Baroque Stairway at the AGO

March 12, 2014

I was really excited to pay a visit to the AGO last week as I haven’t been there in years, and long before the Gehry renovation. The building is so spectacular that it overshadowed the art a bit. The first thing Boris and I went to see was the Baroque Stair leading to the new wing, and we spent a long time looking at it from top to bottom.

These photos were taken with my iPhone so the quality isn’t great, but look at this amazing spiral staircase. It is beautiful from every angle.

Listen to this sound bite on the AGO web site about the Baroque Stair.

Anser, Crowded Kingdom Show at Hashtag Gallery in Toronto

March 2, 2014

Boris and I arrived in Toronto yesterday afternoon and I already feel like I’ve taken in plenty of interesting art. There is so much more street art here than in Vancouver, and it thrills me to see it wherever we go.

Last night I read about Crowded Kingdom, a show of work by a street artist who goes by the name of Anser. We dropped by to see the show at Hashtag Gallery this afternoon as we were out wandering the cold streets. I really loved the show, and wish one of the small pieces in my price range was still available to buy. Almost all of them were sold out.

Some of the faces are drawn with one continuous line, like the one pictured below. The line work is beautiful and intricate. I could probably stare it at for hours.

On another note, I’m curious to see how many other small storefront galleries like Hashtag are thriving and selling work on the streets of Toronto.

Artists to Follow on Instagram

February 13, 2014

Instagram is my daily source of both motivation and inspiration. I try to share at least one photo there every day as part of my creative routine, and I really enjoy seeing what other artists, all over the world, are working on too.

This is a short list of some of my favourite artists that I follow on Instagram. Click the links to view their work and follow them on Instagram.

swoonhq: The official account of street artist Swoon. She shares installations and street art, and it is amazing.

travislouis: Travis Louie is an illustrator who creates fantastical portraits of monsters and mythical creatures.

artistcrystalwagner: Crystal Wagner shares paper-based installations, drawings, and sculptural artwork.

qta3: Surreal collage by a Japanese art director who doesn’t use his real name.

osatosh: Beautiful and delicate illustrations by Satoshi OTA.

How about you? Do you have favourite artists you follow on Instagram?

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City with Valerie and Arnt Arntzen

February 6, 2014

I’m excited to welcome Valerie and Arnt Arntzen as the featured speakers for Hot Talks at Hot Art Wet City in February. They are a creative married couple of working artists, and have been part of the Vancouver art scene in significant ways for the last twenty years.

Valerie and Arnt Arntzen are a couple who have been together for 35 years and have worked in the creative field since the early 80s. They are both mad collectors of found objects: from helicopter wings to bedsprings. Collaborating is an essential part of their relationship as husband and wife as well as artists.

Read the full description of their talk.

Join us for the latest Hot Talk on February 27th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.

Hot Talks: Valerie & Arnt Arntzen
Hot Art Wet City
Date: February 27th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street, Vancouver

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City with Johnathon Vaughn Strebly

January 3, 2014

Our first Hot Talks speaker of 2014 at Hot Art Wet City is Johnathon Vaughn Strebly. He is a designer, photographer, and community builder involved as a volunteer in Creative Mornings and is the current president of the GDCBC. Johnathon will be speaking finding inspiration with Lego.

Creative Blocks & Coloured Bricks

LEGO as a muse? Seriously? How could a designer, or any creative professional, possibly find inspiration from a simple plastic toy brick? But did you know this is one of the best boys Lego ideas for anyone planning to streamline their child’s career straight into engineer or architect? Creative Blocks & Coloured Bricks will feature a blatant disregard to traditional creative process tactics and focus on playful techniques for smoothing out the speed bumps of creative blocks.

Read the full description of Johnathon’s talk here.

Join us for the latest Hot Talk on January 23rd at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.

Hot Talks: Johnathon Vaughn Strebly
Hot Art Wet City
Date: January 23rd, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street, Vancouver

2013: A Year End Review in Twelve Photos

December 30, 2013

As in previous years, I thought I’d put together a blog post of twelve photos pulled from my archive on Flickr, one for each month of the year. I was pleasantly surprised to discover I had a variety of photos to choose from even though I haven’t been uploading much to flickr.

The selection is a good mix of paper art and nature photos.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

All the best in 2014. May it be a creative year for all.

Christmas Scenes From Bowen Island

December 30, 2013

I fell off the blogging bandwagon a few weeks back when I came down with the flu. It wiped me out for two weeks and I still wasn’t feeling myself over Christmas. I’ve been pretty consistent about blogging regularly for the past few years, so it bothers me a bit I won’t be meeting my monthly goal of eight posts. Ah well, it can’t be helped.

Boris and I spent last week on Bowen Island for Christmas with his family. I went out walking every day and took many photos of the peaceful scenes.

I hope your Christmas was very merry.

Inspiration: Sculpture by Deborah Butterfield

November 26, 2013

I was in Seattle with friends this past weekend, and was glad to spend a bit of time on Saturday at some of my favourite galleries. I really wanted to see Guy Laramee’s new work at Foster White Gallery, as well as Marco Mazzoni at Roq La Rue.

The most exciting work I came across, completely by accident, was Deborah Butterfield’s beautiful sculptures of abstract horses at Greg Kucera gallery. I’ve seen these on the internet many times because they get mentioned quite a bit on various art blogs, but they are incredible in person.

They are larger than life-size but have the quiet presence of standing next to a living horse. I never realized her work are bronze casts of the sculptures she first creates in wood.

Take a look at the video below where Deborah Butterfield shares a bit about her process. I wish I had a piece of land where I could install one of her horses. They are inspiring.

Inspiring Work By David Robinson

November 21, 2013

Last Thursday I had the pleasure of going out and touring some of the artists studios open for the Culture Crawl, because I was closed for the Preview night while others were open. I haven’t been able to do this in years because I need to be present at my own studio. There was a small group of artist friends who have been doing the Crawl for years touring around for the evening. We all felt excited to see other people’s studios, and the feeling was a bit like having Halloween and Christmas all rolled into one.

The most striking work I saw that evening was by sculptor, David Robinson. The massive figurative piece below was the first thing I saw as I walked into his fourth floor space in Parker Street Studios. I had to stop and stare at it for long minutes.

I am really inspired by his work, and was interested to see some of his recent pieces are molded from cardboard or paper. I aspire to one day create on as large a scale as he does.

Visit David Robinson’s website to view more work.

Hot Talks @Hot Art Wet City with Eagranie Yuh

November 19, 2013

The featured speaker for our November Hot Talk at Hot Art Wet City is Eagranie Yuh. She is a writer, editor, and master of all things chocolate with a new book coming out next year from Chronicle Books. Eagranie will be speaking about simple and effective ways to improve your writing.

How To Write Gooder

You may be the most talented creative in the world, but if you can’t communicate what you do, why it matters and why you’re awesome, you’re hooped.

In this talk, you’ll learn simple ways to whip your writing into shape and tell compelling stories – without selling your soul.

Read the full description of Eagranie’s talk here.

Join us for the latest Hot Talk on Tuesday November 26th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available through Eventbrite.

Hot Talks: Eagranie Yuh
Hot Art Wet City
Date: November 26th, 2013
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street, Vancouver

Canvas to the Imagination

Rachael Ashe – Art | Craft | Life

Category: Inspiration