Catching Up

Boardwalk

In the interest of freshening thing up a bit, I give you my new blog header. Happily, there is a new, easier way to create them, so I may be inclined to do this a bit more often.

Things have been kind of quiet in the studio. I've mainly been writing material for a presentation I am making in about a week on crisis intervention and suicide prevention. Serious stuff! There's alot of information to relay in a short period of time, but I always love the opportunity to help empower others, especially when they are doing important work like this.

Meanwhile, the excitement is building for London 2012. As you can imagine, I am counting the days! It seems like just yesterday we were gearing up for the Games here in Vancouver. I watched the Americans' gymnastics trials last weekend. It was pretty intense-when people make mistakes, it's pretty spectacular. (And scary!) The balance beam always freaks me out-fall on that and you're going to clobber yourself!  I am very much looking forward to watching the Games obsessively.

 Vivienne has encouraged me to take my camera in for it's servicing. I am loathing the idea of letting it out of my sight, but I suppose I should do it sooner, rather than later, so it's all spiffy and ready to go for Whistler. I am so used to just grabbing it and shooting when the spirits move me that to not have it available for a few days seems like torture! I suppose I should just get it over with.

In other news, I had a lovely surprise arrive in the mail the other day. It was an honorarium for participating in the gallery show Dispelling the Myths: Disability & Art  at the Leigh Square Community Arts Village in May. It was completely unexpected. I'll probably treat myself to some new art supplies next week. Good karma is always welcome!

Challenging the Myths: Disability & Art Opening

This morning, I'm backtracking to Thursday, May 17th, to the opening of the gallery show. This is the beautiful gallery at Leigh Square where the exhibit was held. The official opening coincided with the Rick Hansen Relay making a quick whistle stop in the square.

I love when galleries put a huge decal on the wall with the show info.  I don't really know why, I just do.

My artwork ended up being displayed in a large glass cabinet, as you first come in the door. Mine are the pieces framed in black. I'm not sure who the small painting belonged to. The gallery has a ton of windows, so there was alot of glass and light, which when combined did not make for great photos. Reflections were inevitable.

These are the work of William Skuse. He had alot of work in the show, all similar and yet different from one another. What I love about his work is the geometric patterns he comes up with, combined with the use of colour. He does his pieces using a humble set of markers. It reminds me of those giant posters they used to make in the 70's with wild pictures you'd colour in. I love that his work reminded me of this.

This is my favourite piece in the whole show. It belongs to Fred Collins. Sadly, this photo does not do it justice. Let me see if I can explain it a bit. What I believe he's done is start with a wash of water colours on water colour paper. Once it dried completely, I think he went over the base layer with a fine tip black marker, drawing meandering lines which were no more than 1/8 inch apart. The lines are very wabi-sabi and intersect randomly. Once he'd covered the entire piece with lines he want back and added bits of additional colour using markers. It clearly took some time to create this piece-it measures 22 x 29 inches and it's extremely intricate.

The show runs till June 10th, so there's still time to see it. There are 12 artists with a diversity of artistic talent being featured. If you missed the article in the Tri-City news, it's here.

I just wanted to say a heartfelt THANK YOU to all my friends and family who took time out of their busy week to come and see the show. I appreciate the support. You guys are THE BEST!

EDIT: This just in!

Late last night, our local newspaper was left on my doorstep. I just this minute looked at it and imagine my surprise when I saw myself in the paper! (Bottom left!) Twice in less than a week! WOW!

In The News

Hello friends! Visiting the Sketchbook Project yesterday was wonderful! If you're local and haven't been, I really recommend going today, which is your last chance before it hits the road again. I'll have a full report tomorrow.

In the meantime, the next few days are going to be a whirl wind of crossing some very big things off my life list so I'm trying to slow myself down internally so I can take it all in. 

Something really cool happened today: I made the local paper! I'm going to be  looking for copies at the library later today, but in the meantime, you can view the article here. I did the interview last week and like any interview, you never know what will come of it. I was stunned to see how much they actually printed-it was far more than I expected. I think I owe the reporter, Sarah Payne a thank you card. I am just grateful to be able to help raise awareness about MS in my own small way and to challenge people to think differently about disability and what it looks like.

Tomorrow afternoon is the official opening of the gallery show. If you're local, I hope you come out, see the show, (which I think is going to be really interesting) and say hello. I'll be there!

You're Invited!

Port Coquitlam, BC: The Rick Hansen Man in Motion 25 Anniversary presents an opportunity to showcase the artistic expression and achievements of artists with disabilities at Leigh Square Community Arts Village from visual art to film and performances, May 10 to June 3. The Rick Hansen Man in Motion Anniversary Tour stops in Port Coquitlam on May 17 and May is also Mental Health Awareness month. 

Often there are many myths that surround disability, both physical and mental and this exhibition offers an opportunity to hear these voices and share talent, stories and inspiration.  Sometimes the impossible can become possible as many of these community artists will show in their work. Featured artists include Lelainia Lloyd, Kevin Priebe, Marney Smithies, Cascadia Society for Social Working artists Fred Collins, Aiden Fisher-Lang, William Skuse and others and New View Society artists Angela Chapman, Marcia Weekes and Mary Jung.

