"It was a magnificent display of trained and disciplined valour, and its assault only failed of success because dead men can advance no further." Major-General Sir Beauvoir de Lisle, Commander of the British 29th Division , on the 1st Newfoundland Regiment at Beaumont-Hamel July 1st is Canada Day where the country celebrates its birthday. In Newfoundland, while we are part of Canada since 1949, another day is remembered - Memorial Day. On July 1, 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme in World War I, 801 soldiers of the 1st Newfoundland Regiment rose from the British trenches and went into battle at Beaumont-Hamel , nine kilometers north of Albert in France. After only 30 minutes the regiment was devastated. Only 68 men stood to answer the regimental roll call the next morning. 255 were dead, 386 were wounded, and 91 were listed as missing in action and presumed dead. Every officer who had gone over the top was either wounded or dead. While researching relatives in an old cemetery I found a gravesite which brought home more the meaning of Memorial Day. The graves of two young men, relatives through my mother's paternal side of the family, James Atwill, who died on July 1, 1916 as part of the Newfoundland Regiment and his brother Duncan, who died two years later in action in France. James was 25 and Duncan 21. Such a waste of life and such a terrible war, as all wars are.  read more »

Though the art world is a buzz about Mark Lewis representing Canada at Venice in 2009, Canadian architects are taking their turn in the Venetian spotlight this very fall. The opportunity comes via Cambridge Galleries and the aptly named show "41 to 66".

Cosmos
CP on bristol vellum 9 x 12
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Its the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada and I haven't had much in the way of commitments until tonight, so I'm trying to catch up on some drawing.  read more »

Today is Blog Action Day 2008 and this years topic is poverty. Blog Action Day tries to raise awareness about a specific issue by having thousands of bloggers blog about a single chosen topic on the same day. This is my rant. The average person who reads this blog doesn't really know about or has been touched by poverty personally. Have you ever had to make the choice between food or heat? Have you ever had to go without medicine because you couldn't afford it?  read more »

Well, I had quite a time getting here to Canada. My flight was late getting into Dallas and my connecting flight was clear across the airport (the Dallas airport is GIGANTIC!). I ran all the way but still didn't get there in time. The airline couldn't get me on another flight until the next day, so I stayed over in Dallas one night and ended up here yesterday at 4 in the afternoon on my first day of class, quitting time! So I met my class this morning and am going to squeeze a 5-day workshop into 4 days. Below is the view from the dorm room where they put me up. The trees are gorgeous. It gets dark here at 10 pm!!!  read more »

Here's one of my demos from last week - a dark blue cup with white dots. It was a tough one and I didn't manage to get a great photo. My students bought up every one of my demos. I ended up teaching on Saturday as well with just a few students (since I missed Monday). For lunch, since there were just a few of us, we drove into town and had a very nice lunch. Below is a photo of us outside the Rusty Pelican (Jim, Judy, me & Shelley). Shelley was hesitant to smile much as she thought the other photo I posted of her made her look at bit manic. : ) She is probably the most generous person I've ever met as she invited me back to her house on the lake to relax on Sunday with her & her family. I had a lovely time and she was so nice as to send me back to Red Deer with an extensive care package - enough food for the rest of the week! Thank you Shelley and family!  read more »

My students have purchased all of my demos so far, and I didn't photograph them in time to post, so here are more photos from the workshop. Above: my kids busy at work.

Above: a few of my new buds. There are about 12 workshops going on at once here this week at Red Deer College during their "Summer Series", and there will be all new ones next week. Every Thursday they have a student show to share all the work with everyone here. These are some of my students at the show, admiring all the great art.  read more »

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Well, I had quite a time getting here to Canada. My flight was late getting into Dallas and my connecting flight was clear across the airport (the Dallas airport is GIGANTIC!). I ran all the way but still didn't get there in time. The airline couldn't get me on another flight until the next day, so I stayed over in Dallas one night and ended up here yesterday at 4 in the afternoon on my first day of class, quitting time! So I met my class this morning and am going to squeeze a 5-day workshop into 4 days. Below is the view from the dorm room where they put me up. The trees are gorgeous. It gets dark here at 10 pm!!!  read more »

The Ottawa Citizen, the CBC, and the Globe and Mail

The Ottawa Citizen, the CBC, and the Globe and Mail