Merry Christmas

If someone was to ask me what my favourite 

childhood book had been I would tell them it was 

"Hurlbut's Story of the Bible" by the Rev. J. Hurlbut.

Hurlbut strikes me as an amusing name now but in 

1959 in my part of the world the sound of the word 

'but' didn't conjure up pictures of bare bottoms - it 

was still just a conjunction.

Anyway I read those Bible stories over and over and 

over.

And I still love them. 

I especially love the story of a baby meant to bring 

hope to a weary world, born of a virgin mother on 

the winter solstice, visited by angels, shepherds

and wise men who were led by a Star.

It just doesn't get much better than that.

And so with my own heart full of hope I wish 

everyone joy and peace this Christmas season.

Secnarf on Senate Reform

This week I was again able to catch up with Secnarf, last remaining member of the Rhinoceros Party of Canada and candidate for Prime Minister in the October Federal election.  Here is a transcript of the interview:

Francie: Secnarf, what is your policy regarding 

Senate reform?

Secnarf: Well Francie, as you know I've always 

been in favour of an all female elected Senate.  I 

would call it 'The Hall of the Matriarchs'.

Francie: So the lower chamber would be for men 

exclusively?

Secnarf:   It would be for anyone who believes the 

good behaviour of an elected member of the nation's 

parliament includes burping, farting, scratching 

themselves, dragging their knuckles  across the

floor, posturing aggressively and hurling loutish 

insults at other members without listening to a word 

anyone else has to say.

Francie:  I see. And upon what would you base this?

Secnarf:  It was the Iroquois way.

Francie: But the Iroquois matriarchs were able to 

control the warriors by withholding food.

Secnarf: Exactly. That is why the Hall of the 

Matriarchs would have the keys to the House of 

Commons.  Nobody would get to the cafeteria or the 

bathroom until some work was done.

Francie:  Two votes for every woman, an elected all 

female Senate, a House of Commons starved into 

submission.  I like it.

Secnarf:  It is the wave of the future!

Remember folks, 

VOTE SECNARF

It is a vote for a politician who looks

like a Cabinet Minister nobody

remembers anymore! And that's a

good thing.

The Emancipation of Women

Yesterday I came across a pro hijab post which 

presented that particular head covering as a feminist 

accoutrement intended to free Muslim women from 

being objectified as sex objects.  It was presented 

by an sexy young woman in a hijab and perfect 

makeup.

The next post was Rex Murphy's point of view on the 

National. Rex says the hijab/niqab controversy is a 

tempest in a teacup meant to distract us from the 

real issues of the election.  But that  sweeps the 

political reality of what is happening 

under the rug and ignores the ugly passion 

the topic often generates at the grassroots level.  

Third came a picture of Steven Harper above the 

caption "I would never ask my daughter to cover her 

face because she is a woman."

I don't know if he really said that but if he did, well, 

here's the news Mr. Harper : it isn't about you.

Most disturbing was the last post I saw yesterday 

which depicted women as the enemy. It showed a 

crowd of Muslim women fists raised in anger 

and read (more or less), "You leave your shit 

hole of a country and come here and complain 

because our laws aren't the same as the shit hole

laws you escaped from."   

I don't know what the answer is except to say that 

in a better world the clothes a woman puts on in the 

morning would be of no interest to anyone but 

herself.

The emancipation of the Earth's women will be the 

greatest struggle of the 21st century.  

***

Secnarf Wants Your Vote

Word reached me yesterday that Secnarf, last remaining member of the Rhinoceros Party of Canada, has declared her candidacy for Prime Minister in the October Federal election.  I managed to reach her last night.



Francie:  Secnarf! How's that thing with the electronic ankle bracelet going?

Secnarf: A complete misunderstanding.  I have never stalked Justin Trudeau.

Francie:  He found you in his bedroom closet.

Secnarf:  Lies.  All lies.

Francie:  You were singing, 'Oh Canada' in French.

Secnarf:  Absolute fuddle duddle! 

Francie:  Well okay then, Secnarf, let's talk about your policies.

