The Hot Talks series continues in June at Hot Art Wet City with our latest speaker, Bruce Alcock. In his professional life Bruce is the Creative Director of Global Mechanic, as well as an award winning film maker and animator with a passion for music and fine art.

I’m intrigued by the description of Bruce’s talk (below), and think it builds very nicely upon the themes explored by our first speaker in the series, Kim Werker. (Listen to her talk online if you missed it previously).

Your Self Out There:
Walking the spectrum from bullshit to truth in the creative life
From waiting tables to making art to advertising Coca-cola, Bruce Alcock looks over the last 25 years to examine who he is when he’s at home, or at a meeting table, or managing staff, or standing up and talking to a group of people in a gallery. Is client interaction performance, or are you simply who you are? In this age of digital self-representation, does your private identity change to sync with your public identity? The Onion’s headline “I am a Brand, Pathetic Man Says” points to empty self-representation, but any time you put yourself out there, you’re creating a persona that reflects your assumptions about the people you’re talking to, or working for, or just passing time with. From small talk (excruciating) to work talk (boring?) to letting out your inner beast, or weenie, or feather boa, what’s real and what’s not, what works, and what can you live with?

Bruce’s talk happens on June 25th at 7pm. Get your tickets online through Eventbrite. I hope you’ll join us.

Hot Talks: Bruce Alcock
Hot Art Wet City
Date: June 25th, 2013
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street, Vancouver

Last week I attended an artist talk by Barbara Cole at Bau-xi Gallery, and it has left me with a whole jumble of different thoughts. I’m hoping I can sort out at least a few points here.

Barbara Cole is a fine art photographer I have admired since my days in Toronto. She creates dream-like imagery of the female form, and over the last ten or so years has been focused on underwater photography.

More videos can be found here.

In her artist talk she took the audience all the way back to the beginnings of her career, and how through luck and circumstances she ended up as fashion editor for the Toronto Sun. Cole told this hilarious story of her very first assignment with the Sun, which was to cover Fashion Week in Paris. An unfortunate miscommunication left her without proper access to any of the shows, so at twenty years old she had to come up with a solution and boldly make her way, or risk not meeting deadlines and failing.

What I loved most about Barbara Cole’s talk was her willingness to admit most of the time she didn’t know what she was doing. Few people will admit to this publicly because it puts them in a vulnerable place, but really most of us don’t know what we’re doing more than half of the time. I wish more people would make this statement so we can all be okay with it. It’s not a bad thing to not know what you’re doing because this is an opportunity for learning. Cole’s solution to her lack of knowledge was exactly this: she simply taught herself what she needed to know.

Much of what was said by Barbara Cole was a good reminder of the value of learning by doing. She has done it for her entire career and it has served her well. As a self-taught artist I sometimes feel insecure about my abilities, as if they are less valid than someone who has an MFA or BFA in fine art. But then I realize even the most educated of artists needs to buckle down and go beyond what they’ve learned in school in order to fully evolve as an artist. I skipped art school (which would not have been a good fit for me) and went straight to the in-studio professional development phase of my artistic career. My work has matured by leaps and bounds over the last few years because of this dedication.

I admired Cole’s work before the talk, but now I think highly of her as a woman. She’s in her fifties, but comes across as a much younger person. She’s had a long and distinguished career, continues to create inspiring work, and explores new aspects of her fascination with underwater photography. Barbara Cole comes across as someone content with her life, relaxed with who she is.

It was refreshing to be in the presence of a confident woman. And perhaps it is this most of all I walked away with from the talk. The idea of not just the artistic career I aspire to, but the type of woman I want to be as I get older.

On Monday I went on an artist road trip with friends, Val Arntzen and M.A. Tateishi, to do a studio visit with Siobhan Humston in Harrison Hot Springs. Siobhan has been doing a residency at the Ranger Station Gallery since September 2012, and is in the last few months of preparing for her upcoming show at the gallery.

All the photos were taken as Siobhan was touring us around her studio space upstairs from the Ranger Station Gallery. She’s been working on a series of large mixed media paintings on paper and a few smaller paintings on wood panel, all of which are stunning. The subject matter is inspired by some of her recent struggles, and mixes imagery of the natural world and man-made items.

It was a wonderful visit, full of food, good conversation, and beautiful weather. I think all four of us came away feeling very inspired and wanting to get down to work in our own studios.

Siobhan’s show opens at the beginning of June. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

Last week I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception for Ruminations of Order at Cityscape Gallery in North Vancouver. This is a group show featuring the work of four artists exploring pattern and repetition, among other things. It’s a really fantastic show, but the work that stood out most strongly for me were two installations made from paper by Rosemary Burden.

Working with volumes of antique books she has meticulously created a staggering amount of paper butterflies using a paper punch. The overall impact of this mass of paper gives the viewer a sense of wonder. It’s really something to see.

Both installations include the original book cover, which is a really nice touch. I would love to create a paper installation on a similar scale someday.

There is an artist talk happening this Saturday March 23rd, and the show continues on until April 13th. Read more about Ruminations of Order on the gallery website.