Living Water

A friend of mine got me excited about spring water and informed me that my hometown was a sequestered site for pristine spring water. This information catalyzed my subsequent quest for this living water that is known by underground wild 'foodies' as being the purest water on the planet.
Our trip to Open Creek Dam was dual purpose as there is not only an immaculate spring there but also a great lake free of motorized boats perfect for canoeing. After an adventurous canoe trip on which we found wild mint growing on the dam, we headed to the spring with our glass jugs.
Glass is perfect material for water containers as it is a pure material that does not leach anything into the water.

As we walked up to the spring we noticed it flowed out of a covered cistern into a marshy wooded area. We were excited to taste the water so we cupped our hands, dipped, and drank. It was clean, cold, and earthy tasting- unlike store bought or even tap water. I have no problem with tap water and am thankful for the sophisticated water treatment systems North America has. I have no desire to criticize tap water, but the spring water, with it's vivacious thirst-quenching abilities is definitely something to seek out and experience yourself~

Daniel Vitalis, a health and nutrition philosopher, has created a website called findaspring.com which maps out all of the "wild water" sites recorded by people across the globe.

Through a macro lens: The world

Oust, oust!

On a recent trip to Banff, Alberta I realized a few things. One is that the perks to city life are limited and the other is that the commodification of nature's beauty to tourists is a pity, but understandable. In the great out doors I feel liberated and humbled by nature's power. Seeing the rocky mountains is awe inspiring and it reassures me that nature's power overrides the abuses of human impact. That the crashing together of plates can expose the innards of the earth is astounding and almost abject. And, although the oil spill in the golf is wreaking havoc on the earth's eco-system, the existence of the Rockies almost assures me that earth will conquer the devastations of man's presence.



Banff is a lovely town in the heart of the Rocky mountains and I've often dreamed of living there. Harnessing power from the geological wonders around me and living in a tranquil and pure state of being. These reveries are soon stifled, however, when I see the tourism that so often flanks nature's wonders. The laissez-faire lifestyle that Banff epitomizes is so consciously packaged and marketed, that it attracts travelers from over the globe and, though I can understand that the beauty of this place is to be shared with other world citizens, I can't help but bereave the loss of authenticity that tourism brings to Alberta's national parks.



Although I lament the loss of a wilderness experience to tourism, I am comforted by the sheer strength behind nature; the force behind streams etching out their course into limestone beds, and the way a glacier's minerals can colour it's runoff and make an entire lake a fantastical sight. Though I mourn trees deadened by pine beetles, I celebrate the hundred year old spruces who mark their territory and anchor the soil. I marvel the ravens who keep watch over arbourous terrains, making man shudder as they swoop overhead. And though I grieve over fallen-grain eating black bears hit by trains on CN tracks, I smile at the fear for the wild that makes people respect nature, carry bells, and leave no trace.

Art Gallery of Alberta

On my morning jog a phrase cycled through my head: Le vent, il suffis de te rendre fou. To satiate my nerves, and my long overdue curiosity, I decided to spend my Sunday afternoon at the newly opened Art Gallery of Alberta. Accessing the establishment was easily done via LRT. I made my way to the admissions desk and from foyer's adorning posters soon found out that on this particular Sunday one could part take in Edgar Degas: Figures in Motion interactive play. As a result of this swarms of little art connoisseurs were traipsing the hallway to the Degas exhibit and the BMO World of Creativity room. After having paid for my ticket, I decided to work from the ground level up. The first exhibit displayed Goya's The Disasters of War and Los Caprichos- a deeply disturbing series of pencil drawings depicting the brutal oppression and violence inflicted upon civilians by the Monarchy and the Catholic church in Spain circa 1810. So, a truly uplifting way to start the tour.
The second exhibit was also the primary one of the gallery: Degas. The only Degas I could recall before entering the exhibit was something about ballerinas. As it turns out, Degas was fascinated with the form and motion. The exhibit had numerous sculptures depicting ballerinas. My personal favourites were those of the arabesque poses.
Niveau deux held a Karsh exhibit and a storm room. Yousuf Karsh is one of Canada's most notable portrait photographers. Some of his most famous subjects include Albert Einstein, Nelson Mandela, Carl Jung, and Queen Elizabeth. He also photographed Ravi Shankar, a world renowned sitar played, who, evidently, is also the father of Norah Jones!
The Murder of Crows exhibit by Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller was a disturbing audible experience. My friend had recommended that I listen to the sound installation with my eyes closed as to fully appreciate the mastery of sound- and I suggest you do the same. The room consists of a circle of chairs where some chairs hold speakers and other chairs are intended for the listeners. The 30 minute installation is a compilation of a loose narrative told by a woman with an esoteric voice interspersed by musical interludes and accompanying soundtracks. I was literally scared at some points and as I heard the surround sound of army boots trampling beside me, I had to open my eyes to make sure it was just a recording!
As I stepped outside into the sunny and seemingly warm downtown, the phrase le vent, il suffis de te rendre fou still held true.

