August Art Exhibition

A bit of a busy morning for me, today. Moving art work up and down stairs, getting everything in place for my August art exhibition.

The painting that I’m hanging in the photo above is the smallest one in the entire exhibition. It may be small in size but the history behind it makes this painting one of my all time favourites.

In 2006, I had a two week long visit in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut. My main purpose was to share my artwork with the community by donating a very special art peace to the local high school. In 1998 I had accidentally designed the world’s first ever National-Interconnected-Animated-Rendering series entitled Canada: Glorious To Be. In a nutshell – each of Canada’s thirteen provinces and territories will receive one peace of artwork for the project to be completed. Each of the thirteen artworks is also a frame of animation. It may take me twenty more years to finish this art project. More info is available on my website: http://www.bitsandpeaces.com/Canglointro01.htm

While in Rankin Inlet I also conducted another ‘Art For Earth’ class for the youth of the community. What a blast!!!! We all had a great time. This class took place each afternoon for three afternoons. At the end, each student had completed there own painting of the Earth, Moon and Sun.



During the second afternoon the students were a bit more animated cuz they grew to know that I was having just as much fun as they were. One of the students asked me to paint a peace symbol on her face… then another student and another. Soon, all the students had peace symbols or happy faces painted on their cheeks.

At one point during the class, I looked around and noticed that half the students were gone. Then I heard giggling in the back bathroom. I knocked on the door and it suddenly opened and I was attacked by fierce wild animals. These girls were having way tooooo much fun painting their faces. I can’t not smile when I think of these memories.


Late that night I was sitting outside of the hotel I was staying at, thinking about how sad I was that the art classes were now over. But how could I stay in a bad mood when the most spectacular light show was dancing above my head – just for me. For almost one full hour the aurora borealis – or northern lights – danced and swirled in the skies. I’ve seen these lights on several previous occasions in different parts of Canada but nothing like what I saw tonight. It was magical!!!

I wanted to go back to my hotel room to get my camera but I knew that if I did the light show would be gone when I returned… so I lay back and opened my eyes wide to take it all in.

Later, I found myself tossing and turning in bed… I was very tired but I couldn’t sleep. I got dressed and went for a very long walk out of town on the only road. At one point I left the road and began walking through the tundra, where I found a smooth flat rock and I laid down and watched the stars. Then I had an idea!

I had one canvas left in my art supplies and my idea was to have one more class with the same students and this time all the students would take turns painting an image inspired by my experience in Nunavut – with an inukshuk and of course the northern lights. The students would work together and the final painting would be my own personal souvenir.

Thank you to the students of Rankin Inlet for filling my spirit with all the wonderful memories we created together.

One thing that delights me is that to this day I still get emails from three of these young artists.

If you attend my art exhibition be sure to help yourself to a free peace stik-er that I left there – just for you!!!

Jim

Our Only Friend

What a weird start to the day… Usually Joanne is up and getting ready for work before I crawl out of bed (I’m usually awake until 2 am working on something – thus I wake up later), but this morning I was wide awake before 8 am. Koly was in my waking dream and he was upset about something so I went over to him. He became very agitated and was whining and snapping his jaw and I put my hand in his mouth to ease his pain. This event actually happened in real life in 2001 when Koly broke his back leg. In that instance I put my jacket-covered arm into his mouth for him to bite on to ease his pain. I’ve seen this done in movies where someone is in pain and someone else puts a rope or something into the person’s mouth to bite down on. In my dream I felt no pain and Koly began to settle down. Suddenly, Koly gave one last sharp bite and I woke up.

I lay in bed for a minute and I noticed that the sky was reflecting a yellowy-grey colour… usually indicating an approaching storm. And what a storm to behold. Joanne and I stood on our front porch drinking our morning teas and the sky grew very dark. A light rain began to fall and then it stopped. I looked at Jo’ and said, “Not much of a storm.” One second later a bright bolt of lightening struck down and our neighbourhood shook with a monstrous blast of thunder. I felt the thunder, too, and had to take a step back to regain my balance. Jo’ and I looked at each other in surprise and she said, “I guess you spoke too soon!” And then the rains fell. This thunderstorm poured down on us for almost an hour before slowing a bit.

