Go west and take pictures!

Well, what can I say but that it was a feast of photo ops for me last week, reflected in the excessive number of shots I am featuring today. I had a hard time settling on just these ones, and indeed would have inflicted yet more on you but Blogger won't let me load more than five, and it's probably just as well.

Every year for the past twelve years I've had an art booth at Equi-fair at the Spruce Meadows international show jumping venue in Calgary, held during the Masters competition. It was always a lot of work to get ready for this show--particularly since I was mostly producing time and labour intensive one-of-a-kind art pieces, mostly glass mosaics, so in addition to the concentrated effort required to get everything prepped for this five day show, I usually lost most of my summer as well to studio time. Now that I've switched media to something that isn't heavy to haul around, breakable, or one of a kind (i.e. art photography) and that would be somewhat rational to haul to a long show, I decided the end had come for this particular chapter of my art life, so I didn't have a booth there this year. However, I did want to have a bit of a "farewell tour" and just get to be a tourist with my camera for once, plus there was the added inducement of the unveiling and first showing of the Mural Mosaic project, of which I was a small part.

All this being the case, Jim and I headed west last Tuesday, dropping the boys off at Happy Dog Acres boarding kennel (where they do appear to be truly happy, since they can hardly wait to get in the door there and don't seem that interested in us when we come to take them back home) then carrying on down the road to Calgary, which is about a seven hour drive if you keep at it, but was a bit more for us as I wanted to have the leisure to stop and take photos as desired, always having been under a strict timeline when I did this trip before.

We stay at a wonderful B and B just west of Spruce Meadows, run by a couple who in addition to being superb hosts have become good friends over the years that we have stayed with them. They are llama breeders and cat lovers, and we always enjoy the various aspects of staying there and indeed feel right at home.

The unveiling of the gigantic mural was early afternoon on Wednesday the 3rd (also our 42?? wedding anniversary, not sure how that happened or where all those years went) and we were on hand to see it assembled for the first time. There were a number of contributing artists there for the event and it was quite astonishing to see the scale of it in the Equi-fair venue (the main riding hall at Spruce Meadows in normal circumstances). If you Google "Mural Mosaic unveiling" or something of that sort, you can likely find some online shots. They had all the artists come up to the front for photos, which was nice. If you find some of these shots, I'm the one kneeling at the front with the big camera in my lap, and *not* dressed in black. 

The rest of that day and the following one, we mooched around the site and took in a fair number of show jumping classes. Despite having been there every year for the last twelve years, I hadn't made it to the International Ring for at least a decade, so it was a treat to flop around on the "peasant's" bench seating with no time constraints, no booth or customers to rush back to, just watch the jumping and take some photos. Wander off for a coffee, come back for more shots.

Now it's back to business at home, since in case I should, heaven forfend, not have enough to do already, I am organizing an art show/sale which will take place this coming Saturday, September 13, at Ebon Stables (where I ride) east of the city. Any Saskatoon and area readers of this blog are more than welcome to come to the show. There will be ten artists (painters, a print-maker, photographers) showcased at Ebon, and the potter's group just down the road at Agar's Corners will also be having a sale of pottery and other crafts, plus Peggy and Don Agar are doing up a fowl supper. Something for everyone! If you want details on any aspect of this show/sale (Art at Ebon) just email me at  judywood@sasktel.net   and I can give you any information you require. All we need is some decent enough weather (this is semi-outdoors) and we're good to go. 

On to the shots of the day. 

First up is the ridiculously beautiful view to the west of the B and B where we stay. Those are the Rockies, and that's a pretty tame sunset, but it's what I could get. Still pretty darn nice. I was very short on light by the time I took this one, so I was happy to get anything at all.

Shot number two is one of the new kittens at the B and B. There are two of these beautiful little girls, and I was totally smitten with them. Again, having the luxury of time, I spent quite a bit of time each morning just sitting around on the grass watching them play. I think of all the wonderful photo ops I had on this trip, I had as much fun and pleasure getting kitten shots as I did any of the others. Can't say I'm hard to please!

Shot three shows the mural mosaic just after the unveiling. You can see the scale of it quite well in this shot with the people at the base of it. My panel is totally invisible there as it is in the bottom row. You can check their website http://www.muralmosaic.com/Cadeau.html   to see it. It's on the bottom row, fifth (I think) from the left. Look for the "Gothic" looking one with the black horses (all my boy Alpac), moon, crows and church.

Last two shots are from the International Ring. That's Ian Millar on the grey going over the jump in typically good style, and the other shot is the Queen's Cavalry (or whoever they were, not sure of the correct name) with some of the winning riders, at attention for the playing of God Save the Queen at the end of the day. I couldn't figure out why they kept playing God Save the Queen at the time, but of course now that I think of the Queen's Cavalry and Guards being the official escorts, it makes sense.