com. the bug pictured above is called a sun spider, and "is harmless unless you are a small arthropod". This humorous and informative site has amazing photos of crazy critters, bug love, and unnecesary carnage. At first you may feel a bit squeamish, but after looking at bugs for awhile you may start to appreciate their buggy beauty.

I recently read a book about earthworms. fascinating creatures that seem so delicate and weak, but over hundreds of years can change the face of the planet. Also did you know that there are no worms native to canada? All worms are introduced species (hitching rides in potted plants and bottoms of shoes)
Apparently Darwin believed that worms had a certain amount of intelligence. He tested them on their ability to bring paper triangles into their burrows. Strange but true. i am starting to read his paper now, and you too can read it here The Formation Of Vegetable Mould Darwin is pretty easy to read, so give it a go and you too may be sucked into the vastly interesting topic of worms.

A lesson is to be learned here. just because bugs look frightening, does not mean you should squish them. most bugs are harmless to humans. learn to appreciate them and a whole new world will open up to you.

In Memory of Pearson

I'm sorry to say that I must share some sad sad news. Our family dog, Pearson, was hit by a car on the highway and died. Such a silly yellow dingo dog, I remember bringing him home when he was just a puppy from the neighboring farm, all ears and tail. He always greeted me when I came home with a hop and a perpetual wagging tail. Even after I left home, Mom would say that Pearson would wait at the driveway for the school bus to stop, and was confused when it just drove by. You were a great lovable friendly grinning dog, and we will all miss you.
Rest in peace, pup.

Butterfly in the sky, I can go twice as high

Reading Rainbow!! todays reading rainbow book is...

Inventing the Future: Reflections on Science, Technology and Nature by David Suzuki

In this book, Suzuki discusses issues such as ethics and morals in science, animal rights, genetics and society, pros and cons of technology, science and military (which he calls an “unholy alliance”), the war between economics and ecology, environmental issues (de-forestation being a large topic), politics and the environment, science education in elementary to university, and alternate world views such as aboriginal ideology.

Obviously he is speaking through his bias as an environmentalist, but Dr. Suzuki is also a scientist (geneticist), and an educator. He understands that we have become complicit in our destruction. We are stuck in a cycle of mass consumerism and mass waste, unable and possibly unwilling to change because we have already invested so much of our life in a certain path. He talks about the subtle relationships found within many issues but he also states that often economics and politics are blind to these subtleties and only ask what is profitable.

He proposes that change must be made in the way we view our relationship to nature, in that we are not above it, but part of the Earth and its symbiotic cycles. We must realize that clean air, water, forests, and wildlife is priceless and cannot be reduced to monetary value as economics would like us to believe. (I love the part when he talks about breaking down humans into base components, and that we could be sold for a few hundred dollars each. Is that really all human life is worth? The answer is no.) He has hope that if we teach our children to love nature (bugs included), rather than fear or abhor nature,then the future leaders of our world will choose technologies that will not harm the Earth- if there is anything left.

this is a grossly condensed blurb of the book, don't take my word for it, read it yourself! Its an easy read, but it is smart, funny, and thought provoking. If you like to read his newspaper column, you'll enjoy this book as it is in the same writing style.


I found this book at the Regina Public Library, and right now it is on the display shelf in front of the Dunlop Art Gallery. One of the best perks of my job is the time to read and stock the display shelf with books that pertain to the show (this show is about economics and ecology). Right now I am stocking it with books about global warming (pro and con), environmental issues, how to save the planet, books about reducing, reusing, and recycling, books about environmentally friendly products, eco heroes, and on and on and on. If nothing else, this is a way for me to spread the word, that we can make changes to our life styles that really isn't much of an effort.

Ice & Fire Carnival

Hey all
As you may or may not know, I participated in this years Ice & Fire Carnival. Myself, and two colleagues Chad and Fazail, created a fabulous sherbert snow fort for the people to enjoy. Apparently over 7,000 people attended the event which is an amazing turnout for Regina. I hope that I will be invited back to carve next year as it was a great experience, even if our sculpture turned out to be a pastel floral bunker. oh well, the kids sure enjoyed climbing on it!

pictures of carnival

Katzenauge

Portrait of Jaimee

MotherEarth Pieta

here is a link to the most famous of pietas, created by Michelangelo.

You must be the change you wish to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi.

