Studio Mates
- At February 28, 2021
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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In February I started a program through the Gathered Gallery called Studio Mates. It connects artists virtually to give and receive feedback on their work. In the critique sessions artists share their work and ask questions, which helps to keep the feedback specific and focused. I have been able to gain insight and perspectives from artists working different styles and mediums and coming from different academic backgrounds. It’s a really positive group and I have received so many great suggestions from my Studio Mates it is going to be invaluable as I start to put together a new series of work.
I am still going strong with the 100 day project. Today was swimmer 54. I felt like I had a breakthrough on day 49 where the pieces started to feel like they are me. Actually I thought I had lots of breakthroughs along the way! ‘This is it’ moments when I thought I had it figured out but it was really just another step on the journey. Maybe there will be more to come. I am really pleased that I decided not to share them on social media because I haven’t got caught up with likes or trying to be consistent with the outcome too soon in the process. I thought I might be flagging by now but I am still really enjoying the possibilities. Life is imitating art and I have been spending more time actually at the pool teaching myself to tumble turn. It’s so much fun, I feel like a kid again in the water.
Onwards to swimmer 55!
Rituals – The 100 Day Project
- At January 24, 2021
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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Happy New Year! I kicked off 2021 by committing to the 100 Day Project. The idea is to do something creative everyday for 100 consecutive days. I have chosen to work on paper with watercolour and collage using swimmers as my theme. Swimmers represent to me the crossover between land and water and the conscious and the subconscious. (Incidentally I taught myself to swim front crawl last year as the pool remains open and I am loving it).
Getting up early I complete a swimmer before I do anything else in the day. I light a candle and put on classical music and it has become such an enjoyable daily ritual. I am really allowing myself to experiment with each piece. These won’t be posted on social media as I don’t want any pressure to produce something insta-perfect. The project doesn’t officially start until Jan 31st but I started early and I am currently on day 19. I have already seen a progression in the work – the progression is definitely not linear though. Some days they work out and some days they don’t. On the days when they don’t work out I try and remind myself that I allowed myself to experiment and that is just as valuable as having a lovely finished piece!
Covid Life – Virtual Opening Saturday December 12
- At December 07, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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Through the Covid lock down I was able to continue life drawing via zoom. I was skeptical at first – how would it work not seeing the model in person? It actually had some surprising advantages. Firstly some of the models used multiple cameras so there was a greater variety of angles to draw the model from that would not have been available in the in-person sessions. The unusual angles provided a real challenge. Secondly I was able to work with a greater variety of materials than I would be able to in the in person group sessions. In my studio I was able to experiment with watercolour, ink and collage and anything else to hand. I hope online life drawing is something that continues when the pandemic ends. Xchanges Gallery has put together an online show of some of the work from these sessions “Covid Life” together with the annual members show “A Moment in Time”. The virtual opening for both shows will take place on Saturday December 12 at 4pm and you can register here for the Zoom Link.
A Determined Vision
- At November 23, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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I am delighted that my painting Coral Masters was chosen by the City of Victoria for inclusion in their kiosk animation project. You can see Coral Masters at the Centennial Square Parkade and checkout out the map on their website for details of all the locations of work by some super talented local artists. This project embodies Create Victoria’s vision “to thrive as a place for everyday artistic encounters.”
A state of semi-lockdown has returned to Vancouver Island. I was due to take part in the annual member’s show at Xchanges in December however it was cancelled to try and slow the spread of Covid-19. Understandable but dissapointing. Xchanges will be going ahead with an online exhibition of the drawing from the virtual life drawing sessions that took place during the first lock down and I will share a link to that when it is available.
Before lockdown commenced I got together with a small number of my Thrive Ladies to see the Emily Carr – Fresh Seeing exhibition at The Royal BC Museum. It was lovely to see my group in person and the show was really well put together and comprehensive. The main focus of the show was Emily’s Paintings completed during her time in France. I felt that I really got to see another side to her work. It was so interesting to see her influences and the development in her style. I was inspired by Emily’s determination to continue experimentation and growth in her work even in the face a of a conservative audience when she returned back to Victoria.
Another show that I was able to get to was Liam O’Sullivan’s, Nature Preserve at Xchanges Gallery. Liam experiments with “absurdism and humor to present a landscape of playfully fluctuating possibilities, that we may explore and celebrate these unsung parts of ourselves.” The show consisted of mostly monochromatic, large scale, oil painting and some video installation. Looking into the landscape paintings I was reminded of the feeling of seeing a forest at dusk when the mind imagines seeing faces and wild animals in the shapes of branches and rocks (if you are interested, I just discovered that there is a word for this phenomenon and it is ‘pareidolia’). I really enjoyed this show, the landscape element of the paintings felt familiar and yet simultaneously jarring and otherworldly.
I continue plugging away in my studio and getting together with my fellow artists via Zoom for now.
Eerie Sketchbook
- At October 13, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
- 0
What a year! Pandemic, lock down and a health scare. Through it all I have been working in the sketchbook I bound earlier in the year. I covered the book in road map of Ontario and the Lake Erie is prominent on the front, so I like to think of this as my eerie sketchbook. For this sketchbook I mainly drew from dream imagery for inspiration and many of the drawings are strange, watery and subterranean. I had a lot of fun with this using watercolour, paint pens, collage and gouache. I enjoy so much having these to work on alongside my painting I am going to make a couple of new books today. My the detective ‘Hit and Sunk’ series continues to evolve and I will be updating the gallery this week with new images and progress shots can be seen on my Instagram account.
