Finding my inner artist...

  So the Quest is almost over!! I'm not checking facebook and twitter every 1/2 hour to keep track of Marcel anymore- I know he is safe and sound in Fairbanks- and I'm thankful for that. Allen Moore won the race setting a new record of 8 days 18 hours and 27 minutes and beating Hugh Neff by over an hour. Allen and his wife, Aliy, are also the first couple to both have won the 1000 mile dog race. It was quite the race to follow and I'm impressed with the performance of all the mushers and their dogs! What a test of perseverance and determination! I'm also excited to sit down with Marcel and hear some of the stories that he hasn't written down and hear his perspective on the whole experience.

  Meanwhile, back in Whitehorse, my mom flew in for just over a week to experience a Whitehorse winter! She got some pretty good weather considering some of the temps we endure up here! Her first full day here we went for a hike down to Canyon City which is just east of Whitehorse on the Yukon River. It was a transportation center where a keen business man set up a tramway system using horses and pullcarts so that wary travellers didn't have to guide their way through the dangerous Whitehorse rapids! The rapids no longer exist due to the building of a dam. It was -20 on this first hike and we experienced deep snow and Mom got to see her hair turn wispy and white from the cold temps. The sun was shining and it was a great day!

  We also spent a lot of time skiing in different areas of Whitehorse (including the wildlife preserve!), she watched me play hockey, we drove to Haines Junction (location of Canada's highest mountain range, including Mt. Logan) to see some snow covered peaks, and we spent a lot of time crafting :)

  I really miss crafting with my mom. She has a beautiful studio in Ontario with all kinds of fabrics, felts, paints, stencils, and do-dads to get your creative juices flowing! I'm not the most artistic... I'm kind of a wanna-be artist or crafter. I'm impressed with what I could create though with a little bit of guidance and inspiration from my mom. We also enjoyed perusing through a number of local art galleries and went to a film about Ted Harrison- a well-known Yukon artist which inspired some of my art.

 The first project I wanted to accomplish while my mom was here was to finish my 4 quilted placemat tops. Check. I had a few girls over and they brought their sewing machines and did some of their own crafting. It was a really nice night and I accomplished my goal :) Next, I will have to add batting?, bind, and back the placemats with the help of the Queen of Quilting in Whitehorse. She is in Hawaii right now so this project will have to wait for awhile.

 

 

  My mom also brought some of her acrylic paints and then I ended up buying some more and getting into painting a bit. Here are some of my beginner level compositions: 

Dreaming of Summer Paddling 

Yukon: Wild and Free- Inspired by Ted Harrison

TO: The Urban Wilderness

I used acrylic paint and also different types of fabric for this collage piece. I want to create a PEI and Yukon scene as well, incorporating some of the same fabrics. This is supposed to look like the CN Tower and Skydome- to represent my TO roots :)

Quest 2013

This is a Yukon Quest collage piece. Using some of the newspaper clippings from Marcel, the elevation route, and a stamp from Dawson City that was on a letter he sent me during the race.

Mom sketching using one of her photos from our outings (on the computer)

Our creative center.

I also cut up a huge tablecloth I had and hemmed the edges so that I could use them for our endtables to hide the hideous 80s style glass tops. :)

 

Sunset on the Millenium Trail

 

Hike by the Klondike Steamship

Skiing through Chadburn Lakes area

Getting ready for a big ski at Mount MacIntyre. What a smile!

View of our roadtrip to Haines Junction to view the St. Elias Mountain Range.

Contemplating the views

 

 

   It was such a blessing to spend this time with my mom; to discover new places, share the beauty of the Yukon with her, ski in incredible sunshine, sleep in and drink delicious coffee together, find my inner artist (if its in me- its gotta be in everyone- somewhere down deep!), soak in the hotsprings, and relish in the time we had together. The memories made will never be forgotten.