Yuuki the ColorSplash star

1 Comment

yuuki on itunes2

Yuuki had his second paid modeling gig a few weeks ago that I’m sure is certain to lead to superstardom for him. Hendrik needed a colourful subject to showcase the abilities of his latest iPhone app, ColorSplash, and to use in a banner image at the iTunes online store. Hendrik shot both myself and Yuuki to use in the banner, but I didn’t make it past the (Photoshop) cutting room floor. I told Hendrik I cannot compete with Yuuki’s level of cuteness. I’m just not small or yellow enough.

Yuuki on itunes

Please check out Hendrik’s ColorSplash app in the iTunes store, or at Hendrik’s own website for the app. At the moment it is one of the top photography applications for the iPhone.

2nd Annual Plastic Camera Show – RayKo Photo Gallery

3 Comments

Apparently the opening was a big success for the 2nd Annual Plastic Camera Show I’m in at RayKo Photo Gallery in San Francisco. I wish I could make a trip to San Francisco to see it… Thankfully the gallery has provided thorough photographic documentation of how things look, and I even spotted my own work in amongst everything else. The shot included in this blog entry is the one that was accepted into the show.

Here’s the slideshow of shots taken by RayKo’s PR photographer Tim Rollins.

A Psychological Version of This Double Cure

Dying tulips

Dying tulips
The tulips used in this self portrait a week and a half ago were on their last legs yesterday. As I tidied up and prepared to toss them away I stopped to take the above shots of their lingering, dried out beauty.

This week from Free Will Astrology:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): An American residing in Berlin had leukemia as well as AIDS. Doctors did a bone marrow transplant to cure the leukemia, obtaining stem cells from a healthy donor. The operation was a success — the leukemia disappeared. As an added and surprising bonus, the HIV also left the patient’s body. He has been free of both diseases for two years. I predict a psychological version of this double cure for you in the coming weeks, Leo. The healing you receive for one type of suffering will unexpectedly heal another kind, too.

Weekly Moleskin Collage – February 18, 2009

2 Comments

Weekly Moleskin collage - February 18, 2009

This is a collage that almost doesn’t look like a collage. Last week I wanted to make something really busy, crazy and colourful. I went through some of the old magazines I have tucked under my couch (for just such a purpose) and tore out anything colourful and patterned. It was fun to layer these together and create this crazy eye-blasting composition. The bit of text I included, “the only constant is change”, is from a book of slogan stickers given to me by Zak. It seemed appropriate to the collage and the state of things last week.

P.S. A thanks again to Lloyd Budd for upgrading WordPress on my site while we hung out at Northern Voice last weekend. We did a trade, and my part was to show him how to use his Rebel XTi. I don’t do this very often and a lot of camera stuff is just second nature now, so it’s always interesting for me to try and explain things like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I think it rocked his world just like his upgrade of WordPress rocked mine.

Love Letters at Grace Gallery

5 Comments

Love Letters: Grace Gallery
Cameraphone pic taken at the opening.

I’m a little behind on posting about this because the show actually opened two weeks ago, but I have a letter in the Love Letters show at Grace Gallery. I enjoy writing letters and decided I had to do something to submit for the show. My letter is written to Boris, but using more “poetic” language than I would normally write in. I wasn’t sure if it was any good (read: incredibly sappy.) until I went to opening night and read it again. I wrote it by hand in one draft, trying to be as articulate and neat as possible since it was going to be in a show. Boris has only seen this photo of it but I’m pretty sure he had the mushies when he read it.

I hope you can read the words at its current size because I couldn’t quite bring myself to retype them for further sharing. Even though this letter is hanging in a gallery and has been read by many people, it is still a very personal piece of work.

More about the show opening on Scout Magazine.

Sale: Metal Prints at Etsy.com

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.

Metal print - Stranded balloons detail

Metal print - posing crow detail

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.

rashe.etsy.com

Beautiful Shipping Crates: Vevex

3 Comments

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.

IMG_5208

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.

IMG_5206-Edit
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.

IMG_5209
The crate is certified for worldwide shipment and comes with a collection of ‘fragile’, ‘glass’ and ‘this side up’ labels.

IMG_5212-Edit
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

Weekly Moleskin Collage – January 7, 2009

Weekly moleskin collage - January 7, 2009

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.

Tulips

Many tulips

Many tulips

Two pink tulips

I love the quality of the light, the beautiful colours, and the painterly look of these shots.

Developing Artist Survival Skills

Sunshine polaroid

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. 🙂