A Studio Visit with Siobhan Humston

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On Monday I went on an artist road trip with friends, Val Arntzen and M.A. Tateishi, to do a studio visit with Siobhan Humston in Harrison Hot Springs. Siobhan has been doing a residency at the Ranger Station Gallery since September 2012, and is in the last few months of preparing for her upcoming show at the gallery.

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All the photos were taken as Siobhan was touring us around her studio space upstairs from the Ranger Station Gallery. She’s been working on a series of large mixed media paintings on paper and a few smaller paintings on wood panel, all of which are stunning. The subject matter is inspired by some of her recent struggles, and mixes imagery of the natural world and man-made items.

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It was a wonderful visit, full of food, good conversation, and beautiful weather. I think all four of us came away feeling very inspired and wanting to get down to work in our own studios.

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Siobhan’s show opens at the beginning of June. I’m really looking forward to seeing it.

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10 000 Hours: Celebrating 40 Years of the Craft Object

It’s the fortieth anniversary of the Craft Council of BC and in celebration they are having a whole series of shows around the province on the theme of 10,000 hours. I have one of my paper cut vessels in the show opening tonight at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts in Burnaby.

From the press release:

…Malcolm Gladwell identified 10,000 hours as the “magic number of greatness” in his book Outliers: The Story of Success. The artists featured in this exhibit are working towards 10,000 hours in their own expertise. They are intimately familiar with many aspects of their chosen materials –what they can and can’t do, where they can push them, as well as their metaphoric, communicative potential.

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‘10,000 Hrs’ presents a wide variety of mediums from ceramics, to fibre, from jewellery to sculpture and installation work. The show runs from April 15th to April 30th, 2013.

10,000 Hours: Celebrating 40 Years of the Craft Object
Shadbolt Centre for the Arts
Date: April 15th to April 30th, 2013
Location: 6450 Deer Lake Avenue Burnaby

Create: Cut Paper Typography

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First there was Art. Next was Make. Now here is also the word Create as cut paper typography. Little did I realize when I started that this would become a series, but creating words is a bit addictive.

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As with the previous two words, Create was freehand cut from a piece of 8.5″ x 11″ red card stock.

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All of the cut paper typography work is available as a print, iPhone case, and more through Society6.

Paper Cut Work: Wisps

I’ve been busy working on exhibition proposals for possible shows in the next two years, and it’s been a great excuse to project farther into the future with my work. I really want the paper cut work to be three dimensional and my initial explorations led me to the structural/sculptural pieces I shared last month. But I also started thinking about ways to play with layers, and shadows within framed work.

Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

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Wisps, 2013 – 12″ x 12″ cut paper in cradle panel

Using the inside of a wood cradle panel as my frame, I sanded and painted it with a light wash of white. I cut the three strips that make up this piece separately from the one piece of paper and all are attached by a tab of paper at the top and bottom. The middle piece is slightly deeper in the frame than the others.

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These are just some quick photos so the lighting isn’t quite right, but this way of integrating the paper cuts into the frame creates more depth. This is important to me because I wanted room for the paper cut pieces to cast interesting shadows, which will vary depending on the lighting.

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With each new exploration I feel like I’m getting closer to where I want to be with the paper cutting work.

Paper Cut Typography iPhone Cases on Society6

I’ve begun setting up a little shop on Society6 to sell prints and other products of some of my work. At the moment there are only six items available and all are cut paper designs.

If you love the cut paper typography series I now have three words available on Society6 as prints, and iPhone cases. I really love the cases and may have to get one myself. I’m hoping to make these available in a few other colours, so let me know if there is something you’d like.

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Keep an eye on Society6 as I add more work to my shop.

Make: Cut Paper Typography

After my initial explorations into cut paper typography with the word Art a few weeks ago I decided to choose a few more words to work with. Make goes very well with Art, and after today Create will be added to the series.

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To give you a sense of scale this is an 8.5″ x 11″ piece of red card stock, and the letters are between 2.25″ to 3″ high. I create the word in photoshop first, print it out and use this as a template to draw an outline of the letters. All the cutting of shapes is done freehand.

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I enjoy trying to form the letters from smaller shapes. It’s actually pretty challenging because I am working so small. I think it’s an excellent exercise to refine my paper cutting technique even further.

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Other than the word “Create” can you suggest other short words that would make a good addition to this series? I’m open to requests.

Celebrating Springtime

In Vancouver we are incredibly lucky to have a spring season that not only shows up as early as March (or even February) but also lasts for an extended period of time. Add in the bounty of flowering trees blanketing the city with pink and white blossoms, and you have the most wonderful time of the year to be in Vancouver (sorry Christmas).

I go a little bonkers taking endless photos of every type of flower I can find. My favorite combination are the pink cherry blossoms against an intense blue sky.

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Oh spring, how I love thee!

The Kokeshi Project

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This lovely little kokeshi doll is my contribution to an upcoming fundraising event at the Nikkei Museum. This is my first time contributing work to their annual BLOOM art auction, an event that supports the exhibitions, educational and cultural programs at the museum.

There are about 100 artists contributing work, and each was provided with a basic wooden kokeshi doll they could customize however they liked. I am very curious to see all of these dolls together on the night of the event.

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My doll is eight inches high (we had a few sizes to choose from) and I have decorated her head to toe in cut paper. Her face is cut from white paper, and her clothing and head dress are cut from red paper.

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The dress is one piece of paper, while her head is decorated with multiple pieces of cut paper. This was actually her first outfit which I cut to pieces and used a different way because I wasn’t happy with how it turned out (because I’m picky).

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If you’re interested in purchasing one of the dolls the silent auction is happening on Thursday, April 25th, from 7pm to 9:30pm. Tickets are $25 to attend and can be purchased in advance online using paypal.