MAKING STUFF
and writing about it
A record of the making and the learning along the way: process, material, and the social side of hand-making.
Aug 14, 2014
Memorable designs discovered on road trip
We were a bit of a spectacle, using survivalist technology outside our tent wedged between the humming, air-conditioned RVs , but we were aching to use our car-camping trip to finally test the...
Aug 1, 2014
Fleeting acts of self-expression hold special power
The first time I saw a "dry landscape" Zen garden in one of the hundreds of temples in Kyoto, my brain sort of short-circuited. This was the mid-'80s, and here was a Zen Buddhist priest meticulously...
Jul 18, 2014
everyday video footage — with a conceptual twist
Now that we're all carrying around the equivalent of movie cameras and photo-editing studios in our pockets and purses we are each potential blockbuster or documentary filmmakers, iMovie-ing and...
Jul 11, 2014
A Season of snarls
A big shout-out to the recycling staffer at my local Return-It depot who painstakingly went through a bin full of snarls of computer cables to select the ones with the most colourful clusters of wire...
Jul 4, 2014
Summertime, and the making is easy
These are the glory days for the accidental or occasional artist in all of us. The combination of long, light days and ( hopefully) open time sets the stage for some great making moments. These were...
Jun 27, 2014
deadhead alive with ideas of our watery past, uncertain future
On one rambling two-hour bike tour of False Creek Sunday, a friend and I cruised by the Dragonboat festival, the jazz festival and the food truck festival. Granville Island was foody festive. Kits...
Jun 20, 2014
Art walk a reason to browse South Granville again
I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with South Granville , the shopping strip between 6th and 16th Avenues. This was the neighbourhood of my first apartment, a $350-per-month studio in the old...
Jun 13, 2014
Down on your drawing? break out at Vancouver Draw Down
Remember when you were a kid you knew you could give a drawing as a present to any adult and that adult would love it, even though you would definitely not like a drawing-present yourself? It's one...
Jun 6, 2014
Words are not enough to capture the seduction of distraction
To me, the easiest part about carving out a place in the visual arts world is writing something about it. Yet most of my artist colleagues don't know how I make myself do it on a weekly basis. Easy....
May 29, 2014
Learning to play, to learn
I would rather watch the little kids in my life play than watch the best TV. But it's tricky because they don't like to be observed and if they feel I'm too interested, they are on to me and it all...
