Heartspace, my debut solo exhibition at The Red Head Gallery, is in its final week this Weds–Sat noon–5pm. I will be there for the final Saturday (Nov 23) all afternoon, or as close to it as I can manage!

After that the work comes down except for some of the small works which will be part of the group show that follows right after mine, #foxypopup.

Heartfelt thanks to my amazing sponsors!

I have thanked my sponsors in print at the show itself, but it's about time I thanked them here on my website.

They took some pressure off, lightening the load on my mind as I headed into, and worked away in, my studio, and they also made some things possible, thereby helping to make this show as interesting and diverse as my ideas called for.

Here are my generous sponsors: 

• Miriam Snell
• Josef (Joe) Rich
• Abigail Johnson
• Joanna Czub
• The Conspiracy to Promote Artists
• Ruth Austin
• Nancy Moniz
• Lindsay Isaac
• Anne Cook

I also owe a very special thanks to Kal Honey, who helps me in every way imaginable. Thanks also to Tim Marshall who along with Kal installed the show so I feel happy every time I look at it!

What a day! I'm feeling so full of gratitude for the many people who came out for the artist talk and opening reception for my 'Heartspace' solo exhibition at The Red Head Gallery in Toronto.

It was so packed that on more than one occasion I had to act like a bus driver and urge everyone to move further inside to make room for the new arrivals!

Wonderful to connect and re-connect with many familiar faces, colleagues, friends, students, sponsors, and even family!

I gave the group a guided tour through the artworks – so many of which merit a little background or additional explanation to enrich the experience rather than replace the personal encounter – covering conceptual, material and 

October 30 to November 23, 2019
Opening Reception:
Saturday, November 2, 1–4pm
​with artist talk at 2pm

The Red Head Gallery
401 Richmond St. West
Ground floor, Suite 115
Toronto, ON  M5V 3A8

Gallery hours:
​Weds–Sat 12–5pm

Watch for sneak peeks on social media!
Instagram
Facebook

I am hard at work preparing for my solo show 'Kim-Lee Kho: A Full Heart' at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre March 9–21, 2019. The opening reception will be Sunday, March 10, 1–4pm.

All the prints are made, including the two large new ones (scroll down for a sneak peek of one of them), which I can't wait to see up and share with everyone who's able to visit!

The gallery at Cedar Ridge comprises three main rooms in a historic mansion owned and run by the City of Toronto. There is dark wood trim and features everywhere, a big old fireplace, high ceilings (around 12ft), and baseboards that are at least a foot tall. Full of character, this is a very different kind of space than any I've shown in before.

Because the rooms are full of complications like multiple doorways, built-in bookcases, areas of windows and a big fireplace; and because this is my biggest solo show ever, where I'll be presenting up to 40 pieces/objects, a scale model was absolutely essential to help me plan.

My favourite and always-generous helper Kal Honey put it together for me then helped me plan and curate the show.

Following a site visit when we check and tested a number of aspects, particularly related to hanging methods and details about the space, there will be some adjustments made to our plan. That's why the final number of works isn't quite settled.

I'm continue to work on a sculpture that I hope to include in the show, (working with chicken wire so my hands are getting rather scratched despite mostly wearing gloves), and there are still so many details to look after!

If you can join us for the opening this Sunday, or visit the show anytime through Thursday March 21, I'd be delighted! Hope you can make it!

Please share any questions or comments below.

Cedar Ridge Creative Centre
225 Confederation Drive
Toronto, ON  M1G 1B2
(416) 396-4026

Part two of this blog series is up!
​To go directly to it, click here.

The 2018 In Situ multi-arts festival took place November 8–10 at the Small Arms Inspection Building (a former WWII munitions factory now partially refurbished as a creative hub) in Mississauga, Ontario.

'Hearts in Place' was a whole-room installation comprised of: ten 7-foot high scrolls, eight of which were transfer-printed (a hand-pulled process), two were hand-painted; two paper-and-fibre "veined" panels (centre); two veiling textile panels; one built-onsite sculpture/assemblage which you can see a sliver of light from at the centre of this photo; and the wall behind me as I photographed the room panorama was a mural drawing which I drew a portion of as a live performance each of the three evenings of the festival.

Like the first In Situ festival in 2016, this was an extraordinary experience and a creative high, but with the benefit of central heating and running water!

I am still exhausted from the experience of preparing all of this new work, performing and then taking it all down just days later. As a result I will keep this entry shorter than I might have, but will share with you some photographs. Thanks go to the numerous – generous – photographers and friends, (all credited individually), who made this possible, documenting when I could not.

​Many thanks to the many people who came out to experience the festival and visited my room! If you were there, please let me know what you thought in the comments below.

In May of this year, while on the highway commuting to Wednesday classes I was teaching then, I was in a car accident.

Following the sickening impact, and after the car finally came to a complete stop, (time feels so different during events like that), I was grateful to be alive – I still am!

It could have been so much worse, but that said it hasn't been easy.

Our lovely red car has now been replaced. I had no broken bones and neither did the other driver, who was up and out of his car much more quickly than I was. I experienced whiplash and learned a lot about concussion and how complex brain injuries are and subsequently PTSD as well.

In addition to learning a lot about my brain, I've been working on patience with myself, adapting to changed abilities (a moving target) and learning to pace myself better, possibly for the first time in my life. 

In the past I've always been either full-on or off. I functioned as a flip-style switch, not a volume control knob or dial.

And while I think immoderacy is a character trait that will continue to affect how I do things, I think I am shepherding that energy more and more so that I can manage better not only under my present circumstances, but once all the accident's after-effects are behind me, to work at a more sustainable pace in the future. 

There will still be crazy (read therefore exciting and inspiring) projects, intensive work periods and so on, but it's all a question of degree, pacing, rest periods and what supports do I have in place.

This past summer I hosted two interns for the first time in my studio. I have had volunteers (including many friends and students!) help me with big projects in the past, for which I am very grateful, and imagine will have again in future, but the interns were a way to build up to delegating and working with other people on a more regular basis, so I can spread the load more!

​So this past Thanksgiving weekend (almost two weeks ago now, as I publish this) I had a lot to be thankful for: my husband Kal Honey, who's helped and supported me through everything, my family and friends, my work and students, and looking back to see how much I've recovered since the accident.

Do you use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to focus on gratitude, or maybe for you it is a daily practice? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

If you would like a free and easy-to-use gratitude journalling page as a pdf you can print, just contact me via this website with the subject "Gratitude Journal" and I will email it to you.