How Creativity Works

September 6, 20122 Comments

I was very excited to come across a copy of Jonah Lehrer‘s book, Imagine: How Creativity Works, at the library last week. I haven’t read any of his previous work but I’m familiar with him as a regular contributor to one of my favourite podcasts, Radiolab. The book made for interesting and thoughtful reading material over the long weekend because Lehrer is a very good storyteller and can make even the most complicated of subjects accessible.

It was only after finishing the book that I learned of the controversy surrounding it. Apparently Lehrer fabricated much of what he’s quoted from Bob Dylan in the book, and many of his scientific facts are incorrect. (Read more about it on NY Times website) It’s a situation that boggles my mind because he has in essence fire-bombed his whole career and destroyed all credibility.

Funnily enough, despite the fudging of facts I would still recommend this book. Much of what he explores about creativity reaffirms what I’ve learned over the past few years of working full time as as artist. I do my best work when I get out of the way, conversations with co-workers (or in my case, fellow artists) are essential to inspiration and creativity, and sometimes ideas seem to come out of nowhere but it’s just because they’ve been percolating for awhile, etc.

Creativity is an incredibly arbitrary subject not easily defined, which is why I feel there is still value in reading the book despite the controversy surrounding the author.

On Display as an Artist in the Window

September 5, 2012

This Saturday I’ll be working away at a new series of paper cut designs as the featured artist-in-the-window at Bird on a Wire Creations on Main Street. You can find me in the front window of the store from 11am to 4pm. If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to visit this lovely little shop, now’s your chance.

Artist in the Window – Bird on a Wire Creations
Date:Saturday, September 8th, 2012
Time: 11am to 4pm
Location: 2535 Main Street, between Broadway & 10th
Vancouver BC

Those Who Make

August 29, 2012

I get really inspired when other artists and craftspeople share the process behind their work. The internet is a terrific resource for finding videos along these lines. I recently came across the blog, Those Who Make, and their curated collection of videos and interviews. Their content covers a wide range of materials, disciplines, and subjects, but all grant the viewer an over-the-shoulder view as people make.

Here are two of the videos I found on Those Who Make:

I’ve only watched a small selection so far, but if you’re looking for inspiration this is a good place to go. Set aside about half an hour and watch a few.

Work-in-Progress Paper Cut Collage

August 23, 2012

I haven’t yet finished working on the latest paper cut collage design but I thought I’d share a few work-in-progress photos. I’ve been continuing with the intertwining shapes inspired by a recent commission, but this time I created a more flowing overall form.

I collaged this with a combination of origami paper and security envelope paper and then glued a second piece of card stock on the back before cutting away all but an outline of black paper.

The final step will be to paint the cradle panel black and then mount the paper cut to the surface of the frame.

Introduction to Altered Books Workshop at Blim – Fall Session

August 21, 2012

Coming up in September I’ll be teaching another altered book workshop at Blim. The session is three hours long and I try to pack in as much information as I can to get people inspired about working with books.

Please view the set of photos on Flickr of work created by students in previous classes.

For further details and to register for the class, please visit the Blim website.

Altered Book Workshop at Blim
Date: Saturday, September 22nd, 2012
Time: 2 to 5pm
Cost: $74.80 ($65 + tax + $2 service charge)
Location: 115 Pender St. E, Vancouver

Cut Paper Evolution

August 16, 2012

One of the recent commissions I’ve been working on turned out to be a great opportunity to try something new in cutting paper. I was asked to create a paper cut header for a client’s web site, and decided to switch things up from my usual way of working with a single repeating shape.

I worked through the idea in my sketchbook first, in order to get a feel for combining these varied shapes. I then moved onto a piece of black card stock to warm myself up for creating the final design as I was feeling a bit rusty. I chose three basic shapes, a crescent, a leaf, and something that could be a leaf or flower, and cut the whole thing free-hand while moving organically across the paper.

The final design for the client, which you can see a tiny portion of here, is an intricately cut piece of paper combined with a collage of book pages. The letter e is part of the text that is at the centre of all those shapes, and reveals my client’s name.

I’ll share more about the finished work once it goes live on her website.