Secnarf: As usual I'm campaigning on the 'two votes for every woman' platform.  

My campaign manager Isabella King and I believe it is the only way to bring peace and stability to the country.

Francie: Isabella King is your campaign manager?

Hasn't Mckenzie King's mother been dead since 1917?

Secnarf:  Hey! She got us through World War II!

And when I'm elected Prime Minister I plan to put her in charge oh the cabinet.

Francie: So Canada's cabinet meetings will be seances?

Secnarf: Great Idea, eh?  They'll be way more fun than the ones they have now.  

Anyway I have to go. Pat and I are meeting to discuss the environment.

Francie:   Please don't tell me you mean 'Pat' Mckenzie King's dog...

Secnarf:   Gotta run! Bye! And don't forget:  

A VOTE FOR SECNARF IS A VOTE FOR THE ONLY POLITICIAN WHO LOOKS LIKE A CABINET MINISTER THAT NOBODY REMEMBERS ANYMORE EXCEPT THAT SHE DRANK EXPENSIVE ORANGE JUICE
AND CHARGED THE TAXPAYER.

Goose, Moose... What's the Difference?

Okay so I posted this picture of my brother today on face book and informed the world he was goose hunting.

I also e-mailed a copy of it to him figuring he would be thrilled to see himself immortalized in oil pastels.

If he was he didn't say.

He rather curtly informed me that is a moose hunting rifle he is holding.

Jeesh, goose, moose.  

He's lucky I knew it was a gun.


Anyway the picture is called "A James Bay Morning".


My brother taught school in Moose Factory for 25 years and married a local girl - my most wonderful sister-in-law!

The Swampy Cree hunt moose and always have.  

And they also hunt goose.  I know this for a fact ... but I digress.

The point I'm trying to make is that this is not sport hunting, it is hunting for food and is part of the traditional lifestyle of the people who live around James Bay.

So a picture that could so easily give viewers an ominous feeling has a quiet watchful sense about it.


Unless you happen to be a moose that is.

The hardy Canucklebrain

I've been working much smaller recently - 12" x 12".

"What You Don't See"

"Adam and Eve Leaving the Garden of Eden"

Short post I guess but I do have one important statement to make.

it's fricken cold here.

But being a hardy Canucklebrain, I am going to Niagara Falls today to see the ice!!!

My country is winter.

Oh wait, did somebody already say that?  

Stay warm folks and keep yer snow shovels handy cause it ain't over yet.

Love the One You're With

Now that I've passed a birthday that puts me closer to 70 than 60 I'm starting to look back over my life.  

If there has been one lesson that I'd say I've been put here to learn it is how to look in the mirror and be comfortable/companionable with the person looking back.

The Universe Unfolding ... is a picture with a pattern, the route I thought my life would take.  My life is connected to the outside world of family, friends, lovers etc. and everything flows as it should.

'First Steps' shows the first break in the pattern.  There's a blip in the middle on the right but I managed to pull myself together and the flow of life resumes at the bottom right.

"You Gotta Leave With the One You Came With" shows a complete break with the flow of "normal" life.  But I still am looking for outside validation of my 'self', i.e., the end and the beginning are still easy to find.

But this is a current self-portrait.

I've turned inwards for validation.  The ends of the ropes that represent my journey are no longer searching for love in all the wrong places.  They've found each other.

There's no Alpha or Omega.
There's just me.

And I'm okay.

The Universe Unfolding ...

I've been hooked on the abstract lately.

This one, called "The Universe Unfolding ..." is totally gorgeous.  It begs to hang in a neutral coloured room where it can be the only object of admiration. 

This one, called Snowstorm", uses more conventional colours and the movement is smoother.  But it is so rich and sensual I think it belongs in a bedroom.

But only if your universe is unfolding as romantically as it should!

:)

Portrait of Meghan

It amazes me how so many young women fill up the space they've been allotted.

They fill it up physically, psychically, emotionally, spiritually.

They know they have the right to be here, to be seen and to be heard.

