Breaking up is hard to do
It’s the most wonder-what-to-make time of the year — or used to be, for me. It was all tra-la-la-la-la and glue-guns and glitter puff paint back when I had the 9-5 office job. Messing with sparkle…
A brilliant painter’s life, interrupted
Ignorance was truly bliss when I spotted this staggering, large painting at the AGO last month. I didn’t know of the artist, so I viewed it at face value, no back story. It was the only photo I took…
This week’s blog is brought to you by the word Juxtaposition
A friend of mine was a little obsessed with cleaning her carpeting in the condo she brought brand new several years ago. She seemed to be at constant war with her wall-to-wall. I always assumed…
Weaving through weighty material
I needed to shed my years of sewing and knitting and general crafting so I went to art school. No more crochet hooks and embroidery hoops; I wanted to do Real Important Art. But it was only after I…
Maker’s mecca in downtown Toronto (for now)
Like other Vancouver makers , I mourn the latest closures of stores dedicated to those who work with their hands, hearts and heads, for love or livelihood. Last month it was the needlework shop in my…
Dogged by one Sick Puppy
Coming up with new ideas is typically the easy part for creatives; deciding which of those ideas are just distractions is quite another thing. Self-editing is an important part of the creative…
The genius of keeping things open
It’s a tricky business, doing a public-art commission for a private corporation, especially when there are big strings attached to the cash: the thing has to salute the business itself. The really…
A sassy swing that ends with a punch in the gut
I love that emotional collision that happens when faced with a great artwork. It’s that attraction-repulsion thing that sort of mutes the rest of the world for a moment while the ol’ brain tries to…
Revelations from the ‘Revelation’ and other scary rides
During my first day of art school , one of the instructors told the auditorium packed with other nervous Foundation-year students that this education would be not just about making the art, but…
Pushing the work, with a little help from my friends
You’d think the biggest challenge of artists is deciding what to make. But every artist I know is challenged by deciding what not to make. There are so many competing pursuits that tend to be part of…
Makers get respect they deserve at Mini Maker Faire
In his speech to graduates of Toronto’s York University this month, one of my favourite journalists, CBC Radio’s Michael Enright, advised the next working generation to “learn how to fix…
Good design is a natural
It’s probably more Little House on the Prairie than the slightly unsettling modern survivalist culture that has me generally pre-occupied with designs for off-the-grid living, untethered to hydro…
The public is personal
Somewhere between finishing my career in newspaper journalism and finishing four years of art school, I found myself moonlighting as a home stager. It didn’t begin that way; it started with a…
Facing down the fear of failure
Visual artists talk a lot about the importance of happy accidents. That’s when good things come out of experimentation. It’s very tough to accept the less-happy accidents as part of the process,…
Putting art value to good use
The art world doesn’t have much use for “use objects” as art objects. There’s really nothing valuable about them beyond their use value. And the fact that they’re laboriously handmade doesn’t cut it…
Staying true when the ground is shaking
Reason #372 why it’s so great to be in a shared studio : inspiration from your fellow artists. Like in the candy-store story shared by one studio-mate. In the old days I would research and cite the…
‘The Thing’ is bigger than our original idea
It’s alive — and threatening to take over. Since one of my studio-mates and I started our own Social Network (working title) a couple of months back the thing has become The Thing that won’t be…
Someone plug my cake hole with Halloween candy
There’s an old story in our family about my brother who, as a tyke in montessori, pointed out a stain on the dining room wallpaper and said it looked like Chad. Or maybe it was a U.S. state. (It…
Strands connect to Deep South quilters and Occupy Vancouver
From left: Gees Bend quilter collective members Revil Mosley, China Pettway and Louisiana Bendolph sing their life.(Photo from theartblog.org) I finally got to hear from some of the amazing Gees Bend quilters at the Maiwa Textile Symposium on Granville Island a...
Everyday ecstasy
The only thing I miss about being 20 is going out of my mind. Or into my mind. Or just getting out of my context, for many lost hours. I miss those moments of ecstasy. There are really no…
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