February 26th, 2009
This is a collage that almost doesn’t look like a collage. Last week I wanted to make something really busy, crazy and colourful. I went through some of the old magazines I have tucked under my couch (for just such a purpose) and tore out anything colourful and patterned. It was fun to layer these together and create this crazy eye-blasting composition. The bit of text I included, “the only constant is change”, is from a book of slogan stickers given to me by Zak. It seemed appropriate to the collage and the state of things last week.
P.S. A thanks again to Lloyd Budd for upgrading WordPress on my site while we hung out at Northern Voice last weekend. We did a trade, and my part was to show him how to use his Rebel XTi. I don’t do this very often and a lot of camera stuff is just second nature now, so it’s always interesting for me to try and explain things like aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. I think it rocked his world just like his upgrade of WordPress rocked mine.
February 25th, 2009
Cameraphone pic taken at the opening.
I’m a little behind on posting about this because the show actually opened two weeks ago, but I have a letter in the Love Letters show at Grace Gallery. I enjoy writing letters and decided I had to do something to submit for the show. My letter is written to Boris, but using more “poetic” language than I would normally write in. I wasn’t sure if it was any good (read: incredibly sappy.) until I went to opening night and read it again. I wrote it by hand in one draft, trying to be as articulate and neat as possible since it was going to be in a show. Boris has only seen this photo of it but I’m pretty sure he had the mushies when he read it.
I hope you can read the words at its current size because I couldn’t quite bring myself to retype them for further sharing. Even though this letter is hanging in a gallery and has been read by many people, it is still a very personal piece of work.
More about the show opening on Scout Magazine.
February 13th, 2009
I’ve decided to put all of the metal prints I have listed in my Etsy shop on sale. The regular price is $45, now on sale for $35. This does not include shipping. Below are detail shots of two of the eleven prints.
Each is a handmade aluminum metal print mounted on a wooden cradle frame. Size: 7″x 7″ with an image size of 5″x 5″. These prints are made using a heat transfer printing process, and the imagery are my photos taken with a holga camera.
rashe.etsy.com
February 11th, 2009
Only once before have I had to ship large works of art to a gallery too far away for me to deliver by hand. This was at the end of 2007 for a group show in Los Angeles. I didn’t really know what I was doing and despite my best efforts both pieces, unframed metal prints that were 24″ x 24″, were damaged in transit. Despite a few dents they still made it into the show, thanks to quick repairs by the gallery owners.
The experience made me nervous about any future participation in shows outside of Vancouver but my desire to build a well-rounded art CV outweighs my fear of damaged art.
In my preparations for an upcoming group show in San Francisco (which I will blog about in more detail closer to the opening), I decided to go all out and have a proper shipping crate made for the framed print I needed to send. Kirsti had come across the work of Vevex and really liked the look of their shipping crates. I decided to give them a try myself, gulping a bit about what it might cost me.
They were able to give me a quote by email based on the measurements of my work, and even sent me back a detailed spec sheet I could use to figure out shipping costs. The crate took two days to build, which was much quicker than I’d expected, and was delivered right to my door at an additional cost ($12). (This was awesome for me because I don’t have a car.) I was really impressed with the quality of the crate and almost felt it was a shame to send it off. The whole thing cost me $70. I consider it an investment in future shipping needs for my artistic career.
The crate comes lined with ¾” polystyrene foam and allows some room for additional wrapping. A large plastic bag for wrapping is an additional $3.00, and bubble wrap is an additional $1.50.
The crate is certified for worldwide shipment and comes with a collection of ‘fragile’, ‘glass’ and ‘this side up’ labels.
It is really beautifully made. I kind of want more of them… 
Vevex.com
(604) 254-1002, fax (604) 677-5709, or send an email to: info@vevex.com
February 9th, 2009
I’m a bit behind on scanning and uploading my weekly collages, as I seem to be on quite a few things. As you can see this one is from the beginning of January. I’m very happy with how this turned out, and I absolutely love the paper in the background.