And that, my friends, is a wonderful thing.

The Wise Not So Nice Little Girl

I was invited to a birthday party a few years ago.  

I happened upon this small scrap of defiant humanity that day.

She didn't know me and consequently didn't feel compelled to put on her 'nice little girl' persona. The party wasn't for her so she didn't have to worry that I would get mad take her present and go home.

She studied me calmly, unsmiling when I took her photo.  She wasn't afraid - or friendly either for that matter.   

It was unnerving to be so judged by a three year old.


And just between us ... I'd like to ditch my 'nice little girl' persona too.

Wish I'd asked her what I should do because by now she must be six or seven and totally nice.

On The Other Hand

In the middle of November I slipped on the ice and broke my thumb.

My right thumb, hand and wrist were in a cast for an eternity. And having my dominant hand suddenly unusable created all kinds of problems

in my day to day 'First World' life, (i.e., driving, opening tin cans, cooking, doing up various parts 
of my clothing), but the worst part was that my

drawing hand was kaput.

In desperation I began to use my left hand.  The only picture that I did with my left hand that was worth saving was the last picture I posted. 

The thing is that I love that picture and when I compared it to my other work I see it is simple and yet so bare naked truthful.  

Done in the Medieval style it is called, "Willpower" 

and is all about using only my mind to control things

that are potentially out of my control.

The cast came off earlier this week and I am really feeling quite scattered.

My right hand seems like a friend I haven't seen for awhile - it is a bit uncomfortable finding things to talk about.

(And I am a little pissed at it anyway for letting me down.)

My left hand, on the other hand, was difficult to be with but interesting and I don't know that I want to drop it just because my right hand is back.

I decided to do draw something (right hand) to try to ground myself

 but I still feel unsettled and it shows.  :( 

A stranger in my own mind.

PS On the positive side, while encased I did discover the Quebec author Louise Penny and her wonderful Inspector Armand Gomeche murder mysteries.

BWA HA HA!

This is a picture of me rejoining my blogging buddies who want to know where the Hell I've been and WTF I think I am anyway.

No it isn't.

But I am back.  Being 'Francie McGlynn Art' on facebook isn't being part of the community of artists sharing ideas and talking about art the way I thought it might be.  It is a way for people to showcase what they are doing and that is actually quite fascinating, it is good to see what is out there.

But I missed my blog and blog buddies.

So I'm back.


BWA HA HA!!!

Fare Thee Well, Summer

This picture, 'Spider Says Good-bye to Summer' is about endings.

Unlike Spider I'm not saying good-bye but I am saying that I probably won't be as active on my blog as I have been.

The reason is that I have started a new page on face book called 'Francie McGlynn Art'.  It is allowing me to post my pictures and follow other artists from around the world.  Unfortunately I'm simply running our of time.

I'll check in with everyone when I can and I'm not closing down a North End Journal because I've learned these things wax and wane and by next summer I may be back here posting five times a day.

:)

I'm off to Ottawa this week-end for a National Remembrance Day that may be very, very different from anything we've seen before.

Freedom, especially for women, has never seemed so precious.

Till next time,

Francie

The Good Man

I was about a block from the funeral home when this picture was taken.  Cpl Cirillo's cortege has just appeared.

Two Canadian soldiers were murdered last week, 

Warrant Officer Patrice Vincent and Cpl Nathan 

Cirillo.  Both are a terrible loss but Cpl Cirillo's death 

has affected us at a very deep level.  That's because

at the time of his death he embodied the archetypal 

'good man' actively protecting everything we hold 

sacred whereas Warrant Officer Vincent was simply

going about his daily life when he was killed. 

The archetypal 'good man' or 'good father' or 'hero' 

has not been a large part of our western society for 

a while.  Many of our 'heroes' are rich, greedy and 

tend to debase and abuse women and children.

Cpl Cirillo has become a symbol that resonates in 

all of us. The protector/defender role model children 

need, particularly boy children learning what it 

means to be a good man.

