Smooth Sailing!

We were tired after the arrival to Copenhagen on Friday afternoon, but thankfully there was someeone to pick us up at the airport, two cars with two happy drivers whom I hadn't seen for 5 years. Time easily passes when living on two different continents.
We scaled the stairs to the fifth floor appartment we have been installed in - and ... The suitcases flew up the stairs, helped along by my brother who ..... Lives on the 6th floor and bicycles every day. Thank goodness for his help, we made it up with some huffing and puffing but no danger of cardiac arrests, our legs will be extra strong when leaving to go home again.
A telephone call was made to the shipper before closing time and ..... Tomorrow morning, Monday, we will go to the gallery just before 9 am and wait for the delivery truck to arrive sometime before lunch. We did make it down to the gallery on Friday afternoon and visited with Elin Friis the gallery owner for a little while, got instructions and a key, we really are here and tomorrow it starts up full speed ahead getting the exhibit out of the crate and organized on the walls.
Deborah did post a blog for SEVEN on Friday .... But in the jet lagged atmosphere of the appartment it ended up here
Such is life and today is another grand day with inspirational visits around town, much walking and even more talking and planning for future work and ventures.
Stay tuned!
Pia

Arrival and departure

It is early in the morning and I am done sleeping for now anyways.
Yesterday was a big day - which started out with an email notice that our crate is ..... Where it is supposed to be for now, in storage with the shipping company in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Phew, deep breath, now it is time to start thinking seriously about how to and what to pack.

Except there was one more important point before commencing to pack to take care of yesterday. A couple of months ago we had contacted the local CBC Radio Station to let them know that we were up to something exciting, interesting, something worth while informing their listeners about. Yesterday on the programme Close to Home, CBC Radio I had a few minutes in a telephone interview to talk about our adventure and our plans.
I prepared lists, I called around to the SEVEN ladies and asked questions about which words specifically they wanted me to use when/if describing their works,I made lists, plural, mostly because I was doing it on the confounded confuser and so ... In the heat of the moment I deleted the first very exciting and full list. Once I discovered that and I had my breathing under control again I made a new very satisfying list with our general goals and other important stuff.
Then it was time for the interview and ... Time flies when you are having fun they say, even nervous fun I now know is covered by this, for ... In two blinks of an eye Yvonne Colbert was wrapping it up again and I was hanging up the phone.
On the table in front of me was the initial hand drafted list and on the screen was the confuser list and in looking them over I realised that I hadn't really covered one tenth of what I really wanted to express, and talk about. So many points of importance (to us I might ad)so little time, and in real life I suppose that what would suit my needs as an incessant talker would be more like a three hour show featuring a monologue or perhaps a panel discussion with SEVEN.
In hind sight it probably is very good that I only got a few minutes, they took enough planning as it was and overall I think we are ready to start the trip and not interested in anymore time consuming planning sessions in order to make another another large impact statement.
As we are just arriving in Denmark the second of two articles written about us in a Danish arts/craft magazine, Husfliden will be sent out to their membership - we had to make sure we were covered in the Danish Press as well. We have been in contact with the local newspaper covering the area where we are exhibiting at the gallery in København, Østerbroavisen and I know that they are working on making room for our press release as well as the ad we have ordered. It is beyond exciting to be doing this, beyond description to feel the wave of support we have met where ever we have turned, and this is only the beginning, we aren't even there yet. Wow is all I can say!

Group Goals which help us keep focused:
1. Create opportunities/shows together
2. Artistic companionship
3. Professinal Development: artistic and the business of being an artist
4. Yipppeee Factor ... Getting Juiced Up!

We are on our way,

Yeeeehaaaaaww, this is me galloping across the kitchen floor swinging a skein of yarn with glee!
Pia

Fill the Big Crate Day!

Tomorrow is the big day, we will be packaging up 49 pieces of art work, in all shapes and sizes. We are planning to meet at noon when according to weather forecasts the rain is supposed to stop, which is good since the crate is too large to get into anyone's house anywhere, except that is if you have a big wide barn door and a forklift.

