Looking Back: My first outdoor session of the 2016 Fire and Rain Art Project kicked off on a balmy 0 °C January 24 beside the skater‑packed ice rink at City Hall. I laid down the first acrylic layer on a canvas that’s meant to evoke a wildfire once it’s fully built up. A nearby fire pit kept my hands warm, and inside City Hall a live swing band was playing some of my favourite movie jazz tunes, broadcast over loudspeakers around the rink. The whole scene felt like winter, art, and cinema folding into one moment. Continued
Jackie & Shadow
Wildlife livestreams have become unexpected civic spaces at a time when traditional public life feels thin. The Big Bear Valley eagle cam shows how thousands gather not for argument or entertainment, but to quietly witness two eagles—Jackie and Shadow—build, endure weather, and share a nest. This shared watching turns the nest into a public observatory, a place where strangers practice collective attention. Jackie embodies presence; Shadow shapes meaning through contrast. Their interplay becomes a living chiaroscuro, reminding us that public life depends on both what we illuminate and what we allow to remain still or unseen. These cams create a form of democratic intimacy. They ask nothing, sell nothing, and demand no stance. They simply open a window onto a shared world, transforming a nest into a commons and a camera into a civic instrument. Viewers become a temporary public, connected through quiet observation. Attention can be a civic act: Shared watching rebuilds a sense of public togetherness. Silence has social value: Not all participation requires speech or debate. Contrast reveals meaning: Jackie and Shadow show how presence and absence shape understanding. Commons can be digital: A livestream can function like a public square. Observation fosters stewardship: Seeing nature as shared inheritance encourages care rather than conflict.
2026, A renewal in the making
🎨 Pop Pop Dazzled by Every Day and Abstracts of Light and Shadows present: Listen—a découpé visual narrative cut-up on YouTube(s). A look into the past to glimpse the future unknown. I’ve interlaced recent and archived citizen-free news stories with layered sounds and visuals. This process births a new art form, crafting fresh narrative through the cut-up technique—découpé, as the French say.
Starbucks Coffee Cup Art Project
As has been tradition since 2020, paint was added to Skaters on Ice—January 1, 2026—beside the ice rink on the quiet back lawns of the Alberta Legislature. An eagle in flight was added on the backside, a gesture of lift in a heavy season.
2016, Fire and Rain Art Project: Alberta Wildfires and Floods
2026XLife
Birds of a Feather Art Project
Faith, Democracy and Nature
2025 Continued
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