I’m in pre-Christmas chill out mode, and so was catching up on blog reading when I came across this video. These large-scale pop-up sculptures are really incredible.
Perhaps I need to revisit paper engineering in the new year.
Category: Good things
The Proof
In all the busy-ness that I had going on last week I forgot to share news about being featured in Vancouver Is Awesome’s series The Proof.
It’s a great series of interviews where each person shares projects they’re working on, and a glimpse into their lives. I had fun putting mine together – especially when it came to choosing the photos to include with the interview.
You can read the whole thing on Vancouver Is Awesome.
Dear Deer
I’m feeling completely exhausted after the very full weekend of hosting people in my home for the Eastside Culture Crawl. I need to recharge my batteries after talking with so many people, and then I will write something to reflect upon this year’s experience.
In the meantime, enjoy these photos of a doe and her fawn, taken on Bowen Island a few weekends ago.
Featured Interview on Discover Paper
Discover Paper is a wonderful blog I first came across on Twitter, that is dedicated to finding and sharing paper inspiration. I was recently contacted by Donnaville Herrick, who runs the blog, and asked to do an interview by email.
The interview was just published today and I couldn’t be more pleased with the results. I’m happy with what I’ve written, and Donnaville wrote many lovely comments about my work.
Books to Inspire
As a change of pace I thought I’d share a few of the new additions to my personal library, none of which will end up as altered books.
Paper-Craft 2: Design and Art With Paper
Paper-Craft 2 is a fantastic book full of an amazing variety of projects, designs, illustrations, art installations, fashion and more – all made from paper. It’s inspiring but also a bit intimidating to browse through this book because of the high calibre of the work included. But the collection makes it clear there is no limit to what a creative person can do with paper.
Masters Book Arts
Masters Book Arts is part of Lark Crafts excellent masters series of books. I also have the collage edition in my library. It mainly focuses on handmade books and showcases the wide variety of forms a book can take, and they often don’t look like the traditional form of a book.
The Repurposed Library
The Repurposed Library is written by book artist, Lisa Occhipinti, and it focuses on transforming books into home decor items. There are projects for lamps, chandeliers, vases, bracelets, wreaths, and more – all made from old books. My favorite project is the book bursts, which are deconstructed books transformed into circular wall sculptures.
All of these books were purchased at Oscar’s Art Books in Vancouver. (Support your local independent book store!)
Scenes From a Visit to Yellow Point Lodge
Boris and I took a few days of vacation to enjoy a four day stay at Yellow Point Lodge. It’s a small rustic resort on Vancouver Island, just outside of Ladysmith. It is a beautiful scenic area of BC.
Boris enjoys the view.
A different type of deer than what we see on Bowen Island.
Tall trees along the forest trail.
Anne left us a stash of chocolates when she visited Yellow Point the week before, and we had to find it.
Spectacular sunrise.
Spectacular sunrise turns into a beautiful day.
The pool by the ocean.
Honeycomb formations in sandstone.
A murder of crows flies overhead.
These last three photos were taken using a pinhole camera app, while some of the others were processed using Instagram. These photos make me nostalgic of the ocean, they make me want to get on the best paddle board for beginners and get back on the “horse”.
It was a relaxing vacation, and I’m glad I finally got the chance to visit Yellow Point Lodge. It’s not an easy place to get a booking.
Ten Good Things
I haven’t written one of these lists in ages, which is a shame because there are many things that have happened this year I consider good. Here’s a list of the ten most recent good things in my life:
1. Taking a very short but much needed getaway to Yellow Point Lodge with Boris. I still need to upload the photos to Flickr, but it was a beautiful place to stay.
2. Walking around the city on Sunday, enjoying adventures and sunshine.
3. Enjoying a decadent Thanksgiving meal with friends. I am lucky because everyone I know is an excellent chef.
4. Making paper flower decorations in preparation for Monique’s wedding.
5. Walking along a very quiet Commercial Drive at night in the rain.
6. New art books to inspire me – thanks to a gift certificate from my sister.
7. Keeping up with healthy habits, like 6am yoga and tracking calories with an app.
8. Slowly moving closer to having our apartment organized and decorated.
9. Finding a good balance between a part-time job, and having time for art.
10. Lucking out and finding a beautiful dress in a store I’ve never shopped in before, to wear to an upcoming wedding.
Crows in Silhouette
I’m often pleasantly surprised at the images I can capture with the iPhone camera. It’s not exactly speedy but somehow this week I managed to time my picture taking well enough to catch crows in flight.
The above two shots of a juvenile crow were taken one after the other, and they are beautifully crisp images. I snuck up on this little guy because I know crows get antsy about having their photo taken. I was pretending not to notice it as I got the camera app opened up (which sometimes happens so slowly) and then I turned and took a few photos before it flew away. I am pleased I caught it as it jumped from the wire and opened it’s wings.
The photo below was taken yesterday morning on my way to work, again in the same area of Main Street in Chinatown. A large group of crows was flying back and forth over Pender Street between two trees, and I stopped to take a few photos.
I’m so glad to have a camera with me at all times, thanks to the iPhone.
All three photos were taken with the native iPhone camera app and processed using Instagram.
Scenes From Summer on Pender Island
And it looks like summer is just going to keep on going…
Foodists, Butchers of Gastown III
This is from a few weeks back when I dropped in on the most recent Butchers of Gastown event. They were preparing a bazillion different types of seafood and they were in need of eaters.
I’m a really good eater, and I brought a few friends. It was a really enjoyable evening of fun and food.
Read more about the Butchers of Gastown on Foodists.ca