Monday, October 5, 2009

The Sky That Day


7x7
acrylic on canvas
sold
This is the second sky that I have for my show that is of a lighter nature and will be paired with the sky I posted on Friday. Here I like the shapes of the clouds coming in from the edges of the canvas and I like how the orange ground peaks through against the blues. Another simple, free, light and easy recording of the sky that day.

This past weekend was a real treat for me and my kids. My sister was in town for a visit and man, do we love Auntie Karen! Time spent with her is guaranteed fun and new toys! Unfortunately it was a quick visit and our time with her was limited because she was actually here on some official business. The University of Saskatchewan invited her, an accomplished alumni, to participate in a symposium that was organized this past weekend as part of the 100th anniversary celebrations for the College of Arts and Science. Yup, my super smart, beautiful, witty sister is considered an expert in her field... which is History (more specifically Latin American History). She did her BA at the U of S and then went on to complete her Masters and PhD at Tulane University in New Orleans. She's not just super smart, she's super-duper smart. However, social gaffs still happen when you are super-duper smart as the following tale will illustrate.

Karen took part in the symposium on Saturday afternoon at the university and all went well. Then that evening she was invited to a fancy-pants reception at Boffins Club on campus and, being the modern day, independent woman that she is, she had no qualms about attending by herself. However, when she arrived at the restaurant she stood in the entrance not sure how to proceed. Should she seat herself? Was there assigned seating? What to do? Luckily she spotted the maitre d' standing nearby so she approached him to find out what the situation was. He kindly told her to go ahead and seat herself at any available table or join one where there was space. A short while later the formalities of the evening began with the Lieutenant Governor of Saskatchewan, the Honourable Dr. Gordon Barnhart, being "piped" in to the room in a small procession. It was at this point that a red-faced Karen realized it had been no maitre d' she had spoken to earlier... it was a representative of the Queen... and there he was making a grand entrance behind the bagpipes!!! Ah-hahahaha! I told her it was a good thing she hadn't given him her coat and asked him to park her car! Too, too funny. She was quite amused herself and said it was okay for me to tell this story. So now hopefully all of my bloggy friends are smiling and amused as well.

So props go out to my accomplished sister, Karen Racine. I am very proud of her. Check out the link which will tell you the names of the three books she has written (the most recent was just released on Sept. 28) as well as the many articles and reviews she has to her name. She is a great role model for my kids, not only for all of her scholarly background and fascinating world travels, but for her humour and ability to not take herself too seriously.

5 comments:

Jendra Berri said...

I'm a friend of Karen's and I'll have to ask her about this one! Hehe!

Unknown said...

Love this one, Nicki ... that sky is amazing. That is going to make a great pairing at the show. I'm so proud of you!

As for our sister, well ... gotta love her! One of the best about having sisters is sharing giggles about our "social gaffes" ... remember the moustache wax??? what about "I parked underground"??

Love you!
JJ

Nicki said...

Hi Jendra,

Nice to meet you! Yes, you will have to ask Karen about it... she was having a good giggle over it when she told me! Thanks for following my blog; feel free to leave a comment anytime.

Nicki


Thanks Buddy,
And don't forget,"...um, so... did you have a nice Christmas?"
Ah-hahahaha.
XO Nicki

Edward B. Gordon said...

absolutely delightful this painting !

Nicki said...

Hi Edward,
Thank you for coming by again! I was thrilled to see a comment from you and I am so glad you like this one.
All the best,
Nicki