Geometric gel pen drawings

While hanging around in my studio during Culture Crawl this past weekend I decided to work on a few gel pen drawings so visitors could see how I work. The first one I started sold before I could even finish it because someone liked it as it was, and I was okay with the drawing’s unfinished state. I was happy a few of these doodles found new homes on the weekend because they’ve been an experiment for me.

The circular one pictured here is the second of these drawings I began over the weekend, but wasn’t able to get very far with it until yesterday. I like making shapes with these doodles, and this one in particular resembles the twinkling crystalized surface of a planet.

Drawing with white gel pen

Drawing with white gel pen - detail

Drawing with white gel pen - detail
The finished size is 8.5″ x 11″, with white gel pen on black card stock. This is available for purchase in my Etsy shop »

The second drawing is one I’d originally created for the show I have up at Kafka, but there wasn’t room for it in the end. It was an experiment in exploring a shape other than a circle.

Drawing with white gel pen

Drawing with white gel pen - detail

Drawing with white gel pen - detail

The finished size is 8.5″ x 11″, with white gel pen on black card stock. This is available for purchase in my Etsy shop »

I’m offering a 30% discount in my Etsy shop until December 5th, but only on older listed in the sale section of my shop. I really want to clear out the backlog of inventory, including owl altered books, and a few paper cut pieces from last year. Use the coupon code STUDIOSALE2014 to get the discount at checkout.

Countdown the Eastside Culture Crawl

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I’ve been doing a four day countdown over on Instagram leading up to the Eastside Culture Crawl, and there is one more day to go. It begins tomorrow and continues until Sunday.

One more day!!!

This is my fifth year taking part in the crawl as an exhibiting artist. I’ve already decided to take a break next year because I miss touring other studios, so if you’ve never been by before now’s the best time to visit.

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The Crawl has been extended from three days to four this year, and I’m curious to see whether more people take advantage of the extra day. I have my fingers crossed for decent weather despite the less than promising weather report.

Visit me at 1660 East Georgia Street to see intricate paper cut work, laser cut pieces, and installations. I have an event page on Facebook if you would like to RSVP »

18th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl
November 20th to 23rd, 2014
Thurs & Fri 5pm to 10pm | Sat & Sun 11am to 6pm
Visit the website to plan your route.

Many Paws. An Altered Book About the Years of Change

Menopause is one of those things you don’t hear much about (or think about) until you’re over forty or have friends in their late forties and early fifties. If you’re a man, I’m sure you hear nothing about it at all.

Last year a few of my friends were going through menopause and suddenly I found myself hearing the horror stories “the change” can bring to a woman’s body. I’m familiar with the idea of hot flashes, but until that point I’d never heard much about the mood swings, or the feeling of losing your mind and memory loss. My friends made it sound like bad PMS but one hundred times worse. Fun times with our bodies are ahead of us ladies…

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To bring a bit of humour to this situation Susan DeGarmo created a light-hearted, interactive pop-up book on getting older and going through the change. Many Paws is a reproduction of the original altered book she created after having a hot flash while teaching a class on altering books.

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The book has three dimensional elements, pop-up pieces, doors to open, and bits to pull. It’s colourful and fun, but best of all it’s a book that embraces the aging of women and laughs with us rather than making us feel ridiculous about our struggles.

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I was sent a review copy of the book, which is an usual situation for me. Accepting it was a no-brainer because it’s a great addition to my library of books on altered books and paper art. I think it will also be a wonderful item to share with my female friends as we age. I know it’s something I want to enjoy rather than dread.

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Visit Susan DeGarmo’s website to learn more about her. You can also purchase your own copy of the book online here or through Amazon.

Paper Presents at Gam Gallery

My final exhibition of 2014 is a group show all about paper.

Gam Gallery is pleased to present a group exhibition and holiday pop-up shop of paper works, works on paper, prints, cards, journals, artist books and more.

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Featured artists include: Ghazel Abbassalian, Matias Armendaris, Rachael Ashe, Sean Alward, Colin Cej, Romulo Cesar, Sarah Clement, Aya Ikeda-Berry, Keith Ikeda-Barry, Sean Karemaker, Mel King, Julia K. Kreutz, Rye Lundy, Caitlin McDonagh, Jessie McNeil, Craig Pettman, Tristesse Seeliger, Mira Song, Damla Tamer, Daniel Tatterton, Ola Volo, Michelle Weinstein and Priscilla Yu as well as many featured artists and designers in our boutique.

The show runs from November 21st through December 20th, with the official opening on Friday November 28th, 7pm to 12am.

Join the Facebook event page to see sneak peeks of work by all the artists »

Paper Presents
Gam Gallery
110 East Hastings (at Columbia)

November Long Weekend on Bowen Island

The usual series of lovely scenes from Bowen Island. It rained heavily but when the weather cleared we had blue skies, bright sun, and colder weather. It feels like winter now.

On the ferry to Bowen Island

Near the beaver dam

Elephant tree

Blue skies above the forest

Anna's Hummingbird

The Anna’s Hummingbird was a frequent visitor to the three feeders Anne has positioned around the windows of the house. I feel lucky to have gotten a few good photos with my iPhone while he was feeding. Most of the time these birds are too speedy to photograph with a camera phone.

Paper Cut Work: Propeller

This is my favourite piece that I’ve made for the Eastside Culture Crawl. I love how the three larger shapes fit together, the flow of the small cut shapes, and the bright colours. I’ve titled this piece, Propeller.

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As with all of the others for this series, the work is cut from a 14″ x 17″ piece of white drawing paper, and mounted to a piece of 16″ x 20″ Canson Mi-teintes paper. It’s all framed and ready for the Crawl, and I can’t wait to share it in person with people.

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paper cut

My show at Kafka continues until December 1st, and the Eastside Culture Crawl is coming up fast on November 20th to 23rd. And then I’m taking a break….

Compulsory Podcast With Kim Werker

I love how my friend Kim Werker has gone from talking about starting a podcast of her own, to making the first episode all in about a week. The podcast is called, Compulsory, and in each episode Kim will talk to a different person about the things they feel compelled to make.

The First episode features me and a conversation in which I talk a lot about my brain, tediousness, repetition, and focus. Have a listen and let Kim know what you think. You can also subscribe to Compulsory in iTunes.

Paper Cut Work: Pinwheel

I was thinking about a pinwheel when I started this piece and though it ended up not becoming much like an actual pinwheel I am keeping it as the name. When I work on these I often can’t tell how the larger form is going to work until most of the paper cutting is done.

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The work is a 14″ x 17″ paper cut mounted onto 16″ x 20″ Canson Mi-teintes grey paper. I added the blue circle because as I was framing this I felt it needed a contrasting shape and colour to make the design stronger.

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This is part of the same series of work I created for my show at Kafka, but it will be on display at my studio location during the Eastside Culture Crawl, November 20th to 23rd.

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City: Eastside Culture Crawl Artists

For our November edition of Hot Talks we’ve partnered with the Eastside Culture Crawl to present an evening of short talks by eight artists participating in this year’s Crawl. It was a difficult selection process choosing from among the hundreds of talented artists who take part in the studio tour every year, but I made sure to choose a wide variety of disciplines.

Our speakers for the evening are Michelle Sirois Silver, Jon Shaw, Holly Cruise, Claire Madill, Patsy Kay Kolesar, Reilly Lievers, David Robinson, and Robin Ripley.

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Each artist will share a bit about their process and work in a short “Show & Tell” style talk on November 13th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.

Hot Talks: Eastside Culture Crawl
Hot Art Wet City
Date: November 13th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver