Category: Business of Art

Minting Work as NFTs: Phosphate Font in Paper

I’m thrilled to announce I have a new body of work available as NFTs. Please visit my project page on Foundation to view and purchase a piece.

NFTs are a thing. No really, they are. My original position on NFTs up until the end of last year was, “Why would anyone want to do that?” I’ve had a few months to come around to the idea of creating and selling my artwork as NFTs, and I am super excited by the possibilities.

My partner, Boris Mann, is a technologist and entrepreneur, and he is always on the leading edge of where things are heading in the long-term trends and growth of the internet. He’s experimented lots with crypto, and has been a collector of NFTs for some time. Despite my initial reluctance, I now find myself fully invested in learning more and growing my art practice in the web3 and NFT space because of his advice and guidance.

Last week I took the leap into minting my first collection on Foundation, called Phosphate Font in Paper. The pieces are the 26 letters of the latin alphabet, utilizing the phosphate typeface, and created from multiple layers of cut paper.

Here’s what I wrote in my portfolio description for the original work, which are the letter portion of the series I created for 36 Days of Type in March and April 2022.

I worked with the Phosphate Solid font to create my letter and number forms. I chose a palette of four main colours for the letter layers, and a larger range of colours for the pattern layers. The elements are a mix of hand-cut, and machine cut patterns made with Canson Mi-Tientes papers. Each letter was composed and assembled from four layers of paper with foam core spacers in between each, photographed, and then disassembled for further use in the series.

While each letter was assembled from real physical paper elements as I described, these are ephemeral pieces: the “originals” only existed until they were photographed. The digital artifact represents the final version of the work.  They seemed like the perfect body of work to turn into an NFT art series.

What am I hoping to accomplish with this exploration of NFT art? Make money (of course), expand my audience, and connect with new collectors outside of the very limited space of selling physical pieces of art in the small market of Vancouver. There is a lot of ridiculously overhyped and overpriced art in the NFT space, and I don’t want that for myself. I’m just hoping to create a new income stream that is sustainable, and engage with collectors who have a long-term interest in supporting my work. 

I also want to start collecting NFTs myself. Because I am so new to the space, I haven’t yet started to do that. I’ve been buying art a few times a year for many years, and these pieces fill the home I share with Boris. What will it mean to collect NFTs?  I want to continue to support other artists with my dollars, as well as help mentor more artists entering the web3 and NFT space. 

If you’re NFT savvy already, you can follow me on Foundation @rachaelashe. I’ll be sharing more about my explorations and learnings in the space. If you’re a curious artist, you can check out some of the resources from a recent NFT artist workshop that I helped organize in Vancouver.

 

Letting Go of Older Work

The studio sale I hosted in person last weekend went amazingly well – so much better than I had dared to hope. I sold thirteen pieces, and two additional works before and after the day of the sale. Woot! Everyone got themselves an excellent deal on art, and I happily made money on work I was ready to let go of.

I had been thinking about doing this type of sale for years, but it would never have happened if my friend Val hadn’t offered to host me at her studio. Thank goodness for friends who lend a helping hand when it’s needed!

Mixed media collage

Going into the event I had this fear no one would show up, or that nobody would buy anything. Vancouver is not an art buying town and my work never seems to be inexpensive enough no matter how low the price may be. I had a small struggle over the whole idea of doing this sale because I wondered whether it devalued the work. But the goal was to clear out ends of series, things I no longer wanted to show, and the types of work I no longer plan to make. My studio is small and I badly needed room for new work. I was ready to let it all go.

Doing the sale in person was WAY more fun than the few I’ve done online in Etsy shop every so often. It was much more successful as well. Val and I talked about possibly doing it as a yearly event, depending on how much inventory we each have. I’m hoping this year to sell work regularly and at full price.

There are a few leftover pieces listed on Etsy in the sale section.

The Great Thank You Giveaway

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As a thank you to those who support my art and follow my progress on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Flickr, I’ve decided to do a giveaway contest. I’ve put together a collection of some of the small items I sell on Etsy, and all you have to do to win it is leave a comment on this blog post.

contest-swag

The prize package includes:

A 5″ x 7″ portfolio of recent paper cut work.
Snapfish book
Snapfish book-2

Two postcard sets; one of the Imaginary Girl series, and one of the Collage postcards.
Postcards!!!!!!
Imaginary Girl postcards

One 6″ x 6″ bird collage made from recycled paper.
Mixed media collage

If you’d like to win, please leave a comment and include your email address. That’s all you have to do.

The contest closes on Monday August 25th at 10am. I will do a random draw to choose the winner from amongst the comments. Good luck!

Paper Cut Typography iPhone Cases on Society6

I’ve begun setting up a little shop on Society6 to sell prints and other products of some of my work. At the moment there are only six items available and all are cut paper designs.

If you love the cut paper typography series I now have three words available on Society6 as prints, and iPhone cases. I really love the cases and may have to get one myself. I’m hoping to make these available in a few other colours, so let me know if there is something you’d like.

make-iphone

art-iphone

create-iphone

Keep an eye on Society6 as I add more work to my shop.

