Solstice Shadows     and      Buried  Buddha  2021   Calgary   AB

The end of December – already – again! Solstice has come and gone – Christmas is finito and a new year is upon us – a new year! another one – big sigh!
I don’t know about you but it doesn’t really feel like a ‘new’ year to me, it just feels like more of the same, fear and uncertainty, endless restrictions, not very conducive to celebration sadly

There are many words one could use to describe 2021, but remarkable keeps coming up when I reflect back – definitely another stand out year, another one that will not be easily forgotten, on so many levels, in so many ways.

Of the many things I still see happening all around me, is everyone looking for balance, for equilibrium, for new footing in a world being created anew – I see us continuing to go through a complete re – imagining of everything, fundamentally re-evaluating what we’re doing with our lives, what we’re living for, where and how we are living, who we’re living with, what we can no longer tolerate, what we want change, what we want to experience – BIG stuff – monumental really.

COVID has certainly given us pause, paved the way, cleared space in our lives for us to dive deep into these questions, to shed the skin, the cocoon, the shell – the no longer necessary, the toxic, the falsities and those that perpetrate them, basically  eliminating the soul sucking aspects of our lives. In many ways it has been brutal, unforgiving, seemingly relentless. We are weary.

One of the practices that has helped me to navigate these questions as well as having kept me sane during this entire ordeal, is waking up every morning at 6a for the last 94 weeks – 21 months, logging into ‘call to calm’ meditations and monologues with Panache Desai. Every morning he reminds us of what’s real and what’s important, remaining calm in the midst of anything. This daily practice, of returning to a peaceful state of being and maintaining residency there no matter the mayhem going on, has been so helpful to me in the face of the challenges of the last 656 days.

What has kept you from succumbing to the dark side during these seemingly dark days? What has been your greatest challenge? Biggest fear? Aha moment? What do you know now that you didn’t know before? What has come to ‘light”? How has it altered your life? Your internal landscape? How can it help you going forward?

There is so much more to say about 2021, and even more to speculate about for 2022 – future blogs.
Until then here’s to 2022 and all the surprises it’s likely to bring.
Adieu 2021 and everything we learned from you this last year.
May it help us to navigate the uncertainty that undoubtedly continues to lie ahead for us, from a place of peace and perspective, love and compassion.

I have an ear worm going on in my head as I finish writing this, a Beatles song…
An eternal message appropriate for the season of light and love.

‘All you need is love
All you need is love
All you need is love,love
Love is all you really need…. ’

As always thanks for showing up and showing interest. The best of everything always, in all ways

Peace, peace and more peace

Louise
Okori
December 2021

I find myself in an unfamiliar place – although I have visited here on occasion it remains foreign somehow
I thought my life was heading full speed ahead in one direction only to be halted, paused quite unexpectedly in such a way that I find myself strangely idle –
and this is an unfamiliar place –
It’s not like I don’t have anything to do, I can’t even imagine that, it’s just that there isn’t anything that needs doing, seriously nothing – all the considerable household chores and obligatory duties on my to do list have been successfully crossed off –

As unexpected as this time/space opening is, it is welcome, I am grateful. It gives me permission to rest, to disengage and to disappear into the studio to do a deep dive on a piece that has been in limbo for months.

Life it turns out, is an exercise in making choices, letting go, moving on –
strings of days and decades – mapped in our memories, they become reference points for caution or optimism,
a guide – dots on the map of our journey moving through this world –
And so I begin work on some preliminary sketches about the choices we make and where those choices take us in our lives –

I start with today – the same date 21 years ago that I returned to Calgary to live – and move through my timeline to follow the choices that paved the road that took me to where I am today –
on a voyage of discovery and revelation led by a curious mind and an open heart –

Where does your today take you on your timeline? What has been your journey?
What do your choices reveal about you? About your life?
About where you’ve been ? Where you are going?