Jo’ had half and hour left before she had to go to work so we relaxed inside with our novels. Joanne is reading a James Michener novel and I’m reading Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy. It is interesting, to me, that many issues confronting our society today remain unchanged from societies that lived over one hundred years ago. Here is a condensed version of page one of this novel:

“Though men in their hundreds and thousands had tried their hardest to disfigure that little corner of the earth where they had crowded themselves together, paving the ground with stones so that nothing could grow, weeding out every blade of vegetation, filling the air with the fumes of coal and gas, cutting down the trees and driving away every beast and every bird – spring, however, was still spring, even in the town. It was not this spring morning which they considered sacred and important, not the beauty of (creation), given to all creatures to enjoy – a beauty which inclines the heart to peace, to harmony and to love. No, what they considered sacred and important were their own devices for wielding power over each other.”

And that’s just a snippet of page one!

If Tolstoy was alive today I’m sure that he would be very saddened to realize that our societies have continued to be fascinated with our ability to dominate the earth. He would be shocked to realize that 80% of all the world’s roads, buildings, factories, etc that exist today have been built in only the last twenty years!!!

After Joanne left for work I decided to surprise her with some yummy treats for when she returned home. I put on my chef’s hat and proceeded to make a mess of our kitchen. Oatmeal and raisin cookies are my specialty. But I didn’t stop there – oh no! I also made a few days worth of deviled eggs, too.

I have a meeting to attend very soon and after that I’ll visit my gym for a good work out and a relaxing swim. I’m hoping to go to another ‘Open Mic Night’ this evening to share one of my new songs.

Our Only Friend

Can you hear my heartbeat
pounding thro’ the strings
of my guitar?
Oh – the joy it brings!

I’m singing simple songs
for the world to hear
about peace and love,
laced with a bit of fear.

You can hug the moon
and kiss a brand new day
cuz you’re young and wild.

Can you feel your spirit
risin' in the air?
While you’re floatin’ above life
you can go anywhere.

You can scale a mountain
or forge the great divide,
dive in with the wales
and now you’re comin’ out the other side.

You can hug the moon
and kiss a brand new day
cuz you’re young and wild.

Can you see the sunshine
thro' the acid rain?
Dark clouds usher in
ten thousand years of pain.

It’s not too late
if we find a peace to lend.
We’ve got to learn
that the Earth is our only friend.

You can hug the moon
and kiss a brand new day
cuz you’re young and wild.

Jim Kogelheide
May 2008

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Have a great day!

Jim

Socrates Cafe

On the last Monday of every month a diverse group of people gather to share ideas and opinions about a certain topic. This event has been going on for many years and earlier this spring I went to my first one. Last night was the third time I had attended and as always, the discussions became a little animated with lots of smiles in between. London’s well known Bill Paul is the host of these events. He is a very active community player.

Bill also hosts a talk show on the Fanshawe College radio station:
http://www.fanshawec.ca/EN/Broadcasting_Properties/The_X.asp
Bill runs a comedy/entertainment business:
http://www.laffguards.com/

And Bill is the only town crier that I have ever known. That was how I first saw him, many years ago, with his big bell clanging in one hand as he was announcing the beginning of a community event. He had the special town crier hat, with gold coloured trim, the shirt, vest, pants, shoes – everything!!! I thought it was great.

It has always been an interesting group – ages from 18 to over 60 - from many ethnic backgrounds and diverse cultures. There seems to be a small core group that has been attending these talks for many years. There is also a sizeable group that has been in fairly regular attendance over the last six months and there is always a fair number of people that are attending for the first time.

Each month a new topic is discussed. Last evening’s discussion asked: Can humanity overcome the divisive elements of religion, race and politics and think globally instead?

To be fair and proper each person is given an initial opportunity to tell the gathering their name and their thoughts on the subject at hand. It’s always so interesting to watch a group of people listening with attention to a person who has a different opinion. Sometimes you see someone suddenly sit up straight and move as to begin to talk before realizing that it would be rude to interrupt, so they sit tense on their seats waiting for the perfect moment to interject. Lots of eyebrows move up and down over the course of the night.

