Public Art: Crossover by Carlyn Yandle

April 29, 2013

A few weekends ago Boris and I were in Steveston with friends to go on a Sea lion watching tour. We arrived a bit early and so our group stopped into the lovely Roccanini Coffee Roasters for coffee, tea, and delicious treats. Right outside the cafe is this pretty impressive piece of public art designed by my friend, Carlyn Yandle.

Located at the intersection of at No. 1 Road and Moncton Street in Steveston, this is the first scramble-style crosswalk in BC. Carlyn’s design, “was an attempt to weave together the history of the Japanese net-makers and the modern-day marine flavour of this corner of the Lower Mainland using a simple, enduring motif.” I think the results are very striking.

I would love to see municipalities commission more work like this, where the art is integrated fully into the cityscape. I think Canadian cities too often underestimate the importance of public art, but maybe this is in the process of changing.

Celebrating Springtime

April 1, 2013

In Vancouver we are incredibly lucky to have a spring season that not only shows up as early as March (or even February) but also lasts for an extended period of time. Add in the bounty of flowering trees blanketing the city with pink and white blossoms, and you have the most wonderful time of the year to be in Vancouver (sorry Christmas).

I go a little bonkers taking endless photos of every type of flower I can find. My favorite combination are the pink cherry blossoms against an intense blue sky.

Oh spring, how I love thee!

Early Signs of Spring

March 13, 2013

A few photos taken last week when it was sunny, warm, and felt like spring was about to begin.

The Icebook

March 4, 2013

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing a wonderful performance of The Icebook, a miniature theatre show made of paper and light. This live theatre show was created by Davy and Kristin McGuire, and presented by Boca Del Lupo as part of their micro-performance series on Granville Island.

The set is a small pop-up book of paper cutouts combined with incredible lighting and video projection. Watch the video below to get a taste of the show.

The Icebook (HD) from Davy and Kristin McGuire on Vimeo.

Thank you to Siobhan for the heads-up about this show. I would’ve missed it otherwise, and what a shame that would’ve been.

Scenic Views From Bowen Island

February 12, 2013

Boris and I spent a few days on Bowen Island over the weekend to visit with his family. We go there about every six weeks and each time I take pretty much the same photos. I don’t really care because the particular scenes that attract me always look beautiful and new.

On Sunday we took advantage of having a car and drove to the farther side of the island we can’t easily get to normally, and visited Cape Roger Curtis.

It’s sad to visit this once untouched place, now in the process of transforming into another sorry subdivision since the land was sold to developers a few years ago. It used to take an hour and a half to walk into some of the spots we can now drive along a paved road to reach.

It was a beautiful day as we clambered along the rocky shore with a small enthusiastic puppy in tow. We sat on mossy rocks overlooking the ocean and basked in the sun for awhile until we got hungry, and could almost ignore the transformed wilderness behind us.

Autumn Sights

December 4, 2012

As I was trying to decide what to blog about today, I stumbled across some of the colourful photos I’ve taken over the past few months and thought I’d share them here. Most of the photography I do these days is with my iPhone, and I hardly ever remember to share it anywhere other than instagram.

It’s been very grey lately, so these bright colours feel so good to look at.

There’s lots more to see on my Instagram page. I share something there daily.

16th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl

November 12, 2012

It’s mid-November, which means it’s time for the annual Eastside Culture Crawl.

The Eastside Culture Crawl is an annual FREE 3-day visual arts phenomenon. This event involves more than 10,000 people visiting over 400 + artists in their studios in the area bounded by Main Street, Victoria Drive, First Avenue to the waterfront of Vancouver, BC. This year it takes place on the weekend of Friday November 16th to Sunday November, 18th, 2012.

Once again I will be throwing open the doors of my home and welcoming the public into our private space. Our living and dining room will be transformed into an art gallery for the three days of the Crawl. It will be an extraordinary display of new paper cut work, altered books, mixed media collages, and installations made from paper.

You can find my page here on the Culture Crawl web site. For those on Facebook I have created an event invitation if you would like to RSVP »

16th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl
Date: November 16th to 18th, 2012
Time: Fri, 5pm to 10pm | Sat & Sun, 11am to 6pm
My location is D06 on the Culture Crawl map
Address: 1660 East Georgia Street

Little Green Dress Projekt

August 13, 20122 Comments

As mentioned previously, VanDusen Gardens is host to an exhibition of land art called Earth. My friend Nicole Dextras is one of the five participating artists in the show. Her project is called, The Little Green Dress Projekt and she is creating a series of twenty eight unique dresses from plant materials in collaboration with twenty eight different women. The idea is that each woman (chosen by Nicole) provides their dress measurements, a bit of background related to clothing, and also the plant material to make the dress.

Because I don’t have a garden I needed to source the dress materials by foraging around the neighbourhood. I was eyeing all sorts of things before I settled on tansy, a wild plant that is in abundance at this time of year. I hacked down piles of it (as pictured below), being mindful of the many bees who seemed to be enjoying it as a food source.

The hilarious part was loading it all into my “art cart” and transporting it on the bus to VanDusen Gardens. The tansy is probably the most awkward item I’ve ever had to take on the bus, because the stalks are almost as tall as I am. Nicole was thrilled with the material, and I was relieved to hear I’d brought more than enough for her to work with.

Nicole Dextras – Little Green Dress Projekt

The results of this collaboration is a beautiful dress that I would love to wear if tansy wasn’t incredibly itchy against the skin.

Visit the Little Green Dress Projekt site to view more of the dresses.

The Artsy Fartsy Garage Sale

August 7, 2012

If you have fond memories of shopping for interesting art supplies at RubyDog’s Art House (as I do), and have been missing the shop since it closed down last year, then this is the sale for you.

Leanne (owner and proprietress of RubyDog) has just announced she’ll be having an art supplies lawn sale this coming Sunday. It’s called The Artsy Fartsy Garage Sale and you won’t want to miss it. She’s also invited other people to join her to sell their own wares, so there’s a potential for some very interesting art-related shopping.

The Artsy Fartsy Garage Sale
Date: Sunday, August 12, 2012
Time: 10:00am to 3:00pm
Location: 2649 Quebec St. (corner of 11th and Quebec)

Earth Art Exhibition

August 3, 2012

VanDusen Gardens is hosting an exhibition of Earth art, and I was thrilled to attend the opening yesterday evening. It feels like a big deal to have an exhibition of this type of work in Vancouver, especially with the calibre of the artists involved.

I took photos of each of the five artists work. It will be interesting to view each piece again in a few weeks to see how they change and weather.

Nicole Dextras, The Little Green Dress Projekt