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New Year Greetings for 2008
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The year started with the usual urge to get on the road. While most Canucks would be trying to think of a warm place to wait out January and February we set our sites on Fort McMurray! Actually we had dreams of Newfoundland but if you have ever been to Fort McMurray you would know why they call it FortMac Newfoundland. And as we were told by Glenn, guitarist for the band Fables, 'When they close that door tonight - you are going to be in Newfoundland.'
In four days we found Newfoundland literature, food, music and art - and hundreds of people staying true to their Newfie hearts in the dirty ol' Alberta oil patch...www.spiritoftherock-inthepatch.blogspot.com Music seemed to be a big part of 2008 for us. We found new artists like Breezy Brian, Patsy Amico and Moses and
Amity Mitchell and caught up with old friends like
These were a few of the wonderful folks who have been part of the Artists on Rails project - now in its 4th season! Special thanks to Paula Beauregard - our Artists Concierge in Edmonton. Without her the program would not have run as smoothly - and would not have made the NEWS - as it did on Global TV's Lorraine Mansbridge morning show in July.
Cameras are a big part of our life here at DTMI, and it's always exciting to think of what will show up in the lens next. This year we even found ourselves in the viewfinder. As the snow pack melted we once again were on the road. North to Whitehorse. Where David got a real treat - a flight in a vintage Beaver airplane into the wilds of Northern BC. Driving 2200km on roads not recommended, by most of the RCMP attachments we phoned, was exciting but not as exciting as spending a week in the Yukon. Story tellers, artists, history and Sam McGee were hard to leave behind... (full story of the Yukon trek http://www.musecruise.com/roadlesstravelled.htm) Summer in the Rockies is pretty hard to beat though. And the herd was getting restless - August 1 was the official opening of the traveling art exhibition TUKTU PRAYERS. The artworks had been arriving steadily since 2006 and were silently waiting in their wraps...some of them made appearances at the Night of Artists where Canadian Parks and Wilderness allowed us some exposure.
Jasper's first street fair gave the marvelous caribou coats by a group of Edmonton youth - under the guidance of Marguerite Larmand - some air time... But the whole herd was waiting for the big log walls of the Buffalo Nations Museum!
and then on to the Jasper Museum for the Centennial!
Caribou were a big part of our year...with Jasper school kids, under the awesome vision of Ursula, bringing a street to life...
and Anna creating stone mosaics at NumTiJah.
Friends came to town to work and play...
We visited friends in their new adventures!
We even found Santa in his summer escape!
BUT as any mother would agree - the most exciting event this year was my daughter's wedding. I'll be kind and only post a few photos...
Our escapades and freedom to create, visit and live amongst all these creative people awarded us the 2007 Mayors Award for the Arts (I received the award but it would not have been possible to do these things without my partner!)...a carving by BC artist Tony Klettl. And as you can see by the years development - we do not achieve these things alone!
SO Its a new year... ...if I had one wish to choose for us all it would that of thyme.
Time to go for coffee with that friend you haven't seen for a few weeks...time to spend an afternoon making cookies with your children...time to sleep in on Sundays with your sweetheart...time to walk with your thoughts... Come and visit - 2008 starts with my shop looking for a new location - so visit now or later! I always hope to have the time... Marianne
WHAT'S UP FOR US IN 2008? MOVING ARTISTS OWN! March 2008, lots of free material scraps for artists...too good for the landfill! Artists in the Pines, Fall 2008 Tuktu Prayers, continues to travel in 2008 (rumours of a CariBlues Music Series may or may not be true! Keep watching the website.) Alberta Muse Cruise Brochure, a handheld publication to the greatest artists, studios and more this side of the Great Divide! Get listed! Art of the Car, what do you get when you combine a car lover with a camera, an artist who paints on unique surfaces, youth at risk who need direction and a mothers garage!? Artists on Rails, in its 4th season! War, what is good for? (a Generation Xer's attempt to understand Remembrance Day nostalgia through art, food and music. See Leather Pass November 2007 ) Nov 2008 The Sam Tour, a musical tour honouring the 50th year of the passing of Robert Service - the artwork of Ted Harrison - the music of Christine Hanson and voice of Michael Marra AND one helluva exciting way to get to return to the Yukon! and lots more community news which we will post on Leather Pass Chronicles! HAPPY NEW YEAR!
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Porch Swing (coming to the Artists in the Pines Fall 2008!). 
thanks
for the opportunity to play in the dirt Anna!
The 
