Floating in False Creek

The floathouse has finally made it to False Creek! It looks so out of place in the 'City of Glass'. Can anyone else relate? I know I can... barefoot Jenny from the farm would have laughed in said 'never in a million years' if someone showed her the future. 

In other news, the show Homeward opens in Alert Bay on May 22. 

Still barefoot... ten years later. 

Do yourself a favour and walk in the mudflats with no shoes. 

The final countdown

Nearly finished! I am happy to announce that quilting is not as hard as I thought. I just made a giant collage. It helps that my squares are huge, and the material was easy to work with. The last bit will be a surprise.  

I'm terrible with titling my artwork (as you can see from my lack of creative blog post titles). Any ideas that aren't too cheesy and obvious?

Untitled, soccer jerseys and t-shirts, 56'' x 70'', 2015 

back detail

Candles and Quilts

Today I will share process photos with you. Neither of these projects are finished, so don't jump to conclusions!! The figures are going to be made into beeswax candles, and the quilt is going to be used in an installation for a show (not a wall hanging). 

Process pieces for my artwork based on Dostoevsky's 'The Idiot'

The quilt for a show in Alert Bay. More on this later.

The Sam

This summer I am exhibiting with my friend Sarah Neilsen in an art show in Alert Bay, BC. We are exploring themes of 'homecoming', and I am scrambling, or rather will be scrambling in a few months to get all my work done. In the meantime, I am making art as it comes to me. 

My angle on the show is to connect my experiences of community in my neighbourhood, the Downtown Eastside, with the small town community of Alert Bay. The two places are intimately tied together, and I am finding many bridges and metaphors to play with. For example; tides, water, floating houses, transience, migration, and homecoming.

Last month my dear friend passed away. This is something you will get used to if you live in a small community where health issues, addiction and lower life expectancy are prevalent. But it never gets any easier. I had been playing with the idea of using the wax bones for a sculpture, but nothing was working. When I heard about Sam, I went into shock. I looked at the bones and imagined them in a rowboat, floating away from me. 

Alert Bay is a very small island. There are at least three cemeteries and sacred burial grounds on the island. The reminder of death is so visual and present. Some may find this morbid, but I find it sobering and grounding. Both communities have learned to live amidst the loss.

So Long Sam, beeswax, ceramic and acrylic paint, 2015

Alert Bay

The Nostalgia of Food

Hey, I'm in an art show this week! 

Housework Artwork

The first in a series of embroidered 'home' cliches.

Homey, hand embroidered on found linen, 2014

Derelict Buildings

Alert Bay, graphite and gesso on parchment paper, 8''x10'', 2014

There are many things that captured my heart when I was visiting Alert Bay. The wild, northwest landscape. The ocean in all its mystery; sometimes as calm as glass and other times violently thrashing. The people; being welcomed into homes and re-aquainting myself with small town life. Eating fresh salmon everyday...

But what made my heart ache (you know when you see something that resonates so deeply with your sense of beauty and loveliness that your heart hurts) was the buildings on stilts. I won't call them abandoned... Maybe it was the romance and intrigue in wondering what the town was like in its glory days.

All I know is that derelict buildings, especially the ones that have "lost" to nature, will always have a place in my heart. 

Eastside Culture Crawl #3!

Swing by my studio to say 'hi' during the Eastside Culture Crawl! In addition to seeing my face, you will also get to purchase authentic J-Hawk lino-cut prints, experience a sweet installation, and meet/see my studio mate's artwork (Maria Gaudin, painter and sculptor). Hope to see you there! 

450 East Hastings- just look for the red door. 

Back to painting

Evelyn, acrylic on canvas, 8''x8'', 2014

Why have I never done this before? I love black and white painting. Who needs color anyway?

Remnants and Shadows

I haven't made a fully immersive installation since art school. This piece is still in process; it is the developed version of 'Reliquary for a memory' that I made two years ago (the pallet fort with a lace tablecloth thrown over it). It's not perfect, and I'm struggling with the sewing machine and making clean seams, but last monday I was ecstatic with the progress.