Indian Summer Art Show

3 of my images from the "Every Leaf Has A Story" series have been selected for th 2009 Indian Summer Art Show at the ARtisans Galleria, presented by the Community Arts Council of Richmond. Over 70 new works by artists vrom Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island will be exhibited from August 19 to September 30. There will be an Opening reception on Saturday August 22 from 1 to 3 pm. Click on the image to visit the Richmond Arts Council website.

Every Leaf Has A Story

On the weekend I took part in Art In The Garden, an exhibition that I have organized off and on since 1999 in my own private garden. In 2009 the event moved to the UBC Botanical Gardens. All artwork was either inspired by the garden, made for the garden, or from the garden. For the show I developed a new series of digital collages, Every Leaf Has A Story. All insects were photographed at the UBC Spencer Entymological Museum.

Framed 16"x20''s are available for $200. Unframed 24"x36" giclee prints available for $400 (available in glossy, satin and matte fine art papers, as well as satin or matte canvas).

Blue Lotus Lagoon - featuring magnolia leaf with other collage elements

Lemon Tiger Tail - featuring maple leaf and tiger moths

Tangerine Hilltop Aerie - featuring magnolia leaf with other collage elements


Ivory Knight's Quarter - featuring Garry oak leaf with other collage elements


Golden Sugar Bush - featuring various maple leaves


Indigo Scarab Moonlight - featuring laurel leaf and scarab beetle with other collaged elements


Hidden in Apollo's Wings - featuring maple leaves with Apollo butterfly wings


Red Violin Case - featuring bamboo leaf with other collage elements

Green Textile Alley - with oak leaf with other dye and textile collage elements

Urban Umber Awakening - featuring leaves with other collage elements

Rose Garden Secret - feature fern with other collage elements

Blog Award

I have been given an Honest Scrap Award by Art For The Attic. I've never received a blog award. Thank you very much. I have learned that there are no rules to winning this award but that it is "bestowed upon a fellow blogger whose blog content or design is, in the giver's opinon, brilliant". So, even though there is no physical prize, the respect from a fellow blogger is prize enough.

When accepting this auspicious award, you're supposed to write a post bragging about this award, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim and link back to the said person so everyoe knows she/he is real.

You are to choose a minimum of seven blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Show the seven random names and links and leave a comment informing them that they were prized with an Honest Scrap Award. There's no actual prize, but they can keep the niffty icon.

You are also to list ten honest things about yourself. Then pass it on.

So, here are the ten honest things about myself:

1) I am a Canadian who was born in Vancouver and chose to stay. Don't laugh this is rare. Ethnically, I appear Chinese so I'm the last person people think is a native.

2) My ethnic background is Chinese from my father's side, although he was born in Canada but moved to Shanghai when his parents died. My mother was Chinese and Scottish (but that's another story) who was born in Shanghai. Sadly, I've never visited Shanghai, but it's on my list of places to visit.

3) I am happily married and have been for 34 years to the same man. Again, don't laugh this is rare.

4) I have two grown up daughters. The older is a drummer/singer/songwriter, the younger is a singer/songwriter/actress. Yes, you are allowed to laugh at this one. Our house was the scene of many a rehearsal when they were in their teen years. And the term starving artist does apply to them.

5) I never new my grandparents. Both sets died long before I was born. So if and when I have grandchildren, I don't really know what I'm supposed to do.

6) My favourite TV show is CSI - Las Vegas, Miami and New York. I am addicted to watching at night after hubby has gone to sleep, whilst nibbling on chips with dip.

7) My all time favourite book is Shadow Of The Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I heard he has a new book out that is quite similar. I'm thinking of reading it too.

8) My favourite art tools are my computer and digital camera. As a digital collage artist, my pallet is made up of images and my canvas is my computer screen.

9) Two favourite places I have visited are Barcelona, Spain and Santorini, Greece. Although, I'd have to say I still prefer to live here in Vancouver.

10) I never knew that winning an award could lead to so much soul searching.

Here are some of the blogs I'd like to offer this award to:

1) Ikea Goddess - this German lady posts daily digital scrapbooking freebies she finds throughout the net (not a small task).

2) My Piano, Contemporary Piano Sheet Music - Desira has amassed tons of piano sheet music she has found on the net.

3) Assemblage of Michael Demang - an assemblage artist extraordinaire. I love the way this man thinks.

4) Stuffsmith, the Found Objects Artworks of Keith Lo Bue - another assemblage artist from Australia. I can't get enough of this man's work.

5) BibliOdyssey - if you are into old book illustration, this is for you.

6) Mailmania - Dale posts every piece of mailart he receives and annually exhibits them at a gala extraordinaire in Victoria, Canada.

7) Craftside - great daily review of art/craft books. In addition, viewers who leave comments are entered into a draw for a art/craft book prize. I've even won once.

So without any applause, I've dutifully fulfilled my Honest Scrap Award obligations and am handing over the icon for others who hopefully will accept the award and all its responsibilities.

Close Encounters With Nature

I'm continuing with the leaf and bug theme and experimenting with more images. The beetle is from the UBC Spencer Entymological Museum, who allowed me free reign to photograph their specimens. I found the leaf on a recent dog walk. I liked it as it reminded me of a heart. The background is detail from one of my mixed media paintings which I scanned and manipulated in the computer.



For this one, I used a weathered leaf given to me by a friend. I liked the skeletal nature of the leaf which showed lots of the vein detail but kept some of the plant material. The background is again detail from one of my mixed media paintings that I scanned and manipulated in the computer. Even output to 24" x 36" the fine detail of the leaf came through.

