I’ve decided to put all of the metal prints I have listed in my Etsy shop on sale. The regular price is $45, now on sale for $35. This does not include shipping. Below are detail shots of two of the eleven prints.
Each is a handmade aluminum metal print mounted on a wooden cradle frame. Size: 7″x 7″ with an image size of 5″x 5″. These prints are made using a heat transfer printing process, and the imagery are my photos taken with a holga camera.
Only once before have I had to ship large works of art to a gallery too far away for me to deliver by hand. This was at the end of 2007 for a group show in Los Angeles. I didn’t really know what I was doing and despite my best efforts both pieces, unframed metal prints that were 24″ x 24″, were damaged in transit. Despite a few dents they still made it into the show, thanks to quick repairs by the gallery owners.
The experience made me nervous about any future participation in shows outside of Vancouver but my desire to build a well-rounded art CV outweighs my fear of damaged art.
In my preparations for an upcoming group show in San Francisco (which I will blog about in more detail closer to the opening), I decided to go all out and have a proper shipping crate made for the framed print I needed to send. Kirsti had come across the work of Vevex and really liked the look of their shipping crates. I decided to give them a try myself, gulping a bit about what it might cost me.
They were able to give me a quote by email based on the measurements of my work, and even sent me back a detailed spec sheet I could use to figure out shipping costs. The crate took two days to build, which was much quicker than I’d expected, and was delivered right to my door at an additional cost ($12). (This was awesome for me because I don’t have a car.) I was really impressed with the quality of the crate and almost felt it was a shame to send it off. The whole thing cost me $70. I consider it an investment in future shipping needs for my artistic career.
The crate comes lined with ¾” polystyrene foam and allows some room for additional wrapping. A large plastic bag for wrapping is an additional $3.00, and bubble wrap is an additional $1.50.
The crate is certified for worldwide shipment and comes with a collection of ‘fragile’, ‘glass’ and ‘this side up’ labels.
It is really beautifully made. I kind of want more of them… 🙂
Vevex.com
(604) 254-1002, fax 1-866-883-3899, or send an email to: info@vevex.com
I’m a bit behind on scanning and uploading my weekly collages, as I seem to be on quite a few things. As you can see this one is from the beginning of January. I’m very happy with how this turned out, and I absolutely love the paper in the background.
I love the quality of the light, the beautiful colours, and the painterly look of these shots.
I’m not sure whether I’ve mentioned this before on the blog but I recently created an inventory spreadsheet in order to keep track of my ready-for-sale art work. I have a lot of stuff kicking around, most of it left over from the last few shows I’ve put together, and some were created specifically to sell on Etsy. I was surprised by how much stuff I have ready to sell, just sitting around gathering dust and taking up room in my apartment when someone could be buying them. It’s hard to sell things when no one knows they’re there, not even me. Some of the work I’d forgotten about completely until I started the inventory. I won’t forget about them again thanks to my spreadsheet. The next step will be to figure out the what/where/how of making them available for sale.
Where did this brilliant yet simple idea come from you might wonder? From a great book every artist should have called, “Artist Survival Skills: How To Make A Living As A Canadian Visual Artist”, written by Chris Tyrell. Admittedly I haven’t read much of it thus far but I’m off to a great start with the inventory. 🙂
In the last few days I’ve been asked twice, “What’s new?”, and both times I’ve floundered for an answer. I realize this has always been a question that makes me fumble because I’m rather literal when it comes to words. I feel like I actually have to have something exciting and new to tell when this question is asked and at that same instant my mind goes completely blank. I tend to have a similar reaction to the question, “What have you been up to?” I think what throws me is how general these questions are and I’m never sure what specific information is required. It’s funny how my brain works.
Here are five good things that are “new”:
1. One of my shots has been accepted into a group show of toy camera photography at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco. The show starts at the end of February.
2. My photograph taken inside an abandoned house last summer will be published in the next issue of Light Leaks Magazine.
3. I bought a new laptop recently and the speed in which files open in photoshop is nothing short of AMAZING!
4. I organized my first group photo walk in a very long time and it went well enough to inspire me to want to do it more frequently. I’ve missed it.
5. Along with many of my favorite flickr contacts I received an invitation from Getty Images to *sign up and submit my work.
(* A future post will be devoted to some thoughts on this.)
I’ve always wondered whether the two lovebirds, the only caged birds in Alfred Hitchcock‘s movie “The Birds“, were actually the evil ringleaders causing the bird attacks on people. Lovebirds do tend to be troublemakers…
In my original concept for this shot I’d planned to use fake birds, and spent a bit of time searching for places to buy them. The only birds I was able to find were fake crows and they were far too ugly and misshapen to pass for proper birds. I decided to pull all the bird photos from my archives and composite together in photoshop the shot I had in mind. It took about four or five hours of masking, manipulating, and layering to bring it all together.
It was created for a project called, “Scenes from a Movie” organized by Stephanie Vacher. The idea was for each participant to choose a director’s name from a hat and then create a shot to reference that person’s film work. I lucked out and chose Alfred Hitchcock.
