Good {Artsy} Things

Project 365 (January 10th, 2013)

I have so many good things to share with you!

The wonderful and quirky Mary Ann Moss is offering her Remains of the Day class at a winter sale price of $40! (Reg. $60) I took this online class a few years ago and the things I learned I still use on a regular basis today. It's hands down THE BEST journal/mixed media class I have ever taken and worth every penny. Click the Youtube link on the sidebar and you can see some of the journals I've made after taking this class. Mary Ann is also offering Full Tilt Boogie, another journal making class for $48. (Reg. $70)

My friend Tina and a couple of her friends, Celeste and Gwen have launched a new creative community, Tending the Fire. They are working on a new art zine, which will be available soon. Yay! If you want to stay in the loop, visit their website and sign up to subscribe to their blog posts. (It's free.)

My pal Seth is about to launch the latest edition of The Pulse. If you're an artist, this is your chance to weigh in on all sorts of art-related things. The questions are always interesting and revealing. Seth has also booked a ton of workshops around the US, so check the list-he may be coming to a city near you!

Photography genius, Vivienne McMaster has a new self-portrait e-course, Be Your Own Beloved which begins on Feb. 1st. In a recent post, she talked about her own evolution as a self-portrait photographer. One of her strengths as a teacher is that she is so encouraging and supportive about allowing you to begin where you are. You can be a rank beginner and still over the course of her classes turn out beautiful work. This is perfect gentle introduction into the world of self-portraits.

Meanwhile, back in my little corner of the world, my husband and I spent part of yesterday at the Gastown Old Spaghetti Factory being official taste testers for some new menu items they are working on. The food was crazy good and it was fun giving our feedback on each dish. I've never done something like that before, but thanks to watching a couple of seasons of Master Chef, I felt like I had some idea of the type of comments they would be interested in. We got to meet Chris, the manager, who is a super nice guy. If you're out and about in Vancouver, you should pop in for a bite. They're going to have some great new additions to their menu soon!

I am working on the presentation I am giving my UBC medical students next week. During our last session, the topic was my health journey and this time, it's about my life, outside of my diagnosis. This session will help them form a picture of me as not just a patient, but also as a person. I think this is a pretty important distinction. It's always important to me that my health care professionals recognize that I'm not just a set of symptoms, a problem to fix or a disease, but a living, breathing multi-faceted human being with feelings, dreams and a whole life I'm living outside of dealing with chronic illness and disability. I'm looking forward to presenting this side of things. I think it's going to generate some really interesting discussions.

I am also attending a Health Mentors' meeting next week, where I will get to give feedback on how the program is going so far. We're also going to talk about the symposium that my students and I will participating in in the spring and getting more information on what that will entail. I know that we'll be presenting and having the opportunity to hear the presentations of the other teams, but it will be good to get the specifics. We'll have some work to do!

In two weeks, I will be presented with the Queen's medal! I'm very excited and more than a little nervous-I really have no idea what to expect and no idea who will be there. It's all a bit mysterious. The one thing I do know is that I'll definitely have Kleenex in my pocket!

Learn Something!

So Vivienne, photography teacher extraordinaire is offering Light Hunters for the very last time as a monthly e-course! This means that you have the opportunity to take the class on a pay-what-you-can basis. Normally the class is $39 and you can pay the full rate (worth every penny!) or choose a rate that works for you. Either way, it's a a great investment.

This is what I was able to accomplish during Light Hunters when I took the course. I enjoyed seeking out subtle light and capturing it. It added more depth and dimension to my work. 

Also on tap for Autumn, Vivienne is also running Montage, which is an amazing class that teaches you how to combine video footage with still photographs to make wonderful soulful videos. This is a really cool class-I took it over the summer and managed to complete two videos. One is on my "About" page and is autobiographical in nature and the other is on my "Videography" page. It's a celebration of some of the graffiti I love to photograph here in Vancouver. (Both pages are listed on my sidebar, for future reference.) 

Montage is a great class if you are looking for new ways to use your photographs or if you're a creative and want a beautiful and unique way to promote yourself or your business. Some people in my class used what they learned to make meditation videos and one made a video to celebrate her wedding anniversary. The possibilities are endless!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I am now looking forward to taking Vivienne's latest offering, Rose Coloured Glasses which begins next week.

Just so you know, I am telling you all this because I want to. I only recommend classes I've taken with an instructor and love. There's no kickbacks or perks for me in sharing this information, other than having the satisfaction of helping to support an artist and instructor who has changed my artistic practice forever, for the good. 