What I like most about these events is that they help me to keep in focus the fact that there are soooooo many different ways of understanding this world. Some ideas that I hear are very informative and educational, so I feel that I always learn something new. Some ideas are very opposite to what I have grown to understand, and these ideas are like tools for me to re-examine my own understanding. Sometimes my beliefs are adjusted slightly and other times my beliefs are strengthened. Sometimes I’m completely baffled by a different perspective.

The perspective that I brought to the discussion expressed that “… once the people of Earth realize that we all belong to one race – the human race – then the dividing issues that have been molded into our politics and religion will be overcome. We all breathe the same air and all our hearts beat in rhythm with the Earth. Our blood flows through our veins and connects us with the oceans and the sky. The fact that we all have different skin colours is a gift from the sun to be celebrated…”

Next month we will be discussing topics about reality: Is it shaped for us or do we actively shape our own realities? Should be interesting.

Jim

Wedding Present

Joanne and I had a great time at our friends wedding this weekend. The last time we saw Neal was in 2000 so we were all happy for a reunion. His best man, Jim, was also a friend of ours from our year long stay in Neepawa, Manitoba. The four of us almost completed a reunion of our old bowling team from so many years ago. Neal had named our team ‘The Smackdown’ inspired by his love for wrestling.

Later this week I’ll share some photos from this weekend. Today, I’ll share a peace of artwork that I gave to Neal and his lovely bride Miranda.

It was Sunday morning, the sun was shining and a cool breeze was lightly blowing as many friends and relatives gathered at Miranda’s parent’s house for the gift opening. There was a lot of food left over from the wedding reception, the night before, so we all had another good belly fill and then the wedding cake was cut and passed around. By the time we left a few belts were loosened around people’s waists.

‘Pines Of Temagami’ was a painting that I had created earlier this spring. I was preparing for a children’s art workshop and developing ideas for that class. I was inspired by design styles that artist’s use when working with stained glass – small, individual shapes molded to fit together like a jig-saw puzzle.

Neal and Miranda were delighted to receive a “Kogelheide original”, as Neal had said.

Jo’ and I had been asked to help two friends get to the airport and bus terminal in Toronto, later that afternoon, so we had to leave before all the gifts were opened.

It was a good thing that we were not slowed down by traffic jams or construction or Jim (getting dropped of at the Yorkdale subway station) would have missed his bus. Neal’s other friend, Troy, had about two hours to while away before his flight took him home to Edmonton.

Joanne and I were both happy that we made it back into London just before the kennel closed, so we were able to pick up Koly a day early. Koly was sure happy to see us.

Exhausted and happy Jo’ and I lazed on our couch with Koly snuggled in between us and Guido (our cat) purred around our heads as he lay on the top of the back of the couch. Our happy family was together again.

It’s times like these that make us realize how fortunate we are. Our family was separated because of a joyous celebration for only a few short days. Other families are separated sometimes forever because of war, politics or even environmental disasters. Let it be everyone’s desire to strive to create a world where man made issues do not tear our families apart.

Jim

Students Turtle Art

This will be my last blog until next week. I have three art related meetings and a wedding to prepare for this week so I’ll be very, very busy.

This coming weekend Joanne and I will be in Picton, Ontario for our friends wedding. We met Neal while living in Neepawa, Manitoba in 1999-2000 and we’ve been friends ever since. We talk on the phone about twice a year to keep in touch. Jo’ and I are both excited to see our friend and meet the woman he will be marrying. I’m sure we’ll have a blast.

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I thought that today I would share some of the artwork that my students created last year.

I always try to make my art classes fun and one way that I do that is by handing out homework. The students always moan and complain when I mention this and then they become excited when they see what the homework is. Sometimes I hand out ‘Search-A-Words’ that I’ve created or poetry assignments related to the topic of that class’ lesson.

During one of my classes I brought in colouring sheets. We were learning about turtles and their different environments – fresh and salt water habitats so I created a page with a simple drawing of a turtle on it. I explain to the students that if they hand in their homework sheets and I see that ONLY the turtle is coloured in, they will not pass the assignment.




“To create an artwork you (the students) must draw a scene with the turtle in it, filling the entire page. I want to see the environment that the turtle lives in. Is your turtle swimming at the top of the ocean with the sky above the waves or is your turtle swimming at the bottom of the ocean so deep that all we see are the other plants and fish that also share this space? What types of plants and fish share the same waters as your turtle?”


