Tim went off to Niagara on the Lake. He took an electric planer and a floor scraper with a long handle on an early bus. Today Pascale and her crew installed lighting fixtures for the Toronto installation. Here they are, with Mike Brisbin on the right.



Again Jaz did ant steps on the website, before being called off outside by JC to transport ice flats and clean up the small tent. It's been like this for a month now. The website (which is Jaz's 'other' job) keeps him busy after hours when everyone else has put in a days' work and can put their feet up over a beer. Then, the pressure is on - to concentrate and do detail design work, and translate that to Flash! Last night he stayed up until 1 PM, and he finished! This morning, he arrives at the tent early to work with Andrea on another pour.

Here is JC's magnificent accomplishment.



This is only half the plates as they stretch out in the huge tent. JC and Mike Brisbin are having a mutual admiration festival. I always see them talking and smiling AFTER something has been resolved (no problem is ever too big) and each speaks well about the other when they're not in each other's presence. I know JC has sent some curve balls at Mike and the Mike I know just goes with the flow.

Finally JC can take a few days off. He's been alternately energetic and edgy, but keeps a lid on the pressure he must be feeling about working so hard almost uninterrupted for a month now. With Gord in Niagara, it's almost been a one man show, (if you don't count crew working with him). He's done a huge job orchestrating the must-do of everything to do with the two tents, the plates . . . He's so capable but he's had enough of us - and we'll miss him at the opening in NOTL.



Gord said almost everything went awry in NOTL. Other than a beautiful blanket of snow; they've been working non-stop 12 hour days. At one point he averted disaster when staff taking the tent down dumped glycol onto the grass(!!); they'd made a mess, slowed everyone down. But the good news is: the print show in The Shaw looks fantastic! And Hayley, the gal who made Gord a grandpa, went for her first walk. Look at those blue California skies!

Lights are still on in the big tent outside on the square. A few skaters whirling around with hockey sticks in the dark. It's 11:45 in Toronto. I'm worried about my kitties back home; Spaffy's an older cat and Sandra said they're cold and lonely; their water bowl froze over; tonight there's another storm.

Jaz just gave it up a few minutes ago; he finished the order cards but couldn't send them to Kinko's successfully. Domani, first thing! JC, Andrea, Tim, and Jaz worked today to get the system hooked up. Lots accomplished and then I went skating with Lisa at lunch break. It was a sunny, crips minus 14. I could only stay out for about a half hour, my teeth, fingers and toes were uncomfortably cold. Met Denise Ing; planned the prints exhibit in the Rotunda; packed books for a mail out; worked on design with Jaz.



In Niagara, Gord, Erik and Marielle bustle to get the exhibit ready for Showtime! on Saturday. We're all just playing it by ear. Paddy Parr at The Shaw took these photos. The tent looks fine today. Gord sounded good; he's in the moment with what's in front of him.

A soft sound at the window, like rain, but sharper this morning. I opened the curtains. Hail? Freezing raid? Snizzle?(= snow + drizzle).



Gord closed up his cell phone. "The tent is about to collapse." Pascale was late, with all her lighting gear. Erik, Marielle, Gord ready to go to Niagara on the Lake for a day, while JC, Jaz, Tim, Eliya and Bosco move plates, paintings to the big tent. Let rush hour pass, Gord suggested, we'll head out closer to ten. But now to the urgent matter at hand: the tent housing our paintings in Niagara on the Lake is about to collapse.



Here they are, after phoning Stacey. After, on the worst day ever to travel, deciding that Pascale doesn't have to drive three trips (to/from NOTL/T.O.) for her lighting gear -- just because it was the only trucking comnpany the Icewine Festival had an account with. Rent a truck from Toronto! Use our charge card. No sense risking your life on the roads today. Sometimes it's right in front of you, & you just can't see how simple it is. And the tent? They got a crew there just in time to stabilize it -- weather and wind - winter finally!



While 100 inbound and outgoing flights at Pearson airport were cancelled, due to a backlog on de-icing, after Gord scraped the ice off the van and loaded it up, JC and crew began work in the tent, making way for the big move into the big tent. On the outside it says, American Express Ice Gallery presenting Gordon Halloran's Paintings Below Zero.



Hundreds of pedestrians and skaters pass it daily. On the weekends, thousands. It's a big tent. Over 300,000 people will see this exhibit. The heat is on.



Then at dinner JC told me the electricity hasn't been properly connected in the tent,(three different guys are working on it; it's a turf thing) so he had to close down at dark. We missed 3 hours of work time today. Mike Brisbin has gotten us out of a lot of scrapes -- but can he solve this one in time? We can't afford to lose another day. Last night at dinner Gord said, "No more late nights until we open." Two . . ahem . . crew members are fighting colds due to weekend nights outs. Luckily we've got the truck. Everyone wants Nancy here, if but to say, "You handle this. . . " I need design here(prints order card + website), docents in Niagara; Jaz can only work double time for so long (crew by day, design by night). He's fed up.

Let's just be civil and let's just get through this week. Niagara opens on Saturday!

Hockey Day in Canada!



The big neon pole at the top of the Canada Life building flashed down, down, down for another yo yo weather day. Weekend shift, half day. Lighting dilemnas, lots of phone calls and emails et encore, nothing to show for the day's work. But in the tent, a colorful set of pours in their second stage.



I escaped for a half hour of skating on the square; it was crazy! So many people! Then, Eric and Vizma, our VIPs, came to survey around 5 pm. Here's Gord, explaining the concept of ice cores.



Dinner! at Reds, a very good wine, elegant courses, stories, laughs, toasts to their support for Paintings Below Zero. Eric was chosen Entrepreneur of the Year for Ontario in '06, and we congratulated him on that, too. Then our hosts took us off to the platinum seats in the heart of Leafs territory on Hockey Day in Canada.



Gord said, "Put your Canuks shirt on!" I got this shot of the Sedin twins from our seats. Leafs fans surrounding us were good sports in spite of the embarassing score (6-1)and there's nothing else like the spectacle of it, all those guys scruffling after the puck at such high speeds, and wham! against the boards: the noise, the energy, the roar! the people!



Work this AM with full crew and then we split up to set up plates in the mammoth tent by the ice rink where Paintings Below Zero at Nathan Phillips Square will finally reside.