When I started taking classes with Vivienne, I was not a photographer. I had a cheap, crappy point and shoot camera that was in the process of dying and I'd never taken an artistic photo in my life. I was clueless, but I had a desire to learn and when the opportunity presented itself, I leaped at the chance. You do not need to own a fancy camera or be particularly techie. If you have a desire to learn, you have everything you need. Whether you use a camera or just your iphone, it doesn't matter. Vivienne's classes are about playfulness and experimenting. She took someone who was completely green and transformed me into someone who is deeply in love with photography. 

She's just THAT GOOD. 

5 Shot Friday #2

I'm celebrating the arrival of Autumn with this 5 Shot Friday, created with photos from last Autumn.  If you've read my blog at all, you know that this is the season I wait all year for. I live for Autumn. 

This time next week I will be preparing for Canadian Thanksgiving. In Canada, Thanksgiving is centered around the celebration of the harvest and family. It always falls on the second Monday in October. Our Thanksgiving is earlier in Autumn than the States because of where Canada lies geographically-our harvest season happens earlier than that of our our southern neighbour. 

Right now, we're experiencing warmer than usual fall temperatures, so the leaves have not yet begun to turn. Hopefully that will happen by next weekend! I can't wait!

Meanwhile, to help me celebrate this most beloved of seasons, I've signed up for Rose Coloured Glasses with the incredible Vivienne McMaster. (At my friend Greta's urging. Thanks G!) It runs from October 8th-19th, so there's still time to sign up and celebrate with us!

Three Things

Three things I am digging right now:

The Dreamy Photos e-book by the beautiful & talented Vivienne McMaster. She is the gift that keeps on giving in my artistic life. Truly. You can tap into her magic for an astonishing $5! That's a steal!

Delish Magazine's e-magazine, which is chock full of good stuff and is FREE! Yes, you can download all 7 issues gratis! That's just amazing. I love their design and style sensibilities. Be sure to sign up for their newsletter too, so you don't miss out on the good stuff.

This lovely video, Modern Times by local Canadian singer-songwriter Zaac Pick, who is a favourite of mine, especially when I'm working in the studio. If you're not familiar, watch it and then go download his albums Fierce Wind and Whitewater from iTunes.

I love how he chose to feature all the string instruments in his band-the shots are so pretty. Also, he used a bunch of white Xmas lights on the floor that makes pretty bokeh, especially at the end. I could watch this over and over again. In fact, I already have. There's something very soothing about it.

And you? Tell me your three things!

Processing

(Our classroom at Lost Lake yesterday.)

I'm back after a 3 day weekend in Whistler, BC. There's so much I want to tell you about it but I'm pretty tired and have just begun sifting through my photos from the You Are Your Own Muse class. I think I need a day or so to process the whole experience, (as well as my photos) so bear with me. I'll give you the scoop real soon!

The Most Beautiful Day

 False Creek, Vancouver, BC, Canada

I am going to remember Monday as the most beautiful day of late spring. Everything seemed sharper, more in focus and brighter. I love watching the change in the light from season to season. Every season's light has a different hue. Thanks to Vivienne, I've become a light hunter.

Science World got a face lift after 25 years and it looks all the better for it. It was built for Expo '86 and served as Sochi 2014 House during the Olympics. 

Dragon Boats

This would make a pretty blog banner, if I were so inclined.

If I'm quiet, it's because I've got alot going on right now. I'm finishing up the last week of Montage and working on a number of projects. 

Farewell Spring 2012, you were a good one! 

Once Upon A City

So here's my second Montage video. This one uses only stills, but I really wanted to make a video about my love for graffiti, so there you have it! Some of the images are created from photographs I've taken and then finessed through the magic of post-processing and the rest are just as I found them. 

I'll have to make a page on my blog sidebar to house my Montage work. It's highly addictive and I see more movies in my future! In the meantime, I've put a link button for my Vimeo channel on the sidebar.

Montage: Week 1

So ages ago, I drove across the line to the US to purchase this little gizmo, a Flip video camera. I've used it a bit since then, mostly shooting tutorials, flip throughs of some of my ROD journals and clips of Indy swimming, which I've patched together using Windows Movie Maker, which I really knew very little about. Other than that, my Flip has mostly sat in a drawer in my studio. Well, no more!

This week, Vivienne's new class, Montage launched and I've been working hard (or if I'm being truthful here, obsessively) on putting together my first video. At the beginning, I was kind of freaking out, not sure what I was going to do. This is usually what happens when I step outside my comfort zone but I take it as a sign that whatever's about to happen is going to be GOOD! After much hemming and hawing on Monday, I suddenly knew what I was going to do when I woke up on Tuesday. Sometimes, you just have to trust in the process.

