Cut Paper Evolution

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.

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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.

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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.

Paper cut detail

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

Little Green Dress Projekt

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.

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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

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 is a giant lap dog
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.

Woodland Park Zoo
Woodland Park Zoo

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.

Woodland Park Zoo
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.

Seattle Asian Art Museum
Seattle Asian Art Museum
Seattle Asian Art Museum

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

Olympic Sculpture Park

Olympic Sculpture Park
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.

Lake Washinton

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

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.

RubyDog's Art House

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

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
Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Nicole Dextras

Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Nicole Dextras

Urs-P. Twellmann, 57′ Zipper
Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Urs-P. Twellmann
Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Urs-P. Twellmann

Nils-Udo
Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Nils-Udo
Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Nils-Udo

Michael Dennis, Confidence

Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Michael Dennis

Chris Booth
Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Chris Booth

Earth art exhibition at VanDusen Gardens - Chris Booth

Earth exhibition runs until September 30th at VanDusen Gardens.

Inspiration: Encontro das Águas at the Olympic Sculpture Park

I had a lovely time hanging out in Seattle last week with Boris and friends. It’s been a long time since I’ve been there without a specific event, so for this visit I made a point of getting out for an arts and culture fix every day. One of our adventures was visiting the Olympic Sculpture Park, which I’d last been to years ago with Hendrik.

My favourite piece was a stunning mural hand-drawn by artist Sandra Cinto, and a crew of volunteers. It doesn’t come across in the photos but the whole thing is actually silver. It’s a beautiful, highly intricate drawing that made me want to run off and cut paper to emulate some of the line work of the waves.

Encontro das Águas mural

Encontro das Águas mural

This behind-the-scenes video reveals some of the in-progress drawing of the mural done by Cinto and her volunteers. She also talks in detail about what inspired the piece.

The collaborative aspect of the creation of the mural makes me love the artwork even more. I’m also viewing silver markers in a whole new exciting way.

Flight of the Albino Crows at Illuminares

It was a beautiful thing to finally see the installation I’ve been working on for the past few months come together at Illuminares on Saturday evening.

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Illuminares 2012- Illuminated crows-7

It took Boris and I two hours to set it up in the afternoon. I was a little worried at the time because it was so windy during installation I thought the crows might blow away. Thank goodness I went with wire to suspend the crows because it kept them from tangling together.

Illuminares 2012- Illuminated crows-4

Illuminares 2012- Illuminated crows

Just as I’d hoped, the location was a perfect spot for the crows. These photos don’t quite do it justice but there was a magical atmosphere surrounding the installation, and people gazed at the work with a sense of wonder. I really enjoyed observing people’s reactions to it.

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Illuminares 2012- Illuminated crows

Many friends stopped by to hang out at our blanket under the tree, which made for a very fun evening.

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Illuminares 2012- Illuminated crows-6

A BIG thank you to Boris for his tremendous help throughout the whole process, and to Scott and Sam for helping de-install at the end of the evening. I could not do half the things I do as an artist without the continued support of friends.

Why We Create

Opus Art Supplies posed three questions to artists visiting their store: Why do you choose to create? How does the creative process affect you? What makes a creative individual?

Watch this video to learn their answers.

It’s not very easy to come up with an answer to the question: Why do you choose to create. It was one of the questions Ryan asked during my interview with Opus that I struggled the most to come up with an answer.

Unleashing a Murder of Crows at Illuminares

This week I’m putting the finishing touches on the installation of paper crows I shared at the beginning of June and will be presenting it publicly for the first time at Illuminares this Saturday.

Murder of crows

lluminares Lantern Festival is a yearly summer event organized by Public Dreams Society. If you’ve never been before, this is a one night only community event featuring performances, fire spinners, lanterns, and many things to inspire.

Wip crowd

This year, Illuminares is a celebration of the light within us – of togetherness and creativity, sustainability and artistic expression, of rebirth and new beginnings. Illuminares is about you and your community. As participants, you are integral in making this beloved community event happen and our hope is that Public Dreams inspires you to create, to imagine and to participate. For 24 years, you’ve been the true architects and creators of Illuminares, and we’re once again creating a platform for you to showcase your creativity and Let Your Bright Light Shine!

This is my first time taking the leap from audience member to a participating artist. I’m very excited about this (and intimidated) because it’s a chance to challenge myself and work larger than I have in a good long while. I hope you’ll join me this Saturday July 21st as Illuminares returns to Trout Lake Park.

Illuminares Lantern Festival
Date: Saturday July 21st, 2012
Time: 6pm to 10:30pm
Location: Trout Lake Park