Tag Archives: Lisa Gibbons

Arts

Pints, Points and Puzzlers at Benji’s Pub Quiz

The radio version of this story opened with a clip from  the ‘Inky Dinky’ round of a recent Benji’s Pub Quiz night in Mansons Hall, Cortes Island. An Inky Dinky is a two-word phrase. Both the words have two syllables, and they rhyme, like Inky Dinky. 

“So what?” asked show host Benji Coey. “Well, I’m going to give you a riddle and you’re going to come up with an Inky Dinky as the answer. For example, if I said to you, Riddle me this: A church tower made out of human beings.” What might I be looking for?”

A number of excited voices piped up: “People; steeple.” 

Benji: “A people steeple. Good job. The people are the human beings, they normally are, and a steeple is a church tower. Good. Now, this is a creative thinking round, teams. If it’s a good answer, write it down, and as ever, we will talk about all of the answers together, like normal people on Cortes island.” 

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Arts

Ways to Walk Paths of Beauty

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The final exhibition of the 2024 season at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery invites us to Paths of Beauty.  These works by six artists: Lisa Gibbons, Karen McDiarmid, Donna Naven, Jane Newman, Amy Robertson and Brigid Weiler invited me to think about “what is beauty in art?”

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Arts

Painting With Eyes Closed: The Artwork of Filipe Figueira

‘Painting With Eyes Closed,’ an exhibition by Filipe Figueira opens at the Old Schoolhouse Art Gallery on Friday June 21st, 6-9pm. 

“You always have to come up with the title for shows. Usually they’re sort of pretentious and arty, but there’s a reason for this one. It alludes to the process. I’m inspired by scenes on Cortes. I’ll go somewhere, sketch and I’ll get inspired, but a lot of my ideas come just when I’m at the point of falling asleep. The painting will come into my head. Sometimes really detailed thoughts, like the paints to use, the techniques, the layout and even very specific paints and paint mixes pop into my head. Often I have to get up and sketch. Sometimes it wakes me up in the middle of the night. I’ll be thinking about the painting and that becomes the basis of the paintings. They are scenes from Cortes, but they’re mediated through this process,” he explained.

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Arts

Seeing the language of Art

Art is a language received through the senses, and viewing the Member’s Show at the Old Schoolhouse Gallery is a perfect opportunity to learn how this visual language creates feelings and messages when we look at the art works.

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Arts

Ann Mortifee: Coming Home To Cortes Island

Hollyhock brought Ann Mortifee to Cortes Island. She was one of Vancouver’s leading singers, but had no previous teaching experience when they invited her to do a workshop. That was 40 years ago. 

“Martha Abelson convinced me to give it a go. I remember the first workshop I did. I went into a wild panic because I’m not a teacher, I’m a singer. I went to the library to find out how I could teach,” she explained.  “At the end of the first session in the morning, I told  Shivon Robinsong (a co-founder and Director of Hollyhock), ‘I can’t do this. I’ve used everything that I was going to use in the five days in the first morning. I have no idea what I’m doing for the rest of the week. I have to give them the option to leave. I’ll pay for everything that Hollyhock would lose.'”

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