Skyaak Canadian Ring-Wing Glider » Blogroll

Spirit of Manitou Studio Trail Year Two: It’s a Wrap!

admin — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:33:46 +0000

Art lovers compare notes as they view works by Michael Gaudet at his Manitou Beach Studio/Gallery.

Year two of the Spirit of Manitou Studio Trail was an unqualified success. The Studio Trail is a collective of artists and artisans who have pooled their resources to advertise and promote a mid-July weekend where the public is invited to tour over fifteen diverse studios in the Watrous-Manitou Beach area. The studios include “Who New Creations” in Bradwell, where Allison Brandt transforms and recycles all types of fabrics into one-of-a-kind wearable art; “Handwave Gallery” in Meacham where owner June Jakobs finds her inspiration working with textiles and fibres; to Richard Lamartine at “Harvest Moon Gallery”, also in Meacham.

Raven Mask, an example of Richard Lamartine’s Raku ceramic works.

Richard produces landscapes in oils, as well as ceramic raku animal masks and photographs.

Dave and Loa Titman of “Concrete Elements”, south of Meacham, provide custom made statuary and concrete stepping stones for the gardening enthusiast.

Sharon Dunbar’s award-winning style features highly-detailed rendition of classic farm vehicles.

Sharon Dunbar of Plunkett, who took home the first prize in this year’s juried art show at Watrous, specializes in highly realistic renderings in oils on canvas of automobiles, portraits, landscapes and equestrian themes.

Watrous-Manitou Beach is eveolving into a hub of artistic activity. Linda Leslie creates both functional and sculptural pottery at the Leslie farm just north of Watrous.

Toni Ambrose shows her fluency in pastels with this dramatic rendition.

Toni Ambrose is well-known locally for her meticulously rendered depictions of prairie landscapes and floral arrangements in pastels and acrylics. Frank Wilson maintains his love of drawing and painting mostly in oils. He also carries on with his weekly cartoon sketches that are published in SK. weekly newspapers.

A rustic presentation of poplars in winter by Jean Shantz.

Jean Shantz shows her love of nature in her watercolor landscapes. Jean also creates rustic pieces using weathered barn-board framed pressed flower arrangements.

These “Saskatchewan Folks” by Sandy Christensen are a typical example of her down-to-earth, highly detailed and light-hearted figurines.

Sandy Christensen explores her own unique creativity through her “Saskatchewan Folks” ceramic figurines, that represent whimsical prairie people. Sandy also makes ceramic piggy banks and bells to add to the diversity of her studio.

A bold abstract landscape exemplifies the striking work of Helen Herr.

Helen Herr is a poet and painter who creates impressionistic, abstract landscapes as well as Haiku poetry. Darrell Baschuk is a landscape painter who specializes in oils on canvas but also enjoys watercolors, pastels, acrylics and encaustics.

One of the “Historic Manitou” series by Michael Gaudet shows the famous Danceland before it was painted today’s white with rainbow arch.

Michael Gaudet paints almost exclusively with acrylics on canvas and his work, while realistic, is strongly influenced by his expressionistic heroes. This year he started a new series called “Historic Manitou” that delves into imagery based on antique photos and postcards of Manitou Beach in its heyday of the early 1900’s.

To read more, please visit www.SpiritofManitou.ca.

It’s snowing @ WordPress

mrgaudet — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:35:46 +0000

When I logged on this morning to post a blog entry I noticed that the smart folks at WordPress HQ had stuck in snowflakes trickling across the category cloud and all the avatars in Hawt Posts as well as through the WP logo! How cool is that, pun intended?

Grab a Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ now!

mrgaudet — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 22:47:36 +0000

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi3Z6UsglSY]

We did it! Now you can spend the big bucks, all TWO of them, to grab your very own Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’, thanks to the good folks at PayLoadz, the massively popular online shopping service.

Just click on the ‘Buy Now’ button below to take a ‘deuce’ for a test drive today!

Let us know what you think…check out the demo video here for some useful tips on cutting out and building your ‘deuce’. Don’t let the strange design throw you for a loop, pun intended. After you try it out for the first time, you will find that it all makes sense, big time. The second time you cut out and build a Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ it will be way quicker and easier, in fact it will be just plain FUN!

But most of all, have fun finger flicking your DIY ‘deuce’ around the joint. You will be pleasantly surprised at how well this little unit glides through the air. Ah, the wonders of ‘ring-wing’ flight!

People, once you’ve built your ‘deuce’ and tossed it around, share the buzz! Go ahead, have fun and lob a video clip of your Skyaak experience to YouTube and tag it “Skyaak DIY deuce” so we’ll catch it. We are wrapping our heads around creating a contest that will entitle lucky video posters (that means you, Lou!) to qualify for Skyaak merchandise. How does a Skyaak Model 3, shipped *FREE* to anywhere on the planet sound?

BTW, you can also visit the official Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ vendor site at PayLoadz here that includes the affiliate builder! Anyone who wants to can grab the code there to start earning $$$ by offering this cool new product on your website or blog!

If you wish to experience the sensation of Skyaak ring-wing flight before your very eyes, you can right now.

Grab the Skyaak DIY ‘deuce’ model that you can print on regular 8.5″ x 11″ paper, dope with clear tape, customize, cut-out, build and fly for the one-time cost of $2.00. Just remember to make a copy of your download before you cut it out so you can go on to build a whole fleet if you want!

Strange but true...the front of a Skyaak DIY deuce

Skyaak DIY “deuce” banner mock-up

mrgaudet — Fri, 23 May 2008 15:57:14 +0000

Here’s a working draft of the banner that is coming soon, once we cross all the t’s and dot all the i’s. You can get a sneak peek at the animated version but just remember, it’s not an active link quite yet. Let us know how you like it so far…any feedback would be taken seriously.

“Adventures w Skyaak” photo album

mrgaudet — Fri, 23 May 2008 14:18:08 +0000

Over the past couple of years Skyaak has covered a lot of ground, been to a lot of places and has landed in lots of folks’ hands. I’ve put together a fairly comprehensive photo album that chronicles the trajectory of the Skyaak project from its very beginnings up to the present.

Although our focus has been on developing the DIY ‘deuce’ for the past couple of months, I wanted to remind our readers that there is much more to this line than the paper version, cool as that is.

The photo album is called “Adventures with Skyaak” and you can check it out here.

You might find it interesting, because one of the most frequent questions I get about Skyaak is “Where did you come up with the idea?”

This album shows a reproduction of the very first little ‘ring-wing’ glider I ever saw way back when I was a 19-yr old living in Halifax, N.S.

Let me tell you, for some reason…once I tossed this little unit around with my friend, I was hooked! You might say it was “Love at first flight!”

The album goes on to show my first rendering in which I worked out the strut design inside the ring-wing that could hold the shaft in the center of the ring for better looks, balance and aerodynamics. As you will see, the design has come a loooong way since its crude beginnings.

But isn’t that the way with most inventions?

You have to start with the seed of an idea and then slowly nurture it along until you have something more fully developed. So what if it takes a life-time to do it, as long as you follow your bliss then it’s a win-win situation.

Just to pique your interest here’s the 1st picture in the album: