After several weeks in Seattle, catching up with friends, I’ve had a full week back in Vancouver, with lots lined up to do. Let’s see how I did…
Viewing
In my Vancouver explorations, I stopped in to Outsiders & Others, which is showing Kim O’Brien’s work, Entangled. Wow, hard-hitting — I was warned! But it was invigorating to see something so honest. Soft pieces were strung from the ceiling, along with tufted work on the walls, all food for thought as we struggle with difficult topics and how to address them.
In another outing, dotted with visits to lovely Mount Pleasant shops, I stopped in to both Paul Kyle Gallery & Gallery Jones. At the latter, they had a big show from Fiona Ackerman, a mix of realistic, painted elements over what looks like streetscape collage. The pull between realism and abstraction is eloquently expressed in her statement.
Upstairs at Paul Kyle, Duets featured James O’Mara’s strong photos shown as vertical diptychs, united into one piece. Each of them was like a two-piece collage, connecting elements between them to create a stronger image. I am very drawn to this simple idea, the simplest version of the grid, and a reminder that conversation is a powerful force.
On a more personal level, I had a studio visit with Marion Llewellyn, whose work is textured, minimalist, and yet compelling — just the way I like things! I saw her booth at the Vancouver Art Fair, but missed catching her in person. She was a delight to talk art with, and I’ll look for more chances to keep in touch.
And where has this site been? I only just found this publication of collage, Revue Collé, and dug through their archives this week. Enjoy!
Meetings & Making
Wednesday evening meetings with the Arizona Collage Collective are a great start to my weekly structure with these posts. I worked on another spelling book spread while we recapped the Collage-o-Rama show that several of us had work in.
During Monday’s SLMM studio session, I played around with the weekly image from the Paris Collage Collective. It was lovely: an ink painting of bamboo, a perfect layer to try out against my various scanned collages.
Last week, I was so excited to try stitching that I glossed over how hard it was to thread a needle with 6-strand floss. Arrgghhh! But asking for help (friends & Youtube) led to some ideas, and I was able to keep this baby-steps project alive, with some tests on more watercolour backgrounds.
I have several more starts to play with, and then I want to try printing them as collagraphs — wouldn’t that thread make a lovely mark, if all goes well?
Applying
I had several shows to consider entering this week, and realized I don’t have as much new work as I’d like. So, I narrowed it down to one online show, and sent older work, but it was a great reminder to keep actually finishing work, not just tweaking all this work in progress, like I’ve been doing with my Aerials series.
As I was working on that, I heard back from a previous application — accepted! The online gallery art-fluent.com agreed to include this piece, from my minimalist series Quietude, in their recent show /?ab?strak(t)/. The juror and founder, Amy Matteson Neill, has been very supportive of my work, and to artists in general. The way she lays out a show to flow through concepts and hues is just beautiful.
Pondering
In my musings about studio options, I ran across this definition of an artist, from an organization that offers spaces for creative practice, 221a. To them, an artist is someone who:
- Has developed skills through training (not necessarily in an academic institution) or practice in any creative discipline
- Is recognized by artists working in the same artistic practice
- Has a history of public presentation or publication
- Seeks payment for their work
- Actively practices their art
Does that describe you? I think I’m pretty well covered, though a friend pointed out that the second item is hard to document. Would that be a measure of the shows I’ve been in? To me, there’s something missing, too: can I describe my work, my goals, and the questions I’m trying to answer? I’m always thinking about that, and I get clarity any time I try to express it, here or in person. Where do you sit with how to define an artist?