FISHBOWL MAGAZINE APRIL 2023 14TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

Archipelago – Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea

Cross-border creativity, connection, and cultural exchange the inspiration behind new contemporary art exhibition centred on Salish Sea.

Salt Spring Arts and ArtSpring to debut collections of Southern Gulf Island and San Juan Island artists April 14 through May 24, in the first of two installments which will continue at the San Juan Museum of Art late September 2023.

Archipelago: Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea is a new international art exhibition that showcases the work of twelve artists, six from the Southern Gulf Islands and six from the San Juan Islands, two of North America's most celebrated art communities. The exhibition is a collaboration between Salt Spring Arts, ArtSpring, and the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, and marks the first time a cross-border exhibition of this size and caliber has been launched in the region. The exhibition runs from April 14 to May 24, 2023, at Salt Spring Island and will continue at the San Juan Museum of Art from late September 2023.

The exhibition highlights the theme of cross-border creativity, connection, and cultural exchange. Salt Spring-based co-curators Richard Steel and Pat McCallum asked each artist the question, "How does living and working in the Pacific Northwest inform and influence your work?" The artists responded with a tidal wave of answers, sharing how the Salish Sea has impacted their perspectives, techniques, mediums, and subject matters.

The exhibition includes a variety of mediums, such as painting, printmaking, sculpture/installation, glasswork, photography, and tapestry/textiles. Each artist differs widely in age, medium, background, ancestry, and the scale of their work. However, they all share a sensibility, a spirit, and a profound sense of place that binds them together more by commonalities than distinguished by differences.

The artists have created bold and beautifully crafted statements on the vulnerability of our environment, with some like Canadian

tapestry artist Jane Kidd and installation artist Anna Gustafson making bold statements. The voices of Indigenous artists are present in the exquisitely rendered glassworks of American Raven Skyriver and the nature-inspired carvings of Canadian Salish artist TEMOSENG Chazz Elliott. The list is rounded out by celebrated American stone sculptor Tom Small, renowned for his skill and sensitive use of materials.

The exhibition brings a starting point to dialogue with our neighbors across the water, and art is the perfect vehicle for sparking such conversations. According to Yael Wand, Executive Director of Salt Spring Arts, "The work of the artist is to challenge our understanding and to shift our perspective; to encourage us to get to know ourselves, and one another, better."

Continued on Page 11

Exhibitions

Southern Gulf Island Artist Exhibition

Mahon Hall, Salt Spring Arts

Opening Reception April 14, 6:00 – 9:00pm | Hours 10am-5pm Spring Show Artist Talks and Events throughout Spring Show.

San Juan Island Artist Exhibition | ArtSpring Gallery

Opening Reception by RSVP April 21 5:00-7:00pm | Hours 10am-4pm

Artist Panels for the Community

Saturday April 22: 10:30am at ArtSpring: Joe Miller, John MacDonald, Sam Montalbetti, Danielle Dean, Glenn Hendrick, Anna Gustafson

Saturday April 22: 2:00pm Mahon Hall: RaVae Luckhart, Joanna Rogers, Jane Kidd, Raven Skyriver, Tom Small, TEMOSENG Chazz Elliott

Columnists

Salt Spring Island’s #1 Source for Arts, Entertainment & Culture. Check out our Facebook page!

THE FISHBOWL is brought to you by publisher Genevieve Price

: Seth Shugar, Mishka Campbell, Jen Redpath, Jessica Terezakis & Hannah Webb ND. Green Printing & Layout: Imagine That Graphics.ca

“what once was” joanna rogers photo credit: david borrowman

“ocean curl” tom small photo credit: tom small

“pause (canadian version)” john macdonald photo credit: david borrowman

Price is Right

PRODUCT REVIEWS

by: Genevieve Price

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I LOVE the Sally Hansen Good. Kind. Pure. Polishes!! I love that the formula is clean, vegan & cruelty free! I tried to bust them for “greenwashing” on this product but I have to say this one looks good. The formulation contains no sulfates, parabens, acetone, phthalates (including DBP), formaldehyde, formaldehyde resin, toluene, xylene, camphor, ethyl tosylamide, triphenyl phosphate (TPP), nonylphenol ethoxylate, silicone, glycol ether, and styrene. Additionally, the brush bristles are made from biosourced resin that smoothly applies the polishes.