I'll watch Cpl Cirillo's funeral and cry but I'll also 

know that he was a hero and in a way he could 

never have expected he was there when we needed 

him.

Thank-you, Cpl Cirillo

He was shot in the neck and bleeding heavily, a

young First Nations soldier named Flock out of 

Stony Creek.  He had hit Juno Beach on

D Day+1 with his fellow Argyll & Sutherland 

Highlanders of Canada. Somehow  his buddies got

 him to the ambulance.  They took off but in the

chaos the ambulance got lost and he bled out.

I know about him because my Dad, his friend

and fellow Argyll was with him when he died. 

The Argylls went on to be part of the liberation of

Holland and helped bring about the fall of Nazi

Germany. 

Many more died.

In their memory Cpl Cirillo of 

the Argyll& Sutherland Highlanders 

of Canada was standing guard at the National 

War Memorial yesterday by the tomb of the 

unknown soldier.

We won't forget.

He Dances

Sometimes Death rides a horse.

Sometimes he simply drifts down a waterway like Twelve Mile Creek.


He's kind of a goofy looking fella but he always brings a gift.


He brought bubonic plague and famine to Europe.

He brought cholera to the Irish canallers on the Twelve.

He brought small pox to the indigenous people of North America.


And now he's dancing through north Africa.

Happy Thanksgiving, Pilgrim

Americans are a patriotic bunch and as the first 

Thanksgiving happened on what is now part of the 

USA and is often depicted as occurring under a flag 

pole that flies the stars and stripes we often assume 

the Pilgrims were Americans.

Not true.

There was no USA when the Pilgrims landed.

 

No 49th parallel.

Even the Toronto Maple Leafs didn't exist in

those far off days.

It was British North America and therefore we have 

as much right to those sanctimonious, self-righteous 

bigots of old as they do. 

So you can rest easy on the Pilgrim front, Canada 

and have a great Thanksgiving!

:)

Along the Twelve

Just as the mighty Niagara River flows into Lake Ontario so do a number of creeks that are found along the south-western shores of the lake.  The early settlers named them according to the number of miles they were from the river.

The community that eventually grew into present day St. Catharines, Ontario was on Twelve Mile Creek and was sometimes simply referred to as "The Twelve".

You can see Twelve Mile Creek in the centre of the picture.  Parts of it were incorporated into the first three Welland Canals.  Lake Ontario is in the upper right. Along the bottom are the colours of the abundant harvest that comes from our rich farmland.  The urban areas along The Twelve are represented by the houses at the top.

The 406 Highway that runs through the peninsula and joins up with the Queen Elizabeth Highway - Niagara's link with Hamilton, Toronto, Montreal and  New York runs parallel to the waterway in the picture.

This is where I live. It's home.  

The Song of Creation

Artist's Statement

I'm interested in symbols.  Not mainstream cultural symbols but personal images as they come to me in dreams or intuition when I'm sitting at my drawing table. 

I am influenced by North American Aboriginal art, Medieval art, the Symbolist movement, Celtic design, Jungian psychology (or my understanding of it) and many other art movements and artists.

My work often revolves around spiritual issues. I'm trying to find God but not in the traditional sense of being saved from my sins. I try to capture the resurgence of the Divine Feminine as She appears to me. 

I use oil pastels.  They look like crayons but consist of pigment mixed with a non-drying oil and a wax binder.  They are clunky, can be very messy and don't allow for too much detail.  

Before I use the oil pastels I prime water colour paper with India ink and a clear polymer glaze.  I start each picture with a single line or 'thread'.  Eventually an image comes to mind and I build the picture from there, section by section.  I cover the finished work with another glaze.

My art is a joy to me.  It is the first time in my life I've been free to investigate the inner landscape of my own mind.  I believe my mind is joined to all of humanity in what Carl Jung called "the collective unconscious" and so even though my symbols may seem obscure and personal they often resonate with other people. 

Francie

I Smell Winter

This picture is called, "The Scarf".

You can see mittens at the top and cardinals on the right but mostly it is about the scarf.

eek

I smell winter coming.