Paintings In The Post

I’ve mentioned the forestland ‘Temagami’ in my blog so many times that most of you know that it is a ancient old growth Red and White Pine forest that has a remaining untouched capacity of only 1% due to all the clear-cut logging that has occurred throughout Ontario over the last 170 years or so.


Temagami is a large part of my life… in the stories that I tell, the paintings that I create and the poems that I write.


I’ve also shared stories about the art classes that I taught in the Spring of this year – where we created paintings of the Temagami forestland – after a brief lesson to understand its importance.


Sooooooooooo………


The classes were over and I still had two canvases prepped and ready to go. I decided that it would be best in I finished them, and so I did…


Then I thought that I should do something fun with them. I decided to mail them to two friends that I had made on Facebook.

Kim Jonas is a dude in his twenties – I think – and he lives in Sweden. He begins ‘chats’ with me about three times a week. He asks a lot of questions about Canada cuz he’s so interested in it and Canadians! Once he stole (LOL!) some pictures from my photoalbum about British Columbia and with other pictures he had created a video using those pictures to show how beautiful our country is. I loved it and posted it to my wall to share with many of my other non-Canadian friends – ha ha – and they loved it too!!! It is because of Kim’s love for Canada that I want to share this painting with him.

Steph lives in England and we’ve been FB friends for many months, now. She leaves wonderful and positively uplifting comments on my pictures and statuses, all the times. She has made me laugh, so many times that I thought it would be nice to send this to her as a ‘Thank You’!


So, it was time to get the artworks ready for the mail. As you can see, Elly loves it when I cut off the ends of the cardboard boxes especially to make toys for her – LOL!!!


Since these packages are going overseas – and I expect that a few more will, too – I decided to use a special tape to promote Canada…


The last time I was at the post office I noticed this packing tape that was designed with Canadian flags all over it. I looked to see if it was manufactured in China – cuz ya never know- and I was delighted that it was indeed made in Canada… so I bought it!


A few days later, a few more packages were ready for the post, too!!!

I sent four prints down to California, to the nurses that cared for my grandfather, to say ‘Thanks!’


The large package contains this painting. I’m sending it to a close friend of mine from my years in high school.


I lost touch with Brenda after I had graduated from college and I was totally surprised when – three years ago – I found a letter from her in my email inbox. Since then we’ve shared many stories about the adventures in our lives and she always tells me stories about her daughter. Brenda is indeed a super happy mum!!! Since many of my high school friends have received gifts of my artwork, I thought that Brenda should definitely have one, too! But… at the last minute I changed my mind. Ha! Ha! Instead of sending the artwork as a present to Brenda, I decided to send the painting to her daughter. I’m sure that she will enjoy seeing it in her daughter’s room!

I get very excited when I think about my artwork going on merry adventures around the planet! It’s a wonderful way to bring light into many people’s hearts for many years to come!!!

Jim

After Twenty Years

One of the first things that I really enjoyed when I first joined Facebook was all the connections that I found with friends from my high school years. It always brought a smile to my face to see someone who I haven’t seen in over twenty years. In the last year I’ve reconnected with close to one hundred familiar faces.

Even better than this simple fact, was an invitation that I received, just last Friday. The invite said – “James! Sorry for the short notice. There’s going to be a small gathering of high school friends, tomorrow, at my sister’s house.” Stacia was right – it was short notice. I called my wife and since we had no plans for the next day we were able to attend!!!!


About half an hour after our arrival a tray full of shooters was passed around. Ah – yes!!! The one thing that we all still had in common – LOL!!!

Because many of my high school friends had older or younger brothers and sisters our social group included many grades. In the photo above there is Mike – a year older and Eve – a year younger.


Although the party was referred to as ‘Stacia’s Party’ it would have been more correct to say ‘Sophia’s Party’ cuz it was her house where this gathering took place.


Of course, many photos were taken throughout the day and evening and of course I had to live up to my reputation by budding into a photo. Eve and Kyla didn’t even know I was there. Dave snapped this shot then lowered the camera a bit to say, “OK, Kokes – get out of the picture!” By that time I had snuck a few feet away and I looked at Eve and Kyla and said, “Eh! I have know idea what you’re talkin’ about Dave. I’ve been over here the whole time!” – LOL!!!!