I've learned a few things this week about Movie Maker, not the least of which is that it's possible to save something in such a way that you simply cannot revisit it later for further edits. Ask me how I know this. Yes, I did the impossible, somehow. Lesson learned. Fortunately, I was 99.99% finished when this happened, so essentially, it wasn't the end of the world. There are a couple things I would have like to have changed (which 1000's will pass and never know) but what's done is done and I'm letting it go. 

What I've learned this week about the process of making a soulful video is that for me, the magic comes in syncing audio to the video and stills. I love finding the most effective way of illustrating the lyrics, arranging things so that the rise and fall of the music drives the story and selecting the right transitions to underscore the important moments. It's exciting stuff!

My classmates have started posting their videos and they are so unique and interesting and beautiful. It's inspiring to catch a glimpse of who they are and to experience their stories in this way. 

Here's a peek at what I was able to create:

29 Days of Magic

I'm gearing up for another fabulous course with Vivienne, which starts in a matter of days! I am so excited about Montage, which is about working with video and stills to tell your own story. I'm a little nervous because this is a bit outside my comfort zone, but I'm excited to learn new things. The desire to learn new things always trumps the nervousness though, thankfully!

Meanwhile, I've been working on a few more photographs. The one above was taken at Burnaby Village Museum. I loved the look of the prices poking up inside an old cash register. I took this one while I was there for the End of Day Celebration. Once upon a time, I was a volunteer tour guide there while visiting BC on summer vacation. It was fun because I got to dress up in 1920's costumes every day for a month and teach people from around the world about local history.

This shot comes from the Downtown East Side. Vivienne recently held a class at Opus (a local art store) on double exposures and I discovered the lane ways nearby were full of graffiti. You'll remember me saying that my new benchmark for true friendship is that a real friend will say "YES!" when you say "Let's go shoot in a filthy alleyway." Curiosity also trumps trepidation.

May has been such a crazy month. I feel like I've lived 1000 lifetimes in the span of the last 29 days. Seth commented the other day that I must feel changed. Yes, in many ways I do. I'm still processing everything I learned and thinking about the important stuff. Really, it was almost too much goodness to take in at once.  

Yesterday was also a wonderful day. I had the pleasure of meeting Andrea Bundon, who is a PHD student at UBC. She launched a blog about disability and sport, called Athletes First some time ago, as part of her research. I've been following along, learning alot from the posts and people's responses and I've commented myself from time to time. Andrea asked me if I would be willing to do an interview with her about the my participation on her blog and what my thoughts were on a number of topics related to disability and spot. I was happy to help.

It turns out she's an incredibly interesting and lovely person and I had a great time having a very thoughtful discussion with her. It's always wonderful when you connect with other kindred spirits! (She's also a prairie girl!) I came away feeling like I'd learned so much and I'm excited to see where her research takes her. Andrea has kindly invited me to do a guest post at some point and I'm really excited about that!

Funnily enough, my day wasn't over after Andrea and I talked for 2 hours. Tiina, who is working the the MS Society's local chapter contacted me last week asking if I would be willing to do an interview. They want to feature me as a member of distinction on the MS Society website. So...there was two more hours of interesting conversation with Tiina who is also lovely. It was wonderful spending time with her.

I feel deeply grateful for everything that has happened in my life in the last 29 days. At times, I feel kind of emotional about it. Like I said, it's been alot to take in and I'm still processing. It will be good to turn inward for the next while and work on Montage. I think the timing is perfect.

Beautiful Mistakes

Tying up a few loose end, from the Rick Hansen relay in this post.

The day I shot this photo, taken on Thermal Drive, as Rick Hansen was wheeling his way up, Vivienne posted about beautiful mistakes. Ordinarily, I would have deleted this photograph because it was blurry. Fortunately, I read Vivienne's post before I looked at what was on my memory card and as a result, I saw this image in a completely different light. I think in it's own unique way, it captured the feeling of that moment perfectly. It's become one of my favourite memories from that day.

 There was also this shot, taken at the summit of Thermal Drive, when the relay paused for about 15 minutes, so Rick Hansen could address the huge crowd that had come to watch him conquer the infamous hill once again. It's another beautiful mistake that was meant to be. If you could actually see my brain taking a snap shot of that moment, this is exactly what the memory would look like.

And lastly, I wanted to share this photo with you. When I was on the shuttle bus, riding to where my relay start point was, I spotted this sign and pointed it out to the others. Wendy stopped the shuttle, so we could get a photo. I didn't have my camera with me-my husband had it so he could get photos of me, so Wendy kindly sent this to me the other day. It was really sweet of the church to think of us. It meant alot to us.