Overall, I could not tell the difference between these clean nail polishes and regular nail polish. Beautiful colors, quick-drying, and high gloss finish. I am wearing Soft Plum and I love it!

Sponsored by

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ArtSpring, Saturday April 22 at 7:30pm & Sunday April 23 at 2pm

artspring.ca

live on stage in APRIL 2023

April is such a lively month and what’s on stage at ArtSpring is no different! We kick off on April 1st with a MET Opera: Live in HD performance of Falstaff. In this all-new production, baritone Michael Volle stars as the caddish knight, gleefully tormented by a trio of clever women who deliver his comeuppance, in Verdi’s glorious Shakespearean comedy.

Live on Stage April 2023

Met Opera: Falstaff | April 1

Ladom Ensemble | April 12

Met Opera: Der Rosenkavalier | April 15

Constantinople w/ Marco Beasley | April 19

Archipelago Opening Reception | April 21

Ladom Ensemble on April 12 combines piano, cello, accordion, and percussion in a unique blend of acoustic chamber and world music that is passionate, sophisticated, and wild. Their all-original repertoire incorporates inspirations from Argentinean tango, Serbian folk and dance traditions, Persian classical repertoire, as well as music from the classical (Bach, Prokofiev) to progressive rock worlds (Radiohead). Ladom doesn’t pretend to represent any one tradition, but rather expresses an authentically Canadian fusion.

In the last opera of ArtSpring’s season, Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, broadcast live from The Met on Saturday, April 15, assembles a dream cast for this grand Viennese comedy. The following Wednesday, Constantinople is back with Italian tenor Marco Beasley to celebrate in music a bridge that Leonardo da Vinci designed in 1502. The longest and boldest bridge of the time, it was to span the Bosporus and link Europe with Asia. It was never built. Five centuries later, audiences are immersed in the imaginary and audacious world of da Vinci’s drawings, with works belonging to the repertoires of two centres of musical culture of the time – Persia and the Ottoman Empire and renaissance Italy.

April 21 will be the much-anticipated opening reception for ArtSpring’s first international visual arts exhibition and cultural exchange Archipelago: Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea. It is a unique collaboration between the creators and communities of the Southern Gulf Islands and the San Juan Islands, two of North America’s most feted art communities. ArtSpring will be exhibiting the works from six noted San Juan artists in glass, painting, photography, printmaking, and stone sculpture until May 24, with Salt Spring Arts hosting the Southern Gulf Island artists April 14-30.

The month is rounded out by a fun Spaghetti Western show from Viva Chorale, and the lobby and galleries are full all month long with local and international art. So much to see at ArtSpring this April!

Box Office – Tuesday-Friday 10am-2pm | 250.537.2102

Online Sales – tickets.artspring.ca

Western” Concert Director Caroni Young Accompanist Shirley Bunyan

Little Known (Yet Essential) Facts About Emergency Contraception

The most common and well known option for emergency birth control is Plan B (a medication called levonorgestrel) . In BC this is available without prescription over the counter at the pharmacy, making it a readily accessible choice. What is NOT well known however, is that in 2014 Health Canada stated that Plan B is not effective for use in anyone with a BMI above 25. (Now, BMI is a flawed scale and methodology, but that should be the subject of another article). Given that a “normal” BMI is 18.5-24.9, it doesn’t take much to be above 25. To get an idea how this roughly corresponds to weight, this means that Plan B is less effective in those weighing 165-176lbs and not effective in anyone over 176lbs. This was quite shocking new information at the time (and may still be for you today). The alternative option is Ella (ulipristal) which is effective for those with a BMI above 25.

A second important note with both Plan B and Ella is that they are NOT effective if taken the day of ovulation or after ovulation. WHAT?! How many of you knew that? Plan B is often misused during this time (because of course, most frequently people seek emergency contraception during ovulation, when they are most fertile). This doesn’t mean it’s not ever worth using, because sperm can live in the vagina for up to 5 days, and if you ovulate during that window you may become pregnant. Plan B & Ella work by suppressing ovulation, so if you have already ovulated, they won’t work.

