This spring hasn’t felt as inspiring and magical as it usually does for me, but it may be because I haven’t been able to get outside and enjoy it as much. I’ve been down with a cold for the past week and a half, and it’s really affected my energy.
Most of these photos were taken a few weeks ago, and we’re now on to a new crop of flowering trees. I don’t want to miss them.
Boris and I decided to do a little road trip on Saturday in order to spend time outside and enjoy the unusually warm weather for this time of year. He suggested a visit to Pitt Lake, which is a spot we last visited about seven or eight years ago!
As you can see, this area is a gorgeous place for a walk with open space and great views of water and mountains. We only did part of the loop and still managed to walk about 12 kilometres, which we were woefully unprepared for. (But that’s another story…)
I’m appreciating the photos of these blue skies, and a reminder of the warm weather now that it’s begun to feel more like winter. I am glad we got out and made the most of it on the weekend.
Means of Production opened at Cityscape Community Art Space in North Vancouver last week. It is a show featuring the work of five textile artists working in weaving, rug hooking, and stitching while exploring the value, meaning, and metaphorical possibilities of of making work by hand in a digital age of increasingly rapid advancement.
The show features beautiful and meaningful pieces by Amanda Wood, Michelle Sirois Silver, Stephanie Symns, Lucky Poskitt, and Amanda McCavour.
Installation by Amanda Wood
Installation detail by Amanda Wood
By Amanda Wood
Rug hooking detail by Michelle Sirois Silver
Rug hooking detail by Michelle Sirois Silver
Weaving by Lucy Poskitt
Detail of Weaving by Lucy Poskitt
Weavings by Lucy Poskitt
Weaving by Stephanie Symns
Weaving by Stephanie Symns
Weaving by Stephanie Symns
Installation by Amanda McCavour
Installation detail by Amanda McCavour
Installation detail by Amanda McCavour
Means of Production continues until July 15, 2017. Visit Cityscape Community Art Space website for details.
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.
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!
There are so many terrific artists, makers, and craftspeople in this city and the Christmas season is the perfect time of year to support small business by buying locally made goods to give as gifts. This weekend there are studio sales and craft markets galore, so I thought I’d share my favourites.
Shiny Fuzzy Muddy is my favourite seasonal market because it is a highly curated collection of fine craft and art, bringing together many of my favourite artists in the city. It’s an excellent place to buy beautiful things for loved ones (or yourself). Check out Dahlhaus, Antipod Worskshop, and Westerly Handmade Shoes.
Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street
Sat Dec 10th, 11am to 7pm | Sun Dec 11th, 10am to 6pm
Got Craft is also a highly curated market that has been around for ten years now. They are a larger market with more to choose from, but still focused on quality indie handmade work. Check out The Beautiful Project, Coconama Chocolate, and Fable Naturals.
Pipe Shop Building, 115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver
Sat Dec 10th + Sun Dec 11th, 10am to 5pm
Gam Gallery is presenting their third annual group exhibition & holiday pop-up shop, this year inspired by Pantone colour system. They invited artists to contribute works in colours from the collection to create a spectrum of hues through the gallery. Check out works in the show by Sandeep Johal, Caitlin McDonagh, and Trevor Van den Eijnden. The show opens Friday Dec 9th, 7pm to 12am.
110 East Hastings, at Columbia
Fri Dec 9th to Fri Dec 23rd.
EEK Studio Sale with artists Christann Kennedy and Gina Miller. It’s a great opportunity to visit artists in their studio, and purchase an amazing piece of art directly from the artists.
EEK Studio, 1888 Main Street, Unit E
Fri Dec 9th, 5pm to 9pm | Sat Dec 10th, 1pm to 5pm
Happy Shopping!
Boris and I were on a much needed vacation last week. We left town on the previous Thursday night to start the July long weekend on Bowen Island with friends and family. We did the usual things when we are on the island, walking, reading, eating, and napping. It was glorious.
The Elephant Tree
The flooded wetland that used to be a forest, near the beaver dam.
Water plants on Killarney Lake
A small group of friends joined us on Bowen for the day last Sunday for an open house hosted by Boris’ parents. It was lovely to take them on a long walk through the forest and introduce them to the magic that is walking out into Killarney Lake along the Secret Log. It’s really at its best at this time of year.
I made the long trek to UBC last week to see I Belong Here…, a show of recent work by Pilar Mehlis at Regent College’s Lookout Gallery. This was my first visit to the gallery, as I’d never heard of it previous to learning about Pilar’s show. It’s a small bright space with lots of natural light.
The show featured a mix of framed paintings and sculpture all featuring the half-human, half-fish figures.
I am familiar with Pilar’s work through visits to her studio during the Culture Crawl, and I like her style of magic realism. With the current body of work she is “exploring the transformative effect of immigration by juxtaposing elements of human and animal migration. In this instance I chose the Chinook salmon as it has migratory patterns which echo my own trajectories up and down the Pacific Coast and also for its significant place in West Coast culture.” Read more about these pieces in the artist statement on her website.
It’s spring cleaning time in the studio, and this Sunday I will be part of an art supply giveaway with a group of artists in Strathcona. Drop by 800 Keefer Street to browse a selection of unwanted (but still viable) supplies. I think this is the fourth year in a row my friends and I have held this event.
Everything is free because we just want someone to make use of the materials. At this time I have no idea what supplies will be available from each artist so come see for yourself. There’s always something for everyone.
I was very close to having to cancel this workshop on the weekend, because in the days leading up to it I came down with laryngitis. My voice came back by Friday afternoon, so I decided to go ahead with it.
The workshop was held at Studio 126 in Chinatown, and I had a small group of people in attendance which was the perfect size for the space. This is the first time I taught people how to make t-shirt yarn and braided rugs, so I wasn’t entirely sure how things would go, or how much space each person would need.
We spent the first hour and a half making t-shirt yarn. I introducing them to the joys of cutting fabric with a rotary cutter, which makes it so much easier. Everyone made a few balls of yarn before we switched over to getting started on braiding rugs.
One participant decided to include an upcycled pillow case in her rug, which didn’t seem to work as well as t-shirt fabric because it is less stretchy. I’d been thinking about testing out other types of fabric, but I think stretchy fabrics probably work best.
The final photo is where everyone left off by the end of class. It’s a good start, and I hope each participant will eventually share their rug with me when they are finished.