I got the keys to my temporary space at Art Central, courtesy of the Calgary Allied Arts Foundation just this last Sunday.  Today being my day off, this morning I moved in some stuff to work with (what I could carry on the train), and spent the afternoon getting accustomed to the space and working.  It was a bit of a strange experience for me, telling myself, “Ok, here you go.  You’re going to stay in this space until 5:00, and work with what you’ve got here.”  Lately, I’ve been working on a lot of different things at once, it seems… a little here, a little there, ok, switch gears into soemthing else.  Today, though, I had my computer, and what I had brought with me.

So I organized what I had, and put stuff where I thought it should go.  Including postcards in the door and tools in the toolbox.

There’s a bit of a contrast between this and the space I have at home, isn’t there!  As much as I love my space at home, it isn’t great for some things, including animation, which I intend to use some of the time I have in this space for.  It is also not good for doing larger projects- drawings, building things, etc.  I am hoping to do some drawing here, and, if I get that far, making some “innards” to use for a dissection later on.

So today I worked with what I had. I couldn’t bring in everything in one go, because I was taking the train, and I also need to get a few things before I can do much in terms of the animation.  In the studio today, I did a bit of surgery on one of the Morphoids, Foraminifera, poor guy.   I sliced open one of his legs, to insert some armature wire into three of his legs, so I will have more control over them when I animate.  I had forgotten that I had stuffed him with polyester scraps from other Morphoids, and was surprised when I kept pulling colourful fabric out of him!

I also did the plan for the animation, or, what do they call it?  Storyline?  Anyway, I know what I’m wanting, just need to get a few things and go!

Today was a productive day.  Besides working at Art Central, I 1) got the photos I needed for the New Alberta Contemporaries exhibition, drew a diagram for the set up of that, packed it all up, including microscope, so it’s ready to deliver, and 2) scanned, photocopied, emailed and packaged the submission for the cover of Hanna’s Centennial history book,  3) worked on my plan and content for another show, coming up in February, 4) brainstormed content ideas for the IMR website, and 5) brainstormed ideas for my dissection/ what’s inside a Morphoid.

I have the space for the rest of November and all of December, and intend to be there Tuesday and Friday afternoons, 1-5 PM at minimum.  I’m hoping to also be there most Monday and Wednesday evenings, and the odd Saturday.  I will be having an opening on December 1st, in conjunction with Art Central’s First Thursday.

Stay tuned!

(Please excuse the photos.  They were taken with my phone, and I’m really not very good at holding it still enough to get a really clear photo.)