Painters at Painters Lodge

Went on my annual art weekend away with girlfriends up to Campbell River. Painters Lodge is a wonderful oceanside resort. Views are wonderful, food is fantastic, and being surrounded by Artists and artists always sparks my creativity.

Here's me with fellow Vancouverite and international Artist Raymond Chow at brunch.

Here's one of his recent works-in-progress.

And I always like snapping shots down by the dock.

Byng Community Art Show

My "quilt" series is currently on display as part of the Byng Community Art Show. Opening reception was May 28th and many of the artists were on hand to discuss their work. I knew quite a few of the participating artists. It was nice to see some of their new work.


I liked how they hung the quilts. They made 2 groups of 4 in a squares with another artist's pencil drawings in between.

The show continues until June 11th. The gallery is open Monday to Friday from 1 to 3 pm, with extra evening hours on Thursday June 4 from 6 to 7:30 pm and Monday June 8 from 6 to 9:30 pm.

The Byng Arts Gallery is located at Lord Byng Seconday School at 3939 West 16th Ave in Vancouver (enter off Crown).

Artists Books: Mixed Media to Multi Media

I've been asked to do a little show-and-tell about my artists books as part of the B.C. Bookarts Guild's regular meetings.

I'll be showing some of my altered children's board books, explaining some of the transfer techniques, and then explaining how I tranfer them into multi-media presentations.

I'll also show some of my handbound collage books, explaining some of my collage techniques, the materials I like to use, and then explaining how I transfer them into multi-media presentations.




Pages from some of the finished books are on my website.
But to see the multi-media presentations, you'll have to come to the lecture.

Monday May 11 starting at 7:30 pm
in the Peter Kaye Room on the Lower Level
of the Central Vancouver Public Library
at 350 West Georgia Street in downtown Vancouver
Admission is free but seating is limited

Transformation

Today is the opening reception for Transformation: Artworks Made from Recycled Objects at Crafthouse on Granville Island. I have three pieces from the Wedding Song series in the show.

From the press release:
Nancy Adams, an ardent recycler, presents a dress made from recycled dress patterns. Ken Gerberick's lamps and assemblages are made from materials which society has used, abused and discarded, often found in Vancouver laneways. Tam Harrington has used metal steamers and colanders to create her reliquary box. Gayle Koyanagi has used bones to create a pair of sculptural shoes. Lorraine Kwan uses cast off minutiae such as glass bottles to create a rocket ship. Inspired by her daughter's marriage Janet Lee has created a series of 3-D assemblages titled "Wedding Songs: A Mother's Hopes and Dreams". Weathered lobster buoys which have been altered and made into sculptures of fish are the work of Launi Lucas. Luci Lytle turns ordinary corrugated boxes inside out to reveal the colours and textures within. Eric Allen Montgomery, renaissance man and assemblage artist presents "Parlour Games", a clock made from a 1925 crokinole board and antique games pieces. Tiny birds, insects, fish and animals are collaged into slide mounts by Robi Smith. Laura vander Linde has combined her enthusiasm for recycling and her design sense to make vinyl record purses. Linda Varro has had a love affair with tarnished silver plated tea sets, coffee pots and cutlery for decades. She has incorporated these into a unique chandelier that drips with Austrian crystals. Douglas Walker has exuberantly welded alto saxophones, French horns and other metal objects to make a magical fountain.

Transformation runs from March 26 to May 3
Opening Reception: March 26, 6 - 8 pm
Crafthouse is located on Granville Island
at 1386 Cartwright Street, Vancouver
visit http://www.cabc.net/ for more information

99 Things To Do

Found this list on another blog where you are supposed to bold the ones you've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (updated September 2009)
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China (updated September 2009)
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Kissed a stranger at midnight on New Year's Eve
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make - India Yellow

Another in the quilt series, this time in yellows.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make - Malaysia Green

Another from the quilt series, this one in greens, using the Smilebox website templates.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make - China Blue

I'm working on a series of collages: Quilts My Mother Never Got To Make. They're quite small, 8" x 8", in a quilt layout. Each quilt section depicts some aspect from my mother's life. I found this website, Smilebox, that lets you incorporate your own images into templates, so I'm trying it out.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

One World One Heart Blog Giveaway

February 21st update:
I had so many comments I decided to giveaway a second copy of the booklet. Winners picked at random were Latharia and Couture de Papier. Prizes have been sent. Thanks to all who left comments.

I have never participated in anything like this. In fact, I have to admit that my blogging is intermittent. But I am fascinated and inspired by visiting all the blogs, and motivated by the generosity of the bloggers. So, I'm jumping on board.

I am giving away a booklet that I created for a workshop I gave on adhesives. It discusses different types of adhesives and recommends what you can use to stick one thing to another. As artists, we all tend to use glue at some time or other.

For a chance to win please leave a comment on this post along with an e-mail or some way for me to contact you. If you're a blogger or not, I will make a random draw on February 12th.

White in Lotusland

Here in Vancouver we pride ourselves on little snow. What snow we do get usually disappears within a day. This year, we have had about 4 continuous weeks of the white stuff, which has confirmed why I don't live any further north or east. Since I live on a hill, there has been no garbage pickup or paper delivery. I haven't driven for 4 weeks and have walked to the supermarket. I realize that some people suffer through this kind of weather for 4 months every year, but I'm starting to get cabin fever.



Although beautiful to look at, I have yet to see a snow plow on any side street. I never thought I'd hear myself looking forward to rain. Although when that comes it will bring other problems I'm sure.