Canvas to the Imagination

In an unexpected turn of events I now have two art shows up at the same time, and I couldn’t be more thrilled.

A few weeks ago I had an email from the Granville Island Cultural Society wanting to confirm the load in date of my show at Waterfront Theatre. I was taken aback because when last I’d been in touch with them regarding this particular show it was supposed to be rescheduled for another time because nothing was booked in the theatre space. To give a bit of backstory, I’d applied and been accepted in early 2009 to show my work at Waterfront Theatre in 2010 from the beginning of March to mid-April. When I’d followed up in September of last year to start preparing for the show I was told the theatre wasn’t yet booked for the time period of my show which meant no one would be in the space to see my work. I was disappointed but I decided to reschedule for another time rather than having a show in a space no one would be visiting.

Fast forward to two weeks ago and colour me surprised (and pleased!) because the show is still on afterall. The timing couldn’t be better because I am now a full time artist and getting more work out into the world is a good thing.

Luckily I’ve had a very productive period of art work creation over the last few years and I had a show on hand that was ready to go in the very short amount of time I had to prepare. In my application for Waterfront Theatre I had proposed to show the metal prints because at the time it was the most consistent body of work I had. Even though I had originally intended to create new work for this show I’m not disappointed. I’ve always wanted to show the large scale metal prints again and not just have them gathering dust in storage.

I’ll be having an artist reception towards the end of March, and will post details here once the date is confirmed. Boris has a few photos up of the work hanging in Waterfront Theatre.

Trees I have Dreamed
March 1st to April 11th, 2010
Waterfront Theatre, Granville Island
1412 Cartwright Street
Vancouver BC

Since I’m on a mission to try new things with my art, I thought I’d put out a public call for feedback on the artist statement I’ve been working on for my altered books. Normally when I do this sort of thing I send it to friends for review and editing, but since this is for a wider audience anyway I’m happy to have everyone/anyone read it.

Please read it over and leave me a comment (if you’re reading this on Facebook, please come to my blog). I’d love to hear from you. The full set of the altered books can be found on Flickr.

About the Artist:
I am a Vancouver-based artist working in photography, mixed media collage, and altered book arts. My work is motivated by a need to experiment with different techniques and styles, as well as to explore the spontaneous ideas that come from the visual inspiration of nature, found objects, and connecting with the work of other artists. I love to play with my artwork and I use a strong sense of colour and striking compositions to create imagery that is personal and expresses my love of nature and imagination. I am inspired by the natural world, bright colours, and by finding magic in every day life. My work has been shown in Toronto, Vancouver, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco as well as published in numerous books and magazines.

About the Altered Books:
In 2007 I attended an art event in Portland called Mississippi May featuring the work of local emerging artists. My favorite works in the show were the magical illustrations of Timothy Karpinski, which he’d painted onto the pages of old books. I loved this idea because I’d never seen books used as a canvas before, and the illustrations created their own story against the backdrop of the page. I was inspired and decided to apply the idea using photos, as my work at the time was primarily photography. This led to experimentation using inkjet image transfer paper to print my photographs within the pages of books. I was never quite happy with the results because the image transfer process didn’t mix well with the aged and brittle paper of book pages. My book arts ideas went on the backburner because I felt I didn’t yet have the right tools to create work in the way I envisioned.

In late 2007 I began to work in mixed media collage and spent the next two years developing a feel for techniques. My primary medium has always been film photography but as I worked more with a digital format I craved the satisfaction of creating work “hands-on”. In September 2009 I came across a wonderful book called, “New Directions in Altered Books” and suddenly my long neglected desire to work with books was reignited. It opened up a whole new world of artistic possibilities for me, and creating collage in three dimensions.

Creating altered book art is as much about the process as it is about experimenting with the materials I’ve used to create each work. I often start with a rough idea of something I wish to explore which can be inspired by the objects or materials I have on hand, or by ways in which I want to alter the pages of the book itself through cutting, folding, etc. The composition and material choices for each book evolves as I work on them, often over several days. Every altered book I complete is a handmade original creation, and I’m addicted to making them.

