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appears. If I can get the lighting sufficient I will work to three and four and five o'clock in the morning. Because I've painted long enough now to know when the energy is there, when the inspiration is there, do it then. In this house when I start painting I probably paint for three or four days straight. In the summer I tend to paint for three or four months straight, out around the backyard. I'll have six or seven pieces going all at the same time. Number one, it loosens you up. You don't get so doggedly determined or eentsy-feentsy about some result you want. You stay much broader and looser. You can switch to a canvas that's completely different. Often it's just economy. You look around and say okay, what have I got on my palette and what still needs to be done on these remaining paintings? And you can choose what's appropriate for the day or for how you're feeling. What's really odd is how your head space, your stance, your motions, all translate and end up on a canvas. Whenever I'm sad or wrestling with things like September 11 it's fabulous to be able to paint because my mind stops and I'm in the world of that painting. That gives me the time to unconsciously process all the other stuff. When I reemerge I have a different perspective on it. It's like taking a vacation. Or a meditation in which you've received some insights which, even if you can't articulate them, make you feel better or more confident about trusting that the world is going to go on. Did the painting you've just finished. Balancing Act, work in that way? "I work in clumps of time. It's like falling into a well or a river and not being able to surface/' A very dear friend of mine, Colin Kwok, produced a statue. It's bronze, it stands about a foot high, and it's an angel that balances on one finger and the tip of one wing. This one piece is so joyful and so exuberant that I feel I carry it in my head. That's what I consider a good piece of art: something that surfaces again and again when I'm about my daily goings-on. I couldn't afford the piece, so I decided to paint it. And I also did it in a kind of reaction to September 11. Because we are all trying to absorb a huge amount of new information and insecurity and I needed to do something that danced in the face of it all. Something that had joy and sprightliness and even a little bit of twinkling mischief. This delightful acrobatic angel fit the bill. You can see some of Jody Vajda's work at A Piece of Cake, 109 W. Esplanade. The Second Story Art Group, of which she is a member, is holding an art show at the same place on Sunday, February 24 . CENTENNIAL THEATRE presents Three sensational evenings with Canada's most talented performing artists! The Nylons Saturday, A p r i l i 3, 2002 8pm Liona Boyd and hot Latin guitarist Pavlo Saturday, March 16, 2002 8pm Jeff HyslopNOW! Sunday, February 3, 2002 8pm Singer, dancer and actor Jeff Hyslop may be best k n o w n for his role as the Phantom of the Opera. This exciting evening features magical moments from great musicals and i "Breathtakingly beautiful playing, the most musically accomplished and technically flawless playing I have heard from any guitarist." The Canberra Times "This Canadian quartet helped define modern-day a cappella singing.. .the group shows no signs of slowing d o w n ; nor does its audience want it to. The band's harmonies are as fresh and its attitude as fun as ever." The New York Times @ CENTENNIAL THEATRE 2300 Lonsdale, North Vancouver 604-984-4484 J a n u a r y | Big February 11