There is one more option. The copper non-hormonal IUD can actually be used as a form of emergency contraception. This works because the copper creates an inhospitable environment for sperm implantation. As a result, the copper IUD is effective at any time during the cycle, not just prior to ovulation. Another advantage here is that with proper use Plan B/Ella are 95% effective if taken 24hrs after intercourse, and 85% within 1-2 days, declining to 58% within 2-3 days. The copper IUD can be inserted up to 7 days following the unprotected intercourse, and is more effective than either of these methods. Another advantage of this IUD is that then you have an ongoing effective contraceptive method (99.7% efficacy) that last 10 years.

The disadvantage of the copper IUD is it can be difficult to access. If you do not have a GP who is trained to provide IUDs you can seek this care through my practice at Madrona or at the Vancouver Island Women’s Clinic in Victoria.

Copper IUDs are recommended as the best form of emergency contraception for all women who have unprotected intercourse. Surprising but true! I hope you found this information enlightening, and I encourage you to tuck it away in your back pocket for when you or someone you know may need it!

Jen’ll Tell Ya Featuring

Jen Redpath & Jessica Terezakis

Ovulation!

Hey Salty,

Why do most folks with ovaries want to have sex during ovulation? Because the sex is eggceptional!

All jokes aside, we get pretty eggcited (last one) about the human body. There are so many amazing facts about ovulation that we would love to share.

Ovulation is the release of an egg from an ovary and into the uterine (aka fallopian) tube - and by release we mean egg-splosion (sorry couldn’t help ourselves!) Once someone goes through puberty and starts menstruating, they will lose approximately 1000 immature eggs each month, which is a small dent considering people with ovaries are born with their entire life quota of eggsapproximately 1-2 million oocytes (eggs)!

The menstruation cycle, including ovulation, is a series of hormonal changes that can affect all parts of our body, from the lining of the uterus to our brains, including our level of arousal! Ovulation typically happens mid-way through the menstruation cycle - about 13-15 days before the start of each period.

Studies have shown that for folks with ovaries, their sex drive increases during ovulation. This is why if you aren’t planning on pregnancy, it is important to make sure you use protection as you might just be subconsciously hornier because you are at the most fertile point in your cycle.

Conception (getting pregnant) actually occurs in the uterine tubes and implantation takes place in the uterine lining 6-12 days later. Implantation can be accompanied by a bit of spotting blood/ tissues and sometimes this can be mistaken for a period.

Contraception works in a few ways: preventing ovulation (hormonal birth control) or acting as a barrier between the sperm and the egg (think condom or abstinence.) The Morning After pill, also known as Plan-B, does not impact a fertilized egg - it works by suppressing ovulation, not by causing an abortion.

For people who choose not to continue a pregnancy, there are a few options available for all Canadians. If you have questions please check out optbc.org or give us a call at the clinic (250) 537-8786.

For those trying to get pregnant, it can be helpful to have unprotected sex before you ovulate and not after. Even though sperm can live a pretty long time (up to 5 days!), an egg must be fertilized within the first 12 to 24 hours after it is released.

Ovulation is a pretty amazing phenomenon! If you want to learn more about sexual health check out Optbc.org Or give the Sex Sense line a call at 1-800-739-7367.

Stay Sexy Salty!

Options for Sexual Health is open on Tuesdays from 4:30-6:30 pm. For appointments, please call (250)537-8786 or email opt.ssi@gmail.com

Online Auction

How to Identify and Get Support for Workplace Sexual Harassment

Incredible progress has been made over the last few years in terms of workplace health and safety standards. And yet, online surveys across the country have shown that 30% of Canadians have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Of those, 94% were women. Prevention, awareness, and response begin with employees and employers having a clear understanding of what constitutes sexual harassment.

Workplace sexual harassment is defined as any unwelcomed behaviour that is sexual or gender-based in nature and harmful to an individual and/or work environment. It can be an isolated incident or ongoing and it is not limited to just the workplace.

It can include:

• unwanted and/or inappropriate touching

• sexual jokes, comments, or rumours that intend to demean, humiliate, intimidate, or threat

• inappropriate comments or jokes about someone’s gender or sexual orientation

• unsolicited sexual images, messages, or emails

• persistent, unwanted requests for dating or sexual favours

• any other behaviours known to be unwanted and harmful

Sexual Harassment Advice Response and Prevention (SHARP) Workplaces (sharpworkplaces.org) provides employers and employees with free support.

