On 14th March we had a wee reception event for my exhibition. It was a really good night! About 30-40 people turned out and I had lots of interest and questions, I never even got a chance to have a glass of wine or bite of anything, All the hard work in preparation was worthwhile.
The photos above were all taken by Grainne Dixon @grainnedixonart https://www.instagram.com/grainnedixonart/?hl=en
Drowning in Deep River
During the evening I talked to as many people as possible. Some I knew from my photography clubs and Qi Gong class and neighbours, but others had seen my flyer or were in some of the multi-cultural groups Chantal belongs to. One woman I spoke to early on, Jenny, came back to me later and mentioned a small component of one of my composites, a memorandum from AECL.
She had lived in that small town, Deep River (population around 5 or 6k at the time), in northern Ontario, during the early 80s, a few years after my last visit there, where the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited Research Centre was located. I couldn’t believe such a coincidence; from a small number of people attending my exhibition that there would be one who noticed a piece of a composite image that related to a small town where she had lived more than 40 years ago! Talking to her brought back memories for me of my very intensive short visits to the research centre for my MSc research – we got 2 days on the accelerator every 4-6 months and we worked from early morning till late at night on those slots. It was about an 8 hour drive from St. Catharines too, so a very tiring period. There was a closer accelerator to us, at McMaster University, less than an hour’s drive ( I went by bus one time), but it wasn’t well-maintained, and was unreliable. (I had forgotten all about the McMaster facility until I was talking to Chantal tonight, explaining what I was doing in my experiments there. Another way memories are rekindled).
I’m going back to the gallery today to meet Jenny and friend. I think they might be interested in buying something.
