Nigel Fox Artworks

Nathan Wilson and I finished our first commission together.  It had its ups and downs, but it was over all very positive and a total blast.  We worked 10 hour days over a 6 day period and worked on site the whole time.  We set up a tarp tent soon after starting the project and with the wind blowing very hard at times, it nearly blew over a few times and collapsed more times than we could remember.   We started with sketch ups of the proposed crest heads and after all the formalities, such as price, dimensions and other considerations, we started the first day after finishing our last day of class at Freda Diesing School.

We started by preparing the log–a first-growth western red cedar.  And after the surface was prepared and all the roughage taken off, we had a smooth surface to work on and put the crest heads.

Next we painted the primary and secondary forms.

Then we started carving.

Then, finally we painted the tertiary areas and after getting approval from the clients, we were done.

Very exciting project and I am looking forward to what’s next.  Stay tuned.

Beautiful Sunrise in Terrace this Morning

I am in the car on the way back to Topley with Amy as I am writing this right now. The skies are sighing a mellow hum of purple in the distance as the mountains salute the dying remnance of a glorious day that the Lord has made. The week is now past and with two exhibits in the next two weeks, I have work awaiting me at home where I need to finish a painting that I have been working on. I think that this painting is a milestone in my studies and I look forward to exhibiting it. In fact, there are numerous works that are going to be on display that are quite impressive. I saw a painting by Kelly Robertson that I never thought existed; it is a Nuxhalk style painting in typical Kelly flavor–totally crisp, well designed and professionally executed–that appears to tell of a story about a lesson. I will have to ask him what it is about.

As those who have been following already know, we started on spoons this week and most of us are almost done our first spoon; some of us are on to our second spoon. Just like my first spoon, my second spoon is off to a bad start as I seemed to have misjudged the grain on this spoon. When carving in wood, grain is everything. Carving with the grain makes carving wood a breeze, but carving against the grain makes a person want to cry–it can be wrought with frustration and disappointment.  Anyways, my first spoon is turning out much better than I thought that it would and it started on a bad note as well, so we will see how this second spoon turns out.

My second Spoon

We had a survey teleconference at noon today in the main building at school. The survey was part of a three year periodic interview of post secondary first nations students asking them the difficulties of college education. Many opinions and concerns came forth in the groups. There were three groups in total, one from Hazelton, one from Terrace and one from Rupert. The main concern that came out in the survey was funding and being able to afford college, even for those who are single, in fact I heard very little from those who may have been single parents in the group. Other than this, a main issue was the sense of belonging and this is something that I struggle with myself sometimes, but I usually get over it by realising that others around me are going through something similar. I find inspiration in the book of proverbs in the Bible that “to have friends, you must be a friend”. This is a paraphrase, but the idea is what matters, that to have friends, you need to take the initiative and be a friend.

Next week, we are expecting a presentation by author Bill McLennan. The plan is that Bill is going to do a presentation on the Charles and Elizabeth Edenshaw exhibit that he is directing at the UBC museum of anthropology. Two people at Freda Diesing School have gone to see this exhibit so far, Dean Heron and Nathan Wilson; both have recommended it to the other students. I hope to see it when I am down in vancouver.

Also, next Friday, February 4th, is the opening night of the Terrace Art Gallery exhibit. See my page entitled Terrace Art Gallery Exhibit for more details and directions.