60 Years of Reading - Public Art Installation - Salt Spring Library

I have been asked to create a legacy piece for the Children's area of the Salt Spring Library in celebration of 60 years.  I decided it would be fun to create a large ceramic book depicting children reading and call it "60 Years of Reading". The wood base of the book is created by my partner Carl Borgstrom. The clay tiles I created over top are made from paper clay. Children age 6 to 12 in our community were invited to draw themselves reading in their favourite spot or create an imaginary way to read that would be fun. Submissions came in just before March Break and we were planning tile painting workshops for just after March Break but the project is now on hold due to COVID 19 protocol of Social Distancing.  The drawings kids have sent in are great! They are reading books on deserted islands, in space ships, bathtubs, swimming with orcas,
I have finished the clay pieces and they are ready for painting so hopefully we can gather together soon to complete the work. In the meantime, I have started the slide show below with pictures of the 9 foot dragon I created for the opening of the library in 2012 (the year of the Dragon) Local children painted the throat, belly and tail tiles with Dragon story characters they love and the Dragon's book lists the names of the books their characters come from.  Enjoy and stay tuned for the final installation of the ceramic book.

Against the Current: Orca + Salmon

This exhibition took place from February 14 to 24th at Mahon Hall on Salt Spring Island, BC
Our Southern Resident Whales are struggling and starving:

• There is not enough chinook salmon for them
• The Salish Sea is polluted and their bodies are full of toxins
• Each pod has dwindling numbers - since 1998, 78 Orcas from the three pods (J/K/L) have gone missing or have died
• Noise from boats in the Salish Sea is increasing and making it hard for Orcas to echo - locate their food and thus the number of malnourished and starving whales is on the rise as well

The work I did for this show was an effort to capture the slippery slope to extinction we are on.
Luna (an L pod orca that separated from his pod and befriended humans in a bay up North until he was killed by being sucked into a Tug Boat motor) and his Mom ~ Splash (who was an L pod Southern resident orca who died of starvation) were the subjects of two large ceramic tile installations I did for the show.

Talequah (J 35 ~ the Mother Orca in J pod who lost her baby in August 2018 and pushed her baby through the waters of the Salish Sea for 17 days ) had a message for us and I felt compelled to feature her in an installation called This is what Extinction looks like" .

Imagine you see a dining table for two all spiffed up with a white laced table cloth, candles, wine glasses and fine silverware and china sitting in a gallery show of Artists work. Hmm ... intrigued.... you step closer... what is for dinner on the platter in the middle?  See photos in the slide show below to find out what's for dinner in the piece called "You are what you throw away" (a play on "You are what you eat")