Little Green Dress Projekt

August 13, 20122 Comments

As mentioned previously, VanDusen Gardens is host to an exhibition of land art called Earth. My friend Nicole Dextras is one of the five participating artists in the show. Her project is called, The Little Green Dress Projekt and she is creating a series of twenty eight unique dresses from plant materials in collaboration with twenty eight different women. The idea is that each woman (chosen by Nicole) provides their dress measurements, a bit of background related to clothing, and also the plant material to make the dress.

Because I don’t have a garden I needed to source the dress materials by foraging around the neighbourhood. I was eyeing all sorts of things before I settled on tansy, a wild plant that is in abundance at this time of year. I hacked down piles of it (as pictured below), being mindful of the many bees who seemed to be enjoying it as a food source.

The hilarious part was loading it all into my “art cart” and transporting it on the bus to VanDusen Gardens. The tansy is probably the most awkward item I’ve ever had to take on the bus, because the stalks are almost as tall as I am. Nicole was thrilled with the material, and I was relieved to hear I’d brought more than enough for her to work with.

Nicole Dextras – Little Green Dress Projekt

The results of this collaboration is a beautiful dress that I would love to wear if tansy wasn’t incredibly itchy against the skin.

Visit the Little Green Dress Projekt site to view more of the dresses.

A Visit to Seattle

August 8, 2012

My birthday was two weeks ago and to celebrate Boris and I decided to get out of town and visit Seattle. We are lucky to have friends there we can stay with, one of whom was celebrating her birthday on the same day.

I really love Seattle. It’s an interesting city with plenty of the things I enjoy – art galleries, shopping, culture, delicious food, and good people. Our recent visit was the first one in awhile where we had no agenda and could just make things up as we went along. I loved it.

Bosco and me. He’s a tiny lap dog in a large leggy body.

We visited the Woodland Park Zoo on our first day in town. I normally dislike zoos because they can be depressing places filled with unhappy animals but I was inspired by a Radiolab podcast segment mentioning the Woodland Park Zoo. This zoo was one of the first to create more realistic and stimulating environments for the animals.

It was an inspiring experience. I got to watch keepers fly four different types of raptors, penguins swimming at eye-level, a huge Komodo Dragon, lions having sex, hippos in a pool, and feed a cheeky little bird on a stick.

The antique carousel at the Woodland Park Zoo.

I was enjoying being a tourist while we were in Seattle. It was a chance to visit places I hadn’t been before but also revisit a few spots I hadn’t been to for years, like the Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park.

Also the Olympic Sculpture Park where I came across the spectacular mural by Sandra Cinto, which I mentioned previously.

These wildflowers were everywhere in the sculpture park.

On our last full day in Seattle we mostly relaxed with our friends instead of going exploring. We did a walk through Seward Park and sat on a bit of grass overlooking Lake Washington and enjoyed this lovely view.

Not pictured here, all the delicious food we ate, both at our friend’s place and in restaurants. I like to eat but I don’t care to photograph it.

The Artsy Fartsy Garage Sale

August 7, 2012

If you have fond memories of shopping for interesting art supplies at RubyDog’s Art House (as I do), and have been missing the shop since it closed down last year, then this is the sale for you.

Leanne (owner and proprietress of RubyDog) has just announced she’ll be having an art supplies lawn sale this coming Sunday. It’s called The Artsy Fartsy Garage Sale and you won’t want to miss it. She’s also invited other people to join her to sell their own wares, so there’s a potential for some very interesting art-related shopping.

The Artsy Fartsy Garage Sale
Date: Sunday, August 12, 2012
Time: 10:00am to 3:00pm
Location: 2649 Quebec St. (corner of 11th and Quebec)

Earth Art Exhibition

August 3, 2012

VanDusen Gardens is hosting an exhibition of Earth art, and I was thrilled to attend the opening yesterday evening. It feels like a big deal to have an exhibition of this type of work in Vancouver, especially with the calibre of the artists involved.

I took photos of each of the five artists work. It will be interesting to view each piece again in a few weeks to see how they change and weather.

Nicole Dextras, The Little Green Dress Projekt