Category Archives: Vancouver
peace love art music. olio festival shoes. and a revolution.
i was asked by my dear friend rachey zott of the grace gallery to present a pair of shoes for the olio festival.
the shoes were on display last weekend along with a smattering of other artist friends of mine,including terri potratz of the conveyor belt and victoria potter of demicouture.
below are some pics of my little creations. it was a similtaneous birth of my new free flowing blog name
and the shoes.
peace love art and music are some of the most integral components to having
a future worth being a part of.
the revolution will be televised, it will be brought to you by apple,
sony, and coke a cola.
it will be tweeted, SMS’d and linkedin, it will be brought to you with commercial breaks
from your lazy boy, making it most convenient to lay back and watch.
the revolution will be skyped, chatted,
SEO’d, flickr’d and served to you super sized with fries.
the revolution.
needs you.
The not so perfect, perfect working plan.
Today I arrived at my new home on Galiano Island. I had to take the late ferry due to a number of unforeseen events that delayed my perfect working plan. Of course this perfect working plan had no time allotted for unseen mishaps and events, therefore not so perfect as I had once thought.
In the beginning of every ones life they are born a tiny infant, and rely on other people to feed them, clothe, them, wipe their asses and so forth. The same can be said at the end of our lives, as we grow into a geriatric state, we require the same assistance. Oddly enough I am neither an infant or an ailing geriatric person, but for the last few months have found myself in need of those around me… seemingly unable to do the things i need without a very tight support system. It is this collection of people that have single, or multiplehandedly brought me to this place today. Being an independent person for the better part of my life, moving out at 17, starting businesses, and not leaning on others for things I can provide myself, this has been especially challenging.
Because I had a store, and because it closed, and because I didn’t fight the landlord on mold issues I was left with debt. Because my dad died, my mom bought me a car, but because I had store debt I sold the car. But because I put the money in a bank account, the same bank that held my store debt, the bank took all my money. Because the bank took my money, I had none left. Because I had no money left I was unable to sort out my credit, and therefore have no ability to have a credit card. I get around it by having a prepaid credit card. But because I was moving to Galiano Island with a large sewing machine I needed to rent a truck. And did you know that car rental places don’t accept pre-paid credit cards? Yeah, me neither.
So,
After staying with a friend for a couple weeks in her studio loft apartment, I had to call another friend to ask if she could rent me the truck with her credit card. She agreed, and drove me to the pick up location. After renting the vehicle the man told me that my license was expired and I would not be able to drive it. My credit card friend had to go home and take her kids to school, so I called in another friend. I asked my biking buddy if he would come to the van place and agree to be the driver of the van.. essentially agreeing to take me all the way to Galiano. He agreed and came riding up at right away.
The week previous I divided up my stuff between the studio loft friend and my gastown friend. They so kindly are storing my things in their storage spaces for me. So my bike friend and I went around and gathered the Galiano items. At this point it is already past the ferry time and the truth sets in that my perfect working plan has failed me.
I take my biking friend for breakfast as a small token of my appreciation, and kill the day fixing my bike, getting a drivers license, then head out to the ferry for 7pm
After navigating the dark street to the house we pull up and I just start taking it all in.
The house.
The house is….. well I have no words. Its made of glass, its spacious and cozy at the same time, its modern with the right amount of rustic charm. It s breathtaking and marvelous and I had no idea that it was going to be this wonderful. Its on the beach…there are seals, and jelly fish, deer, and birds basically in the yard… if you count the ocean as part of the yard, which I do.
I am grateful for my glass house friend who has agreed to let me stay here this winter. My glass house friend is a believer in talent, in youth, and in sharing what you have to those that it well benefit. My glass house friend is becoming one of my favorite people. Not just because of their generosity but because of glass’s attitude, perspective outlook on life. It’s not often you meet someone like glass.
Day one started with a hitch, well ,many actually, but what good adventure doesn’t
Let this be the official shout out to all those who have been in my support network over the last months. There are so many of you that haven’t gotten mention here, so allow me to just list ya’ll. Island friend, yoga friend, bute friend, cliff friend, downttown friend, tinytown friend, bleeblah friend, postitnote friend, mommy friend and more, i know there are… Without you literally none of this will would have been possible. And this winter is going to change my life, and you have yourselves to thank for that.
This place is off the hook,I am in love with quietness for now ……. and I also start my new job soon which should be very intersting.
Til next time.
xo
kdon
Off to the Island, Galiano that is. For some inspiration and world of design.
In every ones life on a number of occasions the stars align, doors are opened and prayers are answered. And sometimes, on rarer occasions all of the above happen at the same time. This is what is has just happened for me. I have been given the opportunity to live on Galiano Island for the winter in the most beautiful home, to have this time to dive into my designs, dig deep into the creative side and sew.
I will be working a few days at the local coffee shop called Grand Central and all my other time will be spent creating, drawing, writing, sewing and being secluded in the woods with my dog. I will be blogging my experience as a type of experiment. For those people interested in the process behind the art, what a person goes through to make a beautiful collection, and how an artist fares in the woods alone you should tune in over the next months.
This marks the start of journey. A journey of facing fears, a journey of expression, a journey of going inside and a discovery of self that manifests itself as an enchanting collection of clothes.
kdon
photo by kris krug
riverdance, an urban cabin and more. a short tale of one girl, her home and her dog.
Just recently I was informed that it was time to move. I have a love hate relationship with moving, on one hand its a great excuse to clean my room and reorganize my furniture and on the other its such a freakin hassle. Packing all the things I hold so dear, sorting out which junk to keep and which to toss, wondering all the while why I need to keep junk at all.
I have lived in my current apartment for one year and have cursed the people upstairs daily for what I refer to as their riverdance routine. Its endearing in its own sick way, all hours of everyday they make this repetitive noise that if you listen long enough it sounds choreographed, and could probably get them a leading role in the show. In the last month they added a new sound, perhaps they invested in clogs ???
I don’t love the mice, spiders, moths, silverfish, ants and lack of sunlight either, the banging door right beside my window or the regular junkies crouched below my window smoking crack at night.
I’ve thought about moving almost everyday as I work in the studio/kitchen/living room with not a window to speak of. But now, now that the day of moving trucks, boxes, and heavy lifting approaches I am starting to already miss this silly little place. In all its glory the building happens to be named THE ROYAL MANSIONS, and in its own way…. it is just that.
Finding a new home is nothing short of a giant mission. For starters I have a dog. A lovely lovable mellow dog, and yet, every add in all of craigslist has the thing I scan for first… the dreaded NS/NP/NF/NF/NP
ok ok the first two, no smoking, no pets are more common than the latter; no fun, no friends, no parties.
But seriously folks, its virtually impossible to find a place that allows dogs, and if you do, they are things like “urban cabins”, and “garden level” suites. What they all really mean to say is, here is this dilapidated shack with hot plate where you and your wild animal can fend for food and pick through the garbage piling up the door, or here is our “garden level” suite, and oh, did we forget to mention that it comes without windows…But you don’t mind do you, because the good news is, is that you and your animal can live together!
True, this is a bit of a rant more than a little tale of a girl and her dog, but at the very least its a tribute to the riverdance that I will certainly miss. So to the future and beyond. I’ll let you know what turns up, maybe I will invite you all over to an “urban cabin” where you can take turns coming inside for a housewarming party since its maximum capacity would only be 3 people at a time. Oh, and one dog.
Til the next tale ..