Okay, I think that's the last of the photos now! I'm finally all caught up!

Double the Fun!

Yesterday I spent the day with these two lovely ladies, Carol & Vivienne, as well as another gal, Diana, downtown at Opus. Vivienne was teaching a free class on double exposures and brought a great assortment of vintage and toy cameras for us to play with.

I liked the vintage Polaroid best. There's a way to trick it into creating double exposure, fairly easily and I had fun testing it out. The photo above was my favourite photo of the bunch.

More experimenting...

Vivienne had thoughtfully put together a printed PDF for us to take home, so we'll have all the info for future reference.

This is an image I shot, using my own camera which is a DSLR. Viv explained how to set it to allow more light in and I shot several photos of her vintage cameras to see how best to capture them. I printed this out at home, using my beloved Pogo Printer, which is also made by Polaroid. The Pogo prints images business card size, with a sticky peel off backing, so you can print something and then slap it down in your journal. I LOVE how this image of the cameras came out all ghosty.

After we left, Carol and I did a super quick shoot of the neighbourhood. I just had to shoot this neon sign. I love old neon.

There's a new benchmark in my world for what a real friend is. A real friend is someone who when you say "Hey, want to go shoot photos in a filthy alley?" They say "YES!" with no hesitation. Carol is just such a friend and I love her for it! I took a ton of graffiti photos, which I look forward to working on this week. I adore graffiti. Funnily enough, when we were leaving Opus, a young guy was at the till buying $239 (on sale!) worth of premium spray paint. I was dying to know where he was going to use it, but I didn't ask.

Another cool thing about the Pogo, is that you can create double exposure really easily, simply by reinserting the print and reprinting on it. I layered an image of trees over the "Why" image, so you can see how effectively the Pogo reprints double exposures.

I also learned how to capture "faux" double exposures, by shooting windows and their reflections. This flower was painted on the window at Opus. The trees were the reflection.

A Pogo triple exposure. I was just playing around and wanted to see if it would develop three times in a row. It did! Not everything can or will turn out fabulous.  It's okay to experiment. Experimenting=learning!

Carol's posted her double exposures on her blog, if you'd like to take a peek.

THANK YOU Vivienne for a great class! Those two hours just flew by and I learned alot. Now I just have to find myself an old Polaroid to play with. I've already put some feelers out to a couple family members I think might have one collecting dust. *fingers crossed*

The Pulse of Mixed Media: Vancouver Edition

Last night was Seth's book signing for the Pulse of Mixed Media!

It was held at the beautiful Marche St. George, which is a little gem tucked away in Vancouver. It's a very old corner store, so it has lots of character.

I love that the front door is painted with chalkboard paint. Charming!

Seth, Patricia, Leslie and I brought art that was in the book to share.

And here we all are! (Me, Patricia Larsen, Seth Apter, Leslie Avon Miller.)

Seth signing my book. He signed alot of books!

Seth gave a talk about some of the survey answers in the book and asked Leslie and I to read the written portions of our contributions.

Smoozing! There was a very good turn out. Thanks to Penelope, Vivienne, Carol, Jennifer & her mum for coming! It was so good to see you all and celebrate the book with you!

I wanted to share with you, one more piece of art that I just finished creating for a project that's tied to the book. In March and April, Seth had an open call for a 5X5 project. He asked three questions and you could choose which ones you wanted to answer. The idea was to present your answer in a creative 5x5 format. 

I decided to do mine in book form.

I made a CD envelope which I designed by first collaging papers and then photocopying them, so I could have a smooth finish.

The books itself it about photography.

The final page reveals the questions I was addressing and my answer:

Who has had the most impact on my creative life? 

It's a no-brainer-it's Vivienne McMaster! 

I decided not to post these photos until after Seth and Vivienne had seen the finished piece. When I showed it to Vivienne last night, I think she was very surprised. I promised I'd make one for her to keep.

The whole event was so much fun. Everyone was in good spirits and it was really nice that so many of my friends showed up to support Seth. (And by extension, me.) It's the first time this particular group of friends have met one another and I was so pleased everyone got on so well. It's fabulous to have a bunch of creatives hit it off. It was also really wonderful to finally meet Seth. I only have the nicest things to say about him. He's genuine, kind and funny and you can't help but adore him.

 Today Seth's off to Washington State for the final stop on his book tour. If you're in the Seattle area, he'll be at Bellevue Art & Frame on Saturday, May 5th, 2012 from noon-2 pm. Contributing artists Donna Watson and Leslie Avon Miller will be participating in an artist discussion, an art demo and book signing. This event is free! Be there, or be square!

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!

Inspired!

