Etsy Shop Update: Paper Cut Circles

April 30, 2014

I was recently feeling my output of completed artwork has slowed down, mostly because I am focused on larger projects that will take a long time to complete. So last week I decided to put the big projects aside and do a few small quick pieces.

I wanted to take the idea I’d explored with the heart paper cuts of creating my freehand designs within a set final shape. I chose a circle, and used a compass to draw an outline on the page. I created one white version backed with black paper, and one black version backed with white paper.

Listing for this on Etsy »

Listing for this on Etsy »

Both pieces are made from 8.5″ x 11″ cardstock and hinged to a contrasting piece of paper for framing. I’ve made them available for purchase through my Etsy shop.

Published in Paper Play

April 28, 2014

I’m pretty thrilled to share that two of my paper cut vessels are amongst the amazing selection of work included in a new book of paper art. Paper Play is edited and published by Sandu Cultural Media.

Normally I would recommend buying it from a small independent book store, but we’re running out of those in Vancouver. You can of course always find it on Amazon.

Art on the Streets of Toronto

April 25, 20142 Comments

Another highlight of my visit to Toronto was seeing how dramatically the street art scene has grown. There was interesting graffiti to be seen everywhere, and I got in the habit of peering down every alley I passed while walking around. Chances were good I would see something I liked.

There are large concentrations of street art in Graffiti Alley, which runs parallel to Queen from about Spadina to Portland, as well as throughout Kensington Market. But everywhere I walked, no matter the neighbourhood, I found something. These are some of the highlights.

Located on Collage east of Spadina

Located behind The Green Room on Bloor Street

Located on Dundas Street West

Located in an alley on Bloor Street in the Annex

Alley off of Queen Street West

McCaul Street near OCAD.

A small part of a huge mural on the side of Sanko on Queen Street West

An alley off of Queen near Dufferin Street

Kensington Market

Graffiti Alley

View the full set of my graffiti photos on Flickr.

I would dearly love to see the Vancouver street art scene grow and thrive on a similar scale. I wonder what needs to be done to make it happen…?

Speaking and Sharing at Sparkfly Vancouver

April 22, 2014

On Thursday May 8th, I will be speaking at the next edition of Sparkfly along with Vivienne McMaster, and Denna Erickson.

Sparkfly is a series of evenings featuring diverse women in Vancouver sharing their creative journeys. It is a place where women can share, inspire and create. It is a small and intimate gathering creating a warm and safe space for the speakers and audience to reveal their experiences, ideas and dreams.

As part of the evenings activities, Vivienne and I will be collaborating on a fun exercise with participants. I hope you can join us.

Tickets cost $17.00 and are available for purchase through Eventbrite »

Cross-Stitch Installation at Patria Restaurant in Toronto

April 21, 20141 Comment

On the weekend I caught up on uploading to Flickr the rest of my photos from my trip to Toronto in March, most of which is graffiti. Reviewing the photos reminded me of our brunch at Patria Restaurant on King Street with friends of Boris on our last weekend in town. I chose the restaurant simply because I wanted to see the incredible cross-stitch installation in person. Thank goodness the food was as amazing as the interior design.

The cross-stitch wall is done on a metal screen overlaying the background image directly on the wall. The effect is stunning and the scale of this is impressive.

The installation is a collaboration between Commute Home, artist Laura Carwardine, and Marlo Onilla of Biography Design. Watch the video below to see how they pulled this huge project together.

Making of Patria Restaurant Cross Stitch Art Installation from Henry Salonen on Vimeo.

In Celebration of Spring Flowers

April 17, 2014

Yep. I LOVE spring.

Cut Paper Cube Sculpture

April 14, 2014

I’m continuing with my close-up look at some of the recent work I created for Voices From Another Room at Hot Art Wet City.

I wanted to explore different forms with the three dimensional paper cut vessels, and I had this idea of creating a sculpture of stacked cubes. Some of the previous vessels are pieced together from multiple pieces of paper, while others are created from a single sheet. In the case of these cubes, these were each cut from a single sheet of 8.5″ x 11″ black cardstock.

I found a template on creating square boxes and used this as my guide to the structure of the box, but hand drew each one in the end. The designs were created freeform and hand cut using an xacto knife. I made six of these in all with the idea they would cluster together on a plith. Each cube is 2.5″ x 2.5″ square.

As with the flowerbust installation shared previously, I think I will continue creating more of these to build further on the idea for a future show.

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City: Billy Marchenski & Alison Denham

April 8, 2014

The upcoming speakers at Hot Talks at Hot Art Wet City in April are two of the interesting people who live in my East Van building, Billy Marchenski and Alison Denham. We know each other in passing, and this was my excuse to hear more about they do as dancers, performers, and choreographers.

Alison Denham and Billy Marchenski present choreography and slideshow excerpts from their piece Slowpoke, a performance inspired by their experiences visiting the Chornobyl Exclusion zone in the Fall of 2011. Slowpoke starts off as a pilgrimage to rediscover lost roots and turns into an analysis of ideas of authenticity and human beings’ relationship to the eternal in everyday life.

Read the full description here.

Join us for this latest Hot Talk on April 24th at 7pm. Tickets are by donation and are available for purchase through Eventbrite.

Hot Talks: Billy Marchenski & Alison Denham
Hot Art Wet City
Date: April 24th, 2014
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street (at 6th Ave), Vancouver

Flower-burst Installation

April 7, 2014

What began as playing around in the studio last July, evolved into a long term side project by September, has become an intricate paper installation for Voices From Another Room.

I’d always had the idea in mind to create something larger from this series of small paper cut “flower-bursts” but until fairly recently, I had no idea how to bring them together. I’d considered stitching them, but decided the thinly cut paper was too fragile.

When I was experimenting with pining these to a wall, the pins were to delicate and difficult to penetrate the surface of the wall. I decided to use a piece of black foamcore as my base, which also allowed me to place and arrange the flower-bursts in layers. Eventually I figured out I needed to cut the foamcore into small circles of various sizes and have the installation become a modular piece I can arrange in various formations.

The end result is what you see above.

I’ve decided to keep making these and eventually create an even larger arrangement for a show I’m doing a year from now. At the moment I have just over one hundred individual paper cut flower-bursts, but how will it look with two or three hundred…?

Exhibition Photos: Voices From Another Room

April 3, 2014

Tonight is the opening reception for Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper at Hot Art Wet City. The show features work by Connie Sabo, Joseph Wu, Sarah Gee Miller, Alison Woodward, and me.

These are photos of the exhibition I took yesterday after we finished installing all the work.

Detail of work by Joseph Wu

Detail of work by Connie Sabo

Detail of my paper cut sculptures

Detail of my paper cut installation.

Collage work by Sarah Gee Miller.

Detail of work by Alison Woodward.

A collaborative installation between work by Connie Sabo and me.

Voices From Another Room: Five Artists Explore Paper
Hot Art Wet City
Dates: April 3rd to 25th
Opening Reception: April 3rd, 7pm to 11pm
Location: 2206 Main Street at 6th Avenue

Canvas to the Imagination

Rachael Ashe – Art | Craft | Life