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Jeannie Mah in Sunny
a, Saskatchewan...

*F rriends in Lotus land, you may indeed gloat.
As the sole Guild member in Saskatchewan, |
can tell you that itis COLD here! No, not just
cold, but, since the beginning of November,
unbearably (ridiculously) cold.

Upon return from a month in B.C., | was
plunged into an empty storefront, to work on an
“artist in the windows" project for the (dreaded)
Grey Cup. In a fur hat, ear muffs, fingerless
gloves, and many bulky sweaters, | worked for
five days in a window of an unheated building,
with the temperature of -22C and howling winds

4 yee My paint froze. We had to defrost the
window, inch by inch, with a blow dryer, before
lettering could be applied. This was not a good
Start to a long winter. My toes were cold, my
back was sore and | was rather crabby.

AY an extremes of climate are the norm here,
afr and one must learn to “cope”*. In winter, the
basement is too dry for me to be a productive
potter. | find it impossible to breathe, my brain
seizes up, and the clay won't co-operate.
Summers, however, are glorious. My studio in
the basement is cool and damp, providing a
nice escape from the hot, dry Saskatchewan
climate. Summer is the only time when | can
actually make things, physically, so there is a
frantic need to accomplish much in a small
amount of time. Because | live in the centre of
town, a daily swim in the outdoor pool in
ape Wascana Park is my noon hour break. This
refreshing exercise keeps me on an even keel.
So, except for the mosquitoes, summers are

* rather idyllic.

Buying supplies took me a while to suss out. |
order Duncan glazes from Tree in Saskatoon
(250 km. away) which arrive on the bus. | buy
clay out of a back alley. Honest. Carrying
boxes of clay while wearing fat mittens in icy
conditions and not being able to see my feet is
i, little disconcerting, but nothing to match my

London experience (or, How they carried [*

Parcelain from Brixton to The Angel) on the
tube, one change of subway line, and then a

*
half mile walk! *
*

Living in “the provinces" has probably had an
affect on my “visibility*, but this suits me fine.
| am selling less and less, and | hate packing
more and more. During the long winter, |
indulge in Film Studies (| have stumbled onto
an excellent professor), and do bits of
reading, writing and video-making. The
Saskatchewan artistic communities are small,
but enthusiastic, welcoming, and somehow
interwoven. An interdisciplinary approach to
art seems inevitable. Just this year, | have
been asked to organize a tiny film series,
design a poster for a dance company, video a
feminist play and work with a computer
engineer to create a CD ROM (subject: The
intersection on painting and theatre in the
films of Jean Renoir who, as my first film Prof.
loves to tell me, started out as a potter).

Informal reading and film studies groups keep
us intellectually entertained. The Public
Library acts as a cinemathique. Cross
country skiing in winter and cycling in summer
give us a chance to appreciate the changing
beauty of the land (which, upon my return to
my “native land", | find rather exotic).

HHEPRHEHHHHA KH

So, while | am veering away from clay, and |
am complaining in a loud voice about the cold
(it is -16 C today, and believe me, it feels
balmy, a day without the earflaps down!), | am
certainly not bored. Yet. And this year | am
coping by running away to Portugal.

Love from Saskatchewan,

*
Jeannie Mah. T
i
*
¥

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