The Mesmerizing Drawing Machine of Sarah Gee

September 21, 2012

My friend Sarah Gee (who I featured in an artist interview back in April) recently released a video sharing the process behind the making of her concentric drawings. It is absolutely riveting to watch as she works.

In the words of Sarah Gee: Making these takes a huge amount of concentration, and a fair amount of determination. The spin is very fast (see the remote control in my left hand: I continually change the rotational speed according to the pressure on the nib), a steady hand is crucial, and layer after layer of colour is applied very deliberately. Considering the simplicity of the primal form, there is a great amount of variety in the finished drawings: some detailed and edgy, some foggy and mysterious.

You can view more of these drawings on her website. Sarah also has a show coming up at Gundrun Tasting Room in Steveston, which you should attend.

Upcoming Events: The Word On The Street

September 20, 2012

The Word On The Street is Canada’s National Book and Magazine Festival that happens every September in six cities across the country.

I’ve been attending this event for years, and have fond memories of wandering Queen Street in Toronto with my mom as we rummaged through the tables of books that took over the street for the day. For a bookworm like me it was a dream come true, especially when bargains are involved.

This year I will be sharing my work at The Word on the Street as an exhibitor. Look for me in the Alice MacKay Room as part of Word Under the Street, where you can also find zines, alternative comics, and book artists. I’ll be the one transforming unwanted books into sculptural artwork.

The Word On The Street
Date: Sunday September 30th, 2012
Time: 11am to 5pm
Location: Library Square, 350 West Georgia Street

Commissioned Work: Creating a Blog Header for KimWerker.com

September 17, 20121 Comment

I am very happy to finally get the chance to reveal this beautiful paper cut design I was commissioned to create at the end of the summer.

As you can clearly read in the hand cut letters within the composition, this was a custom piece created for Kim Werker. She was in the process of redesigning her website and wanted something unique and handmade to use as the new header. I also helped her with a few other visual parts of her re-design, and moved her over to InMotion Hosting to speed up her website overall. Kim is a writer, editor, creative thinker, and crafter and felt a paper cut piece would be the perfect thing to incorporate into the new site design.

We discussed a few ideas but Kim’s only requirements were for something with minimal colour, and for book pages to somehow be the background of the piece.

My first step was to choose a font to work with, one that wasn’t too intricate or delicate to cut out by hand, and would read well within the busy design. We both agreed on Hoefler, so I created the text in photoshop and printed it out to use as a template to guide my cutting. I do this by placing the printed text on top of the black card stock and carefully cutting through both.

With the text completed I moved onto the rest of the design, all of which I created through freehand cutting. I did a bit of practice work both in my sketchbook and on a separate piece of black card stock before I worked on the final piece. I wanted to work with different shapes rather than a single repeating shape as usual, and needed to get a feel for it first. I cut for hours and came away with a very delicate intricate finished design.

For the background paper I cut down scraps of book pages left over from an altered book project and collaged these together. I wanted the text to flow in all directions and become a detail rather than a feature. The final step was to bring the paper cut and the collage together, and remove the extra card stock.

I am very pleased with how beautifully this paper cut design came together, and it looks absolutely stunning as the header on Kim’s new website.

New Work At Bird On A Wire Creations

September 12, 2012

If you love the paper cut collages I’ve been making recently, you can now find four of them at Bird on a Wire Creations on Main Street.

Paper Cut Designs | 8″x 8″ on wood panel

Paper Cut Designs | 6″x 6″ on wood panel

Go check them out. The work is even more dazzling in person.

Bird on a Wire Creations
2535 Main Street @ East Broadway

Work-In-Progress: Working in White

September 11, 20121 Comment

At this time of year I typically start planning for the Eastside Culture Crawl because I like giving visitors to my studio something new to look at. For the previous two years I chose to create a series of altered books to present at the Crawl, but this year it’s going to be paper cut work.

I decided to work with white paper for this series because I wanted minimal colour for what’s turning out to be very intricate designs. I’m building on the way I was working when I created this paper cut piece earlier this year but cutting closer together. It’s amazing what can happen with the repetition of a single simple shape.

Pictured here are work in progress photos of two of the five pieces I’ve created so far for this series. Each is based upon using the same crescent shape but the overall form and movement within evolves slightly differently.

I haven’t yet decided whether these will be backed with white or black paper once they’re framed, but I think they’ll be striking either way.

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

Canvas to the Imagination

Rachael Ashe – Art | Craft | Life