Hot Talks: Eastside Culture Crawl 3rd Edition

October 23, 2016

Once again I have organized an evening of talks by artists participating in the Eastside Culture Crawl on behalf of Hot Art Wet City.

Hot Art Wet City gallery presents the third annual Hot Talks curated by Rachael Ashe, in partnership with the Eastside Culture Crawl. Join us for an evening of informative and entertaining talks by artists, designers, and craftspeople on Wednesday November 9. The eight speakers represent a selection of the variety of artists participating in the 2016 Culture Crawl. Each speaker will present their work and share the process behind what they do in a short “Show & Tell” style talk.

The eight speakers are Tristesse Seeliger, Vanessa Lam, Sherri Rogers, Bridget Catchpole, Anyuta Gusakova, Trevor Van den Eijnden, The Hive Printing, and Espiritu Design Studio.

Get your tickets on the Hot Art Wet City website.

In Situ with the Work of Bharti Kher

September 23, 2016

I went to see the lovely exhibition of work by artist Bharti Kher at the Vancouver Art Gallery last week. I love the show. Her work has a strong focus on materials and labour intensive process, both things I explore in my own work. The artwork is contemplative, emotional and feminine, and the whole exhibition feels like an out of the ordinary choice for what is typically shown at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The figurative sculptures are striking but I was really drawn to the elaborate pieces Kher creates using the repetition of hundreds of thousands of bindis. I’ve included a few detail photos of some of these. They’re a beautiful exploration of mark-making.

The detail of this last piece was one of my favourites, mostly because my friend and I almost passed them by completely. At first glance from far away all the details are lost, but going closer we could see all this lovely shape and texture. The pieces are also made from bindis but on a large scale, with layers and layers of them all in black.

Bharti Kher Matter continues until October 10th at the Vancouver Art Gallery. I highly recommend it over the Picasso show.

Art Takes Over with The Vancouver Mural Festival

August 22, 2016

Oh Vancouver Mural Festival, how much do I love you? SO MUCH! Because of you the visual art scene in Vancouver has been made visible, and in the process our street art scene has levelled up about 500% in the few short weeks since all this mural painting has begun. These are just some of the 35+ new murals in the Mount Pleasant neighbourhood. Check out the map to find all of the locations.

The official launch of the festival happened this past Saturday, and I happily wandered the streets trying to take it all in. It was such a good vibe with so many people out to see the art. Boris and I ran into many friends and acquaintances, and every single person was excited and inspired by the festival.

Scott Sueme

We would be a very different city if more buildings looked like this brilliant abstract colour composition painted by Scott Sueme. He transformed an eye sore into something I now can’t take my eyes off of.

iHeart

Shannon Elliott

Tim Mack

Julia Iredale

Paige Bowman

Cody Lecoy

Ola Volo

Spencer Keeton Cunningham

Ilya Viryachev

Ola Volo & iHeart

Nomi Chi

I did not manage to see all the new murals on Saturday, but everything is supposed to be up for at least the next two years. With the success of the inaugural mural festival, I’m imagining what Vancouver could look like a few years from now when it has happened multiple times. It will be amazing!

Jill Pilon at Gibsons Public Art Gallery

August 19, 2016

I took the day off this past Monday to do a day trip to Gibsons on the Sunshine Coast with artist friends, Mary Anne Tateishi and Vanessa Lam. We went specifically to see a solo show of work by Jill Pilon at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery, but also fit in a few other things. I love it when an art road trip comes together!

Jill’s work is beautiful and full of intriguing details that require closer observation. My favourite pieces were the ones with stripes and strong geometric lines, but I was also drawn into ones with a subtler colour palette and mark making details of scribbled writing partially revealed under layers of paint.

It’s an inspiring show, but it comes to an end this Sunday. If you happen to be on the Sunshine Coast this weekend drop into the gallery to see it.

Big Print Project in Chinatown

August 3, 2016

Among the many fun things Boris and I did on the weekend was to visit the Big Print Project happening in the courtyard of Dr. Sun Yat Sen Garden. It’s an event to highlight printmaking on a large scale, with 4′ x 8′ woodblocks carved by professional artists, and the work printed by a steamroller. Yes, you read that right.

We dropped by on Sunday morning in time to see the inking and printing process for the woodblock carved by my friend, Connie Sabo. It was a group effort to get the entire thing properly saturated with ink. I shot the video below during the first plate inking.

A video posted by Paper artist (@rachael_ashe) on Jul 31, 2016 at 11:06am PDT

The handy dandy steamroller waiting to make big prints.

Laying down the first piece of fabric for printing. There were several layers of cloth and a piece of wood added for the roller to go over.

Pulling back the first piece of cloth printed with the steamroller. It looks terrific

It was a crowd pleasing event, and a spectacular introduction for people not familiar with printmaking.

There is an exhibit of the large prints later in the month at the Chinese Cultural Centre Museum in Chinatown, August 19th to 21st, 10am to 5:30pm.

Vancouver Mural Festival

July 27, 2016

The other evening I took took Boris to see the murals in progress at Maker Labs. The entire place is getting painted by a large group of artists collaborating in pairs on individual murals over different sections of the building. The project is part of the Vancouver Mural Festival, which kicked off this summer and will oversee the creation of 35 + new murals around East Vancouver. I think there were a total of seven in progress at the time of our visit, and these are four of them.

Work in progress by Alison Woodward and Graeme McCormack.

Painted by Mandy Tsung and Russell Alton

Work in progress by Nomadic Alternatives.

(I need to find out the artists painting this one)

The Maker Labs project will be finished on Friday, so this weekend will be an excellent time to drop by to see them. Visit the Vancouver Mural Festival website for more details about their event.

Playing Monopoly in Vancouver

July 3, 2016

Last week these small red houses began popping up in vacant lots around the east side of Vancouver. The one pictured here is located at Hastings and Commercial Drive, and I’ve seen one on Main near Prior, and another at Clark and 1st. When I shared the photo on Twitter a friend pointed out that this is a large-scale hotel piece from the game Monopoly. I didn’t realize this because I’ve only played it once or twice, and it was a million years ago.

It’s a brilliant comment on the state of the housing market in Vancouver. I would love to discover who is behind this clever street art project.

I Belong Here… By Pilar Mehlis

June 22, 2016

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.

Art Supply Giveaway 2016

April 8, 20162 Comments

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.

Paper Cutting Workshop at Opus Art Supplies

April 6, 2016

I am teaching a short paper cutting workshop at Opus Art Supplies Hastings Street location this Saturday, 11am to 1pm. The demo costs $10 to participate and you must register by phone (604‑678‑5889) to reserve a spot as space is limited.

I’ll be doing thorough run down on knives, paper, techniques, and different ways to use paper cut elements in artwork. Participants will also get the chance to work on their own paper cut pattern to take home, like the ones pictured above. Visit the event page for more details, and to read the materials list »

Opus Artist Demo: Creative Paper Cutting Techniques
Date: Saturday April 9th, 2016
Time: 11pm & 1pm
Cost: $10
Location: Opus Art Supplies, 100-207 West Hastings Street

Canvas to the Imagination

Rachael Ashe – Art | Craft | Life

Category: Vancouver art