ATC's May 20

It surprised me that I hadn't been to an ATC meeting in two years.  Well,  two moves, illness, and also our group was without a home for a short while and then ended up at the new place for Mosaic on Boundary Road just below Kingsway which is quite a distance but it's really an old stamping ground for me since I lived quite close to there growing up and just about a block away was the Masonic Hall where I went to Job's Daughters.  

Susan and I went together and she drove. It was fun to be together and fun to meet the new members!  I didn't get round to doing much in the way of artwork but had this idea of using the tattoos that came in my new members basket of goodies I won last year from the Jane Austen group.  The idea went over pretty well.

I applied one of the tattoos  and I included removal instructions on the back of the ATC.

Someone was doing geli prints and I was most interested since Susan is often doing that as background and I really didn't know what it meant!

 Susan with her "fake journal" project.

Photos of members working on their art.  We work on stuff and then trade cards.

And members bring stuff for the "free table".  I scored a lot of cool things.

Now,  this is the original  Hilroy School Exercise book that we all did with half the page for artwork and half for writing.  I loved these things!

My treasures...ATC's from the group.

And this was on the free table.  I could hardly believe it but these are folks that have way too many craft and art supplies and are trying to downsize.  These wonderful pastels, coloured pencils and watercolour paints came in this lovelywooden  carrying case.

Now I have no excuse to create somehting for next time!

Susan and Alan's wonderful English country garden in bloom

We remember having many a drink in this wonderful garden in Yorkshire!  Good friends,  wonderful setting...it competes favourably with the "Royal Wedding" in our view.

From Alan:
Summer has finally arrived and the garden decided to join in the celebration with a splash of colour.

Itty Bitty Book Review: "Indian Horse"

"Indian Horse" by Richard Wagamese

This novel deals with the Indian Residential School system and along with capturing that horror the writing also has tremendous beauty and transcends that experience in quite a wonderful way.

A wonderful day...50 years later

We did just want to be on our own for this occasion and we went out for lunch and dinner at two places we hadn't been before.  Both excellent choices and we expect to go back to both many times.

We had lunch at La Brass on 10th Ave.  We had their tartine (an open faced sandwich) which included soup or salad.  We chose the carrot soup which had loads of smoked salmon.  It ended up being just a little more food than we wanted but it was excellent.

A little too cool for the patio today but we'll do that another time.

Then before we left for dinner we had a half bottle of French Champagne...well,  what else would we have?  And served on this beautiful tray of lavender fields.  Elaine gave us this and we missed all the goodies we got from her for our anniversary and miss her most of all, of course.

Jim standing in front of our Provence d'Azure poster...all the things we love in the south of France...the Mediterranean, olive trees,  palm trees, and pines.

Then to Brock House Restaurant for dinner.  We just love the setting and were seated by the window with views of the ocean, beach, mountains, and freighters.  The light was such that none of the view photos turned out.

They had these lovely white orchids all over the restaurant ...perfect.

Me amongst the orchids and I'm wearing my grandmother's bracelet.

I started with crab cakes.

Jim started with scallops.

I had the sable fish for a main course.

And Jim had a peppercorn steak...everything was excellent. The desserts also looked wonderful but that will have to be for another time.

We ended with Spanish coffees..hence the moustache.  (We did take a taxi)

Love the paintings and love the story!

Artist Shize Li Presents New UBC Paintings 

The paintings done in Chinese style express how the artist sees UBC campus 

Our readers are familiar with—and have long admired the paintings of—artist Shize Li, a Hampton Place resident who paints pictures of UBC landmarks in Chi- nese style. The artist has painted the fa- mous Clock Tower at UBC, the entrance to Hampton Place and other UBC landmarks—paintings that have been published in The Campus Resident. 

Readers have also enjoyed painting demonstrations by Mr. Li at many commu- nity events. Everyone who sees a painting by Mr. Li says how well it captures the vision of two cultures uniting the architectural style of the West with the artistic style of the East. 

Mr. Li immigrated to Canada in 2013 at the age of 72. He is a retired associate professor of mathematics from Kunming University, China, and taught in the Department of Mathematics on projective geometry and differential geometry. He has found Canada a nice place to live, with good mountain views, clean water and fresh air, and friendly people. He has been very impressed by the level of respect people show to different cultures. 

Daughter Claire Li says: “You can imagine how challenging it was to leave the home country and start living in a totally strange country at that age. However, he and my mom took the challenge as they would like to be closer to me and my family. Since then, he tried hard to adapt to living style here, even if he does not speak English (I am his interpreter and translator).” 

Mr. Li learned Chinese style painting in 2001 after he had retired. “Flowers and birds are the things I painted at the begin- ning. It was for fun and making my life less boring. Then I found that it is a good way to get closer to nature, to know things, and to express my feelings.” 

Mr. Li admires the great Western artist Renoir. “His paintings show a great passion for people and human kindness.” Another artist he likes is Li Zijian. “His paintings have such strong expressions of humanity and love that shock people’s minds.” 

In the last few years, Mr. Li has added significantly to the number of paintings of UBC landmarks in his unique Chinese painting style. He recently produced paintings of the new Orchard student residence at UBC, Wesbrook Mall at the Pharmaceutical Sciences Building, the Koerner Library and other works.

Claire Li said of her father: “Now, he has a lot of friends at UBC campus, teaches painting class in community center, is a member of the community choir, and he even initiated an informal ‘tennis club’! I would like to say I seldom see somebody at his age who has done such a great job in a new country! And he still has quite a few plans to work on!” 

- from The Campus Resident newspaper, May 15, 2018

 Orchard Student Building

 Garden at UBC

 Wesbrook Mall

 Chan Centre

Cherry Blossoms on UBC Campus

It was fifty years ago today....

We can hardly believe our luck in having such an amazing life together and the icing on the cake is our wonderful son, Richard.  I feel so blessed to be married to someone who loves me more than words can say and who surprises me everyday with schemes, plans, and ideas.  Merci,  mon cher.  Je t'aime beaucoup, comme tu sais tres bien.

And the third wonderful man in my life, my Dad.

Cec, Linda, Donna, Kerry, Roger, and Betty, my bridesmaid.

Jim's parents and us.

My parents and us.

My brother, Craig (the fourth wonderful man in my life), was working as a geologist in the Yukon and couldn't attend.  He sent this telegram.  Since we were both studying English at UBC it was very appropriate.  And yes,  our "royalties" have been infinite!

Dear Jim and Janice,
An idea came to mind. The preliminary drafts were drawn. After several months of proofreading your story has now been published and probably with only a minimum of advertising will proceed to the racks and should be a best seller overnight. May your royalties be infinite and your story become a classic. All the best. Am sorry I could not attend.
Craig