It was funny to here my name as ‘James’ or ‘Kokes’ again. I got the nickname Kokes cuz no one could pronounce my last name. It always came out as ‘Kokahide’ and then it was shortened to ‘Kokes’. I started calling myself Jim when I moved to Toronto to go to college. I was working in the bars and I thought that Jim was a bit more casual and it’s stuck through all these years.


This is my great friend Dave! I think Dave came to my elementary school while I was in grade three, so we’ve known each other for many years, indeed.


Dave and I have chatted many times, since high school and we did get one chance to get together in 2004. I was really glad to be able to see him again.




This was our host for the evening, Stacia! She’s a beautiful mom with three beautiful children. Mike and his older brother Steve are in this photo, as well.


Later, in the evening, I brought my guitar out to play a few tunes. Steve brought out his small drum and the two of us jammed out for a bit. It was so cool to hear my songs being performed with another instrument, adding to the experience. Steve was also very quick with his voice, adding subtle harmonics and backing vocals to these tunes. It was only the second time that I’ve ever played music with someone and I had a lot of fun and everyone thought that we sounded great!!!

Although it seems that we were all still a little crazy – from our high school years, it was evident that we had all grown up… a little! In high school we would have partied until four in the morning, I’m sure. This evening, many of us started to leave around nine in the pm. We all had about two to three hours of driving ahead of us and most of us had obligations for the next day. I’m sure that many of our teachers would have been shocked to learn that ‘this crew’ had grown up to be responsible – LOL!!!!

I’m very grateful to have built such strong friendships during my youth with such a variety of personalities. I’m also very grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve had to be able to reconnect with friends, since that time. I’m a pretty lucky guy!!!

Jim

Bricks Of Love – The Music Video

Last October, Joanne and I went to my parent’s house for Thanksgiving. While we were there my dad was telling me about the ‘movie’ function on his digital camera. Hmmmmm…. movie function…. this gave me an idea!


The next day, Jo’ and I took the camera and my guitar for a nice walk through the autumn coloured landscapes of the surrounding countryside. We had a lot of fun capturing some video footage that I was hoping would one day become a music video… and it did!

With the help of a friend I am pleased to announce that this video has finally been edited and uploaded to my youtube account – for all the world to see! I hope that you enjoy this musical adventure and do feel free to share this link with your friends -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVcQiXq9qhI .

Here are the lyrics for the song – in case you would like to sing along…

Bricks of Love

We’ll always reap the seeds we sow
When we’re layin’ down the bricks
Layin’ down the bricks
Our love will shine when it’s peace we grow
Yeah! We’re layin’ down the bricks
Layin’ down the bricks

Hope is………
Mortar……….

The road we rode quickly turned asunder
And now we’re frightened
By the rain and by the thunder

We’ll build a house for the world to share
When we’re layin’ down the bricks
Layin’ down the bricks
With no more crying or despair
Yeah! We’re layin’ down the bricks
Layin’ down the bricks

Hope is………
Mortar……….

The road we rode cracked, split and fell away
And now we’re building
Towards a better way

We’ll clean our windows so that we can see
Ohmmmmmmmmmm
All the love and joy that’s still to be
Ohmmmmmmmmmm
We’ll open all our doors to let the good spirits in
Ohmmmmmmmmmm
And then we’ll dance and sing – yeah – we’ll rise above the din
Ohmmmmmmmmmm


Hope is
Layin’ down the bricks
Mortar
Yeah we’re dustin’ off the rusted bricks

The road we rode had many casualties
When all the money men
Yeah – they fell to their knees

Layin’ down the bricks
(fade)

We’ll always reap the seeds we sow

Enjoy everybody!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jim

Nineteen Days Left…

I am very happy to announce that I have a public art exhibition presently on display in London’s downtown Central Library! This exhibition will be finished at the end of August, so there is still a bit of time to check it out.

The highlight for this show is the portrait of my wife, Joanne. I’ve been sharing stories about the creation of this portrait since February – when I began the project – and I thought it would be nice to exhibit this painting at least once in its lifetime. For those of you not living in London, Ontario, or if you can’t make the exhibit then this link -http://bitsandpeaces08.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-is-love-conclusion.html - will take you to that artwork and the story behind its creation.

Of course, there are several other art creations to see, as well… and (of course – again) there are lots of my Peace Stik-ers available for you.

This will be my last art exhibition until the autumn of 2010, so I do hope that you can make it to this event.

Enjoy!!!!

