July 11, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day “Zodiac Totem”

“Zodiac Totem” is one of the most unique sculptures on this year’s Castlegar Sculpture Walk. There really is not anything quite like it. The detail and originality behind Pokey Park’s five bronze animals that make up this wild totem pole is incredible. I have been admiring this sculpture for quite some time and am absolutely enchanted by it!

Gigantic in height “Zodiac Totem” stands nine feet tall and every inch of it is rich with purpose and detail. Pokey Park is a renowned American contemporary sculptor who calls Arizona and Colorado home. For more on Pokey Park and her amazing work fusing wildlife, nature and art click here.

To see my previous blog on Castlegar Sculpture Walk’s “Petrified” click here. 

July 07, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day “Link”

Tonight’s Castlegar Sculpture Walk blog of the day is super short; it is too hot to type! Tomorrow’s blog might be even shorter than this one if it gets to be 36 degrees, as the forecast predicts!

“Link” is an incredibly hard sculpture to capture in a photo. I recommend you check out more about artist Mir Agol and “Link” here on Castlegar Sculpture Walk’s website to see it in it’s full glory.  Mir Agol is formerly a BC artist; he now lives and works in Washington. To see it in better lighting and find out more about Mir Agol click here.

I like this sculpture because it represents (to me) how interconnected we all are and how lucky we are when we can make a special connection with another person. “Link” stands tall amongst other sculptures outside of Castlegar’s City Hall and the RCMP Detachment on Columbia Avenue.

To see my previous Castlegar Sculpture Walk blog on “Tundra”click here.

July 02, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day “Jelly”

Today’s featured sculpture on Castlegar’s Sculpture Walk is one that is definitely in contention for my People’s Choice Award. Photos really do not do “Jelly” justice. “Jelly” stands tall on Columbia Ave and catches your eye every time you pass by Kootenay Market, heading furtherer into the Downtown Castlegar.

“Jelly” is another amazing sculpture from an artist from the Kootenays. Nelson’s Nathan Smith is behind this colorful free floating beauty. For more on Nathan Smith and his previous entries and work with Castlegar Sculpture Walk click here. The beautiful jelly shell is complimented by the metalwork tentacles that extend from the gelatinous head.

I am a big fan of “Jelly”. Honestly, it has captured my attention since it was installed. It is a beautiful (gigantic) representation of one of nature’s most mystifying creatures.

If you enjoy looking at jellyfish (but not really coming close enough to touch them) I recommend checking out the Vancouver Aquarium; I was blown away by the captivating jellyfish there. I could stand around and watch them all day!

To take a look at my previous blog about Castlegar Sculpture Walk’s “Tri-Tonal” click here. 

June 25, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day “Sea Swimmer”

Today for my sculpture of the day I ventured down Columbia Avenue looking for a little inspiration. Today was one of those days where I wanted to jump in my car and gun it for Mexico, never to be seen or heard from again. Yes, today I was looking for a little extra freedom with heavy workload and I found it in “Sea Swimmer”.

To be completely honest with you “Sea Swimmer” does remind me of Disney and Pixar’s character crush from Finding Nemo, that is totally a compliment to artist Heather Wall because everyone knows the painstaking lengths the teams at Disney go to when making movies to mirror the animals they are portraying.

Oh the freedom of being a turtle set to swim the seas. To be honest with you I hate swimming and I consider what turtles do in the water much more graceful than actual swimming. To me (because I am horrible at it) swimming involves frantic movements that are so unlike turtles, turtles are so smooth and graceful in comparison to how I envision the average person swimming.

Heather Wall is another BC artist (from Powell River) represented on the Castlegar. Sculpture Walk. For more on Heather Wall click here.

“Sea Swimmer” is a green sea turtle created from steel, the detail on this piece is incredible. This green sea turtle seems so happy to be floating free from the world care. Not only is the turtle, focus of this piece, incredibly detailed the starfish and the fish that adorn this sculpture also are impeccably crafted from steel.

I am so impressed with “Sea Swimmer”, so much so that it is definitely in contention for my vote for the People’s Choice Award! By the way, "Sea Swimmer" is sculpture number sixteen in my blog series, that means I am halfway through Castlegar Sculpture Walk 2014!

Have you read my previous blog on “Dreamer”? If not you can check it out by clicking here.

June 24, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day “Dreamer”

Yesterday I featured the goddess standing guard of Columbia Avenue; today I am featuring the Watchman who stands a few steps off of Columbia Ave. “Dreamer”.  “Dreamer” stands guard outside of the Castlegar RCMP detachment and Castlegar's City Hall.

We have been working closely with RCMP Constable Rob Gardner over the past couple of days because Jenny and John took part in the big Cops for Kids fundraiser “Jail & Bail” at Castlegar Boston Pizza. I am so proud of them; they raised over $1100 in just over an hour while they were locked up!

