Emily van Lidth de Jeude

  The audio version of this story is now also available on my MakerTube! https://makertube.net/w/4ikHDR1cK3fhjeNB7cxSm8 ~~*~~  Dear Little Emily, When you grow up, you’re going to keep singing with Mum, at the folksong retreats. Mostly the old ballads and work-songs that you usually sing, with all the spirituals that tie your hearts up into warm packaged balls of hope. And also sometimes songs Mum’s written. Like this one: Well I know your Darn Dog done been here, Done been here, neighbour, done been here! I know your Darn Dog done been here, He done blessed my yard and gone. Mum is really never going to stop writing parodies. This one is of “I Know My Good Lord Done Been Here”, and you’ll be mighty glad Daddy will be dead by the time she writes it, because he’d sure not appreciate the vain usage of his Lord’s name! Haha. Pretty sure you would have sung it to him if she was going to write it while he was alive. Sometimes you’ll be so embarrassed, though, and this is no excepti...

Dear Little Emily is a series of letters to my childhood self, exploring loss, love, and personal growth. ~*~  Dear little Emily, Do you remember Mum’s friend Katie? I mean, of course not, because we weren’t born yet. But I know Mum told you, with a sparkle in her eyes. When Mum was a girl, and lived in Mill Valley, Katie’s mother used to take her temperature every morning before school, in the little cookie-cutter house that was just like Mum’s, and sometimes Katie would bite the thermometer in half, and pour out the silver-heavy drop of mercury into her hand, and carry it out to play with. Mum and Katie delighted at the way the mercury rolled over their hands; wondered at the pure and clandestine droplet of magic. Funny to think that it was poison, when everything about it was so curative—the thermometer, the naughtiness, and the friendship. I was thinking of this while taking my temperature, today; looking for the fine line of silver on the old thermometer that has survived for ...

Under the scribbled tentative title of the book I'm writing, on the little magnetic chicken notepad on my fridge, which probably should be used for grocery reminders, but instead is used for... random stuff, there's a quote I just can't let go of:   "In such ugly times, the only true protest is beauty." ~Phil Ochs It's been a long time since I could see beauty. It disappeared last year, while my Mum was undergoing treatment for, and slowly dying of, a brain tumour. Now I look at the whole world she gave me--the flowers and garden; this home that I grew up in, which I raised my kids in and still rent from my father; the rain and snow and sunshine, and the deep, deep love of it all--and it looks grey. An artist friend told me that's just what depression looks like. She said it took four years for her to see colours again after her partner died. I wish I could say I'm angry about that. But I'm not, even. I feel grey about that. Despite this, my garde...

"Did you shuffle off the pavements just to let your betters pass?" Oil and graphite on canvas. Artist Emily van Lidth de Jeude. Thijs’ face remained open and calm as he described his childhood memory of his Jewish neighbours being removed to whatever fate they met: “I remember the SS or Germans going upstairs, kicking them down the stairs, so they rolled right on our sidewalk, in front of our door.” I was interviewing him for an installation about the concept and feeling of ‘home’, and this was part of his response. I think that I, too, looked unphased by this story. We both have lived so long in a society that treats such traumatic experiences as passing news, and turns to chemicals, distraction, or denial to keep from dwelling on the horror.  But it IS horror. It’s horror every time a starving Palestinian child tries to get food and is blown to pieces, but still alive, briefly, to witness the cries of his mother. It’s horror every time a child holds the dead face of hi...

