Meditative Drawing

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On Friday afternoon I found myself doodling with a silver gel pen on card stock, not with any purpose in mind or end goal. I wanted to keep my hands moving while my mind wandered and I worked through something completely unrelated in my head. It was soothing to move the pen across the page making a grouping of curved lines, and then eventually straight lines interconnected into clusters of triangles. (None of which is pictured here).

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Untitled

I’ve drawn like this before in my sketchbook but the silver gel pen on black paper makes it something fascinating and special. The initial drawing I did on Friday led to a whole lot more over the weekend, because when I like something I am obsessive about it. I’ve completed four of these on 8.5″ x 11″ paper.

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Untitled

The drawings are a meditative process on par with the paper cutting work I love to do. My mind becomes a calm blank if I allow it to, and I don’t see any further than the next line or cut. It feels as good as the smooth glide of the gel pen across the page.

One Self Portrait a Month: Leftover Pieces

Just in the nick of time, with a few days to spare, I managed to shoot the first self portrait in a new series. As mentioned in a previous blog post, I’d been thinking about taking one self portrait a month for the next year. A simpler version of 52 Weeks of self portraits, but with the same level of creativity.

I knew if I could talk myself into doing one within the month of January then the project would be a go. Mission accomplished, and the project is rolling.

January - A chaos of paper scraps

When I started this shoot I had a different idea in mind to use the paper scraps, and of course it evolved. These are all cut away from finished paper cut work, and have been collected together in a baggie I keep stashed in my studio. The pile of paper and my face were shot separately and made into one through the magic of Photoshop.

Going forward with the series I’m going to attempt to incorporate my paper work into each self portrait. It’s a good way to bring photography and paper together at last.

Paper Cut Work: Black Hearted and Shattered

A friend suggested making paper cut hearts using black paper instead of red, and it led the designs in a completely different direction than the previous ones. I used triangles as the repeating shape within the form of a heart.

The first version has randomly cut triangles. I cut these freehand without a ruler or drawing anything other than the outline of the heart and lines to centre things on the page.

Abstract paper cut heart-7

Abstract paper cut heart-6
Cut paper heart made of triangles on Etsy »

With the second design I decided to go with a more structured pattern of triangles working from a centre point within the heart. I drew lines radiating from the centre point and used a ruler to guide me as I cut. The end result makes the heart seem shattered. Take from that what you will…

Abstract paper cut heart-5

Abstract paper cut heart

Abstract cut paper heart on Etsy »

A New Self Portrait Project (I Hope)

Over the past few weeks I’ve been considering what my new projects will be for this year, and I realized I would like to do something with self portraits again. I can’t stand the idea of taking a self portrait a day, and I don’t want to redo 52 weeks of self portraits, but I want the project to have a specific timeline in the same way. I had a self portrait project epiphany one day as I was coming back from a walk, and realized I should shoot one a month.

Hand and eye coordination

It’s the perfect amount of minimal commitment, and gives me plenty of time to work on idea. But now I need to move this idea from the thinking to doing phase.

I’ll only be fully committed to the project once I shoot the first photo. I seem to be procrastinating getting around to it, which is why I decided to write about it here. Nothing like a public statement of commitment to get one motivated…I hope.

Valentine Cut Paper Hearts

I’m a little obsessed at the moment with cutting these heart-shaped pieces. I’ve found myself working on a few ideas in my head, which is always the sign of an obsession.

Heart paper cut work-7

I completed two different designs earlier this week. The first is a piece with two hearts, one large, and one small. I drew the heart outlines first and then created the form from an interesting mishmash of different shapes. This is cut from an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of red card stock, with the larger heart measuring at 5.25″ x 4.25″, while the smaller heart is 3″ x 2.75″

Heart paper cut work-9

Heart paper cut work-6

The finished piece is listed on Etsy, and is available for purchase.

Heart paper cut work-3

This is my favourite of the hearts I’ve made so far. I decided to create the work from the repeating crescent shape I often use in my work, and the results were amazing. It makes for a mesmerizing design that plays with the eye (just what you want from a heart).

Heart paper cut work

Heart paper cut work

This piece is also available in my Etsy shop, with more to come…

Heart Shaped Paper Cut Work

Earlier this week I was feeling uninspired and not really sure what I wanted to do next with my paper cutting work. At the same time an upcoming project unexpectedly went on hold so I decided to take the time to play and explore ideas for Valentine paper cut pieces. This is something I mean to do every year but I never make time for it. I don’t have any special feelings about Valentine’s day, but I do love the colour red.

Heart paper cut work-4

Heart paper cut work

I’ve had this idea of a paper cut heart in my head and it felt so good to get it out. I drew the outline and freehand cut the design with an xacto knife. The heart is roughly 4.5″ x 6″ on an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of card stock paper.

Heart paper cut work-2

Heart paper cut work-3

Heart paper cut work

Making time to play with a simple side project, and to work with coloured paper rather than white, was just the thing I needed to get inspired.

The paper cut heart is listed in my Etsy Shop as an unframed original. I plan to create a few variations of more hearts as I have time.

Love: Cut Paper Typography

With Valentine’s day coming up I thought it was finally time to create a cut paper typography version of the word love. I’ve had a few requests for this word to be cut, and it’s the perfect fit for the design and red paper. The previous words were Art, Make, and Create.

Love- Paper Cut Typography-4

Love- Paper Cut Typography-2

While the letters were traced from existing typography the design was cut freehand from red card stock. The finished size is 8.5″ x 11″.

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Love- Paper Cut Typography

I have listed this in my Etsy shop as an unframed original. I’ll have a few more Valentine themed pieces to share soon.

Creative Mornings Vancouver: Making By Hand

It’s been a month since I did my talk at Creative Mornings in December, and I’m only now getting around to sharing the video recording. The audio is a little quiet so be sure to turn up your volume.

I am very happy with my delivery of the talk because I put a lot of preparation into it, and it paid off. I felt relaxed and confident on stage, and said everything I wanted to say. The audience was engaged and attentive during the talk, and I’ve had great feedback on the whole thing. I spoke for about thirty minutes but it went by in no time for me.

I have a few more posts to write related to the talk, including one about the process I went through to develop the whole thing. In the beginning I had no idea where to start in putting it together but luckily I had many friends who are experienced speakers to ask for advice. It’ll be helpful to others to share what I learned from the whole experience.

Typo: Typographic Art at Hot Art Wet City

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Beyond the utilitarian use of letterforms, typography can be beautiful art. This show features typographic-based works from Bennett Slater, Scott Sueme, and Frazer Adams, plus guest artists Ben Knight, James Knight, Erin Gibbs, Brandon Cotter, Ali Bruce, and Rachael Ashe.

Typo: Typographic Art
Hot Art Wet City
Dates: January 9-25, 2014
Opening reception Friday January 10 from 7pm
Location: 2206 Main Street at 6th Avenue