A Yarn Tree in White

I wonder if over the years I will manage to create a small forest worth of trees made with yarn and pushpins. This latest commission brings the yarn tree mural count up to five, which is a long way from becoming a forest, but give me time (and walls).

This lovely white yarn tree now lives on the bedroom wall of clients (and good friends) living on the edge of Chinatown/Gastown. The wall is painted with blackboard paint originally intended as a background for a salon-style picture hanging idea that never came to fruition. Kay decided instead that it would be the perfect spot to commission a one-of-a-kind yarn tree.

White yarn tree

White yarn tree

The white yarn on black background was my client’s wonderful idea, and wow does it ever look striking. The idea was to keep the tree within the black square and have it off centre, leaving part of it to disappear out of frame as if looking through a window.

White yarn tree

White yarn tree

I used approximately five hundred pushpins, and one and a half balls of yarn to make this. The tree stretches to about eight feet by eight feet at its highest and widest points. For the knitters out there, I used a fine merino wool in cool white.

White yarn tree

White yarn tree

White yarn tree

At the moment the tree has been left bare while my clients decide whether or not it needs leaves, flowers, or something else to decorate it.

Thank you to Ross Howard Jones for the photos, and for being such a gracious host while I worked in their home.

Aftermath of Eastside Culture Crawl 2012

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It’s a few days after the end of Eastside Culture Crawl and I decided to take a few photos of the set up before I dismantle it. It is a crazy amount of work to transform our apartment into a gallery space, but it does end up looking spectacular.

This year I showed a mix of paper cut work, altered books, installations of paper crows and a yarn tree, and a bit of the old metal prints. People seemed to really enjoy their visit to our location, and I received many terrific comments and questions.

Eastside Culture Crawl set up - paper cut work

Eastside Culture Crawl set up - paper cut work

Eastside Culture Crawl set up - map reconstruction

I work hard to create a cozy and welcoming environment because sometimes people feel weird about coming into the home of a stranger. It helps that Boris plays the perfect host by offering chai with optional whisky, and there are cookies for munching.

Eastside Culture Crawl set up - map paper pendant

Eastside Culture Crawl set up - yarn tree, etc
Eastside Culture Crawl set up - yarn tree

I went all out this year by adding installation work in the mix. The paper crows are suspended from the ceiling in the hallway, and the yarn tree (a permanent feature in our apartment) got a facelift with new red maple leaves.

Eastside Culture Crawl set up - paper crows and art

I feel this year was more successful than the previous Crawl. We had a lower visitor count, but sales were higher. It probably helped that I now have Square and can accept credit card payments.

As always, I would not be able to do the Eastside Culture Crawl every year without the support of my partner, Boris. He puts up very well with his home being turned upside down, and he does as much talking as I do with visitors over the course of the weekend.

If you were unable to make it to my location this past weekend, please drop me an email and I’d be happy to set up a studio visit.

Juxtaposer Concept Art

Juxtaposer is a masking application available on the iPhone that allows you to combine multiple images into a creative photo montage. Pocketpixels, the makers of the app, recently commissioned me to create new work as examples to inspire users and showcase the app’s abilities.

I came up with three concepts, each made from combining two separate photos together, which resulted in some very playful images.

Four of the photos used are from my considerable photo archive. The flag dancer is a shot by Hendrik Kueck, and the Echinacea flowers are licensed from iStockphoto.

The concept art can be found on the Juxtaposer page in the app store. Go check it out »

New Work At Bird On A Wire Creations

If you love the paper cut collages I’ve been making recently, you can now find four of them at Bird on a Wire Creations on Main Street.

Paper Cut CollagePaper Cut Collage Design
Paper Cut Designs | 8″x 8″ on wood panel

Paper Cut Collage DesignPaper Cut Collage
Paper Cut Designs | 6″x 6″ on wood panel

Go check them out. The work is even more dazzling in person.

Bird on a Wire Creations
2535 Main Street @ East Broadway

Studio Sale – Clearing Out Older Inventory

I’ve had a very prolific couple of years creating artwork almost constantly. So much so that I’ve begun maxing out the storage capacity of my apartment. I think it’s time to make way for creating new work in 2012.

To clear out some of this older work I’ve decided to continue with the inventory clearance sale I held during First Saturday a few weeks ago. Come find a great deal on one of my metal prints, or maybe an altered book is more your style.

Here are a few of the items I am selling:

Altered Books

altered-book-cherry-blossoms
In The Shade of The Cherry Blossoms – $300 (regularly $450)

button-book

The Buttons Fasten & The Threads Tie – $300 (regularly $450)

Circle Away and Return
Circle Away & Return – $300 (regularly $550)

Metal Prints

Magnolias - Image transfer on aluminum
Magnolias 24″ x 12″ Metal Print – $150 (regularly $300)

Red above - Image transfer on aluminum
Red Leaves Above 24″ x 24″ Metal Print – $300 (regularly $500)

Please note: the altered books included in the sale are ones I consider one-off experiments. Most of the altered books are regular price, but are also available for viewing.

The work can be viewed at my East Vancouver studio by appointment. Contact me by Email: rkashe (at) gmail (dot) com or by Phone: 604.787.9237 if there is something you’d like to see.