The opening reception will take place on the Rick Hansen Relay Day on May 17 at 4pm with lots of special activities including performances, mini Farmers Market, face painting, bikes, BBQ and much more.

Save The Dates!

Happy May! I can't believe were already into the 5th month of the year already! I've dubbed May the month o'many things. My calendar is chock full of amazing events. Here's what's happening:

May 3rd, (two days from now!) Seth Apter is here from NYC for his book launch party. I've posted about it here.

May 15th & 16th, The Sketchbook Project is coming to Vancouver. Details are here. (Scroll down to find the info for Vancouver.) I posted a sneak peek at my Sketchbook here, if you're curious.

May 17th is the opening reception for the Challenging the Myths: Disability & Art exhibit at Leigh Square. Info for that is here.

May 18th is my turn in the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay! I'm a Difference Maker! I posted a bit about it here, though I am still waiting for a specific time and location. Update to follow soon!

Consider this my personal invitation to YOU to come join the fun!

 If you plan to attend any or all of these events, shoot me a note in the comments or by email, so I will know to look for you!

Fait Accompli

1. broken glass (C), 2. Only in Vancouver (C), 3. barnicles, 4. 1152 (C), 5. Deep Cove (C), 6. Silent Sentries (C), 7. November (C), 8. Skydiving (C), 9. Love you (C), 10. Antique Wooden Chest, 11. Stop (C), 12. 22, 13. East Van, 14. warehouse (C), 15. Hand , 16. Life Is Good, 17. Where Old Couches Go to Die (C), 18. walking , 19. warehouse wall 1 (C), 20. Metal (C), 21. Self-Portrait, 22. Funky Phone , 23. celebrating spring, 24. Fragile (C)

So this is the last week of Swan Dive. The month flew by so quickly. I managed to create 24 images (plus a few with family, not pictured here) in 27 days, which I think is pretty good. It would have been more, but I got really sick over the weekend (migraine, blurred vision, allergies & sinus pain-oh joy!) and spent the lion's share of the last 6 days in bed. 

I'm taking a bit of a break in May, which is chock full of events-Seth will be here for his book tour, then the Sketchbook Project is here, then the gallery show I'm in is opening and then I'll be doing the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay. Add in a civic holiday and regular life stuff and well...it's really busy!

June will be amazing because I'll be taking Vivienne's new course, Montage, which I hear sold out really quickly. I'm really excited about it because I will get to work on my video editing skills and learn how to combine stills with moving video. It's going to be an interesting way to share, once I learn how! I've made videos before-just quick ones with my Flip camera to share my journals and things like that, but making an artistic video is a whole different ballgame. I'm always up for a challenge and I look forward to the process.

Onward!

P.S. I have made 99 sales in my Etsy shop.
Whomever makes order #100 is going to get some extra goodies!
Ready? Set? GO!

Challenging the Myths: Disability & Art

I am really pleased to announce that my photographic work has been accepted in an upcoming show, Challenging the Myths: Disability & Art at the Leigh Square Community Arts Village, in Port Coquitlam, BC. This show celebrates the Rick Hansen Man in Motion 25th Anniversary by featuring the artistic expression and achievement of artists with disabilities, through visual art, film and performances.

It will be my first gallery show in Canada as well as the first time I've shown my photographic work so I'm really excited. (And a bit nervous!) Making the decision about what images I wanted to submit for consideration was really hard, but I went with what felt right and I think it's a good representation of the work I've been doing over the last 14 months. Now I just have to have prints made and get them framed!

The show will run May 10th to June 11th, 2012.  

The Opening Reception will be on Thursday May 17th, from 4-6 p.m. 

Address: #1100-2253 Leigh Square Place, Port Coquitlam, BC

(Located behind City Hall on Shaughnessy St. & McAlliser.)

Hours of Operation:

Mon, Wed & Fri -9:30 am to 7 pm

Tue & Thurs -9:30 am to 8 pm

Sat & Sun -12:00 pm-4 pm

I hope that if you're local, you'll drop by and see the show.

A big THANK YOU to my friend Jennifer Skillen for giving me the head's up about this exhibit and encouraging me to take the leap. I love you for it!

The month of May is going to be an absolute whirlwind of really wonderful events!

Dog Days of Summer

In honour of the title of this post, I give you Indy, in all his happy water dog glory on Saturday. We're in the middle of yet another heatwave (when will it END?!?!) so we took pity on the poor kid in the fur coat and drove him to the river for a dip. It always puts a smile on my face to see him happy and he's never happier than when he's in the water.

Not only is he born and bred for this kind of thing, but my sweet boy was born on the Ides of March, March 15th, making him a Pisces, so he's a true water dog in every sense of the word.

Sunday was our monthly ATC swap, so once we were home from the river, I got busy in my sweltering studio. I guess heat exhaustion did something to my brain because I just started dumping paint directly from the bottle, onto a large sheet of glossy card stock and quickly swiped it around. (It was almost drying faster than I could move it around!)