Hey all,

You know what gets me is that some people are saying that the fight against global warming is becoming a fad. Well its a fuck of a lot better fad then say - Pog. (I can only imagine how many trees were cut down for that waste of time) And others are saying its a corporate conspiracy to make money (what?) and that global warming is just a fear tactic. (I'm getting this info from the general public I talk to at work). But the truth is we are fucking our planet up hard core. Even if global warming wasn't happening (which it is) there is still ample evidence of the mass consumption and wasted energy and products all around us. Why, walking home from work today I picked up 5 plastic bags, a styro egg carton, and a bunch of random plastic crap. God knows how much i detest plastic. Plastic is the devil.

Anyway, my real point of this post is to show that you don't have to go to extremes to help out the environment. Here are a few things that i've been doing for a few years now, and things i've decided to do to help out my earth:

1. Walk to work or when I'm working in the North end, take the bus.
2. Recycle everything.
3. If i can't recycle, then reuse. For example, I buy shredded cheese in those zip up bags, I almost threw it away today, but then i thought, why am I throwing it away? its just as good as a zip-lock bag. so i washed it, and is now in my zip-lock bag box.
4. Speaking of which, I have decided to stop buying zip-lock bags. instead, i will use washable containers.
5. Wear a sweater or cuddle with rob if i am cold, instead of turning on the space heater.
6. Turn off all the lights, electronics etc. when not in use.
7. Grow a garden in the summer, reduces transportation emissions, pesticides, and tastes way better than store bought. If I can't afford to put in a garden this year, then I plan on buying my veggies from the farmers market. pretty much accomplishes the same thing.
8. Hang laundry out to dry in the summer. I really wish i could do this now, but i think our clothes would shatter. goddamn -40!!!!
9. Invest in green energy. i realize that you don't actually get the green energy around here, but at least it lets the crown corporation know that we want it.
10. As an artist, i feel like an ass for the amount of paper i go through. i try to sketch out stuff on the backside of printer paper. But for the upcoming drawings that i want to show in a gallery i am planning on making my own paper out of recycled flyers and so forth.
11. Make the change from paper bills to e-bills.
12. Use environmentally friendly cleaning products. It's really amazing what vinegar can do. Also Rob's mother bought us this amazing laundry soap called Malaluka. (not sure if thats the correct spelling, but I don't really feel like running downstairs to check). Anyway its environmentally friendly and so forth. I have found biodegradable dish-soap (presidents choice, for sensitive hands) and biodegradable bathroom cleaner called Method (found at shoppers drug mart) it is made out of corn. You can also buy Green paper products such as toilet paper and paper towels (Presidents Choice) that is 100% post-consumer recycled paper. I don't recommend the Green garbage bags, as they don't seem to stay together, unfortunately. Most of these products are quite affordable, so there is no excuse for not using them.
13. Buy groceries from those bulk bins whenever possible, such as pasta, trail mix,etc. There is less packaging that way.
14. Buy clothes from value village, not because I'm poor (even though i am), but to reuse perfectly good clothes. Plus i love old man plaid pants.
15. convince the Dunlop to stop using styrofoam at receptions.
16. become free from the material world, reduce my consumption to the minimum

The other day I was a little glum, because I thought that there wasn't anything I could do. I had a meteorologist come into the gallery and tell me that we are screwed. I was really depressed because I thought that the little things I do were hopeless and pointless on a global scale. My favorite quote ran through my head - "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." I realized that every little bit helps. We have to start a sustainable living revolution. So i'm doing my very best to help in the cause. You should too.

vive la revolution!
kat

I speak for the trees.

"Mister!" he said with a sawdusty sneeze,
"I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.
I speak for the trees, for the trees have no tongues.
And I'm asking you, sir, at the top of my lungs" -
he was very upset as he shouted and puffed-
"What's that THING you've made out of my Truffula tuft?"

- The Lorax by Dr. Seuss

and here is an artist that makes cool things out of reused corrugated cardboard.
corrugated art

Little boxes on the hillside,
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And the people in the houses
All go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives,
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

And they all play on the golf-course,
And drink their Martini dry,
And they all have pretty children,
And the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university,
And they all get put in boxes
And they all come out the same.

And the boys go into business,
And marry, and raise a family,
And they all get put in boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

-Malvina Reynolds

And now for something completely different...

um... a self portrait? i'll let you decide. (drawn monday jan 22)

Where did I come from? Who am I? And where am I going?

("D'où venons nous? Que sommes nous? Où allons nous?", Paul Gauguin)

Well dedicated visitors of Clear Light here is something new for you, my personal thoughts! Almost a year out of university and already having answered the first two questions,(sperm and egg, Katherine Deanna Binns) I now am venturing on to the third and final question. It sort of seems as if I am in limbo. (Waiting for...what? The starting gun!)

