My (brave) friend Rachael is doing a Creative Mornings talk tomorrow, on the theme ‘Make’, which I think is particularly suited to her. She’s good at talking about creativity and her work, so I know she’s got nothing to worry about. Also, she’s already conducted an interview with a man wearing a giraffe head, so how scary or distracting could the Creative Mornings audience be after that?
presentations & events
tattooed bottoms & other interesting things
Dragon & koi tattoos, from Jonathan Vaughn Strebly’s 2011 talk on the stories told by tattoos.
I’ve just finished a fun little project illustrating some promo materials for the talented team who have put together this year’s Interesting Vancouver. The primary use is for the website, so that informed the format. They are intended as visual texture behind the content and were inspired by soundbites from past Interesting Vancouver talks.
High-flung soles, from Todd Sieling’s 2011 talk on his photographic obsession.
Drifting Bucket, from Tori Holmes’ 2012 talk on rowing across the Atlantic.
There are so many other great topics, with so many evocative stories I wish I had time to illustrate too, like: suits/armour/codpieces, iguanas, incarceration, terrified dancing dads, chocolate science, perfume science, beer, a transgender journey, foraging in the wilds of Vancouver, BC’s absurd liquor laws, and sex work in Vancouver, to name a few.
All the past talks are available through IV’s Vimeo page (where you might catch a glimpse of an actual tattooed bum).
This year’s Interesting Vancouver edition, taking place at the Museum of Vancouver, is sold out! As is the pre-talk dinner. If you’re interested in taking in next year’s Interesting Vancouver talks, subscribe to updates through their blog, twitter, or facebook page.
Friends who’ve Got Craft?
I have crafty friends and they are vendors at Vancouver’s Got Craft? on May 6, 2012.
Rachael Ashe works in paper cutting, collage, reclaimed materials, and altered books (etc). Her new paper cutting experiments are really fantastic, and have a wonderful 3D optical illusion quality. She’ll be selling collages like this one, as well as lots of other things:
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Spark Design has neat, creepy/pretty jewelry. I’ve seen the brand new stuff and I love it and can’t wait to get my hands on some. These are some of the new designs:
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Got Craft? is on Sunday, May 6th, 2012
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Royal Canadian Legion
2205 Commercial Drive, Vancouver BC V5N 4B6
Preview of Faery Tales Remixed
We dropped off our art today for the show that opens tomorrow night in the little gallery in Deep Cove, and Rachael took a few photos.
Seymour Art Festival artwork preview
Here are a few detail photos, and work in progress images of the 4 pieces I’ll have in the Seymour Art Festival show at the Seymour Art Gallery from June 7-12, 2011. The opening night event is on June 7th from 7-9pm. The artists will be in attendance.
Night (from Vasilisa the Beautiful) | detail
charcoal, acrylic and metal leaf on canvas | 8′ x 4′ (two 4′ x 4′ canvases)
Night (from Vasilisa the Beautiful) | detail
charcoal, acrylic and metal leaf on canvas | 8′ x 4′ (two 4′ x 4′ canvases)
more after the jump
Announcing – Seymour Art Festival exhibition
I don’t usually show my work, but I’ll have a few pieces of art in a group show at the Seymour Art Gallery, during the Seymour Art Festival.
I’ll be exhibiting work with a few friends of mine (Rachael Ashe, Cynthia Nugent and Robi Smith) and our show slot is from June 7-12th. Short!
More details in the Seymour Art Festival brochure: (download the pdf).
Photos from DIY @ MOV Two
DIY @ MOV Two took place on April 9th and it was a pretty great evening. First there’s the setting; the night started while the sun was going down and the city was still visible. It’s hard to beat the view of the West End across False Creek from the Museum of Vancouver. Then there were the hands-on workshops available to introduce people to different crafts. I saw lots of first time spinners, knitters, weavers and felters who looked like they were having a ball. The girl with Birkeland Bros. Wool (I unfortunately didn’t catch her name) did a great job breaking in the unpsun. Spinning is a lot trickier than it looks.