For Employers:

SHARP Workplaces provides free support about how to effectively prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace. They have templates for creating policy and procedures around sexual harassment and toolkits for human resources and management regarding responding to disclosures of sexual assault harassment.

For Employees:

SHARP Workplaces provides legal support and resources for people who have experienced sexual assault, as well as ongoing public education and community engagement.

Some forms of sexual harassment constitute criminal offences, including sexual assault, voyeurism, uttering threats, and criminal harassment. In Canada, the Criminal Code defines sexual assault as: “any unwanted sexual act done by one person to another or sexual activity without one person’s consent or voluntary agreement” (Department of Justice, 2010).

Consent is a physical, verbal, and emotional agreement between people to engage in sexual activity. It’s mutual, ongoing, specific to the sexual act, and reversible. Consent can be shown both through words and body language. Silence is not consent. It cannot be given through violence, threats, manipulation, coercion, or by someone who is unconscious or incapacitated.

On Salt Spring Island, IWAV’s Sexual Assault Response Program includes free ongoing support for sexual assault survivors, including a 24/7 crisis line for recent sexual assaults (within 7 days). Check out iwav.org/sexual-assault-response-program or call local 250931-7712 (Ext. 2) or toll-free at 1-833-946-1706

Referenced study: https://www.canada.ca/en/employmentsocial-development/services/health-safety/reports/workplaceharassment-sexual-violence.html

The Circle Education is hosting its 2nd online purse, satchel and handbag auction Purses with Purpose this spring. Over 60 new or gentle-used, high-quality purses, satchels, and handbags are auctioned off between Thursday, April 13th and Sunday, April 16th.

There is a broad collection of designer bags, around-town bags, backpacks, evening purses and even some celebrity bags. MP Elizabeth May has donated one of her purses for the auction and Canadian shoe designer John Fluevlog contributed the fabulous Fluevog shoe purse!

Why Purses with Purpose? When working with youth, we talk a lot about identity, and the type of bag we carry is a perfect metaphor! Both the outside and the inside reveal a whole lot about who we are.

The Circle Salt Spring Education Society is a small but mighty organization that works hard to build youth in our community up with confidence and healthy relationship skills so that they can be sent out to navigate our complex world with empathy, respect and compassion.

This online purse auction will help The Circe Education raise funds so they can continue to offer in- and afterschool programs free of charge. You can find a link to Purses with Purpose via www.thecircleeducation.org/news/

New Contemporary Art Exhibition opens at ArtSpring: Little Pockets of Defiant Beauty

April 1-10, 2023 (entry is free)

Opening Event: Saturday, April 1, 5-7 pm

Location: ArtSpring, 100 Jackson Ave, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2V8

“Little Pockets of Defiant Beauty” is a mixed-media exhibition of contemporary fine-art photography, digital art and paintings. Seven local artists interpret the theme in different artistic styles. The common thread of these art works is the defiant strength of beauty in various scenarios – from ordinary household items to cinematographic scenes, unusual spaces and social relationships. The show challenges the way we define beauty and offers unexpected experiences.

The exhibiting artists are Seth Berkowitz, Stefanie Denz, April Mackey, Ella MacQueen-Denz, Robert Moss, Anette Schrage and Michela Sorrentino.

For more information about the artist and a sneak look at some of the show’s art work visit our website www.defiantbeauty.ca

"little pockets" seth berkowitz

Stone Blind

by Natalie Haynes

Mishka’s Book Reviews

with Mishka

Campbell

Natalie Haynes is one of those lucky people who just can’t seem to stick to one thing. Google her and you see the following; Natalie Haynes: writer, broadcaster, classicist, and comedian. She has written novels, a children’s book, and non-fiction. She’s a podcaster and frequent contributor to many newspapers and to the delight of anyone interested in ‘old stuff ’, she also has a stand-up routine on BBC Radio called “Natalie Haynes Stands Up For the Classics”, which is both funny and informative. She has successfully turned her passion for classic lit (read mostly Greek myths and legends) into a vibrant and varied career. It’s impossible to read her work and not be conscious of her very specific voice, attuned as it is to the modern world, with her other foot firmly planted in ancient history. Her fascination with these stories, coupled with her signature wit and sense of humour, make for a thoroughly enjoyable read.