It’s hard to reflect on a whole year now that it’s come to an end because the beginning isn’t as clear in my mind as more recent events. Here goes:
1. Getting to know Boris in many ways I never expected and building a good relationship with him. I’ve known him for a couple of years, but not very well. He only came into sharp focus for me at Travis’ birthday at the end of 2007. I’m glad my crush has turned into something more.
2. Setting a weekly goal to create a collage in my moleskin sketchbook and learning much about composition, techniques, materials, etc, in the process.
3. Leaving behind a job where I felt like I was wasting my time and spinning my wheels.
4. Taking baby steps forward in showing my work, with one more solo show under my belt and participation in five different group shows.
5. Going on an awesome roadtrip with Boris back in March. We drove from Vancouver to Seattle via Whidbey Island and Bainbridge Island, and had many lovely adventures along the way. It was my favorite trip of the whole year and definitely a highlight.
6. Starting a weekly self portrait series called “52 weeks” which has led me to producing photographic work I am very pleased with. This week is number thirty-seven in the series and it will continue until April 2009.
7. Many weekend trips to Bowen Island over the course of the year, and having a comfortable, cozy place to stay with the Mann Family.
8. A brief visit to Toronto back in May to see my family and meet with a old friends. I was glad to also have the opportunity to catch a few Contact Festival shows and see the awesomeness that is the newly renovated ROM.
9. This may sound strange if you’re not a cat person, or have never met Travis and Susie’s cat Maggie, but she has definitely been a highlight of my year. She’s a kitten-sized pack of trouble full of the stinkiest farts known to man, but she’s damn cute, full of personality, and fun to have around at work. I adore Maggie.
10. Realizing (yet again) that no matter how old I get there will always be more lessons to learn about myself and more growing to do. I hoping to put this knowledge to good use this year and move forward instead of just running in place like I feel I have been.
What are your good things from 2008?
From Free Will Astrology
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Here’s an update on the world’s tigers: Fewer than 5,000 are living in their natural habitats, while the U.S. alone has more than that number in zoos. Let’s use that fact as a starting point for your meditations, Leo. How much of your animal essence is in captivity, and how much is running free? Is your inner lion able to wander at will through places where it feels at home, or is it trapped in a confined space it would never stay in if allowed to choose? Keep coming back to these questions during 2009. It will be an excellent time to spring the great cat in you from conditions that make it pace in neurotic circles.
Oh, yes please! Especially to that last part. I love Free Will Astrology.
Once upon a time there was a small family of Germans, who lived on a small island called Bowen in the beautiful land of British Columbia. The family was made up of an entertaining German father who made funny jokes, a lovely German mother who looked after everyone, and a Big Cute Fuzzy Strapping Geeky German son (who was also the King of Drupal, but that’s another story…) This small family of Germans really loved to eat meat, as Germans have a tendency to do. They also loved to eat bread as well as cheese, but this particular story REALLY focuses on the meat.
As the Yuletide Season approached, the son who was always full of big ideas, came up with a meat-focused way to celebrate the Christmas season. He decided to call it the Twelve Meats of Christmas, and it would involve preparing and eating a variety of meats twelve different ways. The First Meat of Christmas was Chorizo with kale and chard in a pasta dish. (He was starting light you see.) The Second Meat of Christmas was delicious crispy bacon cooked for breakfast. The Third Meat of Christmas was roasted lamb with parsnips, garlic and lemons. The Fourth Meat of Christmas was Duck Soup with cabbage. The Fifth Meat of Christmas was Creton a spicy pork pate. The Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth meats of Christmas were prepared by his friend Zak and came in the form of Pork Tenderloin Wrapped in Prosciutto, Chicken Forcemeat and Puff Pastry. The Ninth Meat of Christmas was pulled pork cooked for six hours and marinated in delicious North Carolina style BBQ sauce. The Tenth Meat of Christmas was Montreal smoked meat cold cuts for breakfast. The eleventh meat of Christmas was braised beef cooked into a broth in Czechoslovakian cabbage soup.
It was as the eleventh meaty meal was achieved the son suddenly realized he needed something different, something out of the ordinary to be the crowning glory, as it were, of the twelve meats. But as the wintery weather was at its worst outside and the purveyors of further meats were inaccessible from the small island, he wasn’t sure how he could achieve this. Then low and behold, as his lovely German mother was clearing the paths around their home of snow, she stumbled across a poor young deer that had perished from the cold. The son was thrilled, ecstatic, excited beyond words, because now all his meaty dreams could come true! What a prize to find a fresh and tender young deer, and to have it die peacefully in the night.
In a flash, a band of merry revelers came together to help butcher the deer and prepare a magnificent banquet feast. People came from far and wide to taste the wonderful venison and to share in the miraculous meat. There were rare venison steaks, sauteed venison heart flavoured with garlic, beer and mustard, haunch of venison braised in cabbage soup, roasted venison with dried fruit sauce, and jerky marinated in raspberry wine vinegar with soya sauce. It was a happy meal and every reveler left with bellies full from the feasting.
The German son was content having achieved his dream of the twelve meats of Christmas, and in the process to have made so many others happy and well fed.
The End.
(This story is based upon true events from my Christmas on Bowen, and is dedicated to the Mann Family.)