A third look inside my 30 Days of Drawing Project sketchbook. This video includes day 22nd to the 31st. I should rename the project to 30 Days of Drawing +1 because there are 31 days in May. You can view the previous videos here and here.
I’ve decided to continue with this until the entire sketchbook is filled. I’ve enjoyed setting aside time each day for drawing, and I like the idea of seeing it through to the very last page of the book.
Here is a second look inside my Paper-oh sketchbook and the 30 day drawing project I started on May 1st. This video includes work from May 9th through to May 21st.
There were a few days where I struggled to come up with an idea to draw, and others that felt so easy. I’m happy to have made all the way to day 24, and still feel new ideas flowing.
View the drawings here from the first eight days.
I think I do one of these spring blossom blog posts every year because I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!!! It’s much later in the season than usual for all of these blossoms to appear and they’re still coming. I guess that is the upside to all of the rain – we get to enjoy these a wee bit longer.
The blue sky made an appearance last Friday along with the pink poof type of cherry blossoms. They are a favourite of mine.
I love spring in Vancouver.
My work will be part of the Timeraiser150 Vancouver happening on Thursday April 27th. I love this event because the work is first purchased from the participating artists and is then auctioned off to potential volunteers in exchange for their time. This year’s series of events are being held across the country in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Confederation.
Timeraiser is a party for social good, supporting artists and nonprofits. Here’s your chance to kickstart your art collection by giving back to your community. Bid volunteer time, not dollars, for original art by emerging Canadian artists. Bidding starts at 20 hours and maxes out at 150 hours. If a piece you love reaches 150 hours, anyone can match that bid and we’ll draw a winner at random from the max bids once the auction ends.
If you win, you have one year to finish volunteer hours and claim your piece of art. The best part? Volunteer with any nonprofit(s) you choose!
Get your tickets here through eventbrite »
Timeraiser150 Vancouver
Date: Thursday April 27th, 2017
Time: 8pm to 12pm
Locaton: The Permanent, 330 West Pender Street
Tickets: $21.50
Boris and I took my mom to Allen Gardens Conservatory for a brief visit on her birthday. It was a grey rainy day, so it was the perfect spot to wander indoors and look at colourful things. It’s been a million years since I last visited the garden, and I find it much more interesting as an adult than I probably did as a child.
It’s one of Toronto’s oldest parks with tropical plants from all over the globe inside five greenhouses covering 16,000 square feet. It was much larger than I remembered.
My favourite of all the greenhouses was the Cactus House full of an amazing variety of unusual cactus and succulents.
Now that we are back home again, I am enjoying looking at these colourful photos as the days continue to be grey and rainy in Vancouver.
Read more about Allen Gardens on the wikipedia page.
One of the things I’d arranged in advance of my trip to Toronto was to do a studio visit with textile artist, Amanda McCavour. She was about to leave town to do an installation in Alberta, but we managed to fit it in. It was an absolute pleasure to finally meet in person, and I felt we had much in common. I took a few photos after we chatted for an hour and a half about our work, life in Toronto versus Vancouver, and so many other things.
Her studio is located above an art supply store in The Junction, and despite the rainy day the room was filled with beautiful light. She had pulled out a selection of her installations in their storage containers for me to see, and of course this reminded me of my own approach to modular work made from small pieces. The poppies below are from an installation that has not yet been shown. I was thrilled to get to take one of these home with me.
I loved her wall of sketches, as well as the glorious wall of colourful threads. It’s always a treat to visit another artist’s workspace.
Amanda McCavour will be showing in Vancouver as part of Means of Production, a group show of textile artists opening in June at Cityscape Gallery.
It’s been the rainiest and coldest spring I can remember in my thirteen years living in Vancouver, and only now at the end of March are the usual signs of spring making an appearance. I saw my first cherry blossoms of the season on an elderly tree at Kits beach, that is consistently one of the earliest bloomers. I was overjoyed to see these delicate flowers – and the blue sky!
The magnolias started making an appearance on trees in my neighbourhood last week, and I couldn’t be happier to see them. More blue skies, warm weather, and flowering tree please!
As most artists I know seem to do these days, I listen to podcasts when I’m working in the studio. I add new ones to the list all the time, and remove older ones I am no longer interested in. At a recent get together with artist friends we made a point of having each person recommend two podcasts to the group, and I thought I’d share this compiled list with the world at large.
I’ve divided the list into ones that are new to me (and have not yet given a try), and shows there were already on my list:
New to me:
Revisionist History – http://revisionisthistory.com/
On Being – https://onbeing.org/
Savvy Painter – https://savvypainter.com/podcast/
Good Life Project – http://www.goodlifeproject.com/radio/
Modern Love – http://www.npr.org/podcasts/469516571/modern-love
Here’s the Thing – http://www.wnyc.org/shows/heresthething
S-Town – https://stownpodcast.org/
Seamwork – https://www.seamwork.com/radio
Ones I listen to already:
Reply All – https://gimletmedia.com/reply-all/
Snap Judgement – http://snapjudgment.org/podcast
Death Sex and Money – http://www.wnyc.org/shows/deathsexmoney
Strangers – https://www.radiotopia.fm/podcasts/strangers
This American Life – https://www.thisamericanlife.org/podcast
The Moth – https://www.themoth.org/
Missing Richard Simmons – https://www.missingrichardsimmons.com/
Happy listening!
I put the finishing touches on the sashiko stitched denim skirt last week with the addition of a few more circles and half circles. I kept most of the design to the front of the skirt with a few small details on the back and sides.
I love all of those straight stitched lines against the dark denim. I have not yet worn this because it still feels too cold for a short skirt even with tights.
This is the fourth sashiko / embroidery project I’ve completed over the past year. I’m sure I’ll find something else in my wardrobe in need of embellishment. I love working on these textile-based side projects. It’s also a thrill to get to wear my own work.
Boris and I were over on South Granville earlier this week in a rare moment between rain showers when the sun was out. I needed that break in the rain because the constant state of grey has been bringing me down (please do not read that as depressed). It was the perfect time to visit the kaleidoscopic mural on the side of Ian Tan Gallery painted by Milan Basic (photos here of the entire mural) and do a quick photo shoot.
The mural, the appearance of sunshine, and taking these photos of Boris and I, totally made the day better.