DIY @ MOV II
Art making at DIY @ MOV One
If you were sad to miss it the first time, you have another chance: after a full house debut, DIY @ MOV is back by popular demand.
On APRIL 09, 2010 at 7:00 PM, the Museum of Vancouver will be putting on another night of social crafting with new workshops and more art materials.
There will be weaving, drawing, felting, collage, spinning and jewellery making workshops as well as a mini craft market by Birkeland Bros. Wool, Collage Collage, Fiber Manipulator Jewellery, Urban Source, and Got Craft?.
Come for the crafting or just come for the socialising or to catch the Art of Craft exhibition before it closes.
Music – Bar – Free Materials
$15, Members free
Tickets at the door or online.
Art making at DIY @ MOV One
Photos from DIY@MOV
DIY @ MOV – A Night of Social Crafting happened last week at the Museum of Vancouver. A much larger than expected crowd showed up to cut, glue, draw, knit, enjoy a beverage or two and wander through the exhibits currently on at the museum (Art of Craft and Ravishing Beasts).
There are more photos here.
DIY@MOV
From MOV’s event page:
A Night of Social Crafting.
Come celebrate the creativity and community of the growing DIY craft, art and design movement in Vancouver.
Generously sponsored by OPUS, there’ll be materials and workshops in a range of art and craft media from paper to yarn. Activities are geared so that everyone can participate – from the craft newbie to seasoned creators.
The party vibe will continue with music, food and a bar. And if you’re super-proud of what you make at DIY@MOV, MOV is providing exhibit space so that your creation can be on public display in a museum. Think of the bragging rights!
$15 – Tickets available online or at the door.
MOV Members Free
Using Design for Good
Everything has been tinged a little green these days, including design. There is plenty of information about it how to do it, plenty of books written about why, and plenty of talks and discussions by people who are practicing it. Clients are now demanding it, paper companies have created more sustainable product lines in response to it, and some design firms are specialising in it. In the past, greener design was seen as an expensive extra, but these days there are examples where it can make good economic sense. There are also options at all levels of the design process where more sustainable choices can be made.
Practivism 2008
Last year I attended GDCBC’s first Practivism event where three speakers discussed their experiences with practical activism in relation to green design within their design practice. It was an enlightening and encouraging evening. I came away with a new way of looking at design and a commitment to making better design choices. I was especially impressed by Brian Dougherty of Celery Design and the studio’s concept of designing backwards. I immediately read his (and celery design’s) book Green Graphic Design cover to cover and put what I read into practice on the first project at hand – the MOV Studio design. It was an enlightening ride through a forest of supposedly sustainable options. I don’t think I would have been able to make proper sense of things without the book as a guide. I found that while there are a lot of new sustainable options when it comes to printing substrates, not all are what they seem. Recycled vinyl is still vinyl. Its final resting place is still the landfill – for a very, very long time. And for some materials there are no, as of yet, good solutions. As designers we have to be savvy when it comes to labeling. Design isn’t just about graphic design any more – design is the whole process. Including the part we don’t think we’re part of – the beginning and end of the materials we are utilising.
Practivism 2009
This brings me to the whole point of this post. Practivism is back for a second year. This time the focus is on social sustainability. Environmental sustainability has been a buzzword for some time. I’m pretty sure, when asked, most people could tell you what it is and give an example of a environmentally sustainable initiative. But what about social sustainability? And what is our role as designers in that?
The speaker line-up is impressive: Andréa Pellegrino (Worldstudio), Nathan Shedroff (Design is the Problem), and Kara Pecknol (IDEO Human Centered Design Toolkit) and the location this year is the Museum of Vancouver, a fitting place to begin a discussion about what design’s role in social change can and has been.
Join the discussion on November 19, 2009. The itinerary is as follows:
Cash bar/ snacks/ MOV exhibit tours: 5:30pm – 7:00pm
Speakers/ Dialogue: 7:00-9:00pm
Reception: 9:00-10:30pm
Full event, speaker and ticketing details on the Practivism website.
Write on Bowen
I’m a panelist at the Write on Bowen festival. More on that over here.
Kirsti Wakelin 