There are of course no photos of this event in this piece, since what I am talking about hasn't happened yet, but it is busily and happily making noise and summer saults in my head.
I cannot decide if this is like:
A - the night before Christmas, when often a lot of time is spent excitedly packaging up this year's treasures or treats to be shared in the morning or....
B - this is like sending  your kids off to summer camp for a while, wondering if there are enough dry socks (styro foam) warm sweaters (bubble wrap) and the little bag with toothpaste and brush and all the necessary grooming utensils (official documents galore stapled on the inside and the outside of the box) perhaps never even to get unpacked and used.
It is not easy, for me at least, to let go of tapestry pieces when I haven't had time to hang out with them for a while - there is an emotional attachment. I guess I like to do a slow travel through all the ideas and visions and how they came to be as I look at them and feel them.
The other vision right now is coming to fruition and we really are going. On my new Ipad which I talk about so often these days I have found Trepkasgade #5 and when I push the right buttons on Google Maps I can go and 'stand in front' of the gallery we are exhibiting in Copenhagen.
I can look at the shapes of the art which is hanging there and I can almost see it through the glare of the windows.
These are my thoughts for this day. The day before gathering the goods up and organizing everything safely and comfortably in the box. When we wave goodbye to the box tomorrow afternoon when we leave Marilyn's house it is scary and fantastic and amazing to think about the fact that next time we encounter it and put our hands on it  ........ it will be in Trepkasgade, in Copenhagen, unloading and preparing to hang our show, which has been underway for so long and from so far away.
And as I got to here I did realize that..... I can probably attach a jpg of our poster for all to see and enjoy!


Sweet dreams and fruitful visions everyone! Cheers, Pia

Our Danish Press Release

We have a press release for our Canadian press contacts, but the Danish one has a fun title and lists the exact dates and addresses of our exhibition tour.  Enjoy!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – SEVEN CANADIAN ARTIST TO EXHIBIT IN DENMARK – OPENING RECEPTION (ARTISTS IN ATTENDANCE) THURSDAY, AUGUST 5th, 6pm to 8 pm

Dreams, threads and colours from Canada (Fiber, fantasier og farver fra Canada)

Seven Canadian artists will be showing in Sjælland and Fyn in August and September.

Seven Canadian female artists, whose choice of materials range from wool and words to copper and colours, and who have joined forces in a group called SEVEN, will be exhibiting in Denmark in August. Their first stop is Basal Elin Galleri in Copenhagen on 5-8 August followed by a one day show at the Basal Elin Studio in Hørsholm on 14 August. The group will then move on to show at Værkstedsgalleriet in Kerteminde 12 September to 12 October.

The group is based in Nova Scotia on the east coast of Canada. The rugged maritime, forest and rural settings of this province exert a strong influence on their work, as do thoughts and ideas about sustainability, womanliness, human relations and life in general. Their art is sensual, funny and reflective; touchable, colourful and caring.

The members of the group are Pam Frail, Marilyn Rand, Marie Jardine, Pia Skaarer-Nielsen, Kelly Marie Redcliffe, Deborah Nicholson and Angela Melanson and their ages range from 36 to 56. While all independent and experienced artists in their own right, with numerous shows and commissions under their belts, they have come together as a group for mutual support and inspiration. Respect for the quality and scope of each others work and the potential for exploring new avenues bind them together.

August 5-8, 2010
Basal Elin Galleri
Opening/Fernisering: Thursday, August 5^th 18:00 to 20:00

(Artists in Attendance)
Trepkasgade 5,
2100 Copenhagen Ø
Denmark

August 14, 2010
Basal Elin Studio
Hours: 11:00 to 16:00

(Artists in Attendance)
Hørsholm, Denmark
September 12 - October 12, 2010
VærkstedsGalleriet (Dansk Husflid)
Opening/Fernisering: September 12^th, 13:00 to 14:00

(Artist in Attendance)
Gedskovvej 3,
5300 Kerteminde, Denmark

This is SEVEN's first European tour.

Read more about the group, their work and their tour in Denmark at http://www.sevenartisans.blogspot.com/.

SEVEN - our profile photo

 Thought I would share with you an image of all of the artists involved in the collective SEVEN. When you read through our posts, you can now put a face to our names... :)

*Middle: Pia Skaarer-Nielsen
*Marilyn Rand (far left, top row)
*Deborah Nicholson (middle, top row)
*Pam Frail (far right, top row)
*Angela Melanson (far right, bottom row)
*Marie Jardine (middle, bottom row)
*Kelly Marie Redcliffe (far left, bottom row)

Thanks for taking the time to read through and comment on our posts - we appreciate your feedback and interest.