Frozen paintings come home

The blink of an eyelid and it’s dinnertime. A year later! The Turin Olympics are over, we've been home for the summer and now we’re heading out again. Air flights reserved, e-advertising for someone to stay at our home with our kitties. Christmas around the corner. A reunion with our Italy-Turin-Fenestrelle crew! This time two installations! No church, no windy Alpine road to a fortress atop a mountain, but, we hope, lots of snow and hockey.



Niagara-on-the-Lake and Nathan Phillips Square, Toronto.To create ephemeral paintings in ice designed by Gord Halloran, the maestro of sparkling abstract Below Zero colour. But first, a taste of winter on the west coast.



That’s our backyard, and that aging alder fell parallel to the house. We were at The Gumboot, sitting out a power outage, so who knows if the tree made a sound when it came crashing down.

I hear the City of Toronto is Wi Fi friendly. No need for an hour long bus trip up treacherous, icy roads -- just for internet contact with the world. Sestriere was beautiful, but I'll be happy in the lobby at The Sheraton with my laptop and a latte. Whoooo hooo!

In Niagara-on-the-Lake, we’ll be creating paintings outdoors, (using Gord’s re fit refrigeration plates) on the terrace at the Shaw Festival Theatre. Sponsored by The Niagara Grape & Wine Festival. And next door, inside, we’ll display an exhibit of giclé prints. These are the permanent artwork created from the Fenestrelle paintings. I’m calling these giclés “crystal-structure paintings”, because they’re second-look, close-up paintings. They’re what you see when you observe Pitture Sotto Zero beneath the surface. The in-motion ice under the shiny veneer. A completely new exhibit! Ice . . . without the ice. Show Time in giclé.



For Toronto's Nathan Phillips Square, Gord has designed a huge painting for the flat rink and a special 3-D installation for display inside a gallery, alongside the outdoor arena. We’re guests of The City of Toronto as part of Winter City. Ear muffs, scarves, snow and hockey equipment. We’re bringing our skates. (This time we’ll pack them in our checked bags so we can make it through security, and hopefully, we won't be running for the gate at the last call).

Ontario, the True North strong and beautiful. Ice, snow, kids on ice skates chasing after a black disc with wooden sticks. Where Gord's childhood experience flooding home made ice rinks under a winter moon inspired him to create this new, visceral art form. Where people really do say 'eh?' Where, under that same moon, years later, I was a young woman in love with a Canadian. Where Jaz was born. Before team sports. A lifetime away, almost.



It's dark and dinnertime and emails to answer, arrangements to be made. Wood to be put on the fire. Soft rain outside the window, melting the snow. Tomorrow, there'll be a moment for more. We're just beginning. Again.