“Stone Blind”, in case you haven’t guessed it, is the story of Medusa, a so called ‘monster’ of a Gorgon. I think most of us know the basics of the story, at the very least she’s an iconic, recognizable figure, with her snakes for hair and pupil-less eyes. Oh yeah, alsodon’t forget-those eyes can turn you to stone. Of course, just like in many of these classics, we are only ever told or only remember the stories of the heroes (read men). They’re always off on quests, battling the monsters, and saving the day. Even though we’re actually given all the back story we could possible want in these tales, we just don’t see it; willfully blind to how these ‘monsters’ ended up that way, ignorantly cheering on the hero even though his quest may be without merit and in fact heartlessly cruel. I don’t want to spoil the story for you, so I won’t say too much, but I will share that even though I already knew the how and the why of it, I still appreciated the WAY the author chose to tell it. In her view, it’s not a thrilling adventure, but a tragedy. There is no triumphant conclusion of a hero’s quest, simply the murder of an innocent, sleeping girl. “He is a vicious little thug and the sooner you grasp that, and stop thinking of him as a brave boy hero, the closer you’ll be to understanding what actually happened.”

50 over 50

Photo Exhibition: Celebrating Mature Women of all Shapes, Sizes, Lifestyles and Backgrounds

Celebrate mature women of all shapes, sizes, lifestyles and backgrounds at the 50 Over 50 Photo Exhibition created and developed by local photographer Ramona Lam.

Societal standards for what makes a woman beautiful constantly shift: heavy black eyeliner in Ancient Egypt; white powdered faces in the 18th century; or a curvy feminine shape in the 1950s.

Over the last couple of decades, fashion media, which predominantly promoted thin, young models (a look made popular by Twiggy in the 1960s), has tried to include some plus-sized models and women over 50 (although generally thin with nice teeth, like Helen Mirren). However, despite this move towards greater diversity in the media, many women over 50 feel invisible and unattractive.

Salt Spring Island portrait photographer, Ramona Lam, is working hard to change that mindset. As part of her 50 Over 50 Project, Ramona invited 50 women over the age of 50 to participate in a photo shoot, complete with complimentary hair and make-up session. The goal: to celebrate the essence and wisdom of women in their 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond and to prove that beauty does not diminish with age.

Launched in January of 2019, Ramona will unveil the results of her body-positivity project with an Opening Reception April 1st, 3pm-5pm, with the show running Monday April 3rd, until Friday, April 28th in the Salt Spring Island Library program space.

The photo showcase will feature photographs of women over 50 years old that she captured during their “model for a day adventure” over the past 3 years. (The exhibit was delayed due to Covid and she is super excited to finally showcase all 50 stunning women).

Ramona says the project was an incredible experience for both her client and herself. “I set out to show how beautiful women are as they age, and it’s turned into something magical. So many women over the age of 50 feel that they are disappearing, that they are becoming invisible,” Ramona said. “So, I wanted to show that women at this age are still beautiful, still vibrant. Many are starting new careers, starting new businesses, thriving and giving back.”

She says that the more we see images of mature women who are happy, confident and unafraid of aging, the more we are encouraged to feel better about ourselves at any age.

Ramona has since launched her next 50 Over 50 project and plans to continue photographing women throughout 2023 here on Salt Spring Island. Each photo session includes a makeover with hair and makeup, and styling from Ramona’s Wardrobe Collection. To find out more information go to: www.ramonalamphotography. com/50-over-50

The project wrapped up with 50 women having their photo shoots, culminating with an exhibition, where all participants will meet each other to celebrate at the reception of the exhibition.

16th Annual Spring Art Show Archipelago –Contemporary Art of the Salish Sea

A cultural exchange between the Southern Gulf Islands of British Columbia, Canada, and the San Juan Islands of Washington State, USA. In collaboration with the San Juan Islands Museum of Art, and ArtSpring.