Russian Egg Painting

Working with a real-life Russian last year definitely exposed me to approaching life resourcefully (which, coincidentally, is also my favourite word in french 'debrouillard'). There's something truly rustic about the soviet way of doing things- colouring Easter eggs included. The eastern European way of colouring eggs is eco-friendly, artistic, resourceful (of course), cheap, easy, and tasty (afterwards).

What you will need:

Raw eggs (preferably white)
Onion skins from about 10 onions
Nylons, cut in sections, thicker is better
Leaves or other flat decorables found in nature
A large pot
Water

1) Begin by removing the onion skins and placing them in the large pot with water. Bring water to a boil and then let simmer for about twenty minutes. This allows the onion peels to colour the water.

2) While your onion skins are simmering, take an egg and a leaf, or whatever you want to imprint on the egg, and wrap it around the egg. Next, take a section of your nylon and place the egg and the leaf wrapped around it into the nylon casing. Tie the top and bottom ends of the nylon. This process is slightly arduous as the leaf won't easily stay on the egg while you're placing it in the nylon.

3) When all of your eggs are wrapped and in their nylon casing, transfer them into the onion dye. Bring the water back to a boil and boil the eggs for 10 minutes. If it is your intention to eat the eggs at some point, it is best not to over cook them. But if you want the imprint to really work, let the eggs boil for about 20 minutes. Turn element off and allow eggs to sit in the dye for an additional 10 minutes.

4) Remove eggs from water and allow them to cool. Remove nylon casing and examine how well the imprint worked. Some turn out better than others.

Through Black Spruce

I started reading Through Black Spruce amidst my other load of school readings. Though I'm barely halfway,I'm finding author Joseph Boyden's writing captivating and I'm finding his style somewhat of a vortex, one which is hard to look directly at but sucks you in at the same time. Reading a few chapters transports me into the body of a fifty-year-old Cree man with a drinking habit- shoes which I are foreign andslightly uncomfortable to travel in. Boyden's writing brings to life what common Canadians do not know about life in Northern Ontario. The characters have a raw connectedness with nature amidst the ever-trickling-in of urbanization. Modernity seems to take its negative toll on the youth of the small town of Moose Factory as the American construct of gangs inflicts violence on the seemingly innocent nature of the protagonist. Boyden's middle-aged protagonist, Will, seems to embody the last whisperings of an ancient culture and the youth are victim to hollow destiny's indicative of a media and consumer-driven society. Will's merited fear of the adolescent gang is Boyden's proselytization of a distant pure way of life soon to be usurped by one of hatred and violence.

Predictions:
-Willwill come out of his with a new found appreciation for life?
-Annie finds Suzanne in Toronto and tries to take her home but Suzanne has succumbed to a life of drug use and sex slavery?
-Will and Dorothy get it on?

Acrylic Gel Transfer

I've been submersed in the academic realm which is the U of A but not deep enough to hinder my love of, what I call, time maximization. I'm not quite a hedonist, but like to maximize the positive output of my time here on earth. Although this is a 'lit' blog, I'm changing the tune slightly today by talking about my new love, the gel transfer. 'twas only four score and ten months ago when I learned about the process at a dear friend's house in Montreal. Basically, a gel transfer is a process which transfers an image from one medium to another. Usually the initial image surface is paper and the second is canvas, word or for my friend Dan (http://touristiko.com/), an orange tool box. For images I've been using photographs I've taken in the recent past. And lately I've been taking pictures of things that would be particularly striking for a gel transfer. I've been taking a lot of colourful birds in bushes lately especially because I love the texture of the wood and the captured moment of life on camera. So, I upload my photos to a usb and go to my neighbourhood printers who print my photograph onto computer paper. I'm not sure if the ink needs toner in order for the transfer to work, but I know that the transfer did not work when I photocopied it.

1)The first step to is to choose a surface which you want the image on. I generally stick with canvas but have been experimenting with wooden surfaces as well.

2)Next, you take the acrylic medium, I find gel works best, and you coat the surface with the brush strokes going which ever way you like. Then you place the image face down onto the gelled surface,ensure that you've rubbed out all the air pockets,and allow it dry. I have waited only 10 minutes and it has worked but I find the results are generally better when you allow the acrylic medium to completely dry, which usually takes about 24 hours.

3)The best part of the process is removing the paper so only the mirrored image remains on the surface. In order to do this, just take a bowl of luke warm water and dip your index and middle finger into it. With your fingers rub the paper gently in a circular fashion until the paper starts to rub away. Be careful not to rub too hard because you will wipe away your image too! I've been there many times! This is a bit of a lengthy process depending on the size of the paper but I find it quite therapeutic.

4)Once all the paper has been rubbed away, allow for the image to dry. You might see that once it's dry that there is still some paper that needs to be rubbed away. When the paper is completely discarded, the image will look quite dull and washed out.

5)A good way to brighten your picture is to go over it with an acrylic gloss. And that's that!