Posts Tagged ‘art’
Blackberry picking
On Monday we drove from our cabin down to the lake (on our newly-mowed road) and picked a bowl of wild blackberries. The brambles were brutal and we came away with several scratches between us. But we picked berries to the tremolo of the loon on the lake and will enjoy a ‘blackberry buckle’ later this week. Blackberry buckle is made by adding sugar and water to the berries and covering with spoonfuls of dumpling mix. The dumplings cook in the steam of the simmering berries.
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All my best,
Jane
escapes: Virginia creeper
Virginia creeper, also call woodbine, thicket creeper and, in French vinge vierge, is a climbing vine with adhesive discs. Its leaves are palmately five-fingered and turn bright red in autumn. The plant has small purple fruit, poisonous to eat. The vine is common around abandoned homesteads where it persists or escapes to local woodlands.
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Virginia creeper
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (L.) Planch.
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In woods
on Whites Mountain
woodbine
climbs the ash.
Persistent escape
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from homesteads
long-gone.
Thicket creeper
navigates itself
to better ground,
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higher trees.
Thick rhizomes,
adhesive discs.
Five-fingered leaves
spread to cover
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every inch of bark.
Maximize
exposure to sun.
Ancestral creepers
once draped
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zig-zag cedar fences
in autumn scarlet.
Caught the attention
of farmers’ wives
on community rounds.
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All my best,
Jane
scribble bird
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Winter Wren
Troglodytes hiemalis
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How to find
centre of forest.
Joy the objective.
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Tiny tail
shivers as he sings.
Delirious trill.
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Troglodyte
darts into thickets,
creeps into crevasses.
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Lifts an eyebrow,
joins a chime of wrens.
Elusive ripple,
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varied trill,
incoherent whir,
tremble to warble.
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Distinguish
the note, the half-note,
the tone, the tangle.
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Forget where
you once were going,
indecisive
scribble bird.
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All my best,
Jane
book festival and fair
This weekend, I will be part of the Metro Moncton Book Festival, a great event for all booklovers! Just have a look at all the authors who will be there with their books.
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I will be there with all my books. All my books are illustrated so you can have a look at some of my artwork too.
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Are you interested in edible wild plants? Do you love covered bridges?
Do you love science fiction or a good love story?
If you are the Moncton area, I hope to see you there!
All my best,
Jane
my painting at Isaac’s Way
Winter is going fast! But winter still exists in my painting on display at Isaac’s Way Restaurant in Fredericton. The painting is one of 70 original art pieces in the 32nd Art Auction, raising funds for music lessons for kids-in-need.
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My painting ‘farmyard in moonlight’ is 24″ x 20″, acrylic, unframed, gallery edges. The high bid right now is $100. You can buy it off the wall for $320. Half of the price goes to the charity.
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You can see the other painting in the auction by visiting Isaac’s Way and enjoying their great menu. Or see the paintings on-line at 32nd Art Auction.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
abandoned buildings
We are living in a time when many of our older buildings are reaching the end of their useful lives. Old churches, old covered bridges, old schools and old houses are everywhere, facing the indignity of old age. So many succumb, end up in landfills or as rotting derelicts. Yet these are buildings where history whispers. Buildings with stories to tell, our stories.
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abandoned church
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highbush cranberry
first, fruit hard and green
then, red, ready for wine
then shriveled raisins
hang on a leafless vine
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the wick of a candle stub
competes with cobwebs
for thickness, thin sunlight
oozes, amber glass, a saber
along the empty aisle
threatens motes
in stale air undisturbed
where stray wind never
finds its way
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deconsecrated and so
not desecrated when mice
squeeze under the threshold
gnaw at the pulpit, or when
vines whisper
vague obscenities
at the lintel, tap on glass
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stripped of cross and steeple
people, prayers
stained glass and benches
removed and sold at auction
mice pause at their industry
to assess ambiguous whispers
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the young girl who sat on the stair
sang a song to her mother
the warden who argued to fix
the seep in the roof
the Minister
who stuttered
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Copyright Jane Tims 2018
writing with a sense of place
On Thursday this week (March 1,2018) at 7 PM I will be joined by three other authors to celebrate “Writing with a Sense of Place“. The readings are part of an art exhibit at the R.P. Bell Library, Mount Allison University, featuring the book cover and book design work of thirteen graphic artists from New Brunswick working in conjunction with eight regional publishers. My books covers for ‘within easy reach’ (Chapel Street Editions, 2016) and ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ (Chapel Street Editions, 2017) have been included in the exhibit. I will be reading poems from in the shelter of the covered bridge and talking a little about the role these bridges play in our landscape.
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Press Release
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The New Brunswick Book Design Exhibit will open at the R.P. Bell Library, Mount Allison University, Sackville, NB on March 1st and run through April 19th. The Exhibit showcases the book cover and book design work of thirteen graphic artists from New Brunswick working in conjunction with eight regional publishers.
The Exhibit will open the evening of Thursday, March 1st at 7 pm with a program of readings by NB writers Beth Powning, Allan Cooper, Peter J. Clair, and Jane Tims, all of whom have books included in the display. The theme of the program will be “Writing with a Sense of Place.”
The New Brunswick Book Design Exhibit consists of sixty-three enlarged book cover images mounted on panels for wall display and twenty-nine books for table display. The book cover images illustrate a wide range of design approaches. The books on display provide an engagement with the design and graphic features of high quality printing and fine bookmaking.
A second program of readings will be held on Saturday, March 17th from 10 to 12 p.m. with authors of books for children that are also included in the Exhibit.
The Exhibit will be set up in the main entrance of the R.P. Bell Library and can be viewed during library hours: 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The Bell Library is located at 49 York Street on the campus of Mount Allison University. The Exhibit and its programs are open to the public without charge.
The New Brunswick Book Design Exhibit was created Brendan and Keith Helmuth for Word Feast 2017, a St. John River Valley literary festival based in Fredericton. The Exhibit was first on display at the Andrew and Laura McCain Gallery in Florenceville-Bristol and then at Connell House in Woodstock. In September it moved to the Fredericton Public Library. The Exhibit has since been enlarged to include additional examples of NB book cover design.
The Exhibit has been created with the cooperation of Goose Lane Editions, The Fiddlehead, Gaspereau Press, The Anchorage Press, Rabbittown Press, Monster House Publishing, and Chocolate River Publishing. Financial support for the production and display of the Exhibit has been provide by the Royal Bank of Canada, the NB Department of Culture, Heritage and Tourism and Chapel Street Editions.
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My book in the shelter of the covered bridge explores the part the covered bridge plays in our New Brunswick landscape, both for plants and animals who live there and for the humans who leave their marks within. I am so proud to be part of the exhibit and the readings. I hope you will be able to attend.
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Jane Tims 2018
