Happy new year! For our first event of 2023 we will be gathering at nə́c̓aʔmat ct Library Branch in the Nellie Yip Quong meeting room, located in Strathcona. Tickets are available through eventbrite.

Art & Craft Social is a FREE community event bringing together a diverse group of artists, makers, designers, and craftspeople of all levels of experience to share and create in a social setting.

Bring a small creative project with you – drawing, painting, stitching, crocheting, collage, etc, – to work on at Art & Craft Social. The Social provides an opportunity to meet new people, get inspired, and learn something new through exposure to the creative work of each person’s project.

• All are welcome. This is an inclusive space for women, women identifying, and LGBTQ2+ people to feel safe and welcome.
• Face masks are encouraged, but optional. We will do our best to keep our space COVID-safe.
• Sign up for our mailing list to be the first to hear about upcoming events: http://eepurl.com/gu6s-P

This event is organized by Barb Wong and Rachael Ashe.

Rachael Ashe is a multidisciplinary artist, photographer, and maker, with a background in administration and community event planning. She was a volunteer with Creative Mornings Vancouver for three years, and organized numerous community events at Hot Art Wet City gallery including the Hot Talks speaker series, and Art & Craft Social.

Barb Wong is a community dietitian by trade and an avid maker at heart. She is interested in all things food-related and dabbles in fibre arts such as knitting, weaving and sewing. She believes strongly in community development through capacity building and skills sharing.

I didn’t keep up with my blog very much last year, and yet I find myself wanting to keep on with my annual year end review blog post. It’s a good way to look back and reflect on my art practice.

2022 was a difficult year for me but also had many good things. I started the year making a pattern mixing paper cut for myself to hang at home, and I ended the year with an unexpected commission. A highlight of the year was creating work for 36 Days of Type, and a new series of delightfully colourful pattern mixing collage.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

My pattern and colour game is STRONG!

I am an experienced and multi-talented operations lead who brings people and processes together to build and grow great working environments. In my last operations lead role, I grew with the organization to have responsibilities across finance, operations, facility management, and people & culture. I’m looking for an organization where I can be effective in supporting the team around me, and feel aligned with long term goals. 

I’m also a multidisciplinary artist creating hand-cut art and installations from paper, with a background in photography. Visit my portfolio website to view my work. It’s important for me to mention this because it’s a big part of my identity.

What exactly am I looking for in a job? Let me lay it out for you:

• Part-time hours between 24 – 30 per week, with a consistent schedule and some flexibility
• Working closely with a small team of people that includes women, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ members
• Remote or in-person, I am open to both. I am an effective user of digital tools for remote work. I am based in Vancouver, Canada (PST timezone) and enjoy building out facilities so they work for everyone.
• Variety is the key to work happiness for me. I love having a diverse task list I can tackle daily, and I am good at context switching to focus on the highest priorities. My hours are “getting things done” hours, balanced with improving process and communication so things run more smoothly and faster over time.
• Earning a living to cover both basic expenses and support my art practice. I am open to both contract freelance work, as well as permanent employment status.
• An organization with a flattened team structure (not a hierarchy) but with clear leadership and reporting
• Autonomy over my work, decision making, and responsibilities.
• Long-term position with room for growth. Yes, even as a part-time worker, I’ve grown my responsibilities, skills, and impact everywhere I’ve worked. I like learning and making things better for myself, my team mates, and the organization I’m part of.

What I have to offer:

• I am a tech savvy, tech adjacent person with plenty of experience working with people more technical than I am — while bringing my own knowledge of effective company operations across book-keeping, basic HR & benefits, culture building, facilities management, and more
• I enjoy the challenge of refining and improving existing systems, or implementing new ones
• Skilled user of social media tools such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Self motivated and able to work independently to achieve deadlines
• A team player interested in maintaining an enjoyable & supportive work environment
• Broad knowledge of web-based software -> Xero, Expensify, Harvest, Humi, Slack, Discord, Squarespace, WordPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Google Docs, Dropbox, etc. I’m also not afraid of digging in and learning new, specialized software, or to research and bring in new tools as needed.
• Currently exploring web3 and have minted a series of NFTs

Specific Work Experience:

• Successfully streamlining and updating accounting systems by implementing Xero
• Internal operations and finance work, including bookkeeping, Accounts Payable/Accounts Receivable, monthly invoicing, banking, and expenses.
• Internal HR coordination, handling benefits, payroll, and other staff support services.
• Office culture and employee happiness, tackling everything from snacks, plant care, and office design
• Event planning company anniversary and holiday celebrations, as well as internal events such as “Build It Days” and a monthly “Lunch & Learn”
• Booking space and coordinating speakers for community tech events VanJS and Vancouver XCoder
• Booking space, event planning, and coordinating speakers for Hot Talks at the former Hot Art Wet City gallery
• Facilities Management: Ordering supplies and equipment, working with external contractors, overseeing repairs and office organization
• Creating documentation to collect and track a broad range of information on internal processes and tools for the operations/administration of the company

Please view my profile on LinkedIn for the full description of my employment experience. Contact me by email at rkashe (at) gmail (dot) com

I would appreciate you spreading the word about this post. You can easily re-share and tag my Twitter @RachaelAshe or LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/rachaelashe

I wrapped up 36 Days of Type on Instagram as of April 11th, and was happy to share a post gathering all of the pieces in the series together the next day. They look so good together.

The numbers 5 through 9 are the final five of the series. This has been such a terrific project for me to work on. It’s been invigorating to my art practice in a way that I badly needed, and for that I am grateful.

The letters portion of the series wrapped up at the end of March, and then I began rolling on (on IG) the numbers part of the series. I decided I wanted a new element to use for the numbers, and hand cut a motif of leafy clusters in three colours. I had to create tiny foam core spacers at the back, which was challenging.

These are the last seven letters of the series, but there is still more to come. 36 Days of Type is letters and numbers, so stay tuned for more!

In this next batch of 36 Days of Type letters I have multiple favourites. I guess the series had just gotten better and better as I work on it.

My absolute favourite of the entire series is the letter Q, but I also love the N, P, and R.