Atelier de Linogravure / Linocut Workshop

[A link party about art issues hosted by

Nicole of DVArtist, Art, Food and Everyday Things]

A couple of weeks after my Alliance Française disaster,

I tried a different, shorter activity in French.

This one went much, MUCH better!

This linocut workshop was held at the

francophone art gallery & coffee shop of CAVA,

the Centre d'Arts Visuels de l'Alberta

(Visual Arts Centre of Alberta).

All supplies were included, but we were asked

to bring a design which we wanted to use.

So I came prepared with a simple design

that I had found on the internet.

The workshop was conducted in French, as were

most of the interactions with other students.

I managed to follow about 80% of what was said

and also had some nice conversations

with the other women at my table

while we drew and carved our lino panels.

Here is my finished print. It was a lot of fun to do

and I'm pleased with the outcome --

Later, I discovered there were photos of the workshop

on CAVA's Facebook, so here's a select few showing

the instructor, the process, some of the other students,

and yours truly hard at work on my lino carving.

[Linocut art & photo of it © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]

My Peeps Know This Post Is For Them

Freebie Friday & A Reminiscence

Blogging buddy Mary Kirkland of Dark Thoughts blog has a regular feature called "Freebie Friday" where she tells us about all the fab free items and free samples she scores in the U.S. of A. It's much, much harder to get freebies in Canada, so I haven't been able to share any comparable posts.

UNTIL NOW!

When I was in Winnipeg, Manitoba in June, it just happened to be Pride Month. One day I was idly strolling in my old neighbourhood and went into a used bookstore to browse around. An LGBTQ+ book display near the front of the store featured a bowl full of handcrafted cross-stitched Rainbow Heart key rings. A small sign said "Free! Take one! Happy Pride!"

So I did take one, and here it is --

It's a quality craft too, done on plastic canvas and double-sided so that both stitchery "backsides" are sandwiched together and hidden inside. It measures 4" long and 2" wide.

And wow, it took me right back to the early days of Winnipeg Pride Marches in the late 80s and early 90s, when Pride celebrations were still small and shunned, before Pride became more accepted and commercialized. In those days, there was no such thing as manufactured Rainbow merch. Everything we had for the celebration was handcrafted -- locally-made t-shirts by bars and queer organizations, homemade Pride flags and rainbow balloon displays, home-baked Pink Triangle sugar cookies with tinted frosting, Rice Krispie treats turned into rainbow flag goodies with the magic of food colouring. People were very inventive, like the two dykes selling hot dogs out of a mobile cart while wearing t-shirts that said "Lesbians Like Wieners Too!" And needless to say, all the floats in the March were improvised, somewhat wonky creations of artistry and defiance, blaring club music from boom boxes hidden behind the floats' scenery and gyrating bodies.

Oh, Winnipeg, those were the days.

Living Like Royalty!

To live like royalty, it's crucial to employ

the table manners and eating etiquette

of the upper classes and your betters.

You must invest 13 minutes of your time

to watch this instructional video

entitled "Eat (Like) The Rich" by

the Irish humorist Garron Noone.

However, be forewarned.

He DOES use some lower middle class language in this video.

Bunnies Today. Cute WHOLESOME Bunnies.

[art by Ethan M. Aldridge]

[art by Anya Stasenko and Slava Leontiev]

Nothing But Dick Jokes Today, Sorry

Oh, of course you'll ALL click "Yes, Continue."

I KNOW MY READERS!

Monday Murals -- Progress Pride Flag

I'm taking part today in 

Monday Murals hosted by Sami.

In June, when I was in Winnipeg, Manitoba,

I saw this wonderful Progress Pride Flag mural

painted on a public square close to the downtown

Exchange District Campus of Red River College Polytech.

This variant of the Rainbow Pride Flag

representing the LGBTQ+ community

has a triangular insert of coloured stripes

representing transgender people and people of colour. 

In addition, this mural contains a circular insert

based on the Indigenous Medicine Wheel

to represent two-spirit people.

"Two-spirit" is a contemporary term encompassing

all indigenous members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The term was first created and adopted by indigenous

conference participants in Winnipeg in 1990

and its use is now widespread.

I hadn't seen a Two-Spirit Medicine Wheel insert before.

It felt so appropriate to have seen it for the first time

in Winnipeg, birthplace of this important term

of inclusion and respect.

[Photos © Debra She Who Seeks, 2026]