Summer Art Show and Sale
- At July 19, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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Now that the VAC has re-opened, they are showing the work of over fifty artists in their main gallery space all summer long! I am happy that my work “Diving Down Just to be Deeper” has been included among them. I stopped by the show on Saturday and it is looking fabulous.
Come see original art by some of Victoria (and Vancouver Island) artists working in drawing, ceramics, jewellery, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture, installation, mixed media.
Each Wednesday the VAC is hosting artist salons where select contributors to the show will speak about their work for a small audience. RSVP: arts@vicartscouncil.ca to reserve your spot!
Gallery Open 12-5, Tues to Sat – 1800, Store Street, Victoria, BC
The Incoming Tide – Masks
- At June 28, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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Masks have been on my mind. I poured the painting to the left -The Incoming Tide – some time ago and decided to pick it up again. Sometimes images jump out at me from the poured paint but on this one there was nothing obvious. When I started work on it I was listening to a podcast by the Jealous Curator with sculptor and jewellery designer Debra Baxter. I turned back to the painting and there it was, as clear as day, a mask, less than 10 seconds later Debra Baxter talked about her wish to create a stone mask, my jaw dropped. Debra had been talking about the kind of mask we are all wearing now to stop the spread of Covid19 but I have been thinking about their relevance right now.
Masks are being worn to prevent the spread of disease and at the same time masks are falling away. We are openly talking about racism and our complicity. The mask of politeness, not wishing to offend our opinionated relatives or clients, and the mask of silence is being removed. Seeing the mask in the painting in its watery setting also made me think of Edward Colston the Bristol Slave Trader whose statue was tossed into the water and how it had been swept there by a tide of anger at the continuation of the kind of injustice his ‘benevolence’ was built on. I know this is just the beginning but I feel excited about the possibilities for all the empty plinths that are left behind. This is a unique moment for cities and towns to build something together in equality, art that is relevant to this and future generations.
Staying Connected
- At May 03, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
- 0
I hope this latest blog post finds you well or at least coping. I am used to spending a lot of time alone as I work from my home studio so that hasn’t been a problem for me, however my husband is also working from home now, so I actually have to get used to having more company than usual. There are a few things I miss – going out for coffee, the cinema, restaurants and seeing art in person and not through the screen. Believe me, I am very aware how I lucky I am that these are the only things I miss. I have been making time to get into the studio and I have been working in my sketch book. It took a little while to get into some kind of routine though.
Real life has gone virtual and like millions of others I have learnt to use Zoom so I can catch up with my Thrive Art Studio group, it is really nice to check in with them and hear how they are handling this time. I have also discovered that Youtube has life drawing sessions online which is awesome to get some practice in. As all of the summer art events are cancelled or postponed, online events and exhibitions are set to be the norm. The Victoria Arts Council is sharing local art through a new online magazine called ‘Until’ and instagram accounts like Quarantonics and the Quarantined Art Gallery have emerged to help artists share their work.
I love how artists are looking after each other right now – sending each other art postcards, selling art to support other artists or turning their skills to making masks. Even just being open and honest about feeling crappy or unfocused can help reality check the expectation that this is the time to be super productive and write that novel or learn a new language. I am really grateful for my online art community and I feel like connections are being reinforced. I hope that this is something that continues when we get to the other side of this, in the meantime, take care of yourselves!
All Bound Together – Handmade Sketchbook Tutorials
- At March 25, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
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After a bout of illness I got myself together and bound a new sketchbook. I won’t be mailing this one off to the Sketchbook Library – it is just for me! I am going to use it to play and test out some new images and ideas for my next set of paintings. Someone recently asked me how I make my books so I thought I would share some links to the YouTube video tutorials that I followed to make my handmade sketchbook.
- How to make a hard cover and signatures (pages) for your Coptic Stitch book
- Coptic Stich Book Binding
Things you will need: a bone folder, awl, thread, needle, glue, cardboard, cutting mat, scissors, craft knife and paper.
The tutorial said to use wax thread but I didn’t have any and just used a regular acrylic thread, which worked fine and is holding together with out any problems.
If you want to get inspired by the possibilities of bookbinding here are a few accounts to check out @arquitecturadellibro on Instagram and Judith Coe on Pinterest.
The world news about Covid 19 has sporadically turned my brain to mush and making art is about the only thing that quietens it down right now. I can highly recommend trying the tutorials to make your own handmade sketchbook and giving your brain a break from the news and stress.
Art Demonstration at Opus Art Suplies, Victoria
- At January 20, 2020
- By Amber
- In Studio Journal
- 0
I will be doing a free art demonstration at Opus Art Supplies in Victoria on Saturday, January 25th, 12:00 – 1:30 P.M.
I will demonstrate how to incorporate dream imagery into your artwork. Learn how to build your own dream vocabulary and layer up acrylic paint to express your subconscious side. Techniques to be discussed include paint pouring, transferring your sketch to canvas and the use of mediums such as glazing fluid and gel medium. Gain confidence to express your inner world using acrylic paint.
Please visit Opus Victoria or contact them at 250-386-8133 or toll free 1-800-524-6555 to register