EVENTS

APR 14 | 6–9PM | Opening Reception at Mahon Hall

Join us for not only the opening of Archipelago with artists and curators present but for what is often deemed as the opening of exhibition season on Salt Spring Island. The Mahon Hall exhibition will feature works by Temoseng (aka Chazz Elliott), Anna Gustafson, Jane Kidd, John Macdonald, Sam Montalbetti and Joanna Rogers.

APR 16 | 2PM | Artist Talk at Mahon Hall with this year's Art on the Hall artists: Kalei D'Oscope, Marie-Anna Michaud, and Murray Siple.

APR 18 | noon

Artist Talk at Mahon Hall by Archipelago artist Jane Kidd

APR 18 | 7PM

Island Writings: Salish Sea Authors Panel at Mahon Hall

Writers of prose, poetry and local history give readings and discuss how the Salish Sea and its islands have informed their work featuring: Chris Arnett, Chris Smart and Charles Kahn.

APR 19 | noon

Artist Talk at Mahon Hall by Archipelago artist John Macdonald

APR 20 | noon

Artist Talk at Mahon Hall by Archipelago artist Anna Gustafson

APR 21 | 5–7PM | San Juan Island Artists Opening Reception at ArtSpring featuring: Danielle Dean, Glenn Hendrick, RaVae Luckhart, Joe Miller, Raven Skyriver and Tom Small.

APR 22 | 10:30 AM | Artist Panel at ArtSpring featuring: Joe Miller, John MacDonald, Sam Montalbetti, Danielle Dean, Glenn Hendrick, Anna Gustafson

APR 22 | 10:30 AM

Artist Panel at Mahon Hall featuring: Tom Small, Temoseng, RaVae Luckhart, Joanna Rogers, Raven Skyriver, Jane Kidd

APR 24 | noon

Artist Talk at Mahon Hall by Archipelago artist Joanna Rogers

APR 24 | 7:00PM | What the &%$# is a curator? at Mahon Hall

Join host Patrick McCallum for a rollicking and educational discussion about what a curator is, and what they actually do... and you may discover you want to be one! Patrick will speak to a panel of curators, including Celia Duthie, Margaret Day, Rose Spahan, Richard Steel, and Kaeli Yarwood, about the experience of sharing their vision, and passion for art through curation.

APR 27 | noon

Artist Talk at Mahon Hall by Archipelago artist Sam Montalbetti

APR 27 | 7:00PM | Fellowship of the Sea at Mahon Hall

Presented in partnership with the Salt Spring Seals.

What do a filmmaker, a cartographer, a poet, and a diving-biologist have in common? Join the members of the Salt Spring Seals who are celebrating 20 years of year-round ocean swimming to find out and hear their unique stories and rich relationship with the ocean.

APR 29 | 7:00PM Electro-Pelago at Mahon Hall

Presented in partnership with Paper Covers Rock.

A poetry open mic, bring your own haiku or short poem to read. Featuring poet Carlie Blume (Gigglepuss, 2022, Guernica Editions) with improvisational music by musician and producer Graham van Pelt (Atlantis Tapes, 2023).

Ruckle Heritage Farm Day

A free event for the whole family!

Sunday May 7th 10:00am-3:00pm

Activities include: sheep dog demonstration • face painting historic films • sheep shearing demonstration kids’ fish tank and craft table • blacksmith demonstration seed saving demonstration • log sawing demonstration family cow milking talk & butter churning

Come see baby animals and learn about knitting, weaving and more! Enjoy yummy food and wonderful acoustic music. For more information about this event or if you’d like to volunteer, please email Abey at abey@ruckleheritagefarm.com

April Offerings

Please register at staroftheseassi@gmail.com

All our programmes are held at St. Mary’s Church, 2600 Fulford-Ganges Road, unless otherwise listed.  Donations for participation in these events are welcome. For details, visit our website at www.staroftheseassi.ca

Tuesday, April 11th 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

SPIRITUAL CONVERSATION with Heather Martin and Brian Day

Join us for an open and respectful discussion where participants share their own views and experiences and listen attentively to the words of others. Welcome to followers of all paths or none. This is a recurring event held on the second Tuesday of each month.

