Listen to the inspiring words of Neil Gaiman as he candidly shares the highs and lows of the freelance artist. There are so many quotable moments from his speech that I’ve listened to this three or four times the last few days.
It’s a great reminder to follow your own path, and to remember to enjoy the journey.
Boris and I have been lucky because for the past two weekends we’ve managed to get away from the city. We did a last minute trip to Galiano Island the previous weekend, and stayed on Bowen Island over the long weekend. I really needed the change of scene because it has energized me.
The Bowen trip was fun because we invited a pile of friends to stay with us, which led to much good food and plenty of laughter. The star of the weekend was Bosco the dog (pictured below) because he charmed and entertained everyone.
We had a few good days of almost summer weather, and then the rain came. I don’t think anyone really minded, because it was a good excuse to stay inside, read a book, play games, and cook.
Here’s to a promising summer full of excellent weekend adventures with friends.
Prepare yourselves because I am about to gush excessively and you may get some on you. (Enthusiasm that is).
I feel invigorated, inspired, and excited after visiting the 2012 Sketchbook Project travelling show. It was here in Vancouver for only two days with limited hours at W2 Media Cafe. I made a point to visit both days and see as many sketchbooks as I could, which worked out to about twenty-five or so of the thousands of sketchbooks people have access to during the tour. It’s the work I saw within that small sampling of books that has me so excited, as well as the concept of such a large-scale collaborative project becoming a lending library full of art.
I really admire the set up of the travelling show. Each visitor is required to sign up for a library card before they can access the collection. Then away you go, selecting sketchbooks based upon theme, location, or random draw. The librarian pulls two books at a time for each patron to pour over, and it can be a mixed bag of amazing to so-so work depending upon the skill of each artist.
I took photos of some of my favourites, which you can see here. It was fascinating to see all the different ways people used the exact same little sketchbook. I am definitely inspired to get to work on the 2013 Sketchbook Project, even though it’s not due until the end of the year.
Valerie Arntzen, Vancouver BC, Canada
Kelly Leigh Miller, Louisville KY, USA
Emily Horton, Tyler TX, USA
Rachel Ramm, Dublin OH, USA
Rolando Del Real, Granda Hills CA, USA
Melia Ramirez & Sandra G, Valle des las Palmas, Mexico
Brenna Darroch, Fairfax VA, USA
Andie Wolf, Toronto ON, Canada
Lucy Howard, Bicester, Oxfordshire, UK
If you’re unfamiliar with the Sketchbook Project, it’s a collaborative art project organized by Arthouse Co-op, a group based in Brooklyn, NY. People from all over the world sign up to receive a plain brown 5″ x 7″ book and what they can do within those pages is completely open. The final works are contributed back to the Brooklyn Art Library where they become part of the collection, which people can access both online and in person.
I’ve mentioned it previously because I took part in the Limited Edition project earlier this year. The 2013 Sketchbook Project is now open, and I highly recommend you take part. It’s been a HUGE source of inspiration for much of the work I’ve been doing so far this year.
Presenting a few more of the recent paper cut collage designs. These three are my favorites, especially the first two on the page because of the colour and paper choices. The best part about making these is playing around with origami paper and trying out different combinations together.
Paper Cut Collage 8″ x 8″ | Etsy listing
Paper Cut Collage 8″ x 8″ | Etsy listing
Paper Cut Collage 6″ x 6″ | Etsy listing
Each one is available for purchase in my Etsy shop.
My work is featured on My Modern Metropolis today. You can check it out here.
I thought I’d share the full interview questions and answers here, since most of what I wrote wasn’t used in the feature.
MMM: How did you get into altering books?
RA: Creating art from old books was an idea I processed in my head for a few years before I actually got serious about working with them. Up until about four years ago the primary focus of my work was photography, but as I transitioned from shooting film to digital I felt I needed to do more tactile work. I began creating mixed media collage, and this eventually led me to working with
paper and books. The big “AHA!” moment came when I picked up a copy of “New Directions in Altered Books” by Gabe Cyr and I realized the possibilities of creating three-dimensional assemblage work with books.
MMM: What’s the most challenging thing about creating these?
RA: The biggest challenge is to keep coming up with new ideas and ways to work with books. I am driven by the need to experiment, and prefer to come up with a different way of transforming the book with each succeeding work. What draws me to the process is that each one seems to have a new challenge in problem solving in order to bring my vision to reality. This is what keeps working with altered books endless interesting to me.
MMM: Why do you infuse nature into them?
RA: I live in Vancouver, BC, a city surrounded by mountains, forests, and the ocean. Nature is ever-present within the city, but I also don’t have to go far in order to immerse myself fully in natural surroundings. I think incorporating imagery of birds, trees, and even using found objects from nature in my artwork is a natural byproduct of the environment in which I live.
MMM: What meanings do they hold for you?
RA: I find meaning in the process of making the altered books more than what they represent. I’m much more interested in the meaning other people discover in my work for themselves. The audience often sees symbolism or meaning I hadn’t intended but I love that aspect of sharing work.
Thank you very much to Alice Yoo for featuring me.
Now that Got Craft is over I am sharing more of the paper cut collages I made in preparation. Each one is created from a piece of black card stock using freehand paper cutting with an xacto knife. I’ve been using brightly coloured and patterned origami paper to collage them, with an additional piece of cardstock on the back to add thickness. Each one is mounted onto a wooden cradle panel painted black.
Paper Cut Collage 6″ x 6″ | Etsy listing
Paper Cut Collage 8″ x 8″ | Etsy listing
Paper Cut Collage 6″ x 6″ | [SOLD]
I’ll share the rest of them tomorrow, and hopefully this week I will get to making larger pieces. Stay tuned….
I’d almost forgotten about processing and sharing the rest of my photos from the Tulip Festival I went to a few weekends ago. It’s been mostly overcast and rainy here lately so the eye-blasting colour is a pleasure to look at.
A full set of my photos from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival can be viewed as a slideshow on Flickr.
This weekend you can find me at Got Craft? with a whole pile of bird collage, paper cut work, and post cards.
Drop by, say hi, and see my latest work in person.
Got Craft?
Date: Sunday May 6th, 2012
Time: 10am to 5pm
Location: Royal Canadian Legion, 2205 Commercial Drive
I haven’t taken a self portrait in ages, and I miss it. It’s always been a means for me to explore portrait ideas, with myself as the very convenient model. I’m not sure why exactly I’ve lost the habit of doing them, but perhaps it has something to do with my waning interest in photography as my passion for paper has flared up.
This is actually a self portrait collaboration with Boris. I loved the idea of a photo of myself surrounded by the red tulips, with me in my red jacket. Unfortunately I didn’t bring a tripod with me so Boris had to play that role. He didn’t quite get the angle I was hoping for so I made some additions and adjustments in photoshop. The results: an endless field of tulips and nothing but the colour red.
On the weekend Boris and I did a day trip across the border into Washington to see the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. It was a warm sunny day, perfect for spending time outside looking at masses of flowers.
When we drove up to our first stop (a farm with giant fields of yellow and red tulips) my mind was a bit blown even though I knew what to expect. It’s one thing to see pictures, and quite another to have such intense colours shining back at you and stretching on into the horizon.
What you can’t see here are all the other people hanging about wandering through the flowers. I managed to make it look as if we had the place to ourselves.
I have more photos to upload and will be adding them to this set on Flickr.