Hi and Good morning,
So the weather has been very strange up here. It has been quite balmy, yet lots of light rain most of the days. Sending me in for cover under the barn nearby where I had been working. I tried to work under the Ketalpa tree with its extra large leaves, but once I started to work with incorporating the paper I wanted to use, I needed the overhead protection. Every now and then the sun comes out, but most of the time we have a slight mist, gentle rain showers and cloudy skies. But so so warm.
The rest of the artists arrived on wednesday and everyone got right to work on their installations. I think I am among one of the younger people here. All the artists are from Quebec Province, so I am surrounded by French speaking, but everyone has tried to take their time to speak English with me and help me practice my French. They are a very hard working dedicated group, but also hard playing. I think drinking wine every night before and during dinner since Sunday has turned my stomach upside down. When I told the director from the City how I was feeling she asked if my stomach was having a party in there, I responded that I think my stomach is upset over how much I have been partying outside.
Really it has not been all that much, just drinks at 5:00 and then late dinners at very nice restaurants (meals are donated, but the food has almost maybe been a bit too rich for me.) Last night I decided to take a break and have a quite dinner with my host family and do laundry. I had to work till 6:00 right up until sunset to get the last of structure covered in paper in preparation for treating it with a wax coating today. In the photos is a picture of the beautiful cake of natural beeswax that I bought from a nearby bee keeper. It was a challenge to break it apart. We ended up using an ax instead of the knife in the photo. The barn has no electricity so I have been using a camp stove to heat the wax. There was a bit of a panic when the gas ran out and we had to buy more.
My goal today after lunch is to work with the owner of the apple orchard and a few of the other artists to launch my piece into the pond. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and my floating sculpture will actually stay in one piece and float. In the mean time, folks from around the area have been trudging through the rain to come watch us at work, including 100 school children. They all speak a little English, but I sometimes pretend to not understand so that I can concentrate on my work. I have mixed feelings about having myself working being put on display. Maybe the rainy weather will keep most people at bay.ch is to work with the owner of the apple orchard and a few of the other artists to launch my piece
Wish me luck!
Best,
Michele