Monday, April 17th 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

GOSPEL, VESPERS, KIRTAN with Marilyn Walker and friends

They draw on various spiritual and cultural traditions and faiths - Christian, Tibetan, Hindu, gospel, Celtic and folk - from traditional and contemporary artists. This is a recurring event held on the third Monday of each month.

Tuesday, April 18th 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

SACRED POETRY with Brian Day

Bring and share some of your favourite sacred poems. This is a recurring event held on the third Tuesday of each month, facilitated by Brian Day.

Sunday, April 30th 10:00 am - 1:00 pm

QUIETING THE MIND with Marcia Burton

In a warm and welcoming atmosphere, we will use a combination of self-reflection practices and exercises in pairs or small groups to discover new information about our relationship to quieting the mind. This workshop is one in a series, offered every month on the last Saturday.

Sunday, April 30th 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm

An evening of KIRTAN, with Ananda

Join in the music and singing with Ananda as they play traditional kirtan, a call-and-response style song or chant set to music. Kirtan is an expression of devotion that comes from spiritual practices in India. For the evening, Ananda provides songbooks so everyone can feel included and encouraged to sing together. This is an event that evokes devotional feelings as our heart opens to the mantras and prayers. This is a recurring event held on the last Sunday of every other month.

the Sweet Spot with

Seth Shugar

The Problem with Problem-Solving

Mulla Nasruddin, the wise buffoon of Arabic folklore, is often pictured riding his donkey backwards. Why? Because he and his donkey always want to go in opposite directions and this is their compromise: the donkey gets to go where it wants and Nasruddin gets to face the direction he wants. Like most compromises, it’s imperfect and uncomfortable but it does the trick.

Whether we like it or not, compromise lies at the heart of problemsolving in intimate relationships. Fortunately, it’s usually a pretty straight-forward process provided one basic prerequisite can be met: the creation of a relatively calm and emotionally safe environment. If we can be open and non-defensive enough to understand one another and collaborate to come up with mutually satisfying solutions, we usually don’t need any problem-solving methods; compromising unfolds naturally and intuitively.

If, however, a lot of reactivity is present in a relationship, even the simplest of problems can become excruciatingly difficult to solve. There are three main reasons for this. First, reactivity evokes reactivity. Research shows that when reactivity causes our heartrates to spike above 100 BPMs our ability to empathize and problem-solve go out the window. Second, it is exceedingly difficult to entertain solutions proposed by someone who doesn’t understand us and, unfortunately reactivity temporarily robs us of both the desire and the ability to understand one another. Finally, the presence of reactivity makes it almost impossible for us to feel safe enough to be truly open, and when we can’t disclose our underlying feelings and needs we often wind up inadvertently trying to solve the wrong problems.

So how do we create a safe environment where we can communicate openly, understand one another and genuinely collaborate? Since the biggest problem with problem-solving is that we rush to it too quickly, I find the most effective way is for both parties to take some time and space to go inside and TUNE into their reactive parts. In other words…

Tend to your reactivity by getting curious about it and compassionate toward it;

Understand it by tracking the thoughts, feelings, sensations and behavior associated with it. Then, focusing on the reactive behavior, find out what it is hoping to do for you and what you’re afraid would happen if you didn’t react this way;

Nurture your fear by compassionately witnessing it and then

find out what its core needs are. Then see if you can meet these needs internally. Why? Because our requests are much more likely to be met when we make them after we’ve managed our own vulnerabilities and needs.

Express to one another what you found when you went inside, beginning by saying how you plan to treat each other as you discuss this problem.

Then focus on one another’s core needs. When you really understand the needs underlying your partner’s desires, it will be much easier to propose win-win solutions because needs can be met in a variety of ways.

Now, working together, start brainstorming solutions that address some of what you both need. Go for quantity – the more, the better; no criticisms allowed. Then edit for quality, crossing off all the unacceptable options and highlighting the most mutually satisfying ones.

Finally begin negotiating, concentrating on solutions that incorporate both of your needs. You might find these common negotiation pathways helpful: 1) part of what I want with part of what you want; 2) split the difference; 3) my way this time, your way next time; 4) my way when I’m doing it, your way when you’re doing it; 5) If you do X for me, I’ll do Y for you.

