Stitch n Bitch n Butch

Some fabulous downtown Toronto peeps have started a monthly Stitch n Bitch at a cafe just up the street from me.  I couldn't make the inaugural event last month but had a great time at the October meet up, and I brought my needlefelting.  I figure the butches need to represent.

I drank swanky iced tea and made a little monster I call a Tricopus (photographed at home on some awesome paper).

Mom's in the show!

I love a little craft challenge, with some odd parameters.  Sure, if it's a competition I like to win, but mostly on arts and crafts I wouldn't expect to, I just like to play.  And I find that it's easier to be creative within a few odd rules somehow.  Makes me think of new things.

And so it was when, earlier this summer, I saw the call for the second annual 6x8 Exhibition at the (Japanese) Paper Store on Queen Street.  The idea is that the first 200 people who come in and ask for one of their numbered pieces of identical 6x8 inch handmade washi paper (white, heavyweight, raw edges) get one to take away, make into something or put something on, and bring it back by September 1.  The results are then displayed in the store in September.

Here's the call for submissions:
http://www.thepaperplace.ca/wp/2011/06/07/call-for-submissions-6x8-an-exhibition-at-the-paper-place/

So I thought ... why not?  And ... I wonder if I could do something worthy of submitting?  The call encouraged artists to focus on the paper (it being a paper store and all) and so I thought of qulling.  Now back in October when I did that crazy ten days ten crafts binge, I tried quilling, which I hadn't done in years, or much ever.  Quilling is taking strips of paper and curling them and them shaping them into pictures.

Here's a fabulous example of a great artist doing some quilling:
http://en.paperblog.com/jitesh-patel-quilling-artist-51265/

Ok quilling it was going to be, on my piece of 6x8 washi.  What paper to cut up and actually curl?  I thought back to an earlier trip to Value Village where I piced up an old dictionary, you know the kind where the pages are a little trasparent, kind of a rice paper?  Yeah, that.  OK, I liked that idea, cutting up the dictionary pages to quill so that you could see the words, not legible but visible, on the paper.  I don't know why I thought to try a picture of a face, but I did.  And then that turned into a picture of my mom's face.  Using the dictionary to depict her is especially meaningful as she loved language, reading, had been a teacher, and an avid (if not strategic) scrabble player.

So I toiled away at the coffee table one night with an exacto blade and my favourite metal ruler and cut away strips of wordy paper.  Then I curled them around the thin end of a paintbrush, and slowly filled out a light simple sketch of my mom's face.  I did the big features first, and then later cut shorter plain white strips from the edges of some pages to fill in the skin.  I had been less than careful, shall we say, with the glue and lots showed around the outside when it dried.  Thankfully I had made it on a practice piece of the 6x8 paper, so I cut the shape out and glued it onto the official numbered piece.

I didn't make it to the little reception last night, but today I stopped by the store and saw all the pieces displayed.  Including mine.  I met my goal - I was happy enough with it to not be embarassed to see it amongst many artists pieces.  And so there's my mom, hanging in the show.

If you have a chance, I really encourage you to go by the store and see all the submissions.  There are some truly lovely pieces, and the variety is really fun and creative.  I am in awe of the delicate and compelling painting ones.

What's my next project???

Robot Tattoo Day!

August 31, 2011 I finally got my robot tattoo and I love it.  LOVE it.  The colours, the shading, the design, the size, the placement.  I'm very happy.  It took 3.5 hours of tattooing and the first two seemed pretty easy, the last hour and a half hurt a lot and laying still is not my strong suit.  Still, it was more than worth it.  Can't wait for it to heal.  And to get my next one.

Love is better than Anger

Wednesday August 24, 2011 I visited Nathan Philips Square in front of Toronto City Hall to witness and participate in the spontaneous free people's tribute to Jack Layton. 

"you are not gone, you are not forgotten, thank you"

The concrete walls and ground of the square had been filled with chalk love messages to Jack.  The rain had come earlier that day and washed many away, and left others dark and wet.  Even the rain felt appropriate.  It was quiet and still and introspective.  People left their thoughts and wishes and they faded and washed away.  The most common words I saw were "thank you Jack."

"Jack - Thanks for restoring my faith in good people.  Wish you could see the love you've inspired.  The rain may wash this from the ground but never from our hearts."

Jack would have loved the attention, and he would have loved the heart, the sharing, the community and the possibility for change this experience has inspired.

"Never apologize for working with others."

Appropriately, the mood of the square was gratitude and warmth, and even humour.

One of my favourites: "With great mustache comes great responsibility" :)

Love and Solidarity to you Jack, your family, most of all Olivia.

Now time for us all to continue the work, roll up our sleeves.  "So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic.  And we'll change the world."

Vacation in Printmaking Land

This summer I'm enjoying the pleasures of home and good visitors instead of travelling.  One week of my vacation was spent in a school board course on printmaking.  I've done the course before, and students are allowed to use it as a workshop, pursuing their own projects with help as needed.  I skipped the etching component and spent more time on silkscreen and linocut.  Here are the results.

Vintage ties, round 2.  A previous year in this same course I made a few ties with CHIVALRY and geek on them.  I wanted to do more and after some fb input and debate, I settled on debonair, fierce, and a new version of geek as the words.

I love the use of text in visual arts and wanted to try something along those lines.  For inspiration I went to the book of poetry penned by my best friend Alison Calder, and sure enough found something very special.  The poem is called This is History and I love it.  I borrowed and altered and collaged together images of a rabbit face and wolf with the poem.  I was worried the text would be too small to silkscreen but it turned out really well and both Alison and I are thrilled with the final piece. :)

Fans of Fancybutch (if any exist) will recall that in the October craftorama I made stencilled hankies with butch symboles.  I wanted to make a set of these on silkscreen for various applications.  The fourth symbol changed from pi to a baseball cap.  My own tshirts with this set in silver ink make me giddy with boi glee.

My silkscreen turtle printed well on fabric and not as sharply on paper.  I plan to try again with different inks to see if that helps.  In the meantime, one four year old is getting a cool new green tshirt.

The biggest surprise this time around was my newfound love of the linocut.  I started with a little 'solidarity' piece.  Didn't realize til I was cutting how much I had bitten off with the lettering details.  Thankfully I did remember they had to be backwards.  The result reminds me of vintage political posters, and that is a good thing in my books.  Definitely going up in the office.

Realizing I had time for another project I got this idea of three panels with the urban animals of Toronto, each in giant size against the skyline.  What was I thinking?  The planning, drawing, and cutting of the three panels was a lot of work, but really good experience cutting for me.  And the result, well, see for yourself.  Worth it.  And inspires me to do more linocut.

So there's a slice of how I spent my summer vacation.

Parking lot play

Sunny spring morning trip to my favourite Zellers and what should I see in the parking lot but a tiny old fashioned and mostly empty fair!  So of course I dug my camer out and sauntered over.  These have been tweaked in photoshop for my sense of joy for the bring colours of the day.

Fimo you do!

A lovely afternoon with a friend making my first fimo creation ever.  Of course, Yoda it is.