Jim

Expanding…

Almost every evening, Joanne and I take our dog Koly for a nice walk through our neighbourhood. We enjoy looking at all our neighbour’s flower gardens along the way to a large open park area, just a few blocks away from our house.


This park borders a small area alongside the Thames River and it is a very active place. There are tennis courts, an outdoor pool (which is under renovation this summer), a large children’s playground as well as a number of soccer and football fields. Along the southern edge of these fields is a community garden.


This garden is divided into plots and anyone wishing to can rent a plot for the growing season. Vegetables are grown in abundance and you can also see many flowers dotting this landscape. I was really happy to realize that the demand for these garden plots has expanded over the last several years and last spring this garden doubled in size! I was very impressed!!!

More and more people are looking for ways to connect with Nature as our oppressive and destructive Industrial society continues to lose its power to mesmerize us into a dazzled sense of unenlightenment.


There were a few gardeners working away as Jo’ and I passed by and I stopped to chat with them to find out why they were using this area. The gardener in the photo above told me that he simply loves the peaceful pleasures found while digging in the Earth and caring for his crops. He enjoys the pleasant conversations that arise when other gardeners are close by.

It seems that gardeners build relationships with their plants as well as each other, in this kind of setting. Gardening isn’t just about producing crops of vegetables, it’s also about connecting with people from the community.


These two ladies feel the same way! They told me that because they live in an apartment building they don’t have a yard, and so this space offers them a touch of ‘green’ that would normally not be available to them. This is their first year being involved with this community garden and they told me that they love it! They told me that it has become a part of their daily routine to walk to this garden, with a shovel over their shoulder, to water and tend to their veggies.

It brings a warm glow to my heart to witness this growth in my community – people connecting with Nature and each other in such a peaceful way. I beam with excitement as I know that this trend will continue to expand as people look for new and productive ways to become more self-sufficient.

+ + + +

This enlightened movement that is stirring in all of us is becoming evident wherever you may look…

Last week, Joanne and I were driving home from my parent’s house and once we reached London we were stopped by a crossing train. We put our car into ‘park’ and shut off our engine until the train had passed. While we sat there waiting, with our windows rolled down, I noticed a particular noise – or lack of noise!!!! I heard a whole lot of silence. About twenty five of the thirty cars had also shut off their engine to stop the wasteful pollution caused by an idling motor.

Positive actions like this are occurring more and more frequently and I think that this is amazing! Five years ago, only five of the thirty cars would have shut off their engines. Ten years ago, maybe one car would have done this, but now people are taking these beginning steps to find simple ways to help our environment.


We still have a lot – or should I say A LOT of work ahead of us… and the next several generations. We cannot continue to leave our hope for salvation in the hands of our governments and institutions. We must act as individuals striving to unite with each other and our world thus reshaping our institutions and lawmakers to abide by our newfound needs - instead of being drowned under the heaps of rhetoric forced upon us in lieu of genuine change.

Jim

Apples Of The Earth – Part II

A little over a month ago, I shared the story about the planting of my potato garden - http://bitsandpeaces08.blogspot.com/2009/06/apples-of-earth.html. I mentioned that I was going to try a new (or perhaps very old) way of growing them. I’m trying three different ways, this year, to see if one way will yield a greater crop.


The first way – I simply dug a hole on the leveled garden floor, planted the chunks of potato and then mounded the dirt in the shape of a small volcano – for watering purposes.


The second way – was the same as the first except that the chunks were planted in a raised bed.

The third way – begins the same as the second way. Then I have to wait until the plants have grown a bit before I can put into motion the new technique.


I was grateful to have Joanne help me with this. While she weeded the two patches of potatoes that I was about to experiment on…


…I got busy digging this old half a rain barrel out of the ground. I think that the previous gardener of this garden may have been using these barrels as a composter. I had other plans.


Using my skill saw, I cut the half-barrel in half again.


Then, with Jo’s help – again – the quartered barrels were placed around the potatoes. I filled these to the top with the surrounding garden soil.

Earlier this spring, my neighbour and I were chatting in our gardens and he told me about a way of growing potatoes that he saw on TV or maybe a friend told him. Anyway… there was a guy who had a barrel and he filled it with six inches of dirt and some potato chunks. When the plant had grown seven inches high he added six more inches of dirt. He repeated this process two more times and the barrel was full of dirt. At harvest he kicked the barrel over and it was filled with four layers of potatoes!!!

The problem that I had with this story was with regards to the amount of sun that the potatoes would receive while they were in the first stages of development. Being at the bottom of the barrel would seriously restrict the amount of sun that the plants received.

Because of this thought, I thought that I would first let the plants get as much sun as they could. Then, after they had started to grow, portions of barrel could be placed around the plant and then the extra soil. My mind was busy thinking of ways to create interlocking sections that could be added – one on the other – during the growing season.


This year, I decided to take this experiment to just the second stage – with only one layer of six inches of soil added around the plants – to see how this worked, before continuing. I was partially successful. While Jo’ and I were away for a week, the plants had grown a tremendous amount – over twelve inches (on top of the five inches they had grown before we left). The plant was supposed to be buried in another six inches of soil right after seven inches of growth had occurred. You can see that quite a bit more than one inch of plant towers above the top layer of soil that I’ve added.

This was done about three weeks ago, and so far the plants have not shown any negative responses. I won’t know if this will be a success until some time in September.

You know that I’ll keep you posted!


During all of these ideas and actions my mind instinctively reflexes to ponder – “If we have this kind of knowledge in existence (about how to triple and quadruple our crops in natural and healthy ways)… then – pardon me for asking – why is there world hunger?”

Jim

London Chalk Artists

London, Ontario is a very active place, especially in the summer. Last week, an entire downtown street was closed off so that a group of chalk artists could recreate Michelangelo’s brilliant Sistine Chapel.


I wasn’t surprised to find Axl doing her part for this project.


I think that there were about ten artists in total, working on the main body of the artwork. The outside border was drawn using the help of many London teenagers who had volunteered their time for this enriching experience. They did a great job!


Three of the artists were from California. This project had a number of sponsors to pay for the artist’s time, travel and accommodations – at one of London’s finer hotels. One artist told me that when this project is complete that she’ll be flying to Texas for another project and then on to Mexico for another week. She is a teacher and she spends part of her summers arting on city streets around the world!!!

Of course – LOL! – I took advantage of this situation to spread around some of my art. The next day I returned with a handful of my peace Stik-ers and I gave each of the three artists from California one of my art prints.


I shared with them the story about my global art attack – Peaceflowers From Around The World – and they agreed that it was indeed a fun and exciting project. One artist drew a peaceflower for my collection!!! Thanks!

They had four more days of drawing ahead of them. On Sunday, August 02 the final art was to be completed for the community unveiling. That Sunday would also see a one-day chalk art competition beginning. Anyone who had registered could draw whatever they wanted and then these artworks would be judged. I was excited to see all of this completed art, once Joanne and I had returned from our weekend trip to my visit my parents and sister.


While we were there my mom told me about an interesting place, not too far away. This whole region is very unique, having been formed by the glaciers 10 000 years ago. About three miles away from where I grew up, there is a hill that is high enough so that you can see both Toronto and Barrie’s lights on a clear night!

The place that my mom told us about is found along a small stretch of the Bruce Trail – famous around the world! The trail begins in Tobermory – the most northern part of Southern Ontario – and it winds its way for a several weeklong hike to Niagara Fall – the most southern part of Southern Ontario. Of course, the trail has many points where people can gain access if they just want to explore small areas.


This part of the trail has a lot of cracks and crevices that are really interesting to see. With all the open rock surfaces, the trees have to really work hard at securing their roots. I think it’s really cool to see all the roots winding this way and that, grabbing hold of the rock.


And here’s Koly enjoying himself! You can see a small vertical stripe of white paint on the tree, jut behind Koly. These markings are found every twenty feet or so, along the trail, so that people won’t get lost.


After a relaxing time with ‘the folks’, Jo’ and I headed for home. The first stop that I wanted to make was to see all the completed chalk art. Unfortunately the clean up process had already begun. If this artwork remained I’m sure that the next few days would have seen a few car accidents as people tried to drive and look at the art at the same time – or a tourist might jump in front of a car to get a photo of the art!!! I could have taken photos of the finished Sistine Chapel art – it was still visible – but it had lost its brilliance and I didn’t think it would be right.

Fortunately, the artwork created for the competition was still in good shape and I took a lot of photos!!! This is less than half of all the art that filled two city blocks - - -


All of these artworks were created by artists young and old and you can see that they were all created with magnificence!!!!


Even this silly one – LOL!!! I call him Bicky cuz he reminds me of a Bick’s Pickle!!!!

Thanks to Nature for being a constant inspiration to artists!

Thanks to artists for being a constant inspiration to us all!!!

Jim