I sprayed inks on it and kept layering mediums, including writing on top with a new Sakura pen, which, for the moment is actually working! (You'll remember 2 posts ago, I was talking about the quest for a white pen that works.) Eventually, I cut the master sheet into cards.

I had some pieces left over, so I grabbed a new punch I'd bought on Friday and clipped these seal shaped circles out. And then I thought "Hmm..I bet those would pop on white. I should sew those onto blank cards." So I did...

And I added some text and kept the threads long so they could hang. I named them "Thoughts on the Wind" because when I hung one up, the fan in the studio caught it and spun it around. It reminded me of Tibetan prayer wheels, which are spun so the prayers can go out into the wind.

I find it kind of telling that sometimes, you begin one thing and it evolves into something interesting, if you can get out of the way and just allow the creative process to unfold. The ladies I traded with thought they were pretty, is perhaps I will make some more.

The Richmond Art Gallery is having their annual ATC exhibit soon. I've never entered cards in that show-the timing has always been off for me to be able to do it, but this year, I think I can manage it. You should click the link too if you make ATCs because you can participate too! The show is always spectacular and well attended and at the end, your cards will be traded with the other artists!

I also hit the jackpot at a local thrift store over the weekend. They were celebrating their 5th birthday and had deep discounts. I scored 4 vintage books for a whole $5 total, which included images like this historical map of Canada. I love when they read "The Dominion of Canada" which is how Canada was referred to until the 1950's.

I also got a French language book, which had this cool map in the back cover. It's of Paris.

I was thrilled to find this Canadian dictionary, from which I have removed the entire text block and am revamping it as a journal. I've already reinforced the spine and recovered the inside. Now I just need to create the signatures and sew them in. It's a small book and perfect for this alteration project. I really like working with Canadiana.

On Sunday, when I was over at Penn's before our ATC swap, I spied a paper bowl on her desk and fell in love. She got hers from this place called 10,000 Villages, which is a fair trade artisan shop.

We went down there before the swap and I picked out this bowl for myself. It's made from recycled magazine pages. The artists use an umbrella spindle to twist the papers tight. Then they flatten them and sew them end to end.

They would them to form the bowl and then cover it with a starch solution to set the form. I think they are so cool and each one was a different colour, based on the pages they used. I've put mine on a corner of my desk as a catch all for things. LOVE IT!! The next time I see a broken umbrella on the street (Vancouver has lots of those!) I will snag it so I can harvest the spokes. I'd like to try making one of these myself.

First Gallery Showing

About a month ago, I was invited by my friend Patricia Anders (who by the way is an incredible artist-you should follow her blog!) to participate in an invitation-only gallery show on altered shoes. It seemed like fun so I said yes. I've never done a gallery show before, so I guess this is a bit of a milestone for me. It also means I can cross one more thing off my "40 things before I'm 40" list!

I've just finished and packed up my pair of shoes for shipping to California. As you can see, they are full of details that are really "me".

The right shoe is called "Avril" which is "April" in French. (That's a nod to my Canadian heritage.) Avril has a bit of a sour look on her wee face. Guess she doesn't like getting her feet wet!

The pincushion is made from a piece of butter coloured velvet I had on hand that married perfectly with a vintage crochet doily from my stash of bits. I added a locket (from Papier Valise) with a tiny tag, pinned on with this oddly shaped safety pin that I saved from a piece of clothing I'd bought ages ago.

The focal point of the shoe is this gorgeous old button. I chose it both because it's a flower (which is what April/Avril reminds me of-it is spring, after all!) and because it had this wonderful naturally occurring patina on it. This button came from my stash, but it was one gifted to me by my friend Helen. A few years ago she gave me 15 lbs. (yes, you read right!) of vintage buttons in return for a private class, which I taught at her farm.

To finish it off, I added some soft cream ribbon and the letter "a" which is a rub-on. I took a small brush and carefully painted several coats of matter medium over top of it to seal and protect it. A few pretty pins and it was finished!

The left shoe is "Rose", which means "pink" in French. She's just little.

The pincushion for Rose is made from a scrap of a vintage crazy quilt. I can't remember where in my travels I picked it up, but I've been keeping it safe for the perfect project. Rose also has a locket (again, Papier Valise) which is held on with a tiny pin safety pin.

The focal point of this shoe is a cluster of antique buttons and a lovely length of that old rayon ribbon I love so much. The thread in the mother of pearl button is original. I love when buttons have the old threads in them-it makes them that much more special.

Rose also has her initial on the toe. The shoes were purchased for a pittance at a thrift store, but it took me about 2 weeks to find exactly the kind I was looking for. I think I hit at least 4 stores in 3 cities to find them. Persistence pays off!

So later this afternoon, I will pop up to the Post Office where the ladies get no end of amusement over the weird and wonderful things I ask them to mail for me. I have these shoes and the altered folder from yesterday's post to go out today.

Oh and the show? It's going to be at the Ten Women Galleries
at Venice Beach in early September. I'll be posting more info, as it becomes available. Both shoes will be available for purchase at the gallery.