Beginning Again

Yesterday, Nina sneaked down to the basement studio, by herself again. She is always curious about what next to discover there. So I decided it’s time to introduce her to my hidden room with the peddle sewing machine. We explored some of the contents of the cupboard labeled ‘toy’. Then we walked back out and she see this photo pinned on the dark design wall. It was printed earlier on a piece of silk earlier, a photo of us in the backyard, on a beautiful day last summer enjoying banana popsicle. She said she wanted one. I said we’ll have to wait for summer to come back.

Thoughts on Open Mind

I have been away from here for too long. It's time to come back and re-establish a habit. Just that my recent past since the last visit seemed like the spring swell of a quiet mountain stream, dancing through the channel of time with unsurmountable energy.

I feel like I have been riding the whirlwind, swept along at incredible speed through ever-changing vistas, trying hard to maintain the semblance of balance and control while doing my utmost to savor life's offerings. Every backward glance is a blur.

This morning I arrived at a beautiful revelation. At the Park, the atmospheric light was calm and clear, literally sparkling. It was magical. I can feel the first hint that autumn cannot be far away. Near the end of the Tai chi routines, I took off my glasses and put them in my pocket. I dallied a while longer than usual taking in the magic. A new appreciation revealed itself from the seemingly familiar surrounding - underlying magic that stay hidden as a result of my attempt to be in focus. What irony!

My week at the Open Mind Festival was a revelation. There is no need for me to understand or analyze this experience. For the record, there were magic, beauty, adventure and moments of peace. What I saw was a glimpse of a benevolent intersection of many worlds, some vaguely familiar, some radically foreign, others within my conscious awareness whose boundaries I have not yet attempted to breach. It has been an engaging experience all around. I must have gotten careless near the end because by the time I arrived back home on Monday, my body's defense system has been compromised. I succumbed to this tummy flu that left me weak and hapless for over 48 hours. When was the last time my body protested like this? Never mind, I am vulnerable after all.

As I walked out of the Park. I realized that I had my glasses on again. I took them off, put them on again and repeated several times. Sherbrooke Street in front appeared to shift through time and space. How comforting and reassuring this surrounding can seem. My habits and familiar environment have isolated and protected me all these years. Yet I suddenly come to the realization that I only see what I want to see. There are many more underlying layers of reality. I just need to allow them to show themselves. Open Mind? Perhaps. No artificial material agent used.

2010 Catch me if you can!

2010 is a year of playing catch-up: with family and friends, with work and play, with old traditions and new adventures. There has been important milestones worthy of highlighting. Clement received his 35 Year Long Service Award at Concordia University and looks forward to formal retirement come 2012. Lily looked back at the past decade as a retiree from computer software development and feels firmly grounded in her creative pursuits using needles and threads. Sigmund and Edmund discovered their Chinese roots and made plans for the future to come. The world marched on with long strides in the direction of social networking and we put in efforts to keep pace. So with a fewer words, and a selection of images, I am setting down the 2010 marker. No more catching up, just moving onward.

Ying & Yang

This is my first post since returning from Hong Kong.

Denna Crain invited me to take her Class at Quilt University. I chosed her recent Crystal Quilt session and had a fabulous time. Making these two Crystal Quilts had been a wonderful way to get me back into the quilt making grooves. Although there remains a few finishing touches, I declare my CQ # 1&2 finished.

I showed my CQ's to my visitors yesterday. While discussing them, my friend convinced me that what I have made is a sequel to my 'Taiji Journey'. These two quilts can be seen as representing the energy balance of Ying and Yang. There is Ying within the Yang (CQ #1) and in a similar way, the Ying (CQ #2) is supported by the Yang energy. Out of Nothingness, the two poles of the Supreme Ultimate are born.

Happy New Year!

As 2009 prepares to leave, making room for 2010
may there be
Peace on Earth and Happiness for All!

Dream Catchers

We spent a good part of this summer on the road again. Ever some often, our travel bugs bite and we will head out to see the world. This time we head out, just the two of us, with the final destination as the Upper Peninsular of Michigan State, Houton to be exact. Clement attended a Math conference and did some work with Tonchev. I tagged alone and visited some friends on the way. We visited Algonquin Park, Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsular. These are Ojibwa country. On this trip, I really feel the presence of the Great Spirit. There are many small things that touched my senses, but I was most pulled by seeing the hand made dream catchers in one of the few shops I visited.

So back home I had to complete the circle by making my own dream catchers. I took branches from my kiwi vine that has been growing for years in the back yard. I wove with last year's silk threads that I dyed and spun. Each of them features a white swan feather that I picked up by the lagoon of the Victoria Park in Kitchener where we went to see this year's Grand National Post Card collections on the very last morning before we came home. Here is where you can see the rest of the dream catchers.

Home sweet home! Sweet Dreams!

Les nomades

Recently I was given an opportunity to do something special with and for groups of school children from 10 different inner city schools in and around the City of Montreal. It was an experience I looked forward to, somehow knowing that it will come to me and that I should take up the challenge. The challenge came as a request from the McCord Museum to participate in their project "Les adventuriers nomades".

It involved my effort to develop and conduct a series of ten 2-hour workshops; during each of which a group of up to 50 Cycle 2 students undertook a creative adventure to put together a personal quilt block using colourful fabric. The creations express their thoughts on the theme of "nomad".

The sets of quilt blocks were assembled into 19 separate quilts - traveler's blankets. It was a considerable amount of work, but I marvel at the spontaneous creativity of these children and the results are quite wonderful to look at.

To see the quilts, go to

http://picasaweb.google.ca/MoonGlowStudio/LesAdventuriersNomadesAtTheMcCordMuseum#

Throughout this week, the 19 quilts - traveler's blankets - were exhibited at the McCord Museum. The children came to the museum for the final visit of the project. They saw all the quilts displayed together and each school gave a performance based on their story. It was such a wonderful experience.