Last Legs

Art Show at Kafka's Coffee and Tea

Austra P. Rose - SOLD

Two Birds in Jerusalem at Night

Odysseus's Bag of Winds

Untitled 1 - SOLD / Untitled 2

Kafka's Art Show

People are asking me if I'm excited about my art show coming up and I tell them "Yes, but also indredibly nervous," and they ask, "Is this your first art show?"

It's not my first art show, but it's the first show I have ever done in this medium (acrylic paintings). To be more precise, it's the first time I've ever completed a painting at all, let alone put them on display.

I have always been an artsy type. When I was younger I crafted and created. I spool knitted pot holders like crazy.

Around grade 7 I developed an incessant desire to paint, which I had never done before, and went to Opus and bought myself a canvas and some acrylic paints. I bought a couple colours that appealed to me (mustard yellow, dark green, maroon) and I went home and tried painting the only thing I had ever kind of been able to draw, a cat. I never finished the painting because a) it was terrible, and b) how the hell do you draw/paint eyes? I put next to the garbage bin outside of our complex.

A few years later, maybe grade 11, I attempted once again to paint something. It was a swirling, very well blended, many shades of blue, baby in utero. Kinda weird, I know. I was in an art class with quite a few very talented kids and I was embarrassed by this painting because it lacked any interesting qualities or real skill. I shoved it in the back of my '78 Honda Civic and it rode around with me and my best friend Vanessa for months, until it, too, ended up leaning against the very same garbage can, unfinished and sad.

This incessant urge to paint followed me around for the next 10 years and I did nothing about it. I dabbled in collage and photography (both of which I enjoy) but there was definitely something tugging at my art strings, an urge that needed some serious satisfying.

Finally, about a year ago, I took a two day painting class that was equally inspiring and frustrating, and I attempted for 12 months (or more) to finish the piece I started while in class. Meanwhile, at a two week residency where I had proposed to teach myself how to paint, I instead came up with some mixed media pieces which I showed to the curator at Kafka's. He liked them and agreed to me having a show!

But I still wanted to paint. And I figured that if there was any time to do it, it was now. My creative gut said “paint big!” I wanted to teach myself to paint by painting big. Big canvases cost a lot of money (of which I have none) and so I reached out to my peeps and asked for them to finance the purchase of my canvas in exchange for a finished product in the end. Without the support of these people I wouldn't have been able to make this show happen. They rule. So here it is. A show of the first ever paintings I have completed. Please come celebrate them with me!

 

Vancouver Photographs - Going for a Walk on an Overcast Day.

Keith and Aya Ikeda-Barry at Kafka's

There is an art opening at Kafka's tonight featuring the work of Keith and Aya Ikeda-Barry. They are part of the 30 Days Project team and Kafka's is showing the work they did in June.

Drop by tonight between 8-11pm for some snacks, drinks, and music. Kafka's is located at 2525 Main Street. See ya there!

Collages for Sale at Bird on a Wire

My collages can now be found exclusively at Bird on a Wire, a cute little store on Broadway and Main. It is similar to the Petri Dish, in that it sells locally designed art, clothing, jewellery, and other great things. Karen, the owner, carries a lot of the same artists that I carried at my store.

I'm really excited to have a place that people can go and know that they can find my work there. Even if you are not in the market for a collage, you should definitely stop by to have a look at the other work that is for sale. A wide variety, all local, and something in all price ranges.

Pastel Nudes

Experimenting with adding colour to the nudes I did.

MISSA Residency Part III

While I was at MISSA I would jot down things that I overheard or things that were in my head. And I began writing them onto pages of old books, and doing some drawings or smudges to accompany the words.

During a hard time in my life a friend of mine, who I didn't know very well at the time, encountered me having a really terrible day. He said to me "You're just in the down part of the wave" which has stuck with me ever since.

MISSA Residency Part II

Here are a few of the collage/pastel/silkscreening pieces that I did while at MISSA. They are much more vibrant in person, as taking photos of them was not working well. I will try to update better versions soon.

 

  

Self Portraits at MISSA

MISSA Residency Part I

There was a pretty cat walking around in the car in front of me in the line at the ferry. He walked around like that for a few hours and it made me love cats even more, and miss Kitten. I was feeling really nervous about the residency, but just enjoying what was around me.

This is me on the ferry. Though I look angry, I'm not. I sat in the sun until it got too windy and then went down to my car and slept for the rest of the trip.

These are the lovely ladies whose bed I'm crashing.

The campus is 45 mins from Victoria and so remote that there is no cellphone reception.

This is the building on campus that I have my studio area set up:

There are deer everywhere! They mingle with the human folk on the stairs. I saw 2 babies!

Last night I did life drawing for the first time ever and it was so awesome! Here are some of the drawings I made: