Dahl Haus

I recently met ceramic artist Heather Braun-Dahl. I've been a quiet fan of her work for a while... and with her launch of a series of beautiful watery blue and green pieces this year, I've become a louder fan. See what I mean?

Photographs by Curtis Hildebrand; all photos copyright dahlhaus studios, 2012

   

Check out more of her work at Dahl House Ceramics or this great video of her in action in her studio. You can purchase any of these 100% handmade items through Heather's Studio or Etsy Shop. If you would like to buy a present for me, I would welcome anything listed above (especially those bottle vases in any of the blue or green glazes). Beautiful. 

Arise!

Most hymns and worship songs are written in major keys- the bright happiness of a major key just works well for music that is meant to uplift and inspire. There are a few familiar hymns written in minor keys, and they always seem so interesting to me. The Advent hymn, O Come O Come Emmanuel, for example, is wonderfully contemplative and mysterious, all thanks to its minor key.

I Will Arise (and Go to Jesus) is one of the few hymns written in a minor key, but it's one that I always thought was a little bland and plodding... until I heard this arrangement. It's amazing how a slightly different setting (and faster tempo) can suddenly make the text of a hymn spring to life. Click on the song title below to hear it.

I Will Arise

Original hymn text by Joseph Hart, 1759 and music by William Walker, 1835

This version arranged by Kenneth Dake

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

Weak and wounded, sick and sore, 

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love and power.

I will arise and go to Jesus,

He will embrace me in His arms; 

In the arms of my dear Savior, 

O there are ten thousand charms. 

Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,

God’s free bounty glorify;

True belief and true repentance,

Every grace that brings you nigh.

Refrain

Come, ye weary, heavy laden,

Lost and ruined by the fall;

If you tarry till you’re better,

You will never come at all.

Refrain

Good fortune

This was in my fortune cookie a few weeks ago.

Tomorrow officially starts our two weeks of summer vacation, and a much anticipated visit from far-away family members we haven't seen in a long, long time. While tomorrow probably won't be productive for us in terms of practical or home-related projects, it probably will be productive in terms of relationships and fun. I can't think of a more wonderful place to be.

My view Wednesday

Baby hydrangeas.

Jonathan's new violin

A long time ago, I played duets in church with a boy who played the violin. He grew up to become the Concertmaster of the Montreal Symphony, and then, the Toronto Symphony. And now, he's playing a remarkable violin.

Salmon #10 Cedar Plank Salmon

I am not doing well on my Salmon Challenge- so Tuesdays are going to be Salmon Recipe Day. I have been in a bit of a salmon funk recently, and I know it's because I'm simply bored with the same 7 recipes and need to expand my repertoire. So, here is #10! I have been wanting to experiment with our cedar planks more, so when friends came over this weekend for dinner, that's what we did. The verdict? Really good. I love a simple soy and ginger marinade on salmon, but the cedar adds a layer of smokiness that's just wonderful. I forgot to take a photo- but will add one next time we make this. 

adapted from All Recipes

2 (12 inch) untreated cedar planks
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger root
2 large cloves minced garlic
2 (2 pound) salmon fillets


Soak the cedar planks for 2-4 hours in cool water. In a shallow dish, stir together remaining ingredients and add the salmon fillets to marinate. Turn the salmon to coat well, and leave to marinate (skin side up) for 15-30 minutes. 

Preheat BBQ to medium heat. Place the cedar planks on the grill to heat and place the salmon fillets onto the planks. Cover, and grill for about 15 minutes. The fish is done when you can flake it with a fork. As always, be careful not to overcook! Make sure to have a spray bottle with water handy to extinguish the planks, should they catch on fire. Next time we make this, we'll probably put foil down on the BBQ and place the planks on top of that so they don't scorch. 

Daytrip

Jeff and I spent the day in Victoria yesterday. We planned to walk around Clover Point Park and I figured my camera would be filled with beautiful shots of the of the view across the Straight of Juan de Fuca to the Olympic Peninsula (like the ship in the centre of my blog header above) to post today... but this was the view we got.

Victoria was completely fogged in and covered in rain for most of the afternoon. Despite the not-so-nice weather, we did have two great visits with friends, a fantastic lunch at our favourite Victoria restaurant, a lovely walk around Beacon Hill Park, great burgers, and a stroll around Craigdarroch Castle before coming home. Not bad, considering the yucky weather. We'll just have to go again when the sun is out. 

Jeff, tree climbing in Beacon Hill Park

Craigdarroch Castle, home of the Robert Dunsmiur family (a pretty famous family in the history of BC.). Their son later built Hatley Castle (now the campus of Royal Roads University) as his home... and now I get WHY he thought building a castle for a home was a good idea. 

Jazzed Up

A friend asked me a few weeks ago about my thoughts on "jazzing" up traditional hymns in church. My thoughts on this are mixed... when it's done well, it's great. When it's not done well, it's painful. I think the hymn needs to musically lend itself to rock or jazz rhythms, and worship bands need to play the rhythm consistently in each verse. Silent Night is NOT a hymn that works (I've heard this attempted in at least four churches) nor is Christ the Lord has Risen Today, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, For the Beauty of the Earth or How Great Thou Art. In my experience, however, when the right hymn is "jazzed up" and the rhythm is played consistently in each verse so a congregation can catch on easily (instead of looking around with confused expressions), the result is fantastic. Gospel hymns are probably the easiest ones to "jazz up" but still need to be done well. Here's what I mean:

I have probably played this video several hundred times over the past four years, and still can't get enough. This is the first video I turn to when mopping floors (because dancing while mopping simply makes mopping better), or if I need a pick me up. So my final thoughts on "jazzing" up hymns? Well, if worship music touches us enough on a personal level that we find ourselves turning to it during the mundane tasks of  everyday life, then I think it's partly living out its purpose. That's a good thing.