I’m always surprised when I’m shown the completed artworks the next day.

These artworks were created by the grade four students at Matthews Hall Private School in the autumn of 2007.

Thanks for reading my blog!

Until next week….

Jim

35th Annual Home County Folk Festival

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I arrived at Victoria Park just before 3:00 pm to fill my shift as a volunteer. I walked into the Clarence Street entrance and as I headed toward the bandshell I passed by many vendors still in the process of setting up their tents for displays. Soundchecks were taking place and people busily bustled by.

I soon found that my task was to help two others to prepare the signs that would be needed for each of the nine ‘Eco-Stations’. Each station was equipped with large garbage cans that were meant to sort the waste into compostable, recyclable and landfill items. Our job was to create signs showing actual examples of the items that should go into each different can: styrofoam plates and compostable recycled paper fiber plates, compostable french fry containers and landfill plastic cups, etc.

This is only the second time that this type of operation has taken place in a London festival. Two weeks ago – at Sunfest – the first attempts at reducing landfill waste occurred. In my mind, this type of action should have been taking place twenty years ago! But, then again, I think a lot of things should have happened twenty years ago. The fact that this turned out to be a successful initiative makes me realize that it is never too late to put forth a solid effort to make positive change. It may not have been perfect – and now I’m reminded of an expression “It is better to use a good plan today than realize the perfect plan tomorrow.”

As with any initiative – once you begin to put thoughts into action many unforeseen realizations become apparent. My job was a shining example of that statement. At the Sunfest, the signs they had created caused confusion for many people. They had created signs using words to describe the items that were to be separated into different cans. It became apparent that this was an issue because of all the different languages that are spoken in London – many people had difficulty with the English signs. For this weekend’s festival we created signs using actual paper plates and plastic cups – thus solving the issue by using visual examples.

I learned a lot while I was helping to prepare all of these signs. I learned that there is no longer any need for plastic cups to ever exist. This is fantastic news! Cups and other disposable (I hate that word) items can be made of vegetable products such as cornstarch which makes them bio-degradable. My question is “Why are we still creating pollution using crude oil to create plastics when we no longer need to?”

To make this festival even MORE environmentally friendly patrons could avoid using styrofoam plates and plastic forks all together. Waste Free World was renting plates, cutlery, cups, etc for a small deposit and the deposit was returned when all the items rented were returned. The used plates and cups were then washed using an industrial washing machine that had been inspected for sanitary safety.

These efforts – brought to life with the hearts of organizers and many volunteers - cut the total volume of waste by 25% with close to 1/3 of all the waste being separated for composting.

Congratulations!!!

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On Saturday, Joanne and I went raspberry picking. Our freezer is slowly filling. When I was talking to my parents that afternoon they told me that they had set aside a bag of red currants and gooseberries for us – from their garden - so now we only need to stock up on blueberries. We arrived home just before a huge thunderstorm hit the area. I wondered how everyone at the County Folk Festival was coping.

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By Sunday afternoon the skies had cleared and Jo’ and I decided to check out the County Folk Festival for ourselves. It was a great time! There were a total of four performance areas and we enjoyed all the entertainers. Like most patrons we eventually found ourselves at the bandshell – mainstage – and a performer was just getting ready to take the stage. I loved the many different ways he played his guitar. He had a unique way of hitting the front and sides of his guitar to create unusual beat rhythms. I was blown away when he began playing Breathe by Pink Floyd.

Between each musical guest Alan Neal from the CBC radio show Bandwidth came on stage and gave away small prizes to the audience for answering trivia questions about this festival. When he first came on stage he told us how he had been in London for the last week and he was creating a show about the London music scene to be aired on the radio September ninth. Later he asked the audience – for a prize – if anyone knew when the show would be aired.

The only reason that I remembered the date he had mentioned was because I thought that this information should make it onto my blog. I didn’t realize at the time that this information would win a prize.

The shock on his face when I yelled out “September ninth!” was priceless. Not only could he hear me with absolute clarity but I think half of London could too. “Now that’s a set of pipes” Alan said and looking in the direction of my voice he asked if I was a singer. I gave a hoot and raised my fist into the air and yelled “Rock’nRoll!” I ran up to the front of the stage, got my hat and I turned and gave another loud hoot while I waved my hat in the air and returned to my seat. Joanne was laughing her head off and everyone seated around enjoyed the scene.