I know this is a little off topic, but you can check out the video of Constable Rob Gardner here. The “summons” cracked me up; he did an excellent job “arresting” the Morning Herd Hosts!

For more on Cops for Kids and how to support a very important cause that helps our community click here. 

Back to “Dreamer”, this incredible sculpture standing a few steps off of Columbia Ave. reminds me of Supertramp’s song that shares the same name. Except this guy has his hands on his hips instead rather than his head. I have thought about this a surprising amount as I passed by “Dreamer” on my walks.

“Dreamer” is unlike any other sculpture on the walk, a metal work that is extremely detailed, large and as you can see reflective. I like “Dreamer” because he to me represents a futuristic, robotic man. As a person who spends eight hours a day in a room listening to music pretty much alone, I think the best way I can describe dreamer is by comparing him to music. If you combine Styx’s “Mr.Roboto” with Supertramp’s “Dreamer” I believe you would the character behind the sculpture “Dreamer” exhibited as part of Castlegar’s Sculpture Walk, just a thought.

“Dreamer” is an international sculpture coming from Rik Beuselinck who is from Belgium. For more on “Dreamer” and Beuselinck click here.

To check out my previous Castlegar Sculpture Walk featured blog on the Goddess of Columbia Avenue, “Groundling” click here.

June 23, 2014- Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the Day “Groundling”

Today’s Castlegar Sculpture Walk Sculpture of the day is The Goddess of Columbia Avenue, “Groundling”.

It is hard not to stop and take note of this incredible sculpture that sits on the corner of Columbia across the street from the Element. Being a full bronze sculpture, “Groundling” really does have that immortal feeling like a true goddess.

“Groundling” is another work from an artist-based right here in the Kooteanys. Merlyn Richelhoff is a graduate of Selkirk College’s Kootenay Studio Arts Metal Casting Program and you can learn more about him by clicking here.

Viewing “Groundling” today was well worth my minor seasonal allergy attack. I love that you can see the dark skies rolling into Castlegar in my photos. They were taken in succession within seconds but one side of “Groundling” looks like the beautiful Kootenay day we started out with and the other angle shows the dark clouds rolling in with rain.  I think the pictures really do show “Groundling” as the master of nature and community.

If you have not taken in Sculpture Walk you still have plenty of time. The weather has been incredible over the weekend; I have seen so many people with their voting cards on the streets enjoying the first half of Castlegar’s Sculpture Walk. If you have not taken part, do it now!

For my previous blog on “Rebirth” by another impressive British Columbian Artist, David Hunwick click here.

Kate Bruce, Lunchhour Refundable Queen

I am new to BC; I have lived here for about a month and a half now and some things are pretty different than my east coast home. In Nova Scotia my family is all about recycling, especially when it comes to refundables. Living with my boyfriend’s parents in Alberta it was pretty simple, everything went curbside and was sorted there. We never took the time to take them back ourselves. This kind of bothered me, every time I saw the wine bottles and drink cans go into the blue bin I thought of the small increment of change we could be saving for something… anything.

Now that we (my boyfriend and I) are out on our own, spreading our wings in the Kootenays I have once again become an avid recycling Queen. Why? Well, because every penny saved adds up (just ask Gail Vaz-Oxlade, her book coming up in Week 6 of my reading challenge is pushing me to be as financially responsible as possible). Also, the staff at Castlegar’s Return-It depot are avid Mountain FM listeners and I love going out and seeing the people who make it possible for me to pay my bills doing what I love.

I visited the Return-It depot on Columbia Ave. today on my lunch hour, right after my show at around 2:15pm. In heals and a dress, I was totally ignorant to the fact that here in BC you sort your own refundables. I stood looking at the sign for the longest time, dodging wasps and figuring it out for myself. I will admit, it would have been a pretty funny YouTube video; I looked totally clueless. After a while I figured it out, my sorting started to speed up and I moved the trays over to the counting counter (not sure how to describe that any better).

The best part came next, after the lovely lady working at the Depot counted my five trays of refundables she handed me a crisp $5.00 bill and two quarters. Not bad for something that takes just a minute of my time daily and a few minutes on my lunch break once a month. Straight into my Disney World fund it goes! Working my first real-world job I live on a pretty tight budget so I am constantly trying to find ways to get more out of my money.

I know you are thinking, lamest blog post ever Kate, everyone knows about returning bottles for cash. I know you know that I know that. Some people totally take this for granted, not only did I make a little bonus cash I helped out the environment. I learned a quick, easy and a little dirty lesson in plastics and materials and got to see support the people who make it possible to work at a job I love. Plus, plus, (a little dirty minus), plus and plus.

Seriously, if you don’t want your refundables you know where to find me between 10am-2pm everyday… but you would have to be pretty lazy to give that easy money!