Here’s to deep diving
Louise
Okori

11/20/ 2021

backyard   summer 2021 red fire sunshine

I want to start by saying thank you to Jan and her team at Skyline for working with me on a new website, It turned out to be a much longer and more involved process than initially imagined. Grateful.
I’ve added more images of paintings from previous series, photos from Emma Lake, some new writing, a bit more about me …
It’s better organized, easier to navigate – Let me know what you think

http://www.louisepage-artist.com

Summer                    September 4th

I don’t usually think of September as summer, especially here in the foothills of the rocky mountains. September typically signals fall and school and harvest – somehow it always sneaks up on me – one day its summer and the next it’s not  – but technically it is still summer.
seasons – divisions of time and space

It has been a summer of strangeness  on so many levels – between the extreme heat and the never ending smoke from the BC fires sending us all indoors for days at a time – indoors in the summer, in Canada! It was insane! It was balanced somewhat – somewhat – by the relaxing of COVID restrictions. Celebrations and connecting again made it possible for us to see peoples faces and smiles, hear unmuffled laughter, hug our family, our lonely friends and isolated seniors.
At least for a short while there was relief, a sense that maybe COVID would finally be subdued –

My garden suffered greatly in the intense heat, cooling down the trees, washing off the ash, keeping everything watered was a full time job in this season of virtually no rain. A devastating hail storm long after hail season, topped off all the crazy climate  of the summer so far.
All of this just a micro moment in my part of the world, a small example of intense weather events happening everywhere, challenging us all somewhere in our lives.

Studio work consisted mostly of writing, going through collections of things collected – everything from paper napkins to pay stubs –  I know!!!  Organizing ideas, gathering materials, experimenting with techniques – incubation –
waiting for the cortisone shots in my hands to kick in and a dedicated period of time when I can dive in without having anything else to do – more difficult these days as caretaking roles and household maintenance of all kinds have increased.
The art work always on my mind, percolating in the background of daily life.

The biggest project I’m currently working on is my future and what that is going to look like. In 2001 when I moved from Vancouver I left behind a 1500 sq ft studio, which among many things allowed me to work on more than one project at the same time. In Calgary I’ve had 400 sq ft in a shared space. It was big down size which I found challenging for sure. Over the years the changes I made to try and find a balance never  really worked. It was like trying to fit into a pair of shoes that were too small, no amount of stretching would make them fit. I have been looking for a studio space for the last 4 years, without much luck, now it has become a priority. 

Ok so now its September 13th and I am days away from a bathroom renovation being completed. The transformation is beautiful, but more importantly new plumbing, insulation, a shower that’s to code, everything updated – and I might add in under 4 weeks in the current climate – pretty amazing!  So grateful to all the trades that worked to get it done.

More than most months September is for me a month of memories – almost everyday a vivid or poignant past memory attached to the present day – some very sweet, happy days – but mostly it’s a month of remembering loss and celebrating freedom, ironically sometimes at the same time.

Next to winter waking up to spring, summer shifting into fall is one of my favourite seasonal cycles.
I just love autumn – the colours, the smells, the light, the air, the breezes, natures’ signals telling us it’s time to reap, to gather, to celebrate, to be grateful.
But until then its still summer, the smoke has abated, the heat moderated, plants need dividing, carrots need digging, time yet to enjoy it all.

To those of you I know and to those of you I don’t – wherever you are in the world – thank you for showing up and showing interest –
May the harvest of your year – however strange or tragic or disappointing it may have been so far – include the fruits of peace, compassion, love and respect –

Louise
Okori 

September 2021

Shortly after posting I found out that for the third time this year my work was selected  as a finalist in a See.Me competition, this time for the exhibition ‘Journeys’.
‘hai’ lights : Great Sadhill Dunes was playing for the duration of the exhibition in Brooklyn, NY at The Invisible Dog Art Center  from September 28th- October 10th.
If you missed it, you can view it by clicking on the link below
and read the blog for that installation here:

As an artist, appreciation and recogniton for ones’ work, ones’ vision is always welcome. This year in particular I feel especially seen.
Grateful to all those who have come forward to assist in this.

Journeys Exhibition page — See.Me