holy wow - things are a-poppin' around here!

i am happy to announce that i am the new art curator at the manx pub - i am thrilled to bits to have this opportunity to learn and organize and immerse myself yet again in more art. i've just helped to take down the art show of shannon armishaw. get a load of her work - precious (in the good way) and melancholic.  the theme of these particular works is paris;  she incorporates photo-transferred images and painted impressions of parisian buildings and layers them with mylar sketches and lace inserts. they are canvasses, shadow boxes and smaller vintage-framed pieces - a real mix of media unified by rosy colours and loose, hazy brush-strokes.

'Changed Shape and Fragmented' by shannon armishaw

'The Buildings Bright' by shannon armishaw

'Shape Shifted in the City' by shannon armishaw

'The Secrets Made It Easy' by shannon armishaw

paris was obviously the epicentre of some awakening and herein she pays tribute to this event, asking us to fill in our own blanks. look at the palette! amazing.

i am anxious to see shannon's past works, a series of portraits, in person. again she layers the paint and texture with mylar and custom-made shadow boxes.  check out her site! shannonarmishaw.wordpress.com

cyclelogik   my favourite bikeshop (and where i cut my teeth in the world of small business) is having another christmas art show!  should be a time - the past few have been doozies;  art, music, libations and laughs.

it was at this event two years back that i first showed my art!  this year my pal, matt ouimet will be performing live with his Super Awesome Club; it's funk and it's funky.  there will also be more musical surprises and amazing art on the walls.  hope i see many folks there.  give art for christmas - show everyone the love!

here are the details:


WHEN
December 3rd, 2010 @ 8PM

FEATURING
Over 40 artists
Food by Essence Catering
Tunes by MR//GREG and Super Awesome Club
 
SPONSORED BY
Mark LaFontaine of RE/MAX
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

cyclelogik:  a grand place for a party!

cyclelogik boys in full effect:  ian and trae

super awesome club in full effect: steve and matt

cyclelogik in full effect:  alistair

cyclelogik in full effect:  justin

i made stuff and i had my first solo show at Wurm Gallery/ Invisible Cinema on friday, october 29th 2010.
it was RAD.




i called it Past Lives: New Works and created 7 new pieces over the course of 3 months.  in keeping with my desire to use recycled and discarded material, i made hanging objects/creatures out of old bicycle innertubes, innertube valves, the film footage from my brief stint at a film production course, an Yves St-Laurent bridegroom tuxedo and a softball.

the body of work alludes to the past lives of the materials themselves as well as to my own past lives - my long-gone roles of wife, small business owner, aspiring film-maker.  this is my most personal work so far, and the process of deconstructing and transforming the materials quite unexpectedly brought me great discomfort.  i was filing things away, declaring that some things that i held dear, items with which i used to identify myself no longer held weight in their current forms.  the hanging objects on the wall are represent then, my transformation, my new life, my now.

this was my artist statement:
 

escape:  created to do just that

past lives:  the wee ones

invisble cinema:  never-used, expired film

gaffer:  sea creature? someone asked

thanks to all the amazing folks who came to the vernissage!  works will be up until november 30th 2010.

on september 16th, the lovely Julie Delaney at CBC Radio One's All in a Day with Alan Neal scored us an interview on their fabulous show to promote the ARC Poetry Magazine Annual 2011. Poets David O'Meara , Sandra Ridley and i  talked to Alan about the Chain of Poets and Artists project.

listen here:


download here:
ARC Poetry Magazine on CBC Radio One's All in A Day with Alan Neal: September 16, 2010

my awesome friend and talented/prolific poet,  David O'Meara asked me to participate in a great project to be featured in the ARC Poetry Magazine Annual 2011.   the idea was to simulate the childhood game of 'telephone' starting with a poem (one of his, The Throw), alternating between visual artists and poets along the chain, each piece inspiring the next.

It's called ekphrasis, describing or interpreting another piece of art - a subject to which the whole issue is dedicated. being a part of this collaboration was such a delight for me, a challenge which i was more than thrilled to accept. 

the poem i received a few weeks before christmas last year was entitled Looking for You, by Gillian Wallace.  her poem was delivered to me in an email  and it captured and amazed me every day, every time i read and re-read it.  i dug deep and inhabited it, looking for cues and clues and the emotions therein.  what can i say?  it was so beautifully written, filled with queries and questions and imagery, that building my piece around it was a joy.  here is what i created:

it's called Looking for You v2.0 and this photo (which appears in the issue) was taken by my pal Stephen Taylor. and Gillian likes it!  success, i say. so on Boxing Day 2009 i deliver this piece to another amazing Ottawa talent, Barbara Myers, and she handles it so carefully that i have to giggle!  she created the wonderful poem, Night Mind - another one that blows my mind.  with permission from the poets i might post their works at a later date.

so fast-forward about 6 months and voila:

(purchase a copy here)

it's BEAUTIFUL, ain't it?
the manx hosted the issue launch/vernissage in September and we all got to meet each other and gush about the work.  it was one of the most well-attended poetry events at the manx in recent history and i was super proud to be a part of it all.  here are some snaps taken by collaborator/poet Max Middle:


ARC editor Anita Lahey and all my other participants did a helluva job - a great testament to the tight-knit and supportive arts community in our great city.

en garde!

just chillin in the pool

berry-picking on canada day