A journal of studio life, upcoming events and random thoughts.
I am thrilled to have three of my 100 day project swimmers included in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria Winter Small Works Show and Sale. Pieces are at a size and price point perfect for gifting or treating yourself. The Show features the work of 70 local artists, so get yourself in the festive mood and go check it out. The show runs from November 19 to Jan 29.
ArtSpacific, Langley Arts Council’s annual BC wide, juried competition and exhibition opens tomorrow at 6pm @ the Aldergrove Kinsmen Community Centre. I have three paintings included, so if you are in the Langley area stop by and check it out. The show runs to November 24th.
September has been a month for refilling the well, taking a vacation and visiting art shows. We went to the mainland for a week and squeezed in a visit to the Vancouver Art Gallery. I very much enjoyed seeing the group exhibition Vancouver Special and Jan Wade’s Soul Power.
Also this month I attended Rain Cabana-Boucher’s show, Distance, at Xchanges; Her work included a really powerful selection of monochromatic paintings and sculpture depicting among other things her experience of being part British settler and part Michif, memories of home and reflections on homelessness in Vancouver during the pandemic. It was a pleasure to talk with Rain and learn about her practice. With the first Truth and Reconciliation Day a few days away this is a timely show. Her work ‘Repeat’ made comparisons between the hunting of buffalo to near extinction by settlers and history repeating itself with the current decline in salmon stocks. ‘Article 10’, a work designed to be displayed as a flag, highlights the continuing abuse of land rights granted to the First Nations. Truth and Reconciliation Day is about readdressing history and acknowledging the suffering caused to Indigenous Communities, Cabana-Boucher’s work makes it clear that that these injustices are not a thing consigned to the past.
The second show I got to was Fear and Distemper by Kyle Labinsky at Errant Art Space which continues to October 10th. It was really interesting to gain an understanding of the political commentary underpinning the paintings which at first glance seem light and colourful. Many of the paintings were worked on un-stretched canvas which had been hemmed at the edges. I loved the incorporation of sewn elements into the work. Glitter and googly eyes provided an interesting contrast to more serious underlying political narrative.
In my studio I continue to experiment on my next series. I am still not quite ready to share this just yet. There has been some slowdown in the work rate in September. I have struggled with poor sleep due to allergies and asthma, which is always a problem this time of year. After a couple of days of heavy rain, my allergies are gone and I am starting to feel like I am coming back to myself again.
I am happy to report that my art work is included in this set of two books that explores force fields.
Available to pre-order now, it will ship September 2021.
Published by the lovely people @perennial_press, here’s what they have to say about it:
“A force field is a barrier that protects someone or something from attacks or intrusions. What are the force fields we hold up? What are the force fields we fight against? Fifty-five creatives explore these questions in the form of dreams & tangents, declarations & imaginings, whispers & visions”
Head over to Perennial Press to pre-order your copy.
Gorgeous cover art by Isalina Chow. ❤
Painting BIG – In June I was fortunate enough to assist fellow artist, Rose Cowles, with a large three story mural. The mural is intended to welcome the Olympic Basket Ball teams arriving at the Delta Hotel for the Tokyo Olympic qualifying tournament. Having never painted a mural before I got to see how things are set up for painting BIG. It was a welcome change from the solitude of studio life and fun / interesting to interact with people passing by as the mural progressed. Luckily the weather was clear and warm and our wall was in the shade. It was physical work climbing up and down the scaffolding and the next day I really felt like I had done a full body workout. A new fitness class is born – ‘mural-a-size’. I would like to say a big thank you to Rose for including me in the project. Swing by the Delta and check it out.
Virtual Art Guide – I am happy to be included in the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria’s TD Artists Guide for the annual Moss Street Paint-in that will be happening (virtually) in Victoria this month. Click here to view the guide.
First of all, let me say that I hope you are all enjoying the arrival of the summer weather! There are always a tonne of things to be done around our home in Sooke but as you can see from the photos, late spring, early summer can be pretty idyllic.
New Series I have been taking a deep dive into planning a new series of paintings. Using my experiences from the 100 day project I am going to allow myself an experimental phase and let the work develop organically. As always, I am going to use a dream as the launch point for the paintings and I have been doing some research on the themes. Writing to clarify my ideas has also been a big help. I will keep you posted as the series progresses.
Art Show The Xchanges annual members’ exhibition opens in the gallery Friday, June 25 at 7:00pm and runs weekends until Sunday, July 4, 2021. I will be showing my painting ‘Trawling for Birds’. Trawling for Birds was a piece that I started for a demo and finished during the first lock down last year. It’s a painting for me that will always remind me of the high levels of anxiety, uncertainty and sadness at the time. I got a sneak peak at a few of the pieces in the exhibition when I dropped my work off and I am really looking forward to seeing the show.
May was largely taken up with completing a door for the Habitat for Humanity Victoria’s online auction, ‘Open a Door’. The doors will be auctioned to raise money for their affordable home ownership program.
When I saw the call out I knew I wanted to participate and not only because it’s a great cause. I wanted to see if one of my 9″ x 12″ swimmers could work on a much larger format. It has been a challenge as I usually work on canvas but I am pretty happy with the result.
The swimmers represent to me the crossover between the conscious and the subconscious – land and water. I like the idea of swimmers being able to travel between two worlds. I feel like the door also plays into this idea of opening up access to something that is normally closed off. An entry way into something deeper within ourselves.
Who knows, maybe painting on doors will be the start of something?
The auction will run from May 28th to June 13th. 
This month saw the NDP backtrack on their promise to protect old growth from logging. The Box Car Six art collective coordinated a campaign to encourage John Horgan to do the right thing by sending him hand decorated postcards. Lets be clear, I am not against logging, provided it is done responsibly and sustainably. To log trees that are over 800 years old seems short sighted in the extreme. If Victoria had a building that was that old you bet it would be slapped with a heritage preservation order. Vancouver Island’s old growth is just as much a part of the Island’s heritage as its historic buildings. It’s time to stop looking at these trees as a resource and give them the protection they deserve to preserve them for future generations. If you agree contact John Horgan and let him know what needs to happen before we become the generation that saw more value in these trees dead than alive.
SOCIAL