I know that I’ll be listening to Alan Neal’s Bandwidth on CBC radio this September 9th… for sure!

For more info on the Home County Folk Fest visit:

http://www.homecounty.ca/

For more information on how to reduce landfill waste visit:

http://www.wastefreeworld.org/

For more info about Alan Neal's CBC radio show Bandwidth visit:

http://www.cbc.ca/bandwidth/

Jim

The Who

Wow! What a hot couple of days we’ve had. Each late afternoon slightly threatens with a relief of rain… then the mugginess sets in. These storms are just skirting London with most of the action happening near and north of Toronto.

I went to the poem, song and prayer gathering at my friends house and it was a fun evening. My friend is a singer/songwriter and this January I went to Western University to watch her perform. Her family is bilingual in French and this evening she sang a song in that tongue. It was great!

Later, I played one of my songs and when it was finished one of the young girls told me that their pet canary liked my song because he was chirping along the whole time!!!

Everyone said “Yes!” when I asked if they could help me finish a song that I’m working on. I played the first part of the song and then I played it a little slower so everyone could hear the rhythm of the lyrics. Then we spent time working together, sharing ideas and singing a line or two to see how it sounded until we were done.

Here is the evening’s creation – from the top eh!

What the world needs now
is a new kind of breath,
not the sweet kiss of death
but a time to be best.

What the world needs now
is a dream without end.
There’s no thoughts of revenge
when everybody’s a friend.

We’ll have to rely on our instincts.
Our future doesn’t come with a well laid plan.
We’ll find strength when we apply our deeper instincts
and we’ll make our stand against the lie of the land.

----------------------------the newest lyrics (group effort)

What the world needs now
is an army of peace.
A heart pounding the beat
that all war must cease.

Although we had a focus on creating lyrics with meaning we also had lots of fun creating lines that talked about smelly feat – cuz it rhymes with beat!

Several hours later I sat down with my lyric book and wrote the second half of my song… inspired by the creativity from this evening.

What the world needs now
is the will to believe
one heart’s pounding the beat
for our army of peace.

What our army needs now
is the grace to be strong
cuz there’s never a wrong
when your heart is a song.

We’ll have to rely on our instincts,
to break the chains,
the chains that hold us back.
We’ll find strength when we apply our deeper instincts.
Yeah! We’re never down
even when the odds are stacked.

I think part of my influence came from the rock ‘n roll spirit of tonight’s broadcast of the Who tribute on MuchMoreMusic.

I had to go to my neighbours house to check on their cat during their holiday travels and this was great cuz they have cable television. Joanne and I don’t watch a lot of t.v. so we’ve never had cable. Sometimes – like this evening – it would have been nice. The Foo-Fighters absolutely rocked the house with a truly spirited performance. The Flaming Lips act could have been disastrous. The lead singer came on stage inside a huge clear plastic bubble. I imagine that he spent a lot of time practicing cuz it looked like he could lose control quite easily. He almost did – with a few spills that landed him on his back before the audience pushed him back onto the stage.

These musicians and more were performing songs created by the genius of The Who. To top it all off Roger and Pete – well all I can say is that it was a great concert.

I can remember when I was in high school – out in the country – and The Who were coming to Toronto – this was in 1989. The day before the tickets went on sale I packed together a small knapsac of things I would need and hitched rides into the city. There was quite a party goin’ on. I met a friend there and the next afternoon his dad picked us up and took us home – we both slept the whole way. The concert was amazing – I feel closer to my spirit when a guitar takes me away and a drum holds me down… at the same time!

So… after watching the tribute concert I started thinking that the new lyrics we had created were very 60’s in the thoughts of ‘armies and peace’ and that there needed to be more symbolism of this nature surrounding this part of the song – thus the references to chains and stacked odds.

As most of my songs – I know that this one still has a bit more growing and changing before I can finally say that it is done.

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In half an hour I have to be at Victoria Park for the 35th annual Home County Folk Festival. I’m volunteering with a group of people to help ‘green’ the festival. We are hoping to cut the amount of garbage that is always created at these festivals by 50% - and that’s huge!!!

The Green Evolution is starting to build momentum…

Until next week – peace!

Jim