After the well-known couples counsellors Harville Hendrix and Helen LaKelly Hunt managed to create enough safety in their communication, they were finally able to clarify the core needs underneath a long-standing conflict over how much to travel. Whereas Harville needed mobility and adventure, Helen needed the stability and security of a home. Their compromise? A mobile home. And rumour has it that it’s a bit more comfortable than Nasruddin’s donkey.

Seth is a Registered Clinical Counsellor, Marital and Family Therapist and Board Certified Life Coach. He works with individuals and couples in private practice. You can reach him at sethshugar@me.com or book a session at www.sethshugar.com

“Living in the islands, I am now endlessly fascinated by the stacked and layered perspectives that are found amongst these little sea mountains,” says Hendrick. “From the ferry window, they seem to shift across each other like the backdrops of a stage being set for the next scene […] And of course, the crows and beasts and trees and flowers of this region all make their way into my work at various times.”

Scopes

 Aries

The odds on you surviving the day with your sanity intact are low.

 Taurus

Position yourself well, for the revolution is almost here. Your tinfoil hat is also crooked.

 Libra

Why does everybody apart from you seem to know what they are doing?

 Scorpio

Raven Skyriver, who has become a highly collected glass artist in the US, recounts the influence of growing up on the Puget Sound. “I have always been connected to the ocean and the creatures who reside within it,” he says. “I had a little sailboat I saved up for when I was young, but when I was introduced to glass at age 16, I sold the boat to go take a glass class in Italy, and that was that!”

Today, Skyriver’s work is almost exclusively dedicated to the marine ecosystem and his attempt to place the creatures back into their environment by capturing their fluid nature in molten glass with hues and such exquisite precision, it makes them feel alive and suspended in water.

For other artists, it is less about representational expressions of the coastal environment around them, but rather submitting an ideological sensibility about it, namely human impact on the natural world and concerns for its preservation -- be that climate change, pollution, garbage, and threats to wildlife.

Salt Spring artists Jane Kidd and Anna Gustafson seek to make bold statements with their work, as does American photographer Danielle Dean and Canadian John Macdonald in more meditative, subtle contemplations.

Infusing meaning through her masterful textiles and tapestries, Kidd affirms, “I see this current work as a warning of environmental disaster; a call to pay attention and recognize our complicity in environment carelessness.”

Her fabrics are complex stories of pattern and colour inspired by objects like rusty metal, industrial garbage, beach refuse or small natural phenomena like mold, lichens, moss, shell middens.

These kinds of exchanges and presentations of world-class international work is a development on Salt Spring that Howard Jang, Executive and Artistic Director of ArtSpring is committed to supporting.

“This exhibition serves as an opportunity for artists, and we as art centres, to engage in meaningful cultural exchange, foster relationships, introduce our communities to world-class artistic excellence, and form a bit of pride that for such a small specific region, we can celebrate something unique on the global stage,” he says.

From the immense to the intimate, co-curator Pat McCallum adds, “Archipelago is a rare and timely series of exhibitions that question the impact of environment and national identity on an artist’s process and presents a rare opportunity to see new work from some of the finest artists of the Salish Sea.”

Submitted by Kirsten Bolton

 Gemini

Harmless fun may come back to harm you over the coming weeks.

 Cancer

The widow of an African political leader will offer you $24m sometime this week by email. Also, the CRA has a refund for you ;)

 Leo

Salt Spring has its Southern folk. And it’s Northern folk. But you live mid island… so how do you decide… Gumboots or something less Fulford more Vesuvius.

 Virgo

Wednesday will be a good day for you this month, but which Wednesday, in particular, is a bit hazy, it’s fading, maybe it’s a Thursday? Sorry, the moment has passed.

Someone will approach you today with an attitude you cannot get on with at all. We’re sorry it looks like you also call this person honey…

 Sagittarius

Don’t trust this horoscope. Just don’t - okay?

 Capricorn

Just because something pops into your head does not mean it should come out of your mouth.

 Aquarius

Whilst you may think that this horoscope is completely useless... I have to admit - I have a very guilty secret. You see, all horoscopes are completely useless.

 Pisces

The older you get the more you’re starting to realize that everyone else is an idiot.

raven skyriver

photo credit: peter kuhnlein photo