I’m home from Haliburton!

I arrived home late late late Saturday night to some upsetting but unbloggable news. Then the universe kind of stood on its head and spun around for a few hours before righting itself again. Sometimes you just have to have faith that the universe will unfold as it should, because it will. It always does.

And it did. The stars have re-aligned themselves and the planets have settled back into their orbits. Everything’s good now.

On Sunday my allergic-to-cats friend Jamie drove me to get Duncan from the Cat’s Meow and we had a lovely drive back to Ottawa with him settling nicely into his brand-new leopard skin carrying case. (If you recall, he destroyed his cardboard Humane Society carrying case on the way there by pooping in it, peeing in it, and then slicing it open with his razor sharp claws during a semi-successful escape attempt.)

The drive back was immeasurably better than the ride there. He really is such a placcid, easy-going cat. When we arrived to pick him up, he was outside enjoying his private little backyard, which was a lot lovelier and less prison-like than it looks in this picture. They do have triple-security to keep the cats from escaping, but it’s not as stark as the picture makes it look. (And, just so you know, the Cat’s Meow gets two thumbs up and five stars from both me and Duncan. If you’re looking for a lovely, clean, peaceful, pleasant, comfortable place for your cat to live while you’re away, I don’t think there’s anywhere better than the Cat’s Meow.)

I missed blogging while I was in Haliburton. There was one public-use computer for hundreds of students to share, and there were hoardes of voracious 10-year-old Internet addicts who couldn’t pry their sticky little fingers off the keyboard once they got their turn. I did manage to get about 10 minutes a day on the computer while impatient little kids looked over my shoulder and squirmed anxiously and asked me if I was almost done yet. It was enough time to check email and read blog comments. But it wasn’t enough time to blog. (Thanks to all of you who left comments, by the way. I loved reading them – it made me feel still connected.)

I’ve been thinking about how to blog my vacation. It seems worthy of more than just a post, but I don’t want to drag it out either. There’s just so much to write about: Haliburton itself, my art course, my guitar course, the interesting people I met, the camping experience, the coyotes and bunnies, the cabin, the coffee shop, the internet withdrawals, the concerts I went to, the concert I performed in (!), the art I made, the art I bought, the panicky feeling I got when I realized I’d lost my return train ticket 8 minutes before the train arrived. And then there’s Henry – everybody should mark the fifth anniversary of their breakup by going camping with their ex. You’ll probably end up reunited, dead, or better friends. (We survived and I think we’re better friends now.)

Okay. I’m going to start with the courses and see where it goes.

I took Mixed Media with Valerie Kent the first week, while Henry took Rick Fines’ fingerstyle guitar course. Mixed media involves throwing a whole bunch of stuff at the canvas and seeing what sticks. Watercolours, acrylics, watercolour pencils, glue, crushed eggshells, sparkles, glass beads, leaves, crumpled paper, pictures from magazines, whatever. You also use various techniques, including sponging, pouring, stamping and monoprinting. Anything goes. This is a course that someone with no artistic talent or experience can enjoy, and I say that from my own unique vantage point as someone with no artistic talent or experience. It’s like being in kindergarten again.

The teacher, Valerie Kent, was lovely, and very good at nurturing students of varying levels. She treated me like a kindergarten student, oohing and ahhhing over every effort I made and praising my stick figures and gooey messes. The other five students in the class were better than me, and she tailored her feedback accordingly. The most advanced students got criticism as well as praise. For example, she suggested that one student remove the sun from her gorgeous landscape painting. (If I had painted that sun she would have said it was beautiful and put it in a frame.)

Here are some of my masterpieces. Feel free to print them out and stick them to your fridge door with magnets.