(Thank you for reading and leaving a comment if you choose).

(Edit: As was bound to happen, I’ve already started editing since posting this earlier today…)

Remember back in November when I wrote about attending the Hot One Inch Action show? I’d submit work to it but wasn’t accepted. Well good news! The organizers of the event, Chris Bentzen and Jim Hoehnle, have decided to do a medalist round selecting work from designs that didn’t make it into previous shows, and mine was chosen. Dude, I am so excited!!!!

From their website:

Ever wonder what doesn’t make it into the show? We have a difficult time choosing buttons to be in Hot One Inch Action and with 100-150 submissions each year, there’s a lot of great art that doesn’t make the cut. So, to kick off 2010, we’ve chosen 50 buttons not in the 2004-2009 shows to be MEDALISTS. Bags of 5 random buttons will be available for $5. Get a button you don’t want? Trade with the people around you!

The exhibit is one night only and will take place on Saturday February 6, 2010, with doors open at 8pm. Boris and I will be there, and I’ll have a bag of buttons featuring my design to give away and trade. I can’t wait.

Hot One Inch Action Medalists
W2 Culture + Media House – 112 W Hastings Vancouver
Saturday February 6, 2010
doors open at 8pm

The Utatan was the annual big group project organized by the Utata Group on Flickr in the summer of 2007. It was the most ambitious project the group had organized to date and the end goal was to produce a print version collecting a selection of the submissions. Two of my photos were selected for publication a few months after the web version went live and then I waited to hear when the book would be published. And I waited, and waited, and then waited some more, and then I forgot about it completely.

And yet two years later I finally have a printed copy of the Utatan in my hot little hand because (to quote the dust jacket) “it was the project that would not die.” Utata is a volunteer run group and the ebb and flow of the lives of the people involved were what dictated the timeline for the project. I’m just glad the book is done now, and I don’t really care how long it took. I get the impression producing a book is like that anyhow.

It’s very exciting to be part of this publication because Utata has been one of my favorite flickr groups over the years. If you’re interested in purchasing a copy yourself the book is available through Blurb.com.

A few months ago I read the wonderful book Animal Vegetable Miracle written by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s an entertaining and inspiring recounting of the year she and her family spent growing their own food. The book includes meal plans and recipes at the end of each chapter that are based on what is available by season. Some of these, like the asparagus and morel bread pudding, sound mouth-wateringly good.

About three quarters of the way through the book there is a chapter where Barbara describes making her own cheese. And not only does she make her own mozzarella but she does it in just thirty minutes! Boris and I were really excited about this (Cheese in half an hour!! WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN CHEESE!!!!!) and I started to track down the ingredients. This ended up being the most complicated part because though the cheese is made with only three ingredients – milk, citric acid and rennet – I had no idea where to look for two of those three. In the end it was Anne who found everything for us and we owe her a cheese of her own in thanks.

For future cheese makers based in Vancouver here’s where to get ‘em: citric acid can be found at most pharmacies and rennet is sold at Bosa Foods. After that it was easy-peasy and we ended up with delicious cheese, fresh and hot. The mozzarella was tasty and went beautifully with the heirloom tomatoes we’ve been picking up at the Farmers Market throughout the summer.

The 30-minute mozzarella recipe is available as a PDF download from the Animal Vegetable Miracle companion site. Boris and I have made the mozzarella twice now, the first time with friends and the second as a tag team effort. Two key things we discovered: resist the impulse to keep stirring the milk because it’ll separate into curds and whey faster when still, and add a bit more citric acid when the milk reaches the highest temperature mentioned in the recipe.

We’re still both AMAZED that cheese making can be this easy and this fast. And thanks to the recipes included within the box of rennet tablets there are more cheese experiments we’re hoping to try in the near future.