Creating An Installation One Piece At A Time

September 23, 20133 Comments

Back in July I began a side project involving the creation of small individual paper cut pieces that resemble flowers or fireworks. Since then I’ve been slowly working away at this at irregular intervals with the goal of making as many as I can.

All these months later an I have made about eighty of these flowery bits, and I intend to keep going. They are cut from drawing paper painted with blue ink and each is about 3.5″ inches wide. It’s very satisfying to see the tiny pile of them grow.

The idea behind this is to create something larger from these small pieces. At the moment I’m not yet sure what form this will take or how these will all come together, but it will eventually be a striking installation.

For now my goal is to create one hundred and figure things out from there. Stay tuned for more updates…

Circles and Animals: The Turtle

September 20, 2013

The Turtle is the last of the Circles and Animals series for awhile as I’ve shifted my focus to other projects for now. I’ve been pondering ideas around creating an installation out of the circle cut layers of paper but haven’t yet figured the whole thing out.

The Turtle is the eighth piece in this series, all of which are made from two layers of circle cut paper within a wooden cradle frame.

Previous work from the series -> (Rabbit, Mouse, Fox, Snail, Owl, Crow, Koi)

Circles and Animals: The Rabbit

September 18, 20131 Comment

The character of the White Rabbit is what started this series late last year so until recently I wasn’t interested in making yet another bunny. But it’s an animal well suited to the abstract background of circles.

Tomorrow I will share The Turtle paper cut I made at the same time.

Previous work from the series -> (Mouse, Fox, Snail, Owl, Crow, Koi)

Circles and Animals: The Mouse

September 16, 20131 Comment

I’m jumping ahead a bit in sharing new work for the Circles and Animals series. I actually completed The Mouse after two other pieces in the series I have yet to share. This was commissioned by a client who was looking for new artwork to hand in their new Gastown offices.

I shared a few options for paper cutting work with the client and he decided to go with a circle cut layered piece featuring a mouse. He’s pretty darn cute, and I’m surprised I didn’t think of this animal sooner for the series.

One thing of note about this piece is, I went back and re-did the tail after the pieces were already assembled and glued. It was a bit of tricky business to cut away the original tail from the mouse and reattach the new one, all without wrecking the piece in the process.

As of last week, The Mouse hangs in its new home in The Jibe offices in Gastown. Check out more work from the Circles and Animals series I’ve shared previously -> (Fox, Snail, Owl, Crow, Koi)

Hot Art Wet City at Autumn Shift Festival

September 11, 2013

This Sunday September 15th my work and I will be amongst a collection of artists representing Hot Art Wet City gallery in a booth at the Autumn Shift Festival. Look for us in the parking lot at Main and 7th Avenue, on the north-west corner.

The Autumn Shift Festival takes over Main Street between Broadway and 7th (including the Laneway one block west of Main Street), and brings all the local businesses out into the street for one big party. There will be a BBQ competition, a fashion show by Blim, booths from Science World, and the Vancouver Aquarium, live music and more.

Representing the Hot Art Wet City booth will be artists, Alice Vogelaar, Andrea Hooge, Sean Karemaker, Josue Menjivar, Russell Alton, Drew Young, and me.

Opus In-Store Demo: Freeform Paper Cutting Techniques

September 8, 2013

This coming Saturday I will be on location at Opus Art Supplies Hastings Street location giving an in-store demo of paper cutting techniques. The demo is FREE but you must register by phone (604‑678‑5889) to reserve a spot as space is limited.

Full details about the demo can be found on the Opus website.

Freeform Paper Cutting Techniques
Opus Downtown
Date: Saturday, September 14th, 2013
Time: 2pm to 4pm
Location: 207 West Hastings Street

Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City with Vivienne McMaster

September 6, 2013

Our September speaker for Hot Talks @ Hot Art Wet City is Vivienne McMaster. She is a Vancouver photographer specializing in self portraits, and is a facilitator of a series of online courses helping people tap into self-love and self-reflection through photography.

Self Portraiture…More Than Just Selfies

I’m so looking forward to speaking with you about the transformative and healing possibilities of self-portraiture, sharing some of my story of finding my way back to myself through the art of self-portraiture.

Read the full description of Vivienne’s talk here.

Come listen to Vivienne speak on Tuesday September 24th at 7pm. Get your tickets through eventbrite soon because they usually sell out.

Hot Talks: Vivienne McMaster
Hot Art Wet City
Date: September 24th, 2013
Time: Doors 6:30, talk 7pm
Address: 2206 Main Street, Vancouver

Cut, Fold, Shred at Florida Craftsmen Gallery

September 5, 2013

If you happen to be in St. Petersburg Florida in the next while, I have a few pieces in “Cut, Fold, Shred” at Florida Craftsmen Gallery. The show opens tomorrow evening and runs until October 19th, 2013.

Florida Craftsmen presents a showcase of paper art from beautiful carved, folded, cut out paper objects and realistic 3D paper sculptures to altered books.

Roam through “Falling Leaves”, an installation created by members of the community using decorative papers created by Jackie Peters Cully.

Participating Artists: Rachael Ashe, Marsha Bard, Lucrezia Bieler, Sarah Butz, Jeff Henriquez, Cindy Mason, Dennis Meloy, Mark Noll, Aida Sheets, Michael Velliquette, and Elise Wehle.

September 6th – October 19, 2013
Opening Reception: Friday, September 6th, 5:30-8:30pm
Location: 501 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, Florida

Drawing As Meditation

September 3, 2013

Earlier this year (which feels like eons ago) I bought a small sketchbook with the intention of getting into drawing again. I’d intended to do it at least once a day but quickly discovered I didn’t really have the time to dedicate to it regularly. Last week I took a break (one where I just allowed myself free time to do whatever I wanted) and managed to pick things up again.

I think of these as doodles rather than drawings, mostly because they are not “for” anything other than the process of creation. They suit my obsessive nature as an artist, and I think of them as meditative drawings. I was curious to discover this is actually a thing.

It is very calming to draw without intention. I often start with a very loud mind and slowly it will quiet the more I draw. I have the same experience when I cut paper.

These are just a few of the doodles I created last week. I’m hoping to maintain doing these types of drawings as part of my practice going forward.

Paper Inspiration: Artists Exploring Three Dimensions in Paper

August 27, 2013

I’m taking a bit of a break this week, and since I haven’t yet had the chance to document some recent works of my own I’ve decided to share a few interesting pieces by other artists. The theme to my selection is paper sculpture.

Valeria Burgoa creates large installation work from tea bags. She has more lovely work on Flickr.