I feel like this weird anticipation, knowing that now everything depends solely upon myself. No one is going to do it for me. Up until this year I had a path that stretched out before me, and all I had to do was stay on it. Well, that was the well travelled path that most everyone takes (school, school and more school) and not much thought was given to afterwards. Now there is this pressure to follow the next steps in this well worn path. Which as I see it is, go to school or get a job, save money, get married in a traditional christian ceremony, buy a house, have kids, save money, raise kids, watch them grow up and leave, save money, prepare for your death. Really this is not the worst path to travel, and there is more to it than what I have listed. Obviously I am being a little cynical here. And there is joy and pleasure in raising a family. But Something keeps whispering in my ear, "take the road less traveled". (No Robert Frost is not visiting me from beyond the grave)

Sometimes I think, yeah, it would be easy to get a day job that pays enough to live on. and yeah then I could probably get a mortgage to buy a house. and yeah maybe then have children. It seems like such a realtively easy life, as compared to what I am trying to achieve right now. I must ignore the pressure to conform to the comfort of that path of life. Comfortable because that kind of life is what is expected and embraced by the general population (and parental units).

Where has this rant come from? Well, earlier today I was talking to my friend Natsuko, and she has a show in Winnipeg, and an article on her art in Galleries West!! WOW! To be published this early? I mean thats incredible, but of course she is an incredible artists (check out her website here). Another one of my friends who graduated with me, Angela, has curated a show at the Mackenzie (now on exhibit, go check it out). Which is also an amazing feat! These woman are the same age as me, and look at what they have accomplished thus far. Not even a year out of university, one is a curator and the other a touring artist. And even other friends, who may not be focusing on art right now, are overseas expanding their knowledge in numerous and exicitng ways.

I am so happy for these friends, but it also is a reprimand for myself. What have i been doing? Not Much. Squandering my time as usual. ("fritter and waste the hours in an offhand waaa-iaay") playing Okami and reading countless amounts of books. I often critique others for not pursuing their goals and seeing them through to the end, but I think I need to point the finger at myself.

These words of Timothy Leary keep running through my head. "Throughout human history, as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are, or where we are going in this ocean of chaos, it has been the authorities — the political, the religious, the educational authorities — who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing — forming in our minds — their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself."


I realize that I am bending the interpretation of this a bit, but just bear with me. I apply this to myself in the perspective that if I really want to blaze my own trail in this chaos we call life, then I must question the authorities (i.e. parental) who have attempted to comfort me my whole life with rules, regulations, and their view of reality which they have firmly embedded in my mind. I must also be willing to step into 'a state of vulnerable open-mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform' myself as to which path I want to take. Realizing, that it won't be easy and there will be a lot of unknowns. Which really is quite exciting to me. I've always been the one to not follow rules and the norm... why stop now?


post script: Don't get me wrong, I Love my parental units dearly.
post post script: rob, let's become hemp farmers.

Audrey Batke, age 15

i know mother never reads this, but Happy Birthday none the less!

an infants sorrow

a nice contrast to the previous post "grief".

"Grief"

An old woman crying for reasons unknown to the viewer. The imagery of her hand, with its creased tissue skin, covering her face just seemed to take her grief to a new level. It is written in the lines and folds of her hands that her life has not been easy. Does the drawing need more context for the viewer to determine what the image is? Probably, but to me her shroud and clothing just seemed to be extraneous information.

old woman

did this drawing at work today (along with a few others). This drawing came from a picture in a photo-magazine. so i can't take all the credit for it, just my interpretation of the photo. i seem to have a lot of time on my hands in the gallery. today, not a single person came into the gallery. Its a little frustrating, as I really would like to talk to people about the show. So if any of you are in Regina, come visit me at the Sherwood Village branch and I will give you a personal tour. On the other hand I'm getting paid to sit and draw or read or sew or whatever. too bad there isn't wireless in the gallery. then i could watch youtube! although i might feel slightly guilty about that.

Aldous speaks (part one of three)

self portrait #3

artist in her studio

Current fantasy

Self Portrait #2 Kat at Work

man it's hard work looking at art. took this at the Dunlop Art Gallery, Sherwood Branch. photo editing done in camera.

THE MAXX!

Portrait #1 (for rob's contest)

went for a two hour walk in search of the car. rob told me that he left the car somewhere on athol street...