A sculpture is just a painting cut out and stood up somewhere. - Frank Stella

That's about how I approach sculpture. I think of it as drawing or painting in 3D. If I can visualize it, I can sculpt it.

Recently, I took a part time job at Loblaws. For any of you who are not from here, they are a major grocery store chain. The particular store I work at, is the new flagship store, and as such has been designed to be like no other grocery store. We have all sorts of amusements in the store. Located in the old Maple Leaf gardens building, there is a lot of stuff to commemorated the Toronto maple Leafs in the decor. They have preserved part of the structure and the old walls show through. You can find centre ice marked in aisle 25 for example, or a giant maple leaf made up of the old stadium seats. We also have things like "The Wall of Cheese".

What captured my imagination the most though, was the giant block of chocolate. For one thing, I love chocolate. But tho block is huge - it has to be about 28 inches, by 28 inches by about 18 inches high. Massive!

I stood across the aisle in my own department, and watched the people working in the patisserie chunk off pieces of this block using a chisel, and all I could think was, "I have got to get my hands on that and carve it!"

Since we regularly have entertainment in the store, I figured seeing me carving it would be a great form of entertainment. So, I finally approached our director, and he loved the idea!

We eventually decided on a hockey theme, and set a date. After 22 1/2 hours of carving, it was as done as I could get it. There were a few technical problems, in that this block is made to be able to chunk away pieces. This made carving with the type of perfection I would have preferred not quite attainable, but overall, everyone seems to love it, so I am very pleased.

Here are a couple of still shots, and a short walk around video.

We are currently selling raffle tickets to win it, with the money raised going to the PC Childrens Charity.  So if you live in the area, please come by and get a ticket or two. It's for a great cause! You don't  need to worry about what you will do with all that chocolate - my suggestion: find a kids hockey association, and donate it to them - you'll be spreading the love even further.

You can borrow all the flour you want but you have to bake your own bread. ~ unknown

So, it has been a while since I posted. I have been up to my ears in it to say the least! As you know, when last I blogged, I was about to have surgery - a mastectomy with immediate reconstruction using natural tissues. I was up for it, I was mentally prepared to lose the breast, to expect a certain amount of pain, immobility, but I knew I could deal with it. However, I was not prepared for what was to actually follow.

The day after the surgery, a second emergency surgery due to a hematoma that burst inside of me, causing me to lose too much blood, too fast.

The day after that, my partners heart failed, and he ended up in hospital for a total of 3 weeks, being tested every which way, in preparation for having the aortic valve replaced in his heart. He'd known he had a congenital defect in his heart. Doctors said that the stress of what I was going through, pushed him over the edge, and his heart failed. Luckily, he was able to get to the hospital early enough, and they were able to fix it with surgery after multiple tests.

Then just 3 weeks after my second surgery, the doctors said that the skin around the reconstructed breast was failing, and I might need yet another surgery, for skin grafts this time. We were in a wait and see mode. Sure enough, 2 weeks later, they booked the surgery, putting me back into hospital exactly 6 weeks after my fist surgery, for surgery number 3.

Through all of this, I have done my level best to focus on recovery, and to live as normal a life as may be possible. Naturally, I focused in on my painting. I had started a series of paintings before the surgeries that were to be in an exhibit called "Almost Edible". The idea behind the exhibit: evoke a sense of taste, or smell, or texture of food. Make the viewer look at the piece and think, "Mmmmm".

Here is a look at the pieces that were eventually accepted into the exhibit.

Inspired by Lindt

10" x12" Acrylic on canvas

Taste & Sensation

16" x 20" Acrylic on canvas

Champagne Dreams

12" x 16" Acrylic/mixed media on canvas

Brie Nice To Me

10" x 10" Acrylic on canvas

Party Time!

Plastic sculpture, now mounted on gold colored canvas Approximately 10" tall

Cookware Bouquet

Plastic sculpture, approximately 18 inches tall.

Here is a very short video walk around of it:

Food of the Gods

Sculpture: ceramic/mixed media approximately 24 inches tall

Here is a very short video walk around of it:

Lastly, there was another painting that was included in this exhibition, though not originally created for this specific exhibition.

Owed to My Father

11" x 14" Acrylic/mixed media on canvas

These pieces are all still on exhibit at George Brown College, in the Hospitality building, until the end of January, 2011. The paintings are available for sale on my Artfire site, as well as through the exhibit. You can see the original blog post about this piece here.

And, I will resume more regular posting now that I am over the hump, so to speak.