April has flown by so quickly and we're now in the final week of Swan Dive. *Boggles* As always, my classmates have been hugely inspiring, so I wanted to share some of their amazing work. (You can click on the credits below to see the full size images.)

1. ledger, 2. Walk Away..., 3. still life with pears, 4. Spoon with texture, 5. close up, 6. Happy, 7. Pink, 8. Trees in mist, 9. SwanDiveTruck 4-1-12, 10. The knowing., 11. Gates with texture, 12. play, 13. color correction bluegrad, 14. SF Pier with Nasos3 texture, 15. Untitled, 16. Orchard as painting

Vivienne McMaster is offering a brand new class, Montage, which begins in June. It's about learning to create videos, by combining video footage, still images and words to tell your story. I like the idea of adding another layer to what I've already learned in the last year and a half about photography. It's another opportunity to step outside of my comfort zone and I'm excited about it. I'm signing up! Vivienne is offering an early bird special price to those who sign up before the end of April, so now's a good time to go check it out!

The Art of Colour

Self-portrait

It's been a busy last few days. Swan Dive is humming along nicely. I worked on this self-portrait the other day and I think it's my new favourite. Vivienne taught us how to use a new tool that can erase any parts of a layer that you don't want covering up the original image. I used it on this image to take the layers off my eye, so the colour would be true. (Yes, my eyes really are that green.) I really think that one pop of colour makes the entire image.  

Here are some others I've done this way:

This is one of my favourite shots from Light Hunters: Getting through the Grey. It was the first time I took my camera out in the rain (I was super careful.) for a shoot. It was a horrible day weather-wise, but the first day of 2012 and I wanted to document it. I'm so glad I did.

I may go back and take another shot at this one because Dex's eyes are golden and I think it would be cool to also have them appear as they really are. The beauty of digital photography is that as you learn new post processing skills, you can go back and rework things. Maybe I'll do that today...

Speaking of photography classes, Vivienne is having a sale on the Light Hunter's e-book. If you purchase it today, it's 50% off-only $15! The sale price changes tomorrow and Friday, so if you want the best deal, snap it up today! All the details are on her blog.  

Light Hunters was a great course-I learned so much about finding and using the natural light as a focal point in my photos. I can't say enough good things about her classes-they have completely changed my life! (So much so that I just took a giant step outside my comfort zone and submitted 4 of my images to be considered for a special gallery show next month! EEK! Now I just have to wait to see if I'm accepted.)

Vancouver's Hidden Gem

I'm now into my 2nd week of Swan Dive. I've already learned something new from taking this class a second time and I'm really enjoying meeting new classmates and reconnecting with familiar ones. Everyone dove right in and the work has been amazing already! This week, we're talkin' textures and I've been busy!

Our instructor, Vivienne lives in Vancouver and often shoots at a warehouse that is home to the motherload of all graffiti. I LOVE graffiti! Vivienne very kindly pointed me in the right direction and so on Saturday, my husband, Indy and I went to go check it out. I was not disappointed! This place is a hidden gem.

As I was wandering around, snapping photos, two guys pulled up in a truck and began unloading painting supplies. They are two of the artists who have been working on the building for some time. I'll have to go back in the summer and see  how the building has evolved.

 Warehouse


The warehouse itself is a really interesting building. The wood is weathered and aged and lots of the windows are broken. I could see the faded evidence of signage near the roof line from days gone by. I shot a ton of photos and it's likely you'll see more of them here, as time goes on.

My apparent gift for finding couches in bizarre settings is becoming a bit of a joke and I couldn't resist documenting them too. Perhaps this is going to become a new series?!?  This is #2 in a series I like to call Urban Couches.*laughs*

Only In Vancouver

This is #1, which was shot at the dog beach a couple weeks ago. The dogs (predictably) had had a go at it and I imagine the city has carted it off by now.

I've also been revisiting some photos I shot for previous classes, but never worked with. Sometimes there is wisdom in waiting to work on something until you know what you want to do with it, as is the case with this image. I shot this graffiti (the words) on the edge of Chinatown last summer and now I've layered with various textures.

An "art" installation on the grounds of the Vancouver Museum, also from last summer. No cloning here-this is what it actually looks like! 

November


This shot is a favourite from my visit to the salmon graveyard in the fall.
As always, click on the images if you want to view them larger.

EDIT:

Before & After

I am adding this before and after image so you can see the dramatic difference between the photograph I shot and the results post-processing can yield. THIS is my sweet spot of creativity and why I love Swan Dive so much!


Before I sign off, just a reminder that sign ups are in full swing for the Washi Tape exchange I'm hosting. Just 5 more days to join the fun!
Details are here.