In my skipping between Seattle and Vancouver, this was the week I needed to be north, because my studio mate Joan, and her friend Susan, were here!
Viewing
The Vancouver visit centered around the Vancouver Art Fair, which was at the downtown Convention Centre over the weekend. I was a little worried when I didn’t recognize any of the exhibitors, but we agreed to make a go of it.
Happily, we were pleasantly surprised by the conversations and the work we saw. I chatted with several local artists, as well as a couple of people with leads on printing options.
Joan and Susan connected with Joshua Watts, whose exquisite screen prints reminded them of work they’d just seen at the Bill Reid Gallery downtown. Well, small world — he’s related to that artist!
Joan was particularly taken by a Portuguese artist, Joao Artur da Silva, whose work spanned many years, presented by Perve Galeria.
And we all loved this piece that came off the wall beautifully. It’s acrylic on foam board, with joss paper, 31″x26″x6″, thanks to the booth hosted by Green Apple Art Center.
We agreed the outing was worthwhile, and the weather cooperated — we ended the art tour with a sun-basking session by the waterfront. Ahhhh!
Meetings & Making
My scribble sketches are working so well, I needed to make more! I tried them as layers, and found myself repeating the same elements. Here are three more that were deemed scan-worthy.
They’re not meant to be finished products, or perfectly composed — they’re just scribbles and collage. I want to retain that sense of play, so that I don’t have the pressure of creating a masterpiece in a sketchbook. But some definitely catch my eye more than others, and can move into production, too. Noted.
Similarly, I’m trying to keep a sense of experimentation as I slowly work through the many scanned pages of my collaged spelling book. It can take the fun out of things to make it into too much of a project, but it helps to have an end goal too. Thus, I have committed to trying SOMEthing with each scanned pair of pages, to see where it leads.
This set makes it clear to me that every experiment with these collaged pages is, once again, not going to be a masterpiece! But the idea came up this week of creating a book from the new work, a satisfying cycle of completion from the original spelling book. Whether every composition is book-worthy, though…??
Shooting
I have some photography plans in mind, so that means I need pictures. On a sunny Tuesday, I headed to the Van Dusen botanical gardens, grabbed myself a membership so I can easily return, and got to shooting. Unlike a previous visit that was a tad early in the season, there were lovely blooms to be had.
I’ll have a go at these, either by adding textures, my usual route, or by trying some things from the Collage Makers Summit workshops: reducing to black & white, and printing for collages.
Showing & Connecting
Another two pieces, the ones I was pondering a couple of weeks ago, have been sent off for a (hopefully) spring show. The theme, Clocking in for Unpaid Labo(u)r, is a strong one, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the submissions come together. I spread the word, and an artist friend hopes to join me in the project!
How about you? I hope you got to enjoy some outdoor time — I always appreciate warm sunshine after what feels like constant drizzle.