This has become one of my favourite things to do. Every year I go out and label the weeds and trees in the place with the highest foot-traffic on our island.    I hope people see these and begin to notice a bit of the world around them in ways they may not have, before. I hope people also go home and find the same weeds, there. Sure, it's the simplest kind of art.    I'm just chalking rocks, walls, and sidewalks with plant names! But I really feel it might be one of the most impactful works I've done.    And yes, if you're wondering, I do have municipal permission to do this! So the credit for this also goes to open-minded officials and other citizens who can appreciate the benefits of art and education in our communities. :-)

As artists, we have the power, ability, and honour of building our future civilization. Some of us may be doing so intentionally; many not. But whether we're aware of it or not, we are responsible. Sci-fi is often touted as predicting the future. But does it? Writers and other artists imagine plausible eventualities based on current directions and capabilities... and then they often happen. Maybe the artists are soothsayers, or more likely we're just creative... and humans have evolved by being resourceful. If we're given a wild idea, we take great pleasure in making the seemingly impossible happen. So maybe artists are visionaries. That's not a pat on the back. Most of us want to be seen as visionaries, I suspect, but it's a huge responsibility. What are we putting out into the world? Books, movies, and other art that may very well have been intended to warn us away from a dystopian future might instead be creating it; putting the ideas for such dystopia into our ...

  In 2023 the CDC released this report , which pertains to data that has since been removed from the CDC’s website, because it referred to what the Trump administration calls “harmful” “gender ideologies.” But here’s the meat of the report. The first statistics are referring to teen girls:   Nearly 1 in 3 (30%) seriously considered attempting suicide—up nearly 60% from a decade ago. 1 in 5 (18%) experienced sexual violence in the past year—up 20% since 2017, when CDC started monitoring this measure. More than 1 in 10 (14%) had ever been forced to have sex—up 27% since 2019 and the first increase since CDC began monitoring this measure. The report also found more than half (52%) of LGBQ+ students had recently experienced poor mental health and, concerningly, that more than 1 in 5 (22%) attempted suicide in the past year. Trend data are not available for students who identify as LGBQ+ due to changes in survey methods. Findings by race and ethnicity al...

At long last, here are the two installations I've been working on. Both debuted this weekend at the Bowen Island Arts Tour, in the Nankins' beautiful garden (and pool!) With enormous thanks to my partner, Markus, without whose substantial help these large works would not exist.

I'm just finishing up two new installations that will premiere at the Here's Bowen Arts Tour, this weekend. One is this driftwood poetry sculpture, which I'll be performing on Saturday, in the early afternoon. The other... is in the pool!!! And if you're wanting to add to your art collection, I'll have lots of with me, as well as smaller paintings, books and photos. Come find me and other fabulous artists on Bowen Island:  Hub 21 (310 Forest Ridge Rd) May 24 & 25,    11am-4pm What a blast this weekend is going to be! See more here: https://bowenartstour.com/  

I'm so happy that the (dis)robe: Hospital Gown piece I made last year will be on display this autumn in Vancouver, but meanwhile... I get to wear it to an art event in my hometown, tonight!! This is will be the first time I've shown it locally, and I'm REALLY nervous. This piece is all about my disability, and to say people roll their eyes when I talk disability is an understatement. But this piece features other people from our community, too, so it's time to REPRESENT!!! Here I go!  Off to the Bowen Island Community Centre. :-) Will update this post with a photo, later, if someone takes one.  UPDATE: It was a pretty quiet event, but nice to meet some other artists and visit with friends. I think only one person scanned the QR but that's OK! Here are some photos from before I actually put the gown back on and went inside... Thanks to my partner Markus, not only for these photos, but for always supporting me both in life and in art. If you're wondering where tha...

It happened like this. Just after we discussed the stage floor I was painting, the director cycled back to my house and knocked on the door again. "Emily?" He called into my house. "Emily, I forgot to ask. Could you make us a rooster prop? It's to look like it's been killed by a fox. Although that may or may not have actually happened." I was astounded! And thrilled!! "Of COURSE I can!!" I knew the play was pretty serious -- Dancing at Lughnasadh. So this prop was a serious prop. Well... as serious as a pretend killed rooster can be, I guess. I was deeply honoured that the director thought I'd be up for the task. There is no way I can easily make a fabric rooster puppet that looks real, and dead. So the first thing to do was to find a rooster that was headed for a pot, anyway. I was given this guy. He was sadly doomed, after his owners had searched for a home, to no avail. So on the appointed day, I picked him up, thanked him for his donation...