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

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.

With over four hundred artists participating in the Eastside Culture Crawl it’s a little overwhelming to decide who to see. If I wasn’t tied to my own studio for the weekend these are a few of the artists I would visit.

Michelle Sirois-Silver Studio | Textiles
Location: 1610 Clark Drive, Ste 201
Culture Crawl page

Andrea Armstrong | Painting & Drawing
Location: Hamilton Bank Building, 1895 Powell Street , Suite: 4
Culture Crawl page

Connie Sabo | Sculpture/Drawing/Mixed Media
Location: Portside Studios, 150 McLean Drive
Culture Crawl page

Kim Cooper | Sculpture
Location: Vancouver Community Laboratory, 1907 Triumph Street
Culture Crawl page

Arnt Artzen | Sculpture/Furniture
Location: Paneficio Studios, 800 Keefer Street (alley entrance)
Culture Crawl page

Happy crawling this weekend. Come see me at 1